Holography-based measurement of sound speed and attenuation coefficient values for small samples of tissue phantoms

For therapeutic ultrasound applications, design and planning of treatments often involve simulations to predict the in situ acoustic field, and these simulations rely on estimates of the acoustic properties of soft tissues. As defined in simulation models, these properties describe how a plane wave propagates in a homogeneous medium. However, because soft tissues inherently contain inhomogeneities, measurements are most appropriately performed on small, relatively homogeneous samples. In addition, mostly small samples of human tissue, either autopsy or post-surgical, are typically available for characterization. As published in a recent paper [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2021, 149(1): 386–404], we have proposed a holography-based technique to extract plane-wave measurements from ultrasound beams passing through small (cm-sized) material samples. Here, we seek to adapt this technique for measuring small samples of deformable materials using an apparatus that holds such samples with two plane, parallel surfaces that can be interrogated by an incident ultrasound beam having a diameter smaller than that of the sample. Initial testing over a range of frequencies from 0.5 to 10MHz is performed utilizing well characterized materials, such as hydrogels and silicone rubber. [Work supported by NIH grant R01EB025187.]