Medical Applications of Radiation Micro-Force (Invited Presentation)

Abstract

The general direction of this research is measurement of sound and vibration in response to a micro-force. The main hypothesis is that by measuring the sound and/or vibration resulting from such small forces we will be able to obtain important information about the object. The micro-force, which is in mN range, is produced by the radiation force of ultrasound, and the resulting vibration is in nanometer or angstrom range. The stress field is confined to a small region with a few hundred microns in diameter. We have shown that by measuring the acoustic field resulting from such vibrations, which are in low (kHz) frequency range, we can estimate some of the mechanical properties of objects. We have also used this method to image tissue at high resolutions and detect small particles. This imaging technology promises a wide range of medical applications, including imaging organs, detection of arterial calcifications and breast microcalcifications, and evaluation of the structural integrity of implants.