Spatial Distribution of the Speed of Sound in Biological Materials with the Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscope

Abstract

Abstmct-An important ultrasonic propagation property for tissue characterization is the speed of sound. The scanning laser acoustic microscope (SLAM) provides the capacity to determine the speed of sound in tissue specimens or portions of specimens on the submillimeter scale. This capability potentially can be utilized to develop indices that quantify the spatial gradient of the tissue’s speed of sound. An automated technique for determining the speed of sound using the SLAM has been developed. It is now possible to study quantitatively the degree of tissue heterogeneity from SLAM measurements of the speed of sound distribution. T