Finite element analysis of lung ultrasound surface wave elastography

Abstract

Interstitial lung disease manifested as fibrotic and stiffened lung tissue, resulting in symptoms such as dyspnea and may lead to respiratory failure. We recently developed a lung ultrasound surface wave elastography for evaluating the elastic properties of superficial lung tissue. In this abstract, we present a finite element analysis to investigate the effects of pleural effusion on the shear wave propagation of superficial lung tissue. The muscle, pleural effusion, and lung tissue were simulated by a 2D planar model of an infinite elastic medium with densities for different materials. A nearly incompressible, linear elastic model was used to model muscle, pleural effusion and lung. The model was excited using a line source on the muscle surface. Harmonic excitations were performed at 100, 150 and 200 Hz with duration of 0.1 s. The boundaries of lung and muscle were attached to an infinite. The mesh of muscle, pleural effusion, and lung were constructed using linear quadrilateral elements. The infinite region was meshed by infinite elements (type CINPE4). The dynamic responses of the tissue model to the excitations were solved by the ABAQUS explicit dynamic solver with automatic step size control. Insignificant difference in shear wave speeds of lung tissue at different excitation frequencies was found in both simulations with and without taking into account the pleural effusion, indicating that pleural effusion does not affect the measurements of shear wave speeds in ultrasound elastography.Interstitial lung disease manifested as fibrotic and stiffened lung tissue, resulting in symptoms such as dyspnea and may lead to respiratory failure. We recently developed a lung ultrasound surface wave elastography for evaluating the elastic properties of superficial lung tissue. In this abstract, we present a finite element analysis to investigate the effects of pleural effusion on the shear wave propagation of superficial lung tissue. The muscle, pleural effusion, and lung tissue were simulated by a 2D planar model of an infinite elastic medium with densities for different materials. A nearly incompressible, linear elastic model was used to model muscle, pleural effusion and lung. The model was excited using a line source on the muscle surface. Harmonic excitations were performed at 100, 150 and 200 Hz with duration of 0.1 s. The boundaries of lung and muscle were attached to an infinite. The mesh of muscle, pleural effusion, and lung were constructed using linear quadrilateral elements. The infinite ...