Ultrasonic echo imaging of tissues: instrumentation

Abstract

The ultrasonic pulse-echo principle is capable of providing detailed information, of considerable potential diagnostic value, on the structure of soft tissues in relation to pathology, but the present generation of ultrasonic scanners does not fully exploit this possibility. The paper discusses the principal measures necessary to achieve tissue structure visualization and quantitative characterization and describes a clinically functioning system that has been built for this purpose with particular relation to cancer diagnosis. Examples of the application of the system are given in this and an accompanying paper.