MR acoustic radiation force imaging: In vivo comparison to ultrasound motion tracking

MR acoustic radiation force (ARF) imaging was developed for measuring tissue elastic properties using focused ultrasound to deliver a localized tissue motion. In this study, an imaging ultrasound transducer was mounted on the focused ultrasound transducer and ultrasound motion tracking was performed simultaneously to MR ARF imaging to validate the measurement results. In vivo studies on rabbit thigh muscle were performed and results showed a general agreement between the two modalities (slope=0.96 and R-2=0.67). The temporal information by the ultrasound measurement indicates that the parameters in MR ARF imaging should be optimized according to the tissue type, acoustic power, and envelope and frequency of the ARF modulation.