A multibandwidth probing method for tissue scattering microstructure characterization

In medical ultrasound the normalized second intensity moments of the echo signal can depend on the imaging system resolution cell volume (axial and lateral resolution) in addiction to the scattering microstructure. The authors propose a multibandwidth probing technique in an attempt to separate the two. Theoretical relationships between second intensity moments, (scattering coefficients, scatterer spacing, and its randomness) and the system's cell volume are stablished. Experiments on water filled sponge structures with pore size varying from .5 mm to 2 mm and pig liver tissue are performed. The slope and intercept values from normalized second intensity moments versus (cell volume)/sup -1/ graph are shown to be of diagnostic value in structure characterization.