Sensitivity matrix for ultrasound modulated electrical impedance tomography

Hybrid imaging techniques utilizing couplings of physical modalities have attracted considerable attention in recent years. Based on the acousto-electric effect, ultrasound modulated electrical impedance tomography (UMEIT) is proposed as a new hybrid imaging technique, which combines the electric and acoustic modalities. Sensitivity matrix for UMEIT is investigated for the first time to explore the image reconstruction problem of UMEIT. Relating the inner power density to the conductivity distribution, the sensitivity matrix is numerically obtained, and the performance of it is also analyzed. Compared with that for ERT, sensitivity matrix for UMEIT is more sensitive in the center of imaging object and less sensitive to injected electrodes. Besides, the condition number of the sensitivity matrix for UMEIT is found to be very low. Finally, image reconstruction is implemented with sensitivity coefficient algorithm, and the simulation results validate the effectiveness of the sensitivity matrix for UMEIT and confirm that UMEIT is a potential imaging technique.