2-D Shear wave dispersion images using the reverberant shear wave field approach: application in tissues exhibiting power law response

Within the field of elastography, a relatively new approach analyzes the limiting case of shear waves established as a reverberant field. In this framework, it is assumed that a distribution of shear waves exists, oriented across all directions in 3D and continuous in time. The simultaneous multi-frequency application of reverberant shear wave fields can be accomplished by applying an array of external sources that can be excited by multiple frequencies, for example 50, 100, 150,...500 Hz, all contributing to the shear wave field produced in the target organ. We report a Monte Carlo analysis simulation for the validation of the main theoretical principles, and a preliminary study on breast and liver tissues using the multi-frequency reverberant shear wave technique, employing frequencies up to 700 Hz in breast tissue, and robust reverberant patterns of shear waves across the entire liver and kidney in obese patients. Dispersion images are shown to have contrast between tissue types and with quantitative values that align with previous studies.