A method of tissue elasticity estimation based on three-dimensional displacement vector

For assessing the tissue elastic properties based on 3D information of displacement and strain induced by static deformation, we propose an estimator of 3D displacement vectors. This method is composed of the combination of the weighted phase gradient method (WPG), which utilizes the gradient of the plane obtained from the phase shift at each receiving element on the 2D array, and combined autocorrelation method (CA), which is phase domain processing without aliasing. Large displacements required for highly accurate measurements can be measured by this method. In addition, we develop a tissue elasticity reconstruction method using the measured 3D displacement vectors. Computer simulations reveal that our methods are valid for evaluating the elastic structures of tissues based on 3D information.