Estimation Of Elastic And Viscoelastic Moduli Of Arterial Walls Using Shear Wave Elastography

Arterial stiffness, an important biomarker of many cardiovascular diseases, is strongly influenced by the wall shear modulus. In shear wave elastography (SWE), the arterial wall is excited by acoustic radiation force and the resulting wave propagation characteristics are used to infer arterial stiffness. Specifically, the stiffness is achieved by matching the measured and computed response in a particular way that captures the effects of elastic and viscoelastic moduli, namely wave dispersion and attenuation. Our specific process involves two steps– (1) obtaining elastic modulus through wave dispersion, and (2) obtaining viscoelastic modulus through wave attenuation.