Measurement of soft tissue motion using correlation between A-scans.

The advent of real-time B-scanning has led to interest in the diagnostic value of the dynamic properties of soft tissue. Present ultrasonic techniques for investigating motion cannot measure the motion of homogeneous tissues. A technique has been developed which uses the correlation coefficient between A-scans to measure the amplitude and frequency of their motion, both in water tank experiments and in vivo. The success of the technique, which is digitally implemented, supports the validity of stochastic models for the acoustic structure of soft tissues. The motion pattern observed in vivo can be correlated with the arterial pressure pulse.