Multiphysics Ultrasound Imaging for Assessment of Soft Tissue Elasticity, Structure, and Function

ABSTRACT

The mechanical and structural properties of soft tissue control the biological functionality of the organs they compose, and tissue mechanical and structural changes are closely related to disease-associated tissue pathology. For example, the stiffness and orientation of muscle fibers in the heart’s ventricles enable the heart’s uniquely efficient ability to pump blood and are altered for the worse after a heart attack or during chronic hypertension. The clinician’s ability to assess mechanical and structural changes noninvasively can enhance the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases of the heart, skeletal muscles, and liver, to name a few. Further, ultrasound-based approaches such as shear wave elastography are uniquely suited for high impact due to the low cost, improved patient comfort, and increased availability compared to other approaches, such as magnetic resonance-based technologies. This seminar will give an overview of recent advances and investigations into novel elasticity and structural ultrasound imaging techniques, with particular emphasis on the pressure-overloaded overloaded right ventricle of the heart, lower back muscles in chronic pain, and liver tissue pathology in fatty liver disease. The approaches leverage multiphysics ultrasound-tissue interactions in order to elucidate and assess disease-related pathology. Short-term and long-term visions for the future are provided in each case.

BIOGRAPHY

John Cormack is a Research Faculty Instructor of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He received a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2019 and completed postdoctoral training in translational cardiovascular imaging at the University of Pittsburgh in 2022. His research involves combining expertise in biophysical acoustics, multiphysics medical imaging, and soft tissue biomechanics to improve the performance and reliability of noninvasive testing for diseases of the cardiovascular, muscular, and gastrointestinal systems.