Multi-scale quantitative elastography and its application to blood pressure estimation

Abstract

Elastography is a method that can be used to measure the elasticity of soft biological tissue and, ultimately, to detect cancerous tumors. In this thesis, quantitative compression based ultrasound elastography is developed using a fast multi-scale approach. The inverse problem optimization methods of elastography are applied to estimate noninvasively the arterial wall stiffness of a vessel as well as blood pressure. Simulation and experimental results are presented that predict the accuracy of the methods. A method is also introduced to eliminate the need for a reference pressure during the optimization over blood pressure. Using ultrasound, these techniques could provide noninvasive continuous measurement of blood pressure in major arteries and could give doctors another way to gather information about a patients cardiovascular health.