Quantitative ultrasound imaging based on seismic full waveform inversion

A system for producing ultrasound images, comprising:

• a transmitting element that emits a signal having a band of frequencies specified by a priori knowledge of a medium and an image reconstruction algorithm,wherein the transmitting element has a known and controlled location within the system, and wherein the medium comprises an animal tissue or a non-human object;
• a receiving element that captures acoustic/(an)elastic waves that are emitted by the transmitting element and that are transmitted through and reflected from the medium, wherein the receiving element has a lateral extent smaller than a wavelength of the waves in the medium and a known and controlled location within the system;
• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer readable medium containing programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to:
• convert the captured acoustic/(an)elastic waves into observed imaging data;
• perform a Full Waveform Inversion process in a time domain on the observed imaging data against synthesized data derived from a simulated model of the observed imaging data using a wave propagation solver;
• use the synthesized data to generate image representations of the medium;
• and
• store or display the image representations of the medium.