Ultrasonic shear wave imaging with focused scanline beamforming

An ultrasound system for shearwave analysis, the system comprising:

• an ultrasound array;
• a beamformer in communication with the ultrasound array, the beamformer configured to:
• transmit, via the ultrasound array, a plurality of push pulses into a target and along a push vector, each push pulse being focused at a different vertical depth of the push vector to generate a composite shearwave front, the composite shearwave front defining a length across the vertical depths and traveling through the tissue in a lateral direction;
• transmit, via the ultrasound array, a plurality of tracking pulses adjacent to the push vector, the tracking pulses being spatially separated in the lateral direction;
• receive, via the ultrasound array, echoes from the tracking pulses to sample movement of the composite shearwave front through the tissue in the lateral direction;
• and
• a processor in communication with the beamformer, the processor configured to:
• store tracking echo data generated from the echoes from the tracking pulses;
• use the tracking echo data to detect one or more displacements of the composite shearwave front as the composite shearwave front moves through the tissue;
• and
• determining one or more velocities of the composite shearwave front based on the detected displacements.