Method for estimating and imaging of transverse displacements, transverse strains and strain ratios

A method for finding a match between echo sequences in each of two adjacent overlapping beams comprising:

• a. acoustically coupling at least two spaced ultrasound sources to a target body, said sources spaced apart a distance d, such that said beams overlap;
• b. emitting a first pulse of ultrasound energy along the axis of each beam and into the target body;
• c. recording the arrival time of the first echo sequence having at least one echo segment arriving in response to said first pulse of ultrasound energy within each beam;
• d. compressing the surface of the body;
• e. emitting a next pulse of ultrasound energy along each beam axis;
• f. recording the arrival time of a next echo sequence for each beam emitted in step (d);
• g. storing the previously recorded data in a retrievable medium;
• and
• h. finding a match of at least one first echo sequence of a beam emitted in step (a) to next said echo sequence of a beam emitted in step (d).

A method for finding the location of a peak of a cross correlation function comprising:

• a. acoustically coupling at least two spaced ultrasound sources to a target body, said sources spaced apart a distance d, such that said beams overlap;
• b. emitting a first pulse of ultrasound energy along the axis of each beam and into the target body;
• c. recording the arrival time of the first echo sequence having at least one echo segment arriving in response to said first pulse of ultrasound energy within each beam;
• d. emitting a next pulse of ultrasound energy along each beam axis;
• e. recording the arrival time of a next echo sequence for each beam emitted in step (d);
• f. storing the previously recorded data in a retrievable medium;
• g. cross correlating at least one of said first echo sequence to its transverse match of said next echo sequence;
• h. estimating the location of a peak of the cross correlation function by interpolating the cross correlation function;
• and
• i. interpolating between the cross correlation values of the preceding step to locate a peak in the transverse direction.

A method for finding a match between two echo sequences comprising:

• a. acoustically coupling at least two spaced ultrasound sources to a target body, said sources spaced apart a distance d, such that said beams overlap;
• b. emitting a first pulse of ultrasound energy along the axis of each beam and into the target body;
• c. recording the arrival time of the first echo sequence having at least one echo segment arriving in response to said first pulse of ultrasound energy within each beam;
• d. emitting a next pulse of ultrasound energy along each beam axis;
• e. recording the arrival time of a next echo sequence for each beam emitted in step (d);
• f. storing the previously recorded data in a retrievable medium;
• g. interpolating between at least two transversely spaced echo sequences to produce at least one interpolated echo sequence;
• and
• h. finding a match of at least one interpolated echo sequence with one other echo sequence.