Stretchable ultrasonic arrays for the three-dimensional mapping of the modulus of deep tissue

Hongjie Hu; Yuxiang Ma; Xiaoxiang Gao; Dawei Song; Mohan Li; Hao Huang; Xuejun Qian; Ray Wu; Keren Shi; Hong Ding; Muyang Lin; Xiangjun Chen; Wenbo Zhao; Baiyan Qi; Sai Zhou; Ruimin Chen; Yue Gu; Yimu Chen; Yusheng Lei; Chonghe Wang; Chunfeng Wang; Yitian Tong; Haotian Cui; Abdulhameed Abdal; Yangzhi Zhu; Xinyu Tian; Zhaoxin Chen; Chengchangfeng Lu; Xinyi Yang; Jing Mu; Zhiyuan Lou; Mohammad Eghtedari; Qifa Zhou; Assad Oberai; Sheng Xu

doi:10.1038/s41551-023-01038-w

Stretchable ultrasonic arrays for the three-dimensional mapping of the modulus of deep tissue

Nat Biomed Eng. 2023 Oct;7(10):1321-1334. doi: 10.1038/s41551-023-01038-w. Epub 2023 May 1.

Authors

Hongjie Hu^#^{1

2}, Yuxiang Ma^#², Xiaoxiang Gao^#², Dawei Song^#³, Mohan Li², Hao Huang², Xuejun Qian⁴, Ray Wu², Keren Shi¹, Hong Ding², Muyang Lin², Xiangjun Chen¹, Wenbo Zhao⁵, Baiyan Qi¹, Sai Zhou¹, Ruimin Chen⁴, Yue Gu¹, Yimu Chen², Yusheng Lei², Chonghe Wang², Chunfeng Wang², Yitian Tong⁶, Haotian Cui⁷, Abdulhameed Abdal⁸, Yangzhi Zhu², Xinyu Tian¹, Zhaoxin Chen², Chengchangfeng Lu⁶, Xinyi Yang¹, Jing Mu¹, Zhiyuan Lou², Mohammad Eghtedari⁹, Qifa Zhou⁴, Assad Oberai¹⁰, Sheng Xu^{11

12

13

14

15}

Affiliations

¹ Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
² Department of Nanoengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
³ Institute for Medicine and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁵ Department of Osteology and Biomechanics, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
⁶ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁷ Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁸ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
⁹ Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹¹ Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. shengxu@ucsd.edu.
¹² Department of Nanoengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. shengxu@ucsd.edu.
¹³ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. shengxu@ucsd.edu.
¹⁴ Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. shengxu@ucsd.edu.
¹⁵ Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. shengxu@ucsd.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 37127710
DOI: 10.1038/s41551-023-01038-w

Abstract

Serial assessment of the biomechanical properties of tissues can be used to aid the early detection and management of pathophysiological conditions, to track the evolution of lesions and to evaluate the progress of rehabilitation. However, current methods are invasive, can be used only for short-term measurements, or have insufficient penetration depth or spatial resolution. Here we describe a stretchable ultrasonic array for performing serial non-invasive elastographic measurements of tissues up to 4 cm beneath the skin at a spatial resolution of 0.5 mm. The array conforms to human skin and acoustically couples with it, allowing for accurate elastographic imaging, which we validated via magnetic resonance elastography. We used the device to map three-dimensional distributions of the Young's modulus of tissues ex vivo, to detect microstructural damage in the muscles of volunteers before the onset of soreness and to monitor the dynamic recovery process of muscle injuries during physiotherapies. The technology may facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting tissue biomechanics.

Abstract

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