Quantitative Evaluation of Ultrasonic Attenuation in Diffuse Liver Disease-Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Fatty Liver

Abstract

The objective of tissue characterization is to provide quantitative information about the physical state of soft tissue interrogated by an ultrasound beam. The approaches adopted include measurement of ultrasonic attenuation, assessment of scattering properties and recently measurement of sound speed from the image shift. In this experimental study of the ultrasonic attenuation process, the authors produced fatty livers in adult Wistar rats by the intraperitoneal injection of the toxic agent carbon tetrachloride(CC14) and measured the tissue characteristic parameter-the attenuation coefficient slope. The results demonstrate that (a) the attenuation coefficient slope in the liver can be used to assign and quantify the state of diffuse liver disease, especially the degree of fatty changes (b) frequency dependence of attenuation reveals utility of this method over the routine study of tissue structure.