Method for ultrasound vibrometry using orthogonal basis functions

1. A ultrasound system for measuring a mechanical property of a subject, the ultrasound system comprising:

at least one ultrasound transducer configured to apply ultrasonic energy to a subject and to detect echo signals received therefrom;

a signal generator configured to generate an excitation signal composed of combinations of orthogonal basis functions, each orthogonal basis function having a corresponding frequency component;

an ultrasound controller coupled to the at least one ultrasound transducer and the signal generator, and configured to:

direct the at least one ultrasound transducer, using the generated excitation signal, to apply ultrasonic vibration pulses to a vibration origin in the subject in order to impart a vibratory motion thereto, the imparted vibratory motion including each of the corresponding frequency components;

direct the at least one ultrasound transducer to apply ultrasonic detection pulses to at least one motion detection point, and to detect echo signals therefrom;

a processor coupled to the at least one ultrasound transducer and configured to:

receive the detected echo signals from the at least one ultrasound transducer;

determine, from the received echo signals, a signal indicative of vibratory motion imparted to the subject;

estimate at least one of a phase value and an amplitude value of the determined signal indicative of vibratory motion; and

calculate, using the estimated at least one of a phase value and an amplitude value, a mechanical property of the subject.

2. The ultrasound system as recited in claim 1 in which the orthogonal basis functions are cosine functions and the corresponding frequency components are selected such that each corresponding frequency component is a harmonic of a same fundamental frequency.

3. The ultrasound system as recited in claim 2 in which the signal generator is further configured to truncate each of the cosine functions to include only an integer multiple of its period, in which the integer multiple is equal to the order of the harmonic associated with the corresponding frequency component.

4. The ultrasound system as recited in claim 1 in which the orthogonal basis functions are at least one of Bessel functions, spherical harmonic functions, Legendre polynomials, sine waves, cosine waves, pulses, and tone bursts.

5. The ultrasound system as recited in claim 1 in which the signal generator is further configured to select the orthogonal basis functions such that they correspond to tone bursts inherently produced by the ultrasound system.

6. The ultrasound system as recited in claim 1 in which the signal generator is further configured to remove selected portions of the excitation signal, such that the ultrasound transducer will not be directed to produce ultrasonic vibration pulses during the removed portions, and the ultrasound controller is further configured to apply the ultrasonic detection pulses to the at least one motion detection point during the removed portions of the excitation signal.

7. The ultrasound system as recited in claim 1 in which the signal generator is further configured to remove selected portions of the excitation signal, such that the ultrasound transducer will not be directed to produce ultrasonic vibration pulses during the removed portions, and the portions of the excitation signal that are removed therefrom are removed in at least one of regular intervals and irregular intervals.

8. The ultrasound system as recited in claim 1 in which the at least one ultrasound transducer further comprises a first ultrasound transducer configured to apply the ultrasonic vibration pulses to the subject and a second ultrasound transducer configured to apply the ultrasonic detection pulses to the subject and to detect echo signals therefrom.

9. A method for operating an ultrasound system to produce a propagating shear wave in a subject, the steps of the method comprising:

a) selecting a set of orthogonal basis functions, each orthogonal basis function corresponding to at least one frequency component;

b) producing an excitation signal by combining the selected set of orthogonal basis functions; and

c) directing an ultrasound transducer, using the produced excitation signal, to produce ultrasound energy applied at a vibration origin in a subject, such that a shear wave is produced in the subject in response to vibratory motion induced at the vibration origin by the applied ultrasound energy.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 in which step b) includes independently adjusting at least one of an amplitude and phase of each orthogonal basis function before combining the orthogonal basis functions.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 in which the amplitude of each orthogonal basis function is adjusted such that higher frequency components have a higher power.

12. The method as recited in claim 9 in which an envelope of a radio frequency signal of the ultrasound system is modulated by the excitation signal, and is adjusted at least one of continuously and discretely.

13. The method as recited in claim 9 in which step b) further includes modulating a carrier signal with a square root of the excitation signal.

14. The method as recited in claim 9 in which step b) further includes producing a sparse excitation signal by sparsely sampling the produced excitation signal, and step c) includes directing the ultrasound transducer using the produced sparse excitation signal.

15. The method as recited in claim 9 in which step b) further includes producing a chopped excitation signal by removing selected portions of the excitation signal in at least one of regular and irregular intervals, and step c) includes directing the ultrasound transducer using the produced chopped excitation signal.