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We report robust noninvasive techniques for reconstructing the thermal properties of living tissues, such as thermal conductivity, thermal capacity and thermal diffusivity, for the diagnosis, monitoring and planning of thermal treatments. Internal temperature distributions can be measured using ultrasonic imaging or magnetic resonance imaging. Provided that the reference thermal properties are given in the region of interest as initial conditions, by solving bioheat transfer equations as simultaneous first-order partial differential equations having temperature distributions as inhomogeneous coefficients, we can determine thermal property distributions. A novel regularized numerical solution is also presented to realize useful, unique, stable reconstructions of the thermal property distributions. To verify the feasibility of the numerical solution, simulations and ultrasonic phantom experiments are conducted. The reconstruction of perfusion by blood flow and thermal source/sink by this approach is also addressed.

An effective shear modulus reconstruction technique is described which uses ultrasonic strain measurements for diagnosis of superficial tissues, i.e. our previously developed ultrasonic strain measurement and shear modulus reconstruction methods are combined and enhanced. The technique realizes very low computational load, yet yields fairly high quantitativeness, high stability and spatial resolution, and large dynamic range. The suitability of the method is demonstrated on in vitro pork ribs and in vivo human breast tissues (fibroadenoma and scirrhous carcinoma).