Acoustic shear-wave imaging using echo ultrasound compared to magnetic resonance elastography.

We compare a previously developed phase contrast-based magnetic resonance imaging technique (MRE) to a phase-based ultrasound (US) method for measuring small cyclic displacements (submicrometer level) caused by propagating acoustic shear waves in tissue-like media. Our preliminary experiments with gelatin phantoms show that acoustic shear-wave propagation can be measured with US, and we speculate that this technique could find applications in medical imaging.