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Imaging the Biomechanical Properties of Tissue – Development of Elastography

Kevin J. Parker, William F. May Professor of Engineering

Abstract:

Enormous progress has been made in developing ultrasound and MR techniques that use conventional imaging platforms to sense tissue displacements and calculate the intrinsic biomechanical properties such as the stiffness (Young’s Modulus) and the viscosity.  These tissue properties are otherwise hidden yet have high diagnostic value for a wide range of conditions from liver fibrosis to breast cancer.  We review the scope of these techniques, including pioneering work done at UR, with an overview of some important clinical applications, and the computational challenges. The advances rely heavily on a multidisciplinary approach requiring signal processing, fields and waves, estimation theory, and inverse mathematics.

Biography

Kevin J. Parker earned his graduate degrees from MIT and has served at the University of Rochester as Department Chair, Director of the Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound, and Dean of the Hajim School Engineering and Applied Sciences. His research is in image processing and medical imaging. Parker is an inventor/pioneer in a number of enterprises, including the field of sonoelastography and the international conference series in that area, and the Blue Noise Mask. He is the recipient of the Eastman Medal, the AIUM Joseph Holmes Pioneer Award for Contributions to Medical Ultrasound, the Eastman Kodak Outstanding Innovation Award, and the Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology World Federation Prize. He holds 26 U.S. patents and 13 international patents that have been licensed to 25 companies. He is a founder of VirtualScopics, Inc. Parker has published 200 journal articles and numerous book chapters. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), and the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).