Patent attributes
A method for assessing mechanical properties of an elastic material includes obtaining volumetric ultrasound data sets of the elastic material in two different states of compression. First ultrasound image data of a first hypersurface region of interest (ROI) is selected from a first of the data sets, and second ultrasound image data of a second hypersurface ROI is selected from a second of the data sets. The first ultrasound image data and the second ultrasound image data are compared to determine motion within the elastic material. If out of ROI motion of the elastic material is not less than a specified or predetermined amount and if an allowed number of iterations has not been met, the orientation of at least one ROI is changed and a portion of the process is iterated. Otherwise, an indication of motion resulting from the applied compression within the elastic material is displayed.
