Course 1A:
Elasticity Imaging: Dynamic Approaches
Kathy Nightingale and Mark Palmeri (Duke University)

The mechanical characterization of tissues and lesions within tissues has been used by clinicians to determine states of disease. Clinicians characterize the mechanical properties of tissue through manual palpation, but not all tissues are accessible through this approach. Therefore, imaging modalities that can interrogate tissue to illicit this mechanical information are desired clinically. This short course will explore the use of ultrasound in imaging the mechanical properties of tissue and lesions through the use of dynamic excitation modalities. The fundamentals of ultrasound imaging, as related to dynamic tissue elasticity imaging, will be reviewed. A foundation for elastic material characterization will be established, including the relationships of force-displacement and stress-strain, the definition of elastic material properties (elastic moduli, Poisson's ratio, density), and the concept of stiffness, both structural and material. Linear isotropic materials will serve as the primary medium discussed in this course, but extensions will be made to anisotropic, viscoelastic, and nonlinear materials. Methods of static and dynamic excitation of soft tissue will be explored, using both external tissue compression/relaxation, and steady-state and impulsive acoustic radiation force excitation techniques. Imaging methods (MR and ultrasound) used to track static and dynamic displacement fields will be reviewed. The reconstruction of material properties from these dynamic displacement fields will be analyzed, including the use of inverse problems, the estimation of shear wave speeds, and the optimization and fitting of simplified viscoelastic and nonlinear tissue models.

Kathy Nightingale received her B.S. degree (Electrical Engineering) in 1989 from Duke University. She served in the United States Air Force as a program engineer from 1989 to 1992. She received her Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 1997. Dr. Nightingale is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. Her research interests include the investigation of radiation force based imaging methods, ultrasonic imaging, ultrasonic flow detection, and the bioeffects associated with diagnostic ultrasonic imaging.

Mark L. Palmeri received his B.S. degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from Duke University, Durham, NC, in 2000. He was a James B. Duke graduate fellow and received his Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University in 2005 and his M.D. degree from the Duke University School of Medicine in 2007. He is currently an Assistant Research Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. His research interests include ultrasonic imaging, characterizing the mechanical properties of soft tissues, and finite element analysis of soft tissue response to acoustic radiation force excitation.

Course 1B:
Nonlinear Acoustics and Harmonic Imaging
Victor F. Humphrey (Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, University of Southampton, UK )

This course will provide an introduction to the origins of nonlinear propagation, and its consequences and applications in medical ultrasound. The first section will review the basic physics of nonlinear propagation, and discuss the propagation of plane waves as a means of introducing nonlinear acoustics terminology. This will be followed by a discussion of the techniques used to numerically model nonlinear propagation and the specific problems of performing measurements in high amplitude fields with their associated distortion and harmonic content. The effects of diffraction and attenuation on nonlinear propagation will then be introduced by considering the fields of transducers and arrays, and the fields they generate in tissue; this will be illustrated by a combination of experimental results and model predictions. This will lead on to a discussion of the consequences for medical ultrasound of nonlinear propagation. Finally the application to harmonic imaging will be described.

Victor Humphrey is a Professor of Acoustics at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR) in Southampton, U.K. He received his BSc and PhD degrees from the University of Bristol in 1975 and 1981 respectively. He then moved to the School of Physics at the University of Bath where was promoted to Senior Lecturer. In 2004 he took up his current position at ISVR. His initial research was in the area of laboratory applications of nonlinear parametric arrays in underwater acoustics. For this work he was awarded the Institute of Acoustics A.B. Wood Medal 1988. Subsequently he helped to develop a research programme on the nonlinear propagation of ultrasound in medical fields that investigated these fields both numerically and experimentally. He was awarded the University of Bath Mary Tasker Award for excellence in teaching in 1995.

Course 1C:
Ultrasound contrast agents: Theory and experiment
Nico de Jong (1) and Michel Versluis (2) (1 Erasmus MC and 2 University of Twente, The Netherlands)

The course consists of 6 topics:
a) An overview will be presented of the (clinical and pre-clinical available) contrast agents, including the properties and characteristics of the gas inside the bubble and the shell surrounding it.
b) Models of the behavior of small bubbles in an ultrasound field will be discussed. Simple models based on a one dimensional mass-spring system and more complicated models including gas and shell properties.
c) Experimental acoustic methods for UCA will be presented for characterizing the bubbles in suspension, including harmonic and subharmonic scattering, absorption and attenuation. Also the influence of ambient pressure, temperature and gas concentration will be discussed.
d) Experimental optical and acoustical methods for characterizing individual bubbles.
e) Imaging methods for contrast agents, e.g. fundamental, harmonic, subharmonic and superharmonic and multi-pulse methods like pulse inversion, power modulation etc. and new methods including chirp excitation and radial modulation.
f) Molecular imaging and ultrasound mediated drug delivery: Interaction between mammalian cells and ultrasound in the presence of (targetted) bubbles will be discussed.

Nico de Jong graduated from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, in 1978. He got his M.Sc. in the field of pattern recognition. Since 1980, he has been a staff member of the Thoraxcenter of the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. At the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, he developed linear and phased array ultrasonic probes for medical diagnosis, especially compound and transesophageal transducers. In 1986 his interest in ultrasound applications shifted toward the theoretical and practical background of ultrasound contrast agents. In 1993 he received his Ph.D. for "Acoustic properties of ultrasound contrast agents." His current interests are 3D (matrix) transducers, bubble behaviour and fast framing camera systems. Since 1996 he organizes, together with the cardiologist Dr. Folkert ten Cate, the annual European Symposium on Ultrasound Contrast Imaging, held in Rotterdam and attended by approximately 175 scientists from all over the world. Since 2003 Nico de Jong is part-time professor at the University of Twente.

Michel Versluis graduated in Physics in 1988 at the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, with a special interest in Molecular Physics and Astrophysics. Later, he specialized in the application of intense tunable UV lasers for flame diagnostics resulting in a successful defense of his PhD thesis in 1992. Michel Versluis is now a lecturer at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, in the Physics of Fluids group working on the experimental study of bubbles and jets in multiphase flows and granular flows. He also works on the use of microbubbles as a tool for medical diagnosis and therapy. Dr. Versluis teaches various courses in Fluid Mechanics, one of them focusing on the physics of bubbles.

Course 1D:
Estimation and Imaging of Tissue Motion and Blood Velocity
Hans Torp (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway)

This course provides basic understanding of physical principles and signal processing methods for estimation of blood flow and tissue motion. The course starts with an overview of currently used techniques for velocity estimation in pulsed and continuous wave Doppler and color Doppler imaging. Statistical models for the received signal, as well as commonly used velocity and flow estimators are developed. Several different simulation methods for ultrasound signals from moving blood and clutter signals will be discussed. Efficient simulation tools to explore estimator properties are derived, and examples on implementation in Matlab will be shown. Methods to suppress clutter signals from slowly moving targets, including regression filter will be discussed. Elements from classical estimation theory will be applied to develop minimum variance estimators for velocity and velocity gradients. Velocity components transversal to the ultrasound beam cannot be measured by Doppler techniques. However, several approaches to overcome this limitation have been developed, including speckle tracking, transit time measurements, and lateral beam modulation. Principles and practical limitations will be discussed. Applications in blood velocity imaging, myocardial velocity- and strain imaging, as well as elastography will be shown.

Hans Torp received the MS degree in mathematics in 1978, and the Dr. Techn. degree in electrical engineering in 1992; both from the University of Trondheim, Norway. Since 1980 he has been working with ultrasound technology applied to blood flow measurements and imaging at the University of Trondheim, in cooperation with GE-Vingmed Ultrasound. He is currently professor of medical technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and has since 1987 given courses on ultrasound imaging and blood flow measurements for students in electrical engineering and biophysics. His research interests include statistical signal- and image processing with applications in medical ultrasound imaging.

Course 2A:
Submitting a Paper to the Transactions of the UFFC: A Helpful Look at the Peaks, Perils and Pitfalls along the Peer Review Pathway to Publication
Associate Editor-in-Chief Marjorie Passini Yuhas (Industrial Measurement Systems) along with various reviewers and Associate Editors

This is a special seminar with attendance limited to IEEE UFFC members-only. We will review the process of constructing a paper according to IEEE guidelines, submitting on-line to Manuscript Central, and working with the assigned Associate Editor to quickly and efficiently move from manuscript to publication. Learn how to traverse a fast path through the submission, review, revision and publication processes using the "secrets" for a well constructed paper that conveys clearly the new scientific knowledge within the paper and includes appropriate references to the prior literature. Learn how to deal with reviewers' comments - both when they are right and when they may be wrong!

Both positive and negative examples gleaned from the Transactions will be used to illustrate various lessons. Those who are currently struggling with submissions or revisions should attend with their questions. This will not be a technical dialogue on the content of any specific paper, but an interactive discussion of the process for managing the generation of a well written and well reviewed paper.

Dr. Marjorie Passini Yuhas has been Associate Editor in Chief for the Transactions of the UFFC since 2002. In January of 2008, she will assume the responsibilities of Editor in Chief. She is currently Vice President of Industrial Measurement Systems in Aurora, IL. IMS, Inc. is a research and development firm that creates measurement systems to speed product development, measure critical material properties and improve product quality. In 2001, Dr. Yuhas retired from Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies after twenty-three years. For nineteen years of those years, she was in technical management in both Wire line and Wireless telecommunications. She was specifically involved in the creation of the Intelligent Network and the development and deployment of first generation of ISDN Wire line services and first generation Wireless GSM, CDMA, and TDMA services. While experienced in all phases of large industrial software development, Dr. Yuhas made major contributions to quality management and software manufacturing. While at Lucent Technologies, Dr. Yuhas received the Harvey Fletcher trophy for inventions with extraordinary financial benefits to AT&T. Dr. Yuhas was repeatedly recognized for her personal and professional contributions to the Women’s, Native American, and Asian American communities of Lucent Technologies. Dr. Yuhas had a long-standing involvement in Lucent Technologies college internship programs and minority and women programs. Dr. Yuhas was research associate in the Physics Department at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana developing a program that studied the basic electromagnetic properties of spin glasses at high pressures and low temperatures. Dr. Yuhas received her doctorate from Washington University under the direction of Dr. Daniel Bolef for studies of the quantum mechanical behaviors of dilute magnetic systems using low frequency non-resonant acoustic magnetic techniques. Prior to that, Dr. Yuhas worked in the Laboratory for Space Sciences at Washington University, where she developed a radioactive inclusion dating process that adapted technology from lunar science heat flow studies and radiation damage evaluation techniques.

Course 2B:
Photoacoustic Imaging and Sensing
Stanislav Emelianov (University of Texas at Austin)

This course is designed to provide both a broad overview and a comprehensive understanding of photoacoustic (also known as optoacoustic and, more generally, thermoacoustic) imaging, sensing and spectroscopy. With a brief historical introduction, we will begin the course by examining the foundations of photoacoustics, including derivations and a discussion of governing equations. We will also review relevant optical properties of the tissues and related topics of laser-tissue interaction. The experimental aspects of photoacoustic imaging and sensing will then be discussed with emphasis on system hardware and signal/image processing algorithms. Techniques to increase contrast and to differentiate various tissues in photoacoustic imaging will be presented. The course will conclude with an overview of several experimental systems capable of photoacoustic imaging, and discussion of current and potential biomedical and clinical applications of photoacoustics.

Stanislav Emelianov received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics and Acoustics in 1986 and 1989, respectively, from the Moscow State University, and a Ph.D. degree in Physics in 1993 from the Moscow State University and the Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1989, he joined the Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, where he was engaged in both mathematical modeling of soft tissue biomechanics and experimental studies of noninvasive visualization of the mechanical properties of tissue. Following his graduate work, he moved to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as a post-Doctoral Fellow in the Bioengineering Program and in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Emelianov was a Research Scientist at the Biomedical Ultrasonics Laboratory of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Michigan. During his tenure at Michigan, Dr. Emelianov was involved primarily in the theoretical and practical aspects of elasticity imaging using ultrasound and MRI. Dr. Emelianov is currently teaching and conducting research in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests are in medical imaging and therapeutics, including ultrasound, photoacoustic, elasticity and multi-modality imaging, photothermal therapy, cellular/molecular imaging and therapy, functional imaging, etc.

Course 2C:
Ultrasound Imaging Systems: from Principles to Implementation
Kai E. Thomenius (General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA)

The design of medical ultrasound imagers is undergoing important changes brought about by advances in semiconductor and signal/image processing technologies coupled with changes in the hospital and its utilization of medical imaging. Unique aspects of data acquisition and processing in the ultrasound scanner open up opportunities not available to other imaging modalities. The goal of this course is to review the system design of ultrasound scanners from a linear systems point of view including transduction, beam formation, and image formation functions. We will discuss analytical methods used in developing the design of a scanner in use today. The key points to be covered deal with methods of analysis of array data, the interaction of transmit and receive beams with clinically relevant targets, and how this interaction is used in acquisition of clinically useful data. The means by which these analytical methods contribute to a system design and the trade-offs involved are reviewed. The last several years have seen steady migration of functionality into software. The impact of this on system design and the size of ultrasound scanners of the future will be discussed.

Kai E. Thomenius is a Chief Technologist in the Imaging Technologies Organization at General Electric's Global Research facility in Niskayuna, NY. His focus is on Ultrasound and Biomedical Engineering. Previously, he has held senior R&D roles at ATL Ultrasound, Inc., Interspec Inc., Elscint, Inc., as well as several other ultrasound companies, and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he teaches a course in general imaging. Dr. Thomenius' academic background is in electrical engineering with a minor in physiology; all of his degrees are from Rutgers University. His long-term interests have been in ultrasound beamformation and miniaturization of ultrasound scanners, propagation of acoustic waves in inhomogeneous media such as tissue, the potential of bioeffects due to those acoustic beams, and determination of physiological information from the echoes that arise from such beams. Dr. Thomenius is a Fellow of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Course 2D:
Regulatory and Safety Issues in Medical Ultrasound
Oganizer: Keith Wear (FDA)

Many studies have demonstrated potential bioeffects associated with ultrasound exposure. In order to address safety as well as performance of medical ultrasound devices, the FDA has developed regulatory guidance for pre-clinical testing and evaluation, including establishing limits regarding diagnostic ultrasound acoustic output. This course will consider legal and scientific foundations for the FDA exposure limits. Topics will include basic medical device regulatory law, regulatory guidance, indexes of acoustic output, methods of and advances in measuring acoustic output, thermal bioeffects, mechanical bioeffects, and bioeffects associated with ultrasound contrast agents.

The course will be taught by several instructors: J. Brian Fowlkes (University of Michigan), Gerald R. Harris (FDA), Christy K. Holland (University of Cincinnati), Peter A. Lewin (Drexel University), William D. O'Brien, Jr. (University of Illinois), Keith A. Wear (FDA), James Zachary (University of Illinois).

Course 3A:
Conservative Finite Difference Method and Allied Topics
Alireza Baghai-Wadji (RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)

Unfortunately this course has been cancelled...

Course 3B:
Medical Ultrasound Transducers
Douglas G. Wildes and L. Scott Smith (General Electric Global Research, Niskayuna, NY, USA)

This course will provide an introduction to the design, fabrication, and testing of medical ultrasound transducers. Starting from an overview of the basic types of phased-array transducers (linear, convex, sector), we will discuss how the design for a probe is derived from its target application and how equivalent-circuit, finite-element, and acoustic field models can be used to optimize the design and accurately predict performance. A discussion of the structure of an ultrasound probe will lead to a survey of the different types of materials used in probes and their critical properties. Typical fabrication processes will be introduced and common problems in probe manufacturing will be summarized. Methods for evaluating completed transducers will be discussed. The course will highlight recent developments in probe technology, including. single crystal piezoelectrics, cMUT transducers, catheters, multi-row and 2D arrays, and electronics in probes, and will discuss performance advantages and fabrication difficulties which may be associated with each.

Douglas G. Wildes is a physicist with GE Global Research. He earned an A.B. in physics and mathematics from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in low-temperature physics from Cornell University, then joined GE in 1985. Since 1991, Dr. Wildes’ research has focused on aperture design, fabrication processes, and high-density interconnect technology for multi-row and 2D transducers for medical ultrasound. Dr. Wildes has 22 issued patents and 18 external publications. He is a member of the American Physical Society and a Senior Member of the IEEE.

L. Scott Smith is a physicist with GE Global Research. He earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Rochester and the University of Pennsylvania respectively. Joining GE in 1976, he developed phased array probes for medical ultrasound. More recently, he examined novel probe materials and led projects on pediatric endoscopes and adaptive acoustics. Dr. Smith has 40 issued patents and over 35 refereed publications. He is a member of the American Physical Society and a Senior Member of the IEEE where he serves as Vice Chair for Transducers on the Ultrasonics Symposium’s Technical Program Committee.

Course 3C:
Therapeutic Ultrasound
Lawrence Crum (University of Washington)

Although the use of ultrasound for therapy had ambitious beginning with the work of the Fry brothers in the 1950’s, it is only in the last decade or so that it has gained some prominence as a clinical modality. The list of applications can be quite large and broadly include: thrombolysis, lithotripsy, drug delivery, gene therapy, wound healing, tissue regeneration, bone fracture healing, fat emulsification, acoustic hemostasis, and tumor ablation, to name just a few. This course will review recent and selected developments in this general area, provide scientific explanations for some of the more interesting (to the instructor) phenomena, and offer speculations for future technology developments in this field. Emphasis will be devoted to those areas in which the instructor has on-going research activity or specialized knowledge.

Lawrence A. Crum is currently Principal Physicist and Founder/Former Director of the Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound in the Applied Physics Laboratory, and Research Professor of Bioengineering and Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington. He also works part-time as President of UltraSound Technologies, Inc., a company he founded in 2001. He has held previous positions at Harvard University, the U. S. Naval Academy and the University of Mississippi, where he was F. A. P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of Physics and Director of the National Center for Physical Acoustics. He has published over 300 articles in professional journals, holds an honorary doctorate from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, and was recently awarded the Helmholtz-Rayleigh Silver Medal of the Acoustical Society of America. He is Past President of the Acoustical Society of America and of the Board of the International Commission for Acoustics. His principal areas of interest are therapeutic ultrasound, physical acoustics, and image-guided therapy.

Course 3D:
Micro and Nano Scale Ultrasonic Sensors and Actuators
Amit Lal (1) and B. (Pierre) T. Khuri-Yakub (2) (1 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY and 2 Stanford University, Stanford, CA)

The goal of this course is to introduce the fundamentals of micromachining, the latest in micro and nano machining techniques, and the way they affect the design and performance of ultrasonic sensors and actuators. The first part of this course will cover established micromachining techniques, such as bulk micromachining and surface micromachining on silicon. The effect of fabrication conditions on material properties and dimensions, and their effects on ultrasonic device design will be presented. The following topics will be discussed with the help of case studies:
(1) Electrostatic actuation of micromachined membranes: Nonlinearities and effective electromechanical coupling,
(2) Comparison of bulk-PZT and thin-film piezoelectric actuation of bulk and surface micromachined structures, and silicon horn design,
(3) microphones and speakers, and
(4) Nonlinear ultrasound in microfluidic devices.

Amit Lal is an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University. He received his Ph. D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996, and the B.S. degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1990. Amit Lal directs the SonicMEMS group at Cornell University, which focuses on ultrasonics, micromachining, modeling of piezoelectric systems, use of radioactive energy sources in microsystems, and design and analysis of integrated circuits. Specifically his group focuses on design principles for ultrasonically driven MEMS for actuation of microstructures and fluids, and radioactive power sources for autonomous MEMS. He holds several patents, relating to micromachined acoustic sources/receivers, silicon-based high-intensity ultrasonic actuators, microfluidic devices, and power sources. He is also the recipient of the NSF CAREER award for research on applications of ultrasonic pulses to MEMS. He serves on the Technical Committee on Physical Acoustics in the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society.

B. (Pierre) T. Khuri-Yakub is a professor of electrical engineering at Stanford University. He received his Ph. D. from Stanford University in 1975, the M.S. degree from Dartmouth College in 1972, and the B.S. from the American University of Beirut, all in electrical engineering. Professor Khuri-Yakub's group research is presently focused on the development of micro-machined ultrasonic transducers and their applications to real time volumetric ultrasound imaging, real time functional photo-acoustic medical imaging, and therapy. Other research activities involve micro-machined drop ejectors and bio-fluidic sensors and actuators. Prof. Khuri-Yakub has extensive patents and publications in the areas of thin film transducers, analog convolvers and correlators, acoustic microscopy, non-destructive evaluation, in-situ sensors, and micro-machined transducers and medical imaging.