Measurement of biomechanical properties of transversely isotropic biological tissue using traveling wave expansion

Shengyuan Ma; Zhao He; Runke Wang; Aili Zhang; Qingfang Sun; Jun Liu; Fuhua Yan; Michael S Sacks; Xi-Qiao Feng; Guang-Zhong Yang; Yuan Feng

doi:10.1016/j.media.2025.103457

Measurement of biomechanical properties of transversely isotropic biological tissue using traveling wave expansion

Med Image Anal. 2025 Jan 9:101:103457. doi: 10.1016/j.media.2025.103457. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shengyuan Ma¹, Zhao He¹, Runke Wang¹, Aili Zhang², Qingfang Sun³, Jun Liu⁴, Fuhua Yan⁵, Michael S Sacks⁶, Xi-Qiao Feng⁷, Guang-Zhong Yang¹, Yuan Feng⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China; Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200040, China; National Engineering Research Center of Advanced Magnetic Resonance Technologies for Diagnosis and Therapy (NERC-AMRT), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200040, China.
² School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
⁴ Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
⁵ Department of Radiology, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
⁶ James T. Willerson Center for Cardiovascular Modeling & Simulation, Cockrell School of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX 78705, USA.
⁷ Institute of Biomechanics and Medical Engineering, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
⁸ School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China; Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200040, China; National Engineering Research Center of Advanced Magnetic Resonance Technologies for Diagnosis and Therapy (NERC-AMRT), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200040, China; Department of Radiology, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39818007
DOI: 10.1016/j.media.2025.103457

Abstract

The anisotropic mechanical properties of fiber-embedded biological tissues are essential for understanding their development, aging, disease progression, and response to therapy. However, accurate and fast assessment of mechanical anisotropy in vivo using elastography remains challenging. To address the dilemma of achieving both accuracy and efficiency in this inverse problem involving complex wave equations, we propose a computational framework that utilizes the traveling wave expansion model. This framework leverages the unique wave characteristics of transversely isotropic material and physically meaningful operator combinations. The analytical solutions for inversion are derived and engineering optimization is made to adapt to actual scenarios. Measurement results using simulations, ex vivo muscle tissue, and in vivo human white matter validate the framework in determining in vivo anisotropic biomechanical properties, highlighting its potential for measurement of a variety of fiber-embedded biological tissues.

Keywords: Anisotropic elastography reconstruction; Magnetic resonance elastography; Transversely isotropic; Traveling wave expansion.