• Transient displacement of a mechanical wave propagating in ex-vivo porcine eye.

Acoustic micro-tapping for non-contact 4D imaging of tissue elasticity

The researchers demonstrate acoustic micro-tapping – the use of focused ultrasound propagating in air to generate transient mechanical waves – as a non-invasive approach to dynamic elastography for mapping the elasticity of biological tissue without any physical contact. They propose to use it with 4-D phase-sensitive optical coherence tomography to create a tool for ophthalmology, dermatology and other applications where direct contact with the tissue being studied may be undesirable.