A regularization-free Young´s modulus reconstruction algorithm for ultrasound elasticity imaging

Ultrasound elasticity imaging aims to reconstruct the distribution of elastic modulus (e.g., Young´s modulus) within biological tissues, since the value of elastic modulus is often related to pathological changes. Currently, most elasticity imaging algorithms face a challenge of choosing the value of the regularization constant. We propose a more applicable algorithm without the need of any regularization. This algorithm is not only simple to use, but has a relatively high accuracy. Our method comprises of a nonrigid registration technique and tissue incompressibility assumption to estimate the two-dimensional (2D) displacement field, and finite element method (FEM) to reconstruct the Young´s modulus distribution. Simulation and phantom experiments are performed to evaluate the algorithm. Simulation and phantom results showed that the proposed algorithm can reconstruct the Young´s modulus with an accuracy of 63~85%.