Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Dietrich Holz

Ralph Sinkus

Michael W P Dargatz

MR elastography is a non-invasive imaging modality in which a visco-elastic region (such as the human breast) is excited by mechanical waves. Present-day approaches are based on transverse waves and on other assumptions which produce artefacts when there are longitudinal wave or reflections within that region. The invention is based on the insight that the results of the MRE measurement are the time-independent solution of the partial differential equations describing exactly the behavior of mechanical waves in visco-elastic material (even for longitudinal waves and in a reflecting environment). Therefore, Young's modulus contained in these equations can be calculated. Moreover, it is proposed to use (predominantly) longitudinal waves. Longitudinal waves are capable of penetrating the human breast, whereas transverse waves are not.

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Henstedt-Ulzburg, Germany

Dietrich Holz