Magnitudes of the Harmonic Components Emitted from Utrasonic Contrast Agents in Response to a Diagnostic Utrasound: Theoretical Consideration

This study considers the magnitude of the harmonic components radiated from the ultrasonic contrast agents (UCA) activated by a typical diagnostic ultrasound. The nonlinear dynamic response of UCA to a 2 MHz diagnostic ultrasound pulse was predicted using Gilmore Model. The elastic property of the shell membrane of the UCA was ignored in the numerical model. Simulation was carried out for the UCA varying from 1 - 9 m in its initial radius and the driving diagnostic ultrasound whose mechanical index (MI) ranges from 0.125 to 8. The powers of the sub. ultra and second harmonics of the acoustic signal from the UCA activated were compared with that of the fundamental component. The results show that. if the UCA is bigger than its resonant size (2 m in radius for the present case) the sub harmonic power was much bigger than the fundamental. In particular, the 2nd harmonic component currently used as an imaging parameter for the harmonic imaging, was predicted to be lower in power than both the sub and the ultra harmonic component. This study indicates that, for obtaining harmonic imaging with UCA, the sub or ultra harmonics could be taken as imaging parameters better than the 2nd harmonic component.