Two Dimension (2D) elasticity maps of coagulation of blood using SuperSonic Shearwave Imaging

Miguel Bernal , Jean-Luc Gennisson (1) , Patrice Flaud , Mickaël Tanter (2)

1 LOA - Laboratoire Ondes et Acoustique (UMR 7587)
2 IL - Institut Langevin - Ondes et Images (UMR7587)

Introduction. Deep venous thrombosis affects millions of people worldwide. A fatal complication occurs when the thrombi detach and creating a pulmonary embolism. The diagnosis and treatment of DVT depends on clot's age. It has been shown that the elasticity of thrombi is closely related to its age. Methods. Blood from 9 live pigs was collected and anticoagulated using EDTA. Coagulation was initiated using calcium ions in saline solution. SuperSonic shear wave imaging was used to generate shear waves using 100 µs tonebursts of 8 MHz at 3 different location in the lateral direction. Tracking of the shear waves was done by ultrafast imaging. Results. Two dimensional (2D) map of elasticity were obtained by calculating the speed of shear wave propagation. Elasticity varied with time from 50 Pa at coagulation to 1300 Pa at 120 minutes. Ejection of the serum from the clot showed to decreased the elasticity of the clot next to liquid pool, corresponding to the detachment of the clot from the beaker wall. Conclusion. SuperSonic imaging proved to be useful mapping the elasticity of clots in 2D. It allows the visualization of the heterogeneity of mechanical properties of thrombi and has potential use in predicting thrombi breakage.

Mots clés: Blood coagulation; Shear elasticity; elasticity map; Deep venous thrombosis

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Miguel Bernal, Jean-Luc Gennisson, Patrice Flaud, Mickaël Tanter. Two Dimension (2D) elasticity maps of coagulation of blood using SuperSonic Shearwave Imaging. Acoustics 2012, Apr 2012, Nantes, France. ⟨hal-00810824⟩