The intensity reflection coefficient: a complementary method for investigating blood backscattering properties with ultrasound.

Parametric imaging of backscatter indices is an active field of research in ultrasound (US) tissue characterization. The US intensity reflection coefficient (IRC) is introduced to characterize porcine blood in a Couette shear flow system. US properties of red blood cells (RBCs) were investigated at shear rates of 5 s(-1) and 500 s(-1) for hematocrits ranging from 0 to 54%.

Compressibility of nano inclusions in complex fluids by ultrasound velocity measurements.

We present a high precision ultrasonic velocimeter for a small volume sample (1 cm3) for a path length of 1 cm achieved. The method used is based on the time of flight measurement with an original signal processing technique: the barycenter method. With our system, we have measured the sound velocity with an accuracy of 10(-5).

Optimizing an ultrasound contrast agent's stability using in vitro attenuation measurements.

Rationale And Objectives: To evaluate the changes in the microbubble population of a currently available ultrasound contrast agent (USCA) through attenuation measurements to optimize its clinical use.

Materials And Methods: The microbubble population from a galactose-based USCA (Levovist, Schering AG, Germany) was characterized in vitro using attenuation measurements. The effect of dose (0.