Whole-Body Human Ultrasound Tomography

We developed a system for whole-body human ultrasound tomography in reflection and transmission modes. A custom 512-element ultrasound receiver array with a rotating single-element ultrasound transmitter are used to generate 2D isotropically resolved images across the entire human cross-section. We demonstrate this technique in regions such as the abdomen and legs in healthy volunteers. Compared to handheld-probe-based ultrasonography, this approach provides a substantially larger field of view, depends less on operator training, and obtains quantitative tissue parameter profiles in addition to reflectivity images. Whole-body ultrasound tomography could be valuable in applications such as organ disease screening, image-guided needle biopsy, and treatment monitoring.