Sound speed imaging of small animal organs by ultrasound computed tomography

Sound speed is an important acoustic parameter for tissue characterization. Herein we developed an ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) system for ex vivo sound speed imaging and evaluation of small animal organs. The proposed USCT system employs a 256-element ring array transducer and allows simultaneous signal transmission and reception for all channels. The method does not require complicated sample preparation procedures and can yield accurate measurement results. Experimental results show that sound speeds of excised rat brain, heart, liver, spleen, and kidney measured by the method are close to published data. This work demonstrates a new method for sound speed imaging and holds potential for in vivo applications.