Simulation and analysis of magnetic resonance elastography wave images using coupled harmonic oscillators and Gaussian local frequency estimation

New methods for simulating and analyzing Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) images are introduced. To simulate a two-dimensional shear wave pattern, the wave equation is solved for a field of coupled harmonic oscillators with spatially varying coupling and damping coefficients in the presence of an external force. The spatial distribution of the coupling and the damping constants are derived from an MR image of the investigated object. To validate the simulation as well as to derive the elasticity modules from experimental MRE images, the wave patterns are analyzed using a Local Frequency Estimation (LFE) algorithm based on Gauss filter functions with variable bandwidths. The algorithms are tested using an Agar gel phantom with spatially varying elasticity constants. Simulated wave patterns and LFE results show a high agreement with experimental data. Furthermore, brain images with estimated elasticities for gray and white matter as well as for exemplary tumor tissue are used to simulate experimental MRE data. The calculations show that already small distributions of pathologically changed brain tissue should be detectable by MRE even within the limit of relatively low shear wave excitation frequency around 0.2 kHz. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.