Tissue characterization using quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters has received significant attention in recent years due to its potential to improve the detection and diagnosis of diseased states. However, the vast majority of studies in QUS tissue typing have used parameters derived from either longitudinal or shear waves in isolation, thereby discarding potentially useful complementary information these parameters may carry. In this study, the simultaneous estimation of backscatter coefficients (derived from longitudinal waves) and shear modulus (derived from shear waves) was implemented on data from a clinical scanner. Both parameters were estimated from five ex vivo porcine kidney samples and used to calculate the anisotropy ratio in the parameters when analyzing the middle and pole regions of the kidneys. For all samples, the estimated parameters were higher in the pole regions...

Echographic imaging depicts anatomical structure by displaying the magnitude of the envelope-detected backscattered echoes. However, ultrasonic radiofrequency data contains a richer information content that can be exploited for constructing images of intrinsic tissue properties. In particular, spectral-based ultrasonic tissue characterization techniques allow imaging parameters such as the backscatter coefficient and the attenuation coefficient. Even though this type of analysis has been explored for decades, several challenges ranging from technical algorithmic issues to the lack of widely validated, successful clinical applications have limited efforts directed towards these imaging modalities. In this article, recent developments are reviewed such as the use of plane wave compounding for improving imaging penetration, simultaneous estimation of backscatter coefficients and shear wave ...

“There is a growing demand from the general public regarding nutrition topics that has prompted social media such as magazines, newspapers, television, radio and the internet to include more nutritional content. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of nutrition information published by health weeklies in the surroundings of four hospitals in Lima, Peru. A cross- sectional study was conducted using a mixed methodological design involving both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Thirtyseven hard copies of 4 health weeklies were purchased over the 10- week study period. Bivariate Logistic Regression was performed to examine all available journal characteristics associated with the quality of provided information. Logistic Regression Models were estimated for the independent variables that showed statistical significance in the bivariate analysis. Weekly publications with...