Theoretical Study of the Cavitation Mechanism of the Twinkling Artefact in the Ultrasound Imaging of Kidney Stones

Abstract

A numerical model is constructed that allows signals of diagnostic ultrasonic pulses scattered on stones and bubbles to be obtained. The model is based on numerical simulation of the equations of elasticity, which describe the propagation of a small-amplitude perturbation in a solid medium, and on the Nolting–Nepiras equation, which describes the dynamics of a gas bubble. The Doppler processing of the obtained signals is performed with the subsequent construction of an ultrasound image. Results show that the cavitation of gas bubbles produces the twinkling artefact.