Size effect in shear wave elastography of small solid tumors – A phantom study

Ultrasound shear wave elastography (USWE) enables us to quantitatively characterize the mechanical properties of solid tumors and is of clinical importance in differentiating malignant tumors from benign ones. However, limited by the resolution of USWE, it remains challenging in evaluating the elastic properties of tumors with small dimensions. Here we study the size effect in USWE of tumors via phantom experiments. Gelatin phantoms consisted of spherical inclusions and softer matrix were fabricated to model the tumors embedded in surrounding soft tissues. Our results show that elastic moduli E of the phantom tumors measured with conventional USWE are highly related to their diameters d (r > 0.96, P