A 3-D reconstruction solution to current density imaging based on acoustoelectric effect by deconvolution: A simulation study

Hybrid imaging modality combining ultrasound scanning and electrical current density imaging through the acoustoelectric (AE) effect may potentially provide solutions to imaging electrical activities and properties of biological tissues with high spatial resolution. In this study, a 3-D reconstruction solution to ultrasound current source density imaging (UCSDI) by means of Wiener deconvolution is proposed and evaluated through computer simulations. As compared to previous 2-D UCSDI problem, in a 3-D volume conductor with broadly distributed current density field, the AE signal becomes a 3-D convolution between the electric field and the acoustic field, and effective 3-D reconstruction algorithm has not been developed so far. In the proposed method, a 3-D ultrasound scanning is performed while the corresponding AE signals are collected from multiple electrode pairs attached on the surface of the imaging object. From the collected AE signals, the acoustic field and electric field were first decoupled by Wiener deconvolution. Then, the current density distribution was reconstructed by inverse projection. Our simulations using artificial current fields in homogeneous phantoms suggest that the proposed method is feasible and robust against noise. It is also shown that using the proposed method, it is feasible to reconstruct 3-D current density distribution in an inhomogeneous conductive medium.