Fundamental ultrasonic properties of fresh and formalin fixed brain visualized as parametric images

Objective: The brain is a complex organ with multiple tissue types and a complicated morphology of lobes, folds, ventricles and other structures. The goal of this study was to create detailed parametric images of the brain for four ultrasonic parameters: speed of sound (SOS), frequency slope of attenuation (FSA), integrated backscatter coefficient (IBC) and apparent integrated backscatter (AIB). Methods: Twenty-three, 1-cm thick slices of slices of brain tissue were prepared from the sagittal and coronal planes of nine bovine brains. Ultrasonic measurements were performed before and after formalin fixation using an immersion scanning system equipped with a 5 MHz focused transducer moved in 615 micron steps. The three files below accompany this study as follows: 1. ImageSupplement.pdf contains photographs and parametric images of all specimens in the study. 2. DataTables.pdf contains the values and standard deviations for each ultrasound specimen and ROI type at each timepoint. 3. DataSupplement.xlsx contains the values of the ultrasonic parameters at each pixel for all specimens at all timepoints. The worksheet labeled readme details how the data is presented in the worksheet labeled data.