Measurement of the Attenuation of Ultrasound in Selected Biological Tissues from Nigerian Livestock

Ultrasound attenuation in biological tissues is a fundamental parameter for diagnostic medical imaging and therapeutic ultrasound applications. Characterising the acoustic properties of tissues from Nigerian livestock species supports veterinary diagnostic imaging and contributes to the database of tissue acoustic properties for African species. This study measures the ultrasound attenuation coefficients of liver, muscle, and fat tissues harvested from Sokoto Gudali cattle and WAD goats at the Sokoto State abattoir. Tissue samples of standardised thickness are placed in a water bath between a broadband ultrasound transducer pair operating at centre frequencies of 2.25 and 5 MHz. Substitution measurement of transmitted pulse amplitude at multiple tissue thicknesses yields the frequency-dependent attenuation coefficient. Results indicate attenuation coefficients of 0.52 dB per centimetre-MHz for bovine liver, 0.78 dB per centimetre-MHz for muscle, and 0.48 dB per centimetre-MHz for fat tissue at 3.5 MHz. These values are comparable to published human tissue data within 15 percent. Frequency dependence follows a power law with exponents between 1.1 and 1.4. The dataset supports calibration of veterinary ultrasound systems at the National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State. Keywords: ultrasound attenuation, biological tissue, livestock, acoustic properties, veterinary imaging