Cross-section scattering is a measure of the scattering strength of a point scatterer. The scattering strength is dependent on the size of the scatterer, the density and compressibility of the scatterer and the surrounding medium, and the ultrasound wavelength.
If a transducer emits ultrasound with a total acoustic power of P, and the power is assumed to be uniform distributed over the US beam cross-sectional area, then the ultrasound intensity at a certain range, is defined by:
I = P/A
where I is the intensity, and A is the cross-sectional beam area at that range.
A point scatterer located in the ultrasound beam at this range, will scatter the ultrasound with a total acoustic power of Ps, defined by:
Ps = I s
where s is the scattering cross-section of the point scatterer.

Ultrasound waves are reflected when there is a change in acoustic impedance. The larger the change, the more ultrasound is reflected. Microbubbles have an enormous difference in acoustic impedance as compared to surrounding fluid due to the large differences in density, elasticity and compressibility.
At low acoustic power (mechanical index less than 0.1), the mechanism of ultrasound reflection is that of Rayleigh scattering and the microbubbles may be regarded as point scatterers. The scattering strength of a point scatterer is proportional to the sixth power of the particle radius and to the fourth power of the ultrasound frequency;; the echogenicity of such contrast agent is therefore highly dependent upon particle size and transmit frequency. The backscattered intensity of a group of point scatterers is furthermore directly proportional to the total number of scatterers in the insonified volume. The concentration of the contrast medium is of importance.

See also Backscatter Energy, Cross-section Scattering.

Non-linear scattering describes in physics the conversion of a photon from one wavelength to one or more other wavelengths. In ultrasound, non-linear scattering is the generation of an echo containing higher harmonics. In the case of a microbubble, the oscillation is asymmetric with time, producing echoes with even harmonics.

See also Cross-section Scattering.

The scattering strength is proportional to the sixth power of the radius of the point scatterer, and furthermore inversely proportional to the fourth power of the ultrasound wavelength (i.e., proportional to the fourth power of the ultrasound frequency).
The scattering strength of a point scatterer is measured by cross-section scattering.

See also Proportionality Constant, Backscattering.