We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




Ultrasound Tool Measures Blood Flow, Images Microvasculature in the Brain

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 03 Jun 2022
Print article
Image: New technique produces super-resolution ultrasound images of tissue microvasculature (Photo courtesy of Pexels)
Image: New technique produces super-resolution ultrasound images of tissue microvasculature (Photo courtesy of Pexels)

To image microscopic vessels and measure blood flow in the brain, researchers use a tool called ultrasound localization microscopy. It works by using microscopic bubbles circulated through the bloodstream as a contrast agent to measure the reflection of high-frequency acoustic waves passing through the body. Until recently, acquiring images this way was slow and data-intensive. Now, researchers have developed a curvelet-based algorithm to quickly measure and reconstruct whole-brain vasculature and blood flow in mouse brains. Their work could be used to enable future research into the neurovascular mechanisms underlying conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.

The approach developed by researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, IL, USA) deploys ultrasound technology to produce whole-brain images of animal microvasculature in just a few seconds. The method relies on rotating and scaling many small, arbitrary curves to fit the local structure of microbubble imaging data. Combining this curvelet model with a sparsity-promoting algorithm produced an efficient and highly generalizable method for measuring blood flow and vasculature from microbubble data in mouse brains.

The method requires a very small amount of microbubble data to reconstruct blood flow and tissue microvasculature. It leverages the inherent sparsity of fast ultrasound imaging and accelerates post-processing to anywhere from 10 to 30 seconds. Microbubbles are widely used as ultrasound imaging contrast in clinical ultrasound of humans, opening the door for future clinical translation of the technology as a noninvasive assessment of stroke, vascular occlusion, and neurovascular health, according to the researchers.

“We have developed a tool that is capable of imaging whole brain microvasculature with very high spatial resolution and depth of penetration,” said Pengfei Song, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering who led the effort. “Our technology is, to the best of our knowledge, the only one that is capable of imaging whole-brain microvasculature at a very high resolution, so this is a very enticing tool for neuroscientists.”

“Many neurological diseases and disorders have a very strong correlation to vascular diseases. Down the road, our ultrasound technology may be a good candidate for a screening technology, due to the low cost, portability, and safety. There is also a strong need to develop this technology for preclinical applications," added Song.

Related Links:
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 

Gold Member
Solid State Kv/Dose Multi-Sensor
AGMS-DM+
New
Portable Radiology System
DRAGON ELITE & CLASSIC
Digital Radiography Acquisition Software
VXvue with PureImpact
New
Digital Radiography Generator
meX+20BT lite

Print article

Channels

Radiography

view channel
:	Image: The AI model could be a valuable adjunct to human radiologists in breast cancer diagnoses and risk prediction (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

AI Model Predicts 5-Year Breast Cancer Risk from Mammograms

Approximately 13% of U.S. women, or one in every eight, are predicted to develop invasive breast cancer over their lifetime, with 1 in 39 women (3%) succumbing to the illness, according to the American... Read more

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: The AI system uses scintigraphy imaging for early diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

AI System Automatically and Reliably Detects Cardiac Amyloidosis Using Scintigraphy Imaging

Cardiac amyloidosis, a condition characterized by the buildup of abnormal protein deposits (amyloids) in the heart muscle, severely affects heart function and can lead to heart failure or death without... Read more

General/Advanced Imaging

view channel
Image: The CIARTIC Move self-driving mobile C-arm has received FDA clearance (Photo courtesy of Siemens)

Self-Driving Mobile C-Arm Reduces Imaging Time during Surgery

Intraoperative imaging faces significant challenges due to staff shortages and the high demands placed on surgical teams in the operating room (OR). A common challenge during many OR procedures is the... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more

Industry News

view channel
Image: Samsung Medison CEO Mr. Yongkwan Kim and Bracco Imaging CEO Dr. Fulvio Renoldi Bracco endorsed a MoU agreement (Photo courtesy of Bracco Group)

Samsung and Bracco Enter Into New Diagnostic Ultrasound Technology Agreement

Samsung Medison (Seoul, South Korea) and Bracco Imaging (Milan, Italy) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement to pioneer a new area for diagnostic ultrasound devices and contrast agents.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.