TY - GEN

T1 - In Vivo Super Resolution Ultrasound Imaging using the Erythrocytes - SURE

AU - Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

AU - Schou, Mikkel

AU - Andersen, Sofie Bech

AU - Tomov, Borislav G.

AU - Søgaard, Stinne Byrholdt

AU - Sørensen, Charlotte Mehlin

AU - Nielsen, Michael Bachmann

AU - Gundlach, Carsten

AU - Kjer, Hans Martin

AU - Dahl, Anders Bjorholm

AU - Stuart, Matthias Bo

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022 IEEE.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Current super resolution imaging is conducted using ultrasound contrast agents, where a sparse distribution of bubbles must be employed to separate individual targets. The sparse targets make the acquisition time long in the range of 1 to 10 minutes, and therefore demands an accurate motion correction over a long time. The employment of a contrast agent also lowers MI to below 0.2 to not disrupt the bubbles, with a corresponding lower signal-to-noise ratio in the images. A new method, SURE (SUper Resolution ultrasound imaging using Erythrocytes), where erythrocytes are used as targets, is suggested to alleviate these problems. Perfused tissues contain an abundance of targets, and the full clinical pressure range can be used. It is hypothesized that super resolution imaging below the diffraction limit can be attained in seconds using SURE imaging. A SURE processing pipeline was developed with modules for beamforming, tissue motion estimation, alignment, singular value decomposition for echo canceling, and subsequent peak detection in the speckle pattern. The detected peaks were summed in a high-resolution image for yielding the SURE image. Data were acquired using a 10 MHz linear array GE L10-18i probe (150 μm wavelength) and a Verasonics Vantage 256 scanner. A synthetic aperture scan sequence with 12 emissions was employed at a pulse repetition frequency of 5 kHz for a 417 Hz frame rate. Kidneys of Sprague-Dawley rats were scanned for 24 seconds and RF data stored for off-line processing. The excised kidneys were micro-CT scanned for 11 hours for generating reference maps of the vasculature with a voxel size of 21 μm. SURE images revealed vessels with sizes down to 50 μm. Fourier ring correlations between independent images measured for 12 s revealed a resolution between 25 to 49 μm, demonstrating the super resolution capability of the method. The SURE images are obtained in 1 to 12 seconds, demand no injection of intravenous contrast agents, and can use the full pressure and intensity range allowed in medical ultrasound, making the method easily adaptable to clinical use.

AB - Current super resolution imaging is conducted using ultrasound contrast agents, where a sparse distribution of bubbles must be employed to separate individual targets. The sparse targets make the acquisition time long in the range of 1 to 10 minutes, and therefore demands an accurate motion correction over a long time. The employment of a contrast agent also lowers MI to below 0.2 to not disrupt the bubbles, with a corresponding lower signal-to-noise ratio in the images. A new method, SURE (SUper Resolution ultrasound imaging using Erythrocytes), where erythrocytes are used as targets, is suggested to alleviate these problems. Perfused tissues contain an abundance of targets, and the full clinical pressure range can be used. It is hypothesized that super resolution imaging below the diffraction limit can be attained in seconds using SURE imaging. A SURE processing pipeline was developed with modules for beamforming, tissue motion estimation, alignment, singular value decomposition for echo canceling, and subsequent peak detection in the speckle pattern. The detected peaks were summed in a high-resolution image for yielding the SURE image. Data were acquired using a 10 MHz linear array GE L10-18i probe (150 μm wavelength) and a Verasonics Vantage 256 scanner. A synthetic aperture scan sequence with 12 emissions was employed at a pulse repetition frequency of 5 kHz for a 417 Hz frame rate. Kidneys of Sprague-Dawley rats were scanned for 24 seconds and RF data stored for off-line processing. The excised kidneys were micro-CT scanned for 11 hours for generating reference maps of the vasculature with a voxel size of 21 μm. SURE images revealed vessels with sizes down to 50 μm. Fourier ring correlations between independent images measured for 12 s revealed a resolution between 25 to 49 μm, demonstrating the super resolution capability of the method. The SURE images are obtained in 1 to 12 seconds, demand no injection of intravenous contrast agents, and can use the full pressure and intensity range allowed in medical ultrasound, making the method easily adaptable to clinical use.

KW - Flow imaging

KW - Super resolution imaging

KW - Synthetic aperture

KW - Ultrasound imaging

U2 - 10.1109/IUS54386.2022.9958236

DO - 10.1109/IUS54386.2022.9958236

M3 - Conference article

AN - SCOPUS:85143770850

VL - 2022

SP - 1

EP - 4

JO - IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS

JF - IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS

SN - 1948-5719

T2 - 2022 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS 2022

Y2 - 10 October 2022 through 13 October 2022

ER -