High frame rate imaging of microbubble contrast agents

The advent of microbubble contrast agents has transformed the way blood flow and tissue perfusion can be imaged using ultrasound in cardiovascular and oncological applications. The high echogenicity offered by the microbubbles greatly enhances ultrasound echoes from within the blood, making imaging of micro-vascular flow and tissue perfusion possible. Recent advances in high frame rate (HFR) ultrasound, which uses non-focused wave transmission, parallel data acquisition and digital beamforming, enable an imaging frame rate two orders of magnitude higher than the existing line-by-line scanning approach. A combination of HFR ultrasound with microbubble contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) offers new exciting opportunities in imaging with unprecedented resolution and contrast. The HFR allows better tracking of fast moving target such as arterial flow and cardiac motion. Even for slow moving target, by processing the large amount of data afforded by HFR ultrasound significant improvement in image contrast/sign...