Imaging the rat liver and heart with a 3D motion corrected acoustic angiography system

Acoustic Angiography enables high resolution and high SNR imaging of microbubble contrast agents. The technique relies on pulsing and receiving at two widely separated acoustic bandwidths to reject signal from the tissue. To date this technique has been used to evaluate microvasculature within tumors and kidneys, but has not been used to visualize in vivo blood flow within heart, or liver. These targets are challenging to image due to their proximal locations to the lungs and thus increased susceptibility to respiration artifacts. We tested a new acquisition approach to allow semi-automated microvascular imaging of these organs without relying on respiratory gating electronics.