Abstract
Nanoscale phase-change contrast agents (PCCAs) have been found to have great potential
in non-invasive extravascular imaging and therapeutic delivery. However, the contrast-to-tissue
ratio (CTR) of PCCA images is usually limited because of either physiological motion
or incomplete cancelation of tissue signal. Therefore, to improve the CTR of PCCA
images in the presence of physiological motion, a new imaging technique, ultrafast
inter-frame activation ultrasound (UIAU) imaging, is proposed and validated. Results
of studies with controlled motion in tissue-mimicking phantoms indicate UIAU could
provide significantly higher CTRs (maximum: 17.3 ± 0.9 dB) relative to conventional
pulse inversion imaging (maximum CTR: 3.4 ± 1.4 dB). UIAU has CTRs up to 16.1 ± 1.0
dB relative to 3.9 ± 2.3 dB for differential imaging in the presence of physiological
motion at 20 mm/s. In vivo imaging of PCCAs in the rat liver also reveals the ability of UIAU to enhance PCCA
image contrast in the presence of physiological motion.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 04, 2020
Accepted:
January 26,
2020
Received in revised form:
January 23,
2020
Received:
July 23,
2019
Identification
Copyright
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