Development of a Fluid Dynamic Model for Quantitative Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging

IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2018 Feb;37(2):372-383. doi: 10.1109/TMI.2017.2743099. Epub 2017 Aug 29.

Abstract

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a non-invasive imaging technique extensively used for blood perfusion imaging of various organs. This modality is based on the acoustic detection of gas-filled microbubble contrast agents used as intravascular flow tracers. Recent efforts aim at quantifying parameters related to the enhancement in the vascular compartment using time-intensity curve (TIC), and at using these latter as indicators for several pathological conditions. However, this quantification is mainly hampered by two reasons: first, the quantification intrinsically solely relies on temporal intensity variation, the explicit spatial transport of the contrast agent being left out. Second, the exact relationship between the acquired US-signal and the local microbubble concentration is hardly accessible. This paper introduces the use of a fluid dynamic model for the analysis of dynamic CEUS (DCEUS), in order to circumvent the two above-mentioned limitations. A new kinetic analysis is proposed in order to quantify the velocity amplitude of the bolus arrival. The efficiency of proposed methodology is evaluated both in-vitro, for the quantitative estimation of microbubble flow rates, and in-vivo, for the classification of placental insufficiency (control versus ligature) of pregnant rats from DCEUS. Besides, for the in-vivo experimental setup, we demonstrated that the proposed approach outperforms the performance of existing TIC-based methods.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Contrast Media / analysis
  • Contrast Media / chemistry*
  • Contrast Media / pharmacokinetics
  • Female
  • Hydrodynamics
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
  • Microbubbles*
  • Models, Biological
  • Pregnancy
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Ultrasonography / methods*

Substances

  • Contrast Media