Currently ultrasound resolution is limited by diffraction.
Typically, the resolutions range between 0.5 and 0.1 mm. With this range, it is possible to visualize major organ structures and blood vessels, but not resolving micro-structures.
Increasing the resolution to the micrometer level has previously been demonstrated by using a sparse set of microbubbles and tracking them through the vasculature. However, this has been performed on fixated tissue only.
The purpose of this project is to devise an ultrasound modality for visualizing the microvasculature in the human body with a resolution in the order of micrometers, having an improvement of 10 to 100 times better than current diffraction limited imaging.
The method must be insensitive to tissue motion, thus, removing the requirement for tissue fixation and expanding the clinical application.
The method will, for the first time, make it feasible to study the microvasculature in real-time on humans to depths of several cm with ms time resolution. It gives a unique ability to study the change in velocity, anatomy, regional perfusion, and pressure regulation in humans and cell cultures. This can have a wide spread impact on the understanding of cancer tumors and function of the human body in-vivo.