| DESIGN OF A TRANSCRANIAL ULTRASOUND THROMBOLYSIS SYSTEM
![]() Three-dimensional CT reconstruction of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) emerging from the orbital shelf in a 31-year old female patient. The MCA is a common site for ischemic stroke and constitutes the focus of the Transcranial Ultrasound Thrombolysis System (TUTS).
TRANSMISSION OF ULTRASOUND THROUGH THE SKULL
![]() Three-dimensional CT reconstruction of the human skull used to assess the efficacy of transcranial ultrasound as a function of frequency, pulse duration, pulse repetition frequency and transducer orientation.
ULTRASOUND BIOEFFECTS
![]() Recent increases in the pressure output of diagnostic ultrasound scanners have led to an interest in establishing thresholds for bioeffects in many organs including the lungs of mammals. The thresholds of lung damage due to exposure to 6.0 MHz pulsed Doppler or color Doppler ultrasound have been determined in the Sprague-Dawley rat. In addition, the determination of the threshold of lung damage due to 6.75 MHz M-Mode pulses is in progress. Pathologic features of the damage include extravasation of erythrocytes into the alveolar spaces. The above Doppler image was recorded during insonification of a rat lung with a Doppler pulse at an MI of 1.8.
![]() In order to quantify the ultrasound exposure conditions under which damage occurs, the ultrasonic pressure field was measured near ex vivo, aerated rat lung in a water bath. The pressure output of the ATL L10-5 linear array was interrogated near the lung with a Sonic Technologies 0.4-mm bilaminar membrane-type PVDF hydrophone. The above image of the Peak-to-Peak acoustic pressure output of the 6.0 MHz Doppler pulse in the free field focus was created in LabView. Compare with the image below, which reveals the pressure output acquired in with an inflated ex vivo rat lung in the focus of the same scanhead. Note the 50% increase in the peak acoustic output with the inflated lung present in the field (which acts like an acoustic pressure release surface).
![]() ![]() Alignment of 30 MHz Active Cavitation Detector with ATL L10-5 scanhead.
![]() Active Cavitation Detector Electronics.
CHARACTERIZATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF CONTRAST AGENTS
![]() Signal backscattered from a suspension of liposomes in a latex container exposed to 3.5-MHz ultrasound pulses. The strong peaks to the extreme left and right of the waveform are the reflections from the latex walls of the chamber, whilst the portion of the signal in between those two peaks represents the scattering activity of the liposomes themselves.
ASSESSMENT OF THE SEVERITY OF ARTERIAL STENOSIS BY DOPPLER ULTRASOUND
![]() Intraoperative Duplex Doppler Image of flow proximal to arterial graft anastamosis (acquired Day #1).
![]() Transcutaneous Duplex Doppler Image of flow in graft (acquired Day #15)
![]() Centerline mean velocity as a function of distance from a 60% stenosis in 500 ml/min volumetric flow in a femoral artery flow model measured with Doppler ultrasound (two trials) and laser Doppler anemometry (LDA).
![]() Centerline turbulence intensity as a function of distance from the same 60% stenosis in 500 ml/min volumetric flow measured with Doppler ultrasound (two trials) and laser Doppler anemometry (LDA).
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