Scientists Use Ultrasound for 3D View of Blood Vessels

Advancements in ultrasound technology have yet again provided some amazing results.  Scientists in France have recently been able to use ultrasound techniques to scan the blood vessels, up to 2cm deep, in the brain of a live rat.  The researchers say that this procedure can help with cancer and stroke diagnosis in clinics in the future.

Similar to the ultrasound breakthrough described in our last blog post, the test rat was injected with a large number of tiny bubbles, which help to reflect sound waves, creating a strong “contrast agent” for the ultrasound scanner. The research team then took over 500 images per second, compiling and comparing thousands of these images to create a single, high-resolution view – a process called “ultrafast imaging“.

Two and a half minutes of ultrafast imaging gave Professor Tanter and his team 75,000 images, which allowed them to build a perfect 3D view of the rat’s brain that is very high, microscopic resolution: only 0.01mm pixels in size.

The next step in this breakthrough research is to take the findings and further enhance and improve them, which should allow for the procedure to be used by doctors in clinic within the next few years.

For more information on how ultrasound scanners can help you in your clinics and diagnosis, please contact us.