Non-invasive volumetric ultrasound localization microscopy detects vascular changes in mice with Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and one of the leading causes of death. AD is known to be correlated to tortuosity in the microvasculature as well as decreases in blood flow throughout the brain. However, the mechanisms behind these changes and their causal relation to AD are poorly understood.

Non-invasive 4D transcranial functional ultrasound and ultrasound localization microscopy for multimodal imaging of neurovascular response.

A long-standing goal of neuroimaging is the non-invasive volumetric assessment of whole brain function and structure at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Functional ultrasound (fUS) and ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) are rapidly emerging techniques that promise to bring advanced brain imaging and therapy to the clinic with the safety and low-cost advantages associated with ultrasound. fUS has been used to study cerebral hemodynamics at high temporal resolutions while ULM has been used to study cerebral microvascular structure at high spatial resolutions.

Development of an inhalable contrast agent targeting the respiratory tract mucus layer for pulmonary ultrasonic imaging.

Impaired mucociliary transport is a distinguishing sign of cystic fibrosis, but current methods of evaluation are invasive or expose young patients to ionizing radiation. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging may provide a feasible alternative. We formulated a cationic microbubble ultrasound contrast agent, to optimize adhesion to the respiratory mucus layer when inhaled.

Low-boiling-point perfluorocarbon nanodroplets for adaptable ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier opening.

Low-boiling point perfluorocarbon nanodroplets (NDs) are valued as effective sonosensitive agents, encapsulating a liquid perfluorocarbon that would instantaneously vaporize at body temperature without the NDs shell. Those NDs have been explored for both therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. Here, phospholipid-shelled nanodroplets containing octafluoropropane (CF) or decafluorobutane (CF) formed by condensation of microbubbles were thoroughly characterized before blood-brain (BBB) permeabilization.