High Framerate Imaging of Ultrasound Contrast Agents

Ultrasound contrast agents (UCAs) consists of a suspension of tiny gas bubbles that is injected into a patient’s bloodstream to enhance the visualization of blood in ultrasound images. As UCAs respond differently to ultrasound pulses compared to the surrounding soft tissues and blood, it is possible to employ specialized techniques to identify and isolate UCAs in an ultrasound image. This is commonly referred to as Ultrasound Contrast Imaging. This PhD thesis evaluates several traditional ultrasound contrast imaging strategies, based on scanning images through linear arrays; furthermore, innovative high frame rate strategies are explored, which are shown to be suited for high sensitivity tracking of even a single microbubble.