Visualizing Functional Microbubbles using Ultrasound Imaging

Short Description

Over the past 15 years, microbubbles have emerged as an appealing contrast agent for ultrasound imaging. They are typically composed of a thin shell – often a lipid monolayer – that is surrounding and stabilizing a gas core. Image contrast derives from nonlinear backscattering of acoustic waves upon exposure to acoustic pressure - a result of microbubble size oscillation that depends on microbubble size and other properties. We aim to design a process to detect differences in acoustic responses of functional microbubbles using an ultrasound imaging probe.

This is a joint project with the Responsive Biomedical Systems Lab of Prof. Simone Schürle (D-HEST)

Goal & Tasks

The goal of the project is to design an imaging mode that can visualize different functional microbubbles within an ultrasound image. The main tasks of this project are:

• Literature study of current microbubble imaging techniques.
• Design an imaging technique for our given setup.
• Verify the designed technique using simulations.
• Implement the designed technique on one of our ultrasound imaging systems
• Verify the designed technique in an in-vitro setup.
• Assess the quality of the bubble visualization in a quantifiable way.

Prerequisites

• Signal processing basics
• MATLAB

Status: Available

Looking for Interested Students

Supervision: Andrea Cossettini, Sergei Vostrikov, Dragana Ristanovic <dragana.ristanovic@hest.ethz.ch>

Character

10% Literature Study

30% Simulations of the Imaging Process

30% Evaluations (including work in the Lab)

30% Implementation

Professor

Luca Benini

Simone Schürle

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Practical Details

• Project Plan
• Project Meetings
• Design Review
• Coding Guidelines
• Final Report
• Final Presentation