Difference between revisions of "Ultrasound measurement of microbubble stiffness for in situ detection of protease activity in clinical settings"

Latest revision as of 15:28, 23 October 2023

Short Description

A new kind of gas-filled microbubble enables the detection of protease activity by using ultrasound imaging techniques. The main goal of this work is to develop a setup that can reliably be used to measure the stiffness of microbubbles, first in a microbubble solution, and then in a model built to simulate the vasculature of a mouse.

Gas-filled microbubbles are commonly employed as US contrast agents, as they effectively scatter ultrasound. A new kind of microbubbles has been designed at the Responsive Biomedical Systems Laboratory at ETH to detect the activity of proteases, a class of enzymes that provide insight into the state and progression of many diseases. The shell of these microbubbles is modified by adding crosslinks that can be cleaved by specific proteases, thus changing the stiffness of the microbubble. A specially designed ultrasound setup can detect these changes. The main goal of this work is to develop a setup that can reliably be used to measure the stiffness of microbubbles by measuring the harmonic responses that the microbubbles emit when excited by an ultrasound pulse. The pulse and filter used to record the response have to be accurately designed and implemented by using laboratory devices. The functionality of this setup can be tested first in a microbubble solution, then in a model built to simulate the vasculature of a mouse. The thesis can be adjusted depending on the learning goals and knowledge of the student.

Goal & Tasks

• Build up an automated script-based measurement setup suited to measure frequency characteristics of US medium by using VNA + Oscilloscope
• Write code to filter out unwanted frequencies and amplify harmonics based on results of previous measurements
• Run proof of concept measurements using stiffened microbubbles exposed to UV rays to simulate the cleaving of the enzymes
• (for master thesis) create phantom designs to model a mouse and characterize the ultrasound response of the phantoms

The end goal is to create a proof-of-concept device to measure microbubble stiffness in a mouse model

Prerequisites

• Basic knowledge of signal theory
• Python programming (Pyvisa, Scikit, numpy)
• Optional: 3D CAD
• Optional: circuit design

Status: Available

Looking for semester and master students

Supervision: Federico Villani, Poc Pascal Nico, Oberhuber Ines, Andrea Cossettini

Character

10% Literature Study

30%-50% Building of setup (without/with dedicated pcb design and phantom)

30%-50% Programming and filter design

10% Documentation

Professor

Luca Benini

Practical Details

• Project Plan
• Project Meetings
• Final Report
• Final Presentation

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