High Sensitivity Flow Imaging of the Human Placenta with Coherence-Based Doppler Ultrasound

 描述(申请人提供)：胎盘是怀孕期间的一个关键器官，含有丰富的血管，促进营养吸收、废物排出和气体交换。由于发育中胎儿的存在，以及人类胎盘与几乎所有其他动物胎盘非常不同的事实，目前许多能够提供必要分辨率以可视化人类胎盘结构和功能的成像技术不能在体内使用。在对人体胎盘进行安全成像方面，超声成像几乎是独一无二的；然而，目前的超声成像技术不能充分显示在器官发育阶段供应和穿越该器官的血管。可视化和研究血管网络的新工具将有助于了解正常和异常的胎盘发育，包括常见的胎盘疾病，如先兆子痫和宫内生长受限。在这一应用中，我们建议开发一种新的超声成像方法来检测血流，称为相干血流能量多普勒(CFPD)，它极大地增强了对血流缓慢的小血管的可视化能力。我们提供了初步的数据，展示了这项技术在模拟、幻影和离线活体数据中的成功。我们还建议将该成像系统建立在临床扫描仪上，以便对活体胎盘进行高质量的实时成像。我们建议在一项涉及母体螺旋动脉的临床研究中分析实时CFPD成像系统，这些动脉是胎盘发育过程中的关键血管，与先兆子痫和宫内生长受限等胎盘疾病有关。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The placenta is a key organ during pregnancy that is rich in blood vessels, which facilitate nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange. Due to the presence of the developing fetus and the fact that human placenta is very different from nearly all other animal placenta, many of the current imaging technologies that would provide the necessary resolution to visualize human placenta structure and function cannot be utilized in vivo. Ultrasound imaging is nearly alone in its capability to safely image human placenta; however current ultrasound imaging technology cannot adequately visualize the vessels supplying and traversing this organ during its developmental phase. Novel tools to visualize and study the vascular network would be useful for understanding normal and abnormal placental development, including common placenta disorders such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. In this application, we propose to develop a new ultrasonic imaging method for flow detection, called Coherent Flow Power Doppler (CFPD) that greatly enhances the ability to visualize small vessels with slow blood flow. We present preliminary data demonstrating the success of this technique in simulations, phantoms, and off-line in vivo data. We also propose to build this imaging system onto a clinical scanner, for high-quality real-time imaging of the in viv placenta. We propose to analyze the real-time CFPD imaging system in a clinical study involving the maternal spiral arteries, which are key vessels in the placenta development process and are linked to placental disorders such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction.