Talk from Chris L. de Korte, Radboud UMC

The Future of Ultrasound: UltraFast and SuperSimple

Ultrasound imaging has changes dramatically in the last decade and will even change more in the upcoming years. The availability of ultrafast imaging has opened up a new field of high-end applications. These applications are further boosted by deep-learning although AI also facilitates simplification of ultrasound imaging.

Ultrafast plane wave imaging has great potential for 3D functional ultrasound imaging but also comes with decreased lateral resolution, contrast and penetration depth with respect to conventional imaging (CI). Initially, we developed 3D breast imaging techniques for ultrasound elastography (strain imaging) using conventional focused transmission imaging in collaboration with Siemens Healthineers. To speed up acquisition, ultrafast imaging is used. By utilizing coherent plane-wave compound imaging (CPWCI) and different beam forming techniques (Delay and Sum (DAS), Stolt’s-fk, and Lu’s-fk), we have demonstrated to improve resolution, penetration and contrast-to-noise ratio while also decreasing acquisition time resulting in high quality 3D functional breast imaging.

Additionally, we developed ultrafast imaging techniques for functional assessment of carotid arteries. By (3D) strain imaging, the composition of plaques in diseased arteries can be quantified.
Additionally, by velocity vector imaging, disturbed flow patterns can be quantified which might provide information on disease progression and risk for strokes. Currently, we are performing
several clinical trials to assess normal and disturbed flow profiles and relate these plaque developments and ultimately for treatment planning.

On the other side of the spectrum of ultrafast ultrasound imaging are the point of care handheld ultrasound devices that can be connected to a smartphone. These devices can revolutionize the
diagnosis by ultrasound imaging if we succeed to reduce training for acquiring images to a minimum in combination with automated analysis and diagnosis. We developed AI driven protocolized
systems for prenatal diagnosis in low resource settings as well as for detecting aortic aneurisms, arthrosis, and hip dysplasia for diagnosis in the first line of care (General Practitioners and Child
Consultation Centers). This development will democratize ultrasound imaging and boost its use tremendously in the near future.

About Chris

At Erasmus MC he introduced and evaluated intravascular elastography, a technology developed by him. In 2004 he became head of this laboratory and assistant professor.

In 2010 he set up the Medical UltraSound Imaging Center (MUSIC) within the radiology department of the Radboudumc. In addition to cardiovascular imaging techniques, he also focused on radiological applications of functional ultrasound imaging, such as better detection and characterization of tumors and quantification of liver diseases.