MAE SEMINAR: “Topic: Ultrafast High Frequency Ultrasound Imaging and Its Biomedical Applications” with Dr. Huang

Abstract:

The frame rate (the number of images displayed in one second) of current ultrasound imaging machines is about 30-100 fps, which is sufficient for most clinical applications, even echocardiography. However, high frame rate ultrasound imaging, so-called ultrafast ultrasound imaging, has recently been achieved with improvements of ultrasound hardware. One major advantage of ultrafast ultrasound imaging is that it converts the ultrasound image into a “high speed camera”, in which any movement of an object in the view of ultrasound exhibits “slow motion”. Currently, use of plane wave imaging is the standard for ultrafast ultrasound imaging, in which the frame rate of ultrafast imaging can be up to >10 kHz. With the emergence of ultrafast ultrasound imaging, several new applications of ultrasound imaging have been proposed such as shear wave elastography, super resolution blood flow imaging, and ultrasound contrast imaging. 

To date, the operational frequency of the ultrafast ultrasound imaging is around 2 to 18 MHz, which provides sufficient image resolution with an appropriate imaging depth for clinical applications. However, the spatial resolution of ultrasound imaging can be improved by using high frequency ultrasound imaging (HFUS, >30 MHz), for example, 50 MHz ultrasound imaging provides lateral and axial resolutions of 100 and 20 μm, respectively. Recently, single element and array transducers HFUS imaging systems are commercially available at a center frequency up to 50 MHz. However, the HFUS with an ultrafast imaging ability is still lacking currently. 

    In this talk, ultrafast HFUS imaging combining a high frequency array transducer (~40 MHz) with a programmable ultrasound imaging has been proposed. Due to the high imaging resolution ability of HFUS, this ultrafast HFUS imaging is suitable for superficial tissue imaging of human and small animal for gene research and cancer studies. Therefore, high-resolution ultrasound elastography and super resolution blood flow imaging without micro-bubble are currently available for biomedical applications, such as high resolution elastography for human cornea, skin, hand tendon, and mouse brain as well as super resolution blood flow imaging for small animal applications in nerve, brain, heart, and kidney.

Bio:

Chih-Chung Huang was born in 1978 in Taiwan. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Chung Yuan Christian University, Chung-Li, Taiwan, in 2002, 2003, and 2007. From 2006 to 2007, he worked at NIH Resource Center for Medical Ultrasonic Transducer Technology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA as a Visiting Researcher where he was engaged in research of high frequency ultrasound imaging and development of new acoustic methods for cataract diagnosis. In 2008, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan as an Assistant Professor. In 2012, Dr. Huang was promoted as an Associate Professor. In 2013, he joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. Currently, he is a Professor at Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Huang was the Deputy Director of Medical Device Innovation Center, the Deputy Director of Technology Transfer & Business Incubation Center, the Strategic Planning Division Director of Research & Services Headquarters at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. He was the Secretary General of Taiwanese Society of Biomedical Engineering. His research interests include ultrasonic tissue characterization, blood flow measurement, high frequency ultrasound, and ultrasonic instrument for medical applications, etc. Dr. Huang was selected as a member of IFMBE Asia-Pacific Research Networking Fellowship as well as the ordinary member of CoS representative of Taiwanese Society of Biomedical Engineering of IFMBE affiliated Society. Dr. Huang is an associate editor for Medical Physics and Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering. He is a senior member of IEEE as well as the TPC member of IEEE IUS. Currently, Dr. Huang is a visiting professor in North Carolina State University, USA from 2021 to 2022.