This book provides an up-to-date overview on the clinical value of contrast agents in ultrasound. The volume moves from a background section on technique and methodology to the main sections on the clinical application of contrast ultrasound in the liver and in vascular diseases. A final section discusses results and prospects of contrast ultrasound modality in the other fields.
This book will familiarize the reader with recent advances in echo imaging technology with special emphasis on echo enhancing agents. Several important strides have been made in this field during the past few years, especially in the contrast enhancement of conventional and color Doppler images. The book begins with chapters on the history of contrast echocardiography, the principles of contrast echo and descriptions of new contrast agents capable of transpulmonary passage following intravenous injection. Safety issues in contrast echocardiography are also discussed. The second section of the book deals with clinical uses of echo contrast agents. Their usefulness in the identification of cardiac structures and assessment of pathological lesions using both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography are fully discussed. Technical and practical considerations in the use of various contrast agents are also described. The use of contrast echo in the identification of cardiac sources of embolism as well as possible mechanisms and clinical significance of spontaneous contrast echoes are also covered. Six chapters fully discuss the basics of contrast enhancement of conventional and color Doppler images and its clinical utility in the noninvasive assessment of pulmonary artery pressure, regurgitant and stenotic lesions and in the delineation of coronary arteries. Another chapter describes the non-cardiac applications of the echo contrast enhancement technique. The final section of the book investigates the role of echo contrast enhancement in quantitative cardiovascular analysis.
This large format book is the definitive text on vascular surgery written by expert editors and contributors. It is well supported by exceptional illustrative material. The book is invaluable to all those who work in vascular laboratories as wel.l as internists, cardiologists, vascular laboratory directors and staff, general surgeons involved in vascular surgery and the vascular surgery community in general Noninvasive Vascular Diagnosis comprehensively covers all aspects of noninvasive evaluation of the circulatory system in the extremities. The increasing popularity of noninvasive techniques is not reflected in the number of comprehensive works on the topic and it is clear from the success of the first edition that the demand for an updated volume is increasing.
This book is a comprehensive guide to the rapidly evolving field of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the child. The uses and interpretation of CEUS are clearly explained with the aid of numerous illustrations. The coverage encompasses both established indications, such as focal liver lesions, abdominal solid organ injury, and vesicoureteral reflux, and a range of newer applications. Extensive information is also provided on microbubble agents and their use in the pediatric age group, as well as on practical aspects of setting up a CEUS service for children. CEUS is a safe imaging method that is ideal for the young patient and can be used for problem solving in a number of clinical situations. Ultrasound combined with microbubble contrast avoids the ionizing radiation of a CT examination, the use of iodinated contrast, the need for sedation or a general anesthetic, and the complexities of MR imaging. In bringing readers up to date with best practice and the latest innovations in CEUS, this book will be of value for pediatric radiologists, pediatric sonographers/technicians, and pediatricians.
The value of ultrasound contrast agents (USCA) in everyday clinical practice depends on the pharmacokinetics, the signal processing, and the contrast-specific imaging modalities. Second-generation USCA, are blood pool agents that do not leak into the organ tissue to be examined but remain in the intravascular compartment increasing the Doppler signal amplitude during their dynamic vascular phase. Taking advantage of the stability of their microbubbles, they can withstand the acoustic pressure of insonation much better than first-generation contrast media, which results in an increased half-life of the agent and, consequently, in a prolonged diagnostic window. Concomitant with the improvement of contrast agents, different contrast-specific imaging modalities have been developed which, used in combination with USCA and a low mechanical index, allow continuous real-time grey-scale imaging. These recent technical improvements have opened new possibilities in the use of USCA in a variety of indications. Written by internationally renowned experts, the contributions gathered in this book give an overview of current and possible future new applications of USCA in routine and clinical practice.
Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging provides a unified description of the physical principles of ultrasound imaging, signal processing, systems and measurements. This comprehensive reference is a core resource for both graduate students and engineers in medical ultrasound research and design. With continuing rapid technological development of ultrasound in medical diagnosis, it is a critical subject for biomedical engineers, clinical and healthcare engineers and practitioners, medical physicists, and related professionals in the fields of signal and image processing. The book contains 17 new and updated chapters covering the fundamentals and latest advances in the area, and includes four appendices, 450 figures (60 available in color on the companion website), and almost 1,500 references. In addition to the continual influx of readers entering the field of ultrasound worldwide who need the broad grounding in the core technologies of ultrasound, this book provides those already working in these areas with clear and comprehensive expositions of these key new topics as well as introductions to state-of-the-art innovations in this field. - Enables practicing engineers, students and clinical professionals to understand the essential physics and signal processing techniques behind modern imaging systems as well as introducing the latest developments that will shape medical ultrasound in the future - Suitable for both newcomers and experienced readers, the practical, progressively organized applied approach is supported by hands-on MATLAB® code and worked examples that enable readers to understand the principles underlying diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound - Covers the new important developments in the use of medical ultrasound: elastography and high-intensity therapeutic ultrasound. Many new developments are comprehensively reviewed and explained, including aberration correction, acoustic measurements, acoustic radiation force imaging, alternate imaging architectures, bioeffects: diagnostic to therapeutic, Fourier transform imaging, multimode imaging, plane wave compounding, research platforms, synthetic aperture, vector Doppler, transient shear wave elastography, ultrafast imaging and Doppler, functional ultrasound and viscoelastic models
In the last few years, the development of sonographic contrast agents - or "microbubbles" - has stimulated increasingly intensive studies on the rela tionships between ultrasound and contrast media. As a result, "contrast -spe cific" hardware and software systems have been introduced by different ultra sound manufacturers with impressive speed. This has finally led to the birth of a very new imaging modality -"contrast-enhanced sonography" (CEUS). Since 1999, the introduction of second-generation contrast agents has represented a decisive step towards the extensive clinical use of CEUS and has simultaneously made obsolete most, if not all, scientific publications available so far. This book is, to our knowledge, the first to deal entirely with second generation contrast agents and the most updated contrast-specific software for noncardiologic uses. The reasons why the liver has been chosen as the only "target" of the book are easily understandable by radiologists and hepatologists alike. The study of vascularity is the only purpose of CEUS, and the liver has a unique vascular system, with two different inflow systems resulting in a single outflow. Furthermore, the pathologically different focal liver lesions (FLLs) are mostly characterized by different "models" of vascularity: CEUS can mimic contrast enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, basing differential diagnosis on the morphological and temporal characteristics of enhancement, but with the additional unique advantage of the study being done in real-time.
Neurosonology is non-invasive, portable, and has excellent temporal resolution, making it a valuable and increasingly popular tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of neurological conditions when compared to other imaging techniques. This guide looks beyond the use of neurovascular ultrasound in stroke to encompass a wide range of other neurological diseases and emergencies. It offers a practical approach to the examination of patients, interpretation of ultrasound studies, and the application of neurosonology to the development of management and treatment strategies. Each chapter incorporates a thorough and clear procedural methodology alongside scanning tips for trainees; this step-by-step approach is further enhanced by example images and focused diagnostic questions. Authored and edited by international experts, this practical manual of neurosonology is an invaluable resource for neurologists, neurosurgeons, intensivists, radiologists, and ultrasonographers.
