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Ultrasound Imaging

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Molecular Imaging in Oncology

Part of the book series: Recent Results in Cancer Research ((RECENTCANCER,volume 216))

Abstract

Ultrasound imaging plays an important role in oncological imaging for more than five decades now. It can be applied in all tissues that are not occluded by bone or gas-filled regions. The quality of ultrasound images benefitted strongly from improved electronics and increased computational power. To the morphological imaging, several functional imaging methods were added: Flow visualization became possible by Doppler techniques and as a recent addition the elastic properties of tissues can be imaged by elastographic methods with transient shear wave imaging. In the beginning of molecular imaging, ultrasound with its contrast based on mechanical tissue properties was an unlikely candidate to play a role. However, with contrast agents consisting of micrometer-sized gas bubbles, which can be imaged with high sensitivity, ligands addressing targets in the vascular wall could be used. Because even single bubbles can be detected, this led to various ultrasound molecular imaging techniques and the ongoing development of clinical molecular contrast media. In this chapter, the basic properties of ultrasonic imaging like its contrast mechanisms and spatiotemporal resolution are discussed. The image formation and its ongoing change from line-oriented scanning to full-volume reconstructions are explained. Then, the ultrasound contrast media and imaging techniques are introduced and emerging new methods like super-resolution vascular imaging demonstrate the ongoing development in this field.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bochum, Germany

    Georg Schmitz & Stefanie Dencks

Authors
  1. Georg Schmitz
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  2. Stefanie Dencks
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Georg Schmitz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany

    Otmar Schober

  2. Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging, University Hospital, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Fabian Kiessling

  3. Department of Radiation Oncology, Ruprecht Karl University, Heidelberg, Germany

    Jürgen Debus

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Schmitz, G., Dencks, S. (2020). Ultrasound Imaging. In: Schober, O., Kiessling, F., Debus, J. (eds) Molecular Imaging in Oncology. Recent Results in Cancer Research, vol 216. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42618-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42618-7_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-42617-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-42618-7

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