Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026
Imaging and Quantification of the Hepatic Vasculature of Mice Using Ultrafast Doppler Ultrasound
Published on: July 19, 2024
Validation of dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound in rodent kidneys as an absolute quantitative method for measuring
Paul Kogan1, Kennita A Johnson, Steven Feingold
1Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina-North Carolina State University, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
Abstract:
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has demonstrated utility in the monitoring of blood flow in tissues, organs and tumors. However, current CEUS methods typically provide only relative image-derived measurements, rather than quantitative values of blood flow in milliliters/minute per gram of tissue. In this study, CEUS derived parameters of blood flow are compared with absolute measurements of blood flow in rodent kidneys. Additionally, the effects of contrast agent infusion rate and transducer orientation on image-derived perfusion measurements are assessed. Both wash-in curve and time-to-refill algorithms are examined. Data illustrate that for all conditions, image-derived flow measurements were well-correlated with transit-time flow probe measurements (R > 0.9). However, we report differences in the sensitivity to flow across different transducer orientations as well as the contrast analysis algorithm utilized. Results also indicate that there exists a range of contrast agent flow rates for which image-derived estimates are consistent.
