Cerebral Microvascular Imaging in Infants: Scan Technique and Potential Clinical Applications

Brain ultrasound in infants, although widely utilized, provides limited functional insights into the brain. Although color and power Doppler ultrasounds have allowed quantitative assessment of cerebral macrovascular flow dynamics, there is no standardized tool integrated into the current neurosonography protocol that allows cerebral microvascular flow assessment. The evaluation of anatomic and functional changes in cerebral microvessels is important, as microvascular alterations have been shown to precede macrovascular and tissue injury in a variety of neurologic diseases of infancy. In this regard, the cerebral microvascular imaging technique is a commercially available, advanced Doppler technique in which slow flow of cerebral microvessels can be detected via a static noise suppression algorithm. This article therefore shares the basic scan technique and clinical examples of the integrated use of microvascular imaging in neurosonography for infants, setting the stage for future clinical integration of the technique.