Isolating single vascular functional trace (SVFT) in cerebral cortex based on ultrahigh frequency ultrafast Doppler

The advent of neuroimaging techniques based on neurovascular coupling, such as fMRI, have significantly expanded our understanding of brain functions. However, these methods mostly can only provide region-based functional response maps with limited resolutions. Physiological research has indicated that neurovascular coupling response primarily occurs in small arterioles with 20-200μm diameters, which are considered the basic unit. This fundamental mechanism necessitates high spatiotemporal resolution quantification of neural activity at the scale of small blood vessels, which is which is lacking in current neuroimaging modalities neuroimaging modalities. Here we attempt to combine ultrahigh-frequency ultrasound (30MHz center-frequency) with μDoppler to achieve higher spatial resolution and distinguish single vessels in the cerebral cortex. Furthermore, a new method called single vascular functional trace (SVFT) is proposed to serve as a new tool for the study of neurovascular coupling mechanisms and brain function.