Flow Visualization Through Locally Activated Nanodroplets and High Frame Rate Imaging

Blood flow visualization and quantification with ultrasound contrast agents using High-Frame-Rate (HFR) imaging has been investigated but the real-time feedback is limited because of the high computational cost. Nanodroplets have been investigated as an alternative to microbubble contrast agents, due to their smaller size, longer in vivo half-life, and spatial and temporal control on activation. In this work, a non-invasive flow visualization method is proposed through non-invasively “injecting” contrast agents by using locally activatinged decafluorobutane nanodroplets and HFR diverging imaging. Vortexes, residual flows or global flow patterns can be visualized thanks to the high temporal resolution and low computational complexity image processing.