Enhanced Depth of Field Acoustic Angiography with a Prototype 288-element Dual-Frequency Array

Many diseases are characterized by abnormal microvasculature, which may be used as a biomarker of malignancy. Our group has developed acoustic angiography, a superharmonic contrast-enhanced ultrasound technique that uses dual-frequency transducers with low frequency transmit and high frequency receive to create high resolution, 3D microvascular maps. Prior work has focused on acoustic angiography using single-element confocal dual-frequency wobblers, but these devices have limited imaging depth and sensitivity for clinical applications. Here, we present the latest development of acoustic angiography via the implementation of a novel dual-frequency vertically stacked array. We show that this array demonstrates greater depth of field and contrast-to-noise ratio than previous wobblers and discuss future development of dual-frequency arrays for clinical acoustic angiography.