title: 40-MHz annular array imaging of mouse embryos.
abstract: Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) has emerged as an important in vivo imaging approach for analyzing normal and genetically engineered mouse embryos. Current UBM systems use fixed-focus transducers, which are limited in depth-of-focus. Depending on the gestational age of the embryo, regions-of-interest in the image can extend well beyond the depth-of-focus for a fixed-focus transducer. This shortcoming makes it particularly problematic to analyze 3-D data sets and to generate accurate volumetric renderings of the mouse embryonic anatomy. To address this problem, we have developed a five-element, 40-MHz annular array transducer and a computer-controlled system to acquire and reconstruct fixed- and array-focused images of mouse embryos. Both qualitative and quantitative comparisons showed significant improvement with array-focusing, including an increase of 3 to 9 dB in signal-to-noise ratio and an increase of at least 2.5 mm in depth-of-focus. Volumetric-rendered images of brain ventricles demonstrated the clear superiority of array-focusing for 3-D analysis of mouse embryonic anatomy.
authors.affiliation: Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Orlando
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aristizábal
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ketterling
authors.forename: Daniel H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Turnbull
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000196:embryology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D033401:Microscopy, Acoustic / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D014159:Transducers; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*