A Combined Super-Resolution Ultrasound Molecular Imaging Technique Applied to Tumor Microvasculature

Correlating data acquired using different ultrasound imaging techniques provides the opportunity to discover complementary diagnostic information. The aim of this study was to develop a combined imaging technique that correlated ultrasound detected molecular markers to super-resolved microvessels to enable pairing of the diagnostic utility of both ultrasound molecular imaging (USMI) and ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) over common tissue. The feasibility of the proposed method was validated in a murine model to image both tumor tissue and control (tumor free) tissue. The microvessel density (VI) and molecular signature index (MSI) were both quantified. Furthermore, a new metric, ratio of endothelial molecular signature area to vessel area (MVR) specifically obtained by the proposed correlation method, was calculated. Statistical differences in MVR values were found between the control leg tissue and tumor tissue ( ), which validated the feasibility of the proposed method in evaluating evolving diseased vessels.