A volumetric ultrasound imaging system for biomedical research

We are requesting funding for an ultrafast volumetric ultrasound imaging system (Ultrafast3DUS). Objectives: 1) To generate novel basic, translational, and clinical research discoveries within MRC remit, including in the fields of heart disease, gastrointestinal disease, metabolic diseases , infertility, neurodegenerative disease and cancer. 2) To promote collaboration locally and nationally on Ultrafast3DUS projects. 3) To drive innovative and ambitious new local and national research programmes within MRC remit. The circulation of blood through blood vessels is a crucial indicator of tissue health and of diseases including those of the heart, gastrointestinal tract, reproductive organs and brain. However, current approaches such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging or X-Ray Computed Tomography are unable to accurately visualise small blood vessels or to record the very rapid changes in blood flow that occur in these biological processes and diseases. Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a fast and sensitive research tool for visualising blood flow. Combined with recently developed genetic techniques, CEUS can non-invasively visualise specific cell types and even measure signalling inside individual cells of the body. Until recently, CEUS was largely limited to taking two dimensional (2D) pictures of tissues, or slow and limited 3D imaging. This meant it couldn’t be used to easily visualise the relevant blood flow in tissues that move a lot, such as the gut and heart, or in the smallest blood vessels, which are crucial to, for example, brain health and disease. The requested Ultrafast3DUS is a state-of-the-art system which can image tissue and organs at high resolution in 3D. This will allow us to see the smallest of blood vessels and even individual cells in large 3D volumes, allowing precise mapping of the changes that occur in disease. It will be the first such system in the UK; equivalent systems are currently only available to a few research groups in the USA, France, and China. We thus have a number of engineers, biomedical scientists and clinicians at Imperial College and partners at external universities and research organisations who are highly supportive of this application and keen to use the equipment. The Ultrafast3DUS will therefore greatly increase national imaging capabilities, promote collaboration amongst scientists and clinicians across the UK, and provide the infrastructure necessary to help push this kind of UK biomedical research to the forefront of the international stage. The involvement of both basic scientists and clinicians, and the ability of the Ultrafast3DUS to image a wide variety of cells and tissues in both animal models and humans, will encourage and support the translation of scientific findings into work that directly benefits human health. The work initially planned will use the Ultrafast3DUS to investigate heart disease, gastrointestinal disease, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, infertility, neurodegenerative disease, cancer, and novel ways of targeting drugs to specific regions of the body. However, we expect beyond these initial studies that the equipment will support work in many other fields of biomedical research, from basic science through translation to clinical studies. The Ultrafast3DUS will therefore enable a wide range of world-class biomedical research and innovation to accelerate improvements in human health.