Transcranial acoustic cavitation localization with ultrafast power cavitation imaging in non-human primates

Abstract

Acoustic cavitation-guided blood-brain barrier (BBB) opening with focused ultrasound (FUS) and microbubbles is a promising technique for safe and controlled opening of the BBB. Passive cavitation imaging has the ability to monitor the spatial intensity of acoustic cavitation for targeting verification and treatment monitoring. However, isolating acoustic cavitation emissions from tissue and skull reflections is a major challenge. In this study, we perform transcranial passive cavitation imaging with a 1.5D imaging array (M5Sc-D, bandwidth: 1.5–4 MHz, GE Medical Systems) placed in the central opening of a 0.5 MHz FUS transducer (H204, Sonic Concepts) in non-human primates. Broadband FUS pulses were used along with synchronous transmit and receive sequences to perform delay and sum beamforming with absolute time delays. Image sets were acquired at ultrafast frame rates (>1000 frames per second) for calculation of mean intensity images, i.e., power cavitation images. Spatiotemporal clutter filtering of image...