Ultrafast Imaging Techniques in Medical Ultrasound

Ultrafast imaging techniques in medical ultrasound have transformed conventional echography by exploiting plane and diverging wave transmissions to acquire images at rates of thousands of frames per second. These high frame rates enable the real-time capture of transient physiological phenomena such as blood flow, tissue elasticity and functional haemodynamics. By departing from focused-beam scanning, coherent compounding of multiple angled waves achieves superior spatial resolution and contrast. When combined with contrast-enhancing microbubbles, ultrafast ultrasound can implement localisation microscopy, which tracks individual microbubbles to surpass the diffraction limit and visualise microvascular architecture with micrometre precision. Applications span cardiac microcirculation and tumour angiogenesis to neonatal cerebral reorganisation and functional connectivity mapping in the brain. Recent advances in motion correction, deep-learning localisation pipelines and three-dimensional volumetric acquisitions have further extended the technique’s clinical and preclinical utility, promising rapid, non-invasive microvascular assessment across a spectrum of pathologies.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Transthoracic ultrasound localisation microscopy has been translated to imaging myocardial microvasculature and haemodynamics in explanted porcine hearts and in vivo patients, achieving super-resolution mapping of coronary capillaries within a single breath hold. A context-aware deep-learning pipeline, LOCA-ULM, markedly improves microbubble detection at high concentrations, enhancing localisation accuracy and reducing imaging time while revealing dense cerebrovascular networks in rodent models. Motion model ultrasound localisation microscopy integrates affine and non-rigid motion correction to characterise tumour microvascular phenotypes within one minute of scanning on standard ultrasound platforms, enabling multiparametric vascular assessment and opening avenues for rapid clinical translation.

Ultrafast Imaging Techniques in Medical Ultrasound publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in ultrafast imaging techniques in medical ultrasound across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Ultrafast ultrasound imaging: Plane or diverging wave transmissions enabling frame rates of thousands per second to capture rapid tissue motion, flow and functional dynamics.

Plane wave compounding: Coherent summation of echoes from successive angled plane waves to enhance image contrast and resolution without sacrificing temporal performance.

Microbubble contrast agent: Gas-filled microspheres introduced intravenously to produce strong backscatter, serving as localisable markers for vascular and perfusion imaging.

Ultrasound localisation microscopy (ULM): A super-resolution technique that localises and tracks individual microbubbles across frames to reconstruct microvascular structures beyond the diffraction limit.

References

1. Multiplane wave imaging increases signal-to-noise ratio in ultrafast ultrasound imaging. Physics in Medicine and Biology (2015).
2. 3-D Ultrasound Localization Microscopy for Identifying Microvascular Morphology Features of Tumor Angiogenesis at a Resolution Beyond the Diffraction Limit of Conventional Ultrasound. Theranostics (2017).
3. Functional ultrasound imaging of intrinsic connectivity in the living rat brain with high spatiotemporal resolution. Nature Communications (2014).
4. Transthoracic ultrasound localization microscopy of myocardial vasculature in patients. Nature Biomedical Engineering (2024).
5. Context-aware deep learning enables high-efficacy localization of high concentration microbubbles for super-resolution ultrasound localization microscopy. Nature Communications (2024).
6. Motion model ultrasound localization microscopy for preclinical and clinical multiparametric tumor characterization. Nature Communications (2018).
7. Super-resolution Ultrasound Imaging. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology (2020).
8. 3D ultrafast ultrasound imaging in vivo. Physics in Medicine and Biology (2014).
9. Ultrasound Super‐Resolution Imaging of Neonatal Cerebral Vascular Reorganization. Advanced Science (2025).