To diagnose cancer a range of imaging techniques are used, such as MRI, CT and ET scans. However, ultrasound has the advantages of being a real-time, portable, widely available and cost-effective alternative. It could therefore give access to clinical diagnostics even in low-income countries. TU/e-researcher Anastasiia Panfilova investigated two promising ultrasound techniques, and developed an ultrasound contrast agent that can act as a therapeutic by delivering medication locally to tumors. On Tuesday 18th of January Panfilova will defend her PhD-thesis at the department of Electrical Engineering.
Panfilova focused on two nonlinear ultrasound techniques: contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CE-US) and nonlinear parameter imaging (B/A). B/A imaging is still under development and the utility of B/A has been poorly studied for cancer diagnostics. Panfilova tried to bring the measurement of B/A a step closer to a practical implementation of B/A, but the CE-US studies show the most promising results.