Targeted Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound to Detect Inflammation
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Date
2015-03-25
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Abstract
This study investigates the use of targeted contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to detect neural inflammation in a mouse model. Ultrasound contrast has been used previously to demonstrate perfusion at the tissue level, and several studies have utilized targeted CEUS to investigate angiogenesis in tumors. The current gold standard for the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathies is electrodiagnostic testing, which has been shown to be costly, painful for the patient, and lacking in sensitivity. The use of targeted CEUS with an affinity for P-selectin, a protein expressed on the surface of endothelial cells during inflammation, allows for the detection of inflammatory processes at a cellular level, potentially offering an earlier and less painful diagnosis of peripheral neuropathies. In this study, mice were imaged seven days after receiving a traumatic spinal cord injury at the T9 level. While imaging continuously, contrast microbubbles bound with anti-P-selectin were injected and allowed to circulate for 10 minutes, at which point a bursting mechanism was activated on the ultrasound unit, rupturing microbubbles within the beam profile. Images from before and after the bursting pulse were processed using analysis software to highlight the distribution of contrast, and generate trend graphs to represent contrast signal amplitude in the T9 region. Evaluation of the trend graphs from mice injected with contrast bound to anti-P-selectin showed a significant decrease in signal amplitude following the bursting pulse. Trend graphs from mice injected with contrast bound to a non-binding control antibody showed more static signal intensity, consistent with the background signal of circulating, unbound contrast. These results suggest that targeted CEUS can successfully detect inflammatory markers in neural tissue. To further investigate the potential of this technique, study should continue with a larger sample size and the use of a wider variety of antibodies.
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Health Professions - Laboratory/Cellular (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research Forum)
Keywords
imaging, ultrasound, contrast, inflammation, contrast enhanced ultrasound, targeted contrast