Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging using Erythrocytes on an Axillary Human Lymph Node

A recent contrast-free super-resolution ultrasound imaging technique using erythrocytes (SURE) has been introduced. SURE can create quantitative images of the microvasculature without contrast agents in just a few seconds. Previously, SURE was applied in-vivo in laparotomized rats to generate images of the renal microvasculature. Now, it is advancing into human studies, with a focus on lymph nodes in this paper. The potential of SURE extends to diagnosing and monitoring diseases affecting the microvasculature of human lymph nodes. This paper hypothesizes that SURE can transcutaneously reveal microvascular density and flow images of human lymph nodes without contrast agents in just 2 seconds of acquisition. An axillary human lymph node is used in this study, and the SURE density image from the Verasonics research scanner is compared with the color Doppler image from a commercial GE LOGIQ E9 scanner. In this study, the SURE tracking pipeline could depict and estimate the velocity image and the velocity profile of vessels down to 67 μm in diameter with 16.4 mm/s.