Mainly, the work performed during the project focused on:
1) Ultrasound image formation: new imaging strategies have been developed and implemented on an ultrasound research scanner to increase the temporal resolution of 2D and 3D echocardiography, demonstrating that high spatial and temporal resolution can be achieved also for wide field of views, thereby enhancing the diagnostic power of echocardiography.
2) Ultrasound signal processing: new processing approaches for color flow imaging and tissue Doppler imaging applications have been developed, demonstrating that blood flow, wall motion, and blood-wall interactions can be studied with unprecedented detail by exploiting advanced image formation techniques.
3) Real-time applications: some of the advanced developed techniques have been implemented in real-time on the ultrasound system we developed, demonstrating that they could be made accessible to clinicians by implementing them also on hardware currently available in commercial scanners.
During the project, results were disseminated by publishing on international journals (refer to publications), attending international conferences, organizing seminars, lectures and workshops.
International conferences:
BMT 2018 Biomedical Technology Conference, Aachen (Germany): 1 oral presentation
2018 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, Kobe (Japan): 2 oral and 4 poster presentations
The Artimino Conference on Medical Ultrasound Technology, Nijmegen (The Netherlands): 1 oral presentation
2019 International Congress on Ultrasonics, Bruges (Belgium): 1 oral presentation
2019 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, Glasgow (Scotland): 2 oral and 2 poster presentations
Invited Lectures:
“2D ultrasound sparse arrays for 3D cardiovascular imaging” for the course Ultrasound Technologies for Medical Applications at the Dept. of Information Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Trento (Italy)
“High frame rate cardiovascular imaging towards clinical application” for the course Ultrasound Technologies for Medical Applications at the Dept. of Information Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Trento (Italy)
“2D Ultrasound sparse arrays and real-time high frame rate systems for cardiovascular imaging” for the employees of the following Departments of Esaote S.p.A. (Florence, Italy): Global Ultrasound Transducer R&D, Ultrasound System R&D, Probe Operations, Software Engineering, Image Quality.
Workshops:
“The practical use of an advanced research ultrasound system” for the course Ultrasound Technologies for Medical Applications at the Dept. of Information Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Trento (Italy)
“The use of an advanced research ultrasound system for high frame rate cardiac imaging” for the Bioengineering Laboratory of the Dept. of Industrial and Information Engineering of the University of Pavia (Italy)
Seminars:
“ACOUSTIC project: Assessment of cardiac function by new ultrasound imaging strategies towards a reliable clinical routine” for the Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim, Norway)
