PMID- 31485312
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20201006
IS  - 2042-8898 (Print)
IS  - 2042-8901 (Electronic)
IS  - 2042-8898 (Linking)
VI  - 9
IP  - 5
DP  - 2019 Oct 6
TI  - Longitudinal characterization of local perfusion of the rat placenta using 
      contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging.
PG  - 20190024
LID - 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0024 [doi]
LID - 20190024
AB  - The placenta performs many physiological functions critical for development. 
      Insufficient placental perfusion, due to improper vascular remodelling, has been 
      linked to many pregnancy-related diseases. To study longitudinal in vivo 
      placental perfusion, we have implemented a pixel-wise time-intensity curve (TIC) 
      analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) images. CEUS images were acquired 
      of pregnant Sprague Dawley rats after bolus injections of gas-filled microbubble 
      contrast agents. Conventionally, perfusion can be quantified using a TIC of 
      contrast enhancement in an averaged region of interest. However, the placenta has 
      a complex structure and flow profile, which is insufficiently described using the 
      conventional technique. In this work, we apply curve fitting in each pixel of the 
      CEUS image series in order to quantify haemodynamic parameters in the placenta 
      and surrounding tissue. The methods quantified an increase in mean placental 
      blood volume and relative blood flow from gestational day (GD) 14 to GD18, while 
      the mean transit time of the microbubbles decreased, demonstrating an overall 
      rise in placental perfusion during gestation. The variance of all three 
      parameters increased during gestation, showing that regional differences in 
      perfusion are observable using the pixel-wise TIC approach. Additionally, the 
      high-resolution parametric images show distinct regions of high blood flow 
      developing during late gestation. The developed methods could be applied to 
      assess placental vascular remodelling during the treatment of the pathologies of 
      pregnancy.
FAU - Lawrence, Dylan J
AU  - Lawrence DJ
AD  - Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, 500 Lindy Boggs Center, 
      New Orleans, LA 70118, USA.
FAU - Huda, Kristie
AU  - Huda K
AD  - Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, 500 Lindy Boggs Center, 
      New Orleans, LA 70118, USA.
FAU - Bayer, Carolyn L
AU  - Bayer CL
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0947-6892
AD  - Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, 500 Lindy Boggs Center, 
      New Orleans, LA 70118, USA.
LA  - eng
SI  - figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4603220
SI  - Dryad/10.5061/dryad.23c646q
GR  - P20 GM109036/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20190816
PL  - England
TA  - Interface Focus
JT  - Interface focus
JID - 101531990
PMC - PMC6710660
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - contrast-enhanced ultrasound
OT  - functional imaging
OT  - perfusion
OT  - placenta
OT  - vascular flow
COIS- The authors declare no competing interests.
EDAT- 2019/09/06 06:00
MHDA- 2019/09/06 06:01
PMCR- 2020/10/06
CRDT- 2019/09/06 06:00
PHST- 2019/06/28 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2019/09/06 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2019/09/06 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2019/09/06 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2020/10/06 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - rsfs20190024 [pii]
AID - 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0024 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Interface Focus. 2019 Oct 6;9(5):20190024. doi: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0024. Epub 2019 
      Aug 16.