Ultrasound scattering from changes in cell properties
Baddour RE
I have started work under the supervision of Drs. Michael Sherar and Michael Kolios on a project to study the biophysics of high frequency ultrasound scattering due to cells undergoing apoptosis (programmed cell death). This type of cell death is of particular importance because it is the type of death induced in tumours by several cancer therapies, including certain chemotherapeutic agents. The long-term goal is to develop an imaging tool which would indicate regions of apoptotic activity superimposed on an anatomical image.
My recent work consists mainly of Mie scattering simulations and cell-equivalent phantom experiments. It has been previously shown that high frequency ultrasound can be used to detect the structural changes that cells and tissues undergo during apoptosis (Czarnota, Kolios, et al. Ultrasonic imaging of viable, dead and apoptotic cells. Ultrasound Med Biol 23(6):961-965, 1997). However, the changes seen in the ultrasound intensity and frequency spectrum are not fully understood. I am studying how the changes in the sizes, spatial distribution, and acoustic impedance of the scattering sources within the cells are related to the resulting ultrasound signal.