Abstract:

Ultrasound is ubiquitous in clinical practice because it is safe, portable, inexpensive and real time. However, the image quality of ultrasound is much less than MRI or X-ray CT because the contrast of ultrasound is typically low and ultrasonic images are rife with speckle. We have been developing different techniques to improve ultrasonic imaging by providing new sources of image contrast and improving spatial resolution. These new techniques include: development of quantitative ultrasound, ultrasound tomography with limited angle backscatter, novel super resolution beamforming techniques and coding techniques for effectively improving transducer bandwidth. In addition to imaging, we have developed communication protocols using ultrasound as the communication channel and have demonstrated data rates capable of streaming high definition video.  In this talk we will discuss different applications of these ultrasonic imaging and communications techniques. Specifically, we will show how quantitative ultrasound approaches have been successful at classifying tissue state, monitoring focused ultrasound therapy, detecting early response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the automatic detection of nerves in the imaging field. We will demonstrate how our super resolution technique can improve image quality for specific imaging tasks such as detecting bright specular scatterers. Finally, we will discuss the ability of ultrasound to act as the communication channel for implanted medical devices.

Bio:

Professor Oelze was born in Hamilton, New Zealand in 1971. He earned a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics (1994, Harding University) and Ph.D. in Physics (2000, OleMiss). From 2000 to 2002 Dr. Oelze served as a post-doc in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) inside the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). From 2002 to 2004, Dr. Oelze was a NIH fellow conducting research in quantitative ultrasound techniques for biomedical ultrasound applications in cancer detection. Dr. Oelze joined the faculty of ECE at the UIUC in 2005 and continues to serve as a Professor and Associate Head for Graduate Affairs. He is a Professor in the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. His research interests include biomedical ultrasound, quantitative ultrasound imaging for improving cancer diagnostics and monitoring therapy response, ultrasound bioeffects, ultrasound tomography techniques, ultrasound-based therapy, beamforming and applications of coded excitation to ultrasonic imaging. Currently, Dr. Oelze is a fellow of the AIUM, a senior member of the IEEE, and a member of ASA. He is a member of the Technical Program Committee of the IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium. He currently serves as an associate editor-in-chief of IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonic, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, associate editor of Ultrasonic Imaging and associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

Recorded Spring 2019 Seminars