Super-Resolution Posterior Ocular Microvascular Imaging Using 3-D Ultrasound Localization Microscopy With a 32X32 Matrix Array

TL;DR

This study presents a novel 3-D ultrasound localization microscopy method using a matrix array and advanced beamforming to achieve high-resolution imaging of posterior ocular microvasculature, overcoming previous technical limitations.

Contribution

The paper introduces a region-dependent sound speed beamforming approach combined with spatiotemporal denoising for improved 3-D ocular microvascular imaging.

Findings

Achieved 63 um spatial resolution in vivo.

Confirmed global resolution of approximately 59 um.

Enhanced microbubble signal quality with higher cross-correlation coefficients.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to enable in-vivo three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) of posterior ocular microvasculature using a 256-channel system and a 1024-element matrix array, and to overcome limitations of restricted transmit angles, sound speed mismatch caused by the crystalline lens and surrounding tissues, and the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of microbubble signals. To address phase distortions from the crystalline lens, which has a higher speed of sound (SOS) than surrounding tissues, a region-dependent SOS beamforming approach was implemented to improve microbubble resolution. A 4-D non-local means filter was subsequently applied to suppress background noise and enhance microbubble contrast. The proposed method improved localization accuracy and image quality, achieving a spatial resolution of 63 um, while Fourier shell correlation (1/2-bit threshold) confirmed a global resolution of approximately 59 um. Higher mean normalized cross-correlation coefficients between the microbubbles and the system point-spread function, obtained with the proposed method (approximately 0.67), compared with those without the proposed method (approximately 0.60), indicate enhanced microbubble signal quality. Furthermore, the 3-D bi-directional vessel density and flow-velocity maps were reconstructed, capturing detailed choroidal vascular and hemodynamic patterns. These results demonstrate that region-dependent SOS beamforming combined with spatiotemporal denoising enables high-resolution posterior ocular ULM and provides a practical pathway toward quantitative 3-D assessment of retinal and choroidal microvasculature for potential clinical use.