Feasibility of Imaging Ischemic Stroke Through the Skull Using Ultrasound Tomography

Stroke is a significant cause of mortality and disability in America. Due to differences in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, imaging must be performed before administration of therapeutic medication; however, the nature of both CT and MRI imaging can induce delays in triage time. Recent work suggests that ultrasound tomography (UST) is capable of imaging in vivo tissue properties and may have potential as a diagnostic tool during stroke treatment which could be performed at the patient’s location rather than at a local hospital. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of using UST imaging to detect ischemic stroke in tissue-mimicking environments in both in silico and in vitro studies. The results of this work dictate the challenges which must be overcome in order to effectively image in vivo stroke patients.