NIH awards University of Illinois researchers grant for Alzheimer’s ultrasound imaging

The NIH has awarded researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign more than $420,000 to develop ultrasound imaging methods to study neurovascular changes underlying Alzheimer’s disease.

According to a university press release, the 2-year, $421,500 grant will fund exploratory and early-stage research at the Beckman Institute, an interdisciplinary facility that fosters scientific advances and faculty collaboration.

“The issue is that there are currently no tools, specifically imaging tools and small animal models, to help study [the relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and the brain’s vascular system],” Pengfei Song, PhD, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering, said in the release.

According to Dan Llano, MD, PhD, associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology, the funding will “provide a quantum leap” in the understanding of how the vascular system affects AD.

“Our lab has been looking for ways to do deep-tissue high-resolution imaging for years,” Llano said in the release. “We are very fortunate to have been able to forge a collaboration with Professor Song to be able to achieve unprecedented deep-tissue noninvasive brain imaging.”

Ultrasound microscopy provides fast, accurate images of microvasculature by measuring how small contrast-agent microbubbles travel throughout the bloodstream, the release stated. Microbubbles are a helpful imaging technique because they are easier to track with ultrasound.

“This ultrasound technology allows us to image the entire brain with a resolution that is high enough to resolve microvessels,” Song said in the release. “Our imaging system is low-cost, mobile and widely accessible. We believe that if our method gains traction, it may be rapidly adopted by the Alzheimer’s disease community. This imaging combination of penetration and resolution is unprecedented.”