Adjuvant therapies that lower the thrombolytic dose or increase its efficacy would represent a significant breakthrough in the treatment of patients with ischemic stroke (Eggers 2006;Tsivgoulis and Alexandrov 2007). The objective of this study was to perform intracranial measurements of the acoustic pressure field generated by 0.12, 1.03 and 2.00 MHz ultrasound transducers to identify optimal ultrasound parameters that would maximize penetration and minimize aberration of the beam. To achieve this goal, in vitro experiments were conducted on five human skull specimens. In a water-filled tank, two unfocused transducers (0.12 and 1.03 MHz) and one focused transducer (2.00 MHz) were consecutively placed near the right temporal bone of each skull. A hydrophone, mounted on a micropositioning system, was moved to an estimated location of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) origin and measurements of the surrounding acoustic pressure field were performed. For each measurement, the distance from the position of maximum acoustic pressure to the estimated origin of the MCA inside the skulls was quantified. The -3 dB depth of field and beam width in the skull were also investigated as a function of the three frequencies. Results show that the transducer alignment relative to the skull is a significant determinant of the detailed behavior of the acoustic field inside the skull. For optimal penetration, insonation normal to the temporal bone was needed. The shape of the 0.12-MHz intracranial beam was more distorted than those at 1.03 and 2.00 MHz due to the large aperture and beam width. However, lower ultrasound pressure reduction was observed at 0.12 MHz (22.5%). At 1.03 and 2.00 MHz two skulls had an insufficient temporal bone window and attenuated the beam severely (up to 96.6% pressure reduction). For all frequencies, constructive and destructive interference patterns were seen near the contralateral skull wall at various elevations. The 0.12-MHz ultrasound beam depth of field was affected the most when passing Corresponding Address: Christy K. Holland, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering, Colleges of Medicine and Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Medical Science Building, Rm. 6167, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0586, USA, Phone: +1 (513) 558-5675, Fax: +1 (513) 558-5958, Christy.Holland@uc.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript through the temporal bone and showed a decrease in size of more than 55% on average. The speed of sound in the temporal...

Adjuvant therapies that lower the thrombolytic dose or increase its efficacy would represent a significant breakthrough in the treatment of patients with ischemic stroke (Eggers 2006;Tsivgoulis and Alexandrov 2007). The objective of this study was to perform intracranial measurements of the acoustic pressure field generated by 0.12, 1.03 and 2.00 MHz ultrasound transducers to identify optimal ultrasound parameters that would maximize penetration and minimize aberration of the beam. To achieve this goal, in vitro experiments were conducted on five human skull specimens. In a water-filled tank, two unfocused transducers (0.12 and 1.03 MHz) and one focused transducer (2.00 MHz) were consecutively placed near the right temporal bone of each skull. A hydrophone, mounted on a micropositioning system, was moved to an estimated location of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) origin and measurements of the surrounding acoustic pressure field were performed. For each measurement, the distance from the position of maximum acoustic pressure to the estimated origin of the MCA inside the skulls was quantified. The -3 dB depth of field and beam width in the skull were also investigated as a function of the three frequencies. Results show that the transducer alignment relative to the skull is a significant determinant of the detailed behavior of the acoustic field inside the skull. For optimal penetration, insonation normal to the temporal bone was needed. The shape of the 0.12-MHz intracranial beam was more distorted than those at 1.03 and 2.00 MHz due to the large aperture and beam width. However, lower ultrasound pressure reduction was observed at 0.12 MHz (22.5%). At 1.03 and 2.00 MHz two skulls had an insufficient temporal bone window and attenuated the beam severely (up to 96.6% pressure reduction). For all frequencies, constructive and destructive interference patterns were seen near the contralateral skull wall at various elevations. The 0.12-MHz ultrasound beam depth of field was affected the most when passing Corresponding Address: Christy K. Holland, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Engineering, Colleges of Medicine and Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Medical Science Building, Rm. 6167, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0586, USA, Phone: +1 (513) 558-5675, Fax: +1 (513) 558-5958, Christy.Holland@uc.edu. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. HHS Public Access Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript through the temporal bone and showed a decrease in size of more than 55% on average. The speed of sound in the temporal...

In the mid 1990s, the fast spin-echo (FSE) and turbo spin-echo (TSE) T2-weighted (T2-W) sequences became available and are now widely accepted alternatives to conventional spin-echo sequences since they result in reduced acquisition times while maintaining tissue contrast. Since that time, there has been continued development of new sequences to further decrease acquisition times, minimize artifacts, and preserve lesion detection. The purpose of this pictorial essay is to qualitatively illustrate the newly available fast recovery (FR) FSE T2-W MR images of the abdomen compared with the images acquired using the routine FSE T2-W sequence in non-breath-hold studies in children.