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Translational neurosonology
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This article was originally published by Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd and was migrated to Scientific Scholar after the change of Publisher.
Since the 1970s, there has been a steady progress in improvisation of medical ultrasound systems and a corresponding increase in clinical utilization of this largely non-invasive technique in the diagnosis of neurovascular disorders. However, with the recent surge in the technical advances and development of new diagnostic and therapeutic applications; some of these still in experimental stage, more and more clinical neuroscientists are drawn towards the field of neurosonology.
The first part of the book deals with basic ultrasound principles, bio-effects, safety and the new ultrasound contrast agents. Microbubble kinetics in the human vascular system and their various interactions with the ultrasound beam are covered in detail. How these interactions can be edged towards the use of advanced therapeutic applications of ultrasound waves in medicine, like for therapeutic ablations is also explained.
The following chapters are dedicated to many of the established and emerging clinical and experimental applications in neurosonology, starting from intima-media thickness measurements in carotid arteries, parenchymal imaging in movement disorders to more advanced uses like cerebral perfusion imaging and vasomotor reactivity studies, especially in transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and ischaemic strokes. Every chapter is a meticulous review of the current trends in the corresponding field.
The therapeutic applications of ultrasound, for example, sonothrombolysis- right from historical perspectives to development of microbubble- based ultrasonography clot lysis and the clinical trials on the same are covered in the later chapters. The emerging applications of selective transcranial brain ablation with high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and experimental studies on blood-brain barrier opening for drug delivery to the brain are discussed in the last two chapters.
Overall, this book is an essential primer for those neuroscientists who venture into this exciting new field of advanced application of ultrasound in neurological disorders. Animal models and randomized clinical trials, wherever available are reviewed comprehensively in many of the chapters, which makes it scientifically sound. This book will find its due place in the library of many academic neuroscience departments.