Functional ultrasound imaging for assessment of extracellular matrix scaffolds used for liver organoid formation

Congratulations to our collaborators at The University of North Carolina for advancing ultrasound for the quantification of microvasculature and using their improved understanding of microvasculature to increase the viability of tissues grown in a laboratory. Their work is featured in the journal Biomaterials. The long-term goal of their research is to enable the creation of livers and thereby address the critical shortage of liver donors for people suffering from liver failure due to chronic hepatitis, cancer, and other diseases.

Ryan C. Gessner, Ariel D. Hanson, Steven Feingold, Avery T. Cashion, Ana Corcimaru, Bryant T. Wu, Christopher R. Mullins, Stephen R. Aylward, Lola M. Reid, Paul A. Dayton, Functional ultrasound imaging for assessment of extracellular matrix scaffolds used for liver organoid formation, Biomaterials, 4 September 2013, ISSN 0142-9612,http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.08.033

A portion of their work was made possible by the ultrasound and vascular analysis capabilities of Kitware’s TubeTK. In particular, the UNC research team made use of TubeTK’s method for aligning and composing multiple, partially overlapping 3D ultrasound images into a large, continuous volume; and they made use of TubeTK’s method for extracting models of the vasculature in the ultrasound volumes. These steps allowed the researchers to more completely, consistently, and accurately assess the complex microvascular patterns in their samples.

Congratulations also go to Kitware’s Chris Mullins for his outstanding support of the UNC research team and for his contributions to their journal article!