SBIR Phase II: Developing a new platform technology for 3D ultrasound imaging

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the development and commercialization of a new technology for non-invasive preclinical imaging. This platform technology will be used in studies of disease or in in drug development. The project will further develop and validate an imaging platform based on three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound, which is a low cost, high-throughput alternative to existing whole-body imaging modalities, and will provide more sensitivity and field of view than current two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound approaches. The technology developed will reduce costs of whole-body preclinical imaging, and enable access to this technology to smaller research organizations. Increased availability of a low-cost imaging tool for preclinical disease and drug development studies could accelerate progress in improving human health while reducing cost burdens on life science labs. The proposed project addresses the problem that 2D ultrasound is a preferred imaging modality in preclinical studies due to the adequate resolution, high throughput, and low cost; however, it suffers from user variability and inadequate field of view. The research objectives will be to continue the development and validation of a 3D ultrasound system which overcomes challenges of user variability and inadequate field of view. Specific technical goals will be to improve both the hardware and software of the system for increased throughput, integrating the system components into a cohesive customer-facing product, and calibrating and validating the system for its intended preclinical imaging application. Expected results will be a novel technology ? an automated 3D preclinical ultrasound system, which will substantially improve the performance and capabilities of preclinical ultrasound imaging, yet will retain the low-cost and high throughput characteristics of ultrasound imaging. This new technology will fill a need present in nearly every academic research institution as well as pharmaceutical and contract research organizations worldwide.