High frequency ultrasound with an eigen-decomposition filter to assess the effect of laser cyclophotocoagulation treatment on blood flow

Abstract

We use high frequency ultrasound to assess the effect of laser cyclophotocoagulation (CPC) on blood flow in the anterior segment of the eye. We show that laser CPC treatment applied to the rabbit eye provides a unique way to interrupt blood flow in the ciliary body, thus serving as a new method for evaluating clutter rejection performance in the microcirculation with and without an ultrasound contrast agent. We apply a recently developed eigendecomposition-based clutter rejection filter with modifications to deal with high blood-to-clutter ratio's (BCR) encountered at high frequencies, particularly with ultrasound contrast agents. In vivo results are presented to illustrate treatment effects, clutter rejection, and contrast agent enhancement.