Together with three other institutes the physics of fluids group of the faculty Science and Technology has developed a unique high-speed camera for fundamental research in the field of heart echoscopy.
Echoscopy is a research method whereby information is acquired on the structure of the heart using high-frequency ultrasound waves. The camera, christened Brandaris128, can make pictures of recently developed contrast agents with a speed of 25 million frames per second. The contrast agents contain minuscule, specially prepared bubbles that, carried along in the blood, reflect ultrasound very efficiently and thus can, for example, make the perfusion of the heart muscle (or lack thereof, after a heart attack) visible.
The ultrasound and the contrast bubbles can also be used to administer drugs at specific places in the human body, for example in the liver, the kidneys or near blood clots. The Brandaris128 visualises the interaction between contrast bubbles and the ultrasound.
The camera is a joint project of the Foundation FOM, the Erasmus Medical Centre, UT, and the Inter-University Cardiology Institute Netherlands.
