PhD defence A.J. (Jorinde) Kortenbout

Below is a brief summary of the dissertation:

While the survival rates of vulnerable premature infants have increased, these babies remain susceptible to serious health risks, including brain injury. Disturbances in blood flow to the brain often play a significant role in the development of such brain injuries. Accurately measuring and monitoring brain blood flow is therefore important for the early detection of such disturbances. Current methods for imaging cerebral blood flow, however, are not suitable for continuous monitoring and only provide indirect information. This thesis focuses on the development and application of high-frame-rate (HFR) ultrasound, an advanced technique that enables detailed visualization and quantitative measurement of blood speeds in the brain. We have developed an innovative automatic method to measure blood speeds from HFR ultrasound images. Using this method, we have demonstrated that it is possible to both quantitatively and visually monitor the cerebral blood flow of premature infants and newborns undergoing major surgery. This has been investigated in three different patient studies, where we made comparisons with conventional clinical ultrasound. The results suggest that HFR ultrasound could be a valuable tool in the future for early detection and intervention in brain injuries in vulnerable newborns, contributing to the improvement of their long-term quality of life.