About the Center

The Ultrasound Research Center at Mayo Clinic invents, develops, validates and optimizes application of the next generation of ultrasound technology in medical practice. The center's multidisciplinary approach provides a platform for game-changing, fruitful collaborations between researchers and clinicians. The center advances ultrasound diagnosis and therapy and translates ultrasound research to the clinical practice to improve patient care.

Ultrasound has huge potential to improve and enhance patient care because it is a noninvasive, nonionizing, highly portable modality with rapidly increasing capability yet decreasing cost. Furthermore, ultrasound can not only characterize tissue in unique ways but also can be used for many therapeutic purposes.

Investigations in the Ultrasound Research Center improve the accuracy and range of diagnostic ultrasound imaging, develop and validate ultrasound-based biomarkers, facilitate applications for ultrasound for new disease indications, and find and hone uses for ultrasound in therapeutics and minimally invasive interventions. The center's research goals include:

  • Enhancing the use of ultrasound to visualize liver, vascular, gastrointestinal and musculoskeletal diseases.
  • Improving traditional echo-based imaging methods, including combining ultrasound with other imaging modalities.
  • Developing new imaging techniques that better characterize tissue properties — particularly those currently not amenable to noninvasive imaging. For example, these new techniques could allow physicians to:
    • Identify underlying liver disease, potentially avoiding biopsy
    • Distinguish active inflammation from chronic disease in the gastrointestinal tract
    • Utilize a new model predicting vascular thrombosis
  • Creating and advancing novel ultrasound-based therapeutic approaches.

Mission

The mission of the Ultrasound Research Center at Mayo Clinic is to develop, validate and apply novel diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound technologies and applications for patient care.

Vision

The Ultrasound Research Center at Mayo Clinic was established to be a multidisciplinary ultrasound research nexus, comprising engineers and physicists performing world-class basic research partnered with clinicians practicing cutting-edge translational medicine that utilizes the entire array of ultrasound technologies.

Researchers in the center work together to develop the next generation of ultrasound technologies and applications. Their findings enhance diagnostic capabilities and introduce novel therapeutic applications. As a collaborative and interactive venture, the Ultrasound Research Center at Mayo Clinic provides a "three-shield" platform to advance ultrasound research, improve ultrasound use in clinical practice, and educate current and future ultrasound researchers and practitioners.

Focus areas

Basic and translational research in the Ultrasound Research Center at Mayo Clinic is centered on the following areas of focus:

  • Developing ultrasound-based methods using advanced instrument, acquisition and signal processing technologies
  • Developing new biomarkers specific to individual patients for monitoring tissue state and organ function
  • Developing new ultrasound imaging methods based on foundational biophysics principles
  • Applying ultrasound to functional imaging of natural or induced variations of physiological state
  • Translating innovations in ultrasound technology into widely available commercial imaging instruments for application worldwide
  • Applying ultrasound for treatment, targeted drug delivery, minimally invasive interventions and neural stimulation