Tommaso Di Ianni, MSc
2017 New Investigator Award winner for Basic Science

What does being named the New Investigator Award winner mean to you?

It was an honor being appointed the New Investigator Award for the Basic Science category for “In Vivo Vector Flow Imaging for a Portable Ultrasound Scanner.” It means a lot to me to see my scientific contributions being recognized by some of the leading experts in the field. It provides a great stimulus to continue to focus on researching imaging solutions that will hopefully improve the clinical practice.

How did you get into working with ultrasound?

After the masters, I was looking for open PhD positions, and I found an opening about portable ultrasound imaging at Professor Jørgen A. Jensen’s Center for Fast Ultrasound Imaging at the Technical University of Denmark. I didn’t know much about ultrasound at the time, but I was fascinated about its great capabilities as a risk-free imaging modality. Even more, I was attracted by the fact that ultrasound scanners can be scaled like any other electronic device and can become so small it can fit in a lab coat pocket. Currently, this does not apply to other imaging technologies, and I believe that ultrasound has a lot of potential to make a difference at the point of care.

What do you like the most about working with ultrasound?

I am overwhelmed about the patterns that the blood can depict when flowing into the vessels. With ultrasound, we can obtain a very high temporal resolution and we can visualize dynamic details on a millisecond scale. Sometimes, we can see vortices forming when the valves in the jugular vein close, or the helical flow in the ascending aorta. Also, the vortices forming in the heart are absolutely impressive to look at. I believe there’s a lot of diagnostic potential in that wealth of information.

What are your future research plans?

Currently, I’m completing my PhD and I will continue my research as a postdoc for some more months. In the future, I plan to continue to do research in the biomedical engineering field. I’m very interested in imaging the microvasculature in cancer to improve the characterization of the tumor’s functional activity and to track the response to the therapy.

Why did you become interested in ultrasound? Where did you learn your ultrasound skills? Comment below or let us know on Twitter: @AIUM_Ultrasound. Learn more about the AIUM Awards Program at www.aium.org/aboutUs/awards.aspx.

Tommaso Di Ianni, MSc, is a PhD student at Technical University of Denmark.