Thesis Project Form

Brain maturation during neonatal and early pediatric development is strongly characterized by progressive white matter myelination, particularly in key structures such as the Posterior Limb of the Internal Capsule (PLIC). The timing and quality of myelination are important indicators of neurological development and are frequently used in clinical neuroradiology to detect developmental abnormalities.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is currently the reference modality for evaluating white matter maturation and lesions. However, MRI examinations are costly, time-consuming, and often difficult to perform in fragile neonatal populations.
Ultrasound imaging is routinely used in neonatal care due to its portability, safety, and bedside availability, yet conventional B-mode ultrasound provides limited quantitative information about white matter microstructure.
Raw radio-frequency (RF) ultrasound signals, which are normally discarded during image formation, contain additional information related to the acoustic scattering properties of biological tissues. Changes in these signals may reflect structural changes associated with myelination and white matter organization.
This thesis aims to investigate whether quantitative analysis of RF echo signals acquired during neonatal brain ultrasound can provide radio-frequency biomarkers of myelination in the PLIC and other white matter structures, and whether these markers correlate with established MRI indicators of white matter maturation.
The project will be carried out in collaboration with Giannina Gaslini Institute.

The main objective of the thesis is to develop and validate an ultrasound RF acquisition and analysis protocol for the study of white matter development in neonatal brain imaging.
The main activities will include:
- Literature review on:
o neonatal brain ultrasound
o RF ultrasound signal processing
o quantitative ultrasound techniques
o MRI markers of white matter maturation
- Definition and optimization of an ultrasound acquisition protocol allowing the storage of raw RF signals during transfontanellar imaging.
- Identification and segmentation of the Posterior Limb of the Internal Capsule (PLIC) in ultrasound images.
- Extraction of RF-based quantitative features (e.g., spectral parameters, envelope statistics, backscatter-related metrics).
- Development of signal processing pipelines for quantitative RF analysis.
- Investigation of the relationship between RF-derived parameters and white matter developmental stage.
- Comparison and correlation with MRI-derived measurements of myelination when available.
- Evaluation of the feasibility of using RF-based metrics as non-invasive biomarkers of white matter maturation.

The student will acquire interdisciplinary skills in the fields of medical imaging, signal processing, and quantitative ultrasound, including:
- Ultrasound RF signal acquisition and data management
- Signal processing and spectral analysis of RF data
- Quantitative ultrasound methodologies
- Biomedical image analysis and segmentation
- Correlation analysis between ultrasound-derived and MRI-derived biomarkers
- Programming and data analysis using scientific computing environments (e.g., MATLAB or Python)
- Exposure to clinical workflows in neonatal neuroimaging
The student will also gain experience in translational research, working at the interface between engineering and clinical pediatric imaging.