Congratulations to Alexander Gleed, D.Phil., Postdoctoral Associate in Radiology, on publishing his latest research in the July 2025 issue of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, which also features his quantitative ultrasound rat placental images on the front cover.
Dr. Gleed’s paper, “Homodyned K-Distribution Temporal-Based Characterization of Rat Placenta Microstructure Using the Reduced Uterine Perfusion Pressure Model of Preeclampsia,” describes his innovative use of the homodyned K-distribution to parameterize envelope-detected signals of in vivo ultrasound radiofrequency echo frames, or videos, of rat placentae. This approach enabled him to characterize rat placenta microstructure in the reduced uterine perfusion pressure (RUPP) model of preeclampsia—a life-threatening pregnancy syndrome related to abnormal placental tissue microstructure.
“Preeclampsia currently has no cure and is only diagnosed when serious clinical symptoms appear,” says Dr. Gleed, “which unfortunately indicates that maternal cardiovascular and renal systems may already be failing. Early detection of placental tissue microstructural changes, which are known to occur in preeclampsia, could better inform early obstetric care and management, potentially leading to improved health outcomes for both mother and baby.”
Dr. Gleed, a member of the Biomedical Ultrasound Research Laboratory, conducted this work under the mentorship and support of his supervisor and co-author, Jonathan Mamou, Ph.D., Professor of Electrical Engineering in Radiology; his colleague Cameron Hoerig, Ph.D., Instructor of Biomedical Engineering in Radiology; and collaborators at Tulane University. His innovative research holds promise for clinicians and researchers in ultrasound, obstetrics, placental imaging, and maternal-fetal medicine.