This report aims to explain the reader the research - related activities conducted at the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, during a Research Internship Summer 2013. The activities conducted at this inter nship can be classified in three different parts: First, training on the usage of laborat ory ́s facilities and internally developed software, as well as study of essential papers for basic understanding of QUS (Quantitative Ultrasound) and Backscattering T heory. This stage lasted for a month approximately and was conducted throughout May 2013. This part of the internship is of no relevant scientific interest, and therefore has been omitted from the body of this report. However, training techniques have been found to be worth explaining, as they are relevant from a teaching point of view. Therefore an explanation of the training work conducted throughout May 2013 may be found in the annexes of this report. Second, implication in a study conducted throughout different departments of the University of Illinois, including the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory. The broader goals of this study were to: 1) Establish a quantitative ultrasound (QUS, the quantifi cation of tissue microstructure) imaging capability that targets a medically signifi cant skeletal muscle disease 2) Apply QUS to noninvasively monitor disease progression and regenerative changes following cell - based therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy ( DMD) . The implication of this study consisted in sample scanning and processing using Quantitative Ultrasound techniques. The involvement in this study was the main study conducted throughout the internship, and lasted for approximately two months (June a nd July 2013). The explanation of the project, the level of implication, and presentation of the results achieved is therefore the largest portion of this report. Everything related to this study has be en presented in the report under the section “Part I”. Third, a minor implication in yet another different project. This joint project was conducted by the University of Illinois and the University of San Diego in California. The goal of this project is to study the viability of quantifying the liver - fat content using QUS techniques, in the aim of substituting other c ostly detection techniques used currently, such as Magnetic Resonance, with the non - invasive and non - expensive technology that is Quantitative Ultrasound. The involvement in this study was mainly processing the already collected data from actual patients, using internal software developed by the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory. The duration of the implication in this study was less than a month, and was conducted throughout the first weeks of the month of August 2013. The explanation of the project, the le vel of implication, and the explanation of the results will be presented in this report under the section “Part II”. Therefore, this report will be divided between “Part I” and “Part II”, the length of each one of the parts being approximately the amount o f work and time spent in them during the internship.

Outgoing