Clinical Application of Ultra-High Frequency Ultrasound: Emerging Trends

Ultra-high frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) is an emerging diagnostic technique in several medical fields due to its unique characteristic of providing a submillimeter resolution of anatomical structures. UHFUS was initially developed for pre-clinical settings, with the first clinical application reported only in the early 2000s. To date, an increasing number of applications have been described for the investigation of dermatological, vascular, musculoskeletal and oral diseases. Compared with other ultrasonographic techniques, UHFUS presents the major advantage of providing real-time imaging, along with being repeatable over time, which makes this technique suitable for all stages of disease work-up, from diagnosis to surgical planning and follow-up.There are excellent research opportunities in this field, summarized by the focus of this Special Issue, including the following: novel UHFUS applications and comparison with state-of-the-art techniques; reliability in the diagnosis, prognosis, surgical planning and follow-up of various pathological conditions; and the strengths and weaknesses in clinical and pre-clinical settings.