Focused ultrasound transducer spatial peak intensity estimation: a comparison of methods

Science.gov (United States)

Civale, John; Rivens, Ian; Shaw, Adam; ter Haar, Gail

2018-03-01

Characterisation of the spatial peak intensity at the focus of high intensity focused ultrasound transducers is difficult because of the risk of damage to hydrophone sensors at the high focal pressures generated. Hill et al (1994 Ultrasound Med. Biol. 20 259-69) provided a simple equation for estimating spatial-peak intensity for solid spherical bowl transducers using measured acoustic power and focal beamwidth. This paper demonstrates theoretically and experimentally that this expression is only strictly valid for spherical bowl transducers without a central (imaging) aperture. A hole in the centre of the transducer results in over-estimation of the peak intensity. Improved strategies for determining focal peak intensity from a measurement of total acoustic power are proposed. Four methods are compared: (i) a solid spherical bowl approximation (after Hill et al 1994 Ultrasound Med. Biol. 20 259-69), (ii) a numerical method derived from theory, (iii) a method using measured sidelobe to focal peak pressure ratio, and (iv) a method for measuring the focal power fraction (FPF) experimentally. Spatial-peak intensities were estimated for 8 transducers at three drive powers levels: low (approximately 1 W), moderate (~10 W) and high (20-70 W). The calculated intensities were compared with those derived from focal peak pressure measurements made using a calibrated hydrophone. The FPF measurement method was found to provide focal peak intensity estimates that agreed most closely (within 15%) with the hydrophone measurements, followed by the pressure ratio method (within 20%). The numerical method was found to consistently over-estimate focal peak intensity (+40% on average), however, for transducers with a central hole it was more accurate than using the solid bowl assumption (+70% over-estimation). In conclusion, the ability to make use of an automated beam plotting system, and a hydrophone with good spatial resolution, greatly facilitates characterisation of the FPF, and

Single-transducer dual-frequency ultrasound generation to enhance acoustic cavitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hao-Li; Hsieh, Chao-Ming

2009-03-01

Dual- or multiple-frequency ultrasound stimulation is capable of effectively enhancing the acoustic cavitation effect over single-frequency ultrasound. Potential application of this sonoreactor design has been widely proposed such as on sonoluminescence, sonochemistry enhancement, and transdermal drug release enhancement. All currently available sonoreactor designs employed multiple piezoelectric transducers for generating single-frequency ultrasonic waves separately and then these waves were mixed and interfered in solutions. The purpose of this research is to propose a novel design of generating dual-frequency ultrasonic waves with single piezoelectric elements, thereby enhancing acoustic cavitation. Macroscopic bubbles were detected optically, and they were quantified at either a single-frequency or for different frequency combinations for determining their efficiency for enhancing acoustic cavitation. Visible bubbles were optically detected and hydrogen peroxide was measured to quantify acoustic cavitation. Test water samples with different gas concentrations and different power levels were used to determine the efficacy of enhancing acoustic cavitation of this design. The spectrum obtained from the backscattered signals was also recorded and examined to confirm the occurrence of stable cavitation. The results confirmed that single-element dual-frequency ultrasound stimulation can enhance acoustic cavitation. Under certain testing conditions, the generation of bubbles can be enhanced up to a level of five times higher than the generation of bubbles in single-frequency stimulation, and can increase the hydrogen peroxide production up to an increase of one fold. This design may serve as a useful alternative for future sonoreactor design owing to its simplicity to produce dual- or multiple-frequency ultrasound.

The Dynamic Performance of Flexural Ultrasonic Transducers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Feeney

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Flexural ultrasonic transducers are principally used as proximity sensors and for industrial metrology. Their operation relies on a piezoelectric ceramic to generate a flexing of a metallic membrane, which delivers the ultrasound signal. The performance of flexural ultrasonic transducers has been largely limited to excitation through a short voltage burst signal at a designated mechanical resonance frequency. However, a steady-state amplitude response is not generated instantaneously in a flexural ultrasonic transducer from a drive excitation signal, and differences in the drive characteristics between transmitting and receiving transducers can affect the measured response. This research investigates the dynamic performance of flexural ultrasonic transducers using acoustic microphone measurements and laser Doppler vibrometry, supported by a detailed mechanical analog model, in a process which has not before been applied to the flexural ultrasonic transducer. These techniques are employed to gain insights into the physics of their vibration behaviour, vital for the optimisation of industrial ultrasound systems.

2D array transducers for real-time 3D ultrasound guidance of interventional devices

Science.gov (United States)

Light, Edward D.; Smith, Stephen W.

2009-02-01

We describe catheter ring arrays for real-time 3D ultrasound guidance of devices such as vascular grafts, heart valves and vena cava filters. We have constructed several prototypes operating at 5 MHz and consisting of 54 elements using the W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. micro-miniature ribbon cables. We have recently constructed a new transducer using a braided wiring technology from Precision Interconnect. This transducer consists of 54 elements at 4.8 MHz with pitch of 0.20 mm and typical -6 dB bandwidth of 22%. In all cases, the transducer and wiring assembly were integrated with an 11 French catheter of a Cook Medical deployment device for vena cava filters. Preliminary in vivo and in vitro testing is ongoing including simultaneous 3D ultrasound and x-ray fluoroscopy.

Variability in effective radiating area and output power of new ultrasound transducers at 3 MHz.

Science.gov (United States)

Johns, Lennart D; Straub, Stephen J; Howard, Samuel M

2007-01-01

Spatial average intensity (SAI) is often used by clinicians to gauge therapeutic ultrasound dosage, yet SAI measures are not directly regulated by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards. Current FDA guidelines permit a possible 50% to 150% minimum to maximum range of SAI values, potentially contributing to variability in clinical outcomes. To measure clinical values that describe ultrasound transducers and to determine the degree of intramanufacturer and intermanufacturer variability in effective radiating area, power, and SAI when the transducer is functioning at 3 MHz. A descriptive and interferential approach was taken to this quasi-experimental design. Measurement laboratory. Sixty-six 5-cm(2) ultrasound transducers were purchased from 6 different manufacturers. All transducers were calibrated and then assessed using standardized measurement techniques; SAI was normalized to account for variability in effective radiating area, resulting in an nSAI. Effective radiating area, power, and nSAI. All manufacturers with the exception of Omnisound (P = .534) showed a difference between the reported and measured effective radiating area values (P nSAI (P < .05) than all other manufacturers functioning at 3 MHz. Intramanufacturer variability in SAI ranged from 16% to 35%, and intermanufacturer variability ranged from 22% to 61%. Clinicians should consider treatment values of each individual transducer, regardless of the manufacturer. In addition, clinicians should scrutinize the power calibration and recalibration record of the transducer and adjust clinical settings as needed for the desired level of heating. Our data may aid in explaining the reported heating differences among transducers from different manufacturers. Stricter FDA standards regarding effective radiating area and total power are needed, and standards regulating SAI should be established.

Development of a high frequency single-element ultrasound needle transducer for anesthesia delivery

Science.gov (United States)

Ameri, Golafsoun; Son, Jungik; Liang, Jingwei; Foster, F. Stuart; Ganapathy, Sugantha; Peters, Terry M.

2017-03-01

Epidural anesthesia is one of the most commonly used and yet challenging techniques employed for pain management and anesthesia delivery. The major complications of this procedure are due to accidental dural puncture, with an incidence of 1-3%, which could lead to both temporary and irreversible permanent neurological complications. Needle placement under ultrasound (US) guidance has received increasing interest for improving needle placement accuracy. However, poor needle visibility in US, difficulties in displaying relevant anatomical structure such as dura mater due to attenuation and bone shadowing, and image interpretation variability among users pose significant hurdles for any US guidance system. As a result, US guidance for epidural injections has not been widely adopted for everyday use for the performance of neuraxial blocks. The difficulties in localizing the ligamentum flavum and dura with respect to the needle tip can be addressed by integrating A-mode US, provided by a single-element transducer at the needle tip, into the B-mode US guidance system. We have taken the first steps towards providing such a guidance system. Our goal is to improve the safety of this procedure with minimal changes to the clinical workflow. This work presents the design and development of a 20 MHz single-element US transducer housed at the tip of a 19 G needle hypodermic tube, which can fit inside an epidural introducer needle. In addition, the results from initial transducer characterization tests and performance evaluation of the transducer in a euthanized porcine model are provided.

Routine Ultrasound Quality Assurance in a Multi-Unit Radiology Department: A Retrospective Evaluation of Transducer Failures.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitikainen, Anne-Mari; Peltonen, Juha I; Vartiainen, Eija

2017-09-01

The importance of quality assurance (QA) in medical ultrasound (US) has been widely recognized and recommendations concerning technical QA have been published over the years. However, the demonstrated impact of a properly working QA protocol on clinical routine has been scarce. We investigated the transducer write-off causes for a 5-y period in a multi-unit radiology department with an annual average of 230 transducers in demanding diagnostic use. The transducer faults and the initial observers of the faults leading to transducer write-offs were traced and categorized. The most common cause of transducer write-off was an image uniformity problem or element failure. Mechanical faults or excessive leakage current and defects in the lens constituted smaller yet substantial shares. Our results suggest that a properly working routine QA program can detect majority of the faults before they are reported by users. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of Heat Generation of Ultrasound Transducer on Ultrasonic Power Measured by Calorimetric Method

Science.gov (United States)

Uchida, Takeyoshi; Kikuchi, Tsuneo

2013-07-01

Ultrasonic power is one of the key quantities closely related to the safety of medical ultrasonic equipment. An ultrasonic power standard is required for establishment of safety. Generally, an ultrasonic power standard below approximately 20 W is established by the radiation force balance (RFB) method as the most accurate measurement method. However, RFB is not suitable for high ultrasonic power because of thermal damage to the absorbing target. Consequently, an alternative method to RFB is required. We have been developing a measurement technique for high ultrasonic power by the calorimetric method. In this study, we examined the effect of heat generation of an ultrasound transducer on ultrasonic power measured by the calorimetric method. As a result, an excessively high ultrasonic power was measured owing to the effect of heat generation from internal loss in the transducer. A reference ultrasound transducer with low heat generation is required for a high ultrasonic power standard established by the calorimetric method.

Three-dimensional micro electromechanical system piezoelectric ultrasound transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Hajati, Arman; Latev, Dimitre; Gardner, Deane; Hajati, Azadeh; Imai, Darren; Torrey, Marc; Schoeppler, Martin

2012-12-01

Here we present the design and experimental acoustic test data for an ultrasound transducer technology based on a combination of micromachined dome-shaped piezoelectric resonators arranged in a flexible architecture. Our high performance niobium-doped lead zirconate titanate film is implemented in three-dimensional dome-shaped structures, which form the basic resonating cells. Adjustable frequency response is realized by mixing these basic cells and modifying their dimensions by lithography. Improved characteristics such as high sensitivity, adjustable wide-bandwidth frequency response, low transmit voltage compatible with ordinary integrated circuitry, low electrical impedance well matched to coaxial cabling, and intrinsic acoustic impedance match to water are demonstrated.

Detecting failed elements on phased array ultrasound transducers using the Edinburgh Pipe Phantom

Science.gov (United States)

Inglis, Scott; Pye, Stephen D

2016-01-01

Aims Imaging faults with ultrasound transducers are common. Failed elements on linear and curvilinear array transducers can usually be detected with a simple image uniformity or ‘paperclip’ test. However, this method is less effective for phased array transducers, commonly used in cardiac imaging. The aim of this study was to assess whether the presence of failed elements could be detected through measurement of the resolution integral (R) using the Edinburgh Pipe Phantom. Methods A 128-element paediatric phased array transducer was studied. Failed elements were simulated using layered polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tape as an attenuator and measurements of resolution integral were carried out for several widths of attenuator. Results All widths of attenuator greater than 0.5 mm resulted in a significant reduction in resolution integral and low contrast penetration measurements compared to baseline (p tests to detect failed elements on phased array transducers. Particularly encouraging is the result for low contrast penetration as this is a quick and simple measurement to make and can be performed with many different test objects, thus enabling ‘in-the-field’ checks. PMID:27482276

Ultrasound power measurements of HITU transducer with a more stable radiation force balance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karaboece, B; Sadiko'lu, E; Bilgic, E

2011-01-01

A new radiation force balance (RFB) system was established at Turkish National Metrology Institute (UME) Ultrasonics Laboratory for High intensity therapeutic ultrasound (HITU) power measurements. The new system is highly stable at high power levels up to 500 Watts. The measurement system consists of a Plexiglas cylindrical balance arm, target mounting scale disks, conical reflecting and absorbing targets, adjustment nuts, and a hanging wire. Both of the two sides of balance were mounted similar size and weight targets. The equilibrium of the balance arm can be adjusted with nuts on screws located at both sides of the balance arm. Transducer was mounted to bottom of water tank. Absorbers in the bottom and the near walls of the tank were used for reflecting target case. Ultrasound power was applied to one scale of the balance where the reflecting/absorbing target was mounted and corresponding force was measured on the other scale of balance where was connected to a balance with a thin wire while the thin rest standing on a support. Ultrasound power of two HITU transducers at frequencies 0.93 MHz, 1.1 MHz and 3.3 MHz were measured with conventional and new system, the values were compared and uncertainty components were assessed in this paper.

Ultrasound power measurements of HITU transducer with a more stable radiation force balance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karaboece, B; Sadiko' lu, E; Bilgic, E, E-mail: baki.karaboce@ume.tubitak.gov.t [Tuebitak Ulusal Metroloji Enstituesue (UME), P.K. 54 41470 Gebze-Kocaeli (Turkey)

2011-02-01

A new radiation force balance (RFB) system was established at Turkish National Metrology Institute (UME) Ultrasonics Laboratory for High intensity therapeutic ultrasound (HITU) power measurements. The new system is highly stable at high power levels up to 500 Watts. The measurement system consists of a Plexiglas cylindrical balance arm, target mounting scale disks, conical reflecting and absorbing targets, adjustment nuts, and a hanging wire. Both of the two sides of balance were mounted similar size and weight targets. The equilibrium of the balance arm can be adjusted with nuts on screws located at both sides of the balance arm. Transducer was mounted to bottom of water tank. Absorbers in the bottom and the near walls of the tank were used for reflecting target case. Ultrasound power was applied to one scale of the balance where the reflecting/absorbing target was mounted and corresponding force was measured on the other scale of balance where was connected to a balance with a thin wire while the thin rest standing on a support. Ultrasound power of two HITU transducers at frequencies 0.93 MHz, 1.1 MHz and 3.3 MHz were measured with conventional and new system, the values were compared and uncertainty components were assessed in this paper.

Development of ultrasound transducer diffractive field theory for nonlinear propagation-based imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Kharin, Nikolay A.

2000-04-01

In nonlinear ultrasound imaging the images are formed using the second harmonic energy generated due to the nonlinear nature of finite amplitude propagation. This propagation can be modeled using the KZK wave equation. This paper presents further development of nonlinear diffractive field theory based on the KZK equation and its solution by means of the slowly changing profile method for moderate nonlinearity. The analytical expression for amplitudes and phases of sum frequency wave are obtained in addition to the second harmonic wave. Also, the analytical expression for the relative curvature of the wave fronts of fundamental and second harmonic signals are derived. The media with different nonlinear properties and absorption coefficients were investigated to characterize the diffractive field of the transducer at medical frequencies. All expressions demonstrate good agreement with experimental results. The expressions are novel and provide an easy way for prediction of amplitude and phase structure of nonlinearly distorted field of a transducer. The sum frequency signal technique could be implemented as well as second harmonic technique to improve the quality of biomedical images. The results obtained are of importance for medical diagnostic ultrasound equipment design.

Non-contact optoacoustic imaging with focused air-coupled transducers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deán-Ben, X. Luís [Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg (Germany); Pang, Genny A.; Razansky, Daniel, E-mail: dr@tum.de [Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg (Germany); School of Medicine, Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich (Germany); Montero de Espinosa, Francisco [CSIC, Institute of Physics and Communication Technologies, Madrid (Spain)

2015-08-03

Non-contact optoacoustic imaging employing raster-scanning of a spherically focused air-coupled ultrasound transducer is showcased herein. Optoacoustic excitation with laser fluence within the maximal permissible human exposure limits in the visible and near-infrared spectra is applied to objects with characteristic dimensions smaller than 1 mm and absorption properties representative of the whole blood at near-infrared wavelengths, and these signals are shown to be detectable without contact to the sample using an air-coupled transducer with reasonable signal averaging. Optoacoustic images of vessel-mimicking tubes embedded in an agar phantom captured with this non-contact sensing technique are also showcased. These initial results indicate that an air-coupled ultrasound detection approach can be suitable for non-contact biomedical imaging with optoacoustics.

A 1372-element Large Scale Hemispherical Ultrasound Phased Array Transducer for Noninvasive Transcranial Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Junho; Hynynen, Kullervo

2009-01-01

Noninvasive transcranial therapy using high intensity focused ultrasound transducers has attracted high interest as a promising new modality for the treatments of brain related diseases. We describe the development of a 1372 element large scale hemispherical ultrasound phased array transducer operating at a resonant frequency of 306 kHz. The hemispherical array has a diameter of 31 cm and a 15.5 cm radius of curvature. It is constructed with piezoelectric (PZT-4) tube elements of a 10 mm in diameter, 6 mm in length and 1.4 mm wall thickness. Each element is quasi-air backed by attaching a cork-rubber membrane on the back of the element. The acoustic efficiency of the element is determined to be approximately 50%. The large number of the elements delivers high power ultrasound and offers better beam steering and focusing capability. Comparisons of sound pressure-squared field measurements with theoretical calculations in water show that the array provides good beam steering and tight focusing capability over an efficient volume of approximately 100x100x80 mm 3 with nominal focal spot size of approximately 2.3 mm in diameter at -6 dB. We also present its beam steering and focusing capability through an ex vivo human skull by measuring pressure-squared amplitude after phase corrections. These measurements show the same efficient volume range and focal spot sizes at -6 dB as the ones in water without the skull present. These results indicate that the array is sufficient for use in noninvasive transcranial ultrasound therapy.

Research of Ultrasound-Mediated Transdermal Drug Delivery System Using Cymbal-Type Piezoelectric Composite Transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Huan, Huiting; Gao, Chunming; Liu, Lixian; Sun, Qiming; Zhao, Binxing; Yan, Laijun

2015-06-01

Transdermal drug delivery (TDD) implemented by especially low-frequency ultrasound is generally known as sonophoresis or phonophoresis which has drawn considerable wide attention. However, TDD has not yet achieved its full potential as an alternative to conventional drug delivery methods due to its bulky instruments. In this paper, a cymbal-type piezoelectric composite transducer (CPCT) which has advantages over a traditional ultrasound generator in weight, flexibility, and power consumption, is used as a substitute ultrasonicator to realize TDD. First, theoretical research on a CPCT based on the finite element analysis was carried out according to which a series of applicable CPCTs with bandwidths of 20 kHz to 100 kHz were elaborated. Second, a TDD experimental setup was built with previously fabricated CPCTs aimed at the administration of glucose. Finally, the TDD performance of glucose molecule transport in porcine skin was measured in vitro by quantifying the concentration of glucose, and the time variation curves were subsequently obtained. During the experiment, the driving wave form, frequency, and power consumption of the transducers were selected as the main elements which determined the efficacy of glucose delivery. The results indicate that the effectiveness of the CPCT-based delivery is constrained more by the frequency and intensity of ultrasound rather than the driving waveform. The light-weight, flexibility, and low-power consumption of a CPCT can potentially achieve effective TDD.

2D sparse array transducer optimization for 3D ultrasound imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Jae Hoon; Park, Kwan Kyu

2014-01-01

A 3D ultrasound image is desired in many medical examinations. However, the implementation of a 2D array, which is needed for a 3D image, is challenging with respect to fabrication, interconnection and cabling. A 2D sparse array, which needs fewer elements than a dense array, is a realistic way to achieve 3D images. Because the number of ways the elements can be placed in an array is extremely large, a method for optimizing the array configuration is needed. Previous research placed the target point far from the transducer array, making it impossible to optimize the array in the operating range. In our study, we focused on optimizing a 2D sparse array transducer for 3D imaging by using a simulated annealing method. We compared the far-field optimization method with the near-field optimization method by analyzing a point-spread function (PSF). The resolution of the optimized sparse array is comparable to that of the dense array.

Nonlinear Dynamic Modeling of Langevin-Type Piezoelectric Transducers

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Nicolás Peréz Alvarez

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Langevin transducers are employed in several applications, such as power ultrasound systems, naval hydrophones, and high-displacement actuators. Nonlinear effects can influence their performance, especially at high vibration amplitude levels. These nonlinear effects produce variations in the resonant frequency, harmonics of the excitation frequency, in addition to loss of symmetry in the frequency response and “frequency domain hysteresis”. In this context, this paper presents a simplified nonlinear dynamic model of power ultrasound transducers requiring only two parameters for simulating the most relevant nonlinear effects. One parameter reproduces the changes in the resonance frequency and the other introduces the dependence of the frequency response on the history of the system. The piezoelectric constitutive equations are extended by a linear dependence of the elastic constant on the mechanical displacement amplitude. For introducing the frequency hysteresis, the elastic constant is computed by combining the current value of the mechanical amplitude with the previous state amplitude. The model developed in this work is applied for predicting the dynamic responses of a 26 kHz ultrasonic transducer. The comparison of theoretical and experimental responses, obtained at several input voltages around the tuned frequency, shows a good agreement, indicating that the model can accurately describe the transducer nonlinear behavior.

Calculation of pressure fields from arbitrarily shaped, apodized, and excited ultrasound transducers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Svendsen, Niels Bruun

1992-01-01

A method for simulation of pulsed pressure fields from arbitrarily shaped, apodized and excited ultrasound transducers is suggested. It relies on the Tupholme-Stepanishen method for calculating pulsed pressure fields, and can also handle the continuous wave and pulse-echo case. The field...... is calculated by dividing the surface into small rectangles and then Summing their response. A fast calculation is obtained by using the far-field approximation. Examples of the accuracy of the approach and actual calculation times are given...

3D-printed adaptive acoustic lens as a disruptive technology for transcranial ultrasound therapy using single-element transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Maimbourg, Guillaume; Houdouin, Alexandre; Deffieux, Thomas; Tanter, Mickael; Aubry, Jean-François

2018-01-01

The development of multi-element arrays for better control of the shape of ultrasonic beams has opened the way for focusing through highly aberrating media, such as the human skull. As a result, the use of brain therapy with transcranial-focused ultrasound has rapidly grown. Although effective, such technology is expensive. We propose a disruptive, low-cost approach that consists of focusing a 1 MHz ultrasound beam through a human skull with a single-element transducer coupled with a tailored silicone acoustic lens cast in a 3D-printed mold and designed using computed tomography-based numerical acoustic simulation. We demonstrate on N  =  3 human skulls that adding lens-based aberration correction to a single-element transducer increases the deposited energy on the target 10 fold.

The design of a focused ultrasound transducer array for the treatment of stroke: a simulation study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pajek, Daniel; Hynynen, Kullervo

2012-01-01

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is capable of mechanically disintegrating blood clots at high pressures. Safe thrombolysis may require frequencies higher than those currently utilized by transcranial HIFU. Since the attenuation and focal distortion of ultrasound in bone increases at higher frequencies, resulting focal pressures are diminished. This study investigated the feasibility of using transcranial HIFU for the non-invasive treatment of ischemic stroke. The use of large aperture, 1.1–1.5 MHz phased arrays in targeting four clinically relevant vessel locations was simulated. Resulting focal sizes decreased with frequency, producing a maximum –3 dB depth of field and lateral width of 2.0 and 1.2 mm, respectively. Mean focal gains above an order of magnitude were observed in three of four targets and transducer intensities required to achieve thrombolysis were determined. Required transducer element counts are about an order of magnitude higher than what currently exists and so, although technically feasible, new arrays would need to be developed to realize this as a treatment modality for stroke. (paper)

Parameter sensitivity study of a Field II multilayer transducer model on a convex transducer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bæk, David; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Willatzen, Morten

2009-01-01

A multilayer transducer model for predicting a transducer impulse response has in earlier works been developed and combined with the Field II software. This development was tested on current, voltage, and intensity measurements on piezoceramics discs (Bæk et al. IUS 2008) and a convex 128 element...... ultrasound imaging transducer (Bæk et al. ICU 2009). The model benefits from its 1D simplicity and hasshown to give an amplitude error around 1.7‐2 dB. However, any prediction of amplitude, phase, and attenuation of pulses relies on the accuracy of manufacturer supplied material characteristics, which may...... is a quantitative calibrated model for a complete ultrasound system. This includes a sensitivity study aspresented here.Statement of Contribution/MethodsThe study alters 35 different model parameters which describe a 128 element convex transducer from BK Medical Aps. The changes are within ±20 % of the values...

Instantaneous input electrical power measurements of HITU transducer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karaboece, B; Guelmez, Y; Rajagapol, S; Shaw, A

2011-01-01

HITU (High Intensity Theraupetic Ultrasound) transducers are widely used in therapeutic ultrasound in medicine. The output ultrasonic power of HITU transducer can be measured in number of methods described in IEC 61161 standard [1]. New IEC standards specifically for measurement of HITU equipment are under development. The ultrasound power radiated from a transducer is dependent on applied input electrical voltage and current and consequently power. But, up to now, no standardised method has been developed and adopted for the input electrical power measurements. Hence, a workpackage was carried out for the establishment of such method in the frequency range of 1 to 3 MHz as a part of EURAMET EMRP Era-net plus 'External Beam Cancer Therapy' project. Several current shunts were developed and evaluated. Current measurements were also realized with Philips current probe and preamplifier at NPL and Agilent current probe at UME. In this paper, a method for the measurement of instantaneous electrical power delivered to a reactive ultrasound transducer in the required frequency range is explored.

Instantaneous input electrical power measurements of HITU transducer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karaboece, B; Guelmez, Y [Tuebitak Ulusal Metroloji Enstituesue (UME), P.K. 54 41470 Gebze-Kocaeli (Turkey); Rajagapol, S; Shaw, A, E-mail: baki.karaboce@ume.tubitak.gov.t [National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Hampton Road, Teddington TW11 0LW (United Kingdom)

2011-02-01

HITU (High Intensity Theraupetic Ultrasound) transducers are widely used in therapeutic ultrasound in medicine. The output ultrasonic power of HITU transducer can be measured in number of methods described in IEC 61161 standard [1]. New IEC standards specifically for measurement of HITU equipment are under development. The ultrasound power radiated from a transducer is dependent on applied input electrical voltage and current and consequently power. But, up to now, no standardised method has been developed and adopted for the input electrical power measurements. Hence, a workpackage was carried out for the establishment of such method in the frequency range of 1 to 3 MHz as a part of EURAMET EMRP Era-net plus 'External Beam Cancer Therapy' project. Several current shunts were developed and evaluated. Current measurements were also realized with Philips current probe and preamplifier at NPL and Agilent current probe at UME. In this paper, a method for the measurement of instantaneous electrical power delivered to a reactive ultrasound transducer in the required frequency range is explored.

Ultrasound directed self-assembly of three-dimensional user-specified patterns of particles in a fluid medium

Science.gov (United States)

Prisbrey, M.; Greenhall, J.; Guevara Vasquez, F.; Raeymaekers, B.

2017-01-01

We use ultrasound directed self-assembly to organize particles dispersed in a fluid medium into a three-dimensional (3D) user-specified pattern. The technique employs ultrasound transducers that line the boundary of a fluid reservoir to create a standing ultrasound wave field. The acoustic radiation force associated with the wave field drives particles dispersed in the fluid medium into organized patterns, assuming that the particles are much smaller than the wavelength and do not interact with each other. We have theoretically derived a direct solution method to calculate the ultrasound transducer operating parameters that are required to assemble a user-specified 3D pattern of particles in a fluid reservoir of arbitrary geometry. We formulate the direct solution method as a constrained optimization problem that reduces to eigendecomposition. We experimentally validate the solution method by assembling 3D patterns of carbon nanoparticles in a water reservoir and observe good quantitative agreement between theory and experiment. Additionally, we demonstrate the versatility of the solution method by simulating ultrasound directed self-assembly of complex 3D patterns of particles. The method works for any 3D simple, closed fluid reservoir geometry in combination with any arrangement of ultrasound transducers and enables employing ultrasound directed self-assembly in a myriad of engineering applications, including biomedical and materials fabrication processes.

Ferroelectric and piezoelectric thin films and their applications for integrated capacitors, piezoelectric ultrasound transducers and piezoelectric switches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klee, M; Boots, H; Kumar, B; Heesch, C van; Mauczok, R; Keur, W; Wild, M de; Esch, H van; Roest, A L; Reimann, K; Leuken, L van; Wunnicke, O; Zhao, J; Schmitz, G; Mienkina, M; Mleczko, M; Tiggelman, M

2010-01-01

Ferroelectric and piezoelectric thin films are gaining more and more importance for the integration of high performance devices in small modules. High-K 'Integrated Discretes' devices have been developed, which are based on thin film ferroelectric capacitors integrated together with resistors and ESD protection diodes in a small Si-based chip-scale package. Making use of ferroelectric thin films with relative permittivity of 950-1600 and stacking processes of capacitors, extremely high capacitance densities of 20-520 nF/mm 2 , high breakdown voltages up to 140 V and lifetimes of more than 10 years at operating voltages of 5 V and 85 deg. C are achieved. Thin film high-density capacitors play also an important role as tunable capacitors for applications such as tuneable matching circuits for RF sections of mobile phones. The performance of thin film tuneable capacitors at frequencies between 1 MHz and 1 GHz is investigated. Finally thin film piezoelectric ultrasound transducers, processed in Si- related processes, are attractive for medical imaging, since they enable large bandwidth (>100%), high frequency operation and have the potential to integrate electronics. With these piezoelectric thin film ultrasound transducers real time ultrasound images have been realized. Finally, piezoelectric thin films are used to manufacture galvanic MEMS switches. A model for the quasi-static mechanical behaviour is presented and compared with measurements.

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... inserted into a man's rectum to view the prostate. Transvaginal ultrasound. The transducer is inserted into a ... Stenting Ultrasound-Guided Breast Biopsy Obstetric Ultrasound Ultrasound - Prostate Biopsies - Overview Images related to General Ultrasound Videos ...

CT and Ultrasound Guided Stereotactic High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU)

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Bradford J.; Yanof, J.; Frenkel, V.; Viswanathan, A.; Dromi, S.; Oh, K.; Kruecker, J.; Bauer, C.; Seip, R.; Kam, A.; Li, K. C. P.

2006-05-01

To demonstrate the feasibility of CT and B-mode Ultrasound (US) targeted HIFU, a prototype coaxial focused ultrasound transducer was registered and integrated to a CT scanner. CT and diagnostic ultrasound were used for HIFU targeting and monitoring, with the goals of both thermal ablation and non-thermal enhanced drug delivery. A 1 megahertz coaxial ultrasound transducer was custom fabricated and attached to a passive position-sensing arm and an active six degree-of-freedom robotic arm via a CT stereotactic frame. The outer therapeutic transducer with a 10 cm fixed focal zone was coaxially mounted to an inner diagnostic US transducer (2-4 megahertz, Philips Medical Systems). This coaxial US transducer was connected to a modified commercial focused ultrasound generator (Focus Surgery, Indianapolis, IN) with a maximum total acoustic power of 100 watts. This pre-clinical paradigm was tested for ability to heat tissue in phantoms with monitoring and navigation from CT and live US. The feasibility of navigation via image fusion of CT with other modalities such as PET and MRI was demonstrated. Heated water phantoms were tested for correlation between CT numbers and temperature (for ablation monitoring). The prototype transducer and integrated CT/US imaging system enabled simultaneous multimodality imaging and therapy. Pre-clinical phantom models validated the treatment paradigm and demonstrated integrated multimodality guidance and treatment monitoring. Temperature changes during phantom cooling corresponded to CT number changes. Contrast enhanced or non-enhanced CT numbers may potentially be used to monitor thermal ablation with HIFU. Integrated CT, diagnostic US, and therapeutic focused ultrasound bridges a gap between diagnosis and therapy. Preliminary results show that the multimodality system may represent a relatively inexpensive, accessible, and simple method of both targeting and monitoring HIFU effects. Small animal pre-clinical models may be translated to large

Design of HIFU Transducers to Generate Specific Nonlinear Ultrasound Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Khokhlova, Vera A.; Yuldashev, Petr V.; Rosnitskiy, Pavel B.; Maxwell, Adam D.; Kreider, Wayne; Bailey, Michael R.; Sapozhnikov, Oleg A.

Various clinical applications of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) have different requirements on the pressure level and degree of nonlinear waveform distortion at the focus. Applications that utilize nonlinear waves with developed shocks are of growing interest, for example, for mechanical disintegration as well as for accelerated thermal ablation oftissue. In this work, an inverse problem of determining transducer parameters to enable formation of shockswith desired amplitude at the focus is solved. The solution was obtained by performing multipledirect simulations of the parabolic Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation for various parameters of the source. It is shown that results obtained within the parabolic approximation can be used to describe the focal region of single element spherical sourcesas well as complex transducer arrays. It is also demonstrated that the focal pressure level at which fully developed shocksare formed mainly depends on the focusing angle of the source and only slightly depends on its aperture and operating frequency. Using the simulation results, a 256-element HIFU array operating at 1.5 MHz frequency was designed for a specific application of boiling-histotripsy that relies on the presence of 90-100 MPa shocks at the focus. The size of the array elements and focusing angle of the array were chosen to satisfy technical limitations on the intensity at the array elements and desired shock amplitudes in the focal waveform. Focus steering capabilities of the array were analysed using an open-source T-Array software developed at Moscow State University.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... transducer sends out high-frequency sound waves (that the human ear cannot hear) into the body and then ... ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects on humans. top of page What are the limitations of Pelvic Ultrasound Imaging? Ultrasound waves are ...

High Temperature, High Power Piezoelectric Composite Transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyeong Jae; Zhang, Shujun; Bar-Cohen, Yoseph; Sherrit, StewarT.

2014-01-01

Piezoelectric composites are a class of functional materials consisting of piezoelectric active materials and non-piezoelectric passive polymers, mechanically attached together to form different connectivities. These composites have several advantages compared to conventional piezoelectric ceramics and polymers, including improved electromechanical properties, mechanical flexibility and the ability to tailor properties by using several different connectivity patterns. These advantages have led to the improvement of overall transducer performance, such as transducer sensitivity and bandwidth, resulting in rapid implementation of piezoelectric composites in medical imaging ultrasounds and other acoustic transducers. Recently, new piezoelectric composite transducers have been developed with optimized composite components that have improved thermal stability and mechanical quality factors, making them promising candidates for high temperature, high power transducer applications, such as therapeutic ultrasound, high power ultrasonic wirebonding, high temperature non-destructive testing, and downhole energy harvesting. This paper will present recent developments of piezoelectric composite technology for high temperature and high power applications. The concerns and limitations of using piezoelectric composites will also be discussed, and the expected future research directions will be outlined. PMID:25111242

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... of page How is the procedure performed? For most ultrasound exams, you will be positioned lying face- ... Ultrasound examinations are painless and easily tolerated by most patients. Ultrasound exams in which the transducer is ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... scanning or sonography , involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... use different transducers (with different capabilities) during a single exam. The transducer sends out high-frequency sound ... modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies. Ultrasound provides real-time ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... is used to evaluate the: bladder seminal vesicles prostate Transrectal ultrasound, a special study usually done to provide detailed evaluation of the prostate gland, involves inserting a specialized ultrasound transducer into ...

Evaluation of a novel therapeutic focused ultrasound transducer based on Fermat’s spiral

Science.gov (United States)

Ramaekers, P.; de Greef, M.; Berriet, R.; Moonen, C. T. W.; Ries, M.

2017-06-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a novel phased array transducer design rule for therapeutic focused ultrasound applications. This design rule uses the discretized Fermat’s spiral to determine the positioning of the transducer elements for a given number of elements and f-number. Using this principle, three variations of Fermat’s spiral were generated, aimed at (1) grating lobe minimization, (2) side lobe minimization, and (3) an optimized element packing efficiency. For each spiral, sparse layouts using identical circular elements and fully populated layouts based on additional Voronoi tessellation were evaluated numerically. Evaluation criteria included the element size distribution, beam steering capabilities, focal plane pressure distribution, prefocal pressure distribution, and practical considerations. Finally, one Voronoi-tessellated design with a focal length and aperture diameter of 16 cm and a natural frequency of 1.3 MHz was evaluated experimentally through hydrophone measurements. The numerical evaluation showed that while sparse arrays possess superior beam steering capabilities for a given number of elements, the focal point quality and prefocal pressure distribution is substantially more favorable when using the Voronoi-tessellated designs. Beam steering was shown to be feasible with the tessellated designs for lateral deflections up to 10 mm and axial deflections up to 20 mm. The experimental evaluation showed that such a transducer is capable of inducing 40.00 MPa rarefactional and 237.50 MPa compressional peak pressure levels at 800 W instantaneous acoustic output power under free-field conditions, making the system potentially relevant for thermal ablation therapy, histotripsy applications, and shockwave-enhanced heating.

Brachial artery vasomotion and transducer pressure effect on measurements by active contour segmentation on ultrasound

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cary, Theodore W.; Sultan, Laith R.; Sehgal, Chandra M., E-mail: sehgalc@uphs.upenn.edu [Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 (United States); Reamer, Courtney B.; Mohler, Emile R. [Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Section of Vascular Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 (United States)

2014-02-15

Purpose: To use feed-forward active contours (snakes) to track and measure brachial artery vasomotion on ultrasound images recorded in both transverse and longitudinal views; and to compare the algorithm's performance in each view. Methods: Longitudinal and transverse view ultrasound image sequences of 45 brachial arteries were segmented by feed-forward active contour (FFAC). The segmented regions were used to measure vasomotion artery diameter, cross-sectional area, and distention both as peak-to-peak diameter and as area. ECG waveforms were also simultaneously extracted frame-by-frame by thresholding a running finite-difference image between consecutive images. The arterial and ECG waveforms were compared as they traced each phase of the cardiac cycle. Results: FFAC successfully segmented arteries in longitudinal and transverse views in all 45 cases. The automated analysis took significantly less time than manual tracing, but produced superior, well-behaved arterial waveforms. Automated arterial measurements also had lower interobserver variability as measured by correlation, difference in mean values, and coefficient of variation. Although FFAC successfully segmented both the longitudinal and transverse images, transverse measurements were less variable. The cross-sectional area computed from the longitudinal images was 27% lower than the area measured from transverse images, possibly due to the compression of the artery along the image depth by transducer pressure. Conclusions: FFAC is a robust and sensitive vasomotion segmentation algorithm in both transverse and longitudinal views. Transverse imaging may offer advantages over longitudinal imaging: transverse measurements are more consistent, possibly because the method is less sensitive to variations in transducer pressure during imaging.

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... those sound waves to create an image. Ultrasound examinations do not use ionizing radiation (as used in ... abnormal masses, such as tumors. In an ultrasound examination, a transducer both sends the sound waves into ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound ... from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound ... from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... of page What will I experience during and after the procedure? Ultrasound exams in which the transducer ... in the sperm or urine following the procedure. After an ultrasound examination, you should be able to ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... transducer sends out high-frequency sound waves (that the human ear cannot hear) into the body and then ... ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects on humans. top of page What are the limitations of General Ultrasound Imaging? Ultrasound waves are ...

Focused ultrasound in ophthalmology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silverman RH

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Ronald H Silverman1,2 1Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center, 2F.L. Lizzi Center for Biomedical Engineering, Riverside Research, New York, NY, USA Abstract: The use of focused ultrasound to obtain diagnostically significant information about the eye goes back to the 1950s. This review describes the historical and technological development of ophthalmic ultrasound and its clinical application and impact. Ultrasound, like light, can be focused, which is crucial for formation of high-resolution, diagnostically useful images. Focused, single-element, mechanically scanned transducers are most common in ophthalmology. Specially designed transducers have been used to generate focused, high-intensity ultrasound that through thermal effects has been used to treat glaucoma (via cilio-destruction, tumors, and other pathologies. Linear and annular transducer arrays offer synthetic focusing in which precise timing of the excitation of independently addressable array elements allows formation of a converging wavefront to create a focus at one or more programmable depths. Most recently, linear array-based plane-wave ultrasound, in which the array emits an unfocused wavefront and focusing is performed solely on received data, has been demonstrated for imaging ocular anatomy and blood flow. While the history of ophthalmic ultrasound extends back over half-a-century, new and powerful technologic advances continue to be made, offering the prospect of novel diagnostic capabilities. Keywords: ophthalmic ultrasound, ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU, ultrafast imaging, Doppler imaging 

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... scanning or sonography , involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... use different transducers (with different capabilities) during a single exam. The transducer sends out high-frequency sound ... modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies. Ultrasound provides real-time ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... in infections With knowledge about the speed and volume of blood flow gained from a Doppler ultrasound ... Some exams may use different transducers (with different capabilities) during a single exam. The transducer sends out ...

Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers for 3-D Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Thomas Lehrmann

of state-of-the-art 3-D ultrasound systems. The focus is on row-column addressed transducer arrays. This previously sparsely investigated addressing scheme offers a highly reduced number of transducer elements, resulting in reduced transducer manufacturing costs and data processing. To produce...... such transducer arrays, capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) technology is chosen for this project. Properties such as high bandwidth and high design flexibility makes this an attractive transducer technology, which is under continuous development in the research community. A theoretical...... treatment of CMUTs is presented, including investigations of the anisotropic plate behaviour and modal radiation patterns of such devices. Several new CMUT fabrication approaches are developed and investigated in terms of oxide quality and surface protrusions, culminating in a simple four-mask process...

Pressure transducers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomes, A.V.

1975-01-01

Strain gauges pressure transducers types are presented. Models, characteristics and calibration procedures were also analysed. Initially, a theoretical study was accomplished to evaluate metallic alloys behavior on sensing elements manufacturing, and diaphragm was used as deflecting elements. Electrical models for potenciometric transducers were proposed at the beginning and subsequently comproved according our experiments. Concerning bridge transducers, existing models confirmed the conditions of linearity and sensitivity related to the electrical signal. All the work done was of help on the calibration field and pressure measurements employing unbounded strain gauge pressure transducers

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... need to be returned to the transducer for analysis. Ultrasound has difficulty penetrating bone and, therefore, can ... ultrasound procedure View full size with caption Pediatric Content Some imaging tests and treatments have special pediatric ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... 3-D) ultrasound that formats the sound wave data into 3-D images. A Doppler ultrasound study ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... flat sections of the body. Advancements in ultrasound technology include three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that formats ... sonography is performed using the same transducer. Rarely, young children may need to be sedated in order ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... the transducer is pressed against the skin, it directs small pulses of inaudible, high-frequency sound waves ...

Power doppler 'blanching' after the application of transducer pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joshua, F.; Edmonds, J.; Lassere, M.; De Carle, R.; Rayment, M.; Bryant, C.; Shnier, R.

2005-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine if transducer pressure modifies power Doppler assessments of rheumatoid arthritis synovium at the metacarpophalangeal joints and metatarsophalangeal joints. Five rheumatoid arthritis patients of varying degrees of 'disease activity' and damage were assessed with power Doppler ultrasound scanning of the dominant hand second to fifth metacarpophalangeal joints. Two rheumatoid arthritis patients had their dominant foot first to fifth metatarsophalangeal joints assessed with power Doppler ultrasound. Ultrasonography was performed with a high frequency transducer (14 MHz) with a colour mode frequency of 10 Mhz, and a standard colour box and gain. In the joint that showed the highest power Doppler signal, an image was made. A further image was taken after transducer pressure was applied. In all patients, there was increased flow to at least one joint. After pressure was applied, power Doppler signal intensity markedly reduced in all images and in some there was no recordable power Doppler signal. Increased transducer pressure can result in a marked reduction or obliteration in power Doppler signal. This power Doppler 'blanching' shows the need for further studies to evaluate sources of error and standardization before power Doppler ultrasound becomes a routine measure of 'disease activity' in rheumatoid arthritis. Copyright (2005) Blackwell Science Pty Ltd

Advanced 3-D Ultrasound Imaging: 3-D Synthetic Aperture Imaging using Fully Addressed and Row-Column Addressed 2-D Transducer Arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bouzari, Hamed

the important diagnostic information in a noninvasive manner. Diagnostic and therapeutic decisions often require accurate estimates of e.g., organ, cyst, or tumor volumes. 3-D ultrasound imaging can provide these measurements without relying on the geometrical assumptions and operator-dependent skills involved...... is one of the factors for the widespread use of ultrasound imaging. The high price tag on the high quality 3-D scanners is limiting their market share. Row-column addressing of 2-D transducer arrays is a low cost alternative to fully addressed 2-D arrays, for 3-D ultrasound imaging. Using row....... Based on a set of acoustical measurements the center frequency, bandwidth, surface pressure, sensitivity, and acoustical cross-talks were evaluated and discussed. The imaging quality assessments were carried out based on Field II simulations as well as phantom measurements. Moreover, an analysis...

Biasing of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers.

Science.gov (United States)

Caliano, Giosue; Matrone, Giulia; Savoia, Alessandro Stuart

2017-02-01

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) represent an effective alternative to piezoelectric transducers for medical ultrasound imaging applications. They are microelectromechanical devices fabricated using silicon micromachining techniques, developed in the last two decades in many laboratories. The interest for this novel transducer technology relies on its full compatibility with standard integrated circuit technology that makes it possible to integrate on the same chip the transducers and the electronics, thus enabling the realization of extremely low-cost and high-performance devices, including both 1-D or 2-D arrays. Being capacitive transducers, CMUTs require a high bias voltage to be properly operated in pulse-echo imaging applications. The typical bias supply residual ripple of high-quality high-voltage (HV) generators is in the millivolt range, which is comparable with the amplitude of the received echo signals, and it is particularly difficult to minimize. The aim of this paper is to analyze the classical CMUT biasing circuits, highlighting the features of each one, and to propose two novel HV generator architectures optimized for CMUT biasing applications. The first circuit proposed is an ultralow-residual ripple (generator that uses an extremely stable sinusoidal power oscillator topology. The second circuit employs a commercially available integrated step-up converter characterized by a particularly efficient switching topology. The circuit is used to bias the CMUT by charging a buffer capacitor synchronously with the pulsing sequence, thus reducing the impact of the switching noise on the received echo signals. The small area of the circuit (about 1.5 cm 2 ) makes it possible to generate the bias voltage inside the probe, very close to the CMUT, making the proposed solution attractive for portable applications. Measurements and experiments are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new approaches presented.

Comparison of low and high frequency transducers in the detection of liver metastases.

Science.gov (United States)

Schacherer, D; Wrede, C; Obermeier, F; Schölmerich, J; Schlottmann, K; Klebl, F

2006-09-01

To evaluate the benefit of the additional use of a high frequency ultrasound probe (7.5 MHz) in finding suspicious liver lesions compared to the examination using a 3.5-MHz transducer only. One hundred and fifty-seven patients with underlying malignant disease were examined with both transducers using one of three ultrasound machines (Siemens Sonoline Elegra, GE Healthcare Logic 9, or Hitachi EUB-8500). Findings on hepatic lesions were collected on a standardised documentation sheet and evaluated by descriptive statistics. Ninety-three patients (59.2% of all patients) showed no evident liver lesion on conventional ultrasound with the 3.5 MHz probe. In 29 patients (18.5%) new suspicious liver lesions were found by using the high frequency transducer. Thirteen of these 29 patients (44.8%) were suspected to suffer from diffuse infiltration of the liver with malignant lesions or at least 10 additional visible lesions. In 14 patients, no liver lesion had been known before high frequency ultrasound examination. The size of newly described liver lesions ranged from 2 mm to 1.5 cm. Time needed for the additional examination with the high frequency transducer ranged between 1 and 15 min with an average of 4.0 min. The additional use of a high frequency transducer in patients with underlying malignant disease slightly extends the examination time, but reveals new, potentially malignant hepatic lesions in almost every fifth patient.

Varying ultrasound power level to distinguish surgical instruments and tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Hongliang; Anuraj, Banani; Dupont, Pierre E

2018-03-01

We investigate a new framework of surgical instrument detection based on power-varying ultrasound images with simple and efficient pixel-wise intensity processing. Without using complicated feature extraction methods, we identified the instrument with an estimated optimal power level and by comparing pixel values of varying transducer power level images. The proposed framework exploits the physics of ultrasound imaging system by varying the transducer power level to effectively distinguish metallic surgical instruments from tissue. This power-varying image-guidance is motivated from our observations that ultrasound imaging at different power levels exhibit different contrast enhancement capabilities between tissue and instruments in ultrasound-guided robotic beating-heart surgery. Using lower transducer power levels (ranging from 40 to 75% of the rated lowest ultrasound power levels of the two tested ultrasound scanners) can effectively suppress the strong imaging artifacts from metallic instruments and thus, can be utilized together with the images from normal transducer power levels to enhance the separability between instrument and tissue, improving intraoperative instrument tracking accuracy from the acquired noisy ultrasound volumetric images. We performed experiments in phantoms and ex vivo hearts in water tank environments. The proposed multi-level power-varying ultrasound imaging approach can identify robotic instruments of high acoustic impedance from low-signal-to-noise-ratio ultrasound images by power adjustments.

High frequency P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer broadband annular array ultrasound transducers using high density flexible circuit interconnect

Science.gov (United States)

Gottlieb, Emanuel J.; Cannata, Jonathan M.; Hu, Chang Hong; Shung, K. K.

2005-04-01

A kerfless eight element high frequency ultrasound annular array transducer using 9 μm P(VDF-TrFE) bonded to a high density flexible interconnect was fabricated. The flexible circuit composed of Kapton polyimide film with gold electrode pattern of equal area annuli apertures on the top side of a 50 μm thick Kapton polyimide film. Each element had several 30 μm diameter electroplated vias that connected to electrode traces on the bottom side of the Kapton polyimide film. There was a 30 μm spacing between elements. The total aperture of the array was 3.12 mm. The transducer's performance has been modeled by implementing the Redwood version of the Mason model into PSpice and using the Krimholtz, Leedom and Matthaei (KLM) model utilized in the commercial software PiezoCAD. The transducer"s performance was evaluated by measuring the electrical impedance with a HP 4194 impedance analyzer, pulse echo response using a Panametrics 5900 pulser/receiver and crosstalk measurement for each element in the array. The measured electrical impedance for each element was 540 Ω and -84° phase. In order to improve device sensitivity an inductor was attached in series with each element to reduce the insertion loss to 33 dB. The measured average center frequency and bandwidth of each element was 55 MHz and 50% respectively. The measured crosstalk at the center frequency was -45 dB in water.

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... waves from passing into your body. The sonographer (ultrasound technologist) or radiologist then places the transducer on the skin in various locations, sweeping over the area of interest or angling the ... ultrasound images are reviewed. An ultrasound examination is usually ...

Tracked "Pick-Up" Ultrasound for Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Caitlin; Nguan, Christopher; Rohling, Robert; Salcudean, Septimiu

2016-02-01

We present a novel "pick-up" ultrasound transducer for intraabdominal robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery. Such a "pick-up" ultrasound transducer is inserted through an abdominal incision at the beginning of the procedure and remains in the abdominal cavity throughout, eliminating the need for a dedicated port or a patient bedside surgical assistant. The transducer has a handle that can be grasped in a repeatable manner using a da Vinci Prograsp tool, allowing the transducer to be accurately manipulated by the surgeon using the da Vinci Robot. This is one way to enable 3-D tracking of the transducer, and, thus, mapping of the vasculature. The 3-D vascular images can be used to register preoperative CT to intraoperative camera images. To demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, we use an ultrasound vessel phantom to register a CT surface model to extracted ultrasound vessel models. The 3-D vascular phantom images are generated by segmenting B-mode images and tracking the pick-up ultrasound transducer with the da Vinci kinematics, internal electromagnetic sensor, or visible fiducials suitable for camera tracking. Reconstruction results using da Vinci kinematics for tracking give a target registration error of 5.4 ± 1.7 mm.

Resonant gravimetric immunosensing based on capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers

KAUST Repository

Viržonis, Darius

2014-04-08

High-frequency (40 MHz) and low-frequency (7 MHz) capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers (CMUT) were fabricated and tested for use in gravimetric detection of biomolecules. The low-frequency CMUT sensors have a gold-coated surface, while the high-frequency sensors have a silicon nitride surface. Both surfaces were functionalized with bovine leukemia virus antigen gp51 acting as the antigen. On addition of an a specific antibody labeled with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), the antigen/antibody complex is formed on the surface and quantified by HRP-catalyzed oxidation of tetramethylbenzidine. It has been found that a considerably smaller quantity of immuno complex is formed on the high frequency sensor surface. In parallel, the loading of the surface of the CMUT was determined via resonance frequency and electromechanical resistance readings. Following the formation of the immuno complexes, the resonance frequencies of the low-frequency and high-frequency sensors decrease by up to 420 and 440 kHz, respectively. Finite element analysis reveals that the loading of the (gold-coated) low frequency sensors is several times larger than that on high frequency sensors. The formation of the protein film with pronounced elasticity and stress on the gold surface case is discussed. We also discuss the adoption of this method for the detection of DNA using a hybridization assay following polymerase chain reaction.

Ultrasound Imaging Techniques for Spatiotemporal Characterization of Composition, Microstructure, and Mechanical Properties in Tissue Engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Cheri X; Hong, Xiaowei; Stegemann, Jan P

2016-08-01

Ultrasound techniques are increasingly being used to quantitatively characterize both native and engineered tissues. This review provides an overview and selected examples of the main techniques used in these applications. Grayscale imaging has been used to characterize extracellular matrix deposition, and quantitative ultrasound imaging based on the integrated backscatter coefficient has been applied to estimating cell concentrations and matrix morphology in tissue engineering. Spectral analysis has been employed to characterize the concentration and spatial distribution of mineral particles in a construct, as well as to monitor mineral deposition by cells over time. Ultrasound techniques have also been used to measure the mechanical properties of native and engineered tissues. Conventional ultrasound elasticity imaging and acoustic radiation force imaging have been applied to detect regions of altered stiffness within tissues. Sonorheometry and monitoring of steady-state excitation and recovery have been used to characterize viscoelastic properties of tissue using a single transducer to both deform and image the sample. Dual-mode ultrasound elastography uses separate ultrasound transducers to produce a more potent deformation force to microscale characterization of viscoelasticity of hydrogel constructs. These ultrasound-based techniques have high potential to impact the field of tissue engineering as they are further developed and their range of applications expands.

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... to image by ultrasound because greater amounts of tissue attenuate (weaken) the sound waves as they pass deeper into the body and need to be returned to the transducer for analysis. Ultrasound has difficulty penetrating bone and, therefore, can only see the outer surface ...

Ultrasound cleaning of microfilters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hald, Jens; Bjørnø, Irina; Jensen, Leif Bjørnø

1999-01-01

The aim of the present work is to develop, design, and manufacture a high-power ultrasound transducer module to be used for preventing the blocking of plastic-based microfilters by organic materials, and possibly to prolong the lifetime of the filters in industry using the cavitation on the surface...... suitable for cleaning of microfilters without damaging the filter structure. The filter surface was studied using an optical microscope before and after the experiment. When high-power ultrasound (max. 75 W/cm2) was applied to the surface of some microfilters, no visible damage was found, while others...... of the filter. A numerical, FE- and BE-based model for calculation of the response of ultrasonic transducers of various geometries formed the basis for the design of such transducers. During laboratory experiments frequency and output power have been varied in order to find the optimal transducer design...

Protozoa manipulation by ultrasound

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yancy Milena Porras Rodríguez

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Microorganism manipulation, considered as controlled motion and positioning, is one of the most important activities in microbiology and medicine. To achieve this goal there are some techniques such as those which and optical forces, among others. These techniques are usually sophisticated, and some of them can induce irreversible alterations on the microorganisms which prevents their use in another tests. Thus, there is justified the study of technological alternatives to manipulate microorganisms in an easy and cost-effective way. This work shows the interaction between protozoa and air microbubbles when they are under the influence of an ultrasonic field of 5.8 mW. At the microbubbles resonant frequencies, microorganisms were attracted toward the bubbles' frontier remaining there while the ultrasonic field was applied. Once the ultrasound disappears, protozoa recover their freedom of movement. The observed effects could be used as the actuation principle of devices capable to trap, hold and release microorganisms of high mobility without any apparent damage. Microbubbles are generated by electrolysis which take place on the surface of an electrode array, while the ultrasound is originated by means of a piezoelectric transducer. As microorganisms there were employed those present in stagnated water, and were observed through an stereomicroscope. Key words: manipulator; protozoa; ultrasonic; transducer; piezoelectric.

An all-optical fiber optic photoacoustic transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Thathachary, Supriya V.; Motameni, Cameron; Ashkenazi, Shai

2018-02-01

A highly sensitive fiber-optic Fabry-Perot photoacoustic transducer is proposed in this work. The transducer will consist of separate transmit and receive fibers. The receiver will be composed of a Fabry-Perot Ultrasound sensor with a selfwritten waveguide with all-optical ultrasound detection with high sensitivity. In previous work, we have shown an increase in resonator Q-factor from 1900 to 3200 for a simulated Fabry-Perot ultrasound detector of 45 μm thickness upon including a waveguide to limit lateral power losses. Subsequently, we demonstrated a prototype device with 30nm gold mirrors and a cavity composed of the photosensitive polymer Benzocyclobutene. This 80 µm thick device showed an improvement in its Q-factor from 2500 to 5200 after a selfaligned waveguide was written into the cavity using UV exposure. Current work uses a significantly faster fabrication technique using a combination of UV-cured epoxies for the cavity medium, and the waveguide within it. This reduces the fabrication time from several hours to a few minutes, and significantly lowers the cost of fabrication. We use a dip-coating technique to deposit the polymer layer. Future work will include the use of Dielectric Bragg mirrors in place of gold to achieve better reflectivity, thereby further improving the Q-factor of the device. The complete transducer presents an ideal solution for intravascular imaging in cases where tissue differentiation is desirable, an important feature in interventional procedures where arterial perforation is a risk. The final design proposed comprises the transducer within a guidewire to guide interventions for Chronic Total Occlusions, a disease state for which there are currently no invasive imaging options.

Design and characterization of a high-power ultrasound driver with ultralow-output impedance

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, George K.; Olbricht, William L.

2009-11-01

We describe a pocket-sized ultrasound driver with an ultralow-output impedance amplifier circuit (less than 0.05 Ω) that can transfer more than 99% of the voltage from a power supply to the ultrasound transducer with minimal reflections. The device produces high-power acoustical energy waves while operating at lower voltages than conventional ultrasound driving systems because energy losses owing to mismatched impedance are minimized. The peak performance of the driver is measured experimentally with a PZT-4, 1.54 MHz, piezoelectric ceramic, and modeled using an adjusted Mason model over a range of transducer resonant frequencies. The ultrasound driver can deliver a 100 Vpp (peak to peak) square-wave signal across 0-8 MHz ultrasound transducers in 5 ms bursts through continuous wave operation, producing acoustic powers exceeding 130 W. Effects of frequency, output impedance of the driver, and input impedance of the transducer on the maximum acoustic output power of piezoelectric transducers are examined. The small size, high power, and efficiency of the ultrasound driver make this technology useful for research, medical, and industrial ultrasonic applications.

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... scanning or sonography , involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... video display screen and a transducer that is used to do the scanning. The transducer is a ... the body. The principles are similar to sonar used by boats and submarines. The ultrasound image is ...

Compact Beamformer Design with High Frame Rate for Ultrasound Imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Luo

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In medical field, two-dimension ultrasound images are widely used in clinical diagnosis. Beamformer is critical in determining the complexity and performance of an ultrasound imaging system. Different from traditional means implemented with separated chips, a compact beamformer with 64 effective channels in a single moderate Field Programmable Gate Array has been presented in this paper. The compactness is acquired by employing receive synthetic aperture, harmonic imaging, time sharing and linear interpolation. Besides that, multi-beams method is used to improve the frame rate of the ultrasound imaging system. Online dynamic configuration is employed to expand system’s flexibility to two kinds of transducers with multi-scanning modes. The design is verified on a prototype scanner board. Simulation results have shown that on-chip memories can be saved and the frame rate can be improved on the case of 64 effective channels which will meet the requirement of real-time application.

Energetic balance in an ultrasonic reactor using focused or flat high frequency transducers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallez, L; Touyeras, F; Hihn, J Y; Klima, J

2007-09-01

In order to undertake irradiation of polymer blocks or films by ultrasound, this paper deals with the measurements of ultrasonic power and its distribution within the cell by several methods. The electric power measured at the transducer input is compared to the ultrasonic power input to the cell evaluated by calorimetry and radiation force measurement for different generator settings. Results obtained in the specific case of new transducer types (composites and focused composites i.e., HIFU: high intensity focused ultrasound) provide an opportunity to conduct a discussion about measurement methods. It has thus been confirmed that these measurement techniques can be applied to HIFU transducers. For all cases, results underlined the fact that measurement of radiation pressure for power evaluation is more adapted to low powers (generator-transducer-liquid and sample.

Transducer Workshop (17th) Held in San Diego, California on June 22-24, 1993

Science.gov (United States)

1993-06-01

OF • Computer Controlled * Automatic, Self Compensating - Complete with all the Bells and Whistles * Economically Priced at $99.95 • Delivery from...control box, the ultrasonic transducer, and the reflector block (Figure 2). The system transmits pulses of ultrasound from the transducer which bounce off...measure the air temperature since the speed of sound is dependent on temperature. The distance traveled by the pulse of ultrasound is linearly

User-friendly freehand ultrasound calibration using Lego bricks and automatic registration.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Yiming; Yan, Charles Xiao Bo; Drouin, Simon; De Nigris, Dante; Kochanowska, Anna; Collins, D Louis

2016-09-01

As an inexpensive, noninvasive, and portable clinical imaging modality, ultrasound (US) has been widely employed in many interventional procedures for monitoring potential tissue deformation, surgical tool placement, and locating surgical targets. The application requires the spatial mapping between 2D US images and 3D coordinates of the patient. Although positions of the devices (i.e., ultrasound transducer) and the patient can be easily recorded by a motion tracking system, the spatial relationship between the US image and the tracker attached to the US transducer needs to be estimated through an US calibration procedure. Previously, various calibration techniques have been proposed, where a spatial transformation is computed to match the coordinates of corresponding features in a physical phantom and those seen in the US scans. However, most of these methods are difficult to use for novel users. We proposed an ultrasound calibration method by constructing a phantom from simple Lego bricks and applying an automated multi-slice 2D-3D registration scheme without volumetric reconstruction. The method was validated for its calibration accuracy and reproducibility. Our method yields a calibration accuracy of [Formula: see text] mm and a calibration reproducibility of 1.29 mm. We have proposed a robust, inexpensive, and easy-to-use ultrasound calibration method.

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... and produces pictures of the inside of the body using sound waves. Ultrasound imaging, also called ultrasound ... from the probe through the gel into the body. The transducer collects the sounds that bounce back ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... ultrasound. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... the transducer is pressed against the skin, it directs small pulses of inaudible, high-frequency sound waves ...

Speed-accuracy trade-offs in computing spatial impulse responses for simulating medical ultrasound imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2001-01-01

sampling frequency is unnecessary in the final signals, since the transducers used in medical ultrasound are band limited. Approaches to reduce the sampling frequency are, thus, needed to make efficient simulation programs. Field II uses time integration of the spatial impulse responses using a continuous......Medical ultrasound imaging can be simulated realistically using linear acoustics. One of the most powerful approaches is to employ spatial impulse responses. Hereby both emitted fields and pulse-echo responses from point scatterers can be determined. Also any kind of dynamic focusing...

HIFU Ultrasound Power Measurements at INRiM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durando, G; Guglielmone, C; Musacchio, C

2011-01-01

In this work the new system for the ultrasound power measurement of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound transducers realized at INRIM ultrasounds laboratory is presented. The system is based on a submersible load cell that takes the place of the balance. This solution presents essentially two advantages. The first one, of mechanical nature, is relevant to the fact that the target is directly connected to the force transducer, eliminating unwanted target motion at high power. The second, of electric nature, concerns the possibility to reduce the insonation time (the ON period of the electric driving signal to the HIFU transducer) under of 2 s, and is allowed for by the faster response of the force transducer (700 Hz bandwidth). The main components of uncertainty and the overall budget of the measurement system are presented together with the results of measures of conductance, G, carried on a HIFU transducer, at the work frequencies 2.0 MHz and 6.38 MHz, for values of power ranging from 10 W to 100 W. The results of the ultrasonic conductance, G, obtained with the new system are compared with values obtained using the traditional measuring system for low powers (P ≤ 20W).

Real-time monitoring of focused ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening via subharmonic acoustic emission detection: implementation of confocal dual-frequency piezoelectric transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Chih-Hung; Zhang, Jia-Wei; Liao, Yi-Yi; Liu, Hao-Li

2016-04-01

Burst-tone focused ultrasound exposure in the presence of microbubbles has been demonstrated to be effective at inducing temporal and local opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which promises significant clinical potential to deliver therapeutic molecules into the central nervous system (CNS). Traditional contrast-enhanced imaging confirmation after focused ultrasound (FUS) exposure serves as a post-operative indicator of the effectiveness of FUS-BBB opening, however, an indicator that can concurrently report the BBB status and BBB-opening effectiveness is required to provide effective feedback to implement this treatment clinically. In this study, we demonstrate the use of subharmonic acoustic emission detection with implementation on a confocal dual-frequency piezoelectric ceramic structure to perform real-time monitoring of FUS-BBB opening. A confocal dual-frequency (0.55 MHz/1.1 MHz) focused ultrasound transducer was designed. The 1.1 MHz spherically-curved ceramic was employed to deliver FUS exposure to induce BBB-opening, whereas the outer-ring 0.55 MHz ceramic was employed to detect the subharmonic acoustic emissions originating from the target position. In stage-1 experiments, we employed spectral analysis and performed an energy spectrum density (ESD) calculation. An optimized 0.55 MHz ESD level change was shown to effectively discriminate the occurrence of BBB-opening. Wideband acoustic emissions received from 0.55 MHz ceramics were also analyzed to evaluate its correlations with erythrocyte extravasations. In stage-2 real-time monitoring experiments, we applied the predetermined ESD change as a detection threshold in PC-controlled algorithm to predict the FUS exposure intra-operatively. In stage-1 experiment, we showed that subharmonic ESD presents distinguishable dynamics between intact BBB and opened BBB, and therefore a threshold ESD change level (5.5 dB) can be identified for BBB-opening prediction. Using this ESD change threshold detection as a

Real-time monitoring of focused ultrasound blood-brain barrier opening via subharmonic acoustic emission detection: implementation of confocal dual-frequency piezoelectric transducers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsai, Chih-Hung; Zhang, Jia-Wei; Liao, Yi-Yi; Liu, Hao-Li

2016-01-01

Burst-tone focused ultrasound exposure in the presence of microbubbles has been demonstrated to be effective at inducing temporal and local opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which promises significant clinical potential to deliver therapeutic molecules into the central nervous system (CNS). Traditional contrast-enhanced imaging confirmation after focused ultrasound (FUS) exposure serves as a post-operative indicator of the effectiveness of FUS-BBB opening, however, an indicator that can concurrently report the BBB status and BBB-opening effectiveness is required to provide effective feedback to implement this treatment clinically. In this study, we demonstrate the use of subharmonic acoustic emission detection with implementation on a confocal dual-frequency piezoelectric ceramic structure to perform real-time monitoring of FUS-BBB opening. A confocal dual-frequency (0.55 MHz/1.1 MHz) focused ultrasound transducer was designed. The 1.1 MHz spherically-curved ceramic was employed to deliver FUS exposure to induce BBB-opening, whereas the outer-ring 0.55 MHz ceramic was employed to detect the subharmonic acoustic emissions originating from the target position. In stage-1 experiments, we employed spectral analysis and performed an energy spectrum density (ESD) calculation. An optimized 0.55 MHz ESD level change was shown to effectively discriminate the occurrence of BBB-opening. Wideband acoustic emissions received from 0.55 MHz ceramics were also analyzed to evaluate its correlations with erythrocyte extravasations. In stage-2 real-time monitoring experiments, we applied the predetermined ESD change as a detection threshold in PC-controlled algorithm to predict the FUS exposure intra-operatively. In stage-1 experiment, we showed that subharmonic ESD presents distinguishable dynamics between intact BBB and opened BBB, and therefore a threshold ESD change level (5.5 dB) can be identified for BBB-opening prediction. Using this ESD change threshold detection as a

The Use of Flexible Ultrasound Transducers for the Detection of Laser-Induced Guided Waves on Curved Surfaces at Elevated Temperatures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tai Chieh Wu

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, a flexible ultrasonic transducer (FUT was applied in a laser ultrasonic technique (LUT for non-destructive characterization of metallic pipes at high temperatures of up to 176 °C. Compared with normal ultrasound transducers, a FUT is a piezoelectric film made of a PZT/PZT sol-gel composite which has advantages due to its high sensitivity, curved surface adaptability and high temperature durability. By operating a pulsed laser in B-scan mode along with the integration of FUT and LUT, a multi-mode dispersion spectrum of a stainless steel pipe at high temperature can be measured. In addition, dynamic wave propagation behaviors are experimentally visualized with two dimensional scanning. The images directly interpret the reflections from the interior defects and also can locate their positions. This hybrid technique shows great potential for non-destructive evaluation of structures with complex geometry, especially in high temperature environments.

An adjustable multi-scale single beam acoustic tweezers based on ultrahigh frequency ultrasonic transducer.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaoyang; Lam, Kwok Ho; Chen, Ruimin; Chen, Zeyu; Yu, Ping; Chen, Zhongping; Shung, K Kirk; Zhou, Qifa

2017-11-01

This paper reports the fabrication, characterization, and microparticle manipulation capability of an adjustable multi-scale single beam acoustic tweezers (SBAT) that is capable of flexibly changing the size of "tweezers" like ordinary metal tweezers with a single-element ultrahigh frequency (UHF) ultrasonic transducer. The measured resonant frequency of the developed transducer at 526 MHz is the highest frequency of piezoelectric single crystal based ultrasonic transducers ever reported. This focused UHF ultrasonic transducer exhibits a wide bandwidth (95.5% at -10 dB) due to high attenuation of high-frequency ultrasound wave, which allows the SBAT effectively excite with a wide range of excitation frequency from 150 to 400 MHz by using the "piezoelectric actuator" model. Through controlling the excitation frequency, the wavelength of ultrasound emitted from the SBAT can be changed to selectively manipulate a single microparticle of different sizes (3-100 μm) by using only one transducer. This concept of flexibly changing "tweezers" size is firstly introduced into the study of SBAT. At the same time, it was found that this incident ultrasound wavelength play an important role in lateral trapping and manipulation for microparticle of different sizes. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 2637-2647. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ultrasound-guided sacroiliac joint injection technique.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Harmon, Dominic

2008-07-01

We describe a case report and technique for using a portable ultrasound scanner and a curvilinear transducer (4-5MHz) (SonoSite Micromaxx SonoSite, Inc. 21919 30th Drive SE Bothwell W. A.) to guide sacroiliac joint (SIJ) injection. A 42-year-old male presented with chronic lower back pain centered on his left SIJ. His pain averaged 7 out of 10 (numerical rating scale). For the ultrasound-guided SIJ injection the patient was placed in the prone position. The ultrasound transducer was oriented in a transverse orientation at the level of the sacral hiatus. Here the sacral cornuae were identified. Moving the transducer laterally from here, the lateral edge of the sacrum was identified. This bony edge was followed in a cephalad direction with the transducer maintained in a transverse orientation. A second bony contour, the ileum, was identified. The cleft between both bony contours represented the sacroiliac joint. This was found at 4.5 cm depth. Real-time imaging was used to direct a 22G spinal needle into the SIJ, where solution was injected under direct vision. The patient\\'s pain intensity decreased to a 2 out of 10 (numerical rating scale). Function improved and the patient was able to return to work. These improvements were maintained at 16 weeks. Ultrasound guidance does not expose patients and personnel to radiation and is readily accessible. Ultrasound-guided SIJ injections may have particular applications in the management of chronic lower back pain in certain clinical scenarios (e.g. pregnancy). Future studies to demonstrate efficacy and reproducibility are needed.

Fast and Automatic Ultrasound Simulation from CT Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weijian Cong

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Ultrasound is currently widely used in clinical diagnosis because of its fast and safe imaging principles. As the anatomical structures present in an ultrasound image are not as clear as CT or MRI. Physicians usually need advance clinical knowledge and experience to distinguish diseased tissues. Fast simulation of ultrasound provides a cost-effective way for the training and correlation of ultrasound and the anatomic structures. In this paper, a novel method is proposed for fast simulation of ultrasound from a CT image. A multiscale method is developed to enhance tubular structures so as to simulate the blood flow. The acoustic response of common tissues is generated by weighted integration of adjacent regions on the ultrasound propagation path in the CT image, from which parameters, including attenuation, reflection, scattering, and noise, are estimated simultaneously. The thin-plate spline interpolation method is employed to transform the simulation image between polar and rectangular coordinate systems. The Kaiser window function is utilized to produce integration and radial blurring effects of multiple transducer elements. Experimental results show that the developed method is very fast and effective, allowing realistic ultrasound to be fast generated. Given that the developed method is fully automatic, it can be utilized for ultrasound guided navigation in clinical practice and for training purpose.

Wideband Single Crystal Transducer for Bone Characterization, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — TRS proposes to develop a simple-to-use, launch capable, ultrasound transducer that is capable of producing the necessary bandwidth to accurately determine in vivo...

Time reversal and phase coherent music techniques for super-resolution ultrasound imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Lianjie; Labyed, Yassin

2018-05-01

Systems and methods for super-resolution ultrasound imaging using a windowed and generalized TR-MUSIC algorithm that divides the imaging region into overlapping sub-regions and applies the TR-MUSIC algorithm to the windowed backscattered ultrasound signals corresponding to each sub-region. The algorithm is also structured to account for the ultrasound attenuation in the medium and the finite-size effects of ultrasound transducer elements. A modified TR-MUSIC imaging algorithm is used to account for ultrasound scattering from both density and compressibility contrasts. The phase response of ultrasound transducer elements is accounted for in a PC-MUSIC system.

Positioning calibration apparatus for transducers employed in nuclear reactor vessel inspection apparatus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsner, H.J.

1981-01-01

The invention provides a calibration apparatus suitable for verifying the position and orientation of transducers used in reactor vessel ultrasonic inspection. The apparatus includes moveable mounting means which secures a transducer within the tank in its normal inspection orientation. A drive is also provided for moving the transducer in the tank relative to a target. The target is slidably positioned in the tank at a distance from the transducer which is selected to avoid the distortion effects in the near field of the transducer. The drive mechanism may be provided with graduated indicia of travel, or a scale may be affixed to the side of the tank. (L.L.)

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... areas of the body while other areas, especially air-filled lungs, are poorly suited for ultrasound. For ... make secure contact with the body and eliminate air pockets between the transducer and the skin that ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... scanning or sonography , involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on ... the child prior to the exam. Bringing books, small toys, music or games can help to distract ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the ... the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and receive the returning sound waves), ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the ... the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and receive the returning sound waves), ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... The ultrasound exam room may have a television. Feel free to ask for your child's favorite channel. ... performed over an area of tenderness, you may feel pressure or minor pain from the transducer. Once ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... tip of the transducer is smaller than the standard speculum used when performing a Pap test . A ... both sexes without x-ray exposure. Risks For standard diagnostic ultrasound , there are no known harmful effects ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that ... the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies. Ultrasound ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... insertion. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... the transducer is pressed against the skin, it directs small pulses of inaudible, high-frequency sound waves ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... gel. top of page How does the procedure work? Ultrasound imaging is based on the same principles ... the transducer is pressed against the skin, it directs small pulses of inaudible, high-frequency sound waves ...

Finite element analysis of hysteresis effects in piezoelectric transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Simkovics, Reinhard; Landes, Hermann; Kaltenbacher, Manfred; Hoffelner, Johann; Lerch, Reinhard

2000-06-01

The design of ultrasonic transducers for high power applications, e.g. in medical therapy or production engineering, asks for effective computer aided design tools to analyze the occurring nonlinear effects. In this paper the finite-element-boundary-element package CAPA is presented that allows to model different types of electromechanical sensors and actuators. These transducers are based on various physical coupling effects, such as piezoelectricity or magneto- mechanical interactions. Their computer modeling requires the numerical solution of a multifield problem, such as coupled electric-mechanical fields or magnetic-mechanical fields as well as coupled mechanical-acoustic fields. With the reported software environment we are able to compute the dynamic behavior of electromechanical sensors and actuators by taking into account geometric nonlinearities, nonlinear wave propagation and ferroelectric as well as magnetic material nonlinearities. After a short introduction to the basic theory of the numerical calculation schemes, two practical examples will demonstrate the applicability of the numerical simulation tool. As a first example an ultrasonic thickness mode transducer consisting of a piezoceramic material used for high power ultrasound production is examined. Due to ferroelectric hysteresis, higher order harmonics can be detected in the actuators input current. Also in case of electrical and mechanical prestressing a resonance frequency shift occurs, caused by ferroelectric hysteresis and nonlinear dependencies of the material coefficients on electric field and mechanical stresses. As a second example, a power ultrasound transducer used in HIFU-therapy (high intensity focused ultrasound) is presented. Due to the compressibility and losses in the propagating fluid a nonlinear shock wave generation can be observed. For both examples a good agreement between numerical simulation and experimental data has been achieved.

Angular Spectrum Simulation of Pulsed Ultrasound Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Henrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2009-01-01

frequencies must be performed. Combining it with Field II, the generation of non-linear simulation for any geometry with any excitation array transducer becomes feasible. The purpose of this paper is to make a general pulsed simulation software using the modified ASA. Linear and phased array transducers......The optimization of non-linear ultrasound imaging should in a first step be based on simulation, as this makes parameter studies considerably easier than making transducer prototypes. Such a simulation program should be capable of simulating non-linear pulsed fields for arbitrary transducer...... geometries for any kind of focusing and apodization. The Angular Spectrum Approach (ASA) is capable of simulating monochromatic non-linear acoustic wave propagation. However, for ultrasound imaging the time response of each specific point in space is required, and a pulsed ASA simulation with multi temporal...

A Dual-Range Strain Gage Weighing Transducer Employing Automatic Switching

Science.gov (United States)

Rodger A. Arola

1968-01-01

Describes a dual-range strain gage transducer which has proven to be an excellent weight-sensing device for weighing trees and tree-length logs; discusses basic principals of the design and operation; and shows that a single transducer having two sensitivity ranges with automatic internal switching can sense weight with good repeatability and that one calibration curve...

Nonlinear effects in ultrasound fields of diagnostic-type transducers used for kidney stone propulsion: Characterization in water

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karzova, M.; th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" >Cunitz, B.; th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" >Kreider, W.; th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" >Bailey, M.; Yuldashev, P.; Andriyakhina, Y.; th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Physics Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" >Sapozhnikov, O.; th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" data-affiliation=" (Physics Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40th Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States))" >Khokhlova, V.

2015-01-01

Newer imaging and therapeutic ultrasound technologies require higher in situ pressure levels compared to conventional diagnostic values. One example is the recently developed use of focused ultrasonic radiation force to move kidney stones and residual fragments out of the urinary collecting system. A commercial diagnostic 2.3 MHz C5-2 array probe is used to deliver the acoustic pushing pulses. The probe comprises 128 elements equally spaced at the 55 mm long convex cylindrical surface with 38 mm radius of curvature. The efficacy of the treatment can be increased by using higher intensity at the focus to provide stronger pushing force; however, nonlinear acoustic saturation can be a limiting factor. In this work nonlinear propagation effects were analyzed for the C5-2 transducer using a combined measurement and modeling approach. Simulations were based on the 3D Westervelt equation; the boundary condition was set to match the focal geometry of the beam as measured at a low power output. Focal waveforms simulated for increased output power levels were compared with the fiber-optic hydrophone measurements and were found in good agreement. It was shown that saturation effects do limit the acoustic pressure in the focal region of the transducer. This work has application to standard diagnostic probes and imaging

Nonlinear effects in ultrasound fields of diagnostic-type transducers used for kidney stone propulsion: Characterization in water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karzova, M., E-mail: masha@acs366.phys.msu.ru [Laboratoire de Mécanique des Fluides et d’Acoustique, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, 36 Avenue Guy de Collongue, 69134 Ecully (France); Physics Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Cunitz, B.; Kreider, W.; Bailey, M. [Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40" t" h Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States); Yuldashev, P.; Andriyakhina, Y. [Physics Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Sapozhnikov, O.; Khokhlova, V. [Physics Faculty, Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation); Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, 1013 NE 40" t" h Street, Seattle, WA 98105 (United States)

2015-10-28

Newer imaging and therapeutic ultrasound technologies require higher in situ pressure levels compared to conventional diagnostic values. One example is the recently developed use of focused ultrasonic radiation force to move kidney stones and residual fragments out of the urinary collecting system. A commercial diagnostic 2.3 MHz C5-2 array probe is used to deliver the acoustic pushing pulses. The probe comprises 128 elements equally spaced at the 55 mm long convex cylindrical surface with 38 mm radius of curvature. The efficacy of the treatment can be increased by using higher intensity at the focus to provide stronger pushing force; however, nonlinear acoustic saturation can be a limiting factor. In this work nonlinear propagation effects were analyzed for the C5-2 transducer using a combined measurement and modeling approach. Simulations were based on the 3D Westervelt equation; the boundary condition was set to match the focal geometry of the beam as measured at a low power output. Focal waveforms simulated for increased output power levels were compared with the fiber-optic hydrophone measurements and were found in good agreement. It was shown that saturation effects do limit the acoustic pressure in the focal region of the transducer. This work has application to standard diagnostic probes and imaging.

Renormalization Analysis of a Composite Ultrasonic Transducer with a Fractal Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Algehyne, Ebrahem A.; Mulholland, Anthony J.

To ensure the safe operation of many safety critical structures such as nuclear plants, aircraft and oil pipelines, non-destructive imaging is employed using piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers. These sensors typically operate at a single frequency due to the restrictions imposed on their resonant behavior by the use of a single length scale in the design. To allow these transducers to transmit and receive more complex signals it would seem logical to use a range of length scales in the design so that a wide range of resonating frequencies will result. In this paper, we derive a mathematical model to predict the dynamics of an ultrasound transducer that achieves this range of length scales by adopting a fractal architecture. In fact, the device is modeled as a graph where the nodes represent segments of the piezoelectric and polymer materials. The electrical and mechanical fields that are contained within this graph are then expressed in terms of a finite element basis. The structure of the resulting discretized equations yields to a renormalization methodology which is used to derive expressions for the non-dimensionalized electrical impedance and the transmission and reception sensitivities. A comparison with a standard design shows some benefits of these fractal designs.

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... the amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch) and time it takes for the ultrasound signal to return from the area within the patient that is being examined to the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and ...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... the amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch) and time it takes for the ultrasound signal to return from the area within the patient that is being examined to the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and ...

ultrasound-guided shoulder arthrogram injection

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2008-10-15

Oct 15, 2008 ... Using an aseptic technique and without moving the ultrasound transducer from the desired transverse plane, the needle is advanced into the joint space through the rotator cuff interval, using real-time ultrasound guidance (Fig.2). The needle is inserted into the shoulder approximately midway between the ...

Noncontact ultrasound imaging applied to cortical bone phantoms

OpenAIRE

Bulman, J. B.; Ganezer, K. S.; Halcrow, P. W.; Neeson, Ian

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to take the first steps toward applying noncontact ultrasound (NCU) to the tasks of monitoring osteoporosis and quantitative ultrasound imaging (QUS) of cortical bone. The authors also focused on the advantages of NCU, such as its lack of reliance on a technologist to apply transducers and a layer of acoustical coupling gel, the ability of the transducers to operate autonomously as specified by preprogrammed software, and the likely reduction in statisti...

Prostate Ultrasound

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Full Text Available ... body tissue through which the sound travels. A small amount of gel is put on the skin to allow the sound waves to travel from the transducer to the examined area within the body and then back again. Ultrasound ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

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Full Text Available ... body tissue through which the sound travels. A small amount of gel is put on the skin to allow the sound waves to travel from the transducer to the examined area within the body and then back again. Ultrasound ...

Ultrasound to video registration using a bi-plane transrectal probe with photoacoustic markers

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Alexis; Kang, Hyun Jae; Zhang, Haichong K.; Taylor, Russell H.; Boctor, Emad M.

2016-03-01

Modern surgical scenarios typically provide surgeons with additional information through fusion of video and other imaging modalities. To provide this information, the tools and devices used in surgery must be registered together with interventional guidance equipment and surgical navigation systems. In this work, we focus explicitly on registering ultrasound with a stereo camera system using photoacoustic markers. Previous work has shown that photoacoustic markers can be used in this registration task to achieve target registration errors lower than the current available systems. Photoacoustic markers are defined as a set of non-collinear laser spots projected onto some surface. They can be simultaneously visualized by a stereo camera system and an ultrasound transducer because of the photoacoustic effect. In more recent work, the three-dimensional ultrasound volume was replaced by images from a single ultrasound image pose from a convex array transducer. The feasibility of this approach was demonstrated, but the accuracy was lacking due to the physical limitations of the convex array transducer. In this work, we propose the use of a bi-plane transrectal ultrasound transducer. The main advantage of using this type of transducer is that the ultrasound elements are no longer restricted to a single plane. While this development would be limited to prostate applications, liver and kidney applications are also feasible if a suitable transducer is built. This work is demonstrated in two experiments, one without photoacoustic sources and one with. The resulting target registration error for these experiments were 1.07mm±0.35mm and 1.27mm+/-0.47mm respectively, both of which are better than current available navigation systems.

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... areas of the body while other areas, especially air-filled lungs, are poorly suited for ultrasound. top ... make secure contact with the body and eliminate air pockets between the transducer and the skin that ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the probe through ... a single exam. The transducer sends out high-frequency sound waves (that the human ear cannot hear) ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the ... the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and receive the returning sound waves), ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... the transducer for analysis. Ultrasound has difficulty penetrating bone and, therefore, can only see the outer surface ... children or adults). For visualizing internal structure of bones or certain joints, other imaging modalities such as ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... fitting clothing for your ultrasound exam. You may need to remove all clothing and jewelry in the ... using the same transducer. Rarely, young children may need to be sedated in order to hold still ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

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Full Text Available ... consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that ... the preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies. Ultrasound ...

An integrated circuit with transmit beamforming flip-chip bonded to a 2-D CMUT array for 3-D ultrasound imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Wygant, Ira O; Jamal, Nafis S; Lee, Hyunjoo J; Nikoozadeh, Amin; Oralkan, Omer; Karaman, Mustafa; Khuri-Yakub, Butrus T

2009-10-01

State-of-the-art 3-D medical ultrasound imaging requires transmitting and receiving ultrasound using a 2-D array of ultrasound transducers with hundreds or thousands of elements. A tight combination of the transducer array with integrated circuitry eliminates bulky cables connecting the elements of the transducer array to a separate system of electronics. Furthermore, preamplifiers located close to the array can lead to improved receive sensitivity. A combined IC and transducer array can lead to a portable, high-performance, and inexpensive 3-D ultrasound imaging system. This paper presents an IC flip-chip bonded to a 16 x 16-element capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array for 3-D ultrasound imaging. The IC includes a transmit beamformer that generates 25-V unipolar pulses with programmable focusing delays to 224 of the 256 transducer elements. One-shot circuits allow adjustment of the pulse widths for different ultrasound transducer center frequencies. For receiving reflected ultrasound signals, the IC uses the 32-elements along the array diagonals. The IC provides each receiving element with a low-noise 25-MHz-bandwidth transimpedance amplifier. Using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) clocked at 100 MHz to operate the IC, the IC generated properly timed transmit pulses with 5-ns accuracy. With the IC flip-chip bonded to a CMUT array, we show that the IC can produce steered and focused ultrasound beams. We present 2-D and 3-D images of a wire phantom and 2-D orthogonal cross-sectional images (Bscans) of a latex heart phantom.

Transducer hygiene: comparison of procedures for decontamination of ultrasound transducers and their use in clinical practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Häggström, Mikael; Spira, Jack; Edelstam, Greta

2015-02-01

To determine whether current hygiene practices are appropriate during sonographic examinations. Five major hospitals in Sweden were investigated with a survey. At each hospital, the departments corresponding to the main types of sonographic examination were chosen. Personnel who were responsible for or acquainted with the local hygiene procedures completed a standardardized questionnaire. The surveys were completed by 25 departments, where the total number of sonographic examinations was approximately 20,000 per month. For transvaginal and transrectal sonographic examinations, the most common method for decontamination of the transducer was barrier protection during the procedure followed by cleansing with alcohol. Latex was the predominant cover material, but one department used polyethylene gloves, and another department used nitrile gloves. Both of these involved transvaginal ultrasonography. In transcutaneous examinations, all hospitals were using alcohol and paper or cloth for decontamination at a minimum. Transesophageal examinations were carried out without barrier protection, and decontamination was performed with an alkylating substance. The hygiene practices appear to be appropriate at most hospitals, but there is a prevalence of transducer cover materials of unacceptable permeability, as well as use of gloves on transducers despite insufficient evidence of safety. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Variable mounting assembly for transducers employed in nuclear reactor vessel inspection apparatus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsner, H.J.; Antol, R.F.; Castner, R.P.

1979-01-01

A positionally variable mounting assembly for transducers used to interrogate a nuclear reactor vessel is disclosed. Means are provided for clamping each transducer of an array about its flange in a central restraining block. The central restraining block is, in turn, pivotally mounted in a yoke. The yoke is movable secured to bars or rails bolted to the transducer plate and, by loosening appropriate bolts, can be moved along the ways or pivoted about one of them. Further, the restraining block can be removed from the yoke and pivotally clamped in a different orientation to upstanding brackets attached to the transducer array plate, or rotated through 90 0 and then secured again in the yoke

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... organs and to examine a baby in pregnant women and the brain and hips in infants. It’s ... Transvaginal ultrasound. The transducer is inserted into a woman's vagina to view the uterus and ovaries. top ...

Synthetic tracked aperture ultrasound imaging: design, simulation, and experimental evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Haichong K; Cheng, Alexis; Bottenus, Nick; Guo, Xiaoyu; Trahey, Gregg E; Boctor, Emad M

2016-04-01

Ultrasonography is a widely used imaging modality to visualize anatomical structures due to its low cost and ease of use; however, it is challenging to acquire acceptable image quality in deep tissue. Synthetic aperture (SA) is a technique used to increase image resolution by synthesizing information from multiple subapertures, but the resolution improvement is limited by the physical size of the array transducer. With a large F-number, it is difficult to achieve high resolution in deep regions without extending the effective aperture size. We propose a method to extend the available aperture size for SA-called synthetic tracked aperture ultrasound (STRATUS) imaging-by sweeping an ultrasound transducer while tracking its orientation and location. Tracking information of the ultrasound probe is used to synthesize the signals received at different positions. Considering the practical implementation, we estimated the effect of tracking and ultrasound calibration error to the quality of the final beamformed image through simulation. In addition, to experimentally validate this approach, a 6 degree-of-freedom robot arm was used as a mechanical tracker to hold an ultrasound transducer and to apply in-plane lateral translational motion. Results indicate that STRATUS imaging with robotic tracking has the potential to improve ultrasound image quality.

Basics of biomedical ultrasound for engineers

CERN Document Server

Azhari, Haim

2010-01-01

"Basics of Biomedical Ultrasound for Engineers is a structured textbook for university engineering courses in biomedical ultrasound and for researchers in the field. This book offers a tool for building a solid understanding of biomedical ultrasound, and leads the novice through the field in a step-by-step manner. The book begins with the most basic definitions of waves, proceeds to ultrasounds in fluids, and then delves into solid ultrasounds, the most complicated kind of ultrasound. It encompasses a wide range of topics within biomedical ultrasound, from conceptual definitions of waves to the intricacies of focusing devices, transducers, and acoustic fields"--Provided by publisher.

Ultrasound cylindrical phased array for transoesophageal thermal therapy: initial studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Melodelima, David; Lafon, Cyril; Prat, Frederic; Birer, Alain; Cathignol, Dominique

2002-01-01

This work was undertaken to investigate the feasibility of constructing a cylindrical phased array composed of 64 elements spread around the periphery (OD 10.6 mm) for transoesophageal ultrasound thermotherapy. The underlying operating principle of this applicator is to rotate a plane ultrasound beam electronically. For this purpose, eight adjacent transducers were successively excited with appropriate delay times so as to generate a plane wave. The exposure direction was changed by exciting a different set of eight elements. For these feasibility studies, we used a cylindrical prototype (OD 10.6 mm) composed of 16 elementary transducers distributed over a quarter of the cylinder, all operating at 4.55 MHz. The active part was mechanically reinforced by a rigid damper structure behind the transducers. It was shown that an ultrasound field similar to that emitted by a plane transducer could be generated. Ex vivo experiments on pig's liver demonstrated that the ultrasound beam could be accurately rotated to generate sector-based lesions to a suitable depth (up to 19 mm). Throughout these experiments, exposures lasting 20 s were delivered at an acoustic intensity of 17 W cm -2 . By varying the power from exposure to exposure, the depth of the lesion at different angles could be controlled

Positioning calibration apparatus for transducers employed in nuclear reactor vessel inspection apparatus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsner, H.J.

1979-01-01

Calibration apparatus for verifying the position and orientation of transducers used in nuclear reactor vessel inspection apparatus is disclosed. A tank, filled with water, the operating inspection medium, is fitted with a movable mounting assembly adapted to securely accommodate a transducer and the mounting assembly in which it is normally secured during an inspection procedure. The tank is also provided with a slidably mounted target positioned therein at a predetermined distance from the target which is selected to avoid the distortion effects in the near field of the transducer response. The calibration apparatus can be used to check the normal transducer mounting for either perpendicularity or angular orientation by moving the tank's mounting assembly via a lead screw with which it is threadingly engaged. 6 claims

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... the amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch) and time it takes for the ultrasound signal to return from the area within the patient that is being examined to the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and ...

Study on the sandwich piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic transducer in thickness vibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Shuyu; Tian Hua

2008-01-01

A sandwich piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic transducer in thickness vibration is studied. The transducer consists of front and back metal masses, and coaxially segmented, thickness polarized piezoelectric ceramic thin rings. For this kind of sandwich piezoelectric transducers in thickness vibration, it is required that the lateral dimension of the transducer is sufficiently large compared with its longitudinal dimension so that no lateral displacements in the transducer can occur (laterally clamped). In this paper, the thickness vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic stack consisting of a number of identical piezoelectric ceramic thin rings is analysed and its electro-mechanical equivalent circuit is obtained. The resonance frequency equation for the sandwich piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic transducer in thickness vibration is derived. Based on the frequency equation, two sandwich piezoelectric ceramic ultrasonic transducers are designed and manufactured, and their resonance frequencies are measured. It is shown that the measured resonance frequencies are in good agreement with the theoretical results. This kind of sandwich piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer is expected to be used in megasonic ultrasonic cleaning and sonochemistry where high power and high frequency ultrasound is needed

Resonant ultrasound spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Migliori, Albert; Visscher, William M.; Fisk, Zachary

1990-01-01

An ultrasound resonant spectrometer determines the resonant frequency spectrum of a rectangular parallelepiped sample of a high dissipation material over an expected resonant response frequency range. A sample holder structure grips corners of the sample between piezoelectric drive and receive transducers. Each transducer is mounted on a membrane for only weakly coupling the transducer to the holder structure and operatively contacts a material effective to remove system resonant responses at the transducer from the expected response range. i.e., either a material such as diamond to move the response frequencies above the range or a damping powder to preclude response within the range. A square-law detector amplifier receives the response signal and retransmits the signal on an isolated shield of connecting cabling to remove cabling capacitive effects. The amplifier also provides a substantially frequency independently voltage divider with the receive transducer. The spectrometer is extremely sensitive to enable low amplitude resonance to be detected for use in calculating the elastic constants of the high dissipation sample.

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... body tissue through which the sound travels. A small amount of gel is put on the skin to allow the sound waves to travel from the transducer to the examined area within the body and then back again. Ultrasound ...

Tunable-angle wedge transducer for improved acoustophoretic control in a microfluidic chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iranmanesh, I.; Barnkob, Rune; Bruus, Henrik

2013-01-01

We present a tunable-angle wedge ultrasound transducer for improved control of microparticle acoustophoresis in a microfluidic chip. The transducer is investigated by analyzing the pattern of aligned particles and induced acoustic energy density while varying the transducer geometry, transducer...... change in geometry and that the coupling angle may be used as an additional tuning parameter for improved acoustophoretic control with single-frequency actuation. Further, we find that frequency-modulation actuation is suitable for diminishing such tuning effects and that it is a robust method to produce...... coupling angle, and transducer actuation method (single-frequency actuation or frequency-modulation actuation). The energy-density analysis is based on measuring the transmitted light intensity through a microfluidic channel filled with a suspension of 5 µm diameter beads and the results with the tunable-angle...

Development of an intravascular ultrasound elastography based on a dual-element transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Cho-Chiang; Chen, Pei-Yu; Ma, Teng; Zhou, Qifa; Shung, K. Kirk; Huang, Chih-Chung

2018-04-01

The ability to measure the elastic properties of plaques and vessels would be useful in clinical diagnoses, particularly for detecting a vulnerable plaque. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the combination of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and acoustic radiation force elasticity imaging for detecting the distribution of stiffness within atherosclerotic arteries ex vivo. A dual-frequency IVUS transducer with two elements was used to induce the propagation of the shear wave (by the 8.5 MHz pushing element) which could be simultaneously monitored by the 31 MHz imaging element. The wave-amplitude image and the wave-velocity image were reconstructed by measuring the peak displacement and wave velocity of shear wave propagation, respectively. System performance was verified using gelatin phantoms. The phantom results demonstrate that the stiffness differences of shear modulus of 1.6 kPa can be distinguished through the wave-amplitude and wave-velocity images. The stiffness distributions of the atherosclerotic aorta from a rabbit were obtained, for which the values of peak displacement and the shear wave velocity were 3.7 ± 1.2 µm and 0.38 ± 0.19 m s-1 for the lipid-rich plaques, and 1.0 ± 0.2 µm and 3.45 ± 0.45 m s-1 for the arterial walls, respectively. These results indicate that IVUS elasticity imaging can be used to distinguish the elastic properties of plaques and vessels.

Simultaneous ultrasound and photoacoustics based flow cytometry

Science.gov (United States)

Gnyawali, Vaskar; Strohm, Eric M.; Tsai, Scott S. H.; Kolios, Michael C.

2018-04-01

We have developed a flow cytometer based on simultaneous detection of ultrasound and photoacoustic waves from individual particles/cells flowing in a microfluidic channel. Our polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) based hydrodynamic 3-dimensional (3D) flow-focusing microfluidic device contains a cross-junction channel, a micro-needle (ID 100 μm and OD 200 μm) insert, and a 3D printed frame to hold and align a high frequency (center frequency 375 MHz) ultrasound transducer. The focused flow passes through a narrow focal zone with lateral and axial focal lengths of 6-8 μm and 15-20 μm, respectively. Both the lateral and axial alignments are achieved by screwing the transducer to the frame onto the PDMS device. Individual particles pass through an interrogation zone in the microfluidic channel with a collinearly aligned ultrasound transducer and a focused 532 nm wavelength laser beam. The particles are simultaneously insonified by high-frequency ultrasound and irradiated by a laser beam. The ultrasound backscatter and laser generated photoacoustic waves are detected for each passing particle. The backscattered ultrasound and photoacoustic signal are strongly dependent on the size, morphology, mechanical properties, and material properties of the flowing particles; these parameters can be extracted by analyzing unique features in the power spectrum of the signals. Frequencies less than 100 MHz do not have these unique spectral signatures. We show that we can reliably distinguish between different particles in a sample using the acoustic-based flow cytometer. This technique, when extended to biomedical applications, allows us to rapidly analyze the spectral signatures from individual single cells of a large cell population, with applications towards label-free detection and characterization of healthy and diseased cells.

Investigation of power and frequency for 3D conformal MRI-controlled transurethral ultrasound therapy with a dual frequency multi-element transducer.

Science.gov (United States)

N'djin, William Apoutou; Burtnyk, Mathieu; Bronskill, Michael; Chopra, Rajiv

2012-01-01

Transurethral ultrasound therapy uses real-time magnetic resonance (MR) temperature feedback to enable the 3D control of thermal therapy accurately in a region within the prostate. Previous canine studies showed the feasibility of this method in vivo. The aim of this study was to reduce the procedure time, while maintaining targeting accuracy, by investigating new combinations of treatment parameters. Simulations and validation experiments in gel phantoms were used, with a collection of nine 3D realistic target prostate boundaries obtained from previous preclinical studies, where multi-slice MR images were acquired with the transurethral device in place. Acoustic power and rotation rate were varied based on temperature feedback at the prostate boundary. Maximum acoustic power and rotation rate were optimised interdependently, as a function of prostate radius and transducer operating frequency. The concept of dual frequency transducers was studied, using the fundamental frequency or the third harmonic component depending on the prostate radius. Numerical modelling enabled assessment of the effects of several acoustic parameters on treatment outcomes. The range of treatable prostate radii extended with increasing power, and tended to narrow with decreasing frequency. Reducing the frequency from 8 MHz to 4 MHz or increasing the surface acoustic power from 10 to 20 W/cm(2) led to treatment times shorter by up to 50% under appropriate conditions. A dual frequency configuration of 4/12 MHz with 20 W/cm(2) ultrasound intensity exposure can treat entire prostates up to 40 cm(3) in volume within 30 min. The interdependence between power and frequency may, however, require integrating multi-parametric functions in the controller for future optimisations.

Front-end receiver electronics for a matrix transducer for 3-D transesophageal echocardiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Zili; Blaak, Sandra; Chang, Zu-yao; Yao, Jiajian; Bosch, Johan G; Prins, Christian; Lancée, Charles T; de Jong, Nico; Pertijs, Michiel A P; Meijer, Gerard C M

2012-07-01

There is a clear clinical need for creating 3-D images of the heart. One promising technique is the use of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). To enable 3-D TEE, we are developing a miniature ultrasound probe containing a matrix piezoelectric transducer with more than 2000 elements. Because a gastroscopic tube cannot accommodate the cables needed to connect all transducer elements directly to an imaging system, a major challenge is to locally reduce the number of channels, while maintaining a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio. This can be achieved by using front-end receiver electronics bonded to the transducers to provide appropriate signal conditioning in the tip of the probe. This paper presents the design of such electronics, realizing time-gain compensation (TGC) and micro-beamforming using simple, low-power circuits. Prototypes of TGC amplifiers and micro-beamforming cells have been fabricated in 0.35-μm CMOS technology. These prototype chips have been combined on a printed circuit board (PCB) to form an ultrasound-receiver system capable of reading and combining the signals of three transducer elements. Experimental results show that this design is a suitable candidate for 3-D TEE.

Intensity dependence of focused ultrasound lesion position

Science.gov (United States)

Meaney, Paul M.; Cahill, Mark D.; ter Haar, Gail R.

1998-04-01

Knowledge of the spatial distribution of intensity loss from an ultrasonic beam is critical to predicting lesion formation in focused ultrasound surgery. To date most models have used linear propagation models to predict the intensity profiles needed to compute the temporally varying temperature distributions. These can be used to compute thermal dose contours that can in turn be used to predict the extent of thermal damage. However, these simulations fail to adequately describe the abnormal lesion formation behavior observed for in vitro experiments in cases where the transducer drive levels are varied over a wide range. For these experiments, the extent of thermal damage has been observed to move significantly closer to the transducer with increasing transducer drive levels than would be predicted using linear propagation models. The simulations described herein, utilize the KZK (Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov) nonlinear propagation model with the parabolic approximation for highly focused ultrasound waves, to demonstrate that the positions of the peak intensity and the lesion do indeed move closer to the transducer. This illustrates that for accurate modeling of heating during FUS, nonlinear effects must be considered.

Acoustic bubble sorting for ultrasound contrast agent enrichment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Segers, T.J.; Versluis, Michel

2014-01-01

An ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) suspension contains encapsulated microbubbles with a wide size distribution, with radii ranging from 1 to 10 μm. Medical transducers typically operate at a single frequency, therefore only a small selection of bubbles will resonate to the driving ultrasound pulse.

Intracardiac ultrasound scanner using a micromachine (MEMS) actuator.

Science.gov (United States)

Zara, J M; Bobbio, S M; Goodwin-Johansson, S; Smith, S W

2000-01-01

Catheter-based intracardiac ultrasound offers the potential for improved guidance of interventional cardiac procedures. The objective of this research is the development of catheter-based mechanical sector scanners incorporating high frequency ultrasound transducers operating at frequencies up to 20 MHz. The authors' current transducer assembly consists of a single 1.75 mm by 1.75 mm, 20 MHz, PZT element mounted on a 2 mm by 2 mm square, 75 mum thick polyimide table that pivots on 3-mum thick gold plated polyimide hinges. The hinges also serve as the electrical connections to the transducer. This table-mounted transducer is tilted using a miniature linear actuator to produce a sector scan. This linear actuator is an integrated force array (IFA), which is an example of a micromachine, i.e., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). The IFA is a thin (2.2 mum) polyimide membrane, which consists of a network of hundreds of thousands of micron scale deformable capacitors made from pairs of metallized polyimide plates. IFAs contract with an applied voltage of 30-120 V and have been shown to produce strains as large as 20% and forces of up to 8 dynes. The prototype transducer and actuator assembly was fabricated and interfaced with a GagePCI analog to digital conversion board digitizing 12 bit samples at a rate of 100 MSamples/second housed in a personal computer to create a single channel ultrasound scanner. The deflection of the table transducer in a low viscosity insulating fluid (HFE 7100, 3M) is up to +/-10 degrees at scan rates of 10-60 Hz. Software has been developed to produce real-time sector scans on the PC monitor.

Study of distributed fiber-optic laser-ultrasound generation based on ghost-mode of tilted fiber Bragg gratings

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Jiajun; Zhang, Qi; Han, Ming

2013-05-01

Fiber-optic ultrasonic transducers are an important component of an active ultrasonic testing system for structural health monitoring. Fiber-optic transducers have several advantages such as small size, light weight, and immunity to electromagnetic interference that make them much more attractive than the current available piezoelectric transducers, especially as embedded and permanent transducers in active ultrasonic testing for structural health monitoring. In this paper, a distributed fiber-optic laser-ultrasound generation based on the ghost-mode of tilted fiber Bragg gratings is studied. The influences of the laser power and laser pulse duration on the laser-ultrasound generation are investigated. The results of this paper are helpful to understand the working principle of this laser-ultrasound method and improve the ultrasonic generation efficiency.

A model for the propagation and scattering of ultrasound in tissue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

1991-01-01

of the field from typical transducers used in clinical ultrasound to yield a model for the received pulse-echo pressure field. Analytic expressions are found in the literature for a number of transducers, and any transducer excitation can be incorporated into the model. An example is given for a concave......, nonapodized transducer in which the predicted pressure field is compared to a measured field....

Experimental ultrasound system for real-time synthetic imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Holm, Ole; Jensen, Lars Joost

1999-01-01

Digital signal processing is being employed more and more in modern ultrasound scanners. This has made it possible to do dynamic receive focusing for each sample and implement other advanced imaging methods. The processing, however, has to be very fast and cost-effective at the same time. Dedicated...... for synthetic aperture imaging, 2D and 3D B-mode and velocity imaging. The system can be used with 128 element transducers and can excite 128 channels and receive and sample data from 64 channels simultaneously at 40 MHz with 12 bits precision. Data can be processed in real time using the system's 80 signal...... chips are used in order to do real time processing. This often makes it difficult to implement radically different imaging strategies on one platform and makes the scanners less accessible for research purposes. Here flexibility is the prime concern, and the storage of data from all transducer elements...

Localizing and Assessing Amputee Pain with Intense Focused Ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-01

active ultrasound images the target of iFU stimulation. Ultrasound device – integrated ig-iFU system. The imaging transducer was mounted within a...meditation, spinal cord stimulation, psychotherapy , continued watchful waiting, among other choices (28). Future research Future studies might consider

Acoustically accessible window determination for ultrasound mediated treatment of glycogen storage disease type Ia patients

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shutao; Raju, Balasundar I.; Leyvi, Evgeniy; Weinstein, David A.; Seip, Ralf

2012-10-01

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa) is caused by an inherited single-gene defect resulting in an impaired glycogen to glucose conversion pathway. Targeted ultrasound mediated delivery (USMD) of plasmid DNA (pDNA) to liver in conjunction with microbubbles may provide a potential treatment for GSDIa patients. As the success of USMD treatments is largely dependent on the accessibility of the targeted tissue by the focused ultrasound beam, this study presents a quantitative approach to determine the acoustically accessible liver volume in GSDIa patients. Models of focused ultrasound beam profiles for transducers of varying aperture and focal lengths were applied to abdomen models reconstructed from suitable CT and MRI images. Transducer manipulations (simulating USMD treatment procedures) were implemented via transducer translations and rotations with the intent of targeting and exposing the entire liver to ultrasound. Results indicate that acoustically accessible liver volumes can be as large as 50% of the entire liver volume for GSDIa patients and on average 3 times larger compared to a healthy adult group due to GSDIa patients' increased liver size. Detailed descriptions of the evaluation algorithm, transducer-and abdomen models are presented, together with implications for USMD treatments of GSDIa patients and transducer designs for USMD applications.

Windowed time-reversal music technique for super-resolution ultrasound imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Lianjie; Labyed, Yassin

2018-05-01

Systems and methods for super-resolution ultrasound imaging using a windowed and generalized TR-MUSIC algorithm that divides the imaging region into overlapping sub-regions and applies the TR-MUSIC algorithm to the windowed backscattered ultrasound signals corresponding to each sub-region. The algorithm is also structured to account for the ultrasound attenuation in the medium and the finite-size effects of ultrasound transducer elements.

A ring transducer system for medical ultrasound research.

Science.gov (United States)

Waag, Robert C; Fedewa, Russell J

2006-10-01

An ultrasonic ring transducer system has been developed for experimental studies of scattering and imaging. The transducer consists of 2048 rectangular elements with a 2.5-MHz center frequency, a 67% -6 dB bandwidth, and a 0.23-mm pitch arranged in a 150-mm-diameter ring with a 25-mm elevation. At the center frequency, the element size is 0.30lambda x 42lambda and the pitch is 0.38lambda. The system has 128 parallel transmit channels, 16 parallel receive channels, a 2048:128 transmit multiplexer, a 2048:16 receive multiplexer, independently programmable transmit waveforms with 8-bit resolution, and receive amplifiers with time variable gain independently programmable over a 40-dB range. Receive signals are sampled at 20 MHz with 12-bit resolution. Arbitrary transmit and receive apertures can be synthesized. Calibration software minimizes system nonidealities caused by noncircularity of the ring and element-to-element response differences. Application software enables the system to be used by specification of high-level parameters in control files from which low-level hardware-dependent parameters are derived by specialized code. Use of the system is illustrated by producing focused and steered beams, synthesizing a spatially limited plane wave, measuring angular scattering, and forming b-scan images.

Vibration transducer calibration techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Brinkley, D. J.

1980-09-01

Techniques for the calibration of vibration transducers used in the Aeronautical Quality Assurance Directorate of the British Ministry of Defence are presented. Following a review of the types of measurements necessary in the calibration of vibration transducers, the performance requirements of vibration transducers, which can be used to measure acceleration, velocity or vibration amplitude, are discussed, with particular attention given to the piezoelectric accelerometer. Techniques for the accurate measurement of sinusoidal vibration amplitude in reference-grade transducers are then considered, including the use of a position sensitive photocell and the use of a Michelson laser interferometer. Means of comparing the output of working-grade accelerometers with that of previously calibrated reference-grade devices are then outlined, with attention given to a method employing a capacitance bridge technique and a method to be used at temperatures between -50 and 200 C. Automatic calibration procedures developed to speed up the calibration process are outlined, and future possible extensions of system software are indicated.

Experimental Evaluation of Three Designs of Electrodynamic Flexural Transducers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias J. R. Eriksson

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Three designs for electrodynamic flexural transducers (EDFT for air-coupled ultrasonics are presented and compared. An all-metal housing was used for robustness, which makes the designs more suitable for industrial applications. The housing is designed such that there is a thin metal plate at the front, with a fundamental flexural vibration mode at ∼50 kHz. By using a flexural resonance mode, good coupling to the load medium was achieved without the use of matching layers. The front radiating plate is actuated electrodynamically by a spiral coil inside the transducer, which produces an induced magnetic field when an AC current is applied to it. The transducers operate without the use of piezoelectric materials, which can simplify manufacturing and prolong the lifetime of the transducers, as well as open up possibilities for high-temperature applications. The results show that different designs perform best for the generation and reception of ultrasound. All three designs produced large acoustic pressure outputs, with a recorded sound pressure level (SPL above 120 dB at a 40 cm distance from the highest output transducer. The sensitivity of the transducers was low, however, with single shot signal-to-noise ratio ( SNR ≃ 15 dB in transmit–receive mode, with transmitter and receiver 40 cm apart.

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... areas of the body while other areas, especially air-filled lungs, are poorly suited for ultrasound. top ... make secure contact with the body and eliminate air pockets between the transducer and the skin that ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the probe through ... a single exam. The transducer sends out high-frequency sound waves (that the human ear cannot hear) ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... need to be returned to the transducer for analysis. top of page This page was reviewed on ... using ultrasound. View full size with caption Pediatric Content Some imaging tests and treatments have special pediatric ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on the skin. High-frequency sound waves are transmitted from the ... the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and receive the returning sound waves), ...

Tunable-angle wedge transducer for improved acoustophoretic control in a microfluidic chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iranmanesh, I.; Barnkob, Rune; Bruus, Henrik

2012-01-01

We present a tunable-angle wedge ultrasound transducer for improved control of microparticle acoustophoresis in a microfluidic chip. The transducer is investigated by analyzing the pattern of aligned particles and induced acoustic energy density while varying the system geometry, transducer...... in geometry and that the coupling angle may be used as an additional tuning parameter for improved acoustophoretic control with single-frequency actuation. Further, we find that frequency-modulation actuation is suitable for diminishing such tuning effects and that it is a robust method to produce uniform...... coupling angle, and transducer actuation method (single-frequency actuation or frequency-modulation actuation). The energy-density analysis is based on measuring the transmitted light intensity through a microfluidic channel filled with a suspension of 5-μm-diameter beads and the results with the tunable-angle...

Lead-free piezoelectric materials and ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elaheh Taghaddos

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Piezoelectric materials have been vastly used in ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging. In this paper, firstly, the most promising lead-free compositions with perovskite structure for medical imaging applications have been reviewed. The electromechanical properties of various lead-free ceramics, composites, and single crystals based on barium titanate, bismuth sodium titanate, potassium sodium niobate, and lithium niobate are presented. Then, fundamental principles and design considerations of ultrasonic transducers are briefly described. Finally, recent developments in lead-free ultrasonic probes are discussed and their acoustic performance is compared to lead-based transducers. Focused transducers with different beam focusing methods such as lens focusing and mechanical shaping are explained. Additionally, acoustic characteristics of lead-free probes including the pulse-echo results as well as their imaging capabilities for various applications such as phantom imaging, in vitro intravascular ultrasound imaging of swine aorta, and in vivo or ex vivo imaging of human eyes and skin are reviewed.

[Ultrasound findings in rhabdomyolysis].

Science.gov (United States)

Carrillo-Esper, Raúl; Galván-Talamantes, Yazmin; Meza-Ayala, Cynthia Margarita; Cruz-Santana, Julio Alberto; Bonilla-Reséndiz, Luis Ignacio

Rhabdomyolysis is defined as skeletal muscle necrosis. Ultrasound assessment has recently become a useful tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of muscle diseases, including rhabdomyolysis. A case is presented on the ultrasound findings in a patient with rhabdomyolysis. To highlight the importance of ultrasound as an essential part in the diagnosis in rhabdomyolysis, to describe the ultrasound findings, and review the literature. A 30 year-old with post-traumatic rhabdomyolysis of both thighs. Ultrasound was performed using a Philips Sparq model with a high-frequency linear transducer (5-10MHz), in low-dimensional scanning mode (2D), in longitudinal and transverse sections at the level of both thighs. The images obtained showed disorganisation of the orientation of the muscle fibres, ground glass image, thickening of the muscular fascia, and the presence of anechoic areas. Ultrasound is a useful tool in the evaluation of rhabdomyolysis. Copyright © 2015 Academia Mexicana de Cirugía A.C. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.

Ultrasound arthroscopy of human knee cartilage and subchondral bone in vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Liukkonen, Jukka; Lehenkari, Petri; Hirvasniemi, Jukka; Joukainen, Antti; Virén, Tuomas; Saarakkala, Simo; Nieminen, Miika T; Jurvelin, Jukka S; Töyräs, Juha

2014-09-01

Arthroscopic ultrasound imaging enables quantitative evaluation of articular cartilage. However, the potential of this technique for evaluation of subchondral bone has not been investigated in vivo. In this study, we address this issue in clinical arthroscopy of the human knee (n = 11) by determining quantitative ultrasound (9 MHz) reflection and backscattering parameters for cartilage and subchondral bone. Furthermore, in each knee, seven anatomical sites were graded using the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) system based on (i) conventional arthroscopy and (ii) ultrasound images acquired in arthroscopy with a miniature transducer. Ultrasound enabled visualization of articular cartilage and subchondral bone. ICRS grades based on ultrasound images were higher (p ultrasound-based ICRS grades were expected as ultrasound reveals additional information on, for example, the relative depth of the lesion. In line with previous literature, ultrasound reflection and scattering in cartilage varied significantly (p ultrasound parameters and structure or density of subchondral bone could be demonstrated. To conclude, arthroscopic ultrasound imaging had a significant effect on clinical grading of cartilage, and it was found to provide quantitative information on cartilage. The lack of correlation between the ultrasound parameters and bone properties may be related to lesser bone change or excessive attenuation in overlying cartilage and insufficient power of the applied miniature transducer. Copyright © 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quality control culture of diagnostic ultrasound parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andam, A.A.B; Addison, E.C.K.; Aggry-Smith, S.; Nani, E.K.

2003-01-01

A phantom, consisting of two phases, has been designed and constructed to mimic the human body. The phase one phantom was designed to mimic a a surface lesion in the human body and the phase two phantom designed to mimic a section of the whole body. Ultrasound scans of the phantom were acquired for various material in the phantom at six hospitals in Kumasi, Ghana. A linear array transducer with parallel beams having a convex probe and a 3.5 MHz ultrasound frequency were used to carry out the experiment. It was observed that the depth of penetration of ultrasound, which constitutes the maximum depth of visualization or sensitivity, is determined by the frequency of the transducer, the attenuation of the medium being imaged and the system settings. Uniformity and linearity of the machines investigated were found to be within clinically acceptable standards. Spatial resolution, comprising axial and lateral resolutions, was observed to be satisfactory for the machines tested. It was observed that lateral resolution improved with the narrowing of the beam width. The ultrasound scanners at the selected hospitals were found to be operating at the expected level of performance. This work highlights the importance of putting in place a locally based mechanism for quality control of diagnostic ultrasound machines (author)

Ultrasound-controlled neuronavigator-guided brain surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Koivukangas, J; Louhisalmi, Y; Alakuijala, J; Oikarinen, J

1993-07-01

The development of a unique neurosurgical navigator is described and a preliminary series of seven cases of intracerebral lesions approached with the assistance of this neuronavigation system under ultrasound control is presented. The clinical series included five low-grade astrocytomas, one chronic intracerebral hematoma, and one porencephalic cyst. Management procedures included biopsy in all cases, drainage of the hematoma, and endoscopy and fenestration for the cyst. The features of the neuronavigation system are interactive reconstructions of preoperative computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging data, corresponding intraoperative ultrasound images, versatility of the interchangeable end-effector instruments, graphic presentation of instruments on the reconstructed images, and voice control of the system. The principle of a common axis in the reconstructed images served to align the navigational pointer, biopsy guide, endoscope guide, ultrasound transducer, and surgical microscope to the brain anatomy. Intraoperative ultrasound imaging helped to verify the accuracy of the neuronavigator and check the results of the procedures. The arm of the neuronavigation system served as a holder for instruments, such as the biopsy guide, endoscope guide, and ultrasound transducer, in addition to functioning as a navigational pointer. Also, the surgical microscope was aligned with the neuronavigator for inspection and biopsy of the hematoma capsule to rule out tumor etiology. Voice control freed the neurosurgeon from manual exercises during start-up and calibration of the system.

Simulation of ultrasound backscatter images from fish

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pham, An Hoai

2011-01-01

The objective of this work is to investigate ultrasound (US) backscatter in the MHz range from fis to develop a realistic and reliable simulation model. The long term objective of the work is to develop the needed signal processing for fis species differentiation using US. In in-vitro experiments...... is 10 MHz and the Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) at the focus point is 0.54 mm in the lateral direction. The transducer model in Field II was calibrated using a wire phantom to validate the simulated point spread function. The inputs to the simulation were the CT image data of the fis converted......, a cod (Gadus morhua) was scanned with both a BK Medical ProFocus 2202 ultrasound scanner and a Toshiba Aquilion ONE computed tomography (CT) scanner. The US images of the fis were compared with US images created using the ultrasound simulation program Field II. The center frequency of the transducer...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... the amplitude (loudness), frequency (pitch) and time it takes for the ultrasound signal to return from the area within the patient that is being examined to the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and ...

Intra-operative ultrasound hand-held strain imaging for the visualization of ablations produced in the liver with a toroidal HIFU transducer: first in vivo results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chenot, J; Melodelima, D; N' Djin, W A; Souchon, Remi; Rivoire, M; Chapelon, J Y, E-mail: jeremy.chenot@inserm.f [Inserm, U556, Lyon, F-69003 (France)

2010-06-07

The use of hand-held ultrasound strain imaging for the intra-operative real-time visualization of HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) ablations produced in the liver by a toroidal transducer was investigated. A linear 12 MHz ultrasound imaging probe was used to obtain radiofrequency signals. Using a fast cross-correlation algorithm, strain images were calculated and displayed at 60 frames s{sup -1}, allowing the use of hand-held strain imaging intra-operatively. Fourteen HIFU lesions were produced in four pigs. Intra-operative strain imaging of HIFU ablations in the liver was feasible owing to the high frame rate. The correlation between dimensions measured on gross pathology and dimensions measured on B-mode images and on strain images were R = 0.72 and R = 0.94 respectively. The contrast between ablated and non-ablated tissue was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the strain images (22 dB) than in the B-mode images (9 dB). Strain images allowed equivalent or improved definition of ablated regions when compared with B-mode images. Real-time intra-operative hand-held strain imaging seems to be a promising complement to conventional B-mode imaging for the guidance of HIFU ablations produced in the liver during an open procedure. These results support that hand-held strain imaging outperforms conventional B-mode ultrasound and could potentially be used for the assessment of thermal therapies.

Progress towards developing neutron tolerant magnetostrictive and piezoelectric transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Reinhardt, Brian; Tittmann, Bernhard; Rempe, Joy; Daw, Joshua; Kohse, Gordon; Carpenter, David; Ames, Michael; Ostrovsky, Yakov; Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Montgomery, Robert; Chien, Hualte; Wernsman, Bernard

2015-03-01

Current generation light water reactors (LWRs), sodium cooled fast reactors (SFRs), small modular reactors (SMRs), and next generation nuclear plants (NGNPs) produce harsh environments in and near the reactor core that can severely tax material performance and limit component operational life. To address this issue, several Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) research programs are evaluating the long duration irradiation performance of fuel and structural materials used in existing and new reactors. In order to maximize the amount of information obtained from Material Testing Reactor (MTR) irradiations, DOE is also funding development of enhanced instrumentation that will be able to obtain in-situ, real-time data on key material characteristics and properties, with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. Such data are required to validate new multi-scale, multi-physics modeling tools under development as part of a science-based, engineering driven approach to reactor development. It is not feasible to obtain high resolution/microscale data with the current state of instrumentation technology. However, ultrasound-based sensors offer the ability to obtain such data if it is demonstrated that these sensors and their associated transducers are resistant to high neutron flux, high gamma radiation, and high temperature. To address this need, the Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR-NSUF) is funding an irradiation, led by PSU, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor to test the survivability of ultrasound transducers. As part of this effort, PSU and collaborators have designed, fabricated, and provided piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers that are optimized to perform in harsh, high flux, environments. Four piezoelectric transducers were fabricated with either aluminum nitride, zinc oxide, or bismuth titanate as the active element that were coupled to either Kovar or aluminum waveguides and two

Progress towards developing neutron tolerant magnetostrictive and piezoelectric transducers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reinhardt, Brian; Tittmann, Bernhard [The Pennsylvania State University (United States); Rempe, Joy; Daw, Joshua [Idaho National Laboratory (United States); Kohse, Gordon; Carpenter, David; Ames, Michael; Ostrovsky, Yakov [Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States); Ramuhalli, Pradeep; Montgomery, Robert [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (United States); Chien, Hualte [Argonne National Laboratory (United States); Wernsman, Bernard [Bechtel Marine Propulsion Corp (United States)

2015-03-31

Current generation light water reactors (LWRs), sodium cooled fast reactors (SFRs), small modular reactors (SMRs), and next generation nuclear plants (NGNPs) produce harsh environments in and near the reactor core that can severely tax material performance and limit component operational life. To address this issue, several Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) research programs are evaluating the long duration irradiation performance of fuel and structural materials used in existing and new reactors. In order to maximize the amount of information obtained from Material Testing Reactor (MTR) irradiations, DOE is also funding development of enhanced instrumentation that will be able to obtain in-situ, real-time data on key material characteristics and properties, with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. Such data are required to validate new multi-scale, multi-physics modeling tools under development as part of a science-based, engineering driven approach to reactor development. It is not feasible to obtain high resolution/microscale data with the current state of instrumentation technology. However, ultrasound-based sensors offer the ability to obtain such data if it is demonstrated that these sensors and their associated transducers are resistant to high neutron flux, high gamma radiation, and high temperature. To address this need, the Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR-NSUF) is funding an irradiation, led by PSU, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Reactor to test the survivability of ultrasound transducers. As part of this effort, PSU and collaborators have designed, fabricated, and provided piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers that are optimized to perform in harsh, high flux, environments. Four piezoelectric transducers were fabricated with either aluminum nitride, zinc oxide, or bismuth titanate as the active element that were coupled to either Kovar or aluminum waveguides and two

Efficient Driving of Piezoelectric Transducers Using a Biaxial Driving Technique.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Pichardo

Full Text Available Efficient driving of piezoelectric materials is desirable when operating transducers for biomedical applications such as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU or ultrasound imaging. More efficient operation reduces the electric power required to produce the desired bioeffect or contrast. Our preliminary work [Cole et al. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 2014;26(13:135901.] suggested that driving transducers by applying orthogonal electric fields can significantly reduce the coercivity that opposes ferroelectric switching. We present here the experimental validation of this biaxial driving technique using piezoelectric ceramics typically used in HIFU. A set of narrow-band transducers was fabricated with two sets of electrodes placed in an orthogonal configuration (following the propagation and the lateral mode. The geometry of the ceramic was chosen to have a resonance frequency similar for the propagation and the lateral mode. The average (± s.d. resonance frequency of the samples was 465.1 (± 1.5 kHz. Experiments were conducted in which each pair of electrodes was driven independently and measurements of effective acoustic power were obtained using the radiation force method. The efficiency (acoustic/electric power of the biaxial driving method was compared to the results obtained when driving the ceramic using electrodes placed only in the pole direction. Our results indicate that the biaxial method increases efficiency from 50% to 125% relative to the using a single electric field.

Ultrasound Research Scanner for Real-time Synthetic Aperture Data Acquisition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Holm, Ole; Jensen, Lars Joost

2005-01-01

Conventional ultrasound systems acquire ultrasound data sequentially one image line at a time. The architecture of these systems is therefore also sequential in nature and processes most of the data in a sequential pipeline. This often makes it difficult to implement radically different imaging...... and 3D B-mode and velocity imaging using advanced coded emissions. The system can be used with 128 element transducers and can excite 128 transducer elements and receive and sample data from 64 channels simultaneously at 40 MHz with 12 bits precision. Two-to-one multiplexing in receive can be used...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... body tissue through which the sound travels. A small amount of gel is put on the skin to allow the sound waves to travel from the transducer to the examined area within the body and then back again. Ultrasound ...

A New Low-frequency Sonophoresis System Combined with Ultrasonic Motor and Transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Pancheng; Peng, Hanmin; Yang, Jianzhi; Mao, Ting; Sheng, Juan

2018-03-01

Low frequency sonophoresis (LFS) is currently being attempted as a transdermal drug delivery method in clinical areas. However, it lacks both an effective control method and the equipment to satisfy the varying drug dosage requirements of individual patients. Herein, a novel method aimed at controlling permeability is proposed and developed, using a pressure control strategy which is based on an accurate, adjustable and non-invasive ultrasound transdermal drug delivery system in in vitro LFS. The system mainly consists of a lead screw linear ultrasonic motor and an ultrasonic transducer, in which the former offers pressure and the latter provides ultrasound wave in the liquid. The ultrasound can enhance non-invasive permeation and the pressure from the motor can control the permeability. The calculated and experimental results demonstrate that the maximum pressure on artificial skin is under the area with the maximum vibration amplitude of the ultrasonic transducer, and the total pressure consists of acoustic pressure from the transducer and approximate static pressure from the motor. Changing the static pressure from the ultrasonic motor can effectively control the non-invasive permeability, by adjusting the duty ratio or the amplitude of the motor’s driving voltage. In addition, the permeability control of calcein by thrust control is realized in 15 min, indicating the suitability of this method for application in accurate medical technology. The obtained results reveal that the issue of difficult permeability control can be addressed, using this control method in in vitro LFS to open up a route to the design of accurate drug delivery technology for individual patients.

Comparison of Simulated and Measured Non-linear Ultrasound Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Henrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2011-01-01

In this paper results from a non-linear AS (angular spectrum) based ultrasound simulation program are compared to water-tank measurements. A circular concave transducer with a diameter of 1 inch (25.4 mm) is used as the emitting source. The measured pulses are rst compared with the linear...... simulation program Field II, which will be used to generate the source for the AS simulation. The generated non-linear ultrasound eld is measured by a hydrophone in the focal plane. The second harmonic component from the measurement is compared with the AS simulation, which is used to calculate both...... fundamental and second harmonic elds. The focused piston transducer with a center frequency of 5 MHz is excited by a waveform generator emitting a 6-cycle sine wave. The hydrophone is mounted in the focal plane 118 mm from the transducer. The point spread functions at the focal depth from Field II...

Spatial filters for focusing ultrasound images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Gori, Paola

2001-01-01

, but the approach always yields point spread functions better or equal to a traditional dynamically focused image. Finally, the process was applied to in-vivo clinical images of the liver and right kidney from a 28 years old male. The data was obtained with a single element transducer focused at 100 mm....... A new method for making spatial matched filter focusing of RF ultrasound data is proposed based on the spatial impulse response description of the imaging. The response from a scatterer at any given point in space relative to the transducer can be calculated, and this gives the spatial matched filter...... for synthetic aperture imaging for single element transducers. It is evaluated using the Field II program. Data from a single 3 MHz transducer focused at a distance of 80 mm is processed. Far from the transducer focal region, the processing greatly improves the image resolution: the lateral slice...

Modeling transducer impulse responses for predicting calibrated pressure pulses with the ultrasound simulation program Field II

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bæk, David; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Willatzen, Morten

2010-01-01

FIELD II is a simulation software capable of predicting the field pressure in front of transducers having any complicated geometry. A calibrated prediction with this program is, however, dependent on an exact voltage-to-surface acceleration impulse response of the transducer. Such impulse response...... is not calculated by FIELD II. This work investigates the usability of combining a one-dimensional multilayer transducer modeling principle with the FIELD II software. Multilayer here refers to a transducer composed of several material layers. Measurements of pressure and current from Pz27 piezoceramic disks...... transducer model and the FIELD II software in combination give good agreement with measurements....

Advantages and Challenges of Relaxor-PbTiO3 Ferroelectric Crystals for Electroacoustic Transducers- A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shujun; Li, Fei; Jiang, Xiaoning; Kim, Jinwook; Luo, Jun; Geng, Xuecang

2014-01-01

Relaxor-PbTiO3 (PT) based ferroelectric crystals with the perovskite structure have been investigated over the last few decades due to their ultrahigh piezoelectric coefficients (d33 > 1500 pC/N) and electromechanical coupling factors (k33 > 90%), far outperforming state-of-the-art ferroelectric polycrystalline Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 ceramics, and are at the forefront of advanced electroacoustic applications. In this review, the performance merits of relaxor-PT crystals in various electroacoustic devices are presented from a piezoelectric material viewpoint. Opportunities come from not only the ultrahigh properties, specifically coupling and piezoelectric coefficients, but through novel vibration modes and crystallographic/domain engineering. Figure of merits (FOMs) of crystals with various compositions and phases were established for various applications, including medical ultrasonic transducers, underwater transducers, acoustic sensors and tweezers. For each device application, recent developments in relaxor-PT ferroelectric crystals were surveyed and compared with state-of-the-art polycrystalline piezoelectrics, with an emphasis on their strong anisotropic features and crystallographic uniqueness, including engineered domain - property relationships. This review starts with an introduction on electroacoustic transducers and the history of piezoelectric materials. The development of the high performance relaxor-PT single crystals, with a focus on their uniqueness in transducer applications, is then discussed. In the third part, various FOMs of piezoelectric materials for a wide range of ultrasound applications, including diagnostic ultrasound, therapeutic ultrasound, underwater acoustic and passive sensors, tactile sensors and acoustic tweezers, are evaluated to provide a thorough understanding of the materials’ behavior under operational conditions. Structure-property-performance relationships are then established. Finally, the impacts and challenges of relaxor

Phenomenally High Transduction Air/gas Transducers for Practical Non-Contact Ultrasonic Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Bhardwaj, Mahesh C.

2009-03-01

Based on novel acoustic impedance matching layers and high coupling piezoelectric materials this paper describes exceptionally high air/gas transduction ultrasonic transducers. By providing applications oriented performance of these transducers we also usher in the era of much desired Non-Contact Ultrasound (NCU) testing and analysis of a wide range of materials including early stage formation of materials such as uncured composite prepregs, green ceramics and powder metals, plastics, elastomers, porous, hygroscopic, chemically bonded and other materials. Besides quality control, ultimately NCU offers timely opportunities for cost-effective materials production, energy savings, and environment protection.

Catheter-based high-intensity ultrasound for epicardial ablation of the left ventricle: device design and in vivo feasiblity

Science.gov (United States)

Salgaonkar, Vasant A.; Nazer, Babak; Jones, Peter D.; Tanaka, Yasuaki; Martin, Alastair; Ng, Bennett; Duggirala, Srikant; Diederich, Chris J.; Gerstenfeld, Edward P.

2015-03-01

The development and in vivo testing of a high-intensity ultrasound thermal ablation catheter for epicardial ablation of the left ventricle (LV) is presented. Scar tissue can occur in the mid-myocardial and epicardial space in patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy and lead to ventricular tachycardia. Current ablation technology uses radiofrequency energy, which is limited epicardially by the presence of coronary vessels, phrenic nerves, and fat. Ultrasound energy can be precisely directed to deliver targeted deep epicardial ablation while sparing intervening epicardial nerve and vessels. The proof-of-concept ultrasound applicators were designed for sub-xyphoid access to the pericardial space through a steerable 14-Fr sheath. The catheter consists of two rectangular planar transducers, for therapy (6.4 MHz) and imaging (5 MHz), mounted at the tip of a 3.5-mm flexible nylon catheter coupled and encapsulated within a custom-shaped balloon for cooling. Thermal lesions were created in the LV in a swine (n = 10) model in vivo. The ultrasound applicator was positioned fluoroscopically. Its orientation and contact with the LV were verified using A-mode imaging and a radio-opaque marker. Ablations employed 60-s exposures at 15 - 30 W (electrical power). Histology indicated thermal coagulation and ablative lesions penetrating 8 - 12 mm into the left ventricle on lateral and anterior walls and along the left anterior descending artery. The transducer design enabled successful sparing from the epicardial surface to 2 - 4 mm of intervening ventricle tissue and epicardial fat. The feasibility of targeted epicardial ablation with catheter-based ultrasound was demonstrated.

Numerical comparison of patch and sandwich piezoelectric transducers for transmitting ultrasonic waves

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Loveday, PW

2006-03-01

Full Text Available in the waveguide. Piezoelectric patch transducers are frequently employed, by researchers, for exciting waves in beam like structures. Sonar systems frequently make use of resonant transducers, such as sandwich transducers, for acoustic wave generation...

Evaluation of ultrasound techniques for brain injury detection

Science.gov (United States)

Mobley, Joel; Kasili, Paul M.; Norton, Stephen J.; Vo-Dinh, Tuan

1998-05-01

In this work, we examine the physics underlying wave propagation in the head to evaluate various ultrasonic transducers for use in a brian injury detection device. The results of measurements of the attenuation coefficient and phase velocity for ultrasonic propagation in samples of brain tissue and skull bone from sheep are presented. The material properties are then used to investigate the propagation of ultrasonic pressure fields in the head. The ultrasound fields for three different transducers are calculated for propagation in a simulated brain/skull model. The model is constructed using speed-of-sound and mass density values of the two tissue types. The impact of the attenuation on the ultrasound fields is then examined. Finally, the relevant points drawn from these discussions are summarized. We hope to minimize the confounding effects of the skull by using sub-MHz ultrasound while maintaining the necessary temporal and spatial resolution to successfully detect injury in the brain.

Ultrasound Enhanced Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Triggered Release of Contents from Echogenic Liposomes

Science.gov (United States)

Nahire, Rahul; Paul, Shirshendu; Scott, Michael D.; Singh, Raushan K.; Muhonen, Wallace W.; Shabb, John; Gange, Kara N.; Srivastava, D. K.; Sarkar, Kausik; Mallik, Sanku

2012-01-01

The extracellular enzyme matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is overexpressed in atherosclerotic plaques and in metastatic cancers. The enzyme is responsible for rupture of the plaques and for the invasion and metastasis of a large number of cancers. The ability of ultrasonic excitation to induce thermal and mechanical effects has been used to release drugs from different carriers. However, majority of these studies were performed with low frequency ultrasound (LFUS) at kHz frequencies. Clinical usage of LFUS excitations will be limited due to harmful biological effects. Herein, we report our results on the release of encapsulated contents from substrate lipopeptide incorporated echogenic liposomes triggered by recombinant human MMP-9. The contents release was further enhanced by the application of diagnostic frequency (3 MHz) ultrasound. The echogenic liposomes were successfully imaged employing a medical ultrasound transducer (4 – 15 MHz). The conditioned cell culture media from cancer cells (secreting MMP-9) released the encapsulated dye from the liposomes (30 – 50%) and this release is also increased (50 – 80%) by applying diagnostic frequency ultrasound (3 MHz) for 3 minutes. With further developments, these liposomes have the potential to serve as multimodal carriers for triggered release and simultaneous ultrasound imaging. PMID:22849291

Performance of Honeywell silicon pressure transducers

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

VijayKumar, K.; Joseph, A.; Desai, R.G.P.; Nagvekar, S.; Prabhudesai, S.; Damodaran, V.

pressure. The precision pressure transducer – ruggedized (PPTR) manufactured by Honeywell is provided with a special “Hastelloy” material isolation-diaphragm to protect the transducer port against corrosive effects during its prolonged exposure...-scale output (an intelligent technique anufacturers to hide the non-linearity of the product at all data points below ore realistic estimate of linearity is obtained by ean of a few samples) based on the corresponding true ethod employed by performance...

In Vivo Real Time Volumetric Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bouzari, Hamed; Rasmussen, Morten Fischer; Brandt, Andreas Hjelm

2015-01-01

Synthetic aperture (SA) imaging can be used to achieve real-time volumetric ultrasound imaging using 2-D array transducers. The sensitivity of SA imaging is improved by maximizing the acoustic output, but one must consider the limitations of an ultrasound system, both technical and biological....... This paper investigates the in vivo applicability and sensitivity of volumetric SA imaging. Utilizing the transmit events to generate a set of virtual point sources, a frame rate of 25 Hz for a 90° x 90° field-of-view was achieved. Data were obtained using a 3.5 MHz 32 x 32 elements 2-D phased array...... transducer connected to the experimental scanner (SARUS). Proper scaling is applied to the excitation signal such that intensity levels are in compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations for in vivo ultrasound imaging. The measured Mechanical Index and spatial-peak- temporal...

Scalable Directed Self-Assembly Using Ultrasound Waves

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-04

the practical implementation of ultrasound DSA as a manufacturing technique requires linking the transducer arrangement and settings that generate ...function generator (Tektronix, AFG 3102), amplified by a 45 dB 50 W RF power amplifier (Electronic Navigation Industries, 440LA). Cross-linking of the...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: We aim to understand how ultrasound waves can be used to create organized patterns of nanoparticles in a host medium such

Applicator for in-vitro ultrasound-activated targeted drug delivery

Science.gov (United States)

Gerold, B.; Gourevich, D.; Volovick, A.; Xu, D.; Arditti, F.; Prentice, P.; Cochran, S.; Gnaim, J.; Medan, Y.; Wang, L.; Melzer, A.

2012-10-01

Reducing toxicity and improving uptake of cancer drugs in tumors are important goals of targeted drug delivery (TDD). Ultrasonic drug release from various encapsulants has been a focus of many research groups. However, a single standard ultrasonic device, viable for use by biologists, is not currently present in the market. The device reported here is designed to allow investigation of the impact of ultrasound on cellular uptake and cell viability in-vitro. In it, single-element transducers with different operating frequencies are mounted below a standard 96-well plate. The plate is moved above the transducers, such that each line of wells can be sonicated at a different frequency. To assess the device, 96-well plates were seeded with cells and sonicated using different ultrasonic parameters, with and without doxorubicin. Cell viability was measured by colorimetric MTT assay and the uptake of doxorubicin by cells was also determined. The device proved to be highly viable in preliminary tests; it demonstrated that change in ultrasonic parameters produces different effect on cells. For example, increase in uptake of doxorubicin was demonstrated following ultrasound application. The growing interest in ultrasound-activated TDD emphasizes the need for standardization of the ultrasound device and the one reported here may offer some indications of how that may be achieved. It is planned to further improve the prototype by increasing the number of ultrasonic frequencies and degrees of freedom for each transducer.

MRI-guided gas bubble enhanced ultrasound heating in in vivo rabbit thigh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sokka, S D; King, R; Hynynen, K

2003-01-01

In this study, we propose a focused ultrasound surgery protocol that induces and then uses gas bubbles at the focus to enhance the ultrasound absorption and ultimately create larger lesions in vivo. MRI and ultrasound visualization and monitoring methods for this heating method are also investigated. Larger lesions created with a carefully monitored single ultrasound exposure could greatly improve the speed of tumour coagulation with focused ultrasound. All experiments were performed under MRI (clinical, 1.5 T) guidance with one of two eight-sector, spherically curved piezoelectric transducers. The transducer, either a 1.1 or 1.7 MHz array, was driven by a multi-channel RF driving system. The transducer was mounted in an MRI-compatible manual positioning system and the rabbit was situated on top of the system. An ultrasound detector ring was fixed with the therapy transducer to monitor gas bubble activity during treatment. Focused ultrasound surgery exposures were delivered to the thighs of seven New Zealand white rabbits. The experimental, gas-bubble-enhanced heating exposures consisted of a high amplitude 300 acoustic watt, half second pulse followed by a 7 W, 14 W or 21 W continuous wave exposure for 19.5 s. The respective control sonications were 20 s exposures of 14 W, 21 W and 28 W. During the exposures, MR thermometry was obtained from the temperature dependency of the proton resonance frequency shift. MR T2-enhanced imaging was used to evaluate the resulting lesions. Specific metrics were used to evaluate the differences between the gas-bubble-enhanced exposures and their respective control sonications: temperatures with respect to time and space, lesion size and shape, and their agreement with thermal dose predictions. The bubble-enhanced exposures showed a faster temperature rise within the first 4 s and higher overall temperatures than the sonications without bubble formation. The spatial temperature maps and the thermal dose maps derived from the MRI

Fabrication of Cheap Optical Transducers (CHOTs) on film carriers for in-situ application and generation of surface acoustic waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ageeva, V; Stratoudaki, T; Clark, M; Somekh, M G

2015-01-01

Cheap optical transducers (CHOTs) are patterns on the surface of a component activated by lasers to generate and detect ultrasound. Excited optically, with minimal surface impact, and fully customizable, CHOTs provide a simple alternative to conventional piezoelectric transducers, offering wireless, remote operation. Of particular interest is application of CHOTs for in-situ ultrasonic inspection of hard-to reach and complex-geometry components such as those of aero-engines. A suitable fabrication method has been developed to allow in-situ application of CHOTs onto large size and curved components, as well as those already in service, challenging for current laboratory-based micro-patterning methods. This work describes the fabrication of a transferable g-CHOT for generation of ultrasound. The g- CHOT has been made on an SU8 carrier film using a sacrificial polystyrene layer, allowing the transducer to be transferred from the substrate and subsequently delivered and applied to the surface of the sample in-situ. The functionality of the fabricated transducer is demonstrated by detection of the Surface Acoustic Waves (SAW) generated by the g-CHOT transferred onto glass and aluminium samples

Multiple single-element transducer photoacoustic computed tomography system

Science.gov (United States)

Kalva, Sandeep Kumar; Hui, Zhe Zhi; Pramanik, Manojit

2018-02-01

Light absorption by the chromophores (hemoglobin, melanin, water etc.) present in any biological tissue results in local temperature rise. This rise in temperature results in generation of pressure waves due to the thermoelastic expansion of the tissue. In a circular scanning photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) system, these pressure waves can be detected using a single-element ultrasound transducer (SUST) (while rotating in full 360° around the sample) or using a circular array transducer. SUST takes several minutes to acquire the PA data around the sample whereas the circular array transducer takes only a fraction of seconds. Hence, for real time imaging circular array transducers are preferred. However, these circular array transducers are custom made, expensive and not easily available in the market whereas SUSTs are cheap and readily available in the market. Using SUST for PACT systems is still cost effective. In order to reduce the scanning time to few seconds instead of using single SUST (rotating 360° ), multiple SUSTs can be used at the same time to acquire the PA data. This will reduce the scanning time by two-fold in case of two SUSTs (rotating 180° ) or by four-fold and eight-fold in case of four SUSTs (rotating 90° ) and eight SUSTs (rotating 45° ) respectively. Here we show that with multiple SUSTs, similar PA images (numerical and experimental phantom data) can be obtained as that of PA images obtained using single SUST.

Non-contact ultrasound techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khazali Mohd Zin

2001-01-01

Non-contact ultrasound plays significant role in material characterisation and inspection. Unlike conventional ultrasonic techniques, non-contact ultrasonic is mostly applicable to areas where the former has its weaknesses and limitations. It is interesting to note that the non-contact ultrasonic technique has an important significant application in industry. The technique is signified by the fact that the object to be inspected is further away from the ultrasonic source, no couplant is needed and inconsistent pressure between the transducer and the specimen can be eliminated. The paper discusses some of the non-contact ultrasound technique and its applications. (Author)

Low-Power Receive-Electronics for a Miniature 3D Ultrasound Probe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yu, Z.

2012-01-01

This thesis describes the design of a front-end application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which will be put into the tip of a miniature ultrasound probe for 3D Trans-Esophageal Echocardiography (TEE). To enable 3D TEE, a matrix piezoelectric ultrasound transducer with more than 2000 elements

Non-Contact Laser Based Ultrasound Evaluation of Canned Foods

Science.gov (United States)

Shelton, David

2005-03-01

Laser-Based Ultrasound detection was used to measure the velocity of compression waves transmitted through canned foods. Condensed broth, canned pasta, and non-condensed soup were evaluated in these experiments. Homodyne adaptive optics resulted in measurements that were more accurate than the traditional heterodyne method, as well as yielding a 10 dB gain in signal to noise. A-Scans measured the velocity of ultrasound sent through the center of the can and were able to distinguish the quantity of food stuff in its path, as well as distinguish between meat and potato. B-Scans investigated the heterogeneity of the sample’s contents. The evaluation of canned foods was completely non-contact and would be suitable for continuous monitoring in production. These results were verified by conducting the same experiments with a contact piezo transducer. Although the contact method yields a higher signal to noise ratio than the non-contact method, Laser-Based Ultrasound was able to detect surface waves the contact transducer could not.

Is Transducer Hygiene sufficient when Vaginal Probes are used in the Clinical Routine?

Science.gov (United States)

Merz, E

2016-04-01

special virucidal wipes on the probes is considered low-level disinfection. Primarily quaternary ammonia compounds are employed for this procedure. This method is easily applicable, has good cleaning characteristics, is effective against HPV and has high skin tolerance. However, it has the disadvantage of not removing all microorganisms during the disinfection process. Immersion procedures are high-level disinfection methods during which the transducer head is dipped in a special fluid for a certain amount of time. The disinfectants used for this include e. g. preparations based on glutaraldehyde or succinic aldehyde. However, in practice immersion disinfection has a number of disadvantages 13: 1. The procedure cannot be validated. 2. The probe permanently attached to the device must be placed in a separate holder and disinfected for at least 15 minutes. This is impracticable in routine operations in a clinic, outpatient facility or practice with a high number of examinations. 3. After this disinfection method, the probe has to be thoroughly rinsed with potable or higher-quality water in order to remove remnants of allergenic or locally toxic substances. 4. Frequently examinations take place in small interior areas with poor ventilation, thus under some circumstances posing an inhalant-related health hazard. 5. The required virucidal effect is frequently not achieved within 15 minutes 13. Furthermore, extended probe contact with liquid disinfecting agents in the long run results in increased wear of the transducer head membrane.Therefore it was interesting to note that in 2009 a fully-automatic disinfection system for ultrasound probes was introduced to the market (Trophon(EPR). This product, developed in Australia, promised relatively rapid high-level disinfection (HLD). During this software-controlled, mechanical disinfection procedure, the entire ultrasound probe (transducer head and handle) is placed in a sealed disinfection chamber, then hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is

Model of a Piezoelectric Transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Goodenow, Debra

2004-01-01

It's difficult to control liquid and gas in propellant tanks in zero gravity. A possible a design would utilize acoustic liquid manipulation (ALM) technology which uses ultrasonic beams conducted through a liquid and solid media, to push gas bubbles in the liquid to desirable locations. We can propel and control the bubble with acoustic radiation pressure by aiming the acoustic waves on the bubble s surface. This allows us to design a so called smart tank in which the ALM devices transfer the gas to the outer wall of the tank and isolating the liquid in the center. Because the heat transfer rate of a gas is lower of that of the liquid it would substantially decrease boil off and provide of for a longer storage life. The ALM beam is composed of little wavelets which are individual waves that constructively interfere with each other to produce a single, combined acoustic wave front. This is accomplished by using a set of synchronized ultrasound transducers arranged in an array. A slight phase offset of these elements allows us to focus and steer the beam. The device that we are using to produce the acoustic beam is called the piezoelectric transducer. This device converts electrical energy to mechanical energy, which appears in the form of acoustic energy. Therefore the behavior of the device is dependent on both the mechanical characteristics, such as its density, cross-sectional area, and its electrical characteristics, such as, electric flux permittivity and coupling factor. These devices can also be set up in a number of modes which are determined by the way the piezoelectric device is arranged, and the shape of the transducer. For this application we are using the longitudinal or thickness mode for our operation. The transducer also vibrates in the lateral mode, and one of the goals of my project is to decrease the amount of energy lost to the lateral mode. To model the behavior of the transducers I will be using Pspice, electric circuit modeling tool, to

Ultrasound-based guidance of intensity-modulated radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fung, Albert Y.C.; Ayyangar, Komanduri M.; Djajaputra, David; Nehru, Ramasamy M.; Enke, Charles A.

2006-01-01

In ultrasound-guided intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) of prostate cancer, ultrasound imaging ascertains the anatomical position of patients during x-ray therapy delivery. The ultrasound transducers are made of piezoelectric ceramics. The same crystal is used for both ultrasound production and reception. Three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound devices capture and correlate series of 2-dimensional (2D) B-mode images. The transducers are often arranged in a convex array for focusing. Lower frequency reaches greater depth, but results in low resolution. For clear image, some gel is usually applied between the probe and the skin contact surface. For prostate positioning, axial and sagittal scans are performed, and the volume contours from computed tomography (CT) planning are superimposed on the ultrasound images obtained before radiation delivery at the linear accelerator. The planning volumes are then overlaid on the ultrasound images and adjusted until they match. The computer automatically deduces the offset necessary to move the patient so that the treatment area is in the correct location. The couch is translated as needed. The currently available commercial equipment can attain a positional accuracy of 1-2 mm. Commercial manufacturer designs differ in the detection of probe coordinates relative to the isocenter. Some use a position-sensing robotic arm, while others have infrared light-emitting diodes or pattern-recognition software with charge-couple-device cameras. Commissioning includes testing of image quality and positional accuracy. Ultrasound is mainly used in prostate positioning. Data for 7825 daily fractions of 234 prostate patients indicated average 3D inter-fractional displacement of about 7.8 mm. There was no perceivable trend of shift over time. Scatter plots showed slight prevalence toward superior-posterior directions. Uncertainties of ultrasound guidance included tissue inhomogeneities, speckle noise, probe pressure, and inter

Potential of coded excitation in medical ultrasound imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Misaridis, Athanasios; Gammelmark, Kim; Jørgensen, C. H.

2000-01-01

Improvement in SNR and/or penetration depth can be achieved in medical ultrasoundby using long coded waveforms, in a similar manner as in radars or sonars.However, the time-bandwidth product (TB) improvement, and thereby SNRimprovement is considerably lower in medical ultrasound, due...... codes have a larger bandwidth than the transducerin a typical medical ultrasound system can drive, a more careful code designhas been proven essential. Simulation results are also presented forcomparison.This paper presents an improved non-linear FM signal appropriatefor ultrasonic applications. The new...... coded waveform exhibits distinctfeatures, that make it very attractive in the implementation of codedultrasound systems. The range resolution that can be achieved is comparableto that of a conventional system, depending on the transducer's bandwidth andcan even be better for broad-band transducers...

Remote ultrasound palpation for robotic interventions using absolute elastography.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Caitlin; Baghani, Ali; Rohling, Robert; Salcudean, Septimiu

2012-01-01

Although robotic surgery has addressed many of the challenges presented by minimally invasive surgery, haptic feedback and the lack of knowledge of tissue stiffness is an unsolved problem. This paper presents a system for finding the absolute elastic properties of tissue using a freehand ultrasound scanning technique, which utilizes the da Vinci Surgical robot and a custom 2D ultrasound transducer for intraoperative use. An external exciter creates shear waves in the tissue, and a local frequency estimation method computes the shear modulus. Results are reported for both phantom and in vivo models. This system can be extended to any 6 degree-of-freedom tracking method and any 2D transducer to provide real-time absolute elastic properties of tissue.

Ultrasound imaging with a micromotor; Micromotor ni yoru choonpa imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oshiro, O.; Salimuzzaman, M.; Matani, A.; Chihara, K. [Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Nara (Japan); Asao, M. [Osaka National Hospital, Osaka (Japan)

1998-03-01

This paper describes a new ultrasound intravascular imaging system. In this system, an ultrasound probe consists of a micromotor, an ultrasound reflecting mirror attached with the micromotor and an ultrasound transducer. Ultrasound is scanned radially by a micromotor instead of a rotation transmitting wire and the rotation of the micromotor is performed and controlled by an external magnetic field. This ultrasound imaging system with a micromotor was applied to observe the inside of blood vessels through in vitro experiments. The preliminary results suggest that this system has the sufficient ability to define the blood vessel morphology and that the simple image processing enhances signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed image. 12 refs., 5 figs.

MRI-guided Therapeutic Ultrasound : In vitro Validation of a New MR Compatible, Phased Array, Contact Endorectal Ultrasound Transducer with Active Feedback Control of Temperature Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Salomir, Rares; Rata, Mihaela; Lafon, Cyril; Melodelima, David; Chapelon, Jean-Yves; Mathias, Adrien; Cotton, François; Bonmartin, Alain; Cathignol, Dominique

2006-05-01

Contact application of high intensity ultrasound was demonstrated to be suitable for thermal ablation of sectorial tumours of the digestive duct. Experimental validation of a new MR compatible ultrasonic device is described here, dedicated to the minimal invasive therapy of localized colorectal cancer. This is a cylindrical 1D 64-element phased array transducer of 14 mm diameter and 25 mm height (Imasonic, France) allowing electronic rotation of the acoustic beam. Operating frequency ranges from 3.5 to 4.0 MHz and up to 5 effective electrical watts per element are available. A plane wave is reconstructed by simultaneous excitation of eigth adjacent elements with an appropriate phase law. Driving electronics operates outside the Faraday cage of the scanner and provides fast switching capabilities. Excellent passive and active compatibility with the MRI data acquisition has been demonstrated. In addition, feasibility of active temperature control has been demonstrated based on real-time data export out of the MR scanner and a PID feedback algorithm. Further studies will address the in-vivo validation and the integration of a miniature NMR coil for increased SNR in the near field.

Noncontact modal analysis of a pipe organ reed using airborne ultrasound stimulated vibrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Thomas M.; Fatemi, Mostafa; Kinnick, Randall R.; Greenleaf, James F.

2004-05-01

The goal of this experiment was to excite and measure, in a noncontact manner, the vibrational modes of the reed from a reed organ pipe. To perform ultrasound stimulated excitation, two ultrasound beams in air of different frequencies were directed at the reed; the audio-range beat frequency between these ultrasound beams induced vibrations. The resulting vibrational deflection shapes were measured with a scanning vibrometer. The modes of any relatively small object can be studied in air using this technique. For a 36 mm by 7 mm clamped brass reed cantilever, displacements and velocites of 5 μ and 4 mm/s could be imparted at the fundamental frequency of 145 Hz. Using the same ultrasound transducer, excitation across the entire range of audio frequencies was obtained, which was not possible using audio excitation with a speaker. Since the beam was focused on the reed, ultrasound stimulated excitation eliminated background effects observed during mechanical shaker excitation, such as vibrations of clamps and supports. We will discuss the results obtained using single, dual, and confocal ultrasound transducers in AM and unmodulated CW modes, along with results obtained using a mechanical shaker and audio excitation using a speaker.

Transvaginal ultrasound during pregnancy: Perception and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

With the use of high‑resolution transducers, the transvaginal probe has proved to be particularly useful for finding the location and dating of early pregnancies when compared with transabdominal sonography ... Majority (410; 96.7%) had heard about ultrasound scanning, and 395 (93.2%) had undergone at least one type.

Evaluation of Air Coupled Ultrasound for Composite Aerospace Structure

Science.gov (United States)

Tat, H.; Georgeson, G.; Bossi, R.

2009-03-01

Non-contact air coupled ultrasound suffers from the high acoustic impedance mismatch characteristics of air to solid interfaces. Advances in transducer technology, particularly MEMS, have improved the acoustic impedance match at the transmission stage and the signal to noise at the reception stage. Comparisons of through transmission (TTU) scanning of laminate and honeycomb test samples using conventional piezoelectric air coupled transducers, new MEMS air coupled transducers, and standard water coupled inspections have been performed to assess the capability. An additional issue for air coupled UT inspection is the need for a lean implementation for both manufacturing and in-service operations. Concepts and applications utilizing magnetic coupling of transducers have been developed that allows air coupled inspection operations in compact low cost configurations.

A simple uniformity test for ultrasound phased arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudley, Nicholas J; Woolley, Darren J

2016-09-01

It is difficult to test phased array ultrasound transducers for non functioning elements. We aimed to modify a widely performed test to improve its ease and effectiveness for these arrays. A paperclip was slowly moved along the transducer array, with the scanner operating in M-mode, imaging at a fundamental frequency with automatic gain and grey scale adjustment disabled. Non-functioning elements are identified by a dark vertical line in the image. The test was repeated several times for each transducer, looking for consistency of results. 2 transducers, with faults already shown by electronic transducer testing, were used to validate the method. 23 transducers in clinical use were tested. The results of the modified test on the 2 faulty transducers agreed closely with electronic transducer testing results. The test indicated faults in 5 of the 23 transducers in clinical use: 3 with a single failed element and 2 with non-uniform sensitivity. 1 transducer with non-uniform sensitivity had undergone lens repair; the new lens was visibly non-uniform in thickness and further testing showed a reduction in depth of penetration and a loss of elevational focus in comparison with a new transducer. The modified test is capable of detecting non-functioning elements. Further work is required to provide a better understanding of more subtle faults. Copyright © 2016 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. All rights reserved.

Thin-film transducers for the detection and imaging of Brillouin oscillations in transmission on cultured cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pérez-Cota, F; Smith, R J; Clark, M; Moradi, E; Webb, K

2016-01-01

Mechanical imaging and characterisation of biological cells has been a subject of interest for the last twenty years. Ultrasonic imaging based on the scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) and mechanical probing have been extensively reported. Large acoustic attenuation at high frequencies and the use of conventional piezo-electric transducers limit the operational frequency of a SAM. This limitation results in lower resolution compared to an optical microscope. Direct mechanical probing in the form of applied stress by contacting probes causes stress to cells and exhibits poor depth resolution. More recently, laser ultrasound has been reported to detect ultrasound in the GHz range via Brillouin oscillations on biological cells. This technique offers a promising new high resolution acoustic cell imaging technique. In this work, we propose, design and apply a thin-film based opto-acoustic transducer for the detection in transmission of Brillouin oscillations on cells. The transducer is used to generate acoustic waves, protect the cells from laser radiation and enhance signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Experimental traces are presented in water films as well as images of the Brillouin frequency of phantom and fixed 3T3 fibroblast cells. (paper)

A 32 x 32 capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer array manufactured in standard CMOS.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemmerhirt, David F; Cheng, Xiaoyang; White, Robert; Rich, Collin A; Zhang, Man; Fowlkes, J Brian; Kripfgans, Oliver D

2012-07-01

As ultrasound imagers become increasingly portable and lower cost, breakthroughs in transducer technology will be needed to provide high-resolution, real-time 3-D imaging while maintaining the affordability needed for portable systems. This paper presents a 32 x 32 ultrasound array prototype, manufactured using a CMUT-in-CMOS approach whereby ultrasonic transducer elements and readout circuits are integrated on a single chip using a standard integrated circuit manufacturing process in a commercial CMOS foundry. Only blanket wet-etch and sealing steps are added to complete the MEMS devices after the CMOS process. This process typically yields better than 99% working elements per array, with less than ±1.5 dB variation in receive sensitivity among the 1024 individually addressable elements. The CMUT pulseecho frequency response is typically centered at 2.1 MHz with a -6 dB fractional bandwidth of 60%, and elements are arranged on a 250 μm hexagonal grid (less than half-wavelength pitch). Multiplexers and CMOS buffers within the array are used to make on-chip routing manageable, reduce the number of physical output leads, and drive the transducer cable. The array has been interfaced to a commercial imager as well as a set of custom transmit and receive electronics, and volumetric images of nylon fishing line targets have been produced.

Systematic evaluation of a secondary method for measuring diagnostic-level medical ultrasound transducer output power based on a large-area pyroelectric sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Zeqiri, B.; Žauhar, G.; Rajagopal, S.; Pounder, A.

2012-06-01

A systematic study of the application of a novel pyroelectric technique to the measurement of diagnostic-level medical ultrasound output power is described. The method exploits the pyroelectric properties of a 0.028 mm thick membrane of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), backed by an acoustic absorber whose ultrasonic absorption coefficient approaches 1000 dB cm-1 at 3 MHz. When exposed to an ultrasonic field, absorption of ultrasound adjacent to the PVDF-absorber interface results in heating and the generation of a pyroelectric output voltage across gold electrodes deposited on the membrane. For a sensor large enough to intercept the whole of the acoustic beam, the output voltage can be calibrated for the measurement of acoustic output power. A number of key performance properties of the method have been investigated. The technique is very sensitive, with a power to voltage conversion factor of typically 0.23 V W-1. The frequency response of a particular embodiment of the sensor in which acoustic power reflected at the absorber-PVDF interface is subsequently returned to the pyroelectric membrane to be absorbed, has been evaluated over the frequency range 1.5 MHz to 10 MHz. This has shown the frequency response to be flat to within ±4%, above 2.5 MHz. Below this frequency, the sensitivity falls by 20% at 1.5 MHz. Linearity of the technique has been demonstrated to within ±1.6% for applied acoustic power levels from 1 mW up to 120 mW. A number of other studies targeted at assessing the achievable measurement uncertainties are presented. These involve: the effects of soaking, the influence of the angle of incidence of the acoustic beam, measurement repeatability and sensitivity to transducer positioning. Additionally, over the range 20 °C to 30 °C, the rate of change in sensitivity with ambient temperature has been shown to be +0.5% °C-1. Implications of the work for the development of a sensitive, traceable, portable, secondary method of ultrasound output power

Intramuscular Heating Characteristics of Multihour Low-Intensity Therapeutic Ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Rigby, Justin H; Taggart, Rebecca M; Stratton, Kelly L; Lewis, George K; Draper, David O

2015-11-01

The heating characteristics of a stationary device delivering sustained acoustic medicine with low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound (LITUS) are unknown. To measure intramuscular (IM) heating produced by a LITUS device developed for long-duration treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. Controlled laboratory study. University research laboratory. A total of 26 healthy volunteers (16 men, 10 women; age = 23.0 ± 2.1 years, height = 1.74 ± 0.09 m, mass = 73.48 ± 14.65 kg). Participants were assigned randomly to receive active (n = 20) or placebo (n = 6) LITUS at a frequency of 3 MHz and an energy intensity of 0.132 W/cm(2) continuously for 3 hours with a single transducer or dual transducers on the triceps surae muscle. We measured IM temperature using thermocouples inserted at 1.5- and 3-cm depths into muscle. Temperatures were recorded throughout treatment and 30 minutes posttreatment. We used 2-sample t tests to determine the heating curve of the LITUS treatment and differences in final temperatures between depth and number of transducers. A mild IM temperature increase of 1 °C was reached 10 ± 5 minutes into the treatment, and a more vigorous temperature increase of 4 °C was reached 80 ± 10 minutes into the treatment. The maximal steady-state IM temperatures produced during the final 60 minutes of treatment at the 1.5-cm depth were 4.42 °C ± 0.08 °C and 3.92 °C ± 0.06 °C using 1 and 2 transducers, respectively. At the 3.0-cm depth, the maximal steady-state IM temperatures during the final 60 minutes of treatment were 3.05 °C ± 0.09 °C and 3.17 °C ± 0.05 °C using 1 and 2 transducers, respectively. We observed a difference between the temperatures measured at each depth (t78 = -2.45, P = .02), but the number of transducers used to generate heating was not different (t78 = 1.79, P = .08). The LITUS device elicited tissue heating equivalent to traditional ultrasound but could be sustained for multiple hours. It is a safe and effective alternative tool

A top-crossover-to-bottom addressed segmented annular array using piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Joontaek; Lee, Wonjun; Kang, Woojin; Hong, Hyeryung; Yuen Song, Hi; Oh, Inn-yeal; Park, Chul Soon; Choi, Hongsoo

2015-11-01

We design and fabricate segmented annular arrays (SAAs) using piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs) to demonstrate the feasibility of acoustic focusing of ultrasound. The fabricated SAAs have 25 concentric top-electrode signal lines and eight bottom-electrodes for grounding to enable electronic steering of selectively grouped ultrasonic transducers from 2393 pMUT elements. Each element in the array is connected by top-crossover-to-bottom metal bridges, which reduce the parasitic capacitance. Circular-shaped pMUT elements, 120 μm in diameter, are fabricated using 1 μm-thick sol-gel lead zirconate titanate on a silicon wafer. To utilize the high-density pMUT array, a deep reactive ion etching process is used for anisotropic silicon etching to realize the transducer membranes. The resonant frequency and effective coupling coefficient of the elements, measured with an impedance analyzer, yields 1.517 MHz and 1.29%, respectively, in air. The SAAs using pMUTs are packaged on a printed circuit board and coated with parylene C for acoustic intensity measurements in water. The ultrasound generated by each segmented array is focused on a selected point in space. When a 5 Vpp, 1.5 MHz square wave is applied, the maximum spatial peak temporal average intensity ({{I}\\text{spta}} ) is found to be 79 mW cm-2 5 mm from the SAAs’ surface without beamforming. The beam widths (-3 dB) of ultrasonic radiation patterns in the elevation and azimuth directions are recorded as 3 and 3.4 mm, respectively. The results successfully show the feasibility of focusing ultrasound on a small area with SAAs using pMUTs.

PMN-PT single crystal, high-frequency ultrasonic needle transducers for pulsed-wave Doppler application.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Qifa; Xu, Xiaochen; Gottlieb, Emanuel J; Sun, Lei; Cannata, Jonathan M; Ameri, Hossein; Humayun, Mark S; Han, Pengdi; Shung, K Kirk

2007-03-01

High-frequency needle ultrasound transducers with an aperture size of 0.4 mm were fabricated using lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-33% PT) as the active piezoelectric material. The active element was bonded to a conductive silver particle matching layer and a conductive epoxy backing through direct contact curing. An outer matching layer of parylene was formed by vapor deposition. The active element was housed within a polyimide tube and a 20-gauge needle housing. The magnitude and phase of the electrical impedance of the transducer were 47 omega and -38 degrees, respectively. The measured center frequency and -6 dB fractional bandwidth of the PMN-PT needle transducer were 44 MHz and 45%, respectively. The two-way insertion loss was approximately 15 dB. In vivo high-frequency, pulsed-wave Doppler patterns of blood flow in the posterior portion and in vitro ultrasonic backscatter microscope (UBM) images of the rabbit eye were obtained with the 44-MHz needle transducer.

Observation of a cavitation cloud in tissue using correlation between ultrafast ultrasound images.

Science.gov (United States)

Prieur, Fabrice; Zorgani, Ali; Catheline, Stefan; Souchon, Rémi; Mestas, Jean-Louis; Lafond, Maxime; Lafon, Cyril

2015-07-01

The local application of ultrasound is known to improve drug intake by tumors. Cavitating bubbles are one of the contributing effects. A setup in which two ultrasound transducers are placed confocally is used to generate cavitation in ex vivo tissue. As the transducers emit a series of short excitation bursts, the evolution of the cavitation activity is monitored using an ultrafast ultrasound imaging system. The frame rate of the system is several thousands of images per second, which provides several tens of images between consecutive excitation bursts. Using the correlation between consecutive images for speckle tracking, a decorrelation of the imaging signal appears due to the creation, fast movement, and dissolution of the bubbles in the cavitation cloud. By analyzing this area of decorrelation, the cavitation cloud can be localized and the spatial extent of the cavitation activity characterized.

Breast ultrasound tomography with total-variation regularization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Lianjie [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Li, Cuiping [KARMANOS CANCER INSTIT.; Duric, Neb [KARMANOS CANCER INSTIT

2009-01-01

Breast ultrasound tomography is a rapidly developing imaging modality that has the potential to impact breast cancer screening and diagnosis. A new ultrasound breast imaging device (CURE) with a ring array of transducers has been designed and built at Karmanos Cancer Institute, which acquires both reflection and transmission ultrasound signals. To extract the sound-speed information from the breast data acquired by CURE, we have developed an iterative sound-speed image reconstruction algorithm for breast ultrasound transmission tomography based on total-variation (TV) minimization. We investigate applicability of the TV tomography algorithm using in vivo ultrasound breast data from 61 patients, and compare the results with those obtained using the Tikhonov regularization method. We demonstrate that, compared to the Tikhonov regularization scheme, the TV regularization method significantly improves image quality, resulting in sound-speed tomography images with sharp (preserved) edges of abnormalities and few artifacts.

Hybrid Photoacoustic/Ultrasound Tomograph for Real-Time Finger Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Oeri, Milan; Bost, Wolfgang; Sénégond, Nicolas; Tretbar, Steffen; Fournelle, Marc

2017-10-01

We report a target-enclosing, hybrid tomograph with a total of 768 elements based on capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer technology and providing fast, high-resolution 2-D/3-D photoacoustic and ultrasound tomography tailored to finger imaging. A freely programmable ultrasound beamforming platform sampling data at 80 MHz was developed to realize plane wave transmission under multiple angles. A multiplexing unit enables the connection and control of a large number of elements. Fast image reconstruction is provided by GPU processing. The tomograph is composed of four independent and fully automated movable arc-shaped transducers, allowing imaging of all three finger joints. The system benefits from photoacoustics, yielding high optical contrast and enabling visualization of finger vascularization, and ultrasound provides morphologic information on joints and surrounding tissue. A diode-pumped, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and an optical parametric oscillator are used to broaden the spectrum of emitted wavelengths to provide multispectral imaging. Custom-made optical fiber bundles enable illumination of the region of interest in the plane of acoustic detection. Precision in positioning of the probe in motion is ensured by use of a motor-driven guide slide. The current position of the probe is encoded by the stage and used to relate ultrasound and photoacoustic signals to the corresponding region of interest of the suspicious finger joint. The system is characterized in phantoms and a healthy human finger in vivo. The results obtained promise to provide new opportunities in finger diagnostics and establish photoacoustic/ultrasound-tomography in medical routine. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Computer model for harmonic ultrasound imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Y; Zagzebski, J A

2000-01-01

Harmonic ultrasound imaging has received great attention from ultrasound scanner manufacturers and researchers. In this paper, we present a computer model that can generate realistic harmonic images. In this model, the incident ultrasound is modeled after the "KZK" equation, and the echo signal is modeled using linear propagation theory because the echo signal is much weaker than the incident pulse. Both time domain and frequency domain numerical solutions to the "KZK" equation were studied. Realistic harmonic images of spherical lesion phantoms were generated for scans by a circular transducer. This model can be a very useful tool for studying the harmonic buildup and dissipation processes in a nonlinear medium, and it can be used to investigate a wide variety of topics related to B-mode harmonic imaging.

Non-linear Ultrasound Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang

.3% relative to the measurement from a 1 inch diameter transducer. A preliminary study for harmonic imaging using synthetic aperture sequential beamforming (SASB) has been demonstrated. A wire phantom underwater measurement is made by an experimental synthetic aperture real-time ultrasound scanner (SARUS......) with a linear array transducer. The second harmonic imaging is obtained by a pulse inversion technique. The received data is beamformed by the SASB using a Beamformation Toolbox. In the measurements the lateral resolution at -6 dB is improved by 66% compared to the conventional imaging algorithm. There is also...... a 35% improvement for the lateral resolution at -6 dB compared with the sole harmonic imaging and a 46% improvement compared with merely using the SASB....

Ultrasound generation with high power and coil only EMAT concepts.

Science.gov (United States)

Rueter, Dirk; Morgenstern, Tino

2014-12-01

Electro-magnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) are intended as non-contact and non-destructive ultrasound transducers for metallic material. The transmitted intensities from EMATS are modest, particularly at notable lift off distances. Some time ago a concept for a "coil only EMAT" was presented, without static magnetic field. In this contribution, such compact "coil only EMATs" with effective areas of 1-5cm(2) were driven to excessive power levels at MHz frequencies, using pulsed power technologies. RF induction currents of 10kA and tens of Megawatts are applied. With increasing power the electroacoustic conversion efficiency also increases. The total effect is of second order or quadratic, therefore non-linear and progressive, and yields strong ultrasound signals up to kW/cm(2) at MHz frequencies in the metal. Even at considerable lift off distances (cm) the ultrasound can be readily detected. Test materials are aluminum, ferromagnetic steel and stainless steel (non-ferromagnetic). Thereby, most metal types are represented. The technique is compared experimentally with other non-contact methods: laser pulse induced ultrasound and spark induced ultrasound, both damaging to the test object's surface. At small lift off distances, the intensity from this EMAT concept clearly outperforms the laser pulses or heavy spark impacts. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automatic Segmentation of Vessels in In-Vivo Ultrasound Scans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tamimi-Sarnikowski, Philip; Brink-Kjær, Andreas; Moshavegh, Ramin

2017-01-01

presents a fully automatic segmentation algorithm, for robustly segmenting the vessel lumen in longitudinal B-mode ultrasound images. The automatic segmentation is performed using a combination of B-mode and power Doppler images. The proposed algorithm includes a series of preprocessing steps, and performs......Ultrasound has become highly popular to monitor atherosclerosis, by scanning the carotid artery. The screening involves measuring the thickness of the vessel wall and diameter of the lumen. An automatic segmentation of the vessel lumen, can enable the determination of lumen diameter. This paper...... a vessel segmentation by use of the marker-controlled watershed transform. The ultrasound images used in the study were acquired using the bk3000 ultrasound scanner (BK Ultrasound, Herlev, Denmark) with two transducers ”8L2 Linear” and ”10L2w Wide Linear” (BK Ultrasound, Herlev, Denmark). The algorithm...

Simulation of Second Harmonic Ultrasound Fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Henrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2010-01-01

A non-linear ultrasound imaging simulation software should be capable of simulating the non-linear fields for any kind of transducer, focusing, apodization, and attenuation. At present, a major issue is the overlong simulation time of the non-linear software. An Angular Spectrum Approach (ASA......) using a quasi-linear approximation for solving the Westervelt equation can simulate the second harmonic pressure at any distance. Therefore, it shortens the execution time compared with the operator splitting method. The purpose of this paper is to implement the monochromatic solution for the second...... harmonic component based on ASA and Field II, and to compare with results from the simulation program Abersim. A linear array transducer with a center frequency of 4 MHz and 64 active elements is used as the transmitting source. The initial plane is 5 mm away from the transducer surface...

Annular phased array transducer for preclinical testing of anti-cancer drug efficacy on small animals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kujawska, Tamara; Secomski, Wojciech; Byra, Michał; Postema, Michiel; Nowicki, Andrzej

2017-04-01

A technique using pulsed High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) to destroy deep-seated solid tumors is a promising noninvasive therapeutic approach. A main purpose of this study was to design and test a HIFU transducer suitable for preclinical studies of efficacy of tested, anti-cancer drugs, activated by HIFU beams, in the treatment of a variety of solid tumors implanted to various organs of small animals at the depth of the order of 1-2cm under the skin. To allow focusing of the beam, generated by such transducer, within treated tissue at different depths, a spherical, 2-MHz, 29-mm diameter annular phased array transducer was designed and built. To prove its potential for preclinical studies on small animals, multiple thermal lesions were induced in a pork loin ex vivo by heating beams of the same: 6W, or 12W, or 18W acoustic power and 25mm, 30mm, and 35mm focal lengths. Time delay for each annulus was controlled electronically to provide beam focusing within tissue at the depths of 10mm, 15mm, and 20mm. The exposure time required to induce local necrosis was determined at different depths using thermocouples. Location and extent of thermal lesions determined from numerical simulations were compared with those measured using ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging techniques and verified by a digital caliper after cutting the tested tissue samples. Quantitative analysis of the results showed that the location and extent of necrotic lesions on the magnetic resonance images are consistent with those predicted numerically and measured by caliper. The edges of lesions were clearly outlined although on ultrasound images they were fuzzy. This allows to conclude that the use of the transducer designed offers an effective noninvasive tool not only to induce local necrotic lesions within treated tissue without damaging the surrounding tissue structures but also to test various chemotherapeutics activated by the HIFU beams in preclinical studies on small animals

Laser generated ultrasound sources using polymer nanocomposites for high frequency metrology

KAUST Repository

Rajagopal, Srinath; Sainsbury, Toby; Treeby, Bradley; Cox, Ben

2017-01-01

Accurate characterisation of ultrasound fields generated by diagnostic and therapeutic transducers is critical for patient safety. This requires hydrophones calibrated to a traceable standard. The existing implementation of the primary standard

Characterization of Breast Masses Using a New Method of Ultrasound Contrast Agent Imaging in 3D Mapping of Vascular Anomalies

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

LeCarpentier, Gerald

2002-01-01

.... The purpose of this work is to develop an innovative dual-transducer method to control the destruction and imaging of ultrasound contrast during 3D ultrasound scanning of suspicious breast masses...

SU-G-JeP3-03: Effect of Robot Pose On Beam Blocking for Ultrasound Guided SBRT of the Prostate

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gerlach, S; Schlaefer, A [Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg (Germany); Kuhlemann, I; Ernst, F [Universitaet zu Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany); Fuerweger, C [European Cyberknife Center Munich, Munich (Germany)

2016-06-15

Purpose: Ultrasound presents a fast, volumetric image modality for real-time tracking of abdominal organ motion. How-ever, ultrasound transducer placement during radiation therapy is challenging. Recently, approaches using robotic arms for intra-treatment ultrasound imaging have been proposed. Good and reliable imaging requires placing the transducer close to the PTV. We studied the effect of a seven degrees of freedom robot on the fea-sible beam directions. Methods: For five CyberKnife prostate treatment plans we established viewports for the transducer, i.e., points on the patient surface with a soft tissue view towards the PTV. Choosing a feasible transducer pose and using the kinematic redundancy of the KUKA LBR iiwa robot, we considered three robot poses. Poses 1 to 3 had the elbow point anterior, superior, and inferior, respectively. For each pose and each beam starting point, the pro-jections of robot and PTV were computed. We added a 20 mm margin accounting for organ / beam motion. The number of nodes for which the PTV was partially of fully blocked were established. Moreover, the cumula-tive overlap for each of the poses and the minimum overlap over all poses were computed. Results: The fully and partially blocked nodes ranged from 12% to 20% and 13% to 27%, respectively. Typically, pose 3 caused the fewest blocked nodes. The cumulative overlap ranged from 19% to 29%. Taking the minimum overlap, i.e., considering moving the robot’s elbow while maintaining the transducer pose, the cumulative over-lap was reduced to 16% to 18% and was 3% to 6% lower than for the best individual pose. Conclusion: Our results indicate that it is possible to identify feasible ultrasound transducer poses and to use the kinematic redundancy of a 7 DOF robot to minimize the impact of the imaging subsystem on the feasible beam directions for ultrasound guided and motion compensated SBRT. Research partially funded by DFG grants ER 817/1-1 and SCHL 1844/3-1.

SU-G-JeP3-03: Effect of Robot Pose On Beam Blocking for Ultrasound Guided SBRT of the Prostate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerlach, S; Schlaefer, A; Kuhlemann, I; Ernst, F; Fuerweger, C

2016-01-01

Purpose: Ultrasound presents a fast, volumetric image modality for real-time tracking of abdominal organ motion. How-ever, ultrasound transducer placement during radiation therapy is challenging. Recently, approaches using robotic arms for intra-treatment ultrasound imaging have been proposed. Good and reliable imaging requires placing the transducer close to the PTV. We studied the effect of a seven degrees of freedom robot on the fea-sible beam directions. Methods: For five CyberKnife prostate treatment plans we established viewports for the transducer, i.e., points on the patient surface with a soft tissue view towards the PTV. Choosing a feasible transducer pose and using the kinematic redundancy of the KUKA LBR iiwa robot, we considered three robot poses. Poses 1 to 3 had the elbow point anterior, superior, and inferior, respectively. For each pose and each beam starting point, the pro-jections of robot and PTV were computed. We added a 20 mm margin accounting for organ / beam motion. The number of nodes for which the PTV was partially of fully blocked were established. Moreover, the cumula-tive overlap for each of the poses and the minimum overlap over all poses were computed. Results: The fully and partially blocked nodes ranged from 12% to 20% and 13% to 27%, respectively. Typically, pose 3 caused the fewest blocked nodes. The cumulative overlap ranged from 19% to 29%. Taking the minimum overlap, i.e., considering moving the robot’s elbow while maintaining the transducer pose, the cumulative over-lap was reduced to 16% to 18% and was 3% to 6% lower than for the best individual pose. Conclusion: Our results indicate that it is possible to identify feasible ultrasound transducer poses and to use the kinematic redundancy of a 7 DOF robot to minimize the impact of the imaging subsystem on the feasible beam directions for ultrasound guided and motion compensated SBRT. Research partially funded by DFG grants ER 817/1-1 and SCHL 1844/3-1.

Laser-nucleated acoustic cavitation in focused ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerold, Bjoern; Kotopoulis, Spiros; McDougall, Craig; McGloin, David; Postema, Michiel; Prentice, Paul

2011-04-01

Acoustic cavitation can occur in therapeutic applications of high-amplitude focused ultrasound. Studying acoustic cavitation has been challenging, because the onset of nucleation is unpredictable. We hypothesized that acoustic cavitation can be forced to occur at a specific location using a laser to nucleate a microcavity in a pre-established ultrasound field. In this paper we describe a scientific instrument that is dedicated to this outcome, combining a focused ultrasound transducer with a pulsed laser. We present high-speed photographic observations of laser-induced cavitation and laser-nucleated acoustic cavitation, at frame rates of 0.5×10(6) frames per second, from laser pulses of energy above and below the optical breakdown threshold, respectively. Acoustic recordings demonstrated inertial cavitation can be controllably introduced to the ultrasound focus. This technique will contribute to the understanding of cavitation evolution in focused ultrasound including for potential therapeutic applications. © 2011 American Institute of Physics

ultrasound reflecting the morphological properties in soft tissue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lorentzen, Torben; Larsen, Torben; Court-Payen, Michel

2014-01-01

Ultrasound (US) is an image modality providing the examiner with real-time images which reflect the morphological properties in soft tissue. Different types of transducers are used for different kind of exams. US is cheap, fast, and safe. US is widely used in abdominal imaging including obstetrics...

An overview of the dynamic calibration of piezoelectric pressure transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Theodoro, F. R. F.; Reis, M. L. C. C.; d’ Souto, C.

2018-03-01

Dynamic calibration is a research area that is still under development and is of great interest to aerospace and automotive industries. This study discusses some concepts regarding dynamic measurements of pressure quantities and presents an overview of dynamic calibration of pressure transducers. Studies conducted by the Institute of Aeronautics and Space focusing on research regarding piezoelectric pressure transducer calibration in shock tube are presented. We employed the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty and a Monte Carlo Method in the methodology. The results show that both device and methodology employed are adequate to calibrate the piezoelectric sensor.

Acoustic bubble sorting for ultrasound contrast agent enrichment.

Science.gov (United States)

Segers, Tim; Versluis, Michel

2014-05-21

An ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) suspension contains encapsulated microbubbles with a wide size distribution, with radii ranging from 1 to 10 μm. Medical transducers typically operate at a single frequency, therefore only a small selection of bubbles will resonate to the driving ultrasound pulse. Thus, the sensitivity can be improved by narrowing down the size distribution. Here, we present a simple lab-on-a-chip method to sort the population of microbubbles on-chip using a traveling ultrasound wave. First, we explore the physical parameter space of acoustic bubble sorting using well-defined bubble sizes formed in a flow-focusing device, then we demonstrate successful acoustic sorting of a commercial UCA. This novel sorting strategy may lead to an overall improvement of the sensitivity of contrast ultrasound by more than 10 dB.

Real-time ultrasound-guided spinal anaesthesia: a prospective observational study of a new approach.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Conroy, P H

2013-01-01

Identification of the subarachnoid space has traditionally been achieved by either a blind landmark-guided approach or using prepuncture ultrasound assistance. To assess the feasibility of performing spinal anaesthesia under real-time ultrasound guidance in routine clinical practice we conducted a single center prospective observational study among patients undergoing lower limb orthopaedic surgery. A spinal needle was inserted unassisted within the ultrasound transducer imaging plane using a paramedian approach (i.e., the operator held the transducer in one hand and the spinal needle in the other). The primary outcome measure was the success rate of CSF acquisition under real-time ultrasound guidance with CSF being located in 97 out of 100 consecutive patients within median three needle passes (IQR 1-6). CSF was not acquired in three patients. Subsequent attempts combining landmark palpation and pre-puncture ultrasound scanning resulted in successful spinal anaesthesia in two of these patients with the third patient requiring general anaesthesia. Median time from spinal needle insertion until intrathecal injection completion was 1.2 minutes (IQR 0.83-4.1) demonstrating the feasibility of this technique in routine clinical practice.

Modeling piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers for physiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iglesias, E.; Frutos, J. de; Montero de Espinosa, F.

2015-01-01

Applications of ultrasound are well known in medical and aesthetic skin and subcutaneous fatty tissue mobilization treatments. The basic transducer used consists of a piezoelectric disk adhered to a metal delay line in capsule shape. The capsule design is critical since the two bonded elements have vibration modes which can cause very inefficient designs and vibration distributions very irregular if they are not properly studied and utilized. This must be known to avoid distributions of heat and sound pressure that could be ineffective or harmful. In this paper, using Finite Element Method and laser interferometric vibrational analysis, it has reached a piston-type solution that allows properly implement sound pressure vibration dose. (Author)

Chest wall – underappreciated structure in sonography. Part I: Examination methodology and ultrasound anatomy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej Smereczyński

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Chest wall ultrasound has been awarded little interest in the literature, with chest wall anatomy described only in limited extent. The objective of this study has been to discuss the methodology of chest wall ultrasound and the sonographic anatomy of the region to facilitate professional evaluation of this complex structure. The primarily used transducer is a 7–12 MHz linear one. A 3–5 MHz convex (curvilinear transducer may also be helpful, especially in obese and very muscular patients. Doppler and panoramic imaging options are essential. The indications for chest wall ultrasound include localized pain or lesions found or suspected on imaging with other modalities (conventional radiography, CT, MR or scintigraphy. The investigated pathological condition should be scanned in at least two planes. Sometimes, evaluation during deep breathing permits identification of pathological mobility (e.g. in rib or sternum fractures, slipping rib syndrome. Several structures, closely associated with each other, need to be considered in the evaluation of the chest wall. The skin, which forms a hyperechoic covering, requires a high frequency transducer (20–45 MHz. The subcutaneous fat is characterized by clusters of hypoechoic lobules. Chest muscles have a very complex structure, but their appearance on ultrasound does not differ from the images of muscles located in other anatomical regions. As far as cartilaginous and bony structures of the chest are concerned, the differences in the anatomy of the ribs, sternum, scapula and sternoclavicular joints have been discussed. The rich vascular network which is only fragmentarily accessible for ultrasound assessment has been briefly discussed. A comprehensive evaluation of the chest wall should include the axillary, supraclavicular, apical and parasternal lymph nodes. Their examination requires the use of elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound.

Imaging of implant needles for real-time HDR-brachytherapy prostate treatment using biplane ultrasound transducers.

Science.gov (United States)

Siebert, Frank-André; Hirt, Markus; Niehoff, Peter; Kovács, György

2009-08-01

Ultrasound imaging is becoming increasingly important in prostate brachytherapy. In high-dose-rate (HDR) real-time planning procedures the definition of the implant needles is often performed by transrectal ultrasound. This article describes absolute measurements of the visibility and accuracy of manual detection of implant needle tips and compares measurement results of different biplane ultrasound systems in transversal and longitudinal (i.e., sagittal) ultrasound modes. To obtain a fixed coordinate system and stable conditions the measurements were carried out in a water tank using a dedicated marker system. Needles were manually placed in the phantom until the observer decided by the real-time ultrasound image that the zero position was reached. A comparison of three different ultrasound systems yielded an offset between 0.8 and 3.1 mm for manual detection of the needle tip in ultrasound images by one observer. The direction of the offset was discovered to be in the proximal direction, i.e., the actual needle position was located more distally compared to the ultrasound-based definition. In the second part of the study, the ultrasound anisotropy of trocar implant needles is reported. It was shown that the integrated optical density in a region of interest around the needle tip changes with needle rotation. Three peaks were observed with a phase angle of 120 degrees. Peaks appear not only in transversal but also in longitudinal ultrasound images, with a phase shift of 60 degrees. The third section of this study shows results of observer dependent influences on needle tip detection in sagittal ultrasound images considering needle rotation. These experiments were carried out using the marker system in a water tank. The needle tip was placed exactly at the position z=0 mm. It was found that different users tend to differently interpret the same ultrasound images. The needle tip was manually detected five times in the ultrasound images by three experienced observers

Studies of nonlinear ultrasound propagation: safety considerations in the use of ultrasound for medical diagnosis - nonlinear propagation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egerton, B.; Barnett, S.; Vella, G.

1994-01-01

Diagnostic ultrasound is an established imaging modality without any documented harmful effects. New developments such as pulsed Doppler and intracavity investigations may result in increases in ultrasound exposures which could cause harm. Thermal mechanisms and cavitation may become relevant sources of bioeffects. The preliminary study described here investigates the distribution and amplitude of harmonics generated through nonlinear propagation of ultrasound in water. Knowledge of harmonic attenuation will help predict sites of enhanced heating and enable accurate modelling of clinical situations. This presentation is concerned with thermal safety guidelines, their relationship to a typical ultrasound beam profile for a single, medium focussed, transducer operating in water and possible sites of enhanced heating due to nonlinear propagation effects. Measurements were made of the amplitudes of the harmonics generated by the nonlinear propagation of ultrasound in water. The amplitudes of the harmonics were detected up to frequencies of 35 MHz and displayed using Fast Fourier Transform facilities within the oscilloscope. The nonlinearity parameter of the ultrasonic waveforms has been identified as an important factor in thermal effects of ultrasound interactions. The appearance of nonlinear distortion is shown to be dependant on the peak compressional pressure and distance from the ultrasound source. 20 refs., 2 figs

Realistic deformable 3D numeric phantom for transcutaneous ultrasound

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cardoso, Fernando Mitsuyama; Moraes, Matheus Cardoso; Furuie, Sergio Shiguemi, E-mail: fernando.okara@gmail.com [Universidade de Sao Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Escola de Engenharia

2017-01-15

Introduction: Numerical phantoms are important tools to design, calibrate and evaluate several methods in various image-processing applications, such as echocardiography and mammography. We present a framework for creating ultrasound numerical deformable phantoms based on Finite Element Method (FEM), Linear Isomorphism and Field II. The proposed method considers that the scatterers map is a property of the tissue; therefore, the scatterers should move according to the tissue strain. Methods: First, a volume representing the target tissue is loaded. Second, parameter values, such as Young's Modulus, scatterers density, attenuation and scattering amplitudes are inserted for each different regions of the phantom. Then, other parameters related to the ultrasound equipment, such as ultrasound frequency and number of transducer elements, are also defined in order to perform the ultrasound acquisition using Field II. Third, the size and position of the transducer and the pressures that are applied against the tissue are defined. Subsequently, FEM is executed and deformation is computed. Next, 3D linear isomorphism is performed to displace the scatterers according to the deformation. Finally, Field II is carried out to generate the non-deformed and deformed ultrasound data. Results: The framework is evaluated by comparing strain values obtained the numerical simulation and from the physical phantom from CIRS. The mean difference between both phantoms is lesser than 10%. Conclusion: The acoustic and deformation outcomes are similar to those obtained using a physical phantom. This framework led to a tool, which is available online and free of charges for educational and research purposes. (author)

Silicon photonic micro-ring resonators to sense strain and ultrasound

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Westerveld, W.J.

2014-01-01

We demonstrated that photonic micro-ring resonators can be used in micro-machined ultrasound microphones. This might cause a breakthrough in array transducers for ultrasonography; first because optical multiplexing allows array interrogation via one optical fiber and second because the

Damage detection in concrete structures with smart piezoceramic transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Naidu, Akshay S. K.; Bhalla, Suresh

2003-10-01

Detection of damages and progressive deterioration in structures is a critical issue. Visual inspections are tedious and unreliable. Incipient damages are often not discernible by low frequency dynamic response and other NDE techniques. Smart piezoelectric ceramic (PZT) transducers are emerging as an effective alternative in health monitoring of structures. The electro-mechanical impedance method employs the self-actuating and sensing characteristics of the PZT, without having to use actuators and sensors separately. When excited by an ac source, the PZT transducers bonded to the host structure activates the higher modes of vibration locally. Changes in the admittance response of the transducer serves as an indicator of damage around the transducer. In this paper, the effectiveness of PZT transducers for characterizing damages in concrete, in terms of the damage extent and location, is experimentally examined. The root mean square deviation (RMSD) index, adopted to quantify the changes in the admittance signatures, correlates with the damage extent. The damages on the surface that is not mounted by the PZT are also discernible. An array of transducers proves effective in detecting the damaged zone. The progressive incipient crack can be detected much before it actually becomes visible to the naked eye.

Dynamic Mode Tuning of Ultrasonic Guided Wave Using an Array Transducer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Young H.; Song, Sung J.; Park, Joon S.; Kim, Jae H.; Eom, Heung S.

2005-01-01

Ultrasonic guided waves have been widely employed for long range inspection of structures such as plates, rods and pipes. There are numerous modes with different wave velocities, and the appropriate mode selection is one of key techniques in the application of guided waves. In the present work, phase tuning by an array transducer was applied to generate ultrasonic guided waves. For this purpose, 8-channel ultrasonic pulser/receiver and their controller which enables sequential activation of each channels with given time delay were developed. Eight transducers were fabricated in order to generate guided waves by using an array transducer. The selective tuning of wave mode can be achieved by changing the interval between elements of an array transducer

Gray scale and Doppler ultrasound in placenta accreta: Optimization of ultrasound signs

OpenAIRE

Mohamed Shawky; Essam AbouBieh; Alaa Masood

2016-01-01

Aim of work: To optimize ultrasound and Doppler signs in placenta accreta, and to clarify sensitivity and specificity. Patients & methods: This study included 50 pregnant women. The examinations were done in private center from January 2013 to November 2013. Patients have anterior low lying placenta or anterior placenta previa with history of previous CS. US was done using curvilinear or endovaginal transducer at frequency 3–5 MHz and 3–9 MHz. Results: This study included 50 pregnants w...

SU-G-JeP1-07: Development of a Programmable Motion Testbed for the Validation of Ultrasound Tracking Algorithms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shepard, A; Matrosic, C; Zagzebski, J; Bednarz, B [University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To develop an advanced testbed that combines a 3D motion stage and ultrasound phantom to optimize and validate 2D and 3D tracking algorithms for real-time motion management during radiation therapy. Methods: A Siemens S2000 Ultrasound scanner utilizing a 9L4 transducer was coupled with the Washington University 4D Phantom to simulate patient motion. The transducer was securely fastened to the 3D stage and positioned to image three cylinders of varying contrast in a Gammex 404GS LE phantom. The transducer was placed within a water bath above the phantom in order to maintain sufficient coupling for the entire range of simulated motion. A programmed motion sequence was used to move the transducer during image acquisition and a cine video was acquired for one minute to allow for long sequence tracking. Images were analyzed using a normalized cross-correlation block matching tracking algorithm and compared to the known motion of the transducer relative to the phantom. Results: The setup produced stable ultrasound motion traces consistent with those programmed into the 3D motion stage. The acquired ultrasound images showed minimal artifacts and an image quality that was more than suitable for tracking algorithm verification. Comparisons of a block matching tracking algorithm with the known motion trace for the three features resulted in an average tracking error of 0.59 mm. Conclusion: The high accuracy and programmability of the 4D phantom allows for the acquisition of ultrasound motion sequences that are highly customizable; allowing for focused analysis of some common pitfalls of tracking algorithms such as partial feature occlusion or feature disappearance, among others. The design can easily be modified to adapt to any probe such that the process can be extended to 3D acquisition. Further development of an anatomy specific phantom better resembling true anatomical landmarks could lead to an even more robust validation. This work is partially funded by NIH

SU-G-JeP1-07: Development of a Programmable Motion Testbed for the Validation of Ultrasound Tracking Algorithms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, A; Matrosic, C; Zagzebski, J; Bednarz, B

2016-01-01

Purpose: To develop an advanced testbed that combines a 3D motion stage and ultrasound phantom to optimize and validate 2D and 3D tracking algorithms for real-time motion management during radiation therapy. Methods: A Siemens S2000 Ultrasound scanner utilizing a 9L4 transducer was coupled with the Washington University 4D Phantom to simulate patient motion. The transducer was securely fastened to the 3D stage and positioned to image three cylinders of varying contrast in a Gammex 404GS LE phantom. The transducer was placed within a water bath above the phantom in order to maintain sufficient coupling for the entire range of simulated motion. A programmed motion sequence was used to move the transducer during image acquisition and a cine video was acquired for one minute to allow for long sequence tracking. Images were analyzed using a normalized cross-correlation block matching tracking algorithm and compared to the known motion of the transducer relative to the phantom. Results: The setup produced stable ultrasound motion traces consistent with those programmed into the 3D motion stage. The acquired ultrasound images showed minimal artifacts and an image quality that was more than suitable for tracking algorithm verification. Comparisons of a block matching tracking algorithm with the known motion trace for the three features resulted in an average tracking error of 0.59 mm. Conclusion: The high accuracy and programmability of the 4D phantom allows for the acquisition of ultrasound motion sequences that are highly customizable; allowing for focused analysis of some common pitfalls of tracking algorithms such as partial feature occlusion or feature disappearance, among others. The design can easily be modified to adapt to any probe such that the process can be extended to 3D acquisition. Further development of an anatomy specific phantom better resembling true anatomical landmarks could lead to an even more robust validation. This work is partially funded by NIH

Noncontact ultrasound imaging applied to cortical bone phantoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulman, J B; Ganezer, K S; Halcrow, P W; Neeson, Ian

2012-06-01

The purpose of this paper was to take the first steps toward applying noncontact ultrasound (NCU) to the tasks of monitoring osteoporosis and quantitative ultrasound imaging (QUS) of cortical bone. The authors also focused on the advantages of NCU, such as its lack of reliance on a technologist to apply transducers and a layer of acoustical coupling gel, the ability of the transducers to operate autonomously as specified by preprogrammed software, and the likely reduction in statistical and systematic errors associated with the variability in the pressure applied by the clinician to the transmitting transducer that NCU might provide. The authors also undertook this study in order to find additional applications of NCU beyond its past limited usage in assessing the severity of third degree burns. A noncontact ultrasound imaging system using a pair of specially designed broadband, 1.5 MHz noncontact piezoelectric transducers and cortical bone phantoms, were used to determine bone mineral density (BMD), speed of sound (SOS), integrated response (IR), and ultrasonic transmittance. Air gaps of greater than 3 cm, two transmission and two reflection paths, and a digital signal processor were also used in the collection of data from phantoms of nominal mass densities that varied from 1.17 to 2.25 g/cm(3) and in bone mineral density from 0 to 1.7 g/cm(3). Good correlations between known BMD and measured SOS, IR, and transmittance were obtained for all 17 phantoms, and methods for quantifying and minimizing sources of systematic errors were outlined. The BMD of the phantom sets extended through most of the in vivo range found in cortical bone. A total of 16-20 repeated measurements of the SOS, thickness, and IR for the phantom set that were conducted over a period of several months showed a small variation in the range of measurements of ±1%-2%. These NCU data were shown to be in agreement with similar results using contact ultrasound to be within 1%-2%. Transmittance

Trans-Stent B-Mode Ultrasound and Passive Cavitation Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Haworth, Kevin J; Raymond, Jason L; Radhakrishnan, Kirthi; Moody, Melanie R; Huang, Shao-Ling; Peng, Tao; Shekhar, Himanshu; Klegerman, Melvin E; Kim, Hyunggun; McPherson, David D; Holland, Christy K

2016-02-01

Angioplasty and stenting of a stenosed artery enable acute restoration of blood flow. However, restenosis or a lack of re-endothelization can subsequently occur depending on the stent type. Cavitation-mediated drug delivery is a potential therapy for these conditions, but requires that particular types of cavitation be induced by ultrasound insonation. Because of the heterogeneity of tissue and stochastic nature of cavitation, feedback mechanisms are needed to determine whether the sustained bubble activity is induced. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of passive cavitation imaging through a metal stent in a flow phantom and an animal model. In this study, an endovascular stent was deployed in a flow phantom and in porcine femoral arteries. Fluorophore-labeled echogenic liposomes, a theragnostic ultrasound contrast agent, were injected proximal to the stent. Cavitation images were obtained by passively recording and beamforming the acoustic emissions from echogenic liposomes insonified with a low-frequency (500 kHz) transducer. In vitro experiments revealed that the signal-to-noise ratio for detecting stable cavitation activity through the stent was greater than 8 dB. The stent did not significantly reduce the signal-to-noise ratio. Trans-stent cavitation activity was also detected in vivo via passive cavitation imaging when echogenic liposomes were insonified by the 500-kHz transducer. When stable cavitation was detected, delivery of the fluorophore into the arterial wall was observed. Increased echogenicity within the stent was also observed when echogenic liposomes were administered. Thus, both B-mode ultrasound imaging and cavitation imaging are feasible in the presence of an endovascular stent in vivo. Demonstration of this capability supports future studies to monitor restenosis with contrast-enhanced ultrasound and pursue image-guided ultrasound-mediated drug delivery to inhibit restenosis. Copyright © 2016 World Federation for

Non-invasive Estimation of Pressure Changes using 2-D Vector Velocity Ultrasound: An Experimental Study with In-Vivo Examples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Jacob Bjerring; Villagómez Hoyos, Carlos Armando; Møller, Niclas Dechau

2018-01-01

and at the aortic valve of two healthy volunteers. Ultrasound measurements were performed using the experimental scanner SARUS, in combination with an 8MHz linear array transducer for experimental scans and a carotid scan, whereas a 3.5MHz phased array probe was employed for a scan of an aortic valve. Measured 2-D......A non-invasive method for estimating intravascular pressure changes using 2-D vector velocity is presented. The method was first validated on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) data, and with catheter measurements on phantoms. Hereafter, the method was tested in-vivo at the carotid bifurcation...

Ultrasound-guided approach to the paravertebral space for catheter insertion in infants and children.

Science.gov (United States)

Boretsky, Karen; Visoiu, Mihaela; Bigeleisen, Paul

2013-12-01

Paravertebral perineural blocks are used to prevent pain in the thoracoabdominal dermatomes. Traditionally, a landmark-based technique is used in children, while ultrasound-guided (UG) techniques are being employed in adult patients. To describe an UG technique for placement of thoracic paravertebral nerve block (TPVNB) catheters in pediatric patients. Retrospective chart review of a series of 22 pediatric patients' ages 6 months to 17 years with weights from 6.25 kg to 135 kg using a transverse in-plane technique. Catheters were placed both bilateral and unilateral for a variety of thoracic and abdominal procedures. A linear ultrasound transducer was used in all cases with frequency of oscillation and transducer length chosen based on individual patient characteristics of age, weight, and BMI. The median pain scores at 12, 24, 36, and 48 h were 1.2 (interquartile range, 4.5), 0.84 (interquartile range 3.0), 1.6 (interquartile range 2.9), and 0.83 (interquartile range 1.74), respectively. The median dose of opioid expressed as morphine equivalents consumed during the first 24 h after surgery was 0.14 mg·kg(-1) (interquartile range, 0.78 mg·kg(-1) ) and from 24 to 48 h the median dose was 0.11 mg·kg(-1) (interquartile range 0.44 mg·kg(-1) ). No complications were noted, and catheters were left an average of 3 days with a range of 1-5 days with good pain relief. This technical description demonstrates the feasibility of placing PVNB catheters using a transverse in-line ultrasound-guided technique in a wide range of pediatric patients. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A 3D airborne ultrasound scanner

Science.gov (United States)

Capineri, L.; Masotti, L.; Rocchi, S.

1998-06-01

This work investigates the feasibility of an ultrasound scanner designed to reconstruct three-dimensional profiles of objects in air. There are many industrial applications in which it is important to obtain quickly and accurately the digital reconstruction of solid objects with contactless methods. The final aim of this project was the profile reconstruction of shoe lasts in order to eliminate the mechanical tracers from the reproduction process of shoe prototypes. The feasibility of an ultrasonic scanner was investigated in laboratory conditions on wooden test objects with axial symmetry. A bistatic system based on five airborne polyvinylidenedifluoride (PVDF) transducers was mechanically moved to emulate a cylindrical array transducer that can host objects of maximum width and height 20 cm and 40 cm respectively. The object reconstruction was based on a simplified version of the synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT): the time of flight (TOF) of the first in time echo for each receiving transducer was taken into account, a coarse spatial sampling of the ultrasonic field reflected on the array transducer was delivered and the reconstruction algorithm was based on the ellipsoidal backprojection. Measurements on a wooden cone section provided submillimetre accuracy in a controlled environment.

Transducer handbook user's directory of electrical transducers

CERN Document Server

Boyle, H B

2013-01-01

When selecting or using a particular type of transducer or sensor, there are a number of factors which must be considered. The question is not only for what kind of measurement, but under what physical conditions, constraints of accuracy, and to meet which service requirements, is a transducer needed? This handbook is designed to meet the selection needs of anyone specifying or using transducers with an electrical output. Each transducer is described in an easy-to-use tabular format, giving all of the necessary data including operating principles, applications, range limits, errors, over-range protection, supply voltage requirements, sensitivities, cross sensitivities, temperature ranges and sensitivities and signal conditioning needs. The author has added notes that reflect his broad practical experience. Added to this is an extensive worldwide suppliers directory.

Ultrasound pulse-echo measurements on rough surfaces with linear array transducers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sjøj, Sidsel M. N.; Blanco, Esther N.; Wilhjelm, Jens E.

2012-01-01

The echo from planar surfaces with rms roughness, Rq, in the range from 0-155 μm was measured with a clinical linear array transducer at different angles of incidence at 6 MHz and 12 MHz. The echo-pulse from the surfaces was isolated with an equal sized window and the power of the echo-pulse was ......The echo from planar surfaces with rms roughness, Rq, in the range from 0-155 μm was measured with a clinical linear array transducer at different angles of incidence at 6 MHz and 12 MHz. The echo-pulse from the surfaces was isolated with an equal sized window and the power of the echo......-pulse was calculated. The power of the echo from the smooth surface (Rq = 0) is highly angle-dependent due to a high degree of specular reflection. Within the angular range considered here, -10° to 10°, the variation spans a range of 18 dB at both 6 MHz and 12 MHz. When roughness increases, the angle......-dependence decreases, as the echo process gradually changes from pure reflection to being predominantly governed by backscattering. The power of the echoes from the two roughest surfaces (Rq = 115 μm and 155 μm) are largely independent of angle at both 6 MHz and 12 MHz with a variation of 2 dB in the angular range...

Effects of microstructure and water on the electrical potentials in bone induced by ultrasound irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsuneda, H.; Matsukawa, S.; Takayanagi, S.; Matsukawa, M., E-mail: mmatsuka@mail.doshisha.ac.jp [Wave Electronics Research Center, Laboratory of Ultrasonic Electronics, Doshisha University, 1-3, Tatara Miyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321 (Japan); Mizuno, K. [Underwater Technology Collaborative Research Center, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505 (Japan); Yanagitani, T. [Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555 (Japan)

2015-02-16

The healing mechanism of bone fractures by low intensity pulse ultrasound is yet to be fully understood. There have been many discussions regarding how the high frequency dynamic stress can stimulate numerous cell types through various pathways. As one possible initial process of this mechanism, we focus on the piezoelectricity of bone and demonstrate that bone can generate electrical potentials by ultrasound irradiation in the MHz range. We have fabricated ultrasonic bone transducers using bovine cortical bone as the piezoelectric device. The ultrasonically induced electrical potentials in the transducers change as a function of time during immersed ultrasonic pulse measurements and become stable when the bone is fully wet. In addition, the magnitude of the induced electrical potentials changes owing to the microstructure in the cortical bone. The potentials of transducers with haversian structure bone are higher than those of plexiform structure bone, which informs about the effects of bone microstructure on the piezoelectricity.

Efficacy of high frequency ultrasound in postoperative evaluation of carpal tunnel syndrome treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Kapuścińska

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS is the most common entrapment neuropathy and a frequent cause of sick leave because of work-related hand overload. The main treatment is operation. Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the usefulness of high frequency ultrasound in the postoperative evaluation of CTS treatment efficacy. Material and methods: Sixty-two patients (50 women and 12 men aged 28–70, mean age 55.2 underwent surgical treatment of CTS. Ultrasound examinations of the wrist in all carpal tunnel sufferers were performed 3 months after the procedure with the use of a high frequency broadband linear array transducer (6–18 MHz, using 18 MHz band of MyLab 70/Esaote. On the basis of the collected data, the author has performed multiple analyses to confirm the usefulness of ultrasound imaging for postoperative evaluation of CTS treatment efficacy. Results: Among all 62 patients, 3 months after surgical median nerve decompression: in 40 patients, CTS symptoms subsided completely, and sonographic evaluation did not show median nerve entrapment signs; in 9 patients, CTS symptoms persisted or exacerbated, and ultrasound proved nerve compression revealing preserved flexor retinaculum fibers; in 13 patients, scar tissue symptoms occurred, and in 5 of them CTS did not subside completely (although ultrasound showed no signs of compression. Conclusions: Ultrasound imaging with the use of a high frequency transducer is a valuable diagnostic tool for postoperative assessment of CTS treatment efficacy.

Improving needle tip identification during ultrasound-guided procedures in anaesthetic practice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scholten, H.J.; Pourtaherian, A.; Mihajlovic, N.; Korsten, H.; Bouwman, R.A.

2017-01-01

Ultrasound guidance is becoming standard practice for needle-based interventions in anaesthetic practice, such as vascular access and peripheral nerve blocks. However, difficulties in aligning the needle and the transducer can lead to incorrect identification of the needle tip, possibly damaging

Ultrasound Imaging of the Pelvic Floor: linking anatomical findings with clinical symtoms

OpenAIRE

Steensma, Anneke

2009-01-01

textabstractFor evaluation of pelvic floor and lower urinary tract dysfunction the use of transabdominal ultrasound was first documented in the early eighties, with the translabial [1], transrectal [2] and transvaginal [3, 4] techniques developing somewhat later. To obtain a translabial or transperineal image of the pelvic floor, the transducer (ideally a 3.5-6 MHZ curved array abdominal probe) is placed on the perineum, after covering the transducer with an unpowered glove or thin plastic wr...

Errors and mistakes in breast ultrasound diagnostics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wiesław Jakubowski

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Sonomammography is often the first additional examination performed in the diagnostics of breast diseases. The development of ultrasound imaging techniques, particularly the introduction of high frequency transducers, matrix transducers, harmonic imaging and finally, elastography, influenced the improvement of breast disease diagnostics. Neverthe‑ less, as in each imaging method, there are errors and mistakes resulting from the techni‑ cal limitations of the method, breast anatomy (fibrous remodeling, insufficient sensitivity and, in particular, specificity. Errors in breast ultrasound diagnostics can be divided into impossible to be avoided and potentially possible to be reduced. In this article the most frequently made errors in ultrasound have been presented, including the ones caused by the presence of artifacts resulting from volumetric averaging in the near and far field, artifacts in cysts or in dilated lactiferous ducts (reverberations, comet tail artifacts, lateral beam artifacts, improper setting of general enhancement or time gain curve or range. Errors dependent on the examiner, resulting in the wrong BIRADS‑usg classification, are divided into negative and positive errors. The sources of these errors have been listed. The methods of minimization of the number of errors made have been discussed, includ‑ ing the ones related to the appropriate examination technique, taking into account data from case history and the use of the greatest possible number of additional options such as: harmonic imaging, color and power Doppler and elastography. In the article examples of errors resulting from the technical conditions of the method have been presented, and those dependent on the examiner which are related to the great diversity and variation of ultrasound images of pathological breast lesions.

Transducer-Mounting Fixture

Science.gov (United States)

Spiegel, Kirk W.

1990-01-01

Transducer-mounting fixture holds transducer securely against stud. Projects only slightly beyond stud after installation. Flanged transducer fits into fixture when hinged halves open. When halves reclosed, fixture tightened onto threaded stud until stud makes contact with transducer. Knurled area on fixture aids in tightening fixture on stud.

Modeling of higher harmonics formation in medical ultrasound systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Taylor, Louise Kold; Schlaikjer, Malene; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2002-01-01

a valuable tool for simulating ultrasound harmonic imaging. An extended version of Field II is obtained by means of operator splitting. The pressure eld is calculated by propagation of the eld from the transducer through a number of planes. Every plane serves as a virtual aperture for the next plane...... of the approach is demonstrated by comparing results from simulations and measurements from a convex array transducer. The new simulation tool is capable of simulating the formation of higher harmonics in water on the acoustical axis. The generation of nonlinear higher harmonic components can be predicted...

Ultrasound in chemical processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baig, S.; Farooq, R.; Malik, A.H.

2009-01-01

The use of ultrasound to promote chemical reactions or sono chemistry is a field of chemistry which involves the process of acoustic cavitations i.e. the collapse of microscopic bubbles in liquid. There are two essential components for the application of sono chemistry, a liquid medium and a source of high-energy vibrations. The liquid medium is necessary because sono chemistry is driven by acoustic cavitations that can only occur in liquids. The source of the vibrational energy is the transducer. The chemical effects of ultrasound include the enhancement of reaction rates at ambient temperatures and striking advancements in stoichiometric and catalytic reactions In some cases, ultrasonic irradiation can increase reactivities by nearly million fold. The ultrasound has large number of applications not only in emending old chemical processes but also in developing new synthetic strategies. Ultrasound enhances all chemical and physical processes e.g., crystallization, vitamin synthesis, preparation of catalysts, dissolution of chemicals, organometallic reactions, electrochemical processes, etc. High-power ultrasonics is a new powerful technology that is not only safe and environmentally friendly in its application but is also efficient and economical. It can be applied to existing processes to eliminate the need for chemicals and/or heat application in a variety of industrial processes. (author)

Non-invasive estimation of temperature using diagnostic ultrasound during HIFU therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Georg, O.; Wilkens, V.

2017-03-01

The use of HIFU for thermal ablation of human tissues requires safe real-time monitoring of the lesion formation during the treatment to avoid damage of the surrounding healthy tissues and to control temperature rise. Besides MR imaging, several methods have been proposed for temperature imaging using diagnostic ultrasound, and echoshift estimation (using speckle tracking) is the most promising and commonly used technique. It is based on the thermal dependence of the ultrasound echo that accounts for two different physical phenomena: local change in speed of sound and thermal expansion of the propagating medium due to changes in temperature. In our experiments we have used two separate transducers: HIFU exposure was performed using a 1.06 MHz single element focusing transducer of 64 mm aperture and 63.2 mm focal length; the ultrasound diagnostic probe of 11 MHz operated in B-mode for image guidance. The temperature measurements were performed in an agar-based tissue-mimicking phantom. To verify the obtained results, numerical modeling of the acoustic and temperature fields was carried out using KZK and Pennes Bioheat equations, as well as measurements with thermocouples were performed.

Bipolar-power-transistor-based limiter for high frequency ultrasound imaging systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hojong; Yang, Hao-Chung; Shung, K Kirk

2014-03-01

High performance limiters are described in this paper for applications in high frequency ultrasound imaging systems. Limiters protect the ultrasound receiver from the high voltage (HV) spikes produced by the transmitter. We present a new bipolar power transistor (BPT) configuration and compare its design and performance to a diode limiter used in traditional ultrasound research and one commercially available limiter. Limiter performance depends greatly on the insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD) and response time (RT), each of which will be evaluated in all the limiters. The results indicated that, compared with commercial limiter, BPT-based limiter had less IL (-7.7 dB), THD (-74.6 dB) and lower RT (43 ns) at 100 MHz. To evaluate the capability of these limiters, they were connected to a 100 MHz single element transducer and a two-way pulse-echo test was performed. It was found that the -6 dB bandwidth and sensitivity of the transducer using BPT-based limiter were better than those of the commercial limiter by 22% and 140%, respectively. Compared to the commercial limiter, BPT-based limiter is shown to be capable of minimizing signal attenuation, RT and THD at high frequencies and is thus suited for high frequency ultrasound applications. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Noninvasive Label-Free Detection of Micrometastases in the Lymphatics with Ultrasound-Guided Photoacoustic Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

2015-10-01

imaging can be used to guide dissection. We have also successfully integrated a programmable ultrasound machine ( Verasonics Vantage ) and tunable pulsed...Mobile HE) with the programmable ultrasound machine ( Verasonics Vantage ). We have synchronized the signals to enable interleaved acquisition of US...transducer (L11-4v, Verasonics Inc.) and build a housing which effectively couples fiber optic light delivery. o What opportunities for training and

A deconvolution method for deriving the transit time spectrum for ultrasound propagation through cancellous bone replica models.

Science.gov (United States)

Langton, Christian M; Wille, Marie-Luise; Flegg, Mark B

2014-04-01

The acceptance of broadband ultrasound attenuation for the assessment of osteoporosis suffers from a limited understanding of ultrasound wave propagation through cancellous bone. It has recently been proposed that the ultrasound wave propagation can be described by a concept of parallel sonic rays. This concept approximates the detected transmission signal to be the superposition of all sonic rays that travel directly from transmitting to receiving transducer. The transit time of each ray is defined by the proportion of bone and marrow propagated. An ultrasound transit time spectrum describes the proportion of sonic rays having a particular transit time, effectively describing lateral inhomogeneity of transit times over the surface of the receiving ultrasound transducer. The aim of this study was to provide a proof of concept that a transit time spectrum may be derived from digital deconvolution of input and output ultrasound signals. We have applied the active-set method deconvolution algorithm to determine the ultrasound transit time spectra in the three orthogonal directions of four cancellous bone replica samples and have compared experimental data with the prediction from the computer simulation. The agreement between experimental and predicted ultrasound transit time spectrum analyses derived from Bland-Altman analysis ranged from 92% to 99%, thereby supporting the concept of parallel sonic rays for ultrasound propagation in cancellous bone. In addition to further validation of the parallel sonic ray concept, this technique offers the opportunity to consider quantitative characterisation of the material and structural properties of cancellous bone, not previously available utilising ultrasound.

Electrical impedance tomography imaging using a priori ultrasound data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soleimani Manuchehr

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Different imaging systems (e.g. electrical, magnetic, and ultrasound rely on a wide variety of physical properties, and the datasets obtained from such systems provide only partial information about the unknown true state. One approach is to choose complementary imaging systems, and to combine the information to achieve a better representation. Methods This paper discusses the combination of ultrasound and electrical impedance tomography (EIT information. Ultrasound reflection signals are good at locating sharp acoustic density changes associated with the boundaries of objects. Some boundaries, however, may be indeterminable due to masking from intermediate boundaries or because they are outside the ultrasound beam. Conversely, the EIT data contains relatively low-quality information, but it includes the whole region enclosed by the electrodes. Results Results are shown from a narrowband level-set method applied to 2D and 3D EIT incorporating limited angle ultrasound time of flight data. Conclusion The EIT reconstruction is shown to be faster and more accurate using the additional edge information from both one and four transducer ultrasound systems.

Review of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers and their applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Joontaek; Lee, Wonjun; Kang, Woojin; Shin, Eunjung; Choi, Hongsoo; Ryu, Jungho

2017-01-01

In recent decades, micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs) have been investigated as an alternative to conventional piezocomposite ultrasonic transducers, primarily due to the advantages that microelectromechanical systems provide. Miniaturized ultrasonic systems require ultrasonic transducers integrated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits. Hence, piezoelectric MUTs (pMUTs) and capacitive MUTs (cMUTs) have been developed as the most favorable solutions. This paper reviews the basic equations to understand the characteristics of thin-film-based piezoelectric devices and presents recent research on pMUTs, including current approaches and limitations. Methods to improve the coupling coefficient of pMUTs are also investigated, such as device structure, materials, and fabrication techniques. The device structure improvements include multielectrode pMUTs, partially clamped boundary conditions, and 3D pMUTs (curved and domed types), where the latter can provide an electromechanical coupling coefficient of up to 45%. The piezoelectric coefficient ( e 31 ) can be increased by controlling the crystal texture (seed layer of γ -Al 2 O 3 ), using single-crystal (PMN-PT) materials, or control of residual stresses (using SiO 2 layer). Arrays of pMUTs can be implemented for various applications including intravascular ultrasound, fingerprint sensors, rangefinders in air, and wireless power supply systems. pMUTs are expected to be an ideal solution for applications such as mobile biometric security (fingerprint sensors) and rangefinders due to their superior power efficiency and compact size. (topical review)

Review of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers and their applications

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Joontaek; Lee, Wonjun; Kang, Woojin; Shin, Eunjung; Ryu, Jungho; Choi, Hongsoo

2017-11-01

In recent decades, micromachined ultrasonic transducers (MUTs) have been investigated as an alternative to conventional piezocomposite ultrasonic transducers, primarily due to the advantages that microelectromechanical systems provide. Miniaturized ultrasonic systems require ultrasonic transducers integrated with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor circuits. Hence, piezoelectric MUTs (pMUTs) and capacitive MUTs (cMUTs) have been developed as the most favorable solutions. This paper reviews the basic equations to understand the characteristics of thin-film-based piezoelectric devices and presents recent research on pMUTs, including current approaches and limitations. Methods to improve the coupling coefficient of pMUTs are also investigated, such as device structure, materials, and fabrication techniques. The device structure improvements include multielectrode pMUTs, partially clamped boundary conditions, and 3D pMUTs (curved and domed types), where the latter can provide an electromechanical coupling coefficient of up to 45%. The piezoelectric coefficient (e 31) can be increased by controlling the crystal texture (seed layer of γ-Al2O3), using single-crystal (PMN-PT) materials, or control of residual stresses (using SiO2 layer). Arrays of pMUTs can be implemented for various applications including intravascular ultrasound, fingerprint sensors, rangefinders in air, and wireless power supply systems. pMUTs are expected to be an ideal solution for applications such as mobile biometric security (fingerprint sensors) and rangefinders due to their superior power efficiency and compact size.

Intraluminal laser atherectomy with ultrasound and electromagnetic guidance

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Kenton W.; Aretz, H. Thomas; Martinelli, Michael A.; LeDet, Earl G.; Hatch, G. F.; Gregg, Richard E.; Sedlacek, Tomas; Haase, Wayne C.

1991-05-01

The MagellanTM coronary laser atherectomy system is described. It uses high- resolution ultrasound imaging and electromagnetic sensing to provide real-time guidance and control of laser therapy in the coronary arteries. The system consists of a flexible catheter, an electromagnetic navigation antenna, a sensor signal processor and a computer for image processing and display. The small, flexible catheter combines an ultrasound transducer and laser delivery optics, aimed at the artery wall, and an electromagnetic receiving sensor. An extra-corporeal electromagnetic transmit antenna, in combination with catheter sensors, locates the position of the ultrasound and laser beams in the artery. Navigation and ultrasound data are processed electronically to produce real-time, transverse, and axial cross-section images of the artery wall at selected locations. By exploiting the ability of ultrasound to image beneath the surface of artery walls, it is possible to identify candidate treatment sites and perform safe radial laser debulking of atherosclerotic plaque with reduced danger of perforation. The utility of the system in plaque identification and ablation is demonstrated with imaging and experimental results.

Multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann modeling of the acoustic field generated by focused transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Shan, Feng; Guo, Xiasheng; Tu, Juan; Cheng, Jianchun; Zhang, Dong

The high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has become an attractive therapeutic tool for the noninvasive tumor treatment. The ultrasonic transducer is the key component in HIFU treatment to generate the HIFU energy. The dimension of focal region generated by the transducer is closely relevant to the safety of HIFU treatment. Therefore, it is essential to numerically investigate the focal region of the transducer. Although the conventional acoustic wave equations have been used successfully to describe the acoustic field, there still exist some inherent drawbacks. In this work, we presented an axisymmetric isothermal multi-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann method (MRT-LBM) model with the Bouzidi-Firdaouss-Lallemand (BFL) boundary condition in cylindrical coordinate system. With this model, some preliminary simulations were firstly conducted to determine a reasonable value of the relaxation parameter. Then, the validity of the model was examined by comparing the results obtained with the LBM results with the Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya-Kuznetsov (KZK) equation and the Spheroidal beam equation (SBE) for the focused transducers with different aperture angles, respectively. In addition, the influences of the aperture angle on the focal region were investigated. The proposed model in this work will provide significant references for the parameter optimization of the focused transducer for applications in the HIFU treatment or other fields, and provide new insights into the conventional acoustic numerical simulations.

Bonding and impedance matching of acoustic transducers using silver epoxy.

Science.gov (United States)

Son, Kyu Tak; Lee, Chin C

2012-04-01

Silver epoxy was selected to bond transducer plates on glass substrates. The properties and thickness of the bonding medium affect the electrical input impedance of the transducer. Thus, the thickness of the silver epoxy bonding layer was used as a design parameter to optimize the structure for the transducer input impedance to match the 50 Ω output impedance of most radio frequency (RF) generators. Simulation and experimental results show that nearly perfect matching is achieved without using any matching circuit. At the matching condition, the transducer operates at a frequency band a little bit below the half-wavelength resonant frequency of the piezoelectric plate. In experiments, lead titanate (PT) piezoelectric plates were employed. Both full-size, 11.5 mm × 2 mm × 0.4 mm, and half-size, 5.75 mm × 2 mm × 0.4 mm, can be well matched using optimal silver epoxy thickness. The transducer assemblies demonstrate high efficiency. The conversion loss from electrical power to acoustic power in soda-lime glass is 4.3 dB. This loss is low considering the fact that the transducers operate at off-resonance by 12%. With proper choice of silver epoxy thickness, the transducer can be matched at the fundamental, the 3rd and 5th harmonic frequencies. This leads to the possible realization of triple-band transducers. Reliability was assessed with thermal cycling test according to Telcordia GR-468-Core recommendation. Of the 30 transducer assemblies tested, none broke until 2900 cycles and 27 have sustained beyond 4050 cycles. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Airborne non-contact and contact broadband ultrasounds for frequency attenuation profile estimation of cementitious materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Gosálbez, J; Wright, W M D; Jiang, W; Carrión, A; Genovés, V; Bosch, I

2018-08-01

In this paper, the study of frequency-dependent ultrasonic attenuation in strongly heterogeneous cementitious materials is addressed. To accurately determine the attenuation over a wide frequency range, it is necessary to have suitable excitation techniques. We have analysed two kinds of ultrasound techniques: contact ultrasound and airborne non-contact ultrasound. The mathematical formulation for frequency-dependent attenuation has been established and it has been revealed that each technique may achieve similar results but requires specific different calibration processes. In particular, the airborne non-contact technique suffers high attenuation due to energy losses at the air-material interfaces. Thus, its bandwidth is limited to low frequencies but it does not require physical contact between transducer and specimen. In contrast, the classical contact technique can manage higher frequencies but the measurement depends on the pressure between the transducer and the specimen. Cement specimens have been tested with both techniques and frequency attenuation dependence has been estimated. Similar results were achieved at overlapping bandwidth and it has been demonstrated that the airborne non-contact ultrasound technique could be a viable alternative to the classical contact technique. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Has 4D transperineal ultrasound additional value over 2D transperineal ultrasound for diagnosing obstructed defaecation syndrome?

Science.gov (United States)

van Gruting, I M A; Kluivers, K; Sultan, A H; De Bin, R; Stankiewicz, A; Blake, H; Thakar, R

2018-06-08

To establish the diagnostic test accuracy of both two-dimensional (2D) and four-dimensional (4D) transperineal ultrasound, to assess if 4D ultrasound imaging provides additional value in the diagnosis of posterior pelvic floor disorders in women with obstructed defaecation syndrome. In this prospective cohort study, 121 consecutive women with obstructed defaecation syndrome were recruited. Symptoms of obstructed defaecation and signs of pelvic organ prolapse were assessed using validated methods. All women underwent both 2D transperineal ultrasound (Pro-focus, 8802 transducer, BK-medical) and 4D transperineal ultrasound (Voluson i, RAB4-8-RS transducer, GE). Imaging analysis was performed by two blinded observers. Pelvic floor disorders were dichotomised into presence or absence according pre-defined cut-off values. In the absence of a reference standard a composite reference standard was created from a combination of results of evacuation proctogram, magnetic resonance imaging and endovaginal ultrasound. Primary outcome measures were diagnostic test characteristics of 2D and 4D transperineal ultrasound for diagnosis or rectocele, enterocele, intussusception and anismus. Secondary outcome measures were interobserver agreement, agreement between the two techniques and correlation of signs and symptoms to imaging findings. For diagnosis of all four posterior pelvic floor disorders there was no difference in sensitivity and specificity between 2D and 4D TPUS (p= 0.131 - 1.000). A good agreement between 2D and 4D TPUS was found for the diagnosis of rectocele (ĸ 0.675) and a moderate agreement for diagnosis of enterocele, intussusception and anismus (ĸ 0.465 - 0.545). There was no difference in rectocele depth measurements between both TPUS techniques (19.9 mm vs 19.0 mm, p=0.802). Inter-observer agreement was comparable for both techniques, however 2D TPUS had an excellent interobserver agreement for diagnosis of enterocele and rectocele depth measurements. Diagnosis

Characterization of HIFU transducers designed for sonochemistry application: Acoustic streaming.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallez, L; Touyeras, F; Hihn, J-Y; Bailly, Y

2016-03-01

Cavitation distribution in a High Intensity Focused Ultrasound sonoreactors (HIFU) has been extensively described in the recent literature, including quantification by an optical method (Sonochemiluminescence SCL). The present paper provides complementary measurements through the study of acoustic streaming generated by the same kind of HIFU transducers. To this end, results of mass transfer measurements (electrodiffusional method) were compared to optical method ones (Particle Image Velocimetry). This last one was used in various configurations: with or without an electrode in the acoustic field in order to have the same perturbation of the wave propagation. Results show that the maximum velocity is not located at the focal but shifted near the transducer, and that this shift is greater for high powers. The two cavitation modes (stationary and moving bubbles) are greatly affect the hydrodynamic behavior of our sonoreactors: acoustic streaming and the fluid generated by bubble motion. The results obtained by electrochemical measurements show the same low hydrodynamic activity in the transducer vicinity, the same shift of the active focal toward the transducer, and the same absence of activity in the post-focal axial zone. The comparison with theoretical Eckart's velocities (acoustic streaming in non-cavitating media) confirms a very high activity at the "sonochemical focal", accounted for by wave distortion, which induced greater absorption coefficients. Moreover, the equivalent liquid velocities are one order of magnitude larger than the ones measured by PIV, confirming the enhancement of mass transfer by bubbles oscillation and collapse close to the surface, rather than from a pure streaming effect. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Creaming enhancement in a liter scale ultrasonic reactor at selected transducer configurations and frequencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Juliano, Pablo; Temmel, Sandra; Rout, Manoj; Swiergon, Piotr; Mawson, Raymond; Knoerzer, Kai

2013-01-01

Recent research has shown that high frequency ultrasound (0.4-3 MHz), can enhance milkfat separation in small scale systems able to treat only a few milliliters of sample. In this work, the effect of ultrasonic standing waves on milkfat creaming was studied in a 6L reactor and the influence of different frequencies and transducer configurations in direct contact with the fluid was investigated. A recombined coarse milk emulsion with fat globules stained with oil-red-O dye was selected for the separation trials. Runs were performed with one or two transducers placed in vertical (parallel or perpendicular) and horizontal positions (at the reactor base) at 0.4, 1 and/or 2 MHz (specific energy 8.5 ± 0.6 kJ/kg per transducer). Creaming behavior was assessed by measuring the thickness of the separated cream layer. Other methods supporting this assessment included the measurement of fat content, backscattering, particle size distribution, and microscopy of samples taken at the bottom and top of the reactor. Most efficient creaming was found after treatment at 0.4 MHz in single and double vertical transducer configurations. Among these configurations, a higher separation rate was obtained when sonicating at 0.4 MHz in a vertical perpendicular double transducer setup. The horizontal transducer configuration promoted creaming at 2 MHz only. Fat globule size increase was observed when creaming occurred. This research highlights the potential for enhanced separation of milkfat in larger scale systems from selected transducer configurations in contact with a dairy emulsion, or emulsion splitting in general. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Auto-positioning ultrasonic transducer system

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, Randy K. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

An ultrasonic transducer apparatus and process for determining the optimal transducer position for flow measurement along a conduit outer surface. The apparatus includes a transmitting transducer for transmitting an ultrasonic signal, said transducer affixed to a conduit outer surface; a guide rail attached to a receiving transducer for guiding movement of a receiving transducer along the conduit outer surface, wherein the receiving transducer receives an ultrasonic signal from the transmitting transducer and sends a signal to a data acquisition system; and a motor for moving the receiving transducer along the guide rail, wherein the motor is controlled by a controller. The method includes affixing a transmitting transducer to an outer surface of a conduit; moving a receiving transducer on the conduit outer surface, wherein the receiving transducer is moved along a guide rail by a motor; transmitting an ultrasonic signal from the transmitting transducer that is received by the receiving transducer; communicating the signal received by the receiving transducer to a data acquisition and control system; and repeating the moving, transmitting, and communicating along a length of the conduit.

Noninvasive Quantitative Imaging of Collagen Microstructure in Three-Dimensional Hydrogels Using High-Frequency Ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercado, Karla P; Helguera, María; Hocking, Denise C; Dalecki, Diane

2015-07-01

Collagen I is widely used as a natural component of biomaterials for both tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. The physical and biological properties of fibrillar collagens are strongly tied to variations in collagen fiber microstructure. The goal of this study was to develop the use of high-frequency quantitative ultrasound to assess collagen microstructure within three-dimensional (3D) hydrogels noninvasively and nondestructively. The integrated backscatter coefficient (IBC) was employed as a quantitative ultrasound parameter to detect, image, and quantify spatial variations in collagen fiber density and diameter. Collagen fiber microstructure was varied by fabricating hydrogels with different collagen concentrations or polymerization temperatures. IBC values were computed from measurements of the backscattered radio-frequency ultrasound signals collected using a single-element transducer (38-MHz center frequency, 13-47 MHz bandwidth). The IBC increased linearly with increasing collagen concentration and decreasing polymerization temperature. Parametric 3D images of the IBC were generated to visualize and quantify regional variations in collagen microstructure throughout the volume of hydrogels fabricated in standard tissue culture plates. IBC parametric images of corresponding cell-embedded collagen gels showed cell accumulation within regions having elevated collagen IBC values. The capability of this ultrasound technique to noninvasively detect and quantify spatial differences in collagen microstructure offers a valuable tool to monitor the structural properties of collagen scaffolds during fabrication, to detect functional differences in collagen microstructure, and to guide fundamental research on the interactions of cells and collagen matrices.

Skin temperature increase mediated by wearable, long duration, low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

Langer, Matthew D.; Huang, Wenyi; Ghanem, Angi; Guo, Yuan; Lewis, George K.

2017-03-01

One of the safety concerns with the delivery of therapeutic ultrasound is overheating of the transducer-skin interface due to poor or improper coupling. The objective of this research was to define a model that could be used to calculate the heating in the skin as a result of a novel, wearable long-duration ultrasound device. This model was used to determine that the maximum heating in the skin remained below the minimum threshold necessary to cause thermal injury over multiple hours of use. In addition to this model data, a human clinical study used wire thermocouples on the skin surface to measure heating characteristics during treatment with the sustained ultrasound system. Parametric analysis of the model determined that the maximum temperature increase is at the surface of the skin ranged from 40-41.8° C when perfusion was taken into account. The clinical data agreed well with the model predictions. The average steady state temperature observed across all 44 subjects was 40°C. The maximum temperature observed was less than 44° C, which is clinically safe for over 5 hours of human skin contact. The resultant clinical temperature data paired well with the model data suggesting the model can be used for future transducer and ultrasound system design simulation. As a result, the device was validated for thermal safety for typical users and use conditions.

Treatment of esophageal tumors using high intensity intraluminal ultrasound: first clinical results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prat Frederic

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Esophageal tumors generally bear a poor prognosis. Radical surgery is generally the only curative method available but is not feasible in the majority of patients; palliative therapy with stent placement is generally performed. It has been demonstrated that High Intensity Ultrasound can induce rapid, complete and well-defined coagulation necrosis. Thus, for the treatment of esophageal tumors, we have designed an ultrasound applicator that uses an intraluminal approach to fill up this therapeutic gap. Methods Thermal ablation is performed with water-cooled ultrasound transducers operating at a frequency of 10 MHz. Single lesions extend from the transducer surface up to 10 mm in depth when applying an intensity of 14 W/cm2 for 10s. A lumen inside the therapy applicator provides path for an endoscopic ultrasound imaging probe operating at a frequency of 12 MHz. The mechanical rotation of the applicator around its axis enables treatment of sectorial or cylindrical volumes. This method is thus particularly suitable for esophageal tumors that may develop only on a portion of the esophageal circumference. Previous experiments were conducted from bench to in vivo studies on pig esophagi. Results Here we report clinical results obtained on four patients included in a pilot study. The treatment of esophageal tumors was performed under fluoroscopic guidance and ultrasound imaging. Objective tumor response was obtained in all cases and a complete necrosis of a tumor was obtained in one case. All patients recovered uneventfully and dysphagia improved significantly within 15 days, allowing for resuming a solid diet in three cases. Conclusion This clinical work demonstrated the efficacy of intraluminal high intensity ultrasound therapy for local tumor destruction in the esophagus.

Multi-resolution simulation of focused ultrasound propagation through ovine skull from a single-element transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Yoon, Kyungho; Lee, Wonhye; Croce, Phillip; Cammalleri, Amanda; Yoo, Seung-Schik

2018-05-01

Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) is emerging as a non-invasive brain stimulation modality. Complicated interactions between acoustic pressure waves and osseous tissue introduce many challenges in the accurate targeting of an acoustic focus through the cranium. Image-guidance accompanied by a numerical simulation is desired to predict the intracranial acoustic propagation through the skull; however, such simulations typically demand heavy computation, which warrants an expedited processing method to provide on-site feedback for the user in guiding the acoustic focus to a particular brain region. In this paper, we present a multi-resolution simulation method based on the finite-difference time-domain formulation to model the transcranial propagation of acoustic waves from a single-element transducer (250 kHz). The multi-resolution approach improved computational efficiency by providing the flexibility in adjusting the spatial resolution. The simulation was also accelerated by utilizing parallelized computation through the graphic processing unit. To evaluate the accuracy of the method, we measured the actual acoustic fields through ex vivo sheep skulls with different sonication incident angles. The measured acoustic fields were compared to the simulation results in terms of focal location, dimensions, and pressure levels. The computational efficiency of the presented method was also assessed by comparing simulation speeds at various combinations of resolution grid settings. The multi-resolution grids consisting of 0.5 and 1.0 mm resolutions gave acceptable accuracy (under 3 mm in terms of focal position and dimension, less than 5% difference in peak pressure ratio) with a speed compatible with semi real-time user feedback (within 30 s). The proposed multi-resolution approach may serve as a novel tool for simulation-based guidance for tFUS applications.

A Machine-Learning Algorithm Toward Color Analysis for Chronic Liver Disease Classification, Employing Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography.

Science.gov (United States)

Gatos, Ilias; Tsantis, Stavros; Spiliopoulos, Stavros; Karnabatidis, Dimitris; Theotokas, Ioannis; Zoumpoulis, Pavlos; Loupas, Thanasis; Hazle, John D; Kagadis, George C

2017-09-01

The purpose of the present study was to employ a computer-aided diagnosis system that classifies chronic liver disease (CLD) using ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) imaging, with a stiffness value-clustering and machine-learning algorithm. A clinical data set of 126 patients (56 healthy controls, 70 with CLD) was analyzed. First, an RGB-to-stiffness inverse mapping technique was employed. A five-cluster segmentation was then performed associating corresponding different-color regions with certain stiffness value ranges acquired from the SWE manufacturer-provided color bar. Subsequently, 35 features (7 for each cluster), indicative of physical characteristics existing within the SWE image, were extracted. A stepwise regression analysis toward feature reduction was used to derive a reduced feature subset that was fed into the support vector machine classification algorithm to classify CLD from healthy cases. The highest accuracy in classification of healthy to CLD subject discrimination from the support vector machine model was 87.3% with sensitivity and specificity values of 93.5% and 81.2%, respectively. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis gave an area under the curve value of 0.87 (confidence interval: 0.77-0.92). A machine-learning algorithm that quantifies color information in terms of stiffness values from SWE images and discriminates CLD from healthy cases is introduced. New objective parameters and criteria for CLD diagnosis employing SWE images provided by the present study can be considered an important step toward color-based interpretation, and could assist radiologists' diagnostic performance on a daily basis after being installed in a PC and employed retrospectively, immediately after the examination. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A high pulse repetition frequency ultrasound system for the ex vivo measurement of mechanical properties of crystalline lenses with laser-induced microbubbles interrogated by acoustic radiation force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Sangpil; Emelianov, Stanislav; Aglyamov, Salavat; Karpiouk, Andrei

2012-01-01

A high pulse repetition frequency ultrasound system for an ex vivo measurement of mechanical properties of an animal crystalline lens was developed and validated. We measured the bulk displacement of laser-induced microbubbles created at different positions within the lens using nanosecond laser pulses. An impulsive acoustic radiation force was applied to the microbubble, and spatio-temporal measurements of the microbubble displacement were assessed using a custom-made high pulse repetition frequency ultrasound system consisting of two 25 MHz focused ultrasound transducers. One of these transducers was used to emit a train of ultrasound pulses and another transducer was used to receive the ultrasound echoes reflected from the microbubble. The developed system was operating at 1 MHz pulse repetition frequency. Based on the measured motion of the microbubble, Young’s moduli of surrounding tissue were reconstructed and the values were compared with those measured using the indentation test. Measured values of Young’s moduli of four bovine lenses ranged from 2.6 ± 0.1 to 26 ± 1.4 kPa, and there was good agreement between the two methods. Therefore, our studies, utilizing the high pulse repetition frequency ultrasound system, suggest that the developed approach can be used to assess the mechanical properties of ex vivo crystalline lenses. Furthermore, the potential of the presented approach for in vivo measurements is discussed. (paper)

Clinical acceptance testing and scanner comparison of ultrasound shear wave elastography.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Zaiyang; Tradup, Donald J; Song, Pengfei; Stekel, Scott F; Chen, Shigao; Glazebrook, Katrina N; Hangiandreou, Nicholas J

2018-03-15

Because of the rapidly growing use of ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) in clinical practices, there is a significant need for development of clinical physics performance assessment methods for this technology. This study aims to report two clinical medical physicists' tasks: (a) acceptance testing (AT) of SWE function on ten commercial ultrasound systems for clinical liver application and (b) comparison of SWE measurements of targets across vendors for clinical musculoskeletal application. For AT, ten GE LOGIQ E9 XDclear 2.0 scanners with ten C1-6-D and ten 9L-D transducers were studied using two commercial homogenous phantoms. Five measurements were acquired at two depths for each scanner/transducer pair by two operators. Additional tests were performed to access effects of different coupling media, phantom locations and operators. System deviations were less than 5% of group mean or three times standard deviation; therefore, all systems passed AT. A test protocol was provided based on results that no statistically significant difference was observed between using ultrasound gel and salt water for coupling, among different phantom locations, and that interoperator and intraoperator coefficient of variation was less than 3%. For SWE target measurements, two systems were compared - a Supersonic Aixplorer scanner with a SL10-2 and a SL15-4 transducer, and an abovementioned GE scanner with 9L-D transducer. Two stepped cylinders with diameters of 4.05-10.40 mm were measured both longitudinally and transaxially. Target shear wave speed quantification was performed using an in-house MATLAB program. Using the target shear wave speed deduced from phantom specs as a reference, SL15-4 performed the best at the measured depth. However, it was challenging to reliably measure a 4.05 mm target for either system. The reported test methods and results could provide important information when dealing with SWE-related tasks in the clinical environment. © 2018 The Authors

Studies of the source complex behaviour and of the ultrasound radiation of contact flexible multi-element transducers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amory, V.

2007-12-01

This work deals with the ultrasonic nondestructive testing of parts with complex geometries using soft multi-element sensors. The different types of contact control configurations are presented first. Then, the difficulties encountered with conventional contact transducers are explained and the multi-element piezoelectric transducers technology, developed to meet these difficulties, is presented. The second chapter presents the results of finite-element calculations showing the complexity of a transducer in a condition of testing utilization. In a same configuration, the radiated far field calculated by finite-elements is compared to the measurement in order to validate the way the source behaviour is calculated. However, despite the efficiency of the finite-elements simulation, this tool is numerically too costly and cannot be used to optimize a full multi-element transducer. Therefore, a realistic source model is built and implemented in a radiation code based on high-frequency asymptotic approximations where only L and T volume waves are calculated. The incapacity of this model to reproduce the behaviour of T waves in some directions of propagation has led to give a particular attention to the fore-waves, neglected in the radiation calculation. Chapter 3 treats of the building of an exact radiation model taking into consideration the fore-waves contribution emitted by a contact transducer exerting a random space-time distribution constraint at the surface of the considered medium. A radiation model, based on the calculation of exact Green functions of the Lamb problem is proposed. The exact model is particularly interesting in the case of sensor geometries with a long length with respect to other dimensions (2D case). Field calculation results are shown for an element of the matrix network (3D case) and for a linear element (2D case). A study of different existing approached models is carried out as well. The last chapter presents some results of the field

Improved sonothrombolysis from a modified diagnostic transducer delivering impulses containing a longer pulse duration.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Juefei; Xie, Feng; Kumar, Tanmay; Liu, Jinjin; Lof, John; Shi, William; Everbach, E Carr; Porter, Thomas R

2014-07-01

Although guided high-mechanical-index (MI) impulses from a diagnostic ultrasound transducer have been used in preclinical studies to dissolve coronary arterial and microvascular thrombi in the presence of intravenously infused microbubbles, it is possible that pulse durations (PDs) longer than that used for diagnostic imaging may further improve the effectiveness of this approach. By use of an established in vitro model flow system, a total of 90 occlusive porcine arterial thrombi (thrombus age: 3-4 h) within a vascular mimicking system were randomized to 10-min treatments with two different PDs (5 and 20 μs) using a Philips S5-1 transducer (1.6-MHz center frequency) at a range of MIs (from 0.2 to 1.4). All impulses were delivered in an intermittent fashion to permit microbubble replenishment within the thrombosed vessel. Diluted lipid-encapsulated microbubbles (0.5% Definity) were infused during the entire treatment period. A tissue-mimicking phantom 5 cm thick was placed between the transducer and thrombosed vessel to mimic transthoracic attenuation. Two 20-MHz passive cavitation detection systems were placed confocal to the insonified vessel to assess for inertial cavitational activity. Percentage thrombus dissolution was calculated by weighing the thrombi before and after each treatment. Percentage thrombus dissolution was significantly higher with a 20-μs PD already at the 0.2 and 0.4 MI therapeutic impulses (54 ± 12% vs. 33 ± 17% and 54 ± 22% vs. 34 ± 17%, p cavitation detection systems detected only low intensities of inertial cavitation. At higher MI settings and 20-μs PDs, percentage thrombus dissolution decreased most likely from high-intensity cavitation shielding of the thrombus. Slightly prolonging the PD on a diagnostic transducer improves the degree of sonothrombolysis that can be achieved without fibrinolytic agents at a lower mechanical index. Copyright © 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc

Imaging the Cemento-Enamel Junction Using a 20-MHz Ultrasonic Transducer.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Kim-Cuong T; Le, Lawrence H; Kaipatur, Neelambar R; Major, Paul W

2016-01-01

The cemento-enamel junction (CEJ), which is the intersection between enamel and cementum, is an important landmark in the diagnosis of periodontal disease. Pulse-echo ultrasound was used to image the CEJs of six porcine lower central incisors with a single 20-MHz transducer. A notch was longitudinally created on the enamel as a stable marker, from which the CEJ was measured. Data were acquired along the tooth's axis at 0.4-mm intervals. Time-distance data were bandpass-filtered to enhance signal-to-noise ratio and record density was increased fourfold to 0.1-mm spacing by a frequency-distance interpolation scheme. Reflections from the CEJ were unambiguously identified along with those from enamel, dentin and cementum. The notch-CEJ distances measured by the ultrasound and micro-computed tomography methods correlated strongly (r = 0.996, p < 0.05) and were in good agreement with the 95% lines of agreement between -0.49 and 0.17 mm, as statistically determined by Bland-Altman analysis. The results indicate the potential of ultrasound to be a reliable and non-ionizing technique to image the CEJ. Copyright © 2016 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Driving electrostatic transducers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Dennis; Knott, Arnold; Andersen, Michael A. E.

2013-01-01

Electrostatic transducers represent a very interesting alternative to the traditional inefficient electrodynamic transducers. In order to establish the full potential of these transducers, power amplifiers which fulfill the strict requirements imposed by such loads (high impedance, frequency...... depended, nonlinear and high bias voltage for linearization) must be developed. This paper analyzes power stages and bias configurations suitable for driving an electrostatic transducer. Measurement results of a 300 V prototype amplifier are shown. Measuring THD across a high impedance source is discussed...

Application of focused ultrasounds to the measurement of the dimensions of defects in welds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foulquier, H.; Roule, M.; Saglio, R.; Touffait, A.M.

1976-01-01

Non destructive testing using ultrasounds must not only detect eventual defects but also give their nature and dimensions. C.E.A. has studied and developed focused transducers which permit the sizing of defects with high precision [fr

Numerical implementation of magneto-acousto-electrical tomography (MAET) using a linear phased array transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Soner Gözü, Mehmet; Zengin, Reyhan; Güneri Gençer, Nevzat

2018-02-01

In this study, the performance and implementation of magneto-acousto-electrical tomography (MAET) is investigated using a linear phased array (LPA) transducer. The goal of MAET is to image the conductivity distribution in biological bodies. It uses the interaction between ultrasound and a static magnetic field to generate velocity current density distribution inside the body. The resultant voltage due to velocity current density is sensed by surface electrodes attached on the body. In this study, the theory of MAET is reviewed. A 16-element LPA transducer with 1 MHz excitation frequency is used to provide beam directivity and steerability of acoustic waves. Different two-dimensional numerical models of breast and tumour are formed to analyze the multiphysics problem coupled with acoustics and electromagnetic fields. In these models, velocity current density distributions are obtained for pulse type ultrasound excitations. The static magnetic field is assumed as 1 T. To sense the resultant voltage caused by the velocity current density, it is assumed that two electrodes are attached on the surface of the body. The performance of MAET is shown through sensitivity matrix analysis. The sensitivity matrix is obtained for two transducer positions with 13 steering angles between -30\\circ to 30\\circ with 5\\circ angular intervals. For the reconstruction of the images, truncated singular value decomposition method is used with different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values (20 dB, 40 dB, 60 dB and 80 dB). The resultant images show that the perturbation (5 mm  ×  5 mm) placed 35 mm depth can be detected even if the SNR is 20 dB.

Use of a high-frequency aspiration-biopsy transducer for direct ultrasound-guided amniocentesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bree, R L

1979-04-01

The techniques and applications of amniocentesis performed with a new high-frequency aspiration-biopsy transducer are described in detail. The advantages of this technique are greatest in third-trimester patients where active fetal motion and diminished amniotic fluid volumes make unguided punctures difficult or impossible. The ability to visualize small-caliber needles within the fluid space further enhances the effectiveness of this technique.

Dual-plane ultrasound flow measurements in liquid metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Büttner, Lars; Nauber, Richard; Burger, Markus; Czarske, Jürgen; Räbiger, Dirk; Franke, Sven; Eckert, Sven

2013-01-01

An ultrasound measurement system for dual-plane, two-component flow velocity measurements especially in opaque liquids is presented. Present-day techniques for measuring local flow structures in opaque liquids disclose considerable drawbacks concerning line-wise measurement of single ultrasound probes. For studying time-varying flow patterns, conventional ultrasound techniques are either limited by time-consuming mechanical traversing or by the sequential operation of single probes. The measurement system presented within this paper employs four transducer arrays with a total of 100 single elements which allows for flow mapping without mechanical traversing. A high frame rate of several 10 Hz has been achieved due to an efficient parallelization scheme using time-division multiplexing realized by a microcontroller-based electronic switching matrix. The functionality and capability of the measurement system are demonstrated on a liquid metal flow at room temperature inside a cube driven by a rotating magnetic field (RMF). For the first time, the primary and the secondary flow have been studied in detail and simultaneously using a configuration with two crossed measurement planes. The experimental data confirm predictions made by numeric simulation. After a sudden switching on of the RMF, inertial oscillations of the secondary flow were observed by means of a time-resolved measurement with a frame rate of 3.4 Hz. The experiments demonstrate that the presented measurement system is able to investigate complex and transient flow structures in opaque liquids. Due to its ability to study the temporal evolution of local flow structures, the measurement system could provide considerable progress for fluid dynamics research, in particular for applications in the food industry or liquid metal technologies. (paper)

Dual-plane ultrasound flow measurements in liquid metals

Science.gov (United States)

Büttner, Lars; Nauber, Richard; Burger, Markus; Räbiger, Dirk; Franke, Sven; Eckert, Sven; Czarske, Jürgen

2013-05-01

An ultrasound measurement system for dual-plane, two-component flow velocity measurements especially in opaque liquids is presented. Present-day techniques for measuring local flow structures in opaque liquids disclose considerable drawbacks concerning line-wise measurement of single ultrasound probes. For studying time-varying flow patterns, conventional ultrasound techniques are either limited by time-consuming mechanical traversing or by the sequential operation of single probes. The measurement system presented within this paper employs four transducer arrays with a total of 100 single elements which allows for flow mapping without mechanical traversing. A high frame rate of several 10 Hz has been achieved due to an efficient parallelization scheme using time-division multiplexing realized by a microcontroller-based electronic switching matrix. The functionality and capability of the measurement system are demonstrated on a liquid metal flow at room temperature inside a cube driven by a rotating magnetic field (RMF). For the first time, the primary and the secondary flow have been studied in detail and simultaneously using a configuration with two crossed measurement planes. The experimental data confirm predictions made by numeric simulation. After a sudden switching on of the RMF, inertial oscillations of the secondary flow were observed by means of a time-resolved measurement with a frame rate of 3.4 Hz. The experiments demonstrate that the presented measurement system is able to investigate complex and transient flow structures in opaque liquids. Due to its ability to study the temporal evolution of local flow structures, the measurement system could provide considerable progress for fluid dynamics research, in particular for applications in the food industry or liquid metal technologies.

Transmitting Performance Evaluation of ASICs for CMUT-Based Portable Ultrasound Scanners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Llimos Muntal, Pere; Diederichsen, Søren Elmin; Jørgensen, Ivan Harald Holger

2017-01-01

Portable ultrasound scanners (PUS) have, in recent years, raised a lot of attention, as they can potentially overcome some of the limitations of static scanners. However, PUS have a lot of design limitations including size and power consumption. These restrictions can compromise the image quality...... of the scanner. In order to overcome these restrictions, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are needed to implement the electronics. In this work, a comparative study of the transmitting performance of a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) driven by a commercial generic ultrasound...

Experience with a small animal hyperthermia ultrasound system (SAHUS): report on 83 tumours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novak, P; Moros, E G; Parry, J J; Rogers, B E; Myerson, R J; Zeug, A; Locke, J E; Rossin, R; Straube, W L; Singh, A K

2005-01-01

An external local ultrasound (US) system was developed to induce controlled hyperthermia of subcutaneously implanted tumours in small animals (e.g., mice and rats). It was designed to be compatible with a small animal positron emission tomography scanner (microPET) to facilitate studies of hyperthermia-induced tumour re-oxygenation using a PET radiopharmaceutical, but it is applicable for any small animal study requiring controlled heating. The system consists of an acrylic applicator bed with up to four independent 5 MHz planar disc US transducers of 1 cm in diameter, a four-channel radiofrequency (RF) generator, a multiple thermocouple thermometry unit, and a personal computer with custom monitoring and controlling software. Although the system presented here was developed to target tumours of up to 1 cm in diameter, the applicator design allows for different piezoelectric transducers to be exchanged and operated within the 3.5-6.5 MHz band to target different tumour sizes. Temperature feedback control software was developed on the basis of a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) approach when the measured temperatures were within a selectable temperature band about the target temperature. Outside this band, an on/off control action was applied. Perfused tissue-mimicking phantom experiments were performed to determine optimum controller gain constants, which were later employed successfully in animal experiments. The performance of the SAHUS (small animal hyperthermia ultrasound system) was tested using several tumour types grown in thighs of female nude (nu/nu) mice. To date, the system has successfully treated 83 tumours to target temperatures in the range of 41-43 deg. C for periods of 65 min on average

Performance Evaluation of a Synthetic Aperture Real-Time Ultrasound System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stuart, Matthias Bo; Tomov, Borislav Gueorguiev; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2011-01-01

This paper evaluates the signal-to-noise ratio, the time stability, and the phase difference of the sampling in the experimental ultrasound scanner SARUS: A synthetic aperture, real-time ultrasound system. SARUS has 1024 independent transmit and receive channels and is capable of handling 2D probes...... arrays (FPGAs) making it very flexible and allowing implementation of other real-time ultrasound processing methods in the future. For conventional B-mode imaging, a penetration depth around 7 cm for a 7 MHz transducer is obtained (signal-tonoise ratio of 0 dB), which is comparable to commercial...... for 3D ultrasound imaging. It samples at 12 bits per sample and has a sampling rate of 70 MHz with the possibility of decimating the sampling frequency at the input. SARUS is capable of advanced real-time computations such as synthetic aperture imaging. The system is built using fieldprogrammable gate...

Design, Simulation and Experimental Evaluation of Tri-Phasic Piezoelectric Composite Transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Tamez, Juan Pedro

Piezoelectric ceramics exhibit excellent piezoelectric and dielectric properties that is the basis of practically all transducers and piezoelectric devices, but their inherent properties, such as brittleness, non-ductility and poor shapeability may limit their applications in areas such as vibration sensing, impact detection, structural health monitoring and other reinforced structures and energy harvesting. To compensate for such limitations, the 1-3 piezoelectric composites transducers have become the material of choice for many high performance ultrasound transducers since it was invented in the late 1970's [ref. Newnham/Cross]. Extensive studies on 1-3 composites have been performed since then to improve the performance of a transducer by modifying their electromechanical coupling, bandwidth, quality factor, and flexibility and by reducing or eliminating the cross talk, i.e., induced noise between the active piezoelectric elements, especially in high power and low frequency applications. These fundamental issues, their possible solutions and their wide impact underline the motivation of the current work in this dissertation report. The motivation for this dissertation was to study and provide a foundation to designing multiphasic piezoelectric transducers that could be useful for multitude of applications. The goal was to improve the 1-3 diphasic composite transducer by eliminating the cross talk between the active piezoelectric elements while maintaining and improving the figures of merit of the design. To achieve the ultimate goal, the steps outlined below were followed: i. Understanding the theoretical and mathematical modeling for tri-phasic piezoelectric composite. ii. Implement Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and simulations of tri-phasic piezoelectric composites where the different active piezoelectric material PZT-5H and PMN-30%PT is surrounded by a vacuum phase that is enclosed by a hexagonal polymer walls. iii. Propose a redesign of the tri

Power MOSFET-diode-based limiter for high-frequency ultrasound systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hojong; Kim, Min Gon; Cummins, Thomas M; Hwang, Jae Youn; Shung, K Kirk

2014-10-01

The purpose of the limiter circuits used in the ultrasound imaging systems is to pass low-voltage echo signals generated by ultrasonic transducers while preventing high-voltage short pulses transmitted by pulsers from damaging front-end circuits. Resistor-diode-based limiters (a 50 Ω resistor with a single cross-coupled diode pair) have been widely used in pulse-echo measurement and imaging system applications due to their low cost and simple architecture. However, resistor-diode-based limiters may not be suited for high-frequency ultrasound transducer applications since they produce large signal conduction losses at higher frequencies. Therefore, we propose a new limiter architecture utilizing power MOSFETs, which we call a power MOSFET-diode-based limiter. The performance of a power MOSFET-diode-based limiter was evaluated with respect to insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD), and response time (RT). We compared these results with those of three other conventional limiter designs and showed that the power MOSFET-diode-based limiter offers the lowest IL (-1.33 dB) and fastest RT (0.10 µs) with the lowest suppressed output voltage (3.47 Vp-p) among all the limiters at 70 MHz. A pulse-echo test was performed to determine how the new limiter affected the sensitivity and bandwidth of the transducer. We found that the sensitivity and bandwidth of the transducer were 130% and 129% greater, respectively, when combined with the new power MOSFET-diode-based limiter versus the resistor-diode-based limiter. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the power MOSFET-diode-based limiter is capable of producing lower signal attenuation than the three conventional limiter designs at higher frequency operation. © The Author(s) 2014.

Physics of tissue harmonic imaging by ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Yuan

Tissue Harmonic Imaging (THI) is an imaging modality that is currently deployed on diagnostic ultrasound scanners. In THI the amplitude of the ultrasonic pulse that is used to probe the tissue is large enough that the pulse undergoes nonlinear distortion as it propagates into the tissue. One result of the distortion is that as the pulse propagates energy is shifted from the fundamental frequency of the source pulse into its higher harmonics. These harmonics will scatter off objects in the tissue and images formed from the scattered higher harmonics are considered to have superior quality to the images formed from the fundamental frequency. Processes that have been suggested as possibly responsible for the improved imaging in THI include: (1) reduced sensitivity to reverberation, (2) reduced sensitivity to aberration, and (3) reduction in side lobes. By using a combination of controlled experiments and numerical simulations, these three reasons have been investigated. A single element transducer and a clinical ultrasound scanner with a phased array transducer were used to image a commercial tissue-mimicking phantom with calibrated targets. The higher image quality achieved with THI was quantified in terms of spatial resolution and "clutter" signals. A three-dimensional model of the forward propagation of nonlinear sound beams in media with arbitrary spatial properties (a generalized KZK equation) was developed. A time-domain code for solving the KZK equation was validated with measurements of the acoustic field generated by the single element transducer and the phased array transducer. The code was used to investigate the impact of aberration using tissue-like media with three-dimensional variations in all acoustic properties. The three-dimensional maps of tissue properties were derived from the datasets available through the Visible Female project. The experiments and simulations demonstrated that second harmonic imaging (1) suffers less clutter associated with

Angular spectrum approach for fast simulation of pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Yigang; Jensen, Henrik; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2011-01-01

The paper presents an Angular Spectrum Approach (ASA) for simulating pulsed non-linear ultrasound fields. The source of the ASA is generated by Field II, which can simulate array transducers of any arbitrary geometry and focusing. The non-linear ultrasound simulation program - Abersim, is used...... as the reference. A linear array transducer with 64 active elements is simulated by both Field II and Abersim. The excitation is a 2-cycle sine wave with a frequency of 5 MHz. The second harmonic field in the time domain is simulated using ASA. Pulse inversion is used in the Abersim simulation to remove...... the fundamental and keep the second harmonic field, since Abersim simulates non-linear fields with all harmonic components. ASA and Abersim are compared for the pulsed fundamental and second harmonic fields in the time domain at depths of 30 mm, 40 mm (focal depth) and 60 mm. Full widths at -6 dB (FWHM) are f0...

High Performance Relaxor-Based Ferroelectric Single Crystals for Ultrasonic Transducer Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Chen

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3O3-PbTiO3 (PMN-PT have drawn much attention in the ferroelectric field because of their excellent piezoelectric properties and high electromechanical coupling coefficients (d33~2000 pC/N, kt~60% near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB. Ternary Pb(In1/2Nb1/2O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3O3-PbTiO3 (PIN-PMN-PT single crystals also possess outstanding performance comparable with PMN-PT single crystals, but have higher phase transition temperatures (rhombohedral to tetragonal Trt, and tetragonal to cubic Tc and larger coercive field Ec. Therefore, these relaxor-based single crystals have been extensively employed for ultrasonic transducer applications. In this paper, an overview of our work and perspectives on using PMN-PT and PIN-PMN-PT single crystals for ultrasonic transducer applications is presented. Various types of single-element ultrasonic transducers, including endoscopic transducers, intravascular transducers, high-frequency and high-temperature transducers fabricated using the PMN-PT and PIN-PMN-PT crystals and their 2-2 and 1-3 composites are reported. Besides, the fabrication and characterization of the array transducers, such as phased array, cylindrical shaped linear array, high-temperature linear array, radial endoscopic array, and annular array, are also addressed.

A Portable Ultrasound System for Non-Invasive Ultrasonic Neuro-Stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Qiu, Weibao; Zhou, Juan; Chen, Yan; Su, Min; Li, Guofeng; Zhao, Huixia; Gu, Xianyi; Meng, De; Wang, Congzhi; Xiao, Yang; Lam, Kwok Ho; Dai, Jiyan; Zheng, Hairong

2017-12-01

Fundamental insights into the function of the neural circuits often follows from the advances in methodologies and tools for neuroscience. Electrode- and optical- based stimulation methods have been used widely for neuro-modulation with high resolution. However, they are suffering from inherent invasive surgical procedure. Ultrasound has been proved as a promising technology for neuro-stimulation in a non-invasive manner. However, no portable ultrasound system has been developed particularly for neuro-stimulation. The utilities used currently are assembled by traditional functional generator, power amplifier, and general transducer, therefore, resulting in lack of flexibility. This paper presents a portable system to achieve ultrasonic neuro-stimulation to satisfy various studies. The system incorporated a high voltage waveform generator and a matching circuit that were optimized for neuro-stimulation. A new switching mode power amplifier was designed and fabricated. The noise generated by the power amplifier was reduced (about 30 dB), and the size and weight were smaller in contrast with commercial equipment. In addition, a miniaturized ultrasound transducer was fabricated using Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 (PMN-PT) 1-3 composite single crystal for the improved ultrasonic performance. The spatial peak temporal average pressure was higher than 250 kPa in the range of 0.5-5 MHz. In vitro and in vivo studies were conducted to show the performance of the system.

Ultrasound imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wells, P.N.T.

1983-01-01

Ultrasound is a form of energy which consists of mechanical vibrations the frequencies of which are so high that they are above the range of human hearing. The lower frequency limit of the ultrasonic spectrum may generally be taken to be about 20 kHz. Most biomedical applications of ultrasound employ frequencies in the range 1-15 MHz. At these frequencies, the wavelength is in the range 1.5 - 0.1 mm in soft tissues, and narrow beams of ultrasound can be generated which propagate through such tissues without excessive attenuation. This chapter begins with brief reviews of the physics of diagnostic ultrasound pulse-echo imaging methods and Doppler imaging methods. The remainder of the chapter is a resume of the applications of ultrasonic imaging to physiological measurement

Acoustic transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Drumheller, Douglas S.

2000-01-01

An active acoustic transducer tool for use down-hole applications. The tool includes a single cylindrical mandrel including a shoulder defining the boundary of a narrowed portion over which is placed a sandwich-style piezoelectric tranducer assembly. The piezoelectric transducer assembly is prestressed by being placed in a thermal interference fit between the shoulder of the mandrel and the base of an anvil which is likewise positioned over the narrower portion of the mandrel. In the preferred embodiment, assembly of the tool is accomplished using a hydraulic jack to stretch the mandrel prior to emplacement of the cylindrical sandwich-style piezoelectric transducer assembly and anvil. After those elements are positioned and secured, the stretched mandrel is allowed to return substantially to its original (pre-stretch) dimensions with the result that the piezoelectric transducer elements are compressed between the anvil and the shoulder of the mandrel.

Calibration of acoustic emission transducers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leschek, W.C.

1976-01-01

A method is described for calibrating an acoustic emission transducer to be used in a pre-set frequency range. The absolute reception sensitivity of a reference transducer is determined at frequencies selected within the frequency range. The reference transducer and the acoustic emission transducer are put into acoustic communication with the surface of a limited acoustic medium representing an equivalent acoustic load appreciably identical to that of the medium in which the use of the acoustic emission transducer is intended. A blank random acoustic noise is emitted in the acoustic medium in order to establish a diffuse and reverberating sound field, after which the output responses of the reference transducer and of the acoustic emission transducer are obtained with respect to the diffuse and reverberating field, for selected frequencies. The output response of the acoustic emission transducer is compared with that of the reference transducer for the selected frequencies, so as to determine the reception sensitivity of the acoustic emission transducer [fr

Development of Remote-Type Haptic Catheter Sensor System using Piezoelectric Transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Haruta, Mineyuki; Murayama, Yoshinobu; Omata, Sadao

This study describes the development of Remote-Type Haptic Catheter Sensor System which enables the mechanical property evaluation of a blood vessel. This system consists of a feedback circuit and a piezoelectric ultrasound transducer, and is operated based on a phase shift method so that the entire system oscillates at its inherent resonance frequency. Ultrasound reflected by the blood vessel makes a phase shift of the resonance system depending on the acoustic impedance of the reflector. The phase shift is then measured as a change in resonance frequency of the system; therefore, the detection resolution is highly improved. The correlation between the acoustic impedance and the resonance frequency change of the sensor system was demonstrated using silicone rubbers, metals and actual blood vessels from a pig. The performance of the sensor was also examined using vessel shaped phantom model. Finally, the discussion surveys a possibility of the novel sensor system in an application for intra vascular diagnosis.

Multiharmonic Frequency-Chirped Transducers for Surface-Acoustic-Wave Optomechanics

Science.gov (United States)

Weiß, Matthias; Hörner, Andreas L.; Zallo, Eugenio; Atkinson, Paola; Rastelli, Armando; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Wixforth, Achim; Krenner, Hubert J.

2018-01-01

Wide-passband interdigital transducers are employed to establish a stable phase lock between a train of laser pulses emitted by a mode-locked laser and a surface acoustic wave generated electrically by the transducer. The transducer design is based on a multiharmonic split-finger architecture for the excitation of a fundamental surface acoustic wave and a discrete number of its overtones. Simply by introducing a variation of the transducer's periodicity p , a frequency chirp is added. This combination results in wide frequency bands for each harmonic. The transducer's conversion efficiency from the electrical to the acoustic domain is characterized optomechanically using single quantum dots acting as nanoscale pressure sensors. The ability to generate surface acoustic waves over a wide band of frequencies enables advanced acousto-optic spectroscopy using mode-locked lasers with fixed repetition rate. Stable phase locking between the electrically generated acoustic wave and the train of laser pulses is confirmed by performing stroboscopic spectroscopy on a single quantum dot at a frequency of 320 MHz. Finally, the dynamic spectral modulation of the quantum dot is directly monitored in the time domain combining stable phase-locked optical excitation and time-correlated single-photon counting. The demonstrated scheme will be particularly useful for the experimental implementation of surface-acoustic-wave-driven quantum gates of optically addressable qubits or collective quantum states or for multicomponent Fourier synthesis of tailored nanomechanical waveforms.

Motion compensation with skin contact control for high intensity focused ultrasound surgery in moving organs

Science.gov (United States)

Diodato, A.; Cafarelli, A.; Schiappacasse, A.; Tognarelli, S.; Ciuti, G.; Menciassi, A.

2018-02-01

High intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an emerging therapeutic solution that enables non-invasive treatment of several pathologies, mainly in oncology. On the other hand, accurate targeting of moving abdominal organs (e.g. liver, kidney, pancreas) is still an open challenge. This paper proposes a novel method to compensate the physiological respiratory motion of organs during HIFU procedures, by exploiting a robotic platform for ultrasound-guided HIFU surgery provided with a therapeutic annular phased array transducer. The proposed method enables us to keep the same contact point between the transducer and the patient’s skin during the whole procedure, thus minimizing the modification of the acoustic window during the breathing phases. The motion of the target point is compensated through the rotation of the transducer around a virtual pivot point, while the focal depth is continuously adjusted thanks to the axial electronically steering capabilities of the HIFU transducer. The feasibility of the angular motion compensation strategy has been demonstrated in a simulated respiratory-induced organ motion environment. Based on the experimental results, the proposed method appears to be significantly accurate (i.e. the maximum compensation error is always under 1 mm), thus paving the way for the potential use of this technique for in vivo treatment of moving organs, and therefore enabling a wide use of HIFU in clinics.

Design of patient-specific focused ultrasound arrays for non-invasive brain therapy with increased trans-skull transmission and steering range

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Alec; Hynynen, Kullervo

2017-09-01

The use of a phased array of ultrasound transducer elements to sonicate through the skull has opened the way for new treatments and the delivery of therapeutics beyond the blood-brain barrier. The limited steering range of current clinical devices, particularly at higher frequencies, limits the regions of the brain that are considered treatable by ultrasound. A new array design is introduced that allows for high levels of beam steering and increased transmission throughout the brain. These improvements are achieved using concave transducers normal to the outer-skull surface in a patient-specific configuration to target within the skull, so that the far-field of each beam is within the brain. It is shown that by using pulsed ultrasound waves timed to arrive in-phase at the desired target, sufficient levels of acoustic energy are delivered for blood-brain barrier opening throughout the brain.

Preliminary In-vivo Results For Spatially Coded Synthetic Transmit Aperture Ultrasound Based On Frequency Division

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gran, Fredrik; Hansen, Kristoffer Lindskov; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2006-01-01

This paper investigates the possibility of using spatial coding based on frequency division for in-vivo synthetic transmit aperture (STA) ultrasound imaging. When using spatial encoding for STA, it is possible to use several transmitters simultaneously and separate the signals at the receiver....... This increases the maximum transmit power compared to conventional STA, where only one transmitter can be active. The signal-to-noise-ratio can therefore he increased and better penetration can be obtained. For frequency division, the coding is achieved by designing a number of transmit waveforms with disjoint...... spectral support, spanning the passband of the ultrasound transducer. The signals can therefore he separated at the receiver using matched filtering. The method is tested using a commercial linear array transducer with a center frequency of 9 MHz and 68% fractional bandwidth. In this paper, the transmit...

Measuring body layer vibration of vocal folds by high-frame-rate ultrasound synchronized with a modified electroglottograph.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Shanshan; Zhang, Yuanyuan; Qin, Xulei; Wang, Supin; Wan, Mingxi

2013-07-01

The body-cover concept suggests that the vibration of body layer is an indispensable component of vocal fold vibration. To quantify this vibration, a synchronized system composed of a high-frame-rate ultrasound and a modified electroglottograph (EGG) was employed in this paper to simultaneously image the body layer vibration and record the vocal fold vibration phase information during natural phonations. After data acquisition, the displacements of in vivo body layer vibrations were measured from the ultrasonic radio frequency data, and the temporal reconstruction method was used to enhance the measurement accuracy. Results showed that the modified EGG, the waveform and characteristic points of which were identical to the conventional EGG, resolved the position conflict between the ultrasound transducer and EGG electrodes. The location and range of the vibrating body layer in the estimated displacement image were more clear and discernible than in the ultrasonic B-mode image. Quantitative analysis for vibration features of the body layer demonstrated that the body layer moved as a unit in the superior-inferior direction during the phonation of normal chest registers.

Combined ultrasound and MR imaging to guide focused ultrasound therapies in the brain

Science.gov (United States)

Arvanitis, Costas D.; Livingstone, Margaret S.; McDannold, Nathan

2013-07-01

Several emerging therapies with potential for use in the brain, harness effects produced by acoustic cavitation—the interaction between ultrasound and microbubbles either generated during sonication or introduced into the vasculature. Systems developed for transcranial MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thermal ablation can enable their clinical translation, but methods for real-time monitoring and control are currently lacking. Acoustic emissions produced during sonication can provide information about the location, strength and type of the microbubble oscillations within the ultrasound field, and they can be mapped in real-time using passive imaging approaches. Here, we tested whether such mapping can be achieved transcranially within a clinical brain MRgFUS system. We integrated an ultrasound imaging array into the hemisphere transducer of the MRgFUS device. Passive cavitation maps were obtained during sonications combined with a circulating microbubble agent at 20 targets in the cingulate cortex in three macaques. The maps were compared with MRI-evident tissue effects. The system successfully mapped microbubble activity during both stable and inertial cavitation, which was correlated with MRI-evident transient blood-brain barrier disruption and vascular damage, respectively. The location of this activity was coincident with the resulting tissue changes within the expected resolution limits of the system. While preliminary, these data clearly demonstrate, for the first time, that it is possible to construct maps of stable and inertial cavitation transcranially, in a large animal model, and under clinically relevant conditions. Further, these results suggest that this hybrid ultrasound/MRI approach can provide comprehensive guidance for targeted drug delivery via blood-brain barrier disruption and other emerging ultrasound treatments, facilitating their clinical translation. We anticipate that it will also prove to be an important research tool that will

Combined ultrasound and MR imaging to guide focused ultrasound therapies in the brain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arvanitis, Costas D; McDannold, Nathan; Livingstone, Margaret S

2013-01-01

Several emerging therapies with potential for use in the brain, harness effects produced by acoustic cavitation—the interaction between ultrasound and microbubbles either generated during sonication or introduced into the vasculature. Systems developed for transcranial MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thermal ablation can enable their clinical translation, but methods for real-time monitoring and control are currently lacking. Acoustic emissions produced during sonication can provide information about the location, strength and type of the microbubble oscillations within the ultrasound field, and they can be mapped in real-time using passive imaging approaches. Here, we tested whether such mapping can be achieved transcranially within a clinical brain MRgFUS system. We integrated an ultrasound imaging array into the hemisphere transducer of the MRgFUS device. Passive cavitation maps were obtained during sonications combined with a circulating microbubble agent at 20 targets in the cingulate cortex in three macaques. The maps were compared with MRI-evident tissue effects. The system successfully mapped microbubble activity during both stable and inertial cavitation, which was correlated with MRI-evident transient blood–brain barrier disruption and vascular damage, respectively. The location of this activity was coincident with the resulting tissue changes within the expected resolution limits of the system. While preliminary, these data clearly demonstrate, for the first time, that it is possible to construct maps of stable and inertial cavitation transcranially, in a large animal model, and under clinically relevant conditions. Further, these results suggest that this hybrid ultrasound/MRI approach can provide comprehensive guidance for targeted drug delivery via blood–brain barrier disruption and other emerging ultrasound treatments, facilitating their clinical translation. We anticipate that it will also prove to be an important research tool that

Production of particulates from transducer erosion: implications on food safety.

Science.gov (United States)

Mawson, Raymond; Rout, Manoj; Ripoll, Gabriela; Swiergon, Piotr; Singh, Tanoj; Knoerzer, Kai; Juliano, Pablo

2014-11-01

The formation of metallic particulates from erosion was investigated by running a series of transducers at various frequencies in water. Two low frequency transducer sonotrodes were run for 7.5h at 18kHz and 20kHz. Three high frequency plates operating at megasonic frequencies of 0.4MHz, 1MHz, and 2MHz were run over a 7days period. Electrical conductivity and pH of the solution were measured before and after each run. A portion of the non-sonicated and treated water was partially evaporated to achieve an 80-fold concentration of particles and then sieved through nano-filters of 0.1μm, 0.05μm, and 0.01μm. An aliquot of the evaporated liquid was also completely dried on strips of carbon tape to determine the presence of finer particles post sieving. An aliquot was analyzed for detection of 11 trace elements by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICPMS). The filters and carbon tapes were analyzed by FE-SEM imaging to track the presence of metals by EDS (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) and measure the particle size and approximate composition of individual particles detected. Light microscopy visualization was used to calculate the area occupied by the particles present in each filter and high resolution photography was used for visualization of sonotrode surfaces. The roughness of all transducers before and after sonication was tested through profilometry. No evidence of formation of nano-particles was found at any tested frequency. High amounts of metallic micron-sized particles at 18kHz and 20kHz formed within a day, while after 7day runs only a few metallic micro particles were detected above 0.4MHz. Erosion was corroborated by an increase in roughness in the 20kHz tip after ultrasound. The elemental analysis showed that metal leach occurred but values remained below accepted drinking water limits, even after excessively long exposure to ultrasound. With the proviso that the particles measured here were only characterized in two dimensions and could be

"Anterior convergent" chest probing in rapid ultrasound transducer positioning versus formal chest ultrasonography to detect pneumothorax during the primary survey of hospital trauma patients: a diagnostic accuracy study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ziapour, Behrad; Haji, Houman Seyedjavady

2015-01-01

Occult pneumothorax represents a diagnostic pitfall during the primary survey of trauma patients, particularly if these patients require early positive pressure ventilation. This study investigated the accuracy of our proposed rapid model of ultrasound transducer positioning during the primary survey of trauma patients after their arrival at the hospital. This diagnostic trial was conducted over 12 months and was based on the results of 84 ultrasound (US) exams performed on patients with severe multiple trauma. Our index test (US) was used to detect pneumothorax in four pre-defined locations on the anterior of each hemi-thorax using the "Anterior Convergent" approach, and its performance was limited to the primary survey. Consecutively, patients underwent chest-computed tomography (CT) with or without chest radiography. The diagnostic findings of both chest radiography and chest ultrasounds were compared to the gold-standard test (CT). The diagnostic sensitivity was 78 % for US and 36.4 % for chest radiography (p chest radiography (not significant); the positive predictive values were 74 % for US and 80 % for chest radiography (not significant); the negative predictive values were 94 % for US and 87 % for chest radiography (not significant); the positive likelihood ratio was 10 for US and 18 for chest radiography (p = 0.007); and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.25 for US and 0.65 for chest radiography (p = 0.001). The mean required time for performing the new method was 64 ± 10 s. An absence of the expected diffused dynamic view among ultrasound images obtained from patients with pneumothorax was also observed. We designated this phenomenon "Gestalt Lung Recession." "Anterior convergent" chest US probing represents a brief but efficient model that provides clinicians a safe and accurate exam and adequate resuscitation during critical minutes of the primary survey without interrupting other medical staff activities taking place around the

Microbubbles induce renal hemorrhage when exposed to diagnostic ultrasound in anesthetized rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Wible, James H; Galen, Karen P; Wojdyla, Jolette K; Hughes, Michael S; Klibanov, Alexander L; Brandenburger, Gary H

2002-01-01

The generation of ultrasound (US) bioeffects using a clinical imaging system is controversial. We tested the hypothesis that the presence of microbubbles in the US field of a medical imager induces biologic effects. Both kidneys of anesthetized rats were insonified for 5 min using a medical imaging system after the administration of microbubbles. One kidney was insonified using a continuous mode (30 Hz) and the opposite kidney was insonified using an intermittent (1 Hz) technique. The microbubbles were exposed to three different transducer frequencies and four transducer output powers. After insonification, the animals were euthanized, the kidneys were removed and their gross appearance scored under "blinded" conditions using a defined scale. After the administration of microbubbles, US imaging of the kidney caused hemorrhage in the renal tissue. The severity and area of hemorrhage increased with an increase in the transducer power and a decrease in the transducer frequency. Intermittent insonification in the presence of microbubbles produced a greater degree of renal hemorrhage than continuous imaging techniques.

Full experimental modelling of a liver tissue mimicking phantom for medical ultrasound studies employing different hydrogels.

Science.gov (United States)

Casciaro, Sergio; Conversano, Francesco; Musio, Stefano; Casciaro, Ernesto; Demitri, Christian; Sannino, Alessandro

2009-04-01

Tissue mimicking phantoms have been widely reported to be an important tool for development, optimisation and performance testing of ultrasound-based diagnostic techniques. In particular, modern applications of tissue mimicking phantoms often include characterisation of the nonlinear behaviour of experimental ultrasound contrast agents. In such cases, the tissue-mimicking materials should be chosen not only based on the values of their density, speed of sound and attenuation coefficient, but also considering their effect on the appearance of "native harmonics" due to nonlinear distortion of ultrasound signal during propagation. In a previous paper it was demonstrated that a cellulose-based hydrogel is suitable to simulate nonlinear acoustical behaviour of liver tissue for thicknesses up to 8 cm. In this paper we present the experimental characterisation of the nonlinear acoustical behaviour of a different polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA)-based hydrogel, in order to assess whether and how it can improve the performances and overcome some limitations of the cellulose-based hydrogel as liver tissue-mimicking material. Samples of pig liver tissue, cellulose-based hydrogel and PEGDA-based hydrogel were insonified in a through-transmission set-up, employing 2.25-MHz pulses with different mechanical index (MI) values. Second harmonic and first harmonic amplitudes were extracted from the spectra of received signals and their difference was then used to compare sample behaviours. Obtained results show how a new more accurate and combined experimental model of linear and nonlinear acoustical behaviour of liver tissue is feasible. In fact, a further confirmation of the cellulose-based hydrogel effectiveness to precisely simulate the liver tissue for penetration depths up to 8 cm was provided, and it was also shown that the employment of the PEGDA-based hydrogel can extend the range of useful tissue-mimicking material thicknesses up to 11 cm, moreover allowing a

Advanced 3-D Ultrasound Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Morten Fischer

The main purpose of the PhD project was to develop methods that increase the 3-D ultrasound imaging quality available for the medical personnel in the clinic. Acquiring a 3-D volume gives the medical doctor the freedom to investigate the measured anatomy in any slice desirable after the scan has...... been completed. This allows for precise measurements of organs dimensions and makes the scan more operator independent. Real-time 3-D ultrasound imaging is still not as widespread in use in the clinics as 2-D imaging. A limiting factor has traditionally been the low image quality achievable using...... a channel limited 2-D transducer array and the conventional 3-D beamforming technique, Parallel Beamforming. The first part of the scientific contributions demonstrate that 3-D synthetic aperture imaging achieves a better image quality than the Parallel Beamforming technique. Data were obtained using both...

A Front-End ASIC with Receive Sub-array Beamforming Integrated with a 32 × 32 PZT Matrix Transducer for 3-D Transesophageal Echocardiography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chen, C.; Chen, Z.; Bera, Deep; Raghunathan, S.B.; ShabaniMotlagh, M.; Noothout, E.C.; Chang, Z.Y.; Ponte, Jacco; Prins, Christian; Vos, H.J.; Bosch, Johan G.; Verweij, M.D.; de Jong, N.; Pertijs, M.A.P.

2017-01-01

This paper presents a power-and area-efficient front-end application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that is directly integrated with an array of 32 × 32 piezoelectric transducer elements to enable next-generation miniature ultrasound probes for real-time 3-D transesophageal echocardiography.

Acoustic window planning for ultrasound acquisition.

Science.gov (United States)

Göbl, Rüdiger; Virga, Salvatore; Rackerseder, Julia; Frisch, Benjamin; Navab, Nassir; Hennersperger, Christoph

2017-06-01

Autonomous robotic ultrasound has recently gained considerable interest, especially for collaborative applications. Existing methods for acquisition trajectory planning are solely based on geometrical considerations, such as the pose of the transducer with respect to the patient surface. This work aims at establishing acoustic window planning to enable autonomous ultrasound acquisitions of anatomies with restricted acoustic windows, such as the liver or the heart. We propose a fully automatic approach for the planning of acquisition trajectories, which only requires information about the target region as well as existing tomographic imaging data, such as X-ray computed tomography. The framework integrates both geometrical and physics-based constraints to estimate the best ultrasound acquisition trajectories with respect to the available acoustic windows. We evaluate the developed method using virtual planning scenarios based on real patient data as well as for real robotic ultrasound acquisitions on a tissue-mimicking phantom. The proposed method yields superior image quality in comparison with a naive planning approach, while maintaining the necessary coverage of the target. We demonstrate that by taking image formation properties into account acquisition planning methods can outperform naive plannings. Furthermore, we show the need for such planning techniques, since naive approaches are not sufficient as they do not take the expected image quality into account.

A digital transducer and digital microphone using an optical technique

Science.gov (United States)

Ghelmansarai, F. A.

1996-09-01

A transducer is devised to measure pressure, displacements or angles by optical means. This transducer delivers a digital output without relying on interferometry techniques or analogue-to-digital converters. This device is based on an optical scanner and an optical detector. An inter-digital photoconductive detector (IDPC) is employed that delivers a series of pulses, whose number depends on the scan length. A pre-objective scanning configuration is used that allows for the possibility of a flat image plane. The optical scanner provides scanning of IDPC and the generated scan length is proportional to the measurand.

Development of a Modular Magnetostrictive Transducer for Torsional Guided Wave Transduction in a Cylindrical Structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Seung Hyun; Park, Jae Ha; Kwon, Hyu Sang; Ahn, Bong Young; Lee, Seung Seok [Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2009-10-15

Cylindrical structures such as pipes and shafts are widely used in various industrial facilities. Recently, researches on magnetostrictive transduction of torsional waves have been actively reported for the nondestructive evaluation of those cylindrical structures. However, the existing magnetostrictive patch transducer has somewhat inconvenient and time. Consuming process like patch bonding to a structure since it should employ a magnetostrictive patch having strong magnetostriction. To overcome these limitations of the existing transducer, in this work, we develop a novel modular magnetostrictive transducer to generate and measure torsional waves to inspect a cylindrical structure. The proposed transducer can be applied as viscous liquid coupling with shear couplant or dry coupling without coupling media instead of patch bonding to a structure. We describe a detailed structure of the modular transducer and conduct some experiments to verify its performance

Development of a Modular Magnetostrictive Transducer for Torsional Guided Wave Transduction in a Cylindrical Structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Seung Hyun; Park, Jae Ha; Kwon, Hyu Sang; Ahn, Bong Young; Lee, Seung Seok

2009-01-01

Cylindrical structures such as pipes and shafts are widely used in various industrial facilities. Recently, researches on magnetostrictive transduction of torsional waves have been actively reported for the nondestructive evaluation of those cylindrical structures. However, the existing magnetostrictive patch transducer has somewhat inconvenient and time. Consuming process like patch bonding to a structure since it should employ a magnetostrictive patch having strong magnetostriction. To overcome these limitations of the existing transducer, in this work, we develop a novel modular magnetostrictive transducer to generate and measure torsional waves to inspect a cylindrical structure. The proposed transducer can be applied as viscous liquid coupling with shear couplant or dry coupling without coupling media instead of patch bonding to a structure. We describe a detailed structure of the modular transducer and conduct some experiments to verify its performance

Semi-analytical computation of the acoustic field of a segment of a cylindrically concave transducer in lossless and attenuating media.

Science.gov (United States)

Karbeyaz, Başak Ulker; Miller, Eric L; Cleveland, Robin O

2007-02-01

Conventional ultrasound transducers used for medical diagnosis generally consist of linearly aligned rectangular apertures with elements that are focused in one plane. While traditional beamforming is easily accomplished with such transducers, the development of quantitative, physics-based imaging methods, such as tomography, requires an accurate, and computationally efficient, model of the field radiated by the transducer. The field can be expressed in terms of the Helmholtz-Kirchhoff integral; however, its direct numerical evaluation is a computationally intensive task. Here, a fast semianalytical method based on Stepanishen's spatial impulse response formulation [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 49, 1627-1638 (1971)] is developed to compute the acoustic field of a rectangular element of cylindrically concave transducers in a homogeneous medium. The pressure field, for, lossless and attenuating media, is expressed as a superposition of Bessel functions, which can be evaluated rapidly. In particular, the coefficients of the Bessel series are frequency independent and need only be evaluated once for a given transducer. A speed up of two orders of magnitude is obtained compared to an optimized direct numerical integration. The numerical results are compared with Field II and the Fresnel approximation.

Transrectal ultrasound applicator for prostate heating monitored using MRI thermometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Nadine Barrie; Buchanan, Mark T.; Hynynen, Kullervo

1999-01-01

Purpose: For potential localized hyperthermia treatment of tumors within the prostate, an ultrasound applicator consisting entirely of nonmagnetic materials for use with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been developed and tested on muscle tissue ex vivo and in vivo. Methods and Materials: A partial-cylindrical intracavitary transducer consisting of 16 elements in a 4 x 4 pattern was constructed. It produced a radially propagating acoustic pressure field. Each element of this array (1.5 x 0.75 cm), operating at 1.5 MHz, could be separately powered to produce a desired energy deposition pattern within a target volume. Spatial and temporal temperature elevations were determined using the temperature-dependent proton resonant frequency (PRF) shift and phase subtraction of MR images acquired during ultrasonic heating. Four rabbits were exposed to the ultrasound to raise the local tissue temperature to 45 deg. C for 25 minutes. Six experiments compared thermocouple temperature results to PRF shift temperature results. Results: The tests showed that the multi-element ultrasound applicator was MRI-compatible and allowed imaging during sonication. The induced temperature distribution could be controlled by monitoring the RF power to each transducer element. Therapeutic temperature elevations were easily achieved in vivo at power levels that were about 16% of the maximum system power. From the six thermocouple experiments, comparison between the thermocouple temperature and the PRF temperature yielded an average error of 0.34 ± 0.36 deg. C. Conclusions: The MRI-compatible intracavitary applicator and driving system was able to control the ultrasound field and temperature pattern in vivo. MRI thermometry using the PRF shift can provide adequate temperature accuracy and stability for controlling the temperature distribution

High-resolution ultrasound biomicroscopy for monitoring ovarian structures in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Singh Jaswant

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Until recently, the limit of spatial resolution of ultrasound systems has prevented characterization of structures Methods Experiment 1 was a pilot study to develop methods of immobilization (physical restraint vs. general anesthesia and determine technical factors affecting ovarian images using ultrasound bio-microscopy in rats vs. mice. The hair coat was removed over the thoraco-lumber area using depilation cream, and a highly viscous acoustic gel was applied while the animals were maintained in sternal recumbency. In Experiment 2, changes in ovarian structures during the estrous cycle were monitored by twice daily ultrasonography in 10 mice for 2 estrous cycles. Results Ovarian images were not distinct in rats due to attenuation of ultrasound waves. Physical restraint, without general anesthesia, was insufficient for immobilization in mice. By placing the transducer face over the dorsal flank, the kidney was visualized initially as a point of reference. A routine of moving the transducer a few millimetres caudo-laterally from the kidney was established to quickly and consistently localize the ovaries; the total time to scan both ovaries in a mouse was about 10 minutes. By comparing vaginal cytology with non-anesthetized controls, repeated exposure to anesthesia did not affect the estrous cycle. Temporal changes in the number of follicles in 3 different size categories support the hypothesis that follicles ≥ 20 microns develop in a wave-like fashion. Conclusion The mouse is a suitable model for the study of ovarian dynamics using transcutaneous ultrasound bio-microscopy. Repeated general anesthesia for examination had no apparent effect on the estrous cycle, and preliminary results revealed a wave-like pattern of ovarian follicle development in mice.

Ultrasound fields in an attenuating medium

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Gandhi,, D; O'Brien,, W.D., Jr.

1993-01-01

of the rectangles and sums all contributions to arrive at the spatial impulse response for the aperture and field point. This approach makes it possible to model all transducer apertures, and the program can readily calculate the emitted, pulse-echo and continuous wave field. Attenuation is included by splitting...... it into a frequency dependent part and frequency independent part. The latter results in an attenuation factor that is multiplied onto the responses from the individual elements, and the frequency dependent part is handled by attenuating the basic one-dimensional pulse. The influence on ultrasound fields from......Ultrasound fields propagating in tissue will undergo changes in shape not only due to diffraction, but also due to the frequency dependent attenuation. Linear fields can be fairly well predicted for a non-attenuating medium like water by using the Tupholme-Stepanishen method for calculating...

Tissue Harmonic Synthetic Aperture Ultrasound Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hemmsen, Martin Christian; Rasmussen, Joachim; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2014-01-01

Synthetic aperture sequential beamforming (SASB) and tissue har- monic imaging (THI) are combined to improve the image quality of medical ultrasound imaging. The technique is evaluated in a compar- ative study against dynamic receive focusing (DRF). The objective is to investigate if SASB combined...... with THI improves the image qual- ity compared to DRF-THI. The major benet of SASB is a reduced bandwidth between the probe and processing unit. A BK Medical 2202 Ultraview ultrasound scanner was used to acquire beamformed RF data for oine evaluation. The acquisition was made interleaved between methods......, and data were recorded with and without pulse inversion for tissue harmonic imaging. Data were acquired using a Sound Technol- ogy 192 element convex array transducer from both a wire phantom and a tissue mimicking phantom to investigate spatial resolution and pen- etration. In-vivo scans were also...

Adaptive HIFU noise cancellation for simultaneous therapy and imaging using an integrated HIFU/imaging transducer.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Jong Seob; Cannata, Jonathan Matthew; Shung, K Kirk

2010-04-07

It was previously demonstrated that it is feasible to simultaneously perform ultrasound therapy and imaging of a coagulated lesion during treatment with an integrated transducer that is capable of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and B-mode ultrasound imaging. It was found that coded excitation and fixed notch filtering upon reception could significantly reduce interference caused by the therapeutic transducer. During HIFU sonication, the imaging signal generated with coded excitation and fixed notch filtering had a range side-lobe level of less than -40 dB, while traditional short-pulse excitation and fixed notch filtering produced a range side-lobe level of -20 dB. The shortcoming is, however, that relatively complicated electronics may be needed to utilize coded excitation in an array imaging system. It is for this reason that in this paper an adaptive noise canceling technique is proposed to improve image quality by minimizing not only the therapeutic interference, but also the remnant side-lobe 'ripples' when using the traditional short-pulse excitation. The performance of this technique was verified through simulation and experiments using a prototype integrated HIFU/imaging transducer. Although it is known that the remnant ripples are related to the notch attenuation value of the fixed notch filter, in reality, it is difficult to find the optimal notch attenuation value due to the change in targets or the media resulted from motion or different acoustic properties even during one sonication pulse. In contrast, the proposed adaptive noise canceling technique is capable of optimally minimizing both the therapeutic interference and residual ripples without such constraints. The prototype integrated HIFU/imaging transducer is composed of three rectangular elements. The 6 MHz center element is used for imaging and the outer two identical 4 MHz elements work together to transmit the HIFU beam. Two HIFU elements of 14.4 mm x 20.0 mm dimensions could

Adaptive HIFU noise cancellation for simultaneous therapy and imaging using an integrated HIFU/imaging transducer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, Jong Seob; Cannata, Jonathan Matthew; Shung, K Kirk

2010-01-01

It was previously demonstrated that it is feasible to simultaneously perform ultrasound therapy and imaging of a coagulated lesion during treatment with an integrated transducer that is capable of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and B-mode ultrasound imaging. It was found that coded excitation and fixed notch filtering upon reception could significantly reduce interference caused by the therapeutic transducer. During HIFU sonication, the imaging signal generated with coded excitation and fixed notch filtering had a range side-lobe level of less than -40 dB, while traditional short-pulse excitation and fixed notch filtering produced a range side-lobe level of -20 dB. The shortcoming is, however, that relatively complicated electronics may be needed to utilize coded excitation in an array imaging system. It is for this reason that in this paper an adaptive noise canceling technique is proposed to improve image quality by minimizing not only the therapeutic interference, but also the remnant side-lobe 'ripples' when using the traditional short-pulse excitation. The performance of this technique was verified through simulation and experiments using a prototype integrated HIFU/imaging transducer. Although it is known that the remnant ripples are related to the notch attenuation value of the fixed notch filter, in reality, it is difficult to find the optimal notch attenuation value due to the change in targets or the media resulted from motion or different acoustic properties even during one sonication pulse. In contrast, the proposed adaptive noise canceling technique is capable of optimally minimizing both the therapeutic interference and residual ripples without such constraints. The prototype integrated HIFU/imaging transducer is composed of three rectangular elements. The 6 MHz center element is used for imaging and the outer two identical 4 MHz elements work together to transmit the HIFU beam. Two HIFU elements of 14.4 mm x 20.0 mm dimensions could

Simulation and training of ultrasound supported anaesthesia: a low-cost approach

Science.gov (United States)

Schaaf, T.; Lamontain, M.; Hilpert, J.; Schilling, F.; Tolxdorff, T.

2010-03-01

The use of ultrasound imaging technology during techniques of peripheral nerve blockade offers several clinical benefits. Here we report on a new method to educate residents in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia. The daily challenge for the anesthesiologists is the 3D angle-depending handling of the stimulation needle and the ultrasound probe while watching the 2D ultrasound image on the monitor. Purpose: Our approach describes how a computer-aided simulation and training set for ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia could be built based on wireless low-cost devices and an interactive simulation of a 2D ultrasound image. For training purposes the injection needle and the ultrasound probe are replaced by wireless Bluetooth-connected 3D tracking devices, which are embedded in WII-mote controllers (Nintendo-Brand). In correlation to the tracked 3D positions of the needle and transducer models the visibility and position of the needle should be simulated in the 2D generated ultrasound image. Conclusion: In future, this tracking and visualization software module could be integrated in a more complex training set, where complex injection paths could be trained based on a 3D segmented model and the training results could be part of a curricular e-learning module.

Finite element modeling of the 1-D piezoceramic ultrasound array inter-element cross-coupling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

State, M.; Ledoux, L.; Vosse, van de F.N.

2008-01-01

sponsible for undesired behavior in radiation field patterns and electroacoustic response of the ultrasound transducers for medical imaging. This undesired behavior is ultimately impairing the end echographic image quality [1,2]. The aim of our research is to study the influence of the dicing depth,

Bone Composition Diagnostics: Photoacoustics Versus Ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lifeng; Lashkari, Bahman; Mandelis, Andreas; Tan, Joel W. Y.

2015-06-01

Ultrasound (US) backscatter from bones depends on the mechanical properties and the microstructure of the interrogated bone. On the other hand, photoacoustics (PA) is sensitive to optical properties of tissue and can detect composition variation. Therefore, PA can provide complementary information about bone health and integrity. In this work, a comparative study of US backscattering and PA back-propagating signals from animal trabecular bones was performed. Both methods were applied using a linear frequency modulation chirp and matched filtering. A 2.2 MHz ultrasonic transducer was employed to detect both signals. The use of the frequency domain facilitates spectral analysis. The variation of signals shows that in addition to sensitivity to mineral changes, PA exhibits sensitivity to changes in the organic part of the bone. It is, therefore, concluded that the combination of both modalities can provide complementary detailed information on bone health than either method separately. In addition, comparison of PA and US depthwise images shows the higher penetration of US. Surface scan images exhibit very weak correlation between US and PA which could be caused by the different signal generation origins in mechanical versus optical properties, respectively.

Ultrasound elastography for imaging tendons and muscles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Drakonaki

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Ultrasound elastography is a recently developed ultrasound-based method which allows the qualitative or quantitative evaluation of the mechanical properties of tissue. Strain (compression ultrasound elastography is the commonest technique performed by ap‑ plying mild compression with the hand-held transducer to create real-time strain dis‑ tribution maps, which are color-coded and superimposed on the B-mode images. There is increasing evidence that ultrasound elastography can be used in the investigation of muscle, tendon and soft tissue disease in the clinical practice, as a supplementary tool to conventional ultrasound examination. Based on preliminary data, potential clinical appli‑ cations include early diagnosis, staging, and guiding interventions musculotendinous and neuromuscular disease as well as monitoring disease during rehabilitation. Ultrasound elastography could also be used for research into the biomechanics and pathophysiology of musculotendinous disease. Despite the great interest in the technique, there is still limited evidence in the literature and there are several technical issues which limit the reproducibility of the method, including differences in quantification methods, artefacts, limitations and variation in the application of the technique by different users. This re‑ view presents the published evidence on musculoskeletal applications of strain elastogra‑ phy, discusses the technical issues and future perspectives of this method and emphasizes the need for standardization and further research.

Ultrasound triggered drug delivery with liposomal nested microbubbles.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, N; Wrenn, S P

2015-12-01

When ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles are nested within a liposome, damage to the liposome membrane caused by both stable and inertial cavitation of the microbubble allows for release of the aqueous core of the liposome. Triggered release was not accomplished unless microbubbles were present within the liposome. Leakage was tested using fluorescence assays developed specifically for this drug delivery vehicle and qualitative measurements using an optical microscope. These studies were done using a 1 MHz focused ultrasound transducer while varying parameters including peak negative ultrasound pressure, average liposome diameter, and microbubble concentration. Two regimes exist for membrane disruption caused by cavitating microbubbles. A faster release rate, as well as permanent membrane damage are seen for samples exposed to high pressure (2.1-3.7 MPa). A slower release rate and dilation/temporary poration are characteristic of stable cavitation for low pressure studies (0.54-1.7 MPa). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Macular hole: 10 and 20-MHz ultrasound and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliana Mantovani Bottós

2012-12-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: Optical coherence tomography (OCT is valuable for macula evaluation. However, as this technique relies on light energy it cannot be performed in the presence of opaque media. In such cases, the ultrasound (US may predict some macular features. The aim of this study was to characterize images obtained by ultrasound with 10 and 20-MHz transducers comparing to OCT, as well as to analyze the relationship between the vitreous and retina in eyes with macular hole (MH. METHODS: 29 eyes of 22 patients with biomicroscopic evidence of MH at different stages were included. All patients were evaluated using ultrasonography with 10 and 20-MHz transducers and OCT. RESULTS: OCT identified signs of MH in 25 of 29 eyes. The remaining 4 cases not identified by US were pseudoholes caused by epiretinal membranes. In MH stages I (2 eyes and II (1 eye, both transducers were not useful to analyze the macular thickening, but suggestive findings as macular irregularity, operculum or partial posterior vitreous detachment (PVD were highlighted. In stages III (14 eyes and IV (5 eyes, both transducers identified the double hump irregularity and thickening. US could measure the macular thickness and other suggestive findings for MH: operculum, vitreomacular traction and partial or complete PVD. In cases of pseudoholes, US identified irregularities macular contour and a discrete depression. CONCLUSION: 10-MHz US was useful for an overall assessment of the vitreous body as well as its relationship to the retina. The 20-MHz transducer allowed valuable information on the vitreomacular interface and macular contour. OCT provides superior quality for fine morphological study of macular area, except in cases of opaque media. In these cases, and even if OCT is not available, the combined US study is able to provide a valid evaluation of the macular area improving therapeutic approach.

An ultrasound system for simultaneous ultrasound hyperthermia and photon beam irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Straube, William L.; Moros, Eduardo G.; Low, Daniel A.; Klein, Eric E.; Willcut, Virgil M.; Myerson, Robert J.

1996-01-01

Purpose: An existing ultrasound system has been adapted for simultaneous use with external photon beam irradiation. The system is being used to investigate the potential for increased biological benefit of simultaneously combined hyperthermia and external beam irradiation with currently achievable temperature distributions. Methods and Materials: An existing clinical ultrasound system has been modified for simultaneous operation with a 60 Co teletherapy machine. The generator, thermometry system, computer, and applicators are located inside the treatment room, while the monitor and system control are located at the control console. Two approaches have been used clinically to combine the two modalities. In the first approach, an en-face setup is used in which the ultrasound beam and the photon beam travel through the same window of entry to the tumor. This is achieved by a reflecting system designed to deflect the ultrasound to the tumor while positioning the ultrasound transducer outside the radiation beam. The reflecting system consists of water and water-equivalent materials except for a 1 mm sheet of polished brass that is used as the reflector. The relative pressure fields were measured in water at the same distance from the ultrasound source using a scanning hydrophone with and without the reflector at the two operating frequencies of the device (1.0 and 3.4 MHz) for two applicators. Radiation dosimetry measurements were performed to determine the relationship between 60 Co irradiation through the reflector and absorbed dose. In the second approach the ultrasound and the radiation beam travel into the tumor from different windows of entry such that the radiation beam passes through no portion of the water bolus prior to entering the patient. We have termed this approach the orthogonal approach. For both approaches, the radiation fraction is given in the middle of an uninterrupted 60-min hyperthermia treatment. Results: The system modifications did not impair

Generation of ultrasound in materials using continuous-wave lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, James N; DiComo, Gregory P; Nikitin, Sergei

2012-03-01

Generating and detecting ultrasound is a standard method of nondestructive evaluation of materials. Pulsed lasers are used to generate ultrasound remotely in situations that prohibit the use of contact transducers. The scanning rate is limited by the repetition rates of the pulsed lasers, ranging between 10 and 100 Hz for lasers with sufficient pulse widths and energies. Alternately, a high-power continuous-wave laser can be scanned across the surface, creating an ultrasonic wavefront. Since generation is continuous, the scanning rate can be as much as 4 orders of magnitude higher than with pulsed lasers. This paper introduces the concept, comparing the theoretical scanning speed with generation by pulsed laser. © 2012 Optical Society of America

Design and fabrication of liner-arroy ultrasonic transducer using KLM and FEM simulation for non-destructive testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Chan Yuk; Sung, Jin Ho; Jeong, Jong Seob

2015-01-01

In this paper, a linear-array transducer capable of overcoming the faults of a single element and phased array transducers with convex shape for non-destructive ultrasonic testing was designed and fabricated. A 5.5 MHz linear-array transducer was designed using the PiezoCAD program based on the KLM analysis and the PZFlex program based on the FEM analysis. A 2-2 composite structure was employed to achieve broad-band characteristics. A 128 element linear-array transducer was fabricated and its performance was compared with the simulation results. The center frequency of the fabricated transducer was 5.5 Mhzand the -6 dB frequency bandwidth was 70 %. Thus, we expect that the designed transducer can provide an effective inner image of the test material during non-destructive ultrasonic testing.

Design and fabrication of liner-arroy ultrasonic transducer using KLM and FEM simulation for non-destructive testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Chan Yuk; Sung, Jin Ho; Jeong, Jong Seob [Dept. of Medical Biotechnology, Dongguk University Biomedi Campus, Goyang (Korea, Republic of)

2015-04-15

In this paper, a linear-array transducer capable of overcoming the faults of a single element and phased array transducers with convex shape for non-destructive ultrasonic testing was designed and fabricated. A 5.5 MHz linear-array transducer was designed using the PiezoCAD program based on the KLM analysis and the PZFlex program based on the FEM analysis. A 2-2 composite structure was employed to achieve broad-band characteristics. A 128 element linear-array transducer was fabricated and its performance was compared with the simulation results. The center frequency of the fabricated transducer was 5.5 Mhzand the -6 dB frequency bandwidth was 70 %. Thus, we expect that the designed transducer can provide an effective inner image of the test material during non-destructive ultrasonic testing.

Experimental performance assessment of the sub-band minimum variance beamformer for ultrasound imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diamantis, Konstantinos; Greenaway, Alan H.; Anderson, Tom

2017-01-01

Recent progress in adaptive beamforming techniques for medical ultrasound has shown that current resolution limits can be surpassed. One method of obtaining improved lateral resolution is the Minimum Variance (MV) beamformer. The frequency domain implementation of this method effectively divides...... the broadband ultrasound signals into sub-bands (MVS) to conform with the narrow-band assumption of the original MV theory. This approach is investigated here using experimental Synthetic Aperture (SA) data from wire and cyst phantoms. A 7 MHz linear array transducer is used with the SARUS experimental...

Laser generated ultrasound sources using polymer nanocomposites for high frequency metrology

KAUST Repository

Rajagopal, Srinath

2017-11-22

Accurate characterisation of ultrasound fields generated by diagnostic and therapeutic transducers is critical for patient safety. This requires hydrophones calibrated to a traceable standard. The existing implementation of the primary standard at the National Measurement Institutes, e.g., NPL and PTB, can provide accurate calibration to a maximum frequency of 40MHz. However, the increasing use of high frequencies for both imaging and therapy necessitates calibrations to frequencies well beyond this range. For this to be possible, a source of high amplitude, broadband, quasi-planar and stable ultrasound fields is required. This is difficult to achieve using conventional piezoelectric sources, but laser generated ultrasound is a promising technique in this regard. In this study various polymer-carbon nanotube nanocomposites (PNC) were fabricated and tested for their suitability for such an application.

Superficial Ultrasound Shear Wave Speed Measurements in Soft and Hard Elasticity Phantoms: Repeatability and Reproducibility Using Two Different Ultrasound Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Dillman, Jonathan R.; Chen, Shigao; Davenport, Matthew S.; Zhao, Heng; Urban, Matthew W.; Song, Pengfei; Watcharotone, Kuanwong; Carson, Paul L.

2014-01-01

Background There is a paucity of data available regarding the repeatability and reproducibility of superficial shear wave speed (SWS) measurements at imaging depths relevant to the pediatric population. Purpose To assess the repeatability and reproducibility of superficial shear wave speed (SWS) measurements acquired from elasticity phantoms at varying imaging depths using three different imaging methods, two different ultrasound systems, and multiple operators. Methods and Materials Soft and hard elasticity phantoms manufactured by Computerized Imaging Reference Systems, Inc. (Norfolk, VA) were utilized for our investigation. Institution #1 used an Acuson S3000 ultrasound system (Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.) and three different shear wave imaging method/transducer combinations, while institution #2 used an Aixplorer ultrasound system (Supersonic Imagine) and two different transducers. Ten stiffness measurements were acquired from each phantom at three depths (1.0, 2.5, and 4.0 cm) by four operators at each institution. Student’s t-test was used to compare SWS measurements between imaging techniques, while SWS measurement agreement was assessed with two-way random effects single measure intra-class correlation coefficients and coefficients of variation. Mixed model regression analysis determined the effect of predictor variables on SWS measurements. Results For the soft phantom, the average of mean SWS measurements across the various imaging methods and depths was 0.84 ± 0.04 m/s (mean ± standard deviation) for the Acuson S3000 system and 0.90 ± 0.02 m/s for the Aixplorer system (p=0.003). For the hard phantom, the average of mean SWS measurements across the various imaging methods and depths was 2.14 ± 0.08 m/s for the Acuson S3000 system and 2.07 ± 0.03 m/s Aixplorer system (p>0.05). The coefficients of variation were low (0.5–6.8%), and inter-operator agreement was near-perfect (ICCs ≥0.99). Shear wave imaging method and imaging depth

Wireless Power Transfer to Millimeter-Sized Nodes Using Airborne Ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Rekhi, Angad S; Khuri-Yakub, Butrus T; Arbabian, Amin

2017-10-01

We propose the use of airborne ultrasound for wireless power transfer to mm-sized nodes, with intended application in the next generation of the Internet of Things (IoT). We show through simulation that ultrasonic power transfer can deliver 50 [Formula: see text] to a mm-sized node 0.88 m away from a ~ 50-kHz, 25-cm 2 transmitter array, with the peak pressure remaining below recommended limits in air, and with load power increasing with transmitter area. We report wireless power recovery measurements with a precharged capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer, demonstrating a load power of 5 [Formula: see text] at a simulated distance of 1.05 m. We present aperture efficiency, dynamic range, and bias-free operation as key metrics for the comparison of transducers meant for wireless power recovery. We also argue that long-range wireless charging at the watt level is extremely challenging with existing technology and regulations. Finally, we compare our acoustic powering system with cutting edge electromagnetically powered nodes and show that ultrasound has many advantages over RF as a vehicle for power delivery. Our work sets the foundation for further research into ultrasonic wireless power transfer for the IoT.

MATLAB/Simulink Pulse-Echo Ultrasound System Simulator Based on Experimentally Validated Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Taehoon; Shin, Sangmin; Lee, Hyongmin; Lee, Hyunsook; Kim, Heewon; Shin, Eunhee; Kim, Suhwan

2016-02-01

A flexible clinical ultrasound system must operate with different transducers, which have characteristic impulse responses and widely varying impedances. The impulse response determines the shape of the high-voltage pulse that is transmitted and the specifications of the front-end electronics that receive the echo; the impedance determines the specification of the matching network through which the transducer is connected. System-level optimization of these subsystems requires accurate modeling of pulse-echo (two-way) response, which in turn demands a unified simulation of the ultrasonics and electronics. In this paper, this is realized by combining MATLAB/Simulink models of the high-voltage transmitter, the transmission interface, the acoustic subsystem which includes wave propagation and reflection, the receiving interface, and the front-end receiver. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our simulator, the models are experimentally validated by comparing the simulation results with the measured data from a commercial ultrasound system. This simulator could be used to quickly provide system-level feedback for an optimized tuning of electronic design parameters.

Coalgebraising subsequential transducers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

H.H. Hansen (Helle); J. Adamek; C.A. Kupke (Clemens)

2008-01-01

htmlabstractSubsequential transducers generalise both classic deterministic automata and Mealy/Moore type state machines by combining (input) language recognition with transduction. In this paper we show that normalisation and taking differentials of subsequential transducers and their underlying

Novel power MOSFET-based expander for high frequency ultrasound systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hojong; Shung, K Kirk

2014-01-01

The function of an expander is to obstruct the noise signal transmitted by the pulser so that it does not pass into the transducer or receive electronics, where it can produce undesirable ring-down in an ultrasound imaging application. The most common type is a diode-based expander, which is essentially a simple diode-pair, is widely used in pulse-echo measurements and imaging applications because of its simple architecture. However, diode-based expanders may degrade the performance of ultrasonic transducers and electronic components on the receiving and transmitting sides of the ultrasound systems, respectively. Since they are non-linear devices, they cause excessive signal attenuation and noise at higher frequencies and voltages. In this paper, a new type of expander that utilizes power MOSFET components, which we call a power MOSFET-based expander, is introduced and evaluated for use in high frequency ultrasound imaging systems. The performance of a power MOSFET-based expander was evaluated relative to a diode-based expander by comparing the noise figure (NF), insertion loss (IL), total harmonic distortion (THD), response time (RT), electrical impedance (EI) and dynamic power consumption (DPC). The results showed that the power MOSFET-based expander provided better NF (0.76 dB), IL (-0.3 dB) and THD (-62.9 dB), and faster RT (82 ns) than did the diode-based expander (NF (2.6 dB), IL (-1.4 dB), THD (-56.0 dB) and RT (119 ns)) at 70 MHz. The -6 dB bandwidth and the peak-to-peak voltage of the echo signal received by the transducer using the power MOSFET-based expander improved by 17.4% and 240% compared to the diode-based expander, respectively. The new power MOSFET-based expander was shown to yield lower NF, IL and THD, faster RT and lower ring down than the diode-based expander at the expense of higher dynamic power consumption. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contributions to ultrasound monitoring of the process of milk curdling.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, Antonio; Rufo, Montaña; Paniagua, Jesús M; Crespo, Abel T; Guerrero, M Patricia; Riballo, M José

2017-04-01

Ultrasound evaluation permits the state of milk being curdled to be determined quickly and cheaply, thus satisfying the demands faced by today's dairy product producers. This paper describes the non-invasive ultrasonic method of in situ monitoring the changing physical properties of milk during the renneting process. The basic objectives of the study were, on the one hand, to confirm the usefulness of conventional non-destructive ultrasonic testing (time-of-flight and attenuation of the ultrasound waves) in monitoring the process in the case of ewe's milk, and, on the other, to include other ultrasound parameters which have not previously been considered in studies on this topic, in particular, parameters provided by the Fast Fourier Transform technique. The experimental study was carried out in a dairy industry environment on four 52-l samples of raw milk in which were immersed 500kHz ultrasound transducers. Other physicochemical parameters of the raw milk (pH, dry matter, protein, Gerber fat test, and lactose) were measured, as also were the pH and temperature of the curdled samples simultaneously with the ultrasound tests. Another contribution of this study is the linear correlation analysis of the aforementioned ultrasound parameters and the physicochemical properties of the curdled milk. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Coalgebraising Subsequential Transducers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hansen, H.H.

2008-01-01

Subsequential transducers generalise both classic deterministic automata and Mealy/Moore type state machines by combining (input) language recognition with transduction. In this paper we show that normalisation and taking differentials of subsequential transducers and their underlying structures can

Wall thickness tests by means of rotating electrodynamic transducers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hueschelrath, G.

1986-01-01

For about three years, the EROT system has been employed for measuring wall thicknesses on pipes of ferritic steels. The experience gathered and the degree of reliability reached up to now are definitely encouraging, so that an increased use of electrodynamic transducers can be expected for measuring pipes with outside diameters of up to 22 inches. (orig.) [de

Are ultrasound-guided ophthalmic blocks injurious to the eye? A comparative rabbit model study of two ultrasound devices evaluating intraorbital thermal and structural changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Palte, Howard D; Gayer, Steven; Arrieta, Esdras; Scot Shaw, Eric; Nose, Izuru; Lee, Elizabete; Arheart, Kristopher L; Dubovy, Sander; Birnbach, David J; Parel, Jean-Marie

2012-07-01

Since Atkinson's original description of retrobulbar block in 1936, needle-based anesthetic techniques have become integral to ophthalmic anesthesia. These techniques are unfortunately associated with rare, grave complications such as globe perforation. Ultrasound has gained widespread acceptance for peripheral nerve blockade, but its translation to ocular anesthesia has been hampered because sonic energy, in the guise of thermal or biomechanical insult, is potentially injurious to vulnerable eye tissue. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defined guidelines for safe use of ultrasound for ophthalmic examination, but most ultrasound devices used by anesthesiologists are not FDA-approved for ocular application because they generate excessive energy. Regulating agencies state that ultrasound examinations can be safely undertaken as long as tissue temperatures do not increase >1.5°C above physiological levels. Using a rabbit model, we investigated the thermal and mechanical ocular effects after prolonged ultrasonic exposure to single orbital- and nonorbital-rated devices. In a dual-phase study, aimed at detecting ocular injury, the eyes of 8 rabbits were exposed to continuous 10-minute ultrasound examinations from 2 devices: (1) the Sonosite Micromaxx (nonorbital rated) and (2) the Sonomed VuMax (orbital rated) machines. In phase I, temperatures were continuously monitored via thermocouples implanted within specific eye structures (n = 4). In phase II the eyes were subjected to ultrasonic exposure without surgical intervention (n = 4). All eyes underwent light microscopy examinations, followed at different intervals by histology evaluations conducted by an ophthalmic pathologist. Temperature changes were monitored in the eyes of 4 rabbits. The nonorbital-rated transducer produced increases in ocular tissue temperature that surpassed the safe limit (increases >1.5°C) in the lens of 3 rabbits (at 5.0, 5.5, and 1.5 minutes) and cornea of 2 rabbits (both at 1

Algorithms for estimating blood velocities using ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2000-01-01

Ultrasound has been used intensively for the last 15 years for studying the hemodynamics of the human body. Systems for determining both the velocity distribution at one point of interest (spectral systems) and for displaying a map of velocity in real time have been constructed. A number of schemes...... have been developed for performing the estimation, and the various approaches are described. The current systems only display the velocity along the ultrasound beam direction and a velocity transverse to the beam is not detected. This is a major problem in these systems, since most blood vessels...... are parallel to the skin surface. Angling the transducer will often disturb the flow, and new techniques for finding transverse velocities are needed. The various approaches for determining transverse velocities will be explained. This includes techniques using two-dimensional correlation (speckle tracking...

Therapeutic ultrasound as a potential male contraceptive: power, frequency and temperature required to deplete rat testes of meiotic cells and epididymides of sperm determined using a commercially available system.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuruta, James K; Dayton, Paul A; Gallippi, Caterina M; O'Rand, Michael G; Streicker, Michael A; Gessner, Ryan C; Gregory, Thomas S; Silva, Erick J R; Hamil, Katherine G; Moser, Glenda J; Sokal, David C

2012-01-30

Studies published in the 1970s by Mostafa S. Fahim and colleagues showed that a short treatment with ultrasound caused the depletion of germ cells and infertility. The goal of the current study was to determine if a commercially available therapeutic ultrasound generator and transducer could be used as the basis for a male contraceptive. Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized and their testes were treated with 1 MHz or 3 MHz ultrasound while varying power, duration and temperature of treatment. We found that 3 MHz ultrasound delivered with 2.2 Watt per square cm power for fifteen minutes was necessary to deplete spermatocytes and spermatids from the testis and that this treatment significantly reduced epididymal sperm reserves. 3 MHz ultrasound treatment reduced total epididymal sperm count 10-fold lower than the wet-heat control and decreased motile sperm counts 1,000-fold lower than wet-heat alone. The current treatment regimen provided nominally more energy to the treatment chamber than Fahim's originally reported conditions of 1 MHz ultrasound delivered at 1 Watt per square cm for ten minutes. However, the true spatial average intensity, effective radiating area and power output of the transducers used by Fahim were not reported, making a direct comparison impossible. We found that germ cell depletion was most uniform and effective when we rotated the therapeutic transducer to mitigate non-uniformity of the beam field. The lowest sperm count was achieved when the coupling medium (3% saline) was held at 37 degrees C and two consecutive 15-minute treatments of 3 MHz ultrasound at 2.2 Watt per square cm were separated by 2 days. The non-invasive nature of ultrasound and its efficacy in reducing sperm count make therapeutic ultrasound a promising candidate for a male contraceptive. However, further studies must be conducted to confirm its efficacy in providing a contraceptive effect, to test the result of repeated use, to verify that the contraceptive effect is

Sampling system for in vivo ultrasound images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jorgen Arendt; Mathorne, Jan

1991-01-01

Newly developed algorithms for processing medical ultrasound images use the high frequency sampled transducer signal. This paper describes demands imposed on a sampling system suitable for acquiring such data and gives details about a prototype constructed. It acquires full clinical images...... at a sampling frequency of 20 MHz with a resolution of 12 bits. The prototype can be used for real time image processing. An example of a clinical in vivo image is shown and various aspects of the data acquisition process are discussed....

Control of liquid crystal molecular orientation using ultrasound vibration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taniguchi, Satoki [Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tataramiyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321 (Japan); Wave Electronics Research Center, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tataramiyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321 (Japan); Koyama, Daisuke; Matsukawa, Mami [Wave Electronics Research Center, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tataramiyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321 (Japan); Faculty of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tataramiyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321 (Japan); Shimizu, Yuki; Emoto, Akira [Faculty of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University, 1-3 Tataramiyakodani, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0321 (Japan); Nakamura, Kentaro [Precision and Intelligence Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-R2-26, Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226-8503 (Japan)

2016-03-07

We propose a technique to control the orientation of nematic liquid crystals using ultrasound and investigate the optical characteristics of the oriented samples. An ultrasonic liquid crystal cell with a thickness of 5–25 μm and two ultrasonic lead zirconate titanate transducers was fabricated. By exciting the ultrasonic transducers, the flexural vibration modes were generated on the cell. An acoustic radiation force to the liquid crystal layer was generated, changing the molecular orientation and thus the light transmission. By modulating the ultrasonic driving frequency and voltage, the spatial distribution of the molecular orientation of the liquid crystals could be controlled. The distribution of the transmitted light intensity depends on the thickness of the liquid crystal layer because the acoustic field in the liquid crystal layer is changed by the orientational film.

Development of an SH Wave Magnetostrictive Transducer Module for Guided Wave Testing of Plate Structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Seung Hyun; Park, Jae Ha; Kwon Hyu Sang; Ahn, Bong Young; Lee, Seung Seok

2009-01-01

Recently much attention has been paid to a guided wave due to its effective applicability to long range and fast inspection of structures. In guided wave based NDE, the appropriate selection of wave modes is one of important factors since the test performance is highly dependent on which mode of guided waves is employed. As far as plate-like structures are concerned, so far, SH guided wave has not been frequently applied compared to Lamb waves, which is mostly caused by the lack of proper and convenient transducers to generate and measure the SH waves. In this investigation, a new small-sized SH guided wave transducer based on magnetostriction is proposed. The present transducer was designed to be modular and be used with shear couplant to avoid the inconvenience of the existing magnetostrictive patch transducers, which comprises the ferromagnetic patch tightly bonded to a structure. The wave transduction mechanism and the detailed configuration of the present transducer are presented. Experimental verification is also conducted on test specimens and the results confirm the good performance of the present transducer module

Development of an SH Wave Magnetostrictive Transducer Module for Guided Wave Testing of Plate Structures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Seung Hyun; Park, Jae Ha; Kwon Hyu Sang; Ahn, Bong Young; Lee, Seung Seok [Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2009-04-15

Recently much attention has been paid to a guided wave due to its effective applicability to long range and fast inspection of structures. In guided wave based NDE, the appropriate selection of wave modes is one of important factors since the test performance is highly dependent on which mode of guided waves is employed. As far as plate-like structures are concerned, so far, SH guided wave has not been frequently applied compared to Lamb waves, which is mostly caused by the lack of proper and convenient transducers to generate and measure the SH waves. In this investigation, a new small-sized SH guided wave transducer based on magnetostriction is proposed. The present transducer was designed to be modular and be used with shear couplant to avoid the inconvenience of the existing magnetostrictive patch transducers, which comprises the ferromagnetic patch tightly bonded to a structure. The wave transduction mechanism and the detailed configuration of the present transducer are presented. Experimental verification is also conducted on test specimens and the results confirm the good performance of the present transducer module

SU-G-JeP3-08: Robotic System for Ultrasound Tracking in Radiation Therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuhlemann, I [University of Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany); Graduate School for Computing in Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Luebeck (Germany); Jauer, P; Schweikard, A; Ernst, F [University of Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany)

2016-06-15

Purpose: For safe and accurate real-time tracking of tumors for IGRT using 4D ultrasound, it is necessary to make use of novel, high-end force-sensitive lightweight robots designed for human-machine interaction. Such a robot will be integrated into an existing robotized ultrasound system for non-invasive 4D live tracking, using a newly developed real-time control and communication framework. Methods: The new KUKA LWR iiwa robot is used for robotized ultrasound real-time tumor tracking. Besides more precise probe contact pressure detection, this robot provides an additional 7th link, enhancing the dexterity of the kinematic and the mounted transducer. Several integrated, certified safety features create a safe environment for the patients during treatment. However, to remotely control the robot for the ultrasound application, a real-time control and communication framework has to be developed. Based on a client/server concept, client-side control commands are received and processed by a central server unit and are implemented by a client module running directly on the robot’s controller. Several special functionalities for robotized ultrasound applications are integrated and the robot can now be used for real-time control of the image quality by adjusting the transducer position, and contact pressure. The framework was evaluated looking at overall real-time capability for communication and processing of three different standard commands. Results: Due to inherent, certified safety modules, the new robot ensures a safe environment for patients during tumor tracking. Furthermore, the developed framework shows overall real-time capability with a maximum average latency of 3.6 ms (Minimum 2.5 ms; 5000 trials). Conclusion: The novel KUKA LBR iiwa robot will advance the current robotized ultrasound tracking system with important features. With the developed framework, it is now possible to remotely control this robot and use it for robotized ultrasound tracking

SU-G-JeP3-08: Robotic System for Ultrasound Tracking in Radiation Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuhlemann, I; Jauer, P; Schweikard, A; Ernst, F

2016-01-01

Purpose: For safe and accurate real-time tracking of tumors for IGRT using 4D ultrasound, it is necessary to make use of novel, high-end force-sensitive lightweight robots designed for human-machine interaction. Such a robot will be integrated into an existing robotized ultrasound system for non-invasive 4D live tracking, using a newly developed real-time control and communication framework. Methods: The new KUKA LWR iiwa robot is used for robotized ultrasound real-time tumor tracking. Besides more precise probe contact pressure detection, this robot provides an additional 7th link, enhancing the dexterity of the kinematic and the mounted transducer. Several integrated, certified safety features create a safe environment for the patients during treatment. However, to remotely control the robot for the ultrasound application, a real-time control and communication framework has to be developed. Based on a client/server concept, client-side control commands are received and processed by a central server unit and are implemented by a client module running directly on the robot’s controller. Several special functionalities for robotized ultrasound applications are integrated and the robot can now be used for real-time control of the image quality by adjusting the transducer position, and contact pressure. The framework was evaluated looking at overall real-time capability for communication and processing of three different standard commands. Results: Due to inherent, certified safety modules, the new robot ensures a safe environment for patients during tumor tracking. Furthermore, the developed framework shows overall real-time capability with a maximum average latency of 3.6 ms (Minimum 2.5 ms; 5000 trials). Conclusion: The novel KUKA LBR iiwa robot will advance the current robotized ultrasound tracking system with important features. With the developed framework, it is now possible to remotely control this robot and use it for robotized ultrasound tracking

The effect of ultrasound irradiation on the convective heat transfer rate during immersion cooling of a stationary sphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Kiani, Hossein; Sun, Da-Wen; Zhang, Zhihang

2012-11-01

It has been proven that ultrasound irradiation can enhance the rate of heat transfer processes. The objective of this work was to study the heat transfer phenomenon, mainly the heat exchange at the surface, as affected by ultrasound irradiation around a stationary copper sphere (k=386W m(-1)K(-1), C(p)=384J kg(-1)K(-1), ρ=8660kg m(-3)) during cooling. The sphere (0.01m in diameter) was immersed in an ethylene glycol-water mixture (-10°C) in an ultrasonic cooling system that included a refrigerated circulator, a flow meter, an ultrasound generator and an ultrasonic bath. The temperature of the sphere was recorded using a data logger equipped with a T-type thermocouple in the center of the sphere. The temperature of the cooling medium was also monitored by four thermocouples situated at different places in the bath. The sphere was located at different positions (0.02, 0.04 and 0.06m) above the transducer surface of the bath calculated considering the center of the sphere as the center of the reference system and was exposed to different intensities of ultrasound (0, 120, 190, 450, 890, 1800, 2800, 3400 and 4100W m(-2)) during cooling. The frequency of the ultrasound was 25kHz. It was demonstrated that ultrasound irradiation can increase the rate of heat transfer significantly, resulting in considerably shorter cooling times. Higher intensities caused higher cooling rates, and Nu values were increased from about 23-27 to 25-108 depending on the intensity of ultrasound and the position of the sphere. However, high intensities of ultrasound led to the generation of heat at the surface of the sphere, thus limiting the lowest final temperature achieved. An analytical solution was developed considering the heat generation and was fitted to the experimental data with R(2) values in the range of 0.910-0.998. Visual observations revealed that both cavitation and acoustic streaming were important for heat transfer phenomenon. Cavitation clouds at the surface of the sphere

Liquid sodium testing of in-house phased array EMAT transducer for L-wave applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Le Bourdais, F.; Le Polles, T. [Non Destructive Testing Department at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette CEDEX, (France); Baque, F. [Department of Sodium Technology at the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Cadarache, 13108 St Paul lez Durance CEDEX, (France)

2015-07-01

This paper describes the development of an in-house phased array EMAT transducer for longitudinal wave inspection in liquid sodium. The work presented herein is part of an undergoing project aimed at improving in-service inspection techniques for the ASTRID reactor project. The design process of the phased array EMAT probe is briefly explained and followed by a review of experimental test results. We first present test results obtained in the laboratory while the last part of the paper describes the liquid sodium testing and the produced ultrasound images. (authors)

Liquid sodium testing of in-house phased array EMAT transducer for L-wave applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Bourdais, F.; Le Polles, T.; Baque, F.

2015-01-01

This paper describes the development of an in-house phased array EMAT transducer for longitudinal wave inspection in liquid sodium. The work presented herein is part of an undergoing project aimed at improving in-service inspection techniques for the ASTRID reactor project. The design process of the phased array EMAT probe is briefly explained and followed by a review of experimental test results. We first present test results obtained in the laboratory while the last part of the paper describes the liquid sodium testing and the produced ultrasound images. (authors)

The feasibility of an infrared system for real-time visualization and mapping of ultrasound fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, Adam; Nunn, John, E-mail: adam.shaw@npl.co.u [National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, TW11 0LW (United Kingdom)

2010-06-07

In treatment planning for ultrasound therapy, it is desirable to know the 3D structure of the ultrasound field. However, mapping an ultrasound field in 3D is very slow, with even a single planar raster scan taking typically several hours. Additionally, hydrophones that are used for field mapping are expensive and can be damaged in some therapy fields. So there is value in rapid methods which enable visualization and mapping of the ultrasound field in about 1 min. In this note we explore the feasibility of mapping the intensity distribution by measuring the temperature distribution produced in a thin sheet of absorbing material. A 0.2 mm thick acetate sheet forms a window in the wall of a water tank containing the transducer. The window is oriented at 45{sup 0} to the beam axis, and the distance from the transducer to the window can be varied. The temperature distribution is measured with an infrared camera; thermal images of the inclined plane could be viewed in real time or images could be captured for later analysis and 3D field reconstruction. We conclude that infrared thermography can be used to gain qualitative information about ultrasound fields. Thermal images are easily visualized with good spatial and thermal resolutions (0.044 mm and 0.05 {sup 0}C in our system). The focus and field structure such as side lobes can be identified in real time from the direct video output. 3D maps and image planes at arbitrary orientations to the beam axis can be obtained and reconstructed within a few minutes. In this note we are primarily interested in the technique for characterization of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) fields, but other applications such as physiotherapy fields are also possible. (note)

The feasibility of an infrared system for real-time visualization and mapping of ultrasound fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaw, Adam; Nunn, John

2010-01-01

In treatment planning for ultrasound therapy, it is desirable to know the 3D structure of the ultrasound field. However, mapping an ultrasound field in 3D is very slow, with even a single planar raster scan taking typically several hours. Additionally, hydrophones that are used for field mapping are expensive and can be damaged in some therapy fields. So there is value in rapid methods which enable visualization and mapping of the ultrasound field in about 1 min. In this note we explore the feasibility of mapping the intensity distribution by measuring the temperature distribution produced in a thin sheet of absorbing material. A 0.2 mm thick acetate sheet forms a window in the wall of a water tank containing the transducer. The window is oriented at 45 0 to the beam axis, and the distance from the transducer to the window can be varied. The temperature distribution is measured with an infrared camera; thermal images of the inclined plane could be viewed in real time or images could be captured for later analysis and 3D field reconstruction. We conclude that infrared thermography can be used to gain qualitative information about ultrasound fields. Thermal images are easily visualized with good spatial and thermal resolutions (0.044 mm and 0.05 0 C in our system). The focus and field structure such as side lobes can be identified in real time from the direct video output. 3D maps and image planes at arbitrary orientations to the beam axis can be obtained and reconstructed within a few minutes. In this note we are primarily interested in the technique for characterization of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) fields, but other applications such as physiotherapy fields are also possible. (note)

Harmonic motion imaging for focused ultrasound (HMIFU): a fully integrated technique for sonication and monitoring of thermal ablation in tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maleke, C; Konofagou, E E

2008-01-01

FUS (focused ultrasound), or HIFU (high-intensity-focused ultrasound) therapy, a minimally or non-invasive procedure that uses ultrasound to generate thermal necrosis, has been proven successful in several clinical applications. This paper discusses a method for monitoring thermal treatment at different sonication durations (10 s, 20 s and 30 s) using the amplitude-modulated (AM) harmonic motion imaging for focused ultrasound (HMIFU) technique in bovine liver samples in vitro. The feasibility of HMI for characterizing mechanical tissue properties has previously been demonstrated. Here, a confocal transducer, combining a 4.68 MHz therapy (FUS) and a 7.5 MHz diagnostic (pulse-echo) transducer, was used. The therapy transducer was driven by a low-frequency AM continuous signal at 25 Hz, producing a stable harmonic radiation force oscillating at the modulation frequency. A pulser/receiver was used to drive the pulse-echo transducer at a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 5.4 kHz. Radio-frequency (RF) signals were acquired using a standard pulse-echo technique. The temperature near the ablation region was simultaneously monitored. Both RF signals and temperature measurements were obtained before, during and after sonication. The resulting axial tissue displacement was estimated using one-dimensional cross correlation. When temperature at the focal zone was above 48 deg. C during heating, the coagulation necrosis occurred and tissue damage was irreversible. The HMI displacement profiles in relation to the temperature and sonication durations were analyzed. At the beginning of heating, the temperature at the focus increased sharply, while the tissue stiffness decreased resulting in higher HMI displacements. This was confirmed by an increase of 0.8 μm deg. C -1 (r = 0.93, p -1 , r = -0.92, p -1 , prior to and after lesion formation in seven bovine liver samples, respectively. This technique was thus capable of following the protein-denatured lesion formation based on the

Ultrasound imaging of the nose in septorhinoplasty patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Stenner, Markus; Rudack, Claudia

2015-10-01

Detailed preoperative planning based on available clinical information is an essential component of determining septorhinoplasty outcome. In addition to rhinoscopy and airway measurements, preoperative photographs are the only image modalities that are regularly used in septorhinoplasty patients and contribute to the preoperative planning of the surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of high-resolution ultrasonography in septorhinoplasty patients before surgery and during follow-up. We examined 35 patients before and after open septorhinoplasty using 12- and 15-MHz B-mode, linear array transducer ultrasound in noncontact mode. The patients presented with a variety of different functional and aesthetic problems, and all underwent septorhinoplasty for septal modification, and tip and dorsum refinement. The mean follow-up time for ultrasound after surgery was 4.5 weeks. Soft tissue, cartilaginous, and bony structures of the nose could be well-visualised. In the untreated nose, functional and aesthetic characteristics as well as preoperative anatomy relevant for the planning of the surgery could be documented. Surgical modifications of the treated nose postoperatively, that is, osteotomies, inserted spreader grafts, diced cartilage in fascia, and tip sutures could be visualized and followed. Ultrasonography of the nose with a high-frequency transducer may be a helpful tool during preoperative planning and postoperative follow-up in septorhinoplasty patients and might be a reasonable completion to the common photographic and functional diagnostic.

Photoacoustic imaging of early gastric cancer diagnosis based on long focal area ultrasound transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Huaqin; Li, Zuoran; Liu, Lantian; Li, Zhifang; Wu, Shulian; Li, Hui

2017-06-01

We illustrated a novel imaging method to diagnose gastric neoplasms via photoacoustic tomography (PAT). Depending on the structural characteristics of gastric cavity, we used column diffusion fiber to irradiate the stomach tissue through the esophagus, and the externally placed telecentric focus ultrasonic transducer detected photoacoustic signals from the gastric tissue. We reconstructed the distribution of light energy deposition of the simulated gastric tumor, and obtained the location and size information of gastric tumor.

Machine Learning in Ultrasound Computer-Aided Diagnostic Systems: A Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Qinghua; Zhang, Fan; Li, Xuelong

2018-01-01

The ultrasound imaging is one of the most common schemes to detect diseases in the clinical practice. There are many advantages of ultrasound imaging such as safety, convenience, and low cost. However, reading ultrasound imaging is not easy. To support the diagnosis of clinicians and reduce the load of doctors, many ultrasound computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems are proposed. In recent years, the success of deep learning in the image classification and segmentation led to more and more scholars realizing the potential of performance improvement brought by utilizing the deep learning in the ultrasound CAD system. This paper summarized the research which focuses on the ultrasound CAD system utilizing machine learning technology in recent years. This study divided the ultrasound CAD system into two categories. One is the traditional ultrasound CAD system which employed the manmade feature and the other is the deep learning ultrasound CAD system. The major feature and the classifier employed by the traditional ultrasound CAD system are introduced. As for the deep learning ultrasound CAD, newest applications are summarized. This paper will be useful for researchers who focus on the ultrasound CAD system.

Machine Learning in Ultrasound Computer-Aided Diagnostic Systems: A Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qinghua Huang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The ultrasound imaging is one of the most common schemes to detect diseases in the clinical practice. There are many advantages of ultrasound imaging such as safety, convenience, and low cost. However, reading ultrasound imaging is not easy. To support the diagnosis of clinicians and reduce the load of doctors, many ultrasound computer-aided diagnosis (CAD systems are proposed. In recent years, the success of deep learning in the image classification and segmentation led to more and more scholars realizing the potential of performance improvement brought by utilizing the deep learning in the ultrasound CAD system. This paper summarized the research which focuses on the ultrasound CAD system utilizing machine learning technology in recent years. This study divided the ultrasound CAD system into two categories. One is the traditional ultrasound CAD system which employed the manmade feature and the other is the deep learning ultrasound CAD system. The major feature and the classifier employed by the traditional ultrasound CAD system are introduced. As for the deep learning ultrasound CAD, newest applications are summarized. This paper will be useful for researchers who focus on the ultrasound CAD system.

Active point out-of-plane ultrasound calibration

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Alexis; Guo, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Haichong K.; Kang, Hyunjae; Etienne-Cummings, Ralph; Boctor, Emad M.

2015-03-01

Image-guided surgery systems are often used to provide surgeons with informational support. Due to several unique advantages such as ease of use, real-time image acquisition, and no ionizing radiation, ultrasound is a common intraoperative medical imaging modality used in image-guided surgery systems. To perform advanced forms of guidance with ultrasound, such as virtual image overlays or automated robotic actuation, an ultrasound calibration process must be performed. This process recovers the rigid body transformation between a tracked marker attached to the transducer and the ultrasound image. Point-based phantoms are considered to be accurate, but their calibration framework assumes that the point is in the image plane. In this work, we present the use of an active point phantom and a calibration framework that accounts for the elevational uncertainty of the point. Given the lateral and axial position of the point in the ultrasound image, we approximate a circle in the axial-elevational plane with a radius equal to the axial position. The standard approach transforms all of the imaged points to be a single physical point. In our approach, we minimize the distances between the circular subsets of each image, with them ideally intersecting at a single point. We simulated in noiseless and noisy cases, presenting results on out-of-plane estimation errors, calibration estimation errors, and point reconstruction precision. We also performed an experiment using a robot arm as the tracker, resulting in a point reconstruction precision of 0.64mm.

In vitro characterization of perfluorocarbon droplets for focused ultrasound therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schad, Kelly C; Hynynen, Kullervo, E-mail: khynynen@sri.utoronto.c [Imaging Research, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Ave, Toronto, Ontario M4N 3M5 (Canada); Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto (Canada)

2010-09-07

Focused ultrasound therapy can be enhanced with microbubbles by thermal and cavitation effects. However, localization of treatment is difficult as bioeffects can occur outside of the target region. Spatial control of bubbles can be achieved by ultrasound-induced conversion of liquid perfluorocarbon droplets to gas bubbles. This study was undertaken to determine the acoustic parameters for bubble production by droplet conversion and how it depends on the acoustic conditions and droplet physical parameters. Lipid-encapsulated droplets containing dodecafluoropentane were manufactured with sizes ranging from 1.9 to 7.2 {mu}m in diameter and diluted to a concentration of 8 x 10{sup 6} droplets mL{sup -1}. The droplets were sonicated in vitro with a focused ultrasound transducer and varying frequency and exposure under flow conditions through an acoustically transparent vessel. The sonications were 10 ms in duration at frequencies of 0.578, 1.736 and 2.855 MHz. The pressure threshold for droplet conversion was measured with an active transducer operating in pulse-echo mode and simultaneous measurements of broadband acoustic emissions were performed with passive acoustic detection. The results show that droplets cannot be converted at low frequency without broadband emissions occurring. However, the pressure threshold for droplet conversion decreased with increasing frequency, exposure and droplet size. The pressure threshold for broadband emissions was independent of the droplet size and was 2.9, 4.4 and 5.3 MPa for 0.578, 1736 and 2.855 MHz, respectively. In summary, we have demonstrated that droplet conversion is feasible for clinically relevant sized droplets and acoustic exposures.

In vitro characterization of perfluorocarbon droplets for focused ultrasound therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schad, Kelly C; Hynynen, Kullervo

2010-01-01

Focused ultrasound therapy can be enhanced with microbubbles by thermal and cavitation effects. However, localization of treatment is difficult as bioeffects can occur outside of the target region. Spatial control of bubbles can be achieved by ultrasound-induced conversion of liquid perfluorocarbon droplets to gas bubbles. This study was undertaken to determine the acoustic parameters for bubble production by droplet conversion and how it depends on the acoustic conditions and droplet physical parameters. Lipid-encapsulated droplets containing dodecafluoropentane were manufactured with sizes ranging from 1.9 to 7.2 μm in diameter and diluted to a concentration of 8 x 10 6 droplets mL -1 . The droplets were sonicated in vitro with a focused ultrasound transducer and varying frequency and exposure under flow conditions through an acoustically transparent vessel. The sonications were 10 ms in duration at frequencies of 0.578, 1.736 and 2.855 MHz. The pressure threshold for droplet conversion was measured with an active transducer operating in pulse-echo mode and simultaneous measurements of broadband acoustic emissions were performed with passive acoustic detection. The results show that droplets cannot be converted at low frequency without broadband emissions occurring. However, the pressure threshold for droplet conversion decreased with increasing frequency, exposure and droplet size. The pressure threshold for broadband emissions was independent of the droplet size and was 2.9, 4.4 and 5.3 MPa for 0.578, 1736 and 2.855 MHz, respectively. In summary, we have demonstrated that droplet conversion is feasible for clinically relevant sized droplets and acoustic exposures.

In vitro characterization of perfluorocarbon droplets for focused ultrasound therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Schad, Kelly C.; Hynynen, Kullervo

2010-09-01

Focused ultrasound therapy can be enhanced with microbubbles by thermal and cavitation effects. However, localization of treatment is difficult as bioeffects can occur outside of the target region. Spatial control of bubbles can be achieved by ultrasound-induced conversion of liquid perfluorocarbon droplets to gas bubbles. This study was undertaken to determine the acoustic parameters for bubble production by droplet conversion and how it depends on the acoustic conditions and droplet physical parameters. Lipid-encapsulated droplets containing dodecafluoropentane were manufactured with sizes ranging from 1.9 to 7.2 µm in diameter and diluted to a concentration of 8 × 106 droplets mL-1. The droplets were sonicated in vitro with a focused ultrasound transducer and varying frequency and exposure under flow conditions through an acoustically transparent vessel. The sonications were 10 ms in duration at frequencies of 0.578, 1.736 and 2.855 MHz. The pressure threshold for droplet conversion was measured with an active transducer operating in pulse-echo mode and simultaneous measurements of broadband acoustic emissions were performed with passive acoustic detection. The results show that droplets cannot be converted at low frequency without broadband emissions occurring. However, the pressure threshold for droplet conversion decreased with increasing frequency, exposure and droplet size. The pressure threshold for broadband emissions was independent of the droplet size and was 2.9, 4.4 and 5.3 MPa for 0.578, 1736 and 2.855 MHz, respectively. In summary, we have demonstrated that droplet conversion is feasible for clinically relevant sized droplets and acoustic exposures.

Processing methods for photoacoustic Doppler flowmetry with a clinical ultrasound scanner

Science.gov (United States)

Bücking, Thore M.; van den Berg, Pim J.; Balabani, Stavroula; Steenbergen, Wiendelt; Beard, Paul C.; Brunker, Joanna

2018-02-01

Photoacoustic flowmetry (PAF) based on time-domain cross correlation of photoacoustic signals is a promising technique for deep tissue measurement of blood flow velocity. Signal processing has previously been developed for single element transducers. Here, the processing methods for acoustic resolution PAF using a clinical ultrasound transducer array are developed and validated using a 64-element transducer array with a -6 dB detection band of 11 to 17 MHz. Measurements were performed on a flow phantom consisting of a tube (580 μm inner diameter) perfused with human blood flowing at physiological speeds ranging from 3 to 25 mm / s. The processing pipeline comprised: image reconstruction, filtering, displacement detection, and masking. High-pass filtering and background subtraction were found to be key preprocessing steps to enable accurate flow velocity estimates, which were calculated using a cross-correlation based method. In addition, the regions of interest in the calculated velocity maps were defined using a masking approach based on the amplitude of the cross-correlation functions. These developments enabled blood flow measurements using a transducer array, bringing PAF one step closer to clinical applicability.

Technical characterization of an ultrasound source for noninvasive thermoablation by high-intensity focused ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Köhrmann, K U; Michel, M S; Steidler, A; Marlinghaus, E; Kraut, O; Alken, P

2002-08-01

To develop a generator for high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU, a method of delivering ultrasonic energy with resultant heat and tissue destruction to a tight focus at a selected depth within the body), designed for extracorporeal coupling to allow various parenchymal organs to be treated. The ultrasound generated by a cylindrical piezo-ceramic element is focused at a depth of 10 cm using a parabolic reflector with a diameter of 10 cm. A diagnostic B-mode ultrasonographic transducer is integrated into the source to allow the focus to be located in the target area. The field distribution of the sound pressure was measured in degassed water using a needle hydrophone. An ultrasound-force balance was used to determine the acoustic power. These measurements allowed the spatially averaged sound intensity to be calculated. The morphology and extent of tissue necrosis induced by HIFU was examined on an ex-vivo kidney model. The two-dimensional field distribution resulted in an approximately ellipsoidal focus of 32 x 4 mm (- 6 dB). The spatially maximum averaged sound intensity was 8591 W/cm2 at an electrical power of 400 W. The lesion caused to the ex-vivo kidney at this maximum generator power with a pulse duration of 2 s was a clearly delineated ellipsoidal coagulation necrosis up to 8.8 x 2.3 mm (length x width) and with central liquefied necrosis of 7.9 x 1.9 mm. This newly developed ultrasound generator with a focal length of 10 cm can induce clear necrosis in parenchymal tissue. Because of its specific configuration and the available power range of the ultrasound generator, there is potential for therapeutic noninvasive ablation of tissue deep within a patient's body.

Proof of principle in vitro study of a prototype ultrasound technology to size stone fragments during ureteroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sorensen, Mathew D; Teichman, Joel M H; Bailey, Michael R

2009-07-01

Proof-of-principle in vitro experiments evaluated a prototype ultrasound technology to size kidney stone fragments. Nineteen human stones were measured using manual calipers. A 10-MHz, 1/8'' (10F) ultrasound transducer probe pinged each stone on a kidney tissue phantom submerged in water using two methods. In Method 1, the instrument was aligned such that the ultrasound pulse traveled through the stone. In Method 2, the instrument was aligned partially over the stone such that the ultrasound pulse traveled through water. For Method 1, the correlation between caliper- and ultrasound-determined stone size was r(2) = 0.71 (P stone measurements were accurate and precise to within 1 mm. For Method 2, the correlation was r(2) = 0.99 (P stone size with good accuracy and precision. This technology may be possible to incorporate into ureteroscopy.

Smart transducer with radiomodem

Science.gov (United States)

Pugach, V. N.; Voronin, E. L.

2018-04-01

Systems for measuring different parameters enabling metering and wireless data transmission are an urgent problem in the industry. One of the most promising solutions is the developments of metering instruments enabling radio-link and GSM data transmission. The article describes a transducer operating with temperature sensors of different types as well as with the sensors of other physical values with the output signal represented as current or voltage with subsequent measurement data transmission from the transducer to the computer via radio-link. The article provides transducer measurement accuracy check. The work confirmed the claimed temperature measurement accuracy, noted a stable data transmission via radio link and convenience of work with the transducer and software.

Characterization of Dielectric Electroactive Polymer transducers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Dennis; Møller, Martin B.; Sarban, Rahimullah

2014-01-01

This paper analysis the small-signal model of the Dielectric Electro Active Polymer (DEAP) transducer. The DEAP transducer have been proposed as an alternative to the electrodynamic transducer in sound reproduction systems. In order to understand how the DEAP transducer works, and provide...

DEVELOPMENTAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR DIGITAL TRANSDUCERS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hyde, James L.

1963-09-15

A pressure transducer based on mechanical modulation of a beam of alpha particles is described. This type of transducer is capable of direct digital pressure measurexnent with corresponding telemetry advantages. Any variable that is sensed through a mechanical displacement is measurable by means of a corresponding member of this transducer family. Preliminary tests of an experimental pressure transducer show an overall accuracy within a few tenths of one percent, with promise of substantial improvement. General characteristics of nuclear digital transducers include exceptional long-term calibration stability and accuracy, independent of ambient environmental effects. Three concepts of systems enipioying these transducers are discussed. (auth)

Visualizing and measuring the temperature field produced by medical diagnostic ultrasound using thermography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vachutka, J; Grec, P; Mornstein, V; Caruana, C J

2008-01-01

The heating of tissues by diagnostic ultrasound can pose a significant hazard particularly in the imaging of the unborn child. The demonstration of the temperature field in tissue is therefore an important objective in the teaching of biomedical physics to healthcare professionals. The temperature field in a soft tissue model was made visible and measured using thermography. Temperature data from the images were used to investigate the dependence of temperature increase within the model on ultrasound exposure time and distance from the transducer. The experiment will be used within a multi-professional biomedical physics teaching laboratory for enhancing learning regarding the principles of thermography and the thermal effects of ultrasound to medical and healthcare students and also for demonstrating the quantitative use of thermographic imaging to students of biophysics, medical physics and medical technology

Intraluminal ultrasound guidance of transverse laser coronary atherectomy

Science.gov (United States)

Aretz, H. Thomas; Martinelli, Michael A.; LeDet, Earl G.; Sedlacek, Tomas; Hatch, G. F.; Gregg, Richard E.

1990-07-01

A coronary laser atherectomy system combining laser delivery and ultrasonic imaging capability is described. The system is being developed by Intra-Sonix, Inc. to treat severe stenoses. The imaging system provides the clinician with the guidance needed to remove substantial plaque without perforation. The ultrasound transducers and laser optics are mounted in a small (less than 4 F), flexible catheter, that is deliverable over a standard guidewire (0.016 inch). The laser and ultrasound beams are directed at the artery wall to permit debulking of lesions and ultrasonic depth profiling of the tissue structure throughout the thickness of the artery. This allows the physician to determine the level of therapy to be applied and to monitor the plaque removal as the therapy progresses. The precise location of the ultrasound and laser beams in the artery is determined by a navigation system. Navigation data are processed electronically in conjunction with ultrasound data to produce real-time cross-sectional and longitudinal images of the artery wall at selected locations, which are updated as the catheter progresses through the vessel lumen. Results of in vitro tests on human atherosclerotic arteries and early in vivo experiments in a canine-human xenograft model showing image construction and radial laser delivery are discussed.

WE-H-209-01: Advances in Ultrasound Therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hynynen, K. [University of Toronto (Canada)

2016-06-15

Focused ultrasound has been shown to be the only method that allows noninvasive thermal coagulation of tissues and recently this potential has been explored for image-guided drug delivery. In this presentation, the advances in ultrasound phased array technology for energy delivery, exposure monitoring and control will be discussed. Experimental results from novel multi-frequency transmit/receive arrays will be presented. In addition, the feasibility of fully electronically focused and steered high power arrays with many thousands of transducer elements will be discussed. Finally, some of the recent clinical and preclinical results for the treatment of brain disease will be reviewed. Learning Objectives: Introduce FUS therapy principles and modern techniques Discuss use of FUS for drug delivery Cover the technology required to deliver FUS and monitor therapy Present clinical examples of the uses of these techniques This research was supported by funding from The Canada Research Chair Program, Grants from CIHR and NIH (no. EB003268).; K. Hynynen, Canada Foundation for Innovation; Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation; Canada Research Chair Program; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Ontario Research Fund; National Institutes of Health; Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute; The Weston Brain Institute; Harmonic Medical; Focused Ultrasound Instruments.

WE-H-209-01: Advances in Ultrasound Therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hynynen, K.

2016-01-01

Focused ultrasound has been shown to be the only method that allows noninvasive thermal coagulation of tissues and recently this potential has been explored for image-guided drug delivery. In this presentation, the advances in ultrasound phased array technology for energy delivery, exposure monitoring and control will be discussed. Experimental results from novel multi-frequency transmit/receive arrays will be presented. In addition, the feasibility of fully electronically focused and steered high power arrays with many thousands of transducer elements will be discussed. Finally, some of the recent clinical and preclinical results for the treatment of brain disease will be reviewed. Learning Objectives: Introduce FUS therapy principles and modern techniques Discuss use of FUS for drug delivery Cover the technology required to deliver FUS and monitor therapy Present clinical examples of the uses of these techniques This research was supported by funding from The Canada Research Chair Program, Grants from CIHR and NIH (no. EB003268).; K. Hynynen, Canada Foundation for Innovation; Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation; Canada Research Chair Program; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Ontario Research Fund; National Institutes of Health; Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute; The Weston Brain Institute; Harmonic Medical; Focused Ultrasound Instruments

Crossflow force transducer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mulcahy, T.M.

1982-05-01

A force transducer for measuring lift and drag coefficients for a circular cylinder in turbulent water flow is presented. In addition to describing the actual design and construction of the strain-gauged force- ring based transducer, requirements for obtained valid fluid force test data are discussed, and pertinent flow test experience is related

Noncontact ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation/inspection using laser generation and air coupled transducer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jhang, Kyung Young; Kim, Hong Joon; Cemiglia, Donatella; Djordjevic, Boro

2001-01-01

Ultrasonic MDE/I methods have been demonstrated as very effective tool in characterization of cracks and structural defects such as bond-line failures. Most of the ultrasonic testing is performed using conventional contact ultrasonic transducers that cannot be readily adapted to automation and field application. However, for large area inspection contact type is time consuming and as a result, it is important to develop a rapid and more efficient ultrasonic technique. In this paper, laser generation and air-coupled detection of ultrasound is proposed as a solution of non-contact method with no requirement of a coupling medium, and the bond quality of adhesively bonded and riveted aluminum lap splice joints is investigated as an application. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and a periodic transmission mask are used to generate a selected Lamb mode. The experimental show that multi-line laser source produces significant directed ultrasound and that the presence of defects can be detected reliably from the attenuation of signal amplitude. These results demonstrate that the proposed technique is well suitable and flexible for non-contact NDE/I applications.

Low-cost Volumetric Ultrasound by Augmentation of 2D Systems: Design and Prototype.

Science.gov (United States)

Herickhoff, Carl D; Morgan, Matthew R; Broder, Joshua S; Dahl, Jeremy J

2018-01-01

Conventional two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound imaging is a powerful diagnostic tool in the hands of an experienced user, yet 2D ultrasound remains clinically underutilized and inherently incomplete, with output being very operator dependent. Volumetric ultrasound systems can more fully capture a three-dimensional (3D) region of interest, but current 3D systems require specialized transducers, are prohibitively expensive for many clinical departments, and do not register image orientation with respect to the patient; these systems are designed to provide improved workflow rather than operator independence. This work investigates whether it is possible to add volumetric 3D imaging capability to existing 2D ultrasound systems at minimal cost, providing a practical means of reducing operator dependence in ultrasound. In this paper, we present a low-cost method to make 2D ultrasound systems capable of quality volumetric image acquisition: we present the general system design and image acquisition method, including the use of a probe-mounted orientation sensor, a simple probe fixture prototype, and an offline volume reconstruction technique. We demonstrate initial results of the method, implemented using a Verasonics Vantage research scanner.

Improving the thermal dimensional stability of flexible polymer composite backing materials for ultrasound transducers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

State, M.; Brands, P.J.; Vosse, van de F.N.

2010-01-01

Novel ultrasound backing materials based on polymer composites with improved dimensional stability and low coefficient of thermal expansion are being developed and analyzed. For this purpose a filled epoxy resin (Stycast1265), a commonly used backing material, was considered reference material and

Handbook of force transducers

CERN Document Server

Stefanescu, Dan Mihai

2011-01-01

Part I introduces the basic ""Principles and Methods of Force Measurement"" acording to a classification into a dozen of force transducers types: resistive, inductive, capacitive, piezoelectric, electromagnetic, electrodynamic, magnetoelastic, galvanomagnetic (Hall-effect), vibrating wires, (micro)resonators, acoustic and gyroscopic. Two special chapters refer to force balance techniques and to combined methods in force measurement. Part II discusses the ""(Strain Gauge) Force Transducers Components"", evolving from the classical force transducer to the digital / intelligent one, with the inco

Estimation of in-vivo pulses in medical ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

1994-01-01

and the three-dimensional, attenuated ultrasound field for a concave transducer. Pulses are estimated from in-vivo liver data showing good resemblance to a pulse measured as the response from a planar reflector and then properly attenuated. The main application for the algorithm is to function......An algorithm for the estimation of one-dimensional in-vivo ultrasound pulses is derived. The routine estimates a set of ARMA parameters describing the pulse and uses data from a number of adjacent rf lines. Using multiple lines results in a decrease in variance on the estimated parameters...... and significantly reduces the risk of terminating the algorithm at a local minimum. Examples from use on synthetic data confirms the reduction in variance and increased chance of successful minimization termination. Simulations are also reported indicating the relation between the one-dimensional pulse...

Deconvolution of In Vivo Ultrasound B-Mode Images

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jørgen Arendt; Stage, Bjarne; Mathorne, Jan

1993-01-01

An algorithm for deconvolution of medical ultrasound images is presented. The procedure involves estimation of the basic one-dimensional ultrasound pulse, determining the ratio of the covariance of the noise to the covariance of the reflection signal, and finally deconvolution of the rf signal from...... the transducer. Using pulse and covariance estimators makes the approach self-calibrating, as all parameters for the procedure are estimated from the patient under investigation. An example of use on a clinical, in-vivo image is given. A 2 × 2 cm region of the portal vein in a liver is deconvolved. An increase...... in axial resolution by a factor of 2.4 is obtained. The procedure can also be applied to whole images, when it is ensured that the rf signal is properly measured. A method for doing that is outlined....

Micromachined capacitive ultrasonic immersion transducer array

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Xuecheng

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUTs) have emerged as an attractive alternative to conventional piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers. They offer performance advantages of wide bandwidth and sensitivity that have heretofore been attainable. In addition, micromachining technology, which has benefited from the fast-growing microelectronics industry, enables cMUT array fabrication and electronics integration. This thesis describes the design and fabrication of micromachined capacitive ultrasonic immersion transducer arrays. The basic transducer electrical equivalent circuit is derived from Mason's theory. The effects of Lamb waves and Stoneley waves on cross coupling and acoustic losses are discussed. Electrical parasitics such as series resistance and shunt capacitance are also included in the model of the transducer. Transducer fabrication technology is systematically studied. Device dimension control in both vertical and horizontal directions, process alternatives and variations in membrane formation, via etch and cavity sealing, and metalization as well as their impact on transducer performance are summarized. Both 64 and 128 element 1-D array transducers are fabricated. Transducers are characterized in terms of electrical input impedance, bandwidth, sensitivity, dynamic range, impulse response and angular response, and their performance is compared with theoretical simulation. Various schemes for cross coupling reduction is analyzed, implemented, and verified with both experiments and theory. Preliminary results of immersion imaging are presented using 64 elements 1-D array transducers for active source imaging.

Circuit for Driving Piezoelectric Transducers

Science.gov (United States)

Randall, David P.; Chapsky, Jacob

2009-01-01

The figure schematically depicts an oscillator circuit for driving a piezoelectric transducer to excite vibrations in a mechanical structure. The circuit was designed and built to satisfy application-specific requirements to drive a selected one of 16 such transducers at a regulated amplitude and frequency chosen to optimize the amount of work performed by the transducer and to compensate for both (1) temporal variations of the resonance frequency and damping time of each transducer and (2) initially unknown differences among the resonance frequencies and damping times of different transducers. In other words, the circuit is designed to adjust itself to optimize the performance of whichever transducer is selected at any given time. The basic design concept may be adaptable to other applications that involve the use of piezoelectric transducers in ultrasonic cleaners and other apparatuses in which high-frequency mechanical drives are utilized. This circuit includes three resistor-capacitor networks that, together with the selected piezoelectric transducer, constitute a band-pass filter having a peak response at a frequency of about 2 kHz, which is approximately the resonance frequency of the piezoelectric transducers. Gain for generating oscillations is provided by a power hybrid operational amplifier (U1). A junction field-effect transistor (Q1) in combination with a resistor (R4) is used as a voltage-variable resistor to control the magnitude of the oscillation. The voltage-variable resistor is part of a feedback control loop: Part of the output of the oscillator is rectified and filtered for use as a slow negative feedback to the gate of Q1 to keep the output amplitude constant. The response of this control loop is much slower than 2 kHz and, therefore, does not introduce significant distortion of the oscillator output, which is a fairly clean sine wave. The positive AC feedback needed to sustain oscillations is derived from sampling the current through the

Design of a saturated analogue and digital current transducer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pross, Alexander

2002-01-01

This project describes the development of a new analogue and digital current transducer, providing a range of new theoretical design methods for these novel devices. The main control feature is the limit cycling operation, and the novel use of the embedded sigma-delta modulator sensor structure to derive a low component count digital sensor. The research programme was initiated into the design, development and evaluation of a novel non-Hall sensing analogue and digital current transducer. These transducers are used for measurement of high currents in power systems applications. The investigation is concerned with a new design which uses a magnetic ferrite core without an air gap for current measurement. The motivation for this work was to design a new control circuit which provides a low component count, and utilises the non-linear properties of the magnetic ferrite core to transmit direct current. The use of a limit cycle control circuit was believed to be particularly suitable for the analogue and digital transducers, for two main reasons: the low component count, and the output signal is directly digital. In line with the motivations outlined above, the outcome of the research has witnessed the design, development and evaluation of a practically realisable analogue and digital current transducer. The design procedure, which is documented in this thesis, is considered to be a major contribution to the field of transducers design and development using a control systems approach. Mathematical models for both analogue and digital transducers were developed and the resulting model based predictions were found to be in good agreement with measured results. Simplification of the new model sensing device was achieved by approximating the non-linear ferrite core using FFT analysis. This is also considered to be a significant contribution. The development analogue and digital current censors employed a sampled data control systems design and utilised limit cycling

Analytic model for ultrasound energy receivers and their optimal electric loads II: Experimental validation

Science.gov (United States)

Gorostiaga, M.; Wapler, M. C.; Wallrabe, U.

2017-10-01

In this paper, we verify the two optimal electric load concepts based on the zero reflection condition and on the power maximization approach for ultrasound energy receivers. We test a high loss 1-3 composite transducer, and find that the measurements agree very well with the predictions of the analytic model for plate transducers that we have developed previously. Additionally, we also confirm that the power maximization and zero reflection loads are very different when the losses in the receiver are high. Finally, we compare the optimal load predictions by the KLM and the analytic models with frequency dependent attenuation to evaluate the influence of the viscosity.

The role of numerical simulation for the development of an advanced HIFU system

Science.gov (United States)

Okita, Kohei; Narumi, Ryuta; Azuma, Takashi; Takagi, Shu; Matumoto, Yoichiro

2014-10-01

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has been used clinically and is under clinical trials to treat various diseases. An advanced HIFU system employs ultrasound techniques for guidance during HIFU treatment instead of magnetic resonance imaging in current HIFU systems. A HIFU beam imaging for monitoring the HIFU beam and a localized motion imaging for treatment validation of tissue are introduced briefly as the real-time ultrasound monitoring techniques. Numerical simulations have a great impact on the development of real-time ultrasound monitoring as well as the improvement of the safety and efficacy of treatment in advanced HIFU systems. A HIFU simulator was developed to reproduce ultrasound propagation through the body in consideration of the elasticity of tissue, and was validated by comparison with in vitro experiments in which the ultrasound emitted from the phased-array transducer propagates through the acrylic plate acting as a bone phantom. As the result, the defocus and distortion of the ultrasound propagating through the acrylic plate in the simulation quantitatively agree with that in the experimental results. Therefore, the HIFU simulator accurately reproduces the ultrasound propagation through the medium whose shape and physical properties are well known. In addition, it is experimentally confirmed that simulation-assisted focus control of the phased-array transducer enables efficient assignment of the focus to the target. Simulation-assisted focus control can contribute to design of transducers and treatment planning.

Design and development of an ultrasound calibration phantom and system

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Alexis; Ackerman, Martin K.; Chirikjian, Gregory S.; Boctor, Emad M.

2014-03-01

Image-guided surgery systems are often used to provide surgeons with informational support. Due to several unique advantages such as ease of use, real-time image acquisition, and no ionizing radiation, ultrasound is a common medical imaging modality used in image-guided surgery systems. To perform advanced forms of guidance with ultrasound, such as virtual image overlays or automated robotic actuation, an ultrasound calibration process must be performed. This process recovers the rigid body transformation between a tracked marker attached to the ultrasound transducer and the ultrasound image. A phantom or model with known geometry is also required. In this work, we design and test an ultrasound calibration phantom and software. The two main considerations in this work are utilizing our knowledge of ultrasound physics to design the phantom and delivering an easy to use calibration process to the user. We explore the use of a three-dimensional printer to create the phantom in its entirety without need for user assembly. We have also developed software to automatically segment the three-dimensional printed rods from the ultrasound image by leveraging knowledge about the shape and scale of the phantom. In this work, we present preliminary results from using this phantom to perform ultrasound calibration. To test the efficacy of our method, we match the projection of the points segmented from the image to the known model and calculate a sum squared difference between each point for several combinations of motion generation and filtering methods. The best performing combination of motion and filtering techniques had an error of 1.56 mm and a standard deviation of 1.02 mm.

Real-time Monitoring of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) Ablation of In Vitro Canine Livers Using Harmonic Motion Imaging for Focused Ultrasound (HMIFU).

Science.gov (United States)

Grondin, Julien; Payen, Thomas; Wang, Shutao; Konofagou, Elisa E

2015-11-03

Harmonic Motion Imaging for Focused Ultrasound (HMIFU) is a technique that can perform and monitor high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation. An oscillatory motion is generated at the focus of a 93-element and 4.5 MHz center frequency HIFU transducer by applying a 25 Hz amplitude-modulated signal using a function generator. A 64-element and 2.5 MHz imaging transducer with 68kPa peak pressure is confocally placed at the center of the HIFU transducer to acquire the radio-frequency (RF) channel data. In this protocol, real-time monitoring of thermal ablation using HIFU with an acoustic power of 7 W on canine livers in vitro is described. HIFU treatment is applied on the tissue during 2 min and the ablated region is imaged in real-time using diverging or plane wave imaging up to 1,000 frames/second. The matrix of RF channel data is multiplied by a sparse matrix for image reconstruction. The reconstructed field of view is of 90° for diverging wave and 20 mm for plane wave imaging and the data are sampled at 80 MHz. The reconstruction is performed on a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) in order to image in real-time at a 4.5 display frame rate. 1-D normalized cross-correlation of the reconstructed RF data is used to estimate axial displacements in the focal region. The magnitude of the peak-to-peak displacement at the focal depth decreases during the thermal ablation which denotes stiffening of the tissue due to the formation of a lesion. The displacement signal-to-noise ratio (SNRd) at the focal area for plane wave was 1.4 times higher than for diverging wave showing that plane wave imaging appears to produce better displacement maps quality for HMIFU than diverging wave imaging.

Exploring the effects of gravity on tongue motion using ultrasound image sequences

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Maureen; Crouse, Ulla; Sutton, Marty

2002-05-01

Our goal in the research was to explore the effect that gravity had on the vocal-tract system by using ultrasound data collected in the upright and supine positions. All potential subjects were given an ultrasound pretest to determine whether they could repeat a series of 3-4 words precise enough to allow an accurate series of images to be collected. Out of these potential subjects, approximately 5-7 subjects were eventually used in the research. The method of collecting ultrasound data required the immobilization of the patient by restraining their neck in a custom fitted neck restraint. The neck restraint held an ultrasound transducer positioned at a critical angle underneath the patients' lower jawbone, which served to reduce errors and increase image resolution. To accurately analyze the series of images collected from ultrasound imaging, the surfaces of the tongue were digitized and tongue motion was time-aligned across the upright and supine sequences. Comparisons between the upright and supine data were then made by using L2 norms to determine averages and differences regarding the behavior between the two positions. Curves and locations of the maximum and minimum differences will be discussed.

The utility of sparse 2D fully electronically steerable focused ultrasound phased arrays for thermal surgery: a simulation study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ellens, Nicholas; Pulkkinen, Aki; Song Junho; Hynynen, Kullervo

2011-01-01

Sparse arrays are widely used in diagnostic ultrasound for their strong performance and relative technical simplicity. This simulation study assessed the efficacy of phased arrays of varied sparseness for thermal surgery, especially with regard to power consumption and near-field heating. It employs a linear ultrasound propagation model and a semi-analytical solution to the Pennes' bioheat transfer equation. The basic design had 4912 cylindrical transducers (500 kHz) arranged on a flat 12 cm disk (1.5 mm spacing). This array was compared to randomly-thinned sparse arrays with 75%, 50% and 25% populations. Temperature elevations of 60 and 70 deg. C were induced in sonication times of 5-20 s, at foci spanning depths of 50-150 mm and radii of 0-60 mm. The sparse arrays produced nearly indistinguishable focal patterns but, averaged across the foci, required 132%, 200% and 393% of the power of the full array, respectively, applied through fewer transducer elements. Comparable results were found at 1 MHz from equivalent arrays. Simulated lesions were formed (thermal dose ≥ 240 equivalent minutes at 43 deg. C (T 43 )) and 'transition' and 'unsafe' regions (both defined as 5 min 43 < 240 min) were identified, the former immediately surrounding the lesion and the latter anywhere else. At a depth of 100 mm, sparse arrays were found to produce comparable lesions to the full array at the focus, but 'unsafe', over-heated near-field regions after some ablated lesion volume: about 12 mL for the 25% array, around 100 mL for the 50% array, while the 75% and full arrays produced 150 mL lesions safely.

Therapeutic ultrasound as a potential male contraceptive: power, frequency and temperature required to deplete rat testes of meiotic cells and epididymides of sperm determined using a commercially available system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsuruta James K

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies published in the 1970s by Mostafa S. Fahim and colleagues showed that a short treatment with ultrasound caused the depletion of germ cells and infertility. The goal of the current study was to determine if a commercially available therapeutic ultrasound generator and transducer could be used as the basis for a male contraceptive. Methods Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized and their testes were treated with 1 MHz or 3 MHz ultrasound while varying power, duration and temperature of treatment. Results We found that 3 MHz ultrasound delivered with 2.2 Watt per square cm power for fifteen minutes was necessary to deplete spermatocytes and spermatids from the testis and that this treatment significantly reduced epididymal sperm reserves. 3 MHz ultrasound treatment reduced total epididymal sperm count 10-fold lower than the wet-heat control and decreased motile sperm counts 1,000-fold lower than wet-heat alone. The current treatment regimen provided nominally more energy to the treatment chamber than Fahim's originally reported conditions of 1 MHz ultrasound delivered at 1 Watt per square cm for ten minutes. However, the true spatial average intensity, effective radiating area and power output of the transducers used by Fahim were not reported, making a direct comparison impossible. We found that germ cell depletion was most uniform and effective when we rotated the therapeutic transducer to mitigate non-uniformity of the beam field. The lowest sperm count was achieved when the coupling medium (3% saline was held at 37 degrees C and two consecutive 15-minute treatments of 3 MHz ultrasound at 2.2 Watt per square cm were separated by 2 days. Conclusions The non-invasive nature of ultrasound and its efficacy in reducing sperm count make therapeutic ultrasound a promising candidate for a male contraceptive. However, further studies must be conducted to confirm its efficacy in providing a contraceptive effect, to test the

Backscattering analysis of high frequency ultrasonic imaging for ultrasound-guided breast biopsy

Science.gov (United States)

Cummins, Thomas; Akiyama, Takahiro; Lee, Changyang; Martin, Sue E.; Shung, K. Kirk

2017-03-01

A new ultrasound-guided breast biopsy technique is proposed. The technique utilizes conventional ultrasound guidance coupled with a high frequency embedded ultrasound array located within the biopsy needle to improve the accuracy in breast cancer diagnosis.1 The array within the needle is intended to be used to detect micro- calcifications indicative of early breast cancers such as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Backscattering analysis has the potential to characterize tissues to improve localization of lesions. This paper describes initial results of the application of backscattering analysis of breast biopsy tissue specimens and shows the usefulness of high frequency ultrasound for the new biopsy related technique. Ultrasound echoes of ex-vivo breast biopsy tissue specimens were acquired by using a single-element transducer with a bandwidth from 41 MHz to 88 MHz utilizing a UBM methodology, and the backscattering coefficients were calculated. These values as well as B-mode image data were mapped in 2D and matched with each pathology image for the identification of tissue type for the comparison to the pathology images corresponding to each plane. Microcalcifications were significantly distinguished from normal tissue. Adenocarcinoma was also successfully differentiated from adipose tissue. These results indicate that backscattering analysis is able to quantitatively distinguish tissues into normal and abnormal, which should help radiologists locate abnormal areas during the proposed ultrasound-guided breast biopsy with high frequency ultrasound.

Application of a long-period fibre grating-based transducer in the fuel industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Possetti, G R C; De Arruda, L V R; Muller, M; Fabris, J L; Côcco, L C; Yamamoto, C I; Falate, R

2009-01-01

This work shows prospects of long-period fibre grating applications as transducers for fuel conformity analysis. The proposed long-period grating transducer was employed to assess the gasoline conformity in commercial gas stations. Grating responses were used to train and validate a radial base function topology of an artificial neural network. The obtained results show that fibre optic sensors supervised by artificial neural networks can integrate systems for smart sensing with high applicability in the petrochemical field. The radial base function had reached a correct classification probability of approximately 94%. The device applicability in the analysis of hydrated ethanol fuel was also investigated by measuring the concentration of ethanol in ethanol–water mixtures. The results showed that the developed transducer can be used to infer the ethanol–water concentration with a resolution of up to 0.23%

Experimental performance assessment of the sub-band minimum variance beamformer for ultrasound imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Diamantis, Konstantinos; Greenaway, Alan H.; Anderson, Tom

2017-01-01

Recent progress in adaptive beamforming techniques for medical ultrasound has shown that current resolution limits can be surpassed. One method of obtaining improved lateral resolution is the Minimum Variance (MV) beamformer. The frequency domain implementation of this method effectively divides...... the broadband ultrasound signals into sub-bands (MVS) to conform with the narrow-band assumption of the original MV theory. This approach is investigated here using experimental Synthetic Aperture (SA) data from wire and cyst phantoms. A 7 MHz linear array transducer is used with the SARUS experimental...... ultrasound scanner for the data acquisition. The lateral resolution and the contrast obtained, are evaluated and compared with those from the conventional Delay-and-Sum (DAS) beamformer and the MV temporal implementation (MVT). From the wire phantom the Full-Width-at-Half-Maximum (FWHM) measured at a depth...

Sensitivity-Bandwidth Limit in a Multimode Optoelectromechanical Transducer

Science.gov (United States)

Moaddel Haghighi, I.; Malossi, N.; Natali, R.; Di Giuseppe, G.; Vitali, D.

2018-03-01

An optoelectromechanical system formed by a nanomembrane capacitively coupled to an L C resonator and to an optical interferometer has recently been employed for the highly sensitive optical readout of rf signals [T. Bagci et al., Nature (London) 507, 81 (2013), 10.1038/nature13029]. We propose and experimentally demonstrate how the bandwidth of such a transducer can be increased by controlling the interference between two electromechanical interaction pathways of a two-mode mechanical system. With a proof-of-principle device operating at room temperature, we achieve a sensitivity of 300 nV /√{Hz } over a bandwidth of 15 kHz in the presence of radio-frequency noise, and an optimal shot-noise-limited sensitivity of 10 nV /√{Hz } over a bandwidth of 5 kHz. We discuss strategies for improving the performance of the device, showing that, for the same given sensitivity, a mechanical multimode transducer can achieve a bandwidth significantly larger than that for a single-mode one.

Complex blood flow quantification using real-time in vivo vector flow ultrasound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Mads Møller; Pihl, Michael Johannes; Per, Haugaard

A new method to define and quantify complex blood flow is presented. The standard deviations of real-time in vivo vector flow angle estimates are used. Using vector flow ultrasound imaging both carotid bifurcations of two healthy volunteers were scanned. Scanning was performed with a 7.6 MHz linear...... transducer (8670, B-K Medical, Denmark) and a commercial vector flow ultrasound scanner (ProFocus 2202, B-K Medical). Eight video sequences of one cardiac cycle were obtained. In every frame boxes were placed to define the common carotid artery(box1) and the carotid bulb(box2). The standard deviation...... for the vector angle estimates was calculated for each box in every frame. For comparison three ultrasound experts evaluated the presence of complex flow in every box. The trial was blinded. For every sequence the mean standard deviation of the vector angle estimates were calculated for box1 {39...

Spatio-Temporal Encoding in Medical Ultrasound Imaging

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gran, Fredrik

2005-01-01

In this dissertation two methods for spatio-temporal encoding in medical ultrasound imaging are investigated. The first technique is based on a frequency division approach. Here, the available spectrum of the transducer is divided into a set of narrow bands. A waveform is designed for each band...... the signal to noise ratio and simultaneously the penetration depth so that the medical doctor can image deeper lying structures. The method is tested both experimentally and in simulation and has also evaluated for the purpose of blood flow estimation. The work presented is based on four papers which...

Removal of residual nuclei following a cavitation event using low-amplitude ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Duryea, Alexander P; Cain, Charles A; Tamaddoni, Hedieh A; Roberts, William W; Hall, Timothy L

2014-10-01

Microscopic residual bubble nuclei can persist on the order of 1 s following a cavitation event. These bubbles can limit the efficacy of ultrasound therapies such as shock wave lithotripsy and histotripsy, because they attenuate pulses that arrive subsequent to their formation and seed repetitive cavitation activity at a discrete set of sites (cavitation memory). Here, we explore a strategy for the removal of these residual bubbles following a cavitation event, using low-amplitude ultrasound pulses to stimulate bubble coalescence. All experiments were conducted in degassed water and monitored using high-speed photography. In each case, a 2-MHz histotripsy transducer was used to initiate cavitation activity (a cavitational bubble cloud), the collapse of which generated a population of residual bubble nuclei. This residual nuclei population was then sonicated using a 1 ms pulse from a separate 500-kHz transducer, which we term the bubble removal pulse. Bubble removal pulse amplitudes ranging from 0 to 1.7 MPa were tested, and the backlit area of shadow from bubbles remaining in the field following bubble removal was calculated to quantify efficacy. It was found that an ideal amplitude range exists (roughly 180 to 570 kPa) in which bubble removal pulses stimulate the aggregation and subsequent coalescence of residual bubble nuclei, effectively removing them from the field. Further optimization of bubble removal pulse sequences stands to provide an adjunct to cavitation-based ultrasound therapies such as shock wave lithotripsy and histotripsy, mitigating the effects of residual bubble nuclei that currently limit their efficacy.

Programming macro tree transducers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bahr, Patrick; Day, Laurence E.

2013-01-01

transducers can be concisely represented in Haskell, and demonstrate the benefits of utilising such an approach with a number of examples. In particular, tree transducers afford a modular programming style as they can be easily composed and manipulated. Our Haskell representation generalises the original...

HIFU Monitoring and Control with Dual-Mode Ultrasound Arrays

Science.gov (United States)

Casper, Andrew Jacob

The biological effects of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) have been known and studied for decades. HIFU has been shown capable of treating a wide variety of diseases and disorders. However, despite its demonstrated potential, HIFU has been slow to gain clinical acceptance. This is due, in part, to the difficulty associated with robustly monitoring and controlling the delivery of the HIFU energy. The non-invasive nature of the surgery makes the assessment of treatment progression difficult, leading to long treatment times and a significant risk of under treatment. This thesis research develops new techniques and systems for robustly monitoring HIFU therapies for the safe and efficacious delivery of the intended treatment. Systems and algorithms were developed for the two most common modes of HIFU delivery systems: single-element and phased array applicators. Delivering HIFU with a single element transducer is a widely used technique in HIFU therapies. The simplicity of a single element offers many benefits in terms of cost and overall system complexity. Typical monitoring schemes rely on an external device (e.g. diagnostic ultrasound or MRI) to assess the progression of therapy. The research presented in this thesis explores using the same element to both deliver and monitor the HIFU therapy. The use of a dual-mode ultrasound transducer (DMUT) required the development of an FPGA based single-channel arbitrary waveform generator and high-speed data acquisition unit. Data collected from initial uncontrolled ablations led to the development of monitoring and control algorithms which were implemented directly on the FPGA. Close integration between the data acquisition and arbitrary waveform units allowed for fast, low latency control over the ablation process. Results are presented that demonstrate control of HIFU therapies over a broad range of intensities and in multiple in vitro tissues. The second area of investigation expands the DMUT research to an

Smart concrete slabs with embedded tubular PZT transducers for damage detection

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Weihang; Huo, Linsheng; Li, Hongnan; Song, Gangbing

2018-02-01

The objective of this study is to develop a new concept and methodology of smart concrete slab (SCS) with embedded tubular lead zirconate titanate transducer array for image based damage detection. Stress waves, as the detecting signals, are generated by the embedded tubular piezoceramic transducers in the SCS. Tubular piezoceramic transducers are used due to their capacity of generating radially uniform stress waves in a two-dimensional concrete slab (such as bridge decks and walls), increasing the monitoring range. A circular type delay-and-sum (DAS) imaging algorithm is developed to image the active acoustic sources based on the direct response received by each sensor. After the scattering signals from the damage are obtained by subtracting the baseline response of the concrete structures from those of the defective ones, the elliptical type DAS imaging algorithm is employed to process the scattering signals and reconstruct the image of the damage. Finally, two experiments, including active acoustic source monitoring and damage imaging for concrete structures, are carried out to illustrate and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A Direct Driver for Electrostatic Transducers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Dennis; Knott, Arnold; Andersen, Michael A. E.

2014-01-01

Electrostatic transducers represent a very interesting alternative to the traditional inefficient electrodynamic transducers. In order to establish the full potential of these transducers, power amplifiers which fulfill the strict requirements imposed by such loads (high impedance, frequency...... depended, nonlinear and high bias voltage for linearization) must be developed. This paper analyzes a power stage suitable for driving an electrostatic transducer under biasing. Measurement results of a ±400 V prototype amplifier are shown. THD below 1% is reported....

NMR signal transducer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kucheryaev, A.G.; Oliferchuk, N.L.

1975-01-01

A signal transducer of nuclear magnetic resonance for simultaneously measuring frequency and intensitivity of two various isotope signals, which are in one specimen is described. The transducer represents radiofrequency circuit with two resonance frequences, which is common for two autodyne generators. To decrease measuring time and to increase recording diagram stability the radiofrequency circuit has LC netork, in the inductivity of which investigated specimen is located; a circuit variable capacity is connected in parallel with one of the autodyne generators. Besides the radiofrequency circuit has an inductance coil in series with a standard specimen inside as well as a variable capacitor connected in parallel with the second autodyne generator. An amplitude of oscillation of each resonance frequency is controlled and adjusted separately. The transducer described can be used for the measurement of a nuclei concentration, isotope concentration and for the spin determination

Therapeutic ultrasound as a potential male contraceptive: power, frequency and temperature required to deplete rat testes of meiotic cells and epididymides of sperm determined using a commercially available system

OpenAIRE

Tsuruta James K; Dayton Paul A; Gallippi Caterina M; O'Rand Michael G; Streicker Michael A; Gessner Ryan C; Gregory Thomas S; Silva Erick JR; Hamil Katherine G; Moser Glenda J; Sokal David C

2012-01-01

Abstract Background Studies published in the 1970s by Mostafa S. Fahim and colleagues showed that a short treatment with ultrasound caused the depletion of germ cells and infertility. The goal of the current study was to determine if a commercially available therapeutic ultrasound generator and transducer could be used as the basis for a male contraceptive. Methods Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized and their testes were treated with 1 MHz or 3 MHz ultrasound while varying power, duration ...

Intraoperative registered transrectal ultrasound guidance for robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohareri, Omid; Ischia, Joseph; Black, Peter C; Schneider, Caitlin; Lobo, Julio; Goldenberg, Larry; Salcudean, Septimiu E

2015-01-01

To provide unencumbered real-time ultrasound image guidance during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, we developed a robotic transrectal ultrasound system that tracks the da Vinci® Surgical System instruments. We describe our initial clinical experience with this system. After an evaluation in a canine model, 20 patients were enrolled in the study. During each procedure the transrectal ultrasound transducer was manually positioned using a brachytherapy stabilizer to provide good imaging of the prostate. Then the transrectal ultrasound was registered to the da Vinci robot by a previously validated procedure. Finally, automatic rotation of the transrectal ultrasound was enabled such that the transrectal ultrasound imaging plane safely tracked the tip of the da Vinci instrument controlled by the surgeon, while real-time transrectal ultrasound images were relayed to the surgeon at the da Vinci console. Tracking was activated during all critical stages of the surgery. The transrectal ultrasound robot was easy to set up and use, adding 7 minutes (range 5 to 14) to the procedure. It did not require an assistant or additional control devices. Qualitative feedback was acquired from the surgeons, who found transrectal ultrasound useful in identifying the urethra while passing the dorsal venous complex suture, defining the prostate-bladder interface during bladder neck dissection, identifying the seminal vesicles and their location with respect to the rectal wall, and identifying the distal prostate boundary at the apex. Real-time, registered robotic transrectal ultrasound guidance with automatic instrument tracking during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy is feasible and potentially useful. The results justify further studies to establish whether the approach can improve procedure outcomes. Copyright © 2015 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Recent Advances in the Development and Application of Power Plate Transducers in Dense Gas Extraction and Aerosol Agglomeration Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Riera, E.; Cardoni, A.; Gallego-Juárez, J. A.; Acosta, V. M.; Blanco, A.; Rodríguez, G.; Blasco, M.; Herranz, L. E.

Power ultrasound (PU) is an emerging, innovative, energy saving and environmental friendly technology that is generating a great interest in sectors such as food and pharmaceutical industries, green chemistry, environmental pollution, and other processes, where sustainable and energy efficient methods are required to improve and/or produce specific effects. Two typical effects of PU are the enhancement of mass transfer in gases and liquids, and the induction of particle agglomeration in aerosols. These effects are activated by a variety of mechanisms associated to the nonlinear propagation of high amplitude ultrasonic waves such as diffusion, agitation, entrainment, turbulence, etc. During the last years a great effort has been jointly made by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the company Pusonics towards introducing novel processes into the market based on airborne ultrasonic plate transducers. This technology was specifically developed for the treatment of gas and multiphasic media characterized by low specific acoustic impedance and high acoustic absorption. Different strategies have been developed to mitigate the effects of the nonlinear dynamic behavior of such ultrasonic piezoelectric transducers in order to enhance and stabilize their response at operational power conditions. This work deals with the latter advances in the mitigation of nonlinear problems found in power transducers; besides it describes two applications assisted by ultrasound developed at semi-industrial and laboratory scales and consisting in extraction via dense gases and particle agglomeration. Dense Gas Extraction (DGE) assisted by PU is a new process with a potential to enhance the extraction kinetics with supercritical CO2. Acoustic agglomeration of fine aerosol particles has a great potential for the treatment of air pollution problems generated by particulate materials. Experimental and numerical results in both processes will be shown and discussed.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for rotator cuff tears in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, T.O., E-mail: toby.smith@uea.ac.uk [Department of Physiotherapy, University of East Anglia (United Kingdom); Back, T. [Department of Physiotherapy, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, London (United Kingdom); Toms, A.P. [Department of Radiology, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, London (United Kingdom); Hing, C.B. [Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, St George' s Hospital, London (United Kingdom)

2011-11-15

Aim: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound to detect partial and complete thickness rotator cuff tears based on all available clinical trials. Materials and methods: An electronic search of databases registering published and unpublished literature was conducted. All diagnostic accuracy studies that directly compared the accuracy of ultrasound (the index test) to either arthroscopic or open surgical findings (the reference test) for rotator cuff tear were included. The methodological quality of each included study was assessed using the QUADAS form. When appropriate, pooled sensitivity and specificity analysis was conducted, with an assessment of the summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for each analysis. Results: Sixty-two studies assessing 6007 patients and 6066 shoulders were included. Ultrasonography had good sensitivity and specificity for the assessment of partial thickness (sensitivity 0.84; specificity 0.89), and full-thickness rotator cuff tears (sensitivity 0.96; specificity 0.93). However, the literature poorly described population characteristics, assessor blinding, and was based on limited sample sizes. The literature assessing transducer frequency was particularly small in size. Conclusion: Ultrasonography is an appropriate radiological technique for the assessment of rotator cuff tears with an acceptable sensitivity and specificity. The diagnostic test accuracy of ultrasound is superior for the detection of full-thickness compared to partial-thickness cuff tears. Further study assessing the effect of transducer frequency is warranted.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for rotator cuff tears in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, T.O.; Back, T.; Toms, A.P.; Hing, C.B.

2011-01-01

Aim: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound to detect partial and complete thickness rotator cuff tears based on all available clinical trials. Materials and methods: An electronic search of databases registering published and unpublished literature was conducted. All diagnostic accuracy studies that directly compared the accuracy of ultrasound (the index test) to either arthroscopic or open surgical findings (the reference test) for rotator cuff tear were included. The methodological quality of each included study was assessed using the QUADAS form. When appropriate, pooled sensitivity and specificity analysis was conducted, with an assessment of the summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for each analysis. Results: Sixty-two studies assessing 6007 patients and 6066 shoulders were included. Ultrasonography had good sensitivity and specificity for the assessment of partial thickness (sensitivity 0.84; specificity 0.89), and full-thickness rotator cuff tears (sensitivity 0.96; specificity 0.93). However, the literature poorly described population characteristics, assessor blinding, and was based on limited sample sizes. The literature assessing transducer frequency was particularly small in size. Conclusion: Ultrasonography is an appropriate radiological technique for the assessment of rotator cuff tears with an acceptable sensitivity and specificity. The diagnostic test accuracy of ultrasound is superior for the detection of full-thickness compared to partial-thickness cuff tears. Further study assessing the effect of transducer frequency is warranted.

Application of the ultrasound hyperthermia model for a multi-layered tissue system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loerincz, A

2004-01-01

This work models the thermal effect of several planar transducers targeting the tumour interactively in a ceramics-coupling-skin-muscle-tumour system. The most important inputs of the model include the following: emitted electric output, J/s; mechanical efficiency, %; number of transducers, pieces; surface area of the transducer, m 2 ; area, m 2 and temperature, K of the cooling surface, attenuation coefficients, Np/cm MHz; specific heats, J/gK; densities, g/cm 3 ; heat conductivities, J/msK; sound velocities m/s; flow rate of blood in the tissues, ml/gtissue/min; sound path in the tissues and in the blood flowing through the tissues, m. From the inputs, a number of intermediate data are determined, e.g. the geometry of the irradiated bodies that are in the path of ultrasound, acoustic hardness, Pas/m; sound reflection and sound transmission occurring at the interfaces, Np; heat exchanger wall thickness of the irradiated bodies, m; heat dissipation and heat exchanger surface areas, m 2 ; flow rate of blood in the tissues located in the path of ultrasound, ml/tissue mass in g/min; and the sound attenuation of the tissues, Np. The amount of generated heat, K/s decreased by the heat energy transported, J/s to the surrounding tissues by blood and heat conductivity, and the actual temperature, K of the irradiated tissue are the output parameters calculated by the model. The output results are available in the form of functions. The expected temperature of the target area, K can be set to either the denaturation temperature or to the respiratory decomposition temperature (43.5 deg. C) without damaging the surrounding tissues by setting in the following parameters properly: electric output power, W; the number and surface area, m 2 of the transducers; the area, m 2 and temperature, K of the cooling surfaces. After further development, the model will be suitable for handling more than three tissue layers, increased blood flow rates different angles of incidence, and

Pulmonary ultrasound elastography: a feasibility study with phantoms and ex-vivo tissue

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Man Minh; Xie, Hua; Paluch, Kamila; Stanton, Douglas; Ramachandran, Bharat

2013-03-01

Elastography has become widely used for minimally invasive diagnosis in many tumors as seen with breast, liver and prostate. Among different modalities, ultrasound-based elastography stands out due to its advantages including being safe, real-time, and relatively low-cost. While lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality among both men and women, the use of ultrasound elastography for lung cancer diagnosis has hardly been investigated due to the limitations of ultrasound in air. In this work, we investigate the use of static-compression based endobronchial ultrasound elastography by a 3D trans-oesophageal echocardiography (TEE) transducer for lung cancer diagnosis. A water-filled balloon was designed to 1) improve the visualization of endobronchial ultrasound and 2) to induce compression via pumping motion inside the trachea and bronchiole. In a phantom study, we have successfully generated strain images indicating the stiffness difference between the gelatin background and agar inclusion. A similar strain ratio was confirmed with Philips ultrasound strain-based elastography product. For ex-vivo porcine lung study, different tissue ablation methods including chemical injection, Radio Frequency (RF) ablation, and direct heating were implemented to achieve tumor-mimicking tissue. Stiff ablated lung tissues were obtained and detected with our proposed method. These results suggest the feasibility of pulmonary elastography to differentiate stiff tumor tissue from normal tissue.

Transducers and arrays for underwater sound

CERN Document Server

Butler, John L

2016-01-01

This improved and updated second edition covers the theory, development, and design of electro-acoustic transducers for underwater applications. This highly regarded text discusses the basics of piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers that are currently being used as well as promising new designs. It presents the basic acoustics as well as the specific acoustics data needed in transducer design and evaluation. A broad range of designs of projectors and hydrophones are described in detail along with methods of modeling, evaluation, and measurement. Analysis of projector and hydrophone transducer arrays, including the effects of mutual radiation impedance and numerical models for elements and arrays, are also covered. The book includes new advances in transducer design and transducer materials and has been completely reorganized to be suitable for use as a textbook, as well as a reference or handbook. The new edition contains updates to the first edition, end-of-chapter exercises, and solutions to select...

An enzyme logic bioprotonic transducer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miyake, Takeo; Keene, Scott; Deng, Yingxin; Rolandi, Marco, E-mail: rolandi@uw.edu [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-2120 (United States); Josberger, Erik E. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-2120 (United States); Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-2500 (United States)

2015-01-01

Translating ionic currents into measureable electronic signals is essential for the integration of bioelectronic devices with biological systems. We demonstrate the use of a Pd/PdH{sub x} electrode as a bioprotonic transducer that connects H{sup +} currents in solution into an electronic signal. This transducer exploits the reversible formation of PdH{sub x} in solution according to PdH↔Pd + H{sup +} + e{sup −}, and the dependence of this formation on solution pH and applied potential. We integrate the protonic transducer with glucose dehydrogenase as an enzymatic AND gate for glucose and NAD{sup +}. PdH{sub x} formation and associated electronic current monitors the output drop in pH, thus transducing a biological function into a measurable electronic output.

Open-source, small-animal magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound system.

Science.gov (United States)

Poorman, Megan E; Chaplin, Vandiver L; Wilkens, Ken; Dockery, Mary D; Giorgio, Todd D; Grissom, William A; Caskey, Charles F

2016-01-01

MR-guided focused ultrasound or high-intensity focused ultrasound (MRgFUS/MRgHIFU) is a non-invasive therapeutic modality with many potential applications in areas such as cancer therapy, drug delivery, and blood-brain barrier opening. However, the large financial costs involved in developing preclinical MRgFUS systems represent a barrier to research groups interested in developing new techniques and applications. We aim to mitigate these challenges by detailing a validated, open-source preclinical MRgFUS system capable of delivering thermal and mechanical FUS in a quantifiable and repeatable manner under real-time MRI guidance. A hardware and software package was developed that includes closed-loop feedback controlled thermometry code and CAD drawings for a therapy table designed for a preclinical MRI scanner. For thermal treatments, the modular software uses a proportional integral derivative controller to maintain a precise focal temperature rise in the target given input from MR phase images obtained concurrently. The software computes the required voltage output and transmits it to a FUS transducer that is embedded in the delivery table within the magnet bore. The delivery table holds the FUS transducer, a small animal and its monitoring equipment, and a transmit/receive RF coil. The transducer is coupled to the animal via a water bath and is translatable in two dimensions from outside the magnet. The transducer is driven by a waveform generator and amplifier controlled by real-time software in Matlab. MR acoustic radiation force imaging is also implemented to confirm the position of the focus for mechanical and thermal treatments. The system was validated in tissue-mimicking phantoms and in vivo during murine tumor hyperthermia treatments. Sonications were successfully controlled over a range of temperatures and thermal doses for up to 20 min with minimal temperature overshoot. MR thermometry was validated with an optical temperature probe, and focus

A system of two piezoelectric transducers and a storage circuit for wireless energy transmission through a thin metal wall.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Hongping; Hu, Yuantai; Chen, Chuanyao; Wang, Ji

2008-10-01

A system to wirelessly convey electric energy through a thin metal wall is proposed in the paper, where 2 piezoelectric transducers are used to realize energy transformation between electric and mechanical, and a rechargeable battery is employed to store the transmitted energy. To integrate them as a whole, an interface of a modulating circuit is applied between the transducer system and the storage battery. In addition, a synchronized switch harvesting on inductor in parallel with the transducer system is introduced to artificially extend the closed interval of the modulating circuit. The process of transmitting energy is computed, and the performance of the transducer system is optimized in detail for a prescribed external electric source. The results obtained are useful for understanding and designing wireless energy supply systems.

Pinched flow fractionation of microbubbles for ultrasound contrast agent enrichment

Science.gov (United States)

Versluis, Michel; Kok, Maarten; Segers, Tim

2014-11-01

An ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) suspension contains a wide size distribution of encapsulated microbubbles (typically 1-10 μm in diameter) that resonate to the driving ultrasound field by the intrinsic relationship between bubble size and ultrasound frequency. Medical transducers, however, operate in a narrow frequency range, which severely limits the number of bubbles that contribute to the echo signal. Thus, the sensitivity can be improved by narrowing down the size distribution of the bubble suspension. Here, we present a novel, low-cost, lab-on-a-chip method for the sorting of contrast microbubbles by size, based on a microfluidic separation technique known as pinched flow fractionation (PFF). We show by experimental and numerical investigation that the inclusion of particle rotation is essential for an accurate physical description of the sorting behavior of the larger bubbles. Successful sorting of a bubble suspension with a narrow size distribution (3.0 +/- 0.6 μm) has been achieved with a PFF microdevice. This sorting technique can be easily parallelized, and may lead to a significant improvement in the sensitivity of contrast-enhanced medical ultrasound. This work is supported by NanoNextNL, a micro and nanotechnology consortium of the Government of the Netherlands and 130 partners.

Modeling piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers for physiotherapy; Modelado de transductores ultrasonicos piezoelectricos para fisioterapia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iglesias, E.; Frutos, J. de; Montero de Espinosa, F.

2015-07-01

Applications of ultrasound are well known in medical and aesthetic skin and subcutaneous fatty tissue mobilization treatments. The basic transducer used consists of a piezoelectric disk adhered to a metal delay line in capsule shape. The capsule design is critical since the two bonded elements have vibration modes which can cause very inefficient designs and vibration distributions very irregular if they are not properly studied and utilized. This must be known to avoid distributions of heat and sound pressure that could be ineffective or harmful. In this paper, using Finite Element Method and laser interferometric vibrational analysis, it has reached a piston-type solution that allows properly implement sound pressure vibration dose. (Author)

MR-guided focused ultrasound: a potentially disruptive technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, William G

2009-07-01

A disruptive technology is a technological innovation that overturns the existing dominant technologies in a market. Magnetic resonance (MR)-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a noninvasive procedure based on the combination of real-time MR anatomic guidance, MR thermometry, and high-intensity focused ultrasound. Several hundred transducer elements become convergent at a point under MR guidance, leading to heating and coagulation necrosis. Outside the focal point, there is no significant heating. There is no need to break the skin for procedures in the body or to perform a craniotomy for procedures in the brain. This lack of invasiveness is what makes MRgFUS so disruptive compared with surgery. At present, MRgFUS has been used for the ablation of uterine fibroids, breast tumors, painful bony metastases, and liver tumors. In the brain, it has been used for the ablation of glioblastomas and for functional neurosurgery. Phantom and animal studies suggest future applications for prostate cancer and acute stroke treatment.

MRI feedback temperature control for focused ultrasound surgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vanne, A; Hynynen, K

2003-01-01

A temperature feedback controller routine using a physical model for temperature evolution was developed for use with focused ultrasound surgery. The algorithm for the controller was a multi-input, single-output linear quadratic regulator (LQR) derived from Pennes' bioheat transfer equation. The controller was tested with simulated temperature data that had the same characteristics as those obtained with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The output of the controller was the appropriate power level to be used by the transducer. Tissue parameters estimated prior to the simulated treatments were used to determine the controller parameters. The controller performance was simulated in three dimensions with varying system parameters, and sufficient temperature tracking was achieved. The worst-case overshoot was 7 deg. C and the steady-state error was 5 deg. C. The simulated behaviour of the controller suggests satisfactory performance and that the controller may be useful in controlling the power output during MRI-monitored ultrasound surgery

[Experimental ultrasound angioplasty: in vitro resolution of thrombi].

Science.gov (United States)

Stähr, P; Erbel, R; Weber, W; Fischer, H; Meyer, J

1995-05-01

A new ultrasonic angioplasty ablation catheter connected to a 19.5 kHz. 25 W transducer was tested in vitro for its ability to disrupt 12-h. 24-h, and 5-day-old whole blood thrombi (n = 45.697 mg +/- 223 mg) and fibrin thrombi (n = 45.338 mg +/- 133 mg), as well as 5-day-old cadaver thrombi (n = 8.270 mg +/- 71 mg) within 10 min. Five of each age were used as control thrombi in which the catheter was moved back and forth without ultrasound emission. The size of ablated thrombus particles was measured by a laser device. The power output at the end of the catheter was assessed calorimetrically. The loss of weight of whole blood thrombi was between 429 (74%) and 524 mg (91%) (p power output at the catheter tip was 5.9 W compared to the power output of 25 W at the ultrasound generator.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Comparing interpolation schemes in dynamic receive ultrasound beamforming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kortbek, Jacob; Andresen, Henrik; Nikolov, Svetoslav

2005-01-01

In medical ultrasound interpolation schemes are of- ten applied in receive focusing for reconstruction of image points. This paper investigates the performance of various interpolation scheme by means of ultrasound simulations of point scatterers in Field II. The investigation includes conventional...... B-mode imaging and synthetic aperture (SA) imaging using a 192-element, 7 MHz linear array transducer with λ pitch as simulation model. The evaluation consists primarily of calculations of the side lobe to main lobe ratio, SLMLR, and the noise power of the interpolation error. When using...... conventional B-mode imaging and linear interpolation, the difference in mean SLMLR is 6.2 dB. With polynomial interpolation the ratio is in the range 6.2 dB to 0.3 dB using 2nd to 5th order polynomials, and with FIR interpolation the ratio is in the range 5.8 dB to 0.1 dB depending on the filter design...

Comparison between transurethral ultrasound and conventional urethrography in male urethral stricture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, G. C.; Rivas, C.; Rivas, B.; Perez, M.; Peasqueira, D.; Tardaguila, F.

2001-01-01

To define the role of transurethral ultrasound in the study of male urethral structure. A prospective study was carried out in 19 consecutive patients with male urethral structure, diagnosed by means of conventional urethrography, who subsequently underwent transurethral ultrasound. The latter study consisted of the introduction of a Foley catheter (8 or 10 F) and gradual inflation of the balloon within the navicular fossa. Sterile saline solution was then slowly and continuously infused while the ultrasound was carried out by placing the transducer on the ventral aspect of the penis and in the perineal region to identify the different portions of the urethra. The location and extension of the structure were determined by both radiological techniques, and adjacent areas of fibrosis (spongiofibrosis) were detected by ultrasound. The results correlated with the pathological findings in 10 case. There was good agreement between the two techniques in the localization of the structure (kappa=0.81). However, there were statistically significant differences in the measurements of the extension (p=0.01). Transurethral ultrasound revealed areas of spongiofibrosis adjacent to the structure that presented a different echogenicity. The results of the measurement of their extension were not significantly different from those found in the pathological study. Transurethral ultrasound is more effective than conventional urethrography in the study of urethral structure since it permits the precise measurement and localization of the structure and the visualization of the zone of spongiofibrosis, a determining factor in surgical planning. (Author) 11 refs

A new coding concept for fast ultrasound imaging using pulse trains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Misaridis, T.; Jensen, Jørgen Arendt

2002-01-01

Frame rate in ultrasound imaging can he increased by simultaneous transmission of multiple beams using coded waveforms. However, the achievable degree of orthogonality among coded waveforms is limited in ultrasound, and the image quality degrades unacceptably due to interbeam interference....... In this paper, an alternative combined time-space coding approach is undertaken. In the new method all transducer elements are excited with short pulses and the high time-bandwidth (TB) product waveforms are generated acoustically. Each element transmits a short pulse spherical wave with a constant transmit...... delay from element to element, long enough to assure no pulse overlapping for all depths in the image. Frequency shift keying is used for "per element" coding. The received signals from a point scatterer are staggered pulse trains which are beamformed for all beam directions and further processed...

Focal point determination in magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound using tracking coils.

Science.gov (United States)

Svedin, Bryant T; Beck, Michael J; Hadley, J Rock; Merrill, Robb; de Bever, Joshua T; Bolster, Bradley D; Payne, Allison; Parker, Dennis L

2017-06-01

To develop a method for rapid prediction of the geometric focus location in MR coordinates of a focused ultrasound (US) transducer with arbitrary position and orientation without sonicating. Three small tracker coil circuits were designed, constructed, attached to the transducer housing of a breast-specific MR-guided focused US (MRgFUS) system with 5 degrees of freedom, and connected to receiver channel inputs of an MRI scanner. A one-dimensional sequence applied in three orthogonal directions determined the position of each tracker, which was then corrected for gradient nonlinearity. In a calibration step, low-level heating located the US focus in one transducer position orientation where the tracker positions were also known. Subsequent US focus locations were determined from the isometric transformation of the trackers. The accuracy of this method was verified by comparing the tracking coil predictions to thermal center of mass calculated using MR thermometry data acquired at 16 different transducer positions for MRgFUS sonications in a homogeneous gelatin phantom. The tracker coil predicted focus was an average distance of 2.1 ± 1.1 mm from the thermal center of mass. The one-dimensional locator sequence and prediction calculations took less than 1 s to perform. This technique accurately predicts the geometric focus for a transducer with arbitrary position and orientation without sonicating. Magn Reson Med 77:2424-2430, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

High resolution ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging of single cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric M. Strohm

2016-03-01

Full Text Available High resolution ultrasound and photoacoustic images of stained neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes from a blood smear were acquired using a combined acoustic/photoacoustic microscope. Photoacoustic images were created using a pulsed 532 nm laser that was coupled to a single mode fiber to produce output wavelengths from 532 nm to 620 nm via stimulated Raman scattering. The excitation wavelength was selected using optical filters and focused onto the sample using a 20× objective. A 1000 MHz transducer was co-aligned with the laser spot and used for ultrasound and photoacoustic images, enabling micrometer resolution with both modalities. The different cell types could be easily identified due to variations in contrast within the acoustic and photoacoustic images. This technique provides a new way of probing leukocyte structure with potential applications towards detecting cellular abnormalities and diseased cells at the single cell level.

Adaptive ultrasound temperature imaging for monitoring radiofrequency ablation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Da Liu

Full Text Available Radiofrequency ablation (RFA has been widely used as an alternative treatment modality for liver tumors. Monitoring the temperature distribution in the tissue during RFA is required to assess the thermal dosage. Ultrasound temperature imaging based on the detection of echo time shifts has received the most attention in the past decade. The coefficient k, connecting the temperature change and the echo time shift, is a medium-dependent parameter used to describe the confounding effects of changes in the speed of sound and thermal expansion as temperature increases. The current algorithm of temperature estimate based on echo time shift detection typically uses a constant k, resulting in estimation errors when ablation temperatures are higher than 50°C. This study proposes an adaptive-k algorithm that enables the automatic adjustment of the coefficient k during ultrasound temperature monitoring of RFA. To verify the proposed algorithm, RFA experiments on in vitro porcine liver samples (total n = 15 were performed using ablation powers of 10, 15, and 20 W. During RFA, a clinical ultrasound system equipped with a 7.5-MHz linear transducer was used to collect backscattered signals for ultrasound temperature imaging using the constant- and adaptive-k algorithms. Concurrently, an infrared imaging system and thermocouples were used to measure surface temperature distribution of the sample and internal ablation temperatures for comparisons with ultrasound estimates. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed adaptive-k method improved the performance in visualizing the temperature distribution. In particular, the estimation errors were also reduced even when the temperature of the tissue is higher than 50°C. The proposed adaptive-k ultrasound temperature imaging strategy has potential to serve as a thermal dosage evaluation tool for monitoring high-temperature RFA.

Stress fractures of the ankle malleoli diagnosed by ultrasound: a report of 6 cases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bianchi, Stefano; Luong, Dien Hung

2014-01-01

To present the ultrasound appearance of stress fractures (SF) of the ankle malleoli. We present a retrospective review of 6 patients (4 women and 2 men, with an age range of 24-52 years, mean age of 39 years) in which ultrasound diagnosed, together with the clinical findings, an SF of the ankle malleoli. For all of these patients ultrasound was the first imaging technique applied because of a clinical suspicion of soft tissue injuries following excessive exertion. Patients were subsequently examined using standard radiographs and/or MRI. At ultrasound patients showed thickening of the periosteum in all patients, calcified bone callus was evident in 3 out of 6 patients. Cortical irregularities and subcutaneous oedema were found in all but one patient. Colour Doppler showed local hypervascular changes in all patients. Local compression with the transducers during real-time scanning increased pain in all cases. Ultrasound, together with the clinical findings, can diagnose an SF of the ankle malleoli. We suggest that sonologists should include malleolar SF in their differential diagnosis, particularly in the case of perimalleolar pain from over-solicitation. They must also include, as part of every ultrasound examination of the ankle, the evaluation of both malleoli and should be aware of the ultrasound appearance of malleolar SF. If the diagnosis remains uncertain, an MRI should be prescribed. (orig.)

Stress fractures of the ankle malleoli diagnosed by ultrasound: a report of 6 cases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bianchi, Stefano [CIM SA, Cabinet Imagerie Medicale, Geneve (Switzerland); Luong, Dien Hung [CIM SA, Cabinet Imagerie Medicale, Geneve (Switzerland); University of Montreal, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Montreal (Canada)

2014-06-15

To present the ultrasound appearance of stress fractures (SF) of the ankle malleoli. We present a retrospective review of 6 patients (4 women and 2 men, with an age range of 24-52 years, mean age of 39 years) in which ultrasound diagnosed, together with the clinical findings, an SF of the ankle malleoli. For all of these patients ultrasound was the first imaging technique applied because of a clinical suspicion of soft tissue injuries following excessive exertion. Patients were subsequently examined using standard radiographs and/or MRI. At ultrasound patients showed thickening of the periosteum in all patients, calcified bone callus was evident in 3 out of 6 patients. Cortical irregularities and subcutaneous oedema were found in all but one patient. Colour Doppler showed local hypervascular changes in all patients. Local compression with the transducers during real-time scanning increased pain in all cases. Ultrasound, together with the clinical findings, can diagnose an SF of the ankle malleoli. We suggest that sonologists should include malleolar SF in their differential diagnosis, particularly in the case of perimalleolar pain from over-solicitation. They must also include, as part of every ultrasound examination of the ankle, the evaluation of both malleoli and should be aware of the ultrasound appearance of malleolar SF. If the diagnosis remains uncertain, an MRI should be prescribed. (orig.)

Effects of Hydrogen Peroxide and Ultrasound on Biomass Reduction and Toxin Release in the Cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miquel Lürling

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Cyanobacterial blooms are expected to increase, and the toxins they produce threaten human health and impair ecosystem services. The reduction of the nutrient load of surface waters is the preferred way to prevent these blooms; however, this is not always feasible. Quick curative measures are therefore preferred in some cases. Two of these proposed measures, peroxide and ultrasound, were tested for their efficiency in reducing cyanobacterial biomass and potential release of cyanotoxins. Hereto, laboratory assays with a microcystin (MC-producing cyanobacterium (Microcystis aeruginosa were conducted. Peroxide effectively reduced M. aeruginosa biomass when dosed at 4 or 8 mg L−1, but not at 1 and 2 mg L−1. Peroxide dosed at 4 or 8 mg L−1 lowered total MC concentrations by 23%, yet led to a significant release of MCs into the water. Dissolved MC concentrations were nine-times (4 mg L−1 and 12-times (8 mg L−1 H2O2 higher than in the control. Cell lysis moreover increased the proportion of the dissolved hydrophobic variants, MC-LW and MC-LF (where L = Leucine, W = tryptophan, F = phenylalanine. Ultrasound treatment with commercial transducers sold for clearing ponds and lakes only caused minimal growth inhibition and some release of MCs into the water. Commercial ultrasound transducers are therefore ineffective at controlling cyanobacteria.

Development of an ultrasound microscope combined with optical microscope for multiparametric characterization of a single cell.

Science.gov (United States)

Arakawa, Mototaka; Shikama, Joe; Yoshida, Koki; Nagaoka, Ryo; Kobayashi, Kazuto; Saijo, Yoshifumi

2015-09-01

Biomechanics of the cell has been gathering much attention because it affects the pathological status in atherosclerosis and cancer. In the present study, an ultrasound microscope system combined with optical microscope for characterization of a single cell with multiple ultrasound parameters was developed. The central frequency of the transducer was 375 MHz and the scan area was 80 × 80 μm with up to 200 × 200 sampling points. An inverted optical microscope was incorporated in the design of the system, allowing for simultaneous optical observations of cultured cells. Two-dimensional mapping of multiple ultrasound parameters, such as sound speed, attenuation, and acoustic impedance, as well as the thickness, density, and bulk modulus of specimen/cell under investigation, etc., was realized by the system. Sound speed and thickness of a 3T3-L1 fibroblast cell were successfully obtained by the system. The ultrasound microscope system combined with optical microscope further enhances our understanding of cellular biomechanics.

Laser generated ultrasound sources using polymer nanocomposites for high frequency metrology

KAUST Repository

Rajagopal, Srinath

2017-11-22

Accurate characterization of ultrasound fields generated by diagnostic and therapeutic transducers is critical for patient safety. This requires hydrophones calibrated to a traceable standard and currently the upper calibration frequency range available to the user community is limited to a frequency of 40 MHz. However, the increasing use of high frequencies for both imaging and therapy necessitates calibrations to frequencies well beyond this range. For this to be possible, a source of high amplitude, broadband, quasi-planar and stable ultrasound fields is required. This is difficult to achieve using conventional piezoelectric sources, but laser generated ultrasound is a promising technique in this regard. In this study, various polymer-carbon nanotube nanocomposites (PNC) were fabricated and tested for their suitability for such an application by varying the polymer type, carbon nanotubes weight content in the polymer, and PNC thickness. A broadband hydrophone was used to measure the peak pressure and bandwidth of the laser generated ultrasound pulse. Peak-positive pressures of up to 8 MPa and −6dB bandwidths of up to 40 MHz were recorded. There is a nonlinear dependence of the peak pressure on the laser fluence and the bandwidth scales inversely proportionally to the peak pressure. The high-pressure plane waves generated from this preliminary investigation has demonstrated that laser generated ultrasound sources are a promising technique for high frequency calibration of hydrophones.

Iron-free moving coil high temperature displacement transducer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grindrod, A

1976-07-01

A unique, iron free, moving coil linear displacement transducer system is described, which is suitable for continuously monitoring linear movements, at varying temperatures up to 750/sup 0/C, in operational nuclear reactors. Although this device has been primarily developed for Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor Systems, it also has uses where long term measurements on conventional high temperature plant are required. Furthermore it could be particularly useful in material creep laboratories where precise linear changes in specimen length need to be monitored at elevated temperatures, over several years. Since individual transducer installations demand specific mounting arrangements to suit particular component geometries, evaluations have been made only on standard operational modules or capsules which are designed for containment in a range of housing or fixtures to suit particular applications. The behaviour of these devices has been studied at temperatures up to 750/sup 0/C for periods of over 10,000 h. An evaluation is also included of a commercially designed sensor assembly employing the same principle, for monitoring the boiler-shield wall movement at Hinkley Point 'B' AGR Station.

On a computational study for investigating acoustic streaming and heating during focused ultrasound ablation of liver tumor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solovchuk, Maxim A.; Sheu, Tony W.H.; Thiriet, Marc; Lin, Win-Li

2013-01-01

The influences of blood vessels and focused location on temperature distribution during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation of liver tumors are studied numerically. A three-dimensional acoustics-thermal-fluid coupling model is employed to compute the temperature field in the hepatic cancerous region. The model construction is based on the linear Westervelt and bioheat equations as well as the nonlinear Navier–Stokes equations for the liver parenchyma and blood vessels. The effect of acoustic streaming is also taken into account in the present HIFU simulation study. Different blood vessel diameters and focal point locations were investigated. We found from this three-dimensional numerical study that in large blood vessels both the convective cooling and acoustic streaming can considerably change the temperature field and the thermal lesion near blood vessels. If the blood vessel is located within the beam width, both acoustic streaming and blood flow cooling effects should be addressed. The temperature rise on the blood vessel wall generated by a 1.0 MHz focused ultrasound transducer with the focal intensity 327 W/cm 2 was 54% lower when acoustic streaming effect was taken into account. Subject to the applied acoustic power the streaming velocity in a 3 mm blood vessel is 12 cm/s. Thirty percent of the necrosed volume can be reduced, when taking into account the acoustic streaming effect. -- Highlights: • 3D three-field coupling physical model for focused ultrasound tumor ablation is presented. • Acoustic streaming and blood flow cooling effects on ultrasound heating are investigated. • Acoustic streaming can considerably affect the temperature distribution. • The lesion can be reduced by 30% due to the acoustic streaming effect. • Temperature on the blood vessel wall is reduced by 54% due to the acoustic streaming effect

Eyeball test using abdominal ultrasound unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Chun Kyu; Lee, Yong Woo; Cheung, Hwan

1984-01-01

Ultrasonography is a wide diagnostic use for its desirable quality that it causes no radiation hazard to the patient and allows to test him without causing pains, while affording much valued diagnostic information. Since Mundt reported in 1955 that Ultrasonography can be used for testing the eyeball, it has widely been used for clinical purpose, but in Korea many difficulties are being exist in the sonographic evaluation of the eyeball due to storage of the exclusive Ultrasound units for eyeball diagnosis. This treatise describes eyeball test methods along with clinical instances observed by a compound scanner for abdomen scan mounted with an eyeball transducer of a frequency as high as 5 to 7.5MHz and using water bag

Using Portable Transducers to Measure Tremor Severity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodger Elble

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Portable motion transducers, suitable for measuring tremor, are now available at a reasonable cost. The use of these transducers requires knowledge of their limitations and data analysis. The purpose of this review is to provide a practical overview and example software for using portable motion transducers in the quantification of tremor. Methods: Medline was searched via PubMed.gov in December 2015 using the Boolean expression “tremor AND (accelerometer OR accelerometry OR gyroscope OR inertial measurement unit OR digitizing tablet OR transducer.” Abstracts of 419 papers dating back to 1964 were reviewed for relevant portable transducers and methods of tremor analysis, and 105 papers written in English were reviewed in detail. Results: Accelerometers, gyroscopes, and digitizing tablets are used most commonly, but few are sold for the purpose of measuring tremor. Consequently, most software for tremor analysis is developed by the user. Wearable transducers are capable of recording tremor continuously, in the absence of a clinician. Tremor amplitude, frequency, and occurrence (percentage of time with tremor can be computed. Tremor amplitude and occurrence correlate strongly with clinical ratings of tremor severity. Discussion: Transducers provide measurements of tremor amplitude that are objective, precise, and valid, but the precision and accuracy of transducers are mitigated by natural variability in tremor amplitude. This variability is so great that the minimum detectable change in amplitude, exceeding random variability, is comparable for scales and transducers. Research is needed to determine the feasibility of detecting smaller change using averaged data from continuous long-term recordings with wearable transducers.

The Lunula: An ultrasound imaging approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Soo Jung; Shin, Myung Jin; Kim, Sung Moon; Ahn, Joong Mo

2001-01-01

The lunula is the white, half-moon-shaped area seen on some, but not all nails. Usually the lunula is the topographic marker of the distal part of the nail matrix, and known to have the ability of nail production. Ultrasonographic imaging of the lunula has not been reported before. This study was undertaken to demonstrate normal ultrasonographic features of the lunula. Ultrasonographic examination of the lunula was performed in the right thumb of 20 healthy volunteers (10M, 10F, mean age 30, range 26-36 years) with a real-time, high-resolution ultrasound unit (Sequoia 512, Acuson, Mountain view, CA, USA) with 8-15 MHz linear transducers. Gray scale color, and special Doppler imagings were performed with longitudinal scanning. The lunula was not seen inspection in three of the 20 volunteers. The mean size of the lunula in the other 17 volumteen was 3.31 ± 1.24 mm (range 2-6.2 mm). Gray scale ultrasound imaging showed the lunula; ovoid shaped hypo-echoic zone in proximal fingernail in 18 of 20 volunteers (mean size, 6.74 ± 0.98 mm, range 5-8.8 mm). In two of 20 volunteers, the lunula was indistinct on gray scale ultrasound examination. However, all lunula were identifiable on color Doppler imaging by detecting vascularity within the lunula. Spectral wave pattern of the lunula was a bi-directional pulsatile wave. Peak velocity was within 5-15 m/sec (mean 8 m/sec). The lunula is identifiable on ultrasound examination as a hyper-vascular, ovoid shaped, hypo-echoic zone in proximal fingernail. This normal structure should not be misinterpreted as an abnormal sub-ungual lesion.

WE-G-BRF-09: Force- and Image-Adaptive Strategies for Robotised Placement of 4D Ultrasound Probes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuhlemann, I [Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems, University of Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany); Graduate School for Computing in Life Science, University of Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany); Bruder, R; Ernst, F; Schweikard, A [Institute for Robotics and Cognitive Systems, University of Luebeck, Luebeck (Germany)

2014-06-15

Purpose: To allow continuous acquisition of high quality 4D ultrasound images for non-invasive live tracking of tumours for IGRT, image- and force-adaptive strategies for robotised placement of 4D ultrasound probes are developed and evaluated. Methods: The developed robotised ultrasound system is based on a 6-axes industrial robot (adept Viper s850) carrying a 4D ultrasound transducer with a mounted force-torque sensor. The force-adaptive placement strategies include probe position control using artificial potential fields and contact pressure regulation by a PD controller strategy. The basis for live target tracking is a continuous minimum contact pressure to ensure good image quality and high patient comfort. This contact pressure can be significantly disturbed by respiratory movements and has to be compensated. All measurements were performed on human subjects under realistic conditions. When performing cardiac ultrasound, rib- and lung shadows are a common source of interference and can disrupt the tracking. To ensure continuous tracking, these artefacts had to be detected to automatically realign the probe. The detection is realised by multiple algorithms based on entropy calculations as well as a determination of the image quality. Results: Through active contact pressure regulation it was possible to reduce the variance of the contact pressure by 89.79% despite respiratory motion of the chest. The results regarding the image processing clearly demonstrate the feasibility to detect image artefacts like rib shadows in real-time. Conclusion: In all cases, it was possible to stabilise the image quality by active contact pressure control and automatically detected image artefacts. This fact enables the possibility to compensate for such interferences by realigning the probe and thus continuously optimising the ultrasound images. This is a huge step towards fully automated transducer positioning and opens the possibility for stable target tracking in

WE-G-BRF-09: Force- and Image-Adaptive Strategies for Robotised Placement of 4D Ultrasound Probes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuhlemann, I; Bruder, R; Ernst, F; Schweikard, A

2014-01-01

Purpose: To allow continuous acquisition of high quality 4D ultrasound images for non-invasive live tracking of tumours for IGRT, image- and force-adaptive strategies for robotised placement of 4D ultrasound probes are developed and evaluated. Methods: The developed robotised ultrasound system is based on a 6-axes industrial robot (adept Viper s850) carrying a 4D ultrasound transducer with a mounted force-torque sensor. The force-adaptive placement strategies include probe position control using artificial potential fields and contact pressure regulation by a PD controller strategy. The basis for live target tracking is a continuous minimum contact pressure to ensure good image quality and high patient comfort. This contact pressure can be significantly disturbed by respiratory movements and has to be compensated. All measurements were performed on human subjects under realistic conditions. When performing cardiac ultrasound, rib- and lung shadows are a common source of interference and can disrupt the tracking. To ensure continuous tracking, these artefacts had to be detected to automatically realign the probe. The detection is realised by multiple algorithms based on entropy calculations as well as a determination of the image quality. Results: Through active contact pressure regulation it was possible to reduce the variance of the contact pressure by 89.79% despite respiratory motion of the chest. The results regarding the image processing clearly demonstrate the feasibility to detect image artefacts like rib shadows in real-time. Conclusion: In all cases, it was possible to stabilise the image quality by active contact pressure control and automatically detected image artefacts. This fact enables the possibility to compensate for such interferences by realigning the probe and thus continuously optimising the ultrasound images. This is a huge step towards fully automated transducer positioning and opens the possibility for stable target tracking in

Microhydraulic transducer technology for actuation and power generation

Science.gov (United States)

Hagood, Nesbitt W.; Roberts, David C.; Saggere, Laxminarayana; Breuer, Kenneth S.; Chen, Kuo-Shen; Carretero, Jorge A.; Li, Hanqing; Mlcak, Richard; Pulitzer, Seward W.; Schmidt, Martin A.; Spearing, S. Mark; Su, Yu-Hsuan

2000-06-01

The paper introduces a novel transducer technology, called the solid-state micro-hydraulic transducer, currently under development at MIT. The new technology is enabled through integration of micromachining technology, piezoelectrics, and microhydraulic concepts. These micro-hydraulic transducers are capable of bi-directional electromechanical energy conversion, i.e., they can operate as both an actuator that supplies high mechanical force in response to electrical input and an energy generator that transduces electrical energy from mechanical energy in the environment. These transducers are capable of transducing energy at very high specific power output in the order of 1 kW/kg, and thus, they have the potential to enable many novel applications. The concept, the design, and the potential applications of the transducers are presented. Present efforts towards the development of these transducers, and the challenges involved therein, are also discussed.

Optimization of ultrasound parameters of myocardial cavitation microlesions for therapeutic application.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Douglas L; Dou, Chunyan; Owens, Gabe E; Kripfgans, Oliver D

2014-06-01

Intermittent high intensity ultrasound scanning with contrast microbubbles can induce scattered cavitation microlesions in the myocardium, which may be of value for tissue reduction therapy. Anesthetized rats were treated in a heated water bath with 1.5 MHz focused ultrasound pulses, guided by an 8 MHz imaging transducer. The relative efficacy with 2 or 4 MPa pulses, 1:4 or 1:8 trigger intervals and 5 or 10 cycle pulses was explored in six groups. Electrocardiogram premature complexes (PCs) induced by the triggered pulse bursts were counted, and Evans blue stained cardiomyocyte scores (SCSs) were obtained. The increase from 2 to 4 MPa produced significant increases in PCs and SCSs and eliminated an anticipated decline in the rate of PC induction with time, which might hinder therapeutic efficacy. Increased intervals and pulse durations did not yield significant increases in the effects. The results suggest that cavitation microlesion production can be refined and potentially lead to a clinically robust therapeutic method. Copyright © 2014 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Feasibility of MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound as Organ-Sparing Treatment for Testicular Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Staruch, Robert; Curiel, Laura; Chopra, Rajiv; Hynynen, Kullervo

2009-04-01

High cure rates for testicular cancer have prompted interest in organ-sparing surgery for patients with bilateral disease or single testis. Focused ultrasound (FUS) ablation could offer a noninvasive approach to organ-sparing surgery. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of using MR thermometry to guide organ-sparing focused ultrasound surgery in the testis. The testes of anesthetized rabbits were sonicated in several discrete locations using a single-element focused transducer operating at 2.787MHz. Focal heating was visualized with MR thermometry, using a measured PRF thermal coefficient of -0.0089±0.0003 ppm/° C. Sonications at 3.5-14 acoustic watts applied for 30 seconds produced maximum temperature elevations of 10-80° C, with coagulation verified by histology. Coagulation of precise volumes in the testicle is feasible with MRI-guided focused ultrasound. Variability in peak temperature for given sonication parameters suggests the need for online temperature feedback control.

Capacitive pressure transducer using flexible films. Junan film wo mochiita seiden yoryoshiki atsukaku transducer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yamada, Y.; Tsuchida, N.; Imai, K. (Toyota Technological Institute, Aichi (Japan)); Fujita, K. (Nitto Denko Corp., Osaka (Japan)): Tsuboi, O. (Fujitsu Corp., Tokyo (Japan))

1992-12-20

This paper describes the design, manufacture, and evaluation of a capacitive pressure transducer made of polyimide films. The structure of a pressure transducer cell was first determined, and then, the deflection-stress and capacitance-load characteristics of the surface film were analyzed using finite element methods. For the practical stage of manufacture, a polyimide film was emboss processed and electrodes were deposited on the film to construct a pressure transducer cell to which a Schmidt-trigger detecting circuit was connected. As a consequence of the examination of operational characteristics of the cell, it was found that the actual relation between the deflection and load approximately agreed with the linear analyses, and that the capacitance depended with little hysteresis on the gap regardless of the native visco-elasticity of the film. Furthermore, small stick-slip vibration of a contact rubber surface was detected by the transducer to verify its high sensitivity. 17 refs., 18 figs.

A high-frequency transimpedance amplifier for CMOS integrated 2D CMUT array towards 3D ultrasound imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xiwei; Cheong, Jia Hao; Cha, Hyouk-Kyu; Yu, Hongbin; Je, Minkyu; Yu, Hao

2013-01-01

One transimpedance amplifier based CMOS analog front-end (AFE) receiver is integrated with capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers (CMUTs) towards high frequency 3D ultrasound imaging. Considering device specifications from CMUTs, the TIA is designed to amplify received signals from 17.5MHz to 52.5MHz with center frequency at 35MHz; and is fabricated in Global Foundry 0.18-µm 30-V high-voltage (HV) Bipolar/CMOS/DMOS (BCD) process. The measurement results show that the TIA with power-supply 6V can reach transimpedance gain of 61dBΩ and operating frequency from 17.5MHz to 100MHz. The measured input referred noise is 27.5pA/√Hz. Acoustic pulse-echo testing is conducted to demonstrate the receiving functionality of the designed 3D ultrasound imaging system.

Wrist ultrasound analysis of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.A. Mendonça

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In the present study, we evaluated 42 wrists using the semi-quantitative scales power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS and gray scale ultrasound (GSUS with scores ranging from 0 to 3 and correlated the results with clinical, laboratory and radiographic data. Twenty-one patients (17 women and 4 men with rheumatoid arthritis according to criteria of the American College of Rheumatology were enrolled in the study from September 2008 to July 2009 at Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP. The average disease duration was 14 months. The patients were 66.6% Caucasians and 33.3% non-Caucasians, with a mean age of 42 and 41 years, respectively. A dorsal longitudinal scan was performed by ultrasound on the radiocarpal and midcarpal joints using GE LOGIQ XP-linear ultrasound and a high frequency (8-10 MHz transducer. All patients were X-rayed, and the Larsen score was determined for the joints, with grades ranging from 0 to V. This study showed significant correlations between clinical, sonographic and laboratory data: GSUS and swollen right wrist (r = 0.546, GSUS of right wrist and swelling of left wrist (r = 0.511, PDUS of right wrist and pain in left wrist (r = 0.436, PDUS of right wrist and C-reactive protein (r = 0.466. Ultrasound can be considered a useful tool in the diagnosis of synovitis in early rheumatoid arthritis mainly when the anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide and rheumatoid factor are negative, and can lead to an early change in the therapeutic decision.

Effect of Ultrasound Technology on Food and Nutritional Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Ojha, Kumari S; Tiwari, Brijesh K; O'Donnell, Colm P

2018-01-01

Ultrasound technology has been successfully demonstrated for several food processing and preservation applications. The majority of food processing applications reported refer to liquid foods. Ultrasound has been applied to solid foods in some niche applications, e.g., tenderization of meat, mass transfer applications, and drying. Similar to any other technology, ultrasound also has some positive and negative effects on food quality depending on the application and processing conditions employed. This chapter outlines various applications of ultrasound to food and its effect on food and nutritional quality. © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving needle tip identification during ultrasound-guided procedures in anaesthetic practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholten, H J; Pourtaherian, A; Mihajlovic, N; Korsten, H H M; A Bouwman, R

2017-07-01

Ultrasound guidance is becoming standard practice for needle-based interventions in anaesthetic practice, such as vascular access and peripheral nerve blocks. However, difficulties in aligning the needle and the transducer can lead to incorrect identification of the needle tip, possibly damaging structures not visible on the ultrasound screen. Additional techniques specifically developed to aid alignment of needle and probe or identification of the needle tip are now available. In this scoping review, advantages and limitations of the following categories of those solutions are presented: needle guides; alterations to needle or needle tip; three- and four-dimensional ultrasound; magnetism, electromagnetic or GPS systems; optical tracking; augmented (virtual) reality; robotic assistance; and automated (computerised) needle detection. Most evidence originates from phantom studies, case reports and series, with few randomised clinical trials. Improved first-pass success and reduced performance time are the most frequently cited benefits, whereas the need for additional and often expensive hardware is the greatest limitation to widespread adoption. Novice ultrasound users seem to benefit most and great potential lies in education. Future research should focus on reporting relevant clinical parameters to learn which technique will benefit patients most in terms of success and safety. © 2017 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

A simulation model for predicting the temperature during the application of MR-guided focused ultrasound for stroke treatment using pulsed ultrasound

Science.gov (United States)

Hadjisavvas, V.; Damianou, C.

2011-09-01

In this paper a simulation model for predicting the temperature during the application of MR-guided focused ultrasound for stroke treatment using pulsed ultrasound is presented. A single element spherically focused transducer of 5 cm diameter, focusing at 10 cm and operating at either 0.5 MHz or 1 MHz was considered. The power field was estimated using the KZK model. The temperature was estimated using the bioheat equation. The goal was to extract the acoustic parameters (power, pulse duration, duty factor and pulse repetition frequency) that maintain a temperature increase of less than 1 °C during the application of a pulse ultrasound protocol. It was found that the temperature change increases linearly with duty factor. The higher the power, the lower the duty factor needed to keep the temperature change to the safe limit of 1 °C. The higher the frequency the lower the duty factor needed to keep the temperature change to the safe limit of 1 °C. Finally, the deeper the target, the higher the duty factor needed to keep the temperature change to the safe limit of 1 °C. The simulation model was tested in brain tissue during the application of pulse ultrasound and the measured temperature was in close agreement with the simulated temperature. This simulation model is considered to be very useful tool for providing acoustic parameters (frequency, power, duty factor, pulse repetition frequency) during the application of pulsed ultrasound at various depths in tissue so that a safe temperature is maintained during the treatment. This model could be tested soon during stroke clinical trials.

4-D ICE: A 2-D Array Transducer With Integrated ASIC in a 10-Fr Catheter for Real-Time 3-D Intracardiac Echocardiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Wildes, Douglas; Lee, Warren; Haider, Bruno; Cogan, Scott; Sundaresan, Krishnakumar; Mills, David M; Yetter, Christopher; Hart, Patrick H; Haun, Christopher R; Concepcion, Mikael; Kirkhorn, Johan; Bitoun, Marc

2016-12-01

We developed a 2.5 ×6.6 mm 2 2 -D array transducer with integrated transmit/receive application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for real-time 3-D intracardiac echocardiography (4-D ICE) applications. The ASIC and transducer design were optimized so that the high-voltage transmit, low-voltage time-gain control and preamp, subaperture beamformer, and digital control circuits for each transducer element all fit within the 0.019-mm 2 area of the element. The transducer assembly was deployed in a 10-Fr (3.3-mm diameter) catheter, integrated with a GE Vivid E9 ultrasound imaging system, and evaluated in three preclinical studies. The 2-D image quality and imaging modes were comparable to commercial 2-D ICE catheters. The 4-D field of view was at least 90 ° ×60 ° ×8 cm and could be imaged at 30 vol/s, sufficient to visualize cardiac anatomy and other diagnostic and therapy catheters. 4-D ICE should significantly reduce X-ray fluoroscopy use and dose during electrophysiology ablation procedures. 4-D ICE may be able to replace transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), and the associated risks and costs of general anesthesia, for guidance of some structural heart procedures.

Coaxial Transducer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ruffa, Anthony A

2008-01-01

The invention as disclosed is of a coaxial transducer that uses lead zirconate titanate ceramic or other suitable material as an isolator between the conductors in a coaxial cable to transmit acoustic...

Image-guided ultrasound phased arrays are a disruptive technology for non-invasive therapy.