20-MHz phased array ultrasound transducer for in vivo ultrasound imaging of small animals

C M Wong; S F Chan; R Liu; J Zhang; W C Wu; Z Liang; H M Yau; D Y Wang; S Li; K H Lam; W B Qiu; H S Luo; J Y Dai

doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2022.106821

20-MHz phased array ultrasound transducer for in vivo ultrasound imaging of small animals

Ultrasonics. 2022 Dec:126:106821. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2022.106821. Epub 2022 Aug 17.

Authors

C M Wong¹, S F Chan², R Liu³, J Zhang⁴, W C Wu⁵, Z Liang⁶, H M Yau¹, D Y Wang⁷, S Li⁷, K H Lam⁸, W B Qiu⁹, H S Luo⁶, J Y Dai¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China; Hospital Authority, Hong Kong, China.
² Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
³ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
⁴ Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
⁵ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China; School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia.
⁶ Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁷ School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia.
⁸ Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: kokokh.lam@polyu.edu.hk.
⁹ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China. Electronic address: wb.qiu@siat.ac.cn.
¹⁰ Department of Applied Physics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: jiyan.dai@polyu.edu.hk.

PMID: 35988512
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2022.106821

Abstract

In vivo ultrasound imaging with phased array transducers is of great importance for both clinical application and biomedical research. In this work, relaxor ferroelectric PMN-0.28PT single crystal with very high piezoelectric constant d₃₃ ≥ 2000 pC/N and electromechanical coupling coefficient k₃₃ ∼ 0.92 is used to fabricate high-frequency phased array transducers. A 128-element 20-MHz phased array transducer is successfully fabricated, and the optimized performance of -6 dB average bandwidth of ∼ 84 % and insertion loss of -43 dB are achieved. The axial and lateral imaging resolutions of the transducer are determined to be 81 µm and 243 µm, respectively. With Verasonics image platform, in vivo fisheye images are acquired, demonstrating the potential application of our developed high-frequency phased array transducer for biomedical research on small animals.

Keywords: Biomedical imaging; Biomedical transducers; Ferroelectric devices; Ultrasonic transducer arrays.

MeSH terms

Animals
Equipment Design
Transducers*
Ultrasonography