An Air-Coupled Multiple Moving Membrane Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer With Inverse Biasing Functionality.

A novel air-coupled multiple moving membrane-capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer ( [Formula: see text]-CMUT) with individually biased deflectable plates has been developed. Unlike the conventional capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer, this device cell structure includes an additional deflectable plate that is suspended underneath the transducer top plate. This added flexible plate contributes to the device signal transmission and reception. It is demonstrated that due to the presence of this added moving plate, the transducer is capable of operating under inverse bias condition, where the driving voltage is sandwiched between two grounded electrodes. COMSOL electromechanical simulations were conducted to investigate the influence of the transducer additional moving plate. A set of three individuals and an array of [Formula: see text]-CMUT transducers were fabricated using a sacrificial technique and with resonant frequencies ranging from 0.8 to 2.1 MHz. Electrical, optical, and pitch-catch acoustic measurements were performed to characterize the transducers properties under inverse bias condition. The experimental results are shown to be in good agreement with the simulation results for all of the fabricated transducers. It is shown that these transducers are fully functional under both normal and inverse bias conditions without any degradation in the transducer performance.

Diagnosis of vocal cord dysfunction in asthma with high resolution dynamic volume computerized tomography of the larynx.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) often masquerades as asthma and reports have suggested that up to 30% of patients with asthma may have coexistent VCD. Diagnosis of VCD is difficult, in part because it involves laryngoscopy which has practical constraints, and there is need for rapid non-invasive diagnosis. High speed 320-slice volume CT demonstrates laryngeal function during inspiration and expiration and may be useful in suspected VCD. METHODS: Endoscopy and high resolution 320-slice dynamic volume CT were used to examine and compare laryngeal anatomy and movement in a case of subglottic stenosis and in a patient with confirmed VCD. Nine asthmatics with ongoing symptoms and suspected VCD also underwent 320-slice dynamic volume CT. Tracheal and laryngeal anatomy and movement were evaluated and luminal areas were measured. Reductions in vocal cord luminal area >40%, lasting for >70% duration of inspiration/expiration, were judged to be consistent with VCD. RESULTS: Studies of subglottic tracheal stenosis validated anatomical similarities between endoscopy and CT images. Endoscopy and 320-slice volume CT also provided comparable dynamic images in a patient with confirmed VCD. A further nine patients with a history of severe asthma and suspected VCD were studied using CT. Four patients had evidence of VCD and the median reduction of luminal area during expiration was 78.2% (range 48.2-92.5%) compared with 10.4% (range 4.7-30%) in the five patients without VCD. Patients with VCD had no distinguishing clinical characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic volume CT provided explicit images of the larynx, distinguished function of the vocal cords during the respiratory cycle and could identify putative VCD. The technique will potentially provide a simple, non-invasive investigation to identify laryngeal dysfunction, permitting improved management of asthma.

Functional dissection of the intramolecular Src homology 3-guanylate kinase domain coupling in voltage-gated Ca2+ channel beta-subunits.

The beta-subunit of voltage-gated Ca(2+) channels is essential for trafficking the channels to the plasma membrane and regulating their gating. It contains a Src homology 3 (SH3) domain and a guanylate kinase (GK) domain, which interact intramolecularly. We investigated the structural underpinnings of this intramolecular coupling and found that in addition to a previously described SH3 domain beta strand, two structural elements are crucial for maintaining a strong and yet potentially modifiable SH3-GK intramolecular coupling: an intrinsically weak SH3-GK interface and a direct connection of the SH3 and GK domains. Alterations of these elements uncouple the two functions of the beta-subunit, degrading its ability to regulate gating while leaving its chaperone effect intact.