A single-element transducer with nonuniform thickness for high-frequency broadband applications.

The design, fabrication, and evaluation of a high-frequency single-element transducer are described. The transducer has an annular geometry, with the thickness of the piezoelectric material increasing from the center to the outside. This single-element annular transducer (SEAT) can provide a broader frequency range than a conventional single-element transducer with a uniform thickness (single-element uniform transducer, or SEUT). We compared the characteristics of a SEAT and a SEUT. Both transducers used 36 degrees-rotated, Y-cut lithium niobate (LiNbO(3)) material. The SEAT had a diameter of 6 mm and comprised 6 subelements of equal area (electrically connected by a single electrode on each side) whose thickness ranged from 60 microm (center) to 110 microm (outside), which resulted in the center frequency of the subelements varying from 59.8 MHz to 25 MHz. The overall center frequency was 42.4 MHz. The annular pattern was constructed using an ultrasonic sculpturing machine that reduced the root-mean-square value of the surface roughness to 454.47 nm. The bandwidth of the SEAT was 19% larger than that of the SEUT. However, compared with the SEUT, the 2-way insertion loss of the SEAT was increased by 3.1 dB. The acoustic beam pattern of the SEAT was also evaluated numerically by finite-element simulations and experimentally by an ultrasound beam analyzer. At the focus (10.5 mm from the transducer surface), the -6 dB beam width was 108 microm. There was reasonable agreement between the data from simulations and experiments. The SEAT can be used for imaging applications that require a wider transducer bandwidth, such as harmonic imaging, and can be manufactured using the same techniques used to produce transducers with multiple frequency bands.

Design, fabrication and testing of a dual-band photoacoustic transducer.

Combining photoacoustic and ultrasonic imaging allows both optical and acoustic properties to be displayed simultaneously. In this paper, we describe a dual-band transducer for implementing such a multimodality imaging setup. The transducer exhibits two frequency bands so that it matches the frequency of interest in both imaging methods. An optical fiber is included in the center so that it is inherently coregistered. The transducer was fabricated from lithium niobate and comprises two concentric rings whose center frequencies are 4.9 MHz and 14.8 MHz. Pulse-echo measurements and phantom imaging were performed to demonstrate its performance characteristics.

ECG triggering and gating for ultrasonic small animal imaging.

Echocardiography (ECG) is routinely used in the clinical diagnosis of cardiac function. The anatomy of the mouse is similar to that of the human, and thus murine ECG has become an effective tool for the assessment of small animal models of human cardiac diseases. Unfortunately, clinical ultrasonic imaging systems are not suitable for murine cardiac imaging due to their limited spatial and temporal resolutions. Murine ECG requires a spatial resolution better than 100 pim, which mandates the use of high-frequency, ultrasonic imaging (i.e., >20 MHz). High-frequency transducer arrays currently are not available, and so such systems use the mechanical scanning of a single-element transducer for which the frame rate is insufficient for directly monitoring the rapid beating of a mouse heart, and thus retrospective image reconstruction is necessary. This paper presents a high-frequency, ultrasonic imaging system for murine cardiac imaging. Two scanning methods have been developed. One is based on ECG triggering and is called the block scanning mode, in which the murine cardiac images from the isovolumic contraction and isovolumic relaxation phases are retrospectively reconstructed within a relatively short data acquisition time using the ECG R-wave as the trigger to the imaging system. The other method is the line scanning mode based on ECG gating, in which both ECG and ultrasound scan lines are continuously acquired over a longer time, enabling images during the entire cardiac cycle to be obtained. It is demonstrated here that the effective frame rate is determined by the pulse repetition frequency and can be up to 2 kHz in the presented system.

ECG Gated Ultrasonic Small Animal Imaging.

Echocardiography is a routine clinical procedure to diagnose cardiac functions. The organic structure of the mouse is similar to that of human so that murine echocardiography has potentially become an effective tool for the assessment of human cardiovascular disease. However, clinical ultrasonic imaging systems are not suitable for murine cardiac imaging due to its limited spatial and temporal resolution. Thus, high frequency ultrasonic imaging (≥ 20 MHz) is necessary in order to provide spatial resolution at the order of 100 μm. Furthermore, due to the lack of transducer arrays at such a high frequency, single-element transducer with mechanical scanning is typically used. Thus the frame rate is insufficient for imaging the quick motion of the mouse. In this paper, a high frequency ultrasonic imaging system with electrocardiography gating is built in order to provide both high spatial resolution and high temporal effecting resolution. The system utilizes the R-wave trigger signal from murine electrocardiography. Image data are acquired in either the block scanning mode or the line scanning mode. In block scanning, murine cardiac images in systole and diastole can be retrospectively reconstructed with a short data acquisition time. In line scanning, on the other hand, images during the entire cardiac cycle can be obtained. It is demonstrated that the effective frame rate can be up to 2 kHz, which is only limited by the pulse repetition rate of the system.