Different layer thickness influences of a 50MHz intravascular ultrasound transducer.

In order to design a 50MHz intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) transducer with good pulse-echo responses, in this paper, a finite element model (FEM) was built to simulate the transducer acoustic performances with different layer thicknesses. According to comparisons of the acoustic fields and the admittance curves, the optimum thickness parameters are gained. And then, an IVUS PZT transducer with controlled layer thicknesses was fabricated and tested. The results of pulse-echo response tests shown this transducer with the optimum parameters had very good performance. The central frequency is 45.5MHz and its bandwidth was about 50% which are suitable for intravascular imaging.