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Special Issue "Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers"

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A special issue of Biosensors (ISSN 2079-6374). This special issue belongs to the section "Biosensors and Healthcare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2023 | Viewed by 6961

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Huihua Kenny Chiang

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Guest Editor

Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei City 11221, Taiwan
Interests: medical ultrasound; ultrasound transducers; innovative medical devices; biomedical optics

Prof. Dr. Xiaoning Jiang

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, North Carolina State University, 911 Oval Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Interests: micro/nanofabrication of smart materials and structures; ultrasound sensors and transducers; ultrasound imaging, therapy and sensing; sensors and transducers for extreme environments
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, there are significant progress of the ultrasound imaging and sening in medical and biomedical applications. We have witnessed innovative technical breakthroughs of ultrasound in various aspects, including wearable ultrasound, elasticity imaging, multimodality imaging, intravascular imaging, miniature ultrasound, small animal imaging, tissue characterization, photoacoustic imaging, elastic imaging, muscle-scheleton imaging, point-of-care application. One of the key factors that enables these progress is the development of the innovative and custom-made ultrasound transducers.

In this Special Issue, we welcome all research and developments that advanced ultrasound transducers/sensors developments and improved the ultrasound imaging and sensing in medical or biomedical applications.

Prof. Dr. Huihua Kenny Chiang
Prof. Dr. Xiaoning Jiang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biosensors is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

ultrasound imaging
ultrasound transducers
wearable ultrasound
medical devices
point-of-care medicine

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Development of Single-Channel Dual-Element Custom-Made Ultrasound Scanner with Miniature Optical Position Tracker for Freehand Imaging

Yen-Lung Chen

and

Huihua Kenny Chiang

Biosensors 2023, 13(4), 431; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13040431 - 28 Mar 2023

Viewed by 655

Abstract

Handheld ultrasound has great potential in resource-limited areas, and can improve healthcare for rural populations. Single-channel ultrasound has been widely used in many clinical ultrasound applications, and optical tracking is considered accurate and reliable. In this study, we developed a 10 MHz lead magnesium niobate–lead titanate (PMN-PT) dual-element ultrasound transducer combined with a miniature optical position tracker, and then measured the rectus femoris of the thigh, upper arm, and cheek muscles. Compared to single-element transducers, dual-element transducers improve the contrast of near-field signals, effectively reduce noise, and are suitable for measuring curved surfaces. The purpose of position tracking is to calculate the location of the ultrasound transducer during the measurement process. By utilizing positioning information, 2D ultrasound imaging can be achieved while maintaining structural integrity. The dual-element ultrasound scanner presented in this study can enable continuous scanning over a large area without a scanning width limitation. The custom-made dual-element ultrasound scanner has the advantage of being a portable, reliable, and low-cost ultrasound device, and is helpful in popularizing medical care for remote villages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers)

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Open AccessArticle

Development of a Wearable Ultrasound Transducer for Sensing Muscle Activities in Assistive Robotics Applications

and

Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010134 - 13 Jan 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1611

Abstract

Robotic prostheses and powered exoskeletons are novel assistive robotic devices for modern medicine. Muscle activity sensing plays an important role in controlling assistive robotics devices. Most devices measure the surface electromyography (sEMG) signal for myoelectric control. However, sEMG is an integrated signal from muscle activities. It is difficult to sense muscle movements in specific small regions, particularly at different depths. Alternatively, traditional ultrasound imaging has recently been proposed to monitor muscle activity due to its ability to directly visualize superficial and at-depth muscles. Despite their advantages, traditional ultrasound probes lack wearability. In this paper, a wearable ultrasound (US) transducer, based on lead zirconate titanate (PZT) and a polyimide substrate, was developed for a muscle activity sensing demonstration. The fabricated PZT-5A elements were arranged into a 4 × 4 array and then packaged in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). In vitro porcine tissue experiments were carried out by generating the muscle activities artificially, and the muscle movements were detected by the proposed wearable US transducer via muscle movement imaging. Experimental results showed that all 16 elements had very similar acoustic behaviors: the averaged central frequency, −6 dB bandwidth, and electrical impedance in water were 10.59 MHz, 37.69%, and 78.41 Ω, respectively. The in vitro study successfully demonstrated the capability of monitoring local muscle activity using the prototyped wearable transducer. The findings indicate that ultrasonic sensing may be an alternative to standardize myoelectric control for assistive robotics applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers)

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Open AccessArticle

In Situ Investigation of Upper Airway Occlusion in Sleep Disordered Breathing Using Ultrasonic Transducer Arrays

Mohammad Al-Abed

Donald Watenpaugh

and

Khosrow Behbehani

Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010121 - 10 Jan 2023

Viewed by 803

Abstract

This work presents a novel application of ultrasound for the real-time, non-invasive investigation of occlusion of the upper airway during events of obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome. It is hypothesized that ultrasonic pulses applied to the neck during apneic events produce spectral and temporal features that can detect apnea occurrence. Theoretical models of ultrasound propagation and an in vitro test were conducted to test this hypothesis in both transmission and reflection modes. Complete specifications and technical details of the system design and fabrication, which is mounted on each subject’s neck, are presented, including the methodology. Nine patients (seven male and two female, mean age of 42 years, with a range of 25 to 56 years, and body mass index 37.6 ± 6.6 kg/m²) were recruited for a full night study, which included simultaneous nocturnal polysomnography for the validation of the results. Nine temporal features and four spectral features were extracted from the envelope of the received pulse waveform. These were used to compute 26 metrics to quantify the changes in the ultrasonic waveforms between normal breathing and apneic events. The statistical analysis of the collected ultrasonic data showed that at least two or more of the proposed features could detect apneic events in all subjects. The findings establish the feasibility of the proposed method as a cost-effective and non-invasive OSAHS screening tool. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers)

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Open AccessCommunication

A High-Frequency Mechanical Scanning Ultrasound Imaging System

and

Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010032 - 27 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 841

Abstract

High-frequency ultrasound has developed rapidly in clinical fields such as cardiovascular, ophthalmology, and skin with its high imaging resolution. However, the development of multi-elements high-frequency ultrasonic transducers and multi-channel high-frequency ultrasound imaging systems is extremely challenging. Here, a high-frequency ultrasound imaging system based on mechanical scanning was proposed in this paper. It adopts the method of reciprocating feed mechanism, which can achieve reciprocating scanning in the 14 mm range at 168 mm/s with a small 60 MHz transducer. A single-channel high-frequency ultrasonic imaging system consisting of the transmitting module, analog front end, acquisition module, and FPGA control module was developed. To overcome the non-uniformity of mechanical scanning, the ultrasound images are compensated according to the motion trajectory. The wire target and ex vivo tissue experiments have shown that the system can obtain an imaging resolution of 51 μm, imaging depth of 8 mm, and imaging speed of 12 fps. This high-frequency mechanical scanning ultrasound imaging system has the characteristics of simple structure, high-frequency, real-time, and good imaging performance, which can meet the clinical needs of high-resolution ultrasound images. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer Technology: Recent Advances and Applications

and

Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010055 - 29 Dec 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2122

Abstract

The objective of this article is to review the recent advancement in piezoelectric micromachined ultrasound transducer (PMUT) technology and the associated piezoelectric materials, device fabrication and characterization, as well as applications. PMUT has been an active research topic since the late 1990s because of the ultrasound application needs of low cost large 2D arrays, and the promising progresses on piezoelectric thin films, semiconductors, and micro/nano-electromechanical system technology. However, the industrial and medical applications of PMUTs have not been very significant until the recent success of PMUT based fingerprint sensing, which inspired growing interests in PMUT research and development. In this paper, recent advances of piezoelectric materials for PMUTs are reviewed first by analyzing the material properties and their suitability for PMUTs. PMUT structures and the associated micromachining processes are next reviewed with a focus on the complementary metal oxide semiconductor compatibility. PMUT prototypes and their applications over the last decade are then summarized to show the development trend of PMUTs. Finally, the prospective future of PMUTs is discussed as well as the challenges on piezoelectric materials, micro/nanofabrication and device integration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers)

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