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Biosensors
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Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers
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Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 11327

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Huihua Kenny Chiang

E-Mail Website
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

E-Mail Website
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
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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 2700 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

11 pages, 2346 KiB  
Article
Integrating a Fundus Camera with High-Frequency Ultrasound for Precise Ocular Lesion Assessment
by Alfa Rossi, Yushun Zeng, Mojtaba Rahimi, Taeyoon Son, Michael J. Heiferman, Chen Gong, Xin Sun, Mohammad Soleimani, Ali R. Djalilian, Mark S. Humayun, Qifa Zhou and Xincheng Yao
Biosensors 2024, 14(3), 127; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14030127 - 29 Feb 2024
Viewed by 995
Abstract
Ultrasound A-scan is an important tool for quantitative assessment of ocular lesions. However, its usability is limited by the difficulty of accurately localizing the ultrasound probe to a lesion of interest. In this study, a transparent LiNbO3 single crystal ultrasound transducer was [...] Read more.
Ultrasound A-scan is an important tool for quantitative assessment of ocular lesions. However, its usability is limited by the difficulty of accurately localizing the ultrasound probe to a lesion of interest. In this study, a transparent LiNbO3 single crystal ultrasound transducer was fabricated, and integrated with a widefield fundus camera to guide the ultrasound local position. The electrical impedance, phase spectrum, pulse-echo performance, and optical transmission spectrum of the ultrasound transducer were validated. The novel fundus camera-guided ultrasound probe was tested for in vivo measurement of rat eyes. Anterior and posterior segments of the rat eye could be unambiguously differentiated with the fundus photography-guided ultrasound measurement. A model eye was also used to verify the imaging performance of the prototype device in the human eye. The prototype shows the potential of being used in the clinic to accurately measure the thickness and echogenicity of ocular lesions in vivo. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers)
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14 pages, 7435 KiB  
Article
A Backing-Layer-Shared Miniature Dual-Frequency Ultrasound Probe for Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging: In Vitro and Ex Vivo Validations
by Yashuo He, Xi Liu, Jiayi Zhang and Chang Peng
Biosensors 2023, 13(11), 971; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13110971 - 06 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1380
Abstract
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging has been extensively utilized to visualize atherosclerotic coronary artery diseases and to guide coronary interventions. To receive ultrasound signals within the vessel wall safely and effectively, miniaturized ultrasound transducers that meet the strict size constraints and have a simple [...] Read more.
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging has been extensively utilized to visualize atherosclerotic coronary artery diseases and to guide coronary interventions. To receive ultrasound signals within the vessel wall safely and effectively, miniaturized ultrasound transducers that meet the strict size constraints and have a simple manufacturing procedure are highly demanded. In this work, the first known IVUS probe that employs a backing-layer-shared dual-frequency structure and a single coaxial cable is introduced, featuring a small thickness and easy interconnection procedure. The dual-frequency transducer is designed to have center frequencies of 30 MHz and 80 MHz, and both have an aperture size of 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm. The total thickness of the dual-frequency transducer is less than 700 µm. In vitro phantom imaging and ex vivo porcine coronary artery imaging experiments are conducted. The low-frequency transducer achieves spatial resolutions of 40 µm axially and 321 µm laterally, while the high-frequency transducer exhibits axial and lateral resolutions of 17 µm and 247 µm, respectively. A bandpass filter is utilized to separate the ultrasound images. Combining in vitro phantom imaging analysis with ex vivo imaging validation, a comprehensive demonstration of the promising application of the proposed miniature ultrasound probe is established. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ultrasound Imaging and Sensing in Medicine with Innovative Transducers)
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Graphical abstract

16 pages, 9117 KiB  
Article
Development of a Wearable Ultrasound Transducer for Sensing Muscle Activities in Assistive Robotics Applications
by Xiangming Xue, Bohua Zhang, Sunho Moon, Guo-Xuan Xu, Chih-Chung Huang, Nitin Sharma and Xiaoning Jiang
Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010134 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3905
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 [...] Read more.
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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23 pages, 4555 KiB  
Article
In Situ Investigation of Upper Airway Occlusion in Sleep Disordered Breathing Using Ultrasonic Transducer Arrays
by Mohammad Al-Abed, Donald Watenpaugh and Khosrow Behbehani
Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 121; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010121 - 10 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1498
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 [...] Read more.
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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11 pages, 4705 KiB  
Communication
A High-Frequency Mechanical Scanning Ultrasound Imaging System
by Jie Xu, Ninghao Wang, Tianxiang Chu, Bingqian Yang, Xiaohua Jian and Yaoyao Cui
Biosensors 2023, 13(1), 32; https://doi.org/10.3390/bios13010032 - 27 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1869
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 [...] Read more.
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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