Ultrasound backscatter microscope using PZT fine-grain PZT and single-crystal perovskite transducers

摘要

Abstract: Higher frequency ultrasound is rapidly becoming animportant tool for dermatologic and ophthalmologicimaging. This brings about a need for improvement insingle element transducers operating in the frequencyrange between 40 MHz and 100 MHz. Several piezoelectricmaterials may yield improved performance over commonlead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers. This studyinvestigated several different materials incorporatedinto single element transducers. A static ultrasonicbackscatter microscope (UBM) was constructed in thelaboratory. This system allowed for a comparativetesting of the imaging performance of varioustransducers. B-mode scans made by individualtransducers show differences in image resolution.Clinically, these differences may be important to allowfiner detail to be observed in a structure. Not onlydoes this work show differences between transducersconstructed from various materials, but it does so inan application-based environment. Previously, only alimited number of materials were used in such a system.This study showed results from several materials thathad not been demonstrated before. !7