Recently, top-orthogonal-to-bottom electrode 2-D arrays were introduced as a practical design for 3-D ultrasound imaging without requiring the wiring of a 2-D grid of elements. However, previously proposed imaging schemes suffered from speed or image-quality limitations. Here, we propose a new imaging scheme which we call Fast Orthogonal Row-Column Electronic Scanning (FORCES). This new approach takes advantage of bias sensitivity to enable high-quality and fast B-scan imaging. We compare this imaging scheme with an equivalent linear array, a previously proposed row-column imaging scheme, as well as with the Explososcan imaging scheme for 2-D arrays through simulations. In a point phantom simulation, the lateral (azimuthal) resolution of a 64 ×64 element 6.67-MHz λ /2-pitch array using the FORCES imaging scheme with an f-number of 1.7 was 0.52 mm with similar in-plane image quality to an equivalent linear array but with improved and electronically steerable elevational resolution. When compared with other 3-D imaging schemes in point phantom simulations, the FORCES imaging scheme showed an azimuthal resolution improvement of 54% compared with Explososcan. Compared with a previously introduced row-column method, the FORCES imaging scheme had similar resolution but a 25-dB decrease in sidelobe amplitude, significantly impacting contrast to noise in scattering phantoms.
A novel 3D photoacoustic imaging technique is experimentally demonstrated using a 64×64 element bias-sensitive crossed-electrode relaxor array. This technique allows for large 2D arrays to receive across all elements while using minimal channel counts. Hadamard-bias patterns are applied to column electrodes while signals are measured from row electrodes. Photoacoustic signals are measured from a crossed-wire phantom in an intralipid scattering medium. The Hadamard-bias-encoded imaging scheme showed a signal-to-noise (SNR) of 25.3 dB, while the single-column biasing strategy (or identity-matrix-bias pattern) showed a SNR of 8.8 dB.
We have developed a new, fast, and simple 3-D imaging approach referred to as Simultaneous Azimuth and Fresnel Elevation (SAFE) compounding using a bias-sensitive crossed-electrode array. The principle behind this technique is to perform conventional plane-wave compounding with a back set of electrodes, while implementing a reconfigurable Fresnel elevation lens with an orthogonal set of front electrodes. While a Fresnel lens would usually result in unacceptable secondary lobe levels, these lobes can be suppressed by compounding different Fresnel patterns. The azimuthal and elevational planes can be simultaneously compounded to increase the beam quality with no loss in frame rate. A 10-MHz, $64 \times 64$ element crossed-electrode relaxor array was fabricated on an electrostrictive one-to-three composite substrate to demonstrate the SAFE compounding approach. The electrostrictive composite array has a measured electromechanical coupling coefficient ( $k_{t}$ ) of 0.62 with a bias voltage of 90 V and a measured two-way pulse bandwidth of 60%. The electrical impedance magnitude of array elements on resonance was measured to be $90~\Omega$ with a phase angle of -35°. Radiation patterns were simulated showing a -6-dB beamwidth of $330~\mu \text{m}$ with secondary lobe levels suppressed more than -60 dB in the azimuth dimension, and a -6-dB beamwidth of $450~\mu \text{m}$ with secondary lobe levels suppressed to -50 dB in the elevation dimension after 64 compounds. Experimental radiation patterns were collected and found to be in good agreement with simulations. Experimental 3-D images of wire phantoms were collected using a Verasonics experimental ultrasound system.
Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) promise many advantages over traditional piezoelectric transducers such as the potential to construct large, cost-effective 2-D arrays. To avoid wiring congestion issues associated with fully wired arrays, top-orthogonal-to-bottom electrode (TOBE) CMUT array architectures have proven to be a more practical alternative, using only 2N wires for an N ×N array. Optimally designing a TOBE CMUT array is a significant challenge due to the range of parameters from the device level up to the operating conditions of the entire array. Since testing many design variations can be prohibitively expensive, a simulation approach accounting for both the small and large-scale array characteristics of TOBE arrays is essential. In this paper, we demonstrate large-scale TOBE CMUT array simulations using a nonlinear CMUT lumped-circuit model. We investigate the performance of the array with different CMUT design parameters and array operating conditions. These simulated results are then compared with measurements of TOBE arrays fabricated using a sacrificial release process.
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