Conformable ultrasound breast patch for deep tissue scanning and imaging

Abstract

Ultrasound is widely used for tissue imaging such as breast cancer diagnosis; however, fundamental challenges limit its integration with wearable technologies, namely, imaging over large-area curvilinear organs. We introduced a wearable, conformable ultrasound breast patch (cUSBr-Patch) that enables standardized and reproducible image acquisition over the entire breast with less reliance on operator training and applied transducer compression. A nature-inspired honeycomb-shaped patch combined with a phased array is guided by an easy-to-operate tracker that provides for large-area, deep scanning, and multiangle breast imaging capability. The in vitro studies and clinical trials reveal that the array using a piezoelectric crystal [Yb/Bi-Pb(In 1 /2 Nb 1/2 )O 3 -Pb(Mg 1/ 3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 ] (Yb/Bi-PIN-PMN-PT) exhibits a sufficient contrast resolution (~3 dB) and axial/lateral resolutions of 0.25/1.0 mm at 30 mm depth, allowing the observation of small cysts (~0.3 cm) in the breast. This research develops a first-of-its-kind ultrasound technology for breast tissue scanning and imaging that offers a noninvasive method for tracking real-time dynamic changes of soft tissue.

An implantable piezoelectric ultrasound stimulator (ImPULS) for deep brain activation

“…Ultrasound is a modality that has been used by the medical community for half of a century as a tissue-safe medium of energy transduction. Conformable ultrasound electronics interface intimately with soft tissues to image, deliver drugs to, or stimulate organs [7][8][9] . Unobstructed transcranialfocused ultrasound (tFUS) beams can achieve millimeter-scale resolution in neural tissue and penetrate several centimeters to excite neurons by affecting mechanoreceptive and other membrane-bound ion channels [10][11][12][13] .…”

A Dynamic Ultrasound Phantom with Tissue‐Mimicking Mechanical and Acoustic Properties

“…[ 12 ] Also, mechanically flexible, even stretchable piezoelectric ultrasound transducers have been developed to overcome the limitations of conventional rigid piezoelectric ultrasound transducers which are not optimally suited for use on highly deformable curved body surfaces due to their rigidity. [ 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ] The design of this conformable patch alternative enables a wearable integration of ultrasound technology with the added benefit of displaying spatio‐temporally precise image reconstruction with a larger field of view for monitoring human tissues at greater depths than conventional ultrasound transducers. [ 13 ]…”

Wearable Ultrasound System using Low-Voltage Time Delay Spectrometry for Dynamic Tissue Imaging

“…transducer arrays have been developed for imaging the carotid artery to determine the central blood pressure [8], [9], image-guided neural therapy [10] and breast tissue imaging [11]. These patches typically employ an array of 32 to 64 US transducer elements to achieve beamforming and steerability in order to generate brightness-mode (B-mode) images of the tissue [8], [9], [11].…”

“…While most of the advances in wearable US to date have focused on developing novel conformal transducers [4], [11], there is also a need to investigate novel instrumentation and electronics for compact wearable form factors. Currently, all wearable US systems reported in the literature have utilized pulse-echo imaging [23], [24].…”