P3Q-3 Curved Piezoelectric Thick Films for High Resolution Medical Imaging

Levassort, Franck; Lethiecq, Marc; Filoux, Erwan

doi:10.1109/ultsym.2006.596

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The pad-printing technique is described in a previous paper [8]. To summarize, the print layout is etched into a steel plate (cliché) and the paste (or ink) is flooded over the cliché, then excess of the paste is removed with a doctor blade leaving paste only in the etched structure.…”

Section: B Lead-free Pad-printed Thick Filmmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High frequency single element transducer based on pad-printed lead-free piezoelectric thick films

Levassort

Grégoire

Lethiecq

et al. 2011

2011 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium

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A transducer for medical imaging was fabricated using a pad-printing process to deposit a curved lead-free thick film (KNN-based) on an electroded backing (porous KNN). First, the electromechanical properties of the pad-printed thick film were measured. An effective thickness coupling factor of 34% (similar to those obtained with the same composition by a screen-printing process) was obtained. The transducer has a f-number of 1.3 and a focal distance around 5 mm. The center frequency is at 12 MHz and the -dB bandwidth is 93% and a high sensitivity is observed. For the first time, images of human skin in vivo were obtained using a lead-free film. They are compared to those obtained with a PZT-based transducer.

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Section: B Lead-free Pad-printed Thick Filmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, due to the low f-number (f # =1.3), the depth of field is relatively short. Comparison of high resolution images was performed with a pad-printed PZT based transducer [8]. This transducer had the following properties: center frequency: 20 MHz; focal distance: 8.7 mm; -6dB bandwidth at: 82%; f-number: 2.7.…”

Section: Echographic Imagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

High frequency single element transducer based on pad-printed lead-free piezoelectric thick films

Levassort

Grégoire

Lethiecq

et al. 2011

2011 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium

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“…Using such films, ultrasonic transducers have been developed for high-resolution imaging [3]–[6]. Screen-printing [6] has allowed planar transducers to be obtained, whereas composite sol-gel [7]–[13] and, more recently, electrophoresis [14], [15], ink-jet printing [16], and pad-printing [17] technologies have been investigated to deposit films on non-planar substrates. One of the advantages of pad-printing is that it can easily be implemented at industrial scales because of its low cost and relatively simple process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, this technology has been used to produce thick films on a curved, porous ceramic substrate that served as a transducer backing. Transducers fabricated in this fashion have been shown to be suitable for medical imaging [17]. The goal of this work is to determine if such transducers can be considered for therapeutic applications for which efficiency becomes an important issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Planar Pad-Printed Thick-Film Focused High-Frequency Ultrasonic Transducers for Imaging and Therapeutic Applications

Lethiecq

Lou-Moeller

Ketterling

et al. 2012

IEEE Trans. Ultrason., Ferroelect., Freq. Contr.

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Pad-printed thick-film transducers have been shown to be an interesting alternative to lapped bulk piezoceramics, because the film is deposited with the required thickness, size, and geometry, thus avoiding any subsequent machining to achieve geometrical focusing. Their electromechanical properties are close to those of bulk ceramics with similar composition despite having a higher porosity. In this paper, pad-printed high-frequency transducers based on a low-loss piezoceramic composition are designed and fabricated. High-porosity ceramic cylinders with a spherical top surface are used as the backing substrate. The transducers are characterized in view of imaging applications and their imaging capabilities are evaluated with phantoms containing spherical inclusions and in different biological tissues. In addition, the transducers are evaluated for their capability to produce high-acoustic intensities at frequencies around 20 MHz. High-intensity measurements, obtained with a calibrated hydrophone, show that transducer performance is promising for applications that would require the same device to be used for imaging and for therapy. Nevertheless, the transducer design can be improved, and simulation studies are performed to find a better compromise between low-power and high-power performance. The size, geometry, and constitutive materials of optimized configurations are proposed and their feasibility is discussed.

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“…83 Pad-printing process is one of the other techniques for fabrication of ultrasonic transducers. 84 Levassort et al employed this method to prepare a curved high frequency KNN-based transducer. 85 In this process, a machined KNN porous cylinder with radius curvature of 5 mm was used as the backing material.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead-free piezoelectric materials and ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging

2015

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Piezoelectric materials have been vastly used in ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging. In this paper, firstly, the most promising lead-free compositions with perovskite structure for medical imaging applications have been reviewed. The electromechanical properties of various lead-free ceramics, composites, and single crystals based on barium titanate, bismuth sodium titanate, potassium sodium niobate, and lithium niobate are presented. Then, fundamental principles and design considerations of ultrasonic transducers are briefly described. Finally, recent developments in lead-free ultrasonic probes are discussed and their acoustic performance is compared to lead-based transducers. Focused transducers with different beam focusing methods such as lens focusing and mechanical shaping are explained. Additionally, acoustic characteristics of lead-free probes including the pulse-echo results as well as their imaging capabilities for various applications such as phantom imaging, in vitro intravascular ultrasound imaging of swine aorta, and in vivo or ex vivo imaging of human eyes and skin are reviewed.

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P3Q-3 Curved Piezoelectric Thick Films for High Resolution Medical Imaging

Cited by 14 publications

References 7 publications

High frequency single element transducer based on pad-printed lead-free piezoelectric thick films

High frequency single element transducer based on pad-printed lead-free piezoelectric thick films

Non-Planar Pad-Printed Thick-Film Focused High-Frequency Ultrasonic Transducers for Imaging and Therapeutic Applications

Lead-free piezoelectric materials and ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging

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