Pub Date : 2025-08-07DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3596780
Pavel B. Rosnitskiy;Gilles P. L. Thomas;Gerald L. Lee;Vera A. Khokhlova;Oleg A. Sapozhnikov;George R. Schade;Kyle P. Morrison;Francisco Chavez;Tatiana D. Khokhlova
The endorectal ultrasound (US)-guided thermal ablation of prostate cancer (PCa) using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a widely used focal intervention. While generally safe and effective, it is not without challenges associated with heat diffusion and prefocal heating, which has spurred interest toward nonthermal and mechanical HIFU ablation regimes. Another challenge is the necessity to mechanically translate the HIFU transducer—commonly single-element or annular array—for volumetric treatments, which results in target shifts and transducer position readjustment. The 2-D arrays would address this problem, but their design is challenging in a small form factor. The element pattern must be tightly packed and aperiodic to maximize the active surface area and to suppress grating lobes, respectively. Here, we report on the design, fabrication, and performance evaluation of a 1.5-MHz 128-element transrectal HIFU array driven by Verasonics system capable of mechanical tissue ablation via boiling histotripsy (BH) under real-time coaxial US imaging guidance. A recently developed method for designing randomized, fully populated mosaic arrays was used to create the element pattern. The measured focus steering ranges of the fabricated array were 26 mm axially and 12 mm laterally in the BH regime, with driving voltage compensation by less than 43% and no grating lobe formation. Stress tests with a five-element prototype confirmed safe operating voltage of 850-V peak-to-peak, corresponding to the acoustic intensity of 542 W/cm2 at the array surface. The array integrated with a 128-element US imaging probe driven by the same Verasonics system was successfully used to produce volumetric BH lesions in polyacrylamide (PAA) tissue-mimicking phantoms.
{"title":"A Fully Populated Transrectal Array for Boiling Histotripsy Ablation of the Prostate","authors":"Pavel B. Rosnitskiy;Gilles P. L. Thomas;Gerald L. Lee;Vera A. Khokhlova;Oleg A. Sapozhnikov;George R. Schade;Kyle P. Morrison;Francisco Chavez;Tatiana D. Khokhlova","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3596780","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3596780","url":null,"abstract":"The endorectal ultrasound (US)-guided thermal ablation of prostate cancer (PCa) using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a widely used focal intervention. While generally safe and effective, it is not without challenges associated with heat diffusion and prefocal heating, which has spurred interest toward nonthermal and mechanical HIFU ablation regimes. Another challenge is the necessity to mechanically translate the HIFU transducer—commonly single-element or annular array—for volumetric treatments, which results in target shifts and transducer position readjustment. The 2-D arrays would address this problem, but their design is challenging in a small form factor. The element pattern must be tightly packed and aperiodic to maximize the active surface area and to suppress grating lobes, respectively. Here, we report on the design, fabrication, and performance evaluation of a 1.5-MHz 128-element transrectal HIFU array driven by Verasonics system capable of mechanical tissue ablation via boiling histotripsy (BH) under real-time coaxial US imaging guidance. A recently developed method for designing randomized, fully populated mosaic arrays was used to create the element pattern. The measured focus steering ranges of the fabricated array were 26 mm axially and 12 mm laterally in the BH regime, with driving voltage compensation by less than 43% and no grating lobe formation. Stress tests with a five-element prototype confirmed safe operating voltage of 850-V peak-to-peak, corresponding to the acoustic intensity of 542 W/cm2 at the array surface. The array integrated with a 128-element US imaging probe driven by the same Verasonics system was successfully used to produce volumetric BH lesions in polyacrylamide (PAA) tissue-mimicking phantoms.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 10","pages":"1336-1351"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144798971","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Focused ultrasound (FUS) has shown potential for improving PDAC treatment outcomes by enhancing drug delivery through acoustic cavitation. In this article, we present the development of a prototype endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) device capable of producing microbubble-mediated cavitation with ultrasound imaging for treatment guidance. The performance of the therapy array, composed of 64 piezoelectric elements, was characterized up to voltages of 60 V peak, achieving negative pressures of 6.55 MPa in water for a focal distance of 20 mm. High image quality as well as the feasibility of generating cavitation activity in the pancreatic parenchyma were demonstrated in vivo in a porcine model. Future work will focus on demonstrating its potential as a potentiator of chemotherapeutic treatment for PDAC, paving the way for a new minimally invasive approach to PDAC treatment.
{"title":"Development of an Endoscopic Ultrasound Device for Delivering Microbubble-Mediated Cavitation in the Pancreas: Characterization and Preclinical In-Vivo Results","authors":"Adrien Rohfritsch;Andrew Drainville;Birane Beye;Gilles Renault;Jessica Gannon;Jeffrey Woodacre;Yao Chen;Laura Barrot;Stéphan Lagonnet;Maxime Lafond;Frédéric Prat;Cyril Lafon","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3596530","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3596530","url":null,"abstract":"Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Focused ultrasound (FUS) has shown potential for improving PDAC treatment outcomes by enhancing drug delivery through acoustic cavitation. In this article, we present the development of a prototype endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) device capable of producing microbubble-mediated cavitation with ultrasound imaging for treatment guidance. The performance of the therapy array, composed of 64 piezoelectric elements, was characterized up to voltages of 60 V peak, achieving negative pressures of 6.55 MPa in water for a focal distance of 20 mm. High image quality as well as the feasibility of generating cavitation activity in the pancreatic parenchyma were demonstrated in vivo in a porcine model. Future work will focus on demonstrating its potential as a potentiator of chemotherapeutic treatment for PDAC, paving the way for a new minimally invasive approach to PDAC treatment.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 10","pages":"1364-1375"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144794322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-04DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3595433
Jack Kramer;Ruochen Lu
Recent advances in thin-film transfer and ferroelectric poling have enabled the realization of multilayer piezoelectric films with spatially dependent polarization. Consequently, while conventional piezoelectric acoustic design leverages single orientations, researchers have recently begun exploring periodically poled piezoelectric films (P3Fs) to enhance performance. These platforms open the doors to new topologies, leveraging multiple piezoelectric orientations simultaneously for an application-optimized design. However, the complexities of these designs are nontrivial and require a detailed analysis of the material system under transformation and spatial variation. While many works have presented partial explanations within the context of their specific material system, a generalized acoustic framework that can be directly applied to any material system or design remains missing. In this work, we present a general acoustic framework for treating P3F platforms, which can then be directly applied to any system. Employing this framework, designers can rapidly test the feasibility of multilayer piezoelectric configurations in pursuit of enhanced performance.
{"title":"A Generalized Acoustic Framework for Multilayer Piezoelectric Platforms","authors":"Jack Kramer;Ruochen Lu","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3595433","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3595433","url":null,"abstract":"Recent advances in thin-film transfer and ferroelectric poling have enabled the realization of multilayer piezoelectric films with spatially dependent polarization. Consequently, while conventional piezoelectric acoustic design leverages single orientations, researchers have recently begun exploring periodically poled piezoelectric films (P3Fs) to enhance performance. These platforms open the doors to new topologies, leveraging multiple piezoelectric orientations simultaneously for an application-optimized design. However, the complexities of these designs are nontrivial and require a detailed analysis of the material system under transformation and spatial variation. While many works have presented partial explanations within the context of their specific material system, a generalized acoustic framework that can be directly applied to any material system or design remains missing. In this work, we present a general acoustic framework for treating P3F platforms, which can then be directly applied to any system. Employing this framework, designers can rapidly test the feasibility of multilayer piezoelectric configurations in pursuit of enhanced performance.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 9","pages":"1302-1311"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144784231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This work demonstrates novel high-overtone bulk acoustic resonators (HBARs) with only top electrodes using an epitaxial ε-Ga2O3 piezoelectric film grown on conductive 4H-SiC substrates. The device exhibits a broad frequency response spanning 1–8 GHz, with a free spectral range (FSR) of 18.6 MHz between adjacent modes. Key performance metrics include an f⋅Q product exceeding $1.2times 10^{{14}}$ Hz at 70 K and over $1.5times 10^{{13}}$ Hz at 300 K, along with excellent temperature stability characterized by a low temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of −15.46 ppm/°C. The acoustic parameters of ε-Ga2O3 are extracted, including a density of 5001.7 kg/m3, an elastic constant ${ C}_{{33}}^{D} $ of $2.82times 10^{{11}}$ N/m2, a longitudinal acoustic wave velocity of 7596 m/s, and an intrinsic electromechanical coupling coefficient ${k}_{t}^{{2}}$ of 7.9%. Evaluation of the theoretical f⋅Q limit and acoustic impedance mismatch reveals substantial potential for further performance enhancement. In addition, a comb filter was demonstrated by laterally coupling two ε-Ga2O3 HBARs, achieving over 275 equidistant passbands across an over 5 GHz bandwidth. These results highlight the promise of ε-Ga2O3-based HBARs for advanced radio frequency (RF) applications. Leveraging its excellent piezoelectric and electronic properties, ε-Ga2O3 enables monolithic integration of acoustic devices with on-chip electronics, paving the way for compact, high-performance RF systems.
{"title":"High-Overtone Bulk Acoustic Resonators and Comb Filters Using Epitaxial ε-Ga₂O₃ Films on 4H-SiC","authors":"Yuping Fu;Yujia Tu;Tiecheng Luo;Zhipeng Zhang;Chenhong Huang;Junmin Zhou;Xinbo Zou;Zimin Chen;Yanli Pei;Gang Wang;Xing Lu","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3594846","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3594846","url":null,"abstract":"This work demonstrates novel high-overtone bulk acoustic resonators (HBARs) with only top electrodes using an epitaxial ε-Ga2O3 piezoelectric film grown on conductive 4H-SiC substrates. The device exhibits a broad frequency response spanning 1–8 GHz, with a free spectral range (FSR) of 18.6 MHz between adjacent modes. Key performance metrics include an f⋅Q product exceeding <inline-formula> <tex-math>$1.2times 10^{{14}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Hz at 70 K and over <inline-formula> <tex-math>$1.5times 10^{{13}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> Hz at 300 K, along with excellent temperature stability characterized by a low temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) of −15.46 ppm/°C. The acoustic parameters of ε-Ga2O3 are extracted, including a density of 5001.7 kg/m3, an elastic constant <inline-formula> <tex-math>${ C}_{{33}}^{D} $ </tex-math></inline-formula> of <inline-formula> <tex-math>$2.82times 10^{{11}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> N/m2, a longitudinal acoustic wave velocity of 7596 m/s, and an intrinsic electromechanical coupling coefficient <inline-formula> <tex-math>${k}_{t}^{{2}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 7.9%. Evaluation of the theoretical f⋅Q limit and acoustic impedance mismatch reveals substantial potential for further performance enhancement. In addition, a comb filter was demonstrated by laterally coupling two ε-Ga2O3 HBARs, achieving over 275 equidistant passbands across an over 5 GHz bandwidth. These results highlight the promise of ε-Ga2O3-based HBARs for advanced radio frequency (RF) applications. Leveraging its excellent piezoelectric and electronic properties, ε-Ga2O3 enables monolithic integration of acoustic devices with on-chip electronics, paving the way for compact, high-performance RF systems.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 9","pages":"1312-1322"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144764862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-28DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3593192
Shane Winters;Mauricio Pereira da Cunha
Dynamic strain and temperature are critical physical quantities to be monitored in industrial environments to assure safe operational conditions and to diagnose for required maintenance. Dynamic strain and temperature feedback signals are particularly important for equipment and structural health monitoring (SHM) applications in aerospace, automotive, power generation, and advanced manufacturing. Challenges presented by dynamic strain sensing include sensor adhesion, packaging, stability, and temperature cross-sensitivity. Surface acoustic wave resonator (SAWR) sensors have demonstrated the ability to function under a variety of industrial/harsh environmental conditions for monitoring quantities, such as temperature, strain, vibration, gases, and neutron flux. SAWR sensors have the added benefits of being compact in size and capable of wireless and battery-free operation. In further exploring the versatility of SAWR devices and sensors, this article reports on the utilization of a single SAWR device that can simultaneously measure temperature and dynamic strain using a power spectral technique. Since the SAWR sensitivity to dynamic strain is also dependent on temperature, using the inherent temperature sensing capability of the SAWR itself offers an excellent method for selecting the appropriate strain sensor calibration curve. Once the temperature is known and the appropriate strain calibration curve is selected, real-time tracking of the strain magnitude can then be obtained from the relative amplitude of the SAWR dynamic strain spectral components to the main resonant peak. To demonstrate this method, SAWRs were initially calibrated for temperature and dynamic strain from room temperature (RT) to 190 °C and subjected to 500 Hz dynamic strain test signals ranging from 11 to $26~mu varepsilon $ . The accuracy of the SAWR-measured temperature remains within 2 °C of a reference thermocouple for temperatures greater than 100 °C, resulting in an overall strain discrepancy of less than 4% when compared to a commercial strain gauge.
{"title":"A Single SAWR Sensor System to Monitor Both Dynamic Strain and Temperature","authors":"Shane Winters;Mauricio Pereira da Cunha","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3593192","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3593192","url":null,"abstract":"Dynamic strain and temperature are critical physical quantities to be monitored in industrial environments to assure safe operational conditions and to diagnose for required maintenance. Dynamic strain and temperature feedback signals are particularly important for equipment and structural health monitoring (SHM) applications in aerospace, automotive, power generation, and advanced manufacturing. Challenges presented by dynamic strain sensing include sensor adhesion, packaging, stability, and temperature cross-sensitivity. Surface acoustic wave resonator (SAWR) sensors have demonstrated the ability to function under a variety of industrial/harsh environmental conditions for monitoring quantities, such as temperature, strain, vibration, gases, and neutron flux. SAWR sensors have the added benefits of being compact in size and capable of wireless and battery-free operation. In further exploring the versatility of SAWR devices and sensors, this article reports on the utilization of a single SAWR device that can simultaneously measure temperature and dynamic strain using a power spectral technique. Since the SAWR sensitivity to dynamic strain is also dependent on temperature, using the inherent temperature sensing capability of the SAWR itself offers an excellent method for selecting the appropriate strain sensor calibration curve. Once the temperature is known and the appropriate strain calibration curve is selected, real-time tracking of the strain magnitude can then be obtained from the relative amplitude of the SAWR dynamic strain spectral components to the main resonant peak. To demonstrate this method, SAWRs were initially calibrated for temperature and dynamic strain from room temperature (RT) to 190 °C and subjected to 500 Hz dynamic strain test signals ranging from 11 to <inline-formula> <tex-math>$26~mu varepsilon $ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The accuracy of the SAWR-measured temperature remains within 2 °C of a reference thermocouple for temperatures greater than 100 °C, resulting in an overall strain discrepancy of less than 4% when compared to a commercial strain gauge.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 9","pages":"1293-1301"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144730143","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-28DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3590527
{"title":"IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Publication Information","authors":"","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3590527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3590527","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 8","pages":"C2-C2"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11098482","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144716230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-25DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3592740
Andrada I. Velea;Raphael Panskus;Benedikt Szabo;Vera A.-L. Oppelt;Lukas Holzapfel;Cyril B. Karuthedath;Abhilash T. Sebastian;Thomas Stieglitz;Alessandro S. Savoia;Vasiliki Giagka
Ultrasound (US) is a promising modality for wirelessly powering implantable devices, requiring encapsulated receivers to ensure long-term stability. Traditional hermetic packaging often limits acoustic transmission, making polymer-based encapsulation a more suitable alternative. This study investigates how implant-grade polymers, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), parylene-C, and medical-grade silicones (MED-1000 and MED2-4213), affect the receive performance of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs). Simulations and measurements between 1 and 7 MHz show that all tested materials exhibit transmission coefficients above 94% at nanometer- and micrometer-scale thicknesses, confirming their acoustic transparency. The results show that although coated PMUTs are acoustically well matched with the surrounding water medium, the added mechanical load of the coating can hinder membrane motion and reduce the energy transferred to the PMUTs. Modeling and experimental data demonstrate that stiffer coatings, such as parylene-C, lead to a reduced sensitivity when similar thicknesses are used. Likewise, residual stress in materials like MED-1000 can also degrade the performance. These effects are not evident from acoustic transmission measurements alone, underscoring the need to assess both acoustic and mechanical properties when selecting encapsulation materials. In general, softer materials offer excellent acoustic performance for PMUT encapsulation, while stiffer materials must be applied in thinner layers to avoid impairing PMUT function.
{"title":"Effects of Soft Encapsulation on the Receive Performance of PMUTs for Implantable Devices","authors":"Andrada I. Velea;Raphael Panskus;Benedikt Szabo;Vera A.-L. Oppelt;Lukas Holzapfel;Cyril B. Karuthedath;Abhilash T. Sebastian;Thomas Stieglitz;Alessandro S. Savoia;Vasiliki Giagka","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3592740","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3592740","url":null,"abstract":"Ultrasound (US) is a promising modality for wirelessly powering implantable devices, requiring encapsulated receivers to ensure long-term stability. Traditional hermetic packaging often limits acoustic transmission, making polymer-based encapsulation a more suitable alternative. This study investigates how implant-grade polymers, thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), parylene-C, and medical-grade silicones (MED-1000 and MED2-4213), affect the receive performance of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs). Simulations and measurements between 1 and 7 MHz show that all tested materials exhibit transmission coefficients above 94% at nanometer- and micrometer-scale thicknesses, confirming their acoustic transparency. The results show that although coated PMUTs are acoustically well matched with the surrounding water medium, the added mechanical load of the coating can hinder membrane motion and reduce the energy transferred to the PMUTs. Modeling and experimental data demonstrate that stiffer coatings, such as parylene-C, lead to a reduced sensitivity when similar thicknesses are used. Likewise, residual stress in materials like MED-1000 can also degrade the performance. These effects are not evident from acoustic transmission measurements alone, underscoring the need to assess both acoustic and mechanical properties when selecting encapsulation materials. In general, softer materials offer excellent acoustic performance for PMUT encapsulation, while stiffer materials must be applied in thinner layers to avoid impairing PMUT function.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 9","pages":"1282-1292"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144715065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-24DOI: 10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3592578
Mingrui Liu;Zhengchang Kou;James W. Wiskin;Gregory J. Czarnota;Michael L. Oelze
Ultrasonic attenuation can be used to characterize tissue properties of the human breast. Both quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and ultrasound tomography (USCT) can provide attenuation estimation. However, limitations have been identified for both approaches. In QUS, the generation of attenuation maps involves separating the whole image into different data blocks. The optimal size of the data block is around 15–30 pulse lengths, which dramatically decreases the spatial resolution for attenuation imaging. In USCT, the attenuation is often estimated with a full wave inversion (FWI) method, which is affected by background noise. To achieve a high-resolution attenuation image with low variance, a deep learning (DL)-based method was proposed. In the approach, RF data from 60 angle views from the QTI Breast Acoustic CT (BACT) scanner were acquired as the input and attenuation images as the output. To improve image quality for the DL method, the spatial correlation between speed of sound (SOS) and attenuation were used as a constraint in the model. The results indicated that by including the SOS structural information, the performance of the model was improved. With a higher spatial resolution attenuation image, further segmentation of the breast can be achieved. The structural information and actual attenuation values provided by DL-generated attenuation images were validated with the values from the literature and the SOS-based segmentation map. The information provided by DL-generated attenuation images can be used as an additional biomarker for breast cancer diagnosis.
{"title":"Deep-Learning-Driven High Spatial Resolution Attenuation Imaging for Ultrasound Tomography (AI-UT)","authors":"Mingrui Liu;Zhengchang Kou;James W. Wiskin;Gregory J. Czarnota;Michael L. Oelze","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3592578","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3592578","url":null,"abstract":"Ultrasonic attenuation can be used to characterize tissue properties of the human breast. Both quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and ultrasound tomography (USCT) can provide attenuation estimation. However, limitations have been identified for both approaches. In QUS, the generation of attenuation maps involves separating the whole image into different data blocks. The optimal size of the data block is around 15–30 pulse lengths, which dramatically decreases the spatial resolution for attenuation imaging. In USCT, the attenuation is often estimated with a full wave inversion (FWI) method, which is affected by background noise. To achieve a high-resolution attenuation image with low variance, a deep learning (DL)-based method was proposed. In the approach, RF data from 60 angle views from the QTI Breast Acoustic CT (BACT) scanner were acquired as the input and attenuation images as the output. To improve image quality for the DL method, the spatial correlation between speed of sound (SOS) and attenuation were used as a constraint in the model. The results indicated that by including the SOS structural information, the performance of the model was improved. With a higher spatial resolution attenuation image, further segmentation of the breast can be achieved. The structural information and actual attenuation values provided by DL-generated attenuation images were validated with the values from the literature and the SOS-based segmentation map. The information provided by DL-generated attenuation images can be used as an additional biomarker for breast cancer diagnosis.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 9","pages":"1173-1186"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11095819","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144707347","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Advances in 4-D ultrasound imaging open new perspectives in biomedical research by reducing the long-standing challenge of operator dependency. Extensive research efforts are focused on developing next generation of 2-D transducer arrays for 4-D imaging. Here, we present a compact 2-D array design based on hexagonal-shaped transducer elements. We demonstrate that 2-D hexagonal arrays provide an optimal compact sampling, resulting in lower grating lobe levels and an improved imaging quality compared to conventional square-shaped transducer element arrays. A prototype array made of hexagonal transducer elements is presented, and its characterization is provided, demonstrating its imaging capabilities.
{"title":"A Compact 2-D Matrix Array Comprised of Hexagonal Transducer Elements for Fast Volumetric Ultrasound Imaging","authors":"Hugues Favre;Merijn Berendsen;Rick Waasdorp;David Maresca","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3591315","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3591315","url":null,"abstract":"Advances in 4-D ultrasound imaging open new perspectives in biomedical research by reducing the long-standing challenge of operator dependency. Extensive research efforts are focused on developing next generation of 2-D transducer arrays for 4-D imaging. Here, we present a compact 2-D array design based on hexagonal-shaped transducer elements. We demonstrate that 2-D hexagonal arrays provide an optimal compact sampling, resulting in lower grating lobe levels and an improved imaging quality compared to conventional square-shaped transducer element arrays. A prototype array made of hexagonal transducer elements is presented, and its characterization is provided, demonstrating its imaging capabilities.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 9","pages":"1272-1281"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=11087650","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144682554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The power Doppler (PD) ultrasound imaging provides high-quality, noninvasive visualization of blood flow and has the potential to be used for circulation screening. However, its application in human arterial imaging remains challenging due to the presence of complex hyperechoic moving structures (HMSs). In this study, we propose an adaptive singular value decomposition (SVD) filtering strategy for HMS suppression. The proposed method used a k-means clustering algorithm directly on prebeamformed IQ data to segment HMS and non-HMS regions, followed by an adaptive SVD filtering strategy tailored to each tissue type. Compared to the existing SVD filtering methods, the proposed approach can effectively suppress the HMS artifacts. In addition, the human carotid artery imaging experiments demonstrate significant improvement in HMS suppression throughout cardiac cycles and across various imaging locations. With such capability, we believe that the proposed strategy will be a useful tool in applying PD for the 3-D imaging of human blood vessels.
{"title":"Adaptive Singular Value Decomposition-Based Hyperecho Suppression for Diagnostic Power Doppler Ultrasound Image Processing","authors":"Yongchao Wang;Yang Liu;Xingzhao Liu;Ye Zhang;Weicheng Li;Yaokun He;Jianbo Tang","doi":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3590025","DOIUrl":"10.1109/TUFFC.2025.3590025","url":null,"abstract":"The power Doppler (PD) ultrasound imaging provides high-quality, noninvasive visualization of blood flow and has the potential to be used for circulation screening. However, its application in human arterial imaging remains challenging due to the presence of complex hyperechoic moving structures (HMSs). In this study, we propose an adaptive singular value decomposition (SVD) filtering strategy for HMS suppression. The proposed method used a k-means clustering algorithm directly on prebeamformed IQ data to segment HMS and non-HMS regions, followed by an adaptive SVD filtering strategy tailored to each tissue type. Compared to the existing SVD filtering methods, the proposed approach can effectively suppress the HMS artifacts. In addition, the human carotid artery imaging experiments demonstrate significant improvement in HMS suppression throughout cardiac cycles and across various imaging locations. With such capability, we believe that the proposed strategy will be a useful tool in applying PD for the 3-D imaging of human blood vessels.","PeriodicalId":13322,"journal":{"name":"IEEE transactions on ultrasonics, ferroelectrics, and frequency control","volume":"72 9","pages":"1213-1221"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144659106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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