Electronic Focus Steering Capabilities of a Diagnostic-Type Linear Ultrasound Array Designed for High Power Therapy and Its Visualization

Abstract

The focus steering capabilities of a 1 MHz linear phased array transducer (64 rectangular elements, 14.8 × 51.2 mm aperture) intended for drug delivery applications in abdominal organs were assessed and compared with its design-stage computer model. Acoustic fields generated by the transducer and predicted by the models of an ideal array with uniformly vibrating elements and either a plane or a cylindrically focused surface were simulated using the Rayleigh integral and angular spectrum methods. The boundary conditions for the transducer were reconstructed from acoustic holography measurements performed for selected focusing configurations of the array and also synthesized from holography data measured for each of its individual elements. It was shown that the transducer field with electronic focus steering can be accurately synthesized based on the holography data of its elements, which significantly simplified acoustic field characterization. Variability of the power and directivity patterns of the array elements were analyzed. A twofold smaller range of electronic steering in the transverse direction for the transducer compared to its computer model is discussed.