Showing papers by "Arif Sanli Ergun published in 2007"

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers for chemical detection in nitrogen

Abstract: The authors present the prototype of a chemical sensor using a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer array. Each element in the array consists of a large number of resonating membranes connected in parallel. A five-channel oscillator circuit operates at the resonant frequency around 6MHz in this prototype. The surface of the elements in the array is coated by polymers such as polyallylamine hydrochloride, polyethylene glycol, and polyvinyl alcohol to detect different chemicals. By measuring shift in oscillation frequencies due to the mass-loading effect, analytes, e.g., water and isopropanol, with concentrations around 20ppbv (parts per 109 by volume) range can be detected.

Finite element modeling and experimental characterization of crosstalk in 1-D CMUT arrays

Abstract: Crosstalk is the coupling of energy between the elements of an ultrasonic transducer array. This coupling degrades the performance of transducers in applications such as medical imaging and therapeutics. In this paper, we present an experimental demonstration of guided interface waves in capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). We compare the experimental results to finite element calculations using a commercial package (LS-DYNA) for a 1-D CMUT array operating in the conventional and collapsed modes. An element in the middle of the array was excited with a unipolar voltage pulse, and the displacements were measured using a laser interferometer along the center line of the array elements immersed in soybean oil. We repeated the measurements for an identical CMUT array covered with a 4.5-mum polydimethyl-siloxane (PDMS) layer. The main crosstalk mechanism is the dispersive guided modes propagating in the fluid-solid interface. Although the transmitter element had a center frequency of 5.8 MHz with a 130% fractional bandwidth in the conventional operation, the dispersive guided mode was observed with the maximum amplitude at a frequency of 2.1 MHz, and had a cut-off frequency of 4 MHz. In the collapsed operation, the dispersive guided mode was observed with the maximum amplitude at a frequency of 4.0 MHz, and had a cut-off frequency of 10 MHz. Crosstalk level was lower in the collapsed operation (-39 dB) than in the conventional operation (-24.4 dB). The coverage of the PDMS did not significantly affect the crosstalk level, but reduced the phase velocity for both operation modes. Lamb wave modes, A0 and S0, were also observed with crosstalk levels of -40 dB and -65 dB, respectively. We observed excellent agreement between the finite element and the experimental results

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) with varying thickness membrane

Abstract: Structure for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) device or other vibrating membrane device having non-uniform membrane so that membrane mass and stiffness characteristics may be substantially independently adjusted CMUT having trenched membrane and/or membrane with non-uniform thickness or density Method for operating transducer or vibrating membrane device Array of devices at least some of which have non-uniform membrane properties CMUT comprising substrate, support for membrane, and membrane extending over support to create cavity, membrane having non-uniform membrane thickness resulting from at least one of: thickening on upper surface of the membrane outside of cavity, thickening on lower surface of membrane inside cavity, trench on upper surface of membrane, trench on lower surface of the membrane, and any combination of two or more of these Method for fabricating CMUT or vibrating membrane device having non-uniform membrane High mechanical sensitivity transducer for sensor, microphone, and/or transmitter

High intensity focused ultrasound path determination

Abstract: Paths are determined for high intensity focused ultrasound. A subset of possible paths is selected for the application of high intensity focused ultrasound. Obstructions (e.g., bone or metal), tissue characteristics (e.g., organ or tissue sensitivity to heat or attenuation characteristic), distance, or another factor are used to select the scan lines for high intensity focused ultrasound. The selection may be aided by ultrasound imaging data, such as data representing a volume. The response from different regions is used to identify the tissue characteristics or obstructions. The factors may also be used to determine a dose (power) and/or frequency of the high intensity focused ultrasound.

Trench isolated capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer arrays with a supporting frame

Abstract: A one or two-dimensional capacitive micro-machined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array with supporting frame is provided. The CMUT array has at least three array elements deposited on a conductive substrate. The invention also has at least one CMUT cell in the array element, a conductive top layer deposited to a top side of the element, and a conductive via disposed within the elements. The via is isolated from the conductive top layer and conducts with the substrate. There are at least two isolation trenches in the conductive substrate, and the trenches are disposed between adjacent vias to conductively isolating the vias. A substrate region between the trenches forms a mechanical support frame. At least one conductive electrode is deposited to a bottom surface of the conductive substrate, where the electrode conducts with the via. The support frame eliminates the need for a carrier wafer in the process steps.

Design of HIFU CMUT Arrays for Treatment of Liver and Renal Cancer

Abstract: We present the development of a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array for noninvasive focused ultrasound ablation of lower abdominal cancers under MR‐guidance. While piezoelectric transducers have been traditionally used for HIFU, recent advances in CMUT design have made them highly competitive. Not only are CMUTs cost effective, they allow fabrication flexibility and advantages in efficiency and bandwidth. Current imaging CMUTs have shown capability of HIFU operation through high power and continuous wave operation. In this paper, we will present the development of CMUT membranes designed specifically for HIFU. These membranes are piston‐like membranes fabricated by placing a thick layer of silicon or gold at the center of the membrane. The width of the piston layer is usually 60–85% of the membrane width and allows the membrane mass and elasticity to be controlled independently. It also increases the average displacement and average output pressure of the membrane. We patterned these CMUT membranes into an 8 element, 3.5 cm concentric array. We simulated the heating patterns of this array to show it is capable of producing lesions of 5 mm in diameter within 20–30 seconds, which can be imaged using our MR detection software.

10C-6 Fully Integrated CMUT-Based Forward-Looking Intracardiac Imaging for Electrophysiology

Abstract: Minimally invasive percutaneous electrophysiological mapping of the heart chambers is becoming a standard procedure to diagnose and treat cardiac arrhythmias. Due to advances in technology that enable small feature sizes and a high level of integration, non-fluoroscopic intracardiac imaging is attracting more attention to better guide electrophysiologal (EP) interventions. In this effort, we are developing a forward-looking intracardiac ultrasound imaging catheter, which is also equipped with several EP electrode sensor bands and a metal RF ablation tip enclosure. A 24-element fine-pitch (63 mum) 1-D array, based on capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) technology, has been fabricated for high-frame-rate imaging. Through-wafer vias are incorporated in the device to connect the signal and ground electrodes to the flip-chip bond pads on the backside of the array. The total footprint of the array measures 1.73 mm x 1.27 mm. Also a custom-designed integrated circuit (IC) has been fabricated to be closely integrated with the CMUT array for improved SNR. This IC comprises some of the important front- end electronics of an ultrasound imaging system. It measures 2 mm x 2 mm and is composed of 24 individual transmit/receive blocks. The transmit circuitry is capable of delivering 25 -V unipolar pulses. The receive circuitry includes a transimpedance preamplifier followed by a line driver buffer. A CMUT array was flip-chip bonded directly on to the IC for initial testing. All of the 24 elements of the array and the IC are functional. Array uniformity was tested by measuring the resonant frequency in air. A standard deviation of 0.37 percent was measured around the mean value of 17.9 MHz. The same array operates at 9.2 MHz in immersion with a 104 percent fractional bandwidth. Imaging performance of the described front-end was tested on a commercial phantom and also in ex- vivo environment on an isolated perfused rabbit heart (Langendorfl). The final goal is to integrate the CMUT array and the front-end electronics at the tip of a 10 -F catheter. A flexible printed circuit board (PCB) has been designed and the first sub-assembly is ready for cable attachment and final catheter integration.

2C-3 An Integrated Circuit with Transmit Beamforming and Parallel Receive Channels for 3D Ultrasound Imaging: Testing and Characterization

Abstract: The cost and complexity of medical ultrasound imaging systems can be reduced by integrating the transducer array with an integrated circuit (IC). By incorporating some of the system's front-end electronics into an IC, bulky cables and costly system electronics can be eliminated. Here we present an IC for 3D intracavital imaging that requires few electrical connections but uses a large fraction of a 16times16-element 2D transducer array to transmit focused ultrasound. To simplify the receive and data acquisition electronics, only the 32 elements along the array diagonals are used as receivers. The IC provides a preamplifier for each receiving element. Each of the 224 transmitting elements is provided an 8-bit shift register, a comparator, and a 25-V pulser. To transmit, a global counter is incremented from 1 to 224; each pulser fires when its stored register value is equal to the global count value. Electrical testing of the fabricated IC shows that it works as designed. The IC was flip-chip bonded to a two-dimensional capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) array. A two-dimensional image of a wire target phantom was acquired.