Ultrasound hardware
Development of ultrasound hardware
Ultrasound transducers
fUSI requires high-quality ultrasound transducers which combine a large number of channels (up to 2048), a high frequency (15-20 MHz), and low pitch (the distance between piezoelectric elements) that are necessary for high-resolution imaging (up to 100um3) and high framerate (up to 10 Hz). Such transducers are often challenging to produce based on standard methods.
With our academia and industry partners, we are exploring new ultrasound transducer technologies, including thin film, single crystal, silicon technologies c/pMUT, active and passive.
Ultrasound electronics
Ultrasound transducers with lots of elements, such as those used for volumetric 4D fUSI require high channel count electronics (1024 ch or more) that can be controlled individually both in transmission (Tx) and reception (Rx). Each element needs to be excited simultaneously for plane wave imaging to compensate for the small active element size and provide a sufficient overall dynamic footprint to generate good acoustic power for imaging with adequate SNR. The NERF is developing DEUS-I, a Dedicated Ultrasound Electronic for ultrasound imaging with unprecedented capabilities (1024 Rx/Tx), portable and low-cost. The DEUS-I electronics has been designed to meet all regulatory requirements for the clinical market, and the certificate of Conformity - CE Marking is in progress.
