ULTRASONIC APPLICATIONS IN BIOENGINEERING

Madhuri Thatte.
M.Tech Biomedical Instrumentation
Basics of Ultrasound
 Introduction

 History

 Properties of Ultrasound

 Interactions between ultrasound and matter

 Construction of piezoelectric transducer

Introduction

 Popular diagnostic imaging modality

 Relatively low cost
 Safe technique
 Real time imaging
History

 The first attempt of ultrasound at a practical application

was made in the unsuccessful search for the sunken
Titanic in the North Atlantic in 1912.
 Massive military research efforts during World War II, had
given rise to the ultrasound imaging for medical diagnosis.
 SONAR war the first successful application of ultrasound.
 since 1940-50, the progress has been rapid.
History

 1942-second world war

 1950- Ian Donald & Tom
brown
 1950 -john Wild
 Father of medical ultrasound
 Journey of ultrasound development

1877 1920s-1940s 1942 1948 1949-1951 1958 1986

&1990
Pierre and Joan Baker Neurologist George D. Douglas Dr. Ian Kazunori
Jacques used karl Dussik Ludwig, Howry and Donald baba
Currie Sonography used developed A- Joseph incorporate developed
discover was used to sonography mode ultrasound Holmes d 3D
piezoelectrici treat arthritic for medical equipment to were pione ultrasound ultrasound.
ty. pain and diagnosis detect gallstones. ers of B- into the 4D
eczema and mode OB/GYN techniques
to sterilize ultrasound field of adapted.
vaccines equipment medicine.
 Properties of ultrasound

 Frequency of ultrasound is 15 to
20,000 cycles/seconds.
Sound

 Sound wave propagate by longitudinal motion

(compression/expansion)
 can be modelled as weights connected by springs
Longitudinal Waves

 wave particles vibrate back and forth along the path that the wave
travels.
 Compressions
The close together part of the wave
 Rarefactions
The spread-out parts of a wave
Properties of Ultrasound

Transmission of ultrasound
Frequency

 No of cycles per second

 Measured in Hertz (Hz)
-Human Hearing 20 - 20,000
Hz
-Ultrasound > 20,000 Hz
-Diagnostic Ultrasound 2.5 to
10 MHz
(this is what we
use!)
 The speed of sound depends on the type of medium
and the temperature of the medium.

The speed of sound in air:

o
331.5 m/sec at 0 C
o
340 m/sec at 15 C
o
346 m/sec at 25 C
Velocity of sound transmission

 Compressibility:
velocity of sound is inversely related to compressibility
velocity of sound is lowest in gas and more in liquids and solids.
 Density
velocity of sound is less in dense material e.g. less in mercury and more in water.

wave speed, frequency, and wavelength is v = f λ

V is a speed
f is frequency
ƛ is frequency
Wave Propagation

 Body wave: wave propagating inside an object

 Longitudinal (pressure) wave: deformation is parallel to
propagation direction
 Transverse (shear) wave: deformation is perpendicular to
propagation direction, vT=0.5vL, generated in solid only

 Surface wave: wave propagating near to and influenced by the surface

of an object
 Rayleigh wave: The amplitude of the waves decays rapidly with
the depth of propagation of the wave in the medium. The particle
motion is elliptical. vR=0.5vT
 Plate Lamb wave: for thin plate with thickness less than three times
the wavelength
Parameters of Ultrasonic Waves

Velocity: the velocity of the ultrasonic wave of any kind can

be determined from elastic moduli, density, and poisson’s
ratio of the material
1 2
 E (1   ) 
 Longitudial wave: UL   
  (1   )(1  2  ) 

r is density and m is the Poisson’s Ratio

1 2 1 2
 E  G 
UT       0.5U L
 Transverse wave:  2  (1   )   

U s  0.9U T
 Surface wave:
Attenuation

 Definition: the rate of decrease of energy when an ultrasonic

wave is propagating in a medium. Material attenuation
depends on heat treatments, grain size, viscous friction,
crystal structure, porosity, elastic hysterisis, hardness, Young’s
modulus, etc.

 Attenuation coefficient: A=A0e-ax

 A
  ln   (nepers )
 A0 
 A
  20 log10   (dB )
 A0 
Interactions between Ultrasound and Matter

 Reflection
 Refraction
 Absorption
Reflection

 The production of echoes at reflecting interfaces between tissues of differing physical

properties.

 Specular - large smooth surfaces

 Diffuse – small interfaces or nooks and crannies
 Characterization of Ultrasonic Beam
 Beam profile or beam path
 Near field: planar wave front
 Far field: spherical wave front, intensity varies as the square of
the distance
 Determination of beam spread angle
 Transducer beam profiling

Near field planar wave front

Reflection-Normal Incident

 Reflection coefficient:
2 2
I r   2U 2  1U1   Z 2  Z1 
r      
I i   2U 2  1U1   Z 2  Z1 

 Transmission coefficient:
IT 4 1U1 2U 2 4 Z1Z 2
T     1r
I i  2U 2  1U1 2
Z 2  Z1 2
Reflection-Oblique Incident

 Snell’s Law: sin i  U A

sin  r U B
 Reflection coefficient:
2
 1  sin 2    /   U 2 / U 2  sin 2  
r   i 1 2 A B i 
 1  sin 2    /   U 2 / U 2  sin 2  
 i 1 2 A B i 

 Transmission coefficient: 2 2
41 /  2  U A / U B  sin 2  i
t  2
 1  sin 2    /   U 2 / U 2  sin 2  
 i 1 2 A B i
 
Diffraction

 Definition: spreading of energy into high and low

energy bands due to the superposition of plane
wave front.

D2
 Near Field: d 
4
D2
 Far Field: d
4

1 . 2

 Beam spreading angle: D
Refraction

 A change in direction of the sound wave as it passes from

one tissue to a tissue of higher or lower sound velocity
 U/S scanners assume that an echo returns along a straight
path
 Distorts depth reading by the probe
 Minimize refraction by scanning perpendicular to the
interface that is causing the refraction
Refraction
Total Refraction Angle

 2 2 
 Z1  Z 2 
 r  arcsin
 (  2   2 )U 2 
 1 2
A 
 Types of Transducers
 Piezoelectric

 Laser
 Mechanical (Galton Whistle Method)
 Electrostatic
 Electrodynamic
 Magneto strictive
 Electromagnetic
 Piezoelectric crystals : Natural =Quartz,
Artificial= Barium titanate
Lead Zirconate Titanate
Piezoelectricity means “pressure electricity”, which is used to
describe the coupling between a material’s mechanical and
electrical behaviors
 Quartz Crystals
 Highly anisotropic
 X-cut: vibration in the direction perpendicular to the cutting
direction
 Y-cut: vibration in the transverse direction
 V= n ƛ
n is frequency
ƛ is wavelength
V is velocity of sound
Piezoelectric Materials

 Piezoelectric Ceramics (man-made materials)

 Barium Titanate (BaTiO3)
 Lead Titanate Zirconate (PbZrTiO3) = PZT, most widely used
 The composition, shape, and dimensions of a piezoelectric ceramic
element can be tailored to meet the requirements of a specific purpose.

Photo courtesy of MSI, MA

Piezoelectric Materials

 Piezoelectric Polymers
 PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) film
 Piezoelectric Composites
 A combination of piezoelectric ceramics and polymers to
attain properties which can be not be achieved in a single
phase

Image courtesy of MSI, MA

Merits and Demerits of PZT

Merits
 High electromechanical conversion efficiency
 Low intrinsic losses
 High dielectric constant
 Stable for long period

Demerits

 High acoustic impedance Z=30MRayls

 Matching layers
 Resonant frequency: Q factor
 High Q – Thin crystals :Transmitters
 Low Q- Thick crystals: Receivers
Construction of Ultrasonic Transducer

 Piezoelectric materials
 Mode of vibration
 Q factor
Comparison of different PZ materials for
Actuation and Sensing
Different Types of PZ Transducer

Normal beam transducer Dual element transducer

Angle beam transducer

Focus beam transducer
Comparison of Ultrasound Generation
Construction of Ultrasonic Transducer

 Piezoelectric materials
 Mode of vibration
 Q factor
Thank you