TY - JOUR
T1 - Intravascular Ultrasound Transducer by Using Polarization Inversion Technique for Tissue Harmonic Imaging
T2 - Modeling and Experiments
AU - Sung, Jin Ho
AU - Jeong, Eun Young
AU - Jeong, Jong Seob
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 1964-2012 IEEE.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) tissue harmonic imaging (THI) is a useful vessel imaging technique that can provide deep penetration depth as well as high spatial and contrast resolution. Typically, a high-frequency IVUS transducer for THI requires a broad bandwidth or dual-frequency bandwidth. However, it is very difficult to make an IVUS transducer with a frequency bandwidth covering from the fundamental frequency to the second harmonic or a dual-peak at the desired frequency. To solve this problem, in this study, we applied the polarization inversion technique (PIT) to the IVUS transducer for THI. The PIT makes it relatively easy to design IVUS transducers with suitable frequency characteristics for THI depending on the inversion ratio of the piezoelectric layer and specifications of the passive materials. In this study, two types of IVUS transducers based on the PIT were developed for THI. One is a front-side inversion layer (FSIL) transducer with a broad bandwidth, and the other is a back-side inversion layer (BSIL) transducer with a dual-frequency bandwidth. These transducers were designed using finite element analysis (FEA)-based simulation, and the prototype transducers were fabricated. Subsequently, the performance was evaluated by not only electrical impedance and pulse-echo response tests but also B-mode imaging tests with a 25 μm tungsten wire and tissue-mimicking gelatin phantoms. The FEA simulation and experimental results show that the proposed scheme can successfully implement the tissue harmonic IVUS image, and thus it can be one of the promising techniques for developing IVUS transducers for THI.
AB - Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) tissue harmonic imaging (THI) is a useful vessel imaging technique that can provide deep penetration depth as well as high spatial and contrast resolution. Typically, a high-frequency IVUS transducer for THI requires a broad bandwidth or dual-frequency bandwidth. However, it is very difficult to make an IVUS transducer with a frequency bandwidth covering from the fundamental frequency to the second harmonic or a dual-peak at the desired frequency. To solve this problem, in this study, we applied the polarization inversion technique (PIT) to the IVUS transducer for THI. The PIT makes it relatively easy to design IVUS transducers with suitable frequency characteristics for THI depending on the inversion ratio of the piezoelectric layer and specifications of the passive materials. In this study, two types of IVUS transducers based on the PIT were developed for THI. One is a front-side inversion layer (FSIL) transducer with a broad bandwidth, and the other is a back-side inversion layer (BSIL) transducer with a dual-frequency bandwidth. These transducers were designed using finite element analysis (FEA)-based simulation, and the prototype transducers were fabricated. Subsequently, the performance was evaluated by not only electrical impedance and pulse-echo response tests but also B-mode imaging tests with a 25 μm tungsten wire and tissue-mimicking gelatin phantoms. The FEA simulation and experimental results show that the proposed scheme can successfully implement the tissue harmonic IVUS image, and thus it can be one of the promising techniques for developing IVUS transducers for THI.
KW - High-frequency ultrasound image
KW - intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) transducer
KW - polarization inversion technique (PIT)
KW - tissue harmonic imaging (THI)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087874331&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TBME.2020.2986284
DO - 10.1109/TBME.2020.2986284
M3 - Article
C2 - 32286955
AN - SCOPUS:85087874331
SN - 0018-9294
VL - 67
SP - 3380
EP - 3391
JO - IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
JF - IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
IS - 12
M1 - 9063437
ER -