A matrix phased array system for 3D high frame-rate imaging of the carotid arteries

We are developing a volumetric ultrasound system for high frame-rate imaging of the carotid artery. It will be used in early detection of atherosclerosis, specifically aiming at visualization of neovascularization inside vulnerable plaque. These small vessels will be visualized in 3D by harmonic imaging of ultrasound contrast agents. The main parts of the ultrasound system are a 1024 element matrix array, a 128 channel transmitter-receiver and custom multiplexer electronics. This paper discusses the design and results of individual elements and corresponding multiplexer channels of our prototype system. We measured a transmit bandwidth of 80%, a center frequency of 7.9 MHz, a pressure of 29 kPa/V at the transducer's surface, and > 95% well-functioning elements, which meets our requirements. A volume frame rate of 1.9 kHz is achievable.

[1]  J. Arendt.  Paper presented at the 10th Nordic-Baltic Conference on Biomedical Imaging: Field: A Program for Simulating Ultrasound Systems , 1996 .

[2]  R. Dufait,et al.  A 3 MHz two dimensional array based on piezocomposite for medical imaging , 2002, 2002 IEEE Ultrasonics Symposium, 2002. Proceedings..

[3]  K. Boone,et al.  Effect of skin impedance on image quality and variability in electrical impedance tomography: a model study , 1996, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[4]  E. Boerwinkle,et al.  From vulnerable plaque to vulnerable patient: a call for new definitions and risk assessment strategies: Part I. , 2003, Circulation.

[5]  Frits Mastik,et al.  Intravascular palpography for vulnerable plaque assessment. , 2006, Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

[6]  M. Fink,et al.  Coherent plane-wave compounding for very high frame rate ultrasonography and transient elastography , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[7]  M. Fink,et al.  Supersonic shear imaging: a new technique for soft tissue elasticity mapping , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[8]  R S Reneman,et al.  A noninvasive method to estimate pulse wave velocity in arteries locally by means of ultrasound. , 1998, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[9]  Aloke V. Finn,et al.  Atherosclerotic Plaque Progression and Vulnerability to Rupture: Angiogenesis as a Source of Intraplaque Hemorrhage , 2005, Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology.

[10]  Paul L. M. J. van Neer,et al.  Transfer functions of US transducers for harmonic imaging and bubble responses , 2007 .

[11]  B. Savord,et al.  Fully sampled matrix transducer for real time 3D ultrasonic imaging , 2003, IEEE Symposium on Ultrasonics, 2003.

[12]  S.W. Smith,et al.  Two-dimensional arrays for medical ultrasound , 1991, IEEE 1991 Ultrasonics Symposium,.

[13]  J. Waterton,et al.  Volumetric assessment of carotid artery bifurcation using freehand-acquired, compound 3D ultrasound. , 1999, The British journal of radiology.

[14]  Aaron Fenster,et al.  Quantification of carotid plaque volume measurements using 3D ultrasound imaging. , 2005, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[15]  R. Cobbold.  Foundations of Biomedical Ultrasound , 2006 .

[16]  V. Fuster,et al.  Coronary plaque disruption. , 1995, Circulation.

[17]  A Fenster,et al.  Accuracy and variability assessment of a semiautomatic technique for segmentation of the carotid arteries from three-dimensional ultrasound images. , 2000, Medical physics.