High Frequency Piezo Composites Microfabricated Ultrasound Transducers for Intravascular Imaging

High frequency ultrasound has been widely used for various applications in ophthalmology, dermatology, small animal studies and intravascular (IVUS) imaging as diagnosis and imaging tool. The research and development of high frequency transducer has become one of the most interesting areas in ultrasound technologies. This article briefly reviews the existing technologies for high frequency ultrasound transducer development, then, presents the state-of-the-art piezo composite microfabricated ultrasound transducer (PC-MUT) for the first time. Using this technology, PMN-PT single crystal 1-3 composite has been developed, of which the kerf width is as small as to ~ 4 �m. High frequency (> 40MHz) transducer with advanced performance has been developed for the IVUS application. The bandwidth and sensitivity are almost doubled compared with the conventional ceramic transducer. The features of PC-MUT technology may lead to great imaging quality and more potential medical applications.

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