I-Corps: Commercialization Feasibility Research and Demonstration Preparation for Fiber Optic Ultrasound Transducers

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The proposed innovation is a novel fiber optic ultrasound transducer which generates, detects, and steers ultrasound. All ultrasound generation, detection, and steering are operated by optical means instead of electrical approaches. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a technology transfer plan, which determines the market value of the fiber optic ultrasound transducers that the PI's team has been developing and finally results in a detailed commercialization plan including a business model, marketing, and resource requirements. The team will work hard on transiting the technology into a start-up company and/or licensing opportunity based on information gained through the I-Corps program process.The proposed innovation targets at biomedical ultrasound imaging, specifically intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging, and ultrasound non-destructive testing applications in harsh environments. This proposed system can have broad applications. For example, by exciting broad bandwidth ultrasound signals to the tissue and collecting the echo signals, physical properties such as Young's modulus can be determined. Therefore, the proposed system can be used to distinguish tumor tissue from normal tissue. The proposed system can also be used for remote ultrasound non-destructive tests in harsh environments such as nuclear power plant or down-hole oil wells.