100 MHz Acousto-optic Hydrophone Probe for Biomedical Ultrasound Applications

适用于生物医学超声应用的 100 MHz 声光水听器探头

• 批准号: 7129768
• 负责人: Peter A. Lewin
• 金额: $ 32万
• 依托单位: DREXEL UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7129768
• 关键词: measurement; optics; ultrasound

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to design, develop and experimentally verify the performance of a highly innovative, acoustooptic measurement system with sub-millimeter resolution, appropriate for characterization of ultrasound fields encountered in clinical applications. Such a system with spatial and temporal resolutions proposed here is not currently available. The innovative elements of the proposed research include the development of a tapered fiber optic (FO) sensor with an active diameter on the order of 5-7 mu m (microns) that operates in the frequency range from 0.1 - 100 MHz and is sufficiently robust to measure fields generated by High Frequency Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) transducers used for treatment of malignant tissues. The small physical dimensions of the sensor will obviate the need for spatial averaging corrections so that true pressure-time (p-t) waveforms can be faithfully recorded. The recording of these waveforms is essential in order to determine all clinically relevant safety indicators, such as Mechanical and Thermal Indices. The sensitivity of the FO sensor will be comparable with that typical of currently used hydrophone probes. As optical fibers are inherently immune to non-optical electromagnetic fields stimuli, this proposed system has a potential of being nearly immune to Electromagnetic Field Interference (EMI). In addition, the intrinsically rugged characteristics of the fiber constitute an attractive feature as the existing ultrasound hydrophone probes are fragile and, in practice, cannot be used in therapeutic HIFU fields. Also, the miniature physical dimensions of the fiber optic sensor make it potentially well suited for in vivo measurements, virtually impossible with the currently available ultrasound hydrophone probes. Preliminary data indicate that once fully developed and calibrated, the acousto-optic system will form an important breakthrough in acoustic measurements of both diagnostic and therapeutic fields. Such outcome will also accelerate further advances of ultrasound applications in medicine. These advances are important because ultrasound offers nonionizing interaction with tissue and is economically favorable in comparison with other imaging and interventional modalities.

描述（由申请人提供）：我们建议设计、开发和实验验证一种高度创新的声光测量系统的性能，该系统具有亚毫米分辨率，适用于临床应用中遇到的超声场的表征。这种系统的空间和时间分辨率提出这里是目前不可用的。拟议的研究的创新要素包括开发一种锥形光纤（FO）传感器，其有效直径为5-7 μ m（微米），在0.1 - 100 MHz的频率范围内工作，并且足够稳健，可以测量用于治疗恶性组织的高频聚焦超声（HIFU）换能器产生的场。传感器的小的物理尺寸将消除对空间平均校正的需要，使得可以忠实地记录真实的压力-时间（p-t）波形。记录这些波形对于确定所有临床相关的安全指标（如机械和热指标）至关重要。FO传感器的灵敏度将与目前使用的水听器探头的典型灵敏度相当。由于光纤固有地不受非光学电磁场刺激的影响，因此所提出的系统具有几乎不受电磁场干扰（EMI）影响的潜力。此外，光纤固有的坚固特性构成了一个有吸引力的特征，因为现有的超声水听器探头是脆弱的，并且在实践中，不能用于治疗HIFU领域。此外，光纤传感器的微型物理尺寸使其潜在地非常适合于体内测量，这对于目前可用的超声水听器探头几乎是不可能的。初步数据表明，一旦完全开发和校准，声光系统将形成诊断和治疗领域的声学测量的重要突破。这样的结果也将加速超声在医学中应用的进一步发展。这些进展是重要的，因为超声提供了与组织的非电离相互作用，并且与其他成像和介入方式相比在经济上是有利的。