Engineering Core C

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT - Engineering Core (Core C) The Program will include an Engineering Core (Core C) co-led by Michael R. Bailey, Ph.D. and R. Lee Thompson Ph.D. and housed in the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Transducer Array Fabrication Laboratory. There is no off-the-shelf hardware to perform ultrasonic propulsion (UP) or burst wave lithotripsy (BWL). This instrumentation is all custom built and requires specific expertise to create driving electronics and transducers capable of safely and reliably generating the required outputs. These transducers produce outputs different from typical high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducers and shock wave lithotripters and require specific drive electronics to produce appropriate pulse types. Companies who develop traditional HIFU devices and lithotripters have little or no experience with the design constraints of UP or BWL devices. No single commercially available system or transducer can produce the large range of outputs desired for the parametric investigation performed in Project 2, so several similar transducers must be made and calibrated. Core C is one of a handful of facilities internationally with expertise and experience in fabricating imaging and therapy ultrasound systems for industry and research, and thus, is unique in its ability to support this Program Project Grant. Core C will provide design, fabrication, and characterization support for the ultrasound transducers and control/power electronics to be used by our research teams. The overall goal of Core C is to ensure that all experiments are conducted with appropriate, calibrated, and accurate instrumentation. To accomplish that goal, Core C has three specific aims. Aim 1 is to produce and maintain identical hardware systems across for all three Projects. This work ensures that the Projects have the correct tools to perform their studies. Aim 2 is to certify and maintain calibration of the UP and BWL hardware for all three Projects. This work establishes a quality control framework acceptable to FDA for rigorous and reproducible results. Aim 3 is to engineer new hardware to produce desired outputs and configurations needed for specific applications by each of the three Projects. As research progresses, we expect to determine specific outputs or combinations of outputs that will enhance stone specific (S-mode) ultrasound imaging, BWL, and UP applications. These enhancements may impose new requirements on the range of outputs needed from a transducer or electronics. As such, in order to accomplish the proposed Project Aims, Core C will design and fabricate new transducers or electronics, and perform firmware and software coding of the outputs, and synchronization across outputs to meet the project requirements.