Ultrasonic micro-arrays for imaging the human auditory system

超声是一种安全、廉价和可靠的获得生物组织实时图像的方法。超声系统的分辨率主要由换能器的工作频率决定。高频超声成像系统比传统的低频系统具有更高的分辨率，通常可以以有限的穿透深度(&lt；1厘米)为代价解析20至100微米大小的组织结构。尽管穿透深度有限，但这项技术作为一种成像技术在显示微小的亚表面组织结构方面具有巨大的潜力。虽然高频超声已经成功地应用于血管内成像、眼科成像和临床前小动物成像，但它作为常规诊断工具的潜力尚未充分发挥。其主要原因是，随着换能器工作频率的增加，超声换能器的尺寸成比例地减小，使得它们的制造变得极其困难。然而，如果这些制造问题能够克服，那么与目前使用的相对简单的高频系统相比，图像质量可以获得很大的改善。这可能会导致这项技术的常规临床应用，并创造许多新的临床和商业机会。

Ultrasound is a safe, cheap, and reliable method of obtaining real-time images of biological tissue. The resolution of an ultrasound system is primarily determined by the operating frequency of the transducer. High-frequency ultrasound imaging systems have much greater resolution than conventional low-frequency systems and can typically resolve tissue structures between 20 and 100 microns in size at the cost of a limited penetration depth (< 1 cm). In spite of the limited penetration depth, this technology has great potential as an imaging technique for visualizing small sub-surface tissue structures. While high-frequency ultrasound has been successfully applied to intravascular imaging, ophthalmic imaging, and pre-clinical small animal imaging, it has not yet realized its full potential as a routine diagnostic tool. The primary reason for this is that as the transducer operating frequency increases, the dimensions of the ultrasound transducer decreases proportionally, making them extremely difficult to fabricate. If these fabrication issues can be overcome, however, a great improvement in image quality can be obtained over the relatively unsophisticated high-frequency systems that are currently used. This could potentially lead to the routine clinical use of this technology and create many new clinical and commercial opportunities.