Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 1, 2025
08:21
Wideband Optical Detector of Ultrasound for Medical Imaging Applications
Published on: May 11, 2014
11.4K
Catheter-Mounted CMOS Front-Ends for Broadband Intravascular Ultrasonic Imaging.
Steve J A Majerus1,2,3, Soumyajit Mandal1,3, Aaron Fleischman2
1Advanced Platform Technology Center, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
The ... Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems Conference Proceedings : MWSCAS. Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems
|June 21, 2021
Summary
This study presents an integrated CMOS front-end for polymer piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging. The optimized front-end improves signal-to-noise ratio and pulse recovery for enhanced catheter imaging.
Area of Science:
- Medical Devices
- Ultrasound Imaging
- Materials Science
Background:
- Current intravascular ultrasonic (IVUS) imaging relies on ceramic piezoelectric transducers.
- Polymer micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) offer potential imaging quality improvements but face challenges with low acoustic sensitivity and high electrical impedance.
- Existing IVUS systems require buffered integration for polymer PMUTs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and optimize an integrated CMOS front-end for polymer PMUTs on a 0.8-mm IVUS imaging catheter.
- To overcome the limitations of direct integration of polymer PMUTs with standard IVUS systems.
- To enhance image quality and performance in intravascular ultrasound imaging.
Main Methods:
- Designed and optimized an integrated CMOS front-end using a series-duplexer topology with an active limiter.
- Implemented noise optimization focusing on impedance matching to balance parasitic capacitances and transducer impedance.
- Utilized large-signal transient simulation to assess pulse handling and echo reception recovery.
- Validated design equations against simulation results for bandwidth and transducer-referred SNR prediction.
Main Results:
- The integrated front-end is compatible with high-voltage IVUS pulser-receiver systems.
- Optimized impedance matching was identified, balancing system parasitics and transducer impedance.
- The front-end demonstrated resilience to 100-V pulses, with a recovery time of 240 ns.
- Achieved a transducer-referred noise floor of 6.5 over a 100-MHz bandwidth within a compact 0.74 × 1.8 mm die area.
Conclusions:
- The developed integrated CMOS front-end effectively addresses the challenges of using polymer PMUTs in IVUS imaging.
- The optimized design enables improved performance, including better SNR and pulse handling, crucial for high-quality intravascular imaging.
- This advancement facilitates the integration of next-generation polymer PMUTs into miniaturized IVUS catheters.
