Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 23, 2025
Blood Flow Imaging with Ultrafast Doppler
Published on: October 14, 2020
High-Frequency, 2-mm-Diameter Forward-Viewing 2-D Array for 3-D Intracoronary Blood Flow Imaging
Insights
A novel forward-viewing intravascular ultrasound (FV-IVUS) transducer improves diagnosis for coronary artery disease (CAD). This technology enhances risk stratification for major adverse cardiac events in patients with intermediate stenosis.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Medical Device Development
Background:
- Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading global cause of mortality.
- Current diagnostic methods like angiography and fractional flow reserve (FFR) have limitations in accurately identifying patients needing intervention, leading to a 10% deferral error rate in stable CAD.
- Improved risk stratification for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in intermediate coronary stenosis is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and fabricate a novel forward-viewing intravascular ultrasound (FV-IVUS) 2-D array transducer.
- To enable simultaneous evaluation of morphology, hemodynamics, and plaque composition for enhanced risk stratification.
- To improve diagnostic accuracy for intermediate coronary artery stenosis.
Main Methods:
- Designed and simulated a 2-mm-diameter, 16-MHz 2-D array transducer with 140 elements.
- Developed a novel via-less interconnect for electrical connections.
- Fabricated the array and characterized its performance, including element functionality, center frequency, fractional bandwidth, SNR, and electrical crosstalk.
- Evaluated imaging capabilities using phantoms for 3-D B-mode and power Doppler imaging.
Main Results:
- The fabricated transducer featured 96/140 functioning elements at a 16 MHz center frequency with 62% ± 7% fractional bandwidth.
- Measured single-element SNR was 23 ± 3 dB with electrical crosstalk of -33 ± 3 dB.
- Achieved lateral and axial resolutions of 0.231 mm and 0.244 mm, respectively, at a 5 mm depth.
- Successfully demonstrated 3-D B-mode and power Doppler imaging capabilities.
Conclusions:
- The developed 16-MHz FV-IVUS 2-D array transducer shows promise for advanced cardiovascular imaging.
- This technology has the potential to improve the assessment of intermediate coronary stenosis and reduce diagnostic errors.
- The ability to simultaneously evaluate multiple parameters could lead to better patient management and reduced MACE.
Abstract:
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of death globally. Currently, diagnosis and intervention in CAD are typically performed via minimally invasive cardiac catheterization procedures. Using current diagnostic technology, such as angiography and fractional flow reserve (FFR), interventional cardiologists must decide which patients require intervention and which can be deferred; 10% of patients with stable CAD are incorrectly deferred using current diagnostic best practices. By developing a forward-viewing intravascular ultrasound (FV-IVUS) 2-D array capable of simultaneously evaluating morphology, hemodynamics, and plaque composition, physicians would be better able to stratify risk of major adverse cardiac events in patients with intermediate stenosis. For this application, a forward-viewing, 16-MHz 2-D array transducer was designed and fabricated. A 2-mm-diameter aperture consisting of 140 elements, with element dimensions of 98×98×70 μ m ( w×h×t ) and a nominal interelement spacing of 120 μ m, was designed for this application based on simulations. The acoustic stack for this array was developed with a designed center frequency of 16 MHz. A novel via-less interconnect was developed to enable electrical connections to fan-out from a 140-element 2-D array with 120- μ m interelement spacing. The fabricated array transducer had 96/140 functioning elements operating at a center frequency of 16 MHz with a -6-dB fractional bandwidth of 62% ± 7 %. Single-element SNR was 23 ± 3 dB, and the measured electrical crosstalk was - 33 ± 3 dB. In imaging experiments, the measured lateral resolution was 0.231 mm and the measured axial resolution was 0.244 mm at a depth of 5 mm. Finally, the transducer was used to perform 3-D B-mode imaging of a 3-mm-diameter spring and 3-D B-mode and power Doppler imaging of a tissue-mimicking phantom.
More Related Videos
09:56Universal Hand-held Three-dimensional Optoacoustic Imaging Probe for Deep Tissue Human Angiography and Functional Preclinical Studies in Real Time
Published on: November 4, 2014
06:39Ultrasound Based Assessment of Coronary Artery Flow and Coronary Flow Reserve Using the Pressure Overload Model in Mice
Published on: April 13, 2015
