1G – Medical Ultrasound Transducers

Title1G - Medical Ultrasound Transducers
InstructorDavid Mills and Scott Smith, GE Global Research
Overview of topics covered

  • Medical ultrasound imaging principles

  • Array types: determined by the needs & constraints of the clinical applications

  • Transducer design methods and models: fundamentals, equivalent circuits, finite elements, acoustic field models

  • Advanced arrays: multi-row, 2D, catheters, MUTs

  • Materials, fabrication, characterization and testing
TimeMonday, October 22
8:00am-12:00am
RoomRuby
AbstractUltrasound has become the most commonly performed medical imaging procedure in the world because it provides real-time imaging with high clinical value while being portable, non-ionizing and inexpensive. This course will provide an introductory survey of ultrasound imaging focused on the design, fabrication, and testing of medical ultrasound transducers. Starting from an overview of the basic types of phased-array transducers (linear, convex, sector), we will show how the probe’s design is derived from its target application. We will describe how engineering tools, like equivalent-circuit, finite-element, and acoustic field models, can be used to predict transducer performance accurately, and then to optimize the design. A discussion of the structure of an ultrasound probe will lead to a survey of the different types of materials used in probes and their critical properties. Typical fabrication processes will be reviewed and common problems in probe manufacturing will be summarized. Methods for evaluating completed transducers will be described. The course will include recent developments in probe technology, including single crystal piezoelectrics, cMUT transducers, catheters, 2D arrays, and electronics in probes, and will address some of the perfourse rmance advantages and fabrication difficulties associated with them.
Short CV of Instructor David M. Mills is a senior engineer with GE Global Research. He earned a B.S. degree in engineering from LeTourneau University, Longview, TX and a Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University, Durham, NC. In 2000, he joined GE as an ultrasound probes engineer, designing medical ultrasound transducers using PZFlex simulations for both piezoelectric and cMUT based transducers. Another research interest is in new clinical applications for ultrasound that are enabled by real-time 3D ultrasound imaging, visualization algorithms, and customized user interfaces. Dr. Mills has 25 issued patents and has authored more than 10 external publications. He is a member of the IEEE.

Scott Smith is a physicist with GE Global Research. He earned B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Rochester and the University of Pennsylvania respectively. Joining GE in 1976, he developed phased array probes for medical ultrasound. More recently, he led projects on adaptive acoustics and novel probe materials and fabrication methods. Dr. Smith has over 50 issued patents and over 40 refereed publications. He is a member of the American Physical Society and an IEEE Fellow where he serves as an Associate Editor for the Transactions on UFFC and will be General Co-Chair of the 2020 Ultrasonics Symposium.