• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.470-473
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• 2021

In this study, we developed the biometric ultrasound transducer, residual thickness measurement algorithm and optimized ultrasound operation methods to diagnose precise conditions of implanted medical prosthetic material inserted during total hip artificial joint replacement. In detail, ultrasound transducers having 8 MHz and 20 MHz center frequencies with similar sensitivity and bandwidth were fabricated to measure various thicknesses of commercial polyethylene-based artificial hip liners, resulting in a comparative analysis of signal-to-noise ratio and axial resolution to conduct an optimization study of ultrasound operations in vivo.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.210-218
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• 2015

When the driving voltage of an ultrasound transducer is increased to improve the quality of ultrasound images, heat is generated inside the transducer that can cause patient's skin burn and degradation of transducer performance. Hence, in this paper, a method to disperse the heat of the transducer has been studied. The phased array transducer having 3 MHz center frequency and 32 channels was selected for analyses of the thermal dispersion. First, mechanism of the heat generation was investigated in relation to the transducer operation through theoretical analysis, and material damping and sound pressure amplitude were confirmed to be influential on the heat generation. Further, we investigated the effects of the properties of the materials constituting the transducer on the thermal dispersion through finite element analysis. Based on the analysis results, we determined the thermal properties of the constituent materials that could facilitate the thermal dispersion inside the transducer. The determined thermal properties were applied to the finite element model, and the results showed that the maximum temperature at an acoustic lens contacting with a patient was decreased to 51 % of its initial value.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2001.06b
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• pp.53-58
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• 2001

In this paper, a low price ultrasound image processing system is developed using DSP and PC. Ultrasound for image is generated by the 32-channel transducer. Ultrasound image is captured by DSP instead of the private image grabber board. Display of image and image processing algorithms are performed by PC. The image processing algorithms based on GUI are realized by software. So users without knowledge of image processing can perform the image enhancement more easily.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.880-890
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• 2010

The intrasvascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging technique is used to diagnose cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke. Recently, elasticity imaging methods have been investigated to diagnose blood clots attached to blood vessel intima. However, the IVUS imaging technique is an invasive method that requires a transducer to be inserted into blood vessel. In this paper, strain images are obtained of blood clots attached to blood vessel intima with data acquired from outside the blood vessel using a linear array transducer. In order to measure the displacement of blood vessel accurately, experimental data are acquired by steering ultrasound beams so that they can intersect the blood vessel wall at right angles. The acquired rf data are demodulated to the baseband. The resulting complex baseband signals are then processed by an autocorrelation algorithm to compute the blood vessel movement and thereby produce strain image. This proposed method is verified by experiments on a plastic blood vessel mimicking phantom. The efficacy of the proposed method was verified using a home-made blood vessel mimicking phantom. The blood vessel mimicking phantom was constructed by making a 6 mm diameter hollow cylinder inside it to simulate a blood vessel and adhering 2 mm thick soft plaque to the inner wall of the hollow cylinder. The RF data were acquired using a clinical ultrasound scanner (Accuvix XQ, Medison, Seoul. Korea) with a 7.5 MHz linear array transducer by steering ultrasound beams in steps of $1^{\circ}$ from $-40^{\circ}$ to $40^{\circ}$ for a total of 81 angles. Experimental results show that the plaque region near the blood vessel wall is softer than background tissue. Although the imaging region is restricted due to the limited range of angles for which scan lines are perpendicular to the wall, the feasibility of strain imaging is demonstrated.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.16-23
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• 2020

In High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) treatment, effective localization of HIFU focus is important for developing a safe treatment plan. While Magnetic Resonance Imaging guided HIFU (MRIgHIFU) can visualize the ultrasound path during the treatment for localizing HIFU focus, it is challenging in ultrasound imaging guided HIFU (USIgHIFU). In the present study, a real-time ultrasound beam visualization technique capable of localizing HIFU focus is presented for USIgHIFU. In the proposed method, a short pulse, with the same center frequency of an imaging ultrasound transducer below the regulated acoustic intensity (i.e., Ispta < 720 mW/㎠), was transmitted through a HIFU transducer whereupon backscattered signals were received by the imaging transducer. To visualize the HIFU beam path, the backscattered signals underwent dynamic receive focusing and subsequent echo processing. From in vitro experiments with bovine serum albumin gel phantoms, the HIFU beam path was clearly depicted with low acoustic intensity (i.e., Ispta of 94.8 mW/㎠) and the HIFU focus was successfully localized before any damages were produced. This result indicates that the proposed ultrasound beam path visualization method can be used for localizing the HIFU focus in real time while minimizing unwanted tissue damage in USIgHIFU treatment.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.1022-1037
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• 2022

It is important to develop a transducer that generates uniform output power through frequency control of the HIFU at 4 MHz frequency for the high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) skin diseases treatment. In this paper, a 4 MHz frequency band HIFU system for skin disease treatment was designed, manufactured and developed. In HIFU, even for the ultrasonic vibrator in the 4 MHz frequency band, the characteristics of the output power of the HIFU are different depending on the difference in the thickness of the PZT material. Through the development of a system amplifier, the sound output of the HIFU transducer was improved to more than 48 W and uniform output power control was possible. And, it is possible to control the output power even in a frequency band of 4.0 to 4.7 MHz, which is wider than 4.0 MHz, and shows the resonance frequency of the transducer. The maximum output power for each frequency was 49.969 W and the minimum value was 48.018 W. The maximum output power compared to the minimum output power is 49.969 W, which is uniform within 4.1%. It was confirmed that the output power of the HIFU through the amplifier can be uniformly controlled in the 4 MHz frequency band.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.21-23
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• 1984

Temperature homogeniety and stationary temperature is the most important thermometric considerations for the clinical use of hyperthermia. A thermal mapping was done in a phantom with thermocouple during hyperthermia which was induced by 1.0MHz,$0.7\~0.8watts/cm^2$ ultrasound and unfocused 2.5cm-diameter transducer. The results were as follows 1. Effective heating range$(42.5^{|circ}C\pm0.5^{\circ}C)$ were obtained 3cm in width and 4cm in depth from surface of phantom and temperature distribution was relatively uniform. 2. There was little heating effect more than 2cm away from transducer axis and more than 5cm in depth. 3. There was hot spots(more than $43^{\circ}C$) in $2.0\pm0.5cm$ depth from transducer along tranducer axis.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.441-451
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• 2023

Ultrasound transducers are an essential component of combined photoacoustic and ultrasound imaging systems and play an important role in image evaluation. However, ultrasound transducers are opaque; therefore, light must bypass the ultrasound transducer to reach the target point to produce a photoacoustic image. Providing different paths for the optical and acoustic signals results in a complicated system design, increasing the system volume. To overcome these problems, an optically Transparent Ultrasound Transducer (TUT) was developed. Unlike conventional opaque ultrasound transducers, optically TUT can be fabricated by a variety of manufacturing methods and they are suitable for use with specific piezoelectric elements and serve various purposes. In this study, a comparative analysis of the results of using Lithium Niobate (LNO), Lead Magnesium Niobate-Lead Titanate (PMN-PT), and Polyvinylidene Difluoride (PVDF), which are materials used in piezoelectric element-based TUT. LNO is a piezoelectric element widely used in TUT, and PMN-PT has been actively studied recently with a higher transmission and reception rate than LNO. Existing TUT have lower ultrasound resolution than photoacoustic resolution, but they have recently been manufacturing focused TUT with high ultrasound resolution using PVDF. A comparative analysis of the production results of these TUT was performed.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 1981

In this study, the scattering of ultrasound by blood is theoretically studied. At first, the Chernow equation which represents acoustic propagation inside the region of inhomogenieties is modified to be fitted for blood. Then, scattering amplitude and scattering Cross-section at the far-field region are obtained from this equation. In this case, hemotocrit is assumed to be less than 26 per cent, and the red blood cell is modeled as independent scatterer. This study also develops a practical approximation for the backscattering of periodic sinewave bursts by a volume of randomly distributed scatterers, i.e., whole red blood cells. This expression for the received backscattering ultrasound pressure after the n-th burst of narrowband transducer is obtained from an ideal continuous wave transducer's response.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.559-567
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• 2015

The paper deals with an ultrasonic transducer invented for measuring both flow velocity and pipe thickness. The structure of the transducer is based on the conventional transducers for measuring flow velocity by obliquely transmitting ultrasonic waves to the flow direction. The transducer additionally generates ultrasonic waves transmitting vertically to a pipe for measuring pipe thickness. By measuring flow velocity with the invented transducer and a conventional oblique-incidence transducer and comparing their results, the accuracy of the flow velocity measurement of the invented one was evaluated. By measuring specimen thickness with the invented transducer and a conventional normal-incidence transducer and comparing their results, the accuracy of the thickness measurement of the invented one was evaluated.