Archives of Acoustics, 49, 1, pp. 73–81, 2024
10.24425/aoa.2024.148769

Design and Verification of Sector Vortex Archimedean Spiral Phased Array Transducer for Improving Focus Acoustic Pressure

Xiaodan LU
Chongqing Medical University
China

Deping ZENG
1) Chongqing Medical University 2) National Engineering Research Center of Ultrasound Medicine
China

The emergence of high-intensity focused ultrasound applications brings great potential to establish noninvasive therapeutic treatment in place of conventional surgery. However, the development of ultrasonic technology also poses challenges to the design and manufacture of high-power ultrasound transducers with sufficient acoustic pressure. Here, the design of a sector vortex Archimedean spiral phased array transducer that is able to enhance focal acoustic pressure is proposed by maximizing the filling factor of the piezoelectric array. The transducer design was experimentally verified by hydrophone measurements and matched well with acoustic simulation studies. The focal deflection was shown to be feasible up to ±9 mm laterally and up to ±20 mm axially, where the effective focal acoustic pressure can be maintained above 50% and the level of the grating lobe below 30%. Furthermore, a homogeneous pressure distribution without secondary focus was observed in the pre-focal region of the transducer. The rational design of a high-intensity focused ultrasound transducer indicates promising development in the treatment of deep tissue thermal ablation for clinical applications.
Keywords: phased array transducer; Archimedean spiral; high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU); focal deflection
Full Text: PDF
Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International CC BY 4.0.

References

Auboiroux V., Dumont E., Petrusca L., Viallon M., Salomir R. (2011), An MR-compliant phased-array HIFU transducer with augmented steering range, dedicated to abdominal thermotherapy, Physics in Medicine & Biology, 56(12): 3563–3582, doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/56/12/008.

Daum D.R., Hynynen K. (1999), A 256-element ultrasonic phased array system for the treatment of large volumes of deep-seated tissue, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 46(5): 1254–1268, doi: 10.1109/58.796130.

Ebbini E.S., Cain C.A. (1991), A spherical-section ultrasound phased array applicator for deep localized hyperthermia, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 38(7): 634–643, doi: 10.1109/10.83562.

Ellens N.P., Lucht B.B., Gunaseelan S.T., Hudson J.M., Hynynen K.H. (2015), A novel, flat, electronically-steered phased array transducer for tissue ablation: Preliminary results, Physics in Medicine & Biology, 60(6): 2195–2215, doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/60/6/2195.

Feril L.B., Fernan R.L., Tachibana K. (2021), High-intensity focused ultrasound in the treatment of breast cancer, Current Medicinal Chemistry, 28(25): 5179–5188, doi: 10.2174/0929867327666201111143206.

Fukuda H. et al. (2011), Treatment of small hepatocellular carcinomas with US-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound, Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 37(8): 1222–1229, doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2011.04.020.

Gavrilov L.R., Hand J.W. (2000), A theoretical assessment of the relative performance of spherical phased arrays for ultrasound surgery, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 47(1): 125–139, doi: 10.1109/58.818755.

Gavrilov L.R., Sapozhnikov O.A., Khokhlova V.A. (2015), Spiral arrangement of elements of two-dimensional ultrasonic therapeutic arrays as a way of increasing the intensity at the focus, Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Physics, 79(10): 1232–1237, doi: 10.3103/s106287381510010x.

Goss S.A., Frizzell L.A., Kouzmanoff J.T., Barich J.M., Yang J.M. (1996), Sparse random ultrasound phased array for focal surgery, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 43(6): 1111–1121, doi: 10.1109/58.542054.

Hynynen K., Jones R.M. (2016), Image-guided ultrasound phased arrays are a disruptive technology for non-invasive therapy, Physics in Medicine & Biology, 61(17): R206, doi: 10.1088/0031-9155/61/17/R206.

Köhler M., Mougenot C., Ylihautala M. (2012), Near-field heating of volumetric MR-HIFU hyperthermia, [in:] 11th International Symposium on Therapeutic Ultrasound. AIP Conference Proceedings, 1481(1): 180–184, doi: 10.1063/1.4757331.

Lean H.Q., Zhou Y. (2019), Acoustic field of phased-array ultrasound transducer with the focus/foci shifting, Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering, 39(6): 919–931, doi: 10.1007/s40846-019-00464-z.

Liu Y., Ran W., Shen Y., Feng W., Yi J. (2017), High-intensity focused ultrasound and laparoscopic myomectomy in the treatment of uterine fibroids: A comparative study, BJOG, 124(S3): 36–39, doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.14745.

Lu X., Zeng D. (2023), Simulation research on increasing the focus sound pressure of Archimedean spiral phased array transducer [in Chinese], Technical Acoustic, 42(2): 263–268.

Morrison K.P., Keilman G.W., Kaczkowski P.J. (2014), Single Archimedean spiral close-packed phased array HIFU, [in:] IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, pp. 400–404, doi: 10.1109/ULTSYM.2014.0099.

Payne A., Vyas U., Todd N., de Bever J., Christensen D.A., Parker D.L. (2011), The effect of electronically steering a phased array ultrasound transducer on near-field tissue heating, Medical Physics, 38(9): 4971–4981, doi: 10.1118/1.3618729.

Raju B.I., Hall C.S., Seip R. (2011), Ultrasound therapy transducers with space-filling non-periodic arrays, [in:] IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 58(5): 944–954, doi: 10.1109/tuffc.2011.1895.

Ramaekers P., de Greef M., Berriet R., Moonen C.T.W., Ries M. (2017a), Evaluation of a novel therapeutic focused ultrasound transducer based on Fermat’s spiral, Physics in Medicine & Biology, 62(12): 5021–5045, doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/aa716c.

Ramaekers P., Ries M., Moonen C.T.W., de Greef M. (2017b), Improved intercostal HIFU ablation using a phased array transducer based on Fermat’s spiral and Voronoi tessellation: A numerical evaluation, Medical Physics, 44(3): 1071–1088, doi: 10.1002/mp.12082.

Rosnitskiy P.B., Sapozhnikov O.A., Gavrilov L.R., Khokhlova V.A. (2020), Designing fully populated phased arrays for noninvasive ultrasound surgery with controlled degree of irregularity in the arrangement of elements, Acoustical Physics, 66(4): 352–361, doi: 10.1134/s1063771020040090.

Rosnitskiy P.B., Vysokanov B.A., Gavrilov L.R., Sapozhnikov O.A., Khokhlova V.A. (2018), Method for designing multielement fully populated random phased arrays for ultrasound surgery applications, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 65(4): 630–637, doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2018.2800160.

Shehata Elhelf I.A., Albahar H., Shah U., Oto A., Cressman E., Almekkawy M. (2018), High-intensity focused ultrasound: The fundamentals, clinical applications, and research trends, Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, 99(6): 349–359, doi: 10.1016/j.diii.2018.03.001.

Umchid S. et al. (2009), Development of calibration techniques for ultrasonic hydrophone probes in the frequency range from 1 to 100 MHz, Ultrasonics, 49(3): 306–311, doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2008.09.011.

Wang J., Sun S., Ning Y., Gong Y., Zhang M., Pang W. (2021), A spiral Archimedean PMUT array with improved focusing performance, [in:] 2021 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS), pp. 1–3, doi: 10.1109/IUS52206.2021.9593339.




DOI: 10.24425/aoa.2024.148769