The proposed innovation is a novel fiber optic ultrasound transducer which generates, detects, and steers ultrasound. All ultrasound generation, detection, and steering are operated by optical means instead of electrical approaches. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a technology transfer plan, which determines the market value of the fiber optic ultrasound transducers that the PI's team has been developing and finally results in a detailed commercialization plan including a business model, marketing, and resource requirements. The team will work hard on transiting the technology into a start-up company and/or licensing opportunity based on information gained through the I-Corps program process.
The proposed innovation targets at biomedical ultrasound imaging, specifically intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging, and ultrasound non-destructive testing applications in harsh environments. This proposed system can have broad applications. For example, by exciting broad bandwidth ultrasound signals to the tissue and collecting the echo signals, physical properties such as Young's modulus can be determined. Therefore, the proposed system can be used to distinguish tumor tissue from normal tissue. The proposed system can also be used for remote ultrasound non-destructive tests in harsh environments such as nuclear power plant or down-hole oil wells.
With the support from previous NSF grant ("CAREER: Novel Mechanism for Generation and Receiving of Ultrasound on a Single Fiber Using Nanoparticles"; NSF Award#: 1055358), the PI’s team has developed a novel fiber optic ultrasound transducer. The prototype optically generates and detects ultrasound at the tip of optical fibers. Moreover, it optically steer the ultrasound by applying the technology similar to "phased array" technology, as shown in Figure 1. It temporally and spatially modulates the laser signal excited on each individual ultrasound generation element to steer ultrasound. The principle behind the prototype relies on a novel material, gold nanocomposite, which increased the ultrasound generation efficiency significantly (3 orders of magnitude) compared with epoxy mixed with graphite. The prototype is very small (800 µm in diameter). The all optical working principle makes it immunity to electromagnetic interference. By taking the advantage of ultra-fast laser, the bandwidth of the transducer can be as high as 100 MHz, which could result in high resolution ultrasound imaging (50 μm). In summary, the transducer features several unique advantages: i) compact size (sub-millimeter size); ii) high frequency (100 MHz); iii) immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI). These unique advantages make the fiber optic ultrasound transducer a perfect candidate for high resolution ultrasound imaging within compact space, such as intravascular ultrasound imaging (IVUS). Intellectual Merits: The proposed innovation provides higher frequency (up to 100 MHz) with broad bandwidth over 100% to achieve a better resolution (50 μm). Moreover, the frequency and the bandwidth of the proposed innovation can be tuned easily. It is well known that higher ultrasound frequency will give better imaging resolution but will compromise the penetration depth. The capability of tuning frequency will provide a convenient way for doctors to choose a better image resolution or a deeper penetration depth. Another unique advantage of the proposed system is its immunity to EMI. This makes the technology especially useful for ultrasound structural health inspection applications in strong EMI environments, such as inspecting pipelines at nuclear power plants. Combined with the compact size and the high temperature endurance, the proposed system has significant commercial potential in inspecting small pipelines very close to the nuclear reactor. To the best of the PI’s team’s knowledge, there are very few systems available in the market for this particular application. Therefore, the proposed innovation will be a strong competitor in this field. Broader Impacts: This proposed system can have broad applications. For example, by exciting broad bandwidth ultrasound signals to the tissue and collecting the echo signals, physical properties such as Young’s modulus can be determined. Therefore, the proposed system can be used to distinguish the tumor tissue and the normal tissue. The proposed system can also be used for remote ultrasound non-destructive test in harsh environments such as nuclear power plant or downhole oil well.
