The matching layer, which is one of the most important acoustic materials in the medical ultrasound transducer, is used to propagate as much ultrasound energy as possible, by matching the target medium with a piezoelectric material. The acoustic lens is used to focus the ultrasound beam at the target distance and usually protects the matching layer because a medical ultrasound transducer without an acoustic lens could directly contact the target. įigure 1 illustrates the fundamental structure of the medical ultrasound transducers. The medical ultrasound transducers affect the performance of the medical imaging systems. In medical ultrasound instruments, the medical ultrasound transducers are one of the most important devices that convert the electrical pulse signals into acoustic signals or vice versa. Finally, the images are shown on the image display, in order to ascertain the structural information of the target. In the medical imaging systems, the weak echo signals detected by the medical ultrasound transducers are processed through the signal processor and image processor. The medical imaging systems consist of a beam former, signal processor, and image display. The reflected and scattered acoustic signals should be received by the medical ultrasound transducers in order to be processed in the medical imaging systems.
CALCULATION PRINCIPLES OF EASE ACOUSTIC PROGRAM GENERATOR
Single- or multiple-pulse electrical signals generated from high-voltage pulse generator electronics are transmitted into the ultrasound transducers that generate the acoustic powers into the target medium. Medical ultrasound instruments are typically composed of medical imaging systems and ultrasound transducers. Medical ultrasound instruments have been widely used for nondestructive testing, medical imaging modalities, and sound navigation and ranging applications. The developed review program of the customized database can also search the acoustic lens information and store the experimental results. User programs developed using LabVIEW provide the capability to obtain precise values of the attenuation coefficient and velocity, which represent the fundamental material characteristics of the acoustic lens of the medical ultrasound transducers.
In our instrument, the database could support users in managing the result data efficiently. Additionally, the simultaneous alignment between the fixtures is controllable with developed programs, thus generating very accurate information of the acoustic lens about the testing ultrasound transducer.
Through the developed instrument, we obtained a precise standard deviation of the attenuation coefficient and velocity of the acoustic lens material of 0.05 dB/cm and 2.62 m/s, respectively. In the instrument, three-axis and one-axis transmitting and material fixtures accurately align the transmitting and receiving transducers separately. In this paper, we propose a low-cost estimation instrument for acoustic lens properties connected with a customized database. However, it is difficult to measure the acoustic lens properties with high precision because of human, systemic, or mechanical measurement errors. In medical ultrasound transducers, the transmission mode (pass-through) approach has been used to estimate the characteristics of the acoustic lens.