Soft elastic hydrogel couplants for ultrasonography

Chen, Luzeng; Zeng, Guangzhi; Guo, Dengke; Liu, Jinghua; Zhang, Xiang; Lin, Shaoting; Zhang, Kai

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2020.111609

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…12,13 The hydrogel acoustic coupling medium has been investigated as a practical alternative for focused ultrasound therapy in the clinic. 14 Polyacrylamide-based hydrogels are non-toxic, noncorrosive, highly soluble in water, biocompatible, 15,16 and possess a wet, macroporous structure, 17 however they are rarely used for ultrasound imaging. 18,19 Nanocellulose are highly hydrated porous cellulosic soft materials with tunable mechanical properties, 20 providing an extra amount of hydrogen bonds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A solid ultrasonic coupling membrane for superficial vascular ultrasonography

et al. 2022

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A solid ultrasonic coupling membrane for superficial vascular ultrasonography

et al. 2022

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“…We used a coupling gel in this study, in analogy to the use of gel in ultrasonography. A su cient amount of gel cannot always be applied in some cases for ultrasonography because of issues with the organ being examined or the skin condition [30,31,32,33], which results in decreased image quality. Therefore, the ultrasonographer may have to apply greater pressure to decrease the air interface with the skin [30,33].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Gel to the Transducer of Cartilage Conduction Hearing Aids Improves Their Benefits

Nishimura

Hosoi

Saito

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Gel is a conduction medium used to improve signal transmission and is applied in ultrasonography to obtain high-quality images; however, it is rarely used in hearing devices. The application of gel to couple the transducer to the ear could potentially improve the benefits of hearing aids, particularly cartilage conduction (CC) hearing aids, which deliver signals by vibration. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of gel application on the efficacy of CC hearing aids in 23 patients (30 ears). The aided thresholds, maximum speech recognition scores (SRSs), and hearing level at which the maximum SRS was observed were compared before and after the application of gel to the transducer of CC hearing aids. Subjective impressions of hearing improvement, on applying the gel, were also evaluated. The aided thresholds above 1 kHz significantly improved on applying the gel to the transducer. The effectiveness of gel application was better for patients who reported improvement in hearing. The audiometric results were consistent with subjective evaluations. The application of gel has minimal risk, and its benefits can be verified easily with subjective evaluation. Gel application can be considered an effective option for improving the benefits of CC hearing aids.

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“…Density of the hydrated Ca-modified silk patch (ρ) was calculated from the density and the weight portion of each component . The density of hydrated Ca-modified silk patches was estimated from the weight fraction of water molecules ( x 1 ), the weight fraction of the dehydrated Ca-modified silk patch ( x 2 ), the density of water molecules (ρ 1 ), and the density of the dehydrated Ca-modified silk patch (ρ 2 ) using Equation .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, air bubbles formed in the ultrasound gel significantly reduce ultrasound transmission efficiency . Alternatives such as ultrasound gel pad, Doppler ultrasound patch, bilayer hydrogel pad, double network hydrogel, and 3D couplant pad, have been suggested as ultrasound coupling media (Table S1). These materials are flexible and biocompatible, offering low ultrasound transmission loss.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calcium-Modified Silk Patch as a Next-Generation Ultrasound Coupling Medium

Lee

Kim

et al. 2021

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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There is an increasing interest in developing next-generation wearable ultrasound patch systems because of their wide range of applications, such as home healthcare systems and continuous monitoring systems for physiological conditions. A wearable ultrasound patch system requires a stable interface to the skin, an ultrasound coupling medium, a flexible transducer array, and miniaturized operating circuitries. In this study, we proposed a patch composed of calcium (Ca)-modified silk, which serves as both a stable interface and a coupling medium for ultrasound transducer arrays. The Ca-modified silk patch provided not only a stable and conformal interface between the epidermal ultrasound transducer and human skin with high adhesion but also offered acoustic impedance close to that of human skin. The Ca-modified silk patch was flexible and stretchable (∼400% strain) and could be attached to various materials. In addition, because the acoustic impedance of the Ca-modified silk patch was 2.15 MRayl, which was similar to that of human skin (1.99 MRayl), the ultrasound transmission loss of the proposed patch was relatively low (∼0.002 dB). We also verified the use of the Ca-modified silk patch in various ultrasound applications, including ultrasound imaging, ultrasound heating, and transcranial ultrasound stimulation for neuromodulation. The comparable performance of the Ca-modified patch to that of a commercial ultrasound gel and its durability against various environmental conditions confirmed that the Ca-modified silk patch could be a promising candidate as a coupling medium for next-generation ultrasound patch systems.

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Soft elastic hydrogel couplants for ultrasonography

Cited by 18 publications

References 29 publications

A solid ultrasonic coupling membrane for superficial vascular ultrasonography

A solid ultrasonic coupling membrane for superficial vascular ultrasonography

Application of Gel to the Transducer of Cartilage Conduction Hearing Aids Improves Their Benefits

Calcium-Modified Silk Patch as a Next-Generation Ultrasound Coupling Medium

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