Virtual Biopsy by Means of Miniaturized Fiber Optics Ultrasonic Transducers

Biagi, E.; Masotti, L.; Acquafresca, A.; Margheri, Fabrizio; Menichelli, D.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-8606-1_49

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Pressure pulses with an amplitude of the order of 10 4 Pa and bandwidth extending up to 50 MHz have been generated. By merging this kind of ultrasonic transmitter with the know-how emerging from literature over the last decade about on-fiber extrinsic interferometric receivers, a complete ultrasonic transducer could be realized [20], [21].…”

Section: Future Perspectives and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8(a). The intrinsic high frequency and wide bandwidth associated both with the opto-acoustic source and the interferometric acousto-optic element could open a way toward biological tissue microstructure characterization by means of appropriate signal processing techniques, based on spectral analysis [1], [5], [21], to investigate frequency-selective responses in tissue. Extreme miniaturization, which can be obtained by fiber-optic technology, permits positioning of the transducer in close proximity to the focal lesion, avoiding the reduction of the penetration depth imposed by the strong attenuation at high frequency.…”

Section: Future Perspectives and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Toward virtual biopsy through an all fiber optic ultrasonic miniaturized transducer: a proposal

Acquafresca

Biagi

Masotti

et al. 2003

IEEE Trans. Ultrason., Ferroelect., Freq. Contr.

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The present generation of devices based on opto-acoustic and acousto-optic conversion lets us foresee the possibility of realizing complete miniaturized transmitting-receiving transducers, able to generate and detect wideband ultrasounds by laser light. In the present paper, a miniaturized ultrasonic transducer entirely based on fiber optic technology is proposed. Such a device springs from the conjunction between our research, which has produced a highly efficient fiber optic opto-acoustic source, with the results obtained by other researchers concerning the realization of an ultrasonic receiver based on optical interferometry. Making use of the thermo-elastic effect for ultrasound generation, a source of ultrasound can be obtained by coupling a fiber optic to pulsed laser, if a film capable of absorbing laser light is placed onto fiber end. Starting from these remarks, we propose an efficient opto-acoustic source, able to generate pressure pulses with amplitude of the order of 10 4 Pa and bandwidth extending up to 40 MHz and beyond by using graphite materials as absorbing film. This solution makes use of a low-power pulsed laser as optical source possible. An ultrasonic receiving element was realized placing a Fabry-Perot cavity over the tip of a fiber optic. The cavity thickness modulation induced by ultrasonic beam is detected by an interferometer optical technique. We have realized a prototype of a receiving device that exhibits a sensitivity comparable with that of piezoelectric devices (10-100 nV/Pa) and an almost flat bandwidth extending up to 20 MHz or more. The extreme miniaturization of the resulting ultrasonic transducer, together with its wide ultrasonic frequency bandwidth, is the first step toward ultrasonic tissue biopsy. In this paper, before discussing the problem of constructing a complete ultrasonic transducer composed by a transmitter and receiver, the results carried out in these fields during the last decade are reviewed.

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Section: Future Perspectives and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%