World’s Smallest Ultrasound Detector

Researchers have developed description thee world’s smallest ultrasound detector which has minimized photonic circuits on a silicon chip.

World’s smallest ultrasound detector with a size 100 times smaller than an average human hair has been developed by researchers.

The ultrasound detector is based on miniaturized photonic circuits on top of a silicon chip. It can visualize very small features leading to super-resolution imaging.

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‘The world’s smallest ultrasound detector, which is 200 times smaller than existing ultrasound detectors, have been developed. The silicon waveguide-etalon detector or SWED can detect very small features leading to super-resolution imaging.’
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The medical ultrasound uses a core detection technology of ultrasound waves by using piezoelectric detectors. Piezoelectric detectors convert the pressure from ultrasound waves into electric voltage.

The size of the piezoelectric detector is responsible for the imaging resolution of the ultrasound. The smaller the detector, the higher the imaging resolution that can discriminate features in the imaged tissue or material. However, reducing the size of piezoelectric detectors too much impairs the sensitivity dramatically, making them unusable for practical application.

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Silicon photonics technology is commonly used to reduce the size of optical components so that they can be densely packed on the small surface of a silicon chip.

Silicon does not exhibit any piezoelectricity. However, it can confine light in dimensions smaller than the optical wavelength. This ability of silicon has already been widely exploited for the development of miniaturized photonic circuits.

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Researchers took advantage of the miniaturized photonic circuits. They built the world's smallest ultrasound detector: the silicon waveguide-etalon detector or SWED.

SWED monitors changes in light intensity through the miniaturized photonic circuits.

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Super-resolution imaging

The researchers were able to miniaturize the new detector without compromising high sensitivity due to the use of silicon photonics.

The size of SWED is at least 10,000 times smaller than the smallest piezoelectric detectors employed in clinical imaging applications.

The SWED is also up to 200 times smaller than the ultrasound wavelength employed. Therefore, it can be used to visualize features that are smaller than one micrometer, leading to what is called super-resolution imaging.

Inexpensive and powerful

The manufacturing process of the silicon platform is easy, which is advantageous for the production of a large number of detectors.

"We will continue to optimize every parameter of this technology - the sensitivity, the integration of SWED in large arrays, and its implementation in hand-held devices and endoscopes", says Shnaiderman.

Future development and applications

The initial application of the detector was to propel the performance of optoacoustic imaging. However, the researchers realize the application of the device in a broader field of sensing and imaging.

The researchers are primarily aiming for applications in clinical diagnostics and basic biomedical research. However, industrial applications may also benefit from the new technology.

The increased imaging resolution may lead to studying ultra-fine details in tissues and materials.

Initially, SWED is used for super-resolution optoacoustic (photoacoustic) imaging of cells and micro-vasculature in tissues. However, SWED could also be used to study fundamental properties of ultrasonic waves and their interactions with a matter on a scale that was not possible before.

Source-Medindia