Performance comparison between piezoelectric and CMUT probes in measuring the backscattering coefficient

Lenin Chinchilla (1, 2) , Emilie Franceschini (1) , Alessandro S Savoia (2)

1 O&I - Ondes et Imagerie
2 ROMA TRE - Università degli Studi Roma Tre = Roma Tre University

In the field of quantitative ultrasound (QUS), evaluation of tissue-anisotropy plays a key role in the description of the tissue microstructure. Several studies have been conducted to parameterize the tissue-anisotropy by measuring the angular dependence of the backscatter-coefficient. The seminal works were carried out by using a single element transducer, and more recent ones using ultrasound linear array probes. However, the performance of the probe imposes a limit for the maximal angle to which measurements can be performed. For instance, the element directivity and cross-talk are probe features that affect the probe performance, independently of the imaging strategy used, either the focused beam steering or the plane wave imaging. In this work we present a comparative analysis between a Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) probe and a commercial piezoelectric probe, in which the BSC is measured using the focused beam steering imaging strategy on an isotropic tissue-mimicking phantom along different beam steering angles. The results show that the CMUT probe exhibits better performance than the piezoelectric probe in terms of larger usable bandwidth and wider angular range in which the BSC measurements can be performed.

Mots clés: Backscatter-coefficient; anisotropic; piezoelectric probe; CMUT probe; focused beam steering

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]; Ingénierie biomédicale; Imagerie

Lenin Chinchilla, Emilie Franceschini, Alessandro S Savoia. Performance comparison between piezoelectric and CMUT probes in measuring the backscattering coefficient. Proceedings of meetings on acoustics, 2019, 38, pp.030019. ⟨10.1121/2.0001222⟩. ⟨hal-03005833⟩