CMUTs (Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers) are causing a technological revolution. Research over the last decade showed that CMUTs can sufficiently replace traditional ultrasound technology based on the bulk PZT, along with other benefits such as lower assembly cost, broader bandwidth and monolithic integration capability with ASICs. Furthermore, devices can be fabricated from with non-toxic materials and eliminate the environmental impact that is associated to PZT. As a result, in recent years we are seeing low-cost consumer level ultrasound imaging technology becoming available for point of care diagnostics devices from startup companies. However, surprisingly, CMUT technology adoption is still lagging behind what we would expect. Thus, in this thesis three novel CMUT applications are investigated to show-case the untapped potentials of CMUTs which should lead to further traction for the CMUT field. By reading this work it is my wish that the reader could understand the hugely prosperous future of CMUTs.@en

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) with a built-in charge layer are known as a pre-charged CMUT. In our prior work, we have shown how to model and characterize the charges inside the pre-charged collapse-mode CMUT and conducted life-time test that showed that the charges trapped inside the dielectric were stable in the order of years [1]. However, our prior work focused on the use of pre-charged collapse-mode CMUTs as a way to achieve ultrasound power reception, which does not require the CMUT to be actively driven. In this work, for the first time we use pre-charged collapse-mode CMUTs with an Al2O3 charge-trapping layer to create a B-mode ultrasound image. Thus, this work shows the first example that pre-charged collapse-mode CMUTs can fully operate with only an AC voltage.@en

Recently, the applications of ultrasound transducers expanded from high-end diagnostic tools to point of care diagnostic devices and wireless power receivers for implantable devices. These new applications additionally require that the transducer technology must comply to biocompatibility and manufacturing scalability. In this respect, Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers (CMUTs) have a strong advantage compared to the conventional PZT based transducers. However, current CMUTs require a large DC bias voltage for their operation, which limits the miniaturizability of these devices. In this study, we propose a pre-charged collapse-mode CMUT for immersive applications that can operate without an external bias by means of a charge trapping Al2O3 layer embedded in the dielectrics between the top and bottom electrodes. The built-in charge layer was analytically modeled and four layer stack combinations were investigated and characterized. The measurement results of the CMUTs were then used to fit the model and to quantify the amount and type of trapped charge. It was found that these devices polarize due to the ferroelectric-like behavior of the Al2O3, and the amount of charge stored in the charge-trapping layer was estimated to be approximately 0.02 C/m2. Their acoustic performance shows a transmit and receive sensitivity of 8.8 kPa/V and 13.1 V/MPa respectively. In addition, we show that increasing the charging temperature, the charging duration, and the charging voltage results in a higher amount of stored charge. Finally, results of ALT tests showed that these devices have a lifetime of more than 2.5 years at body temperature.@en

Ultrasound (US) has recently gained attention for powering and communication with implantable devices due to its short wavelength and low attenuation. However, beam mis-alignments cause a sharp decrease in the amount of transferred power and quality of communication. This work investigates a telemetry protocol that relies on the difference in the phase of the received backscattered signal to precisely focus the US on the implantable device and track it over time. The interrogation signal is generated by a linear phased array probe, and the receiver is a pre-charged collapse-mode Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducer (CMUT) connected to a load modulation circuit. Using the time/phase reversal tracking algorithm, the RX was located within 300 ms after the first modulation was detected. The ability of the algorithm to track the RX while it is moving was also tested, showing that it can reliably track it up to a speed of 1 mm/s.

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Background
Microelectrode arrays (MEA) enable the measurement and stimulation of the electrical activity of cultured cells. The integration of other neuromodulation methods will significantly enhance the application range of MEAs to study their effects on neurons. A neuromodulation method that is recently gaining more attention is focused ultrasound neuromodulation (FUS), which has the potential to treat neurological disorders reversibly and precisely.

Methods
In this work, we present the integration of a focused ultrasound delivery system with a multiwell MEA plate.

Results
The ultrasound delivery system was characterised by ultrasound pressure measurements, and the integration with the MEA plate was modelled with finite-element simulations of acoustic field parameters. The results of the simulations were validated with experimental visualisation of the ultrasound field with Schlieren imaging. In addition, the system was tested on a murine primary hippocampal neuron culture, showing that ultrasound can influence the activity of the neurons.

Conclusions
Our system was demonstrated to be suitable for studying the effect of focused ultrasound on neuronal cultures. The system allows reproducible experiments across the wells due to its robustness and simplicity of operation.@en

The main limitation of acoustic particle separation for microfluidic application is its low sorting efficiency. This is due to the weak coupling of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) into the microchannel. In this work, we demonstrate bulk acoustic wave (BAW) particle sorting using capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) for the first time. A collapsed mode CMUT was driven in air to generate acoustic pressure within the silicon substrate in the in-plane direction of the silicon die. This acoustic pressure was coupled into a water droplet, positioned at the side of the CMUT die, and measured with an optical hydrophone. By using a beam steering approach, the ultrasound generated from 32 CMUT elements were added in-phase to generate a maximum peak-to-peak pressure of 0.9 MPa. Using this pressure, 10 µm latex beads were sorted almost instantaneously.@en

Recently, focused ultrasound has been proposed to power deeply implanted medical devices. Almost exclusively, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) transducers are used to convert acoustic energy into electrical energy. Unfortunately, these lead containing devices cannot be hermetically encapsulated since that would block the ultrasound. We propose the use of biocompatible Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer (CMUT) elements to replace traditional PZT transducers. In addition, to eliminate the external bias voltage, we introduced a charge trapping Al2O3 layer inside the CMUT to create a built-in bias voltage. These devices can be pre-charged and used as a receiver for US power. In this work, the viability of charged CMUTs to power deep implants was explored by investigating the effect of the charging parameters and by performing Accelerated Lifetime Tests (ALT). The estimated lifetime at body temperature ranges between 2.5 to 3.5 years at body temperature, which significantly depends on the charging parameters.@en

Implantable medical devices are becoming smaller and more deeply implanted in the human body for various applications (i.e., neurostimulation, drug delivery, bone fracture monitoring). Therefore, an efficient ultrasound power transfer link is needed to charge these devices. However, this is challenging because each ultrasound transducer has limited angular sensitivity. This work proposes a low-power telemetry protocol that can reliably feedback the power sent to the implant with backscattered ultrasound. The protocol works by sending two consecutive interrogation signals and connecting a circuit on the receiver that modulates only one of the two signals. The modulated signal can be decoded with an external ultrasound probe. In this work, the circuit was built, verified, and compared with simulation results. It was shown that the telemetry protocol could accurately localize the receiving ultrasound element at sub-mm precision at a 10 cm depth.@en

Using ultrasound to power deeply implanted biomedical devices is a promising technique due to its low attenuation in body tissue and its short wavelength that allows precise focusing of the energy. Ultrasound energy harvesting conventionally has been done using lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ultrasound transducers, which uses the piezoelectric effect to convert mechanical vibration to an electrical voltage. However, PZT is typically bulky, and is not bio-compatible, and cannot be monolithically integrated with application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC). In this work, a pre-charged collapse-mode capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) was fabricated to harvest ultrasound energy. The pre-charged CMUT has a high power transfer efficiency over a wide bandwidth at optimal loading conditions; 43% at 2.15 MHz and 47% at 5.85 MHz. For the last 1.4 years, the device has been in collapse-mode, and it is still functional without any additional charging. This device will enable the development of smaller implantable biomedical devices in the future.@en

In the bioelectronic medicine field, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a promising technique that is expected to treat numerous inflammatory conditions, in addition to the currently FDA approved treatment for epilepsy, depression and obesity [1]. However, current VNS techniques are still limited in the spatial resolution that they can achieve, which limits its therapeutic effect and induces side effects such as coughing, headache and throat pain. In our prior work, we presented a curved ultrasound (US) transducer array with a diameter of 2 mm and with 112 miniature US transducer elements, small enough to be wrapped around the vagus nerve for precise ultrasound nerve stimulation [2]. Due to the curved alignment of the US transducers with 48 of the elements simultaneously excited, the emitted US was naturally focused at the center of the curvature. Building on this work, we employ a beam steering technique to move the focal spot to arbitrary locations within the focal plane of the transducer array. The beam steering was controlled through an in-house built US driver system and was visualized using a pulsed laser schlieren system. The propagation of the US pulse in water was imaged and recorded. This method was found to be a rapid and effective means of visualizing the US propagation.

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Vagus nerve stimulators currently on the market can treat epilepsy and depression. Recent clinical trials show the potential for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to treat epilepsy, autoimmune disease, and traumatic brain injury. As we explore the benefits of VNS, it is expected that more possibilities for a new treatment will emerge in the future. However, existing VNS relies on electrical stimulation, whose limited selectivity (due to its poor spatial resolution) does not allow for any control over which therapeutic effect to induce. We hypothesize that by localizing the stimulation to fascicular level within the vagus nerve with focused ultrasound (US), it is possible to induce selective therapeutic effects with less side effects. A geometrically curve US transducer array that is small enough to wrap around the vagus nerve was fabricated. An experiment was conducted in water, with 48 US elements curved in a 1 mm radius and excited at 15 MHz to test the focusing capabilities of the device. The results show that the geometrical curvature focused the US to an area with a width and height of 110 μm and 550 μm. This will be equivalent to only 2.1% of the cross section of the vagus nerve, showing the potential of focused US to stimulate individual neuronal fibers within the vagus nerve selectively.@en