High-Frame-Rate Ultrasound Matrix Transducers for Quantifying Blood Flow

Abstract

Medical ultrasound is crucial in modern healthcare, with high-frame-rate imaging expanding its applications to both high blood velocities over large fields-of-view and slow-moving blood. Accurate flow measurements require high temporal and spatial resolution, necessitating the use of matrix transducers, which face several challenges depending on the application. For monitoring the brains of preterm babies, challenges include designing ASIC-integrated matrices that meet clinical needs and minimizing cables to ensure unrestricted mother-child contact. For atherosclerosis screening, challenges involve sensor-ASIC integration, developing high-frame-rate data acquisition, and addressing high side-lobe levels in sparse matrices. The objective of this thesis is to address these challenges and develop the necessary technology to enable the use of ultrasound matrix transducers for quantifying blood flow and detecting physiologically abnormal flow patterns and velocities in the two mentioned applications.