Transparent ultrasonic transducers based on relaxor ferroelectric crystals for advanced photoacoustic imaging.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39632872.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-55032-0 and PMC identifier 11618688.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC-ND.
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Abstract
Photoacoustic imaging is a promising non-invasive functional imaging modality for fundamental research and clinical diagnosis. However, achieving capillary-level resolution, wide field-of-view, and high frame rates remains challenging. To address this, we propose a transparent ultrasonic transducer design using our developed transparent Pb(In<sub>1/2</sub>Nb<sub>1/2</sub>)O<sub>3</sub>-Pb(Mg<sub>1/3</sub>Nb<sub>2/3</sub>)O<sub>3</sub>-PbTiO<sub>3</sub> crystals. Our fabrication technique incorporates quartz-glass-and-epoxy matching layers with low-resistance indium-tin-oxide electrodes through a brass-ring based structure, enabling a high frequency (28.5 MHz), wide bandwidth (78%), and enhanced pulse-echo sensitivity (2.5 V under 2-μJ pulse excitation). Our Pb(In<sub>1/2</sub>Nb<sub>1/2</sub>)O<sub>3</sub>-Pb(Mg<sub>1/3</sub>Nb<sub>2/3</sub>)O<sub>3</sub>-PbTiO<sub>3</sub>-based transparent ultrasonic transducer demonstrates a four-fold enhancement in photoacoustic detection sensitivity when compared to the LiNbO<sub>3</sub>-based counterpart, leading to a 13 dB improvement of signal-to-noise ratio in microvascular photoacoustic imaging. This enables dynamic monitoring of mouse cerebral cortex microvasculature during seizures at 0.8 Hz frame rates over a 1.5 × 1.5 mm<sup>2</sup> field-of-view. Our work paves the way for high-performance and compact photoacoustic imaging systems using advanced piezoelectric materials.