A novel, broadband scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) for in vivo imaging and characterization of micro-cellular biological tissue structures is proposed. It will operate at a frequency of 4.0 GHz, which offers a resolution of less than 0.4 microns, orders of magnitude less than that commercially available for medical diagnostic and non-destructive testing applications. The transducer will be fabricated by two methods: (1) utilizing a sol-gel process to grow the element as a single crystal, and (2) forming the element with pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Each pixel of an acoustic C-Scan image will provide information about the absorption, elastic properties and density of tissue cells, which may improve the visualization and clinical assessment of consistent patterns of cellular malignancy. The C-Scan image will be formed with a novel technique that utilizes a piezoelectric actuator for precise and reliable micro-stepping in a raster format for data acquisition and image presentation. A feasibility assessment of the clinical utility of the proposed design will be carried out at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia., PA). Acoustic images will be taken of a wide variety of normal tissue specimens and the measured acoustic features compared with those obtained with standard transmissive and reflective optical techniques for tissue characterization. Proposed Commercial Application: A 4.0 GHz acoustic microscope offer significant benefits for both medical and material science applications. If successful, Layered Manufacturing Inc. is prepared to license the technology to all interested ultrasound system companies.
Thesaurus Terms: biomedical equipment development, biophysics, image enhancement, microscopy, sound density, elasticity, histology bioengineering /biomedical engineering, bioimaging /biomedical imaging
