Devolopment of focused IVUS transducer using PMN-PT single crystal

The PMN-PT based high-frequency side-looking focused IVUS transducers were fabricated successfully by a mechanical dimpling technique and their performance was tested. Compared to the flat transducer, the focused transducer with 31 MHz center frequency showed superior -6 dB bandwidth (52%) and axial/lateral resolutions (28/470 μm). However, the average insertion loss of focused transducer at 35 MHz is around -21.53 dB which is little higher than that of flat one with -18.12 dB at 32 MHz. The improved imaging resolutions, especially axial resolution, can give more detailed vessel microstructure information on vulnerable atherosclerosis compared to conventional transducer. These results show that side-looking dimpled focused IVUS transducers are promising for IVUS medical imaging in vulnerable plaque diagnosis.