Novel Transducer Technology for Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging

Despite significant progress in its treatment, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease causes more than 19 million deaths annually, which is more alarming than other illnesses such as cancer. The main research focus in this area is on effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatments. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging, which features real-time display of blood vessel structures, has become an important diagnostic imaging technique and is considered the new “gold standard”. However, IVUS has limited image resolution and is monopolized by a few companies. Therefore our team has used novel piezoelectric materials (PMN-PT) to develop a miniaturized IVUS transducer of special design and corresponding manufacturing techniques. This technology can be used to develop new IVUS devices of higher spatial resolution and sensitivity that can produce high quality images.