柔性超声换能器在生物医学中的研究进展

Research progress of flexible ultrasonic transducer in biomedicine

传统超声换能器存在体积大、表面刚性的缺点,无法用于人体复杂皮肤表面和可穿戴器件的设计。为使换能器具有灵活、体积小,满足可穿戴的特点,将其压电元件、电极和封装等各组成部分重组为柔性换能器。相比于传统换能器,它有两个优点:首先,不需要专业人员操作,可实现持续性的超声监控或治疗。其次,通过更全面的皮肤表面覆盖,扩大声场范围。在超声诊断方面,改善声信号采集,获得更全面的检测信息;在超声治疗方面,增加声能量沉积,提高疗效。柔性换能器使超声医疗应用场景多元化,可实现连续超声诊断或超声治疗。该文首先概述了其在设计和加工方面的最新进展,然后重点介绍了其在诊断和治疗方面的应用,最后讨论了这一领域所面临的挑战并对发展前景进行展望。

Traditional ultrasonic transducer has the disadvantages of large size and rigid surface,which can not be used in the design of complex skin surface and wearable devices.In order to make the transducer flexible,small size,to meet the characteristics of wearable,the piezoelectric components,electrodes and packaging and other components of the flexible transducer.Compared with the traditional transducer,it has two advantages:Firstly,do not need professional operation,and can achieve continuous ultrasonic monitoring or treatment.Secondly,the sound field is expanded through more comprehensive skin surface coverage.In terms of ultrasonic diagnosis,improve acoustic signal acquisition to obtain more comprehensive information;In terms of ultrasonic therapy,increasing the sound energy deposition can improve the curative effect.Flexible transducers will diversify ultrasound medical applications,allowing patients to diagnose or treat continuously.In this paper,firstly the latest advances in design and processing are reviewed, then its application in diagnosis and treatment is emphasized, and finally, the challenges in this field are discussed and the development prospects areprospected.