Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTSThe use of ultrasound in modern medicine as a non-ionizing diagnostic tool is based on piezocomposite technology for emitting and recording short pulses that enable the visualization of tissue. There are major limitations in terms of resolution and image depth and therefore potential risks for patients during medical procedures.
In contrast to discrete, continuous transmission and reception technologies from telecommunications and radar have a superior range and resolution. Innovations in 5G and 6G, the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) configurations, have further improved the information gain from such signal modalities for imaging. However, the integration of these complex signal architectures into medical ultrasound diagnostics using piezocomposites faces obstacles due to insufficient receiver sensitivity and transmitter bandwidth. In addition, conventional processing methods limit the integration into a complete ultrasound system, which slows down the development of medical ultrasound.
This research project aims to combine highly sensitive MEMS-based ultrasound receivers (cMUTs) with high-performance piezoelectric transmitters to improve both bandwidth and sensitivity for continuous transmission methods. The characteristics of currently available components make seamless integration into an overall system difficult and compromise its potential performance. The first focus of this project is therefore the development of essential individual components that are essential for the implementation of continuous signal methods (TRL 3-4). Subsequently, the components will be integrated into an overall system capable of displaying multiple synchronous transmissions with arbitrarily coded signals via MEMS-based receivers, thus enabling superior imaging capabilities.
