Basics About Ultrasound Machine

Basics about ultrasound machine
Summer Training for Regional colleges trainer

Biomedical department
Addis Ababa Tegbar-ed ploy technical college
Addis Ababa
Prepared by: Mehamud Teyb
12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 1

Typical bioengineering measurement
system

TRANSDUCERS
 A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to

another.
By this definition, a light bulb or a motor is a transduce
 In signal processing applications, the purpose of energy

conversion is to transfer information, not to trans-form energy.
 Usually, the output of a biomedical transducer is a voltage (or

current) whose amplitude is proportional to the measured
parameter.

Cont..
 The energy that is converted by the input transducer may be
generated by the physiological process itself, indirectly related to
the physiological process, or produced by an external source.
 Input transducers use one of two different fundamental approaches:
1. the input energy causes the transducer element to generate a

voltage or current
2. the input energy creates a change in the electrical properties of the

transducers.

ANALOG SIGNAL PROCESSING
 the most extensive signal processing is usually performed on

digitized data using algorithms implemented in software.
 Analog stage depends on the basic transducer operation.
 If the transducer is based on a variation in electrical property,

the first stage must convert that variation in electrical property
into a variation in voltage.

Cont..

ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERSION
(ADC)
 This electronic component converts an analog voltage to an

equivalent digital number.
 Then digital image processing is possible,
 Using different and specific algorithms to interpret the signal to

image format most of the time to gray scale image.

Ultrasound Sound wave property
 Sound is mechanical energy that needs a medium to propagate.

Thus, in contrast to electromagnetic waves, it cannot travel in
vacuum.
 Ultrasound (as well as sound) needs a medium, in which it can

propagate by means of local deformation of the medium.
 The frequencies normally applied in clinical imaging lies

between 1 MHz and 20 MHz.

Cont..
 Ultrasound is sound with a frequency above the audible range
which ranges from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

cont..
Wave Propagation Particle Motion

Mechanical wave
• Longitudinal wave
• Not like X-ray or CT
• Safer

Cont..
 Thus, the propagation of sound is due to a continuous interchange
between kinetic energy and potential energy, related to the density
and the elastic properties of the medium, respectively.
 The two simplest waves that can exist in solids are:
1. longitudinal waves
in which the particle movements occur in the same direction as
the propagation (or energy flow),
2. transversal(or shear waves)

in which the movements occur in a plane perpendicular to the
propagation direction.
Cont..
 In water and soft tissue the waves are mainly longitudinal.
 The frequency, f, of the particle oscillation is related to the

wavelength, λ , and the propagation velocity c:
λf = C
 The sound speed in soft tissue at 37°C is around 1540 m/s, thus at a
frequency of 7.5 MHz, the wave-length is
0.2 mm.

Sound wave to tissue interaction
 As the ultrasonic wave passes through the tissue, or medium,

the peak local pressure in the medium increases.
 Tissues are constituted by cells and groups of cells that serve

as complex boundaries to the propagating wave.
 As the wave propagates through all these complex structures,

reflected and transmitted waves are generated at each one of
these interfaces dependent on the local density, compressibility
and absorption of the tissue.

Cont..
 due to two phenomena: reflection and scattering it is possible to
generate the ultrasound image.
 Specifically, reflection is taking place when the interface is large

relative to the wavelength and Scattering is taking place when
the interface is small relative to the wavelength.
 Reflection and scattering can happen at the same time, for

instance, if the larger planar interface is rough.
 Thus, speckle does not necessarily relate to a particular structure

in the tissue.
. 12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 14

Cont..
 The backscattered field, or what is “scattered back” to the
transducer, is used to generate the ultrasound image
 the backscattered echoes are usually coherent and can be used

as “signatures” of tissues that are, e.g.
 Speckle is produced by the constructive and destructive

interference of the scattered signals from structures smaller
than the wavelength,.
 Which case for the appearance of bright and dark echoes,

respectively.

Cont..
 Thus, speckle does not necessarily relate to a particular structure
in the tissue.
 several authors have tried different speckle cancellation

techniques in an effort to increase the image quality of diagnostic
ultrasound.
 As mentioned earlier, speckle is coherent, i.e., it preserves its

characteristics when shifting from position.

Cont..
 Consequently, motion estimation techniques that can determine
anything from blood flow to elasticity are made possible in a field
that is widely known as “speckle tracking”.

Attenuation
 The loss of intensity (or energy) of the forward propagating
wave due to reflection, refraction, scattering and absorption is
denoted attenuation.
 The intensity is a measure of the power through a given cross-

section; thus the units are W/m^2
 It can be calculated as the product between particle velocity

and pressure: I= pu= p2/z, where z is the specific acoustic
impedance of the medium.

Cont..

Cont..
 where δ (in units of m-1) is the attenuation coefficient. δ
depends on the tissue type (and for some tissue types like
muscle, also on the orientation of the tissue fibers) and is
approximately proportional with frequency.

Ultrasound generation
 Since the transducer should make mechanical vibrations in the

megahertz range, a material that can vibrate that fast is needed.
 Piezoelectric materials are ideal for this: it change electrical

energy to vibration (sound) due to deformation and change
physical deformation to electrical signal.
 Piezoelectricity is the charge which accumulates in certain

solid materials (notably crystals, certain ceramics in response
to applied mechanical strain.

Cont..

Ultrasound machine definition
 Medical diagnostic ultrasound is an imaging modality that makes

images showing a slice of the body, so-called tomographic
images (tomo = Gr. tome, to cut and graphic = Gr. graphing, to
write).
 It is a diagnostic modality, meaning that it gathers information

about the biological medium without modification of any kind.
1
.

Cont..
 ultrasound has become a very powerful imaging modality

mainly due to its unique temporal resolution, low cost,
nonionizing radiation, harmonic imaging, three-
dimensional visualization, transducer micro-
machining and portability.

Different brand and model of US Machine
Philips, iU22 Medison, Accuvix Hitachi, EUB-7500 Philips, HD11X

Cont..
Philips, HDI 5000 Philips, iE33 GE, VIVID7 Philips, iE33

Parts of US machine

US machine probes

Cont..
 Such crystalline or semi crystalline polymers are the poly
vinylidene fluoride (PVDF), quartz, quartz, barium titanate, and
lead zirconium titanate (PZT).
 Dependent upon its thickness (l) and propagation speed
(c), the piezoelectric material has a resonance frequency
given by
f = c/2l

Cont..
 The speed in the PZT material is around 4000 ms-1, so for a
5-MHz transducer, the thickness should be
0.4 mm thick.
 The matching layer is usually coated onto the piezoelectric

crystal in order to minimize the impedance mismatch between
the crystal and the skin surface

Cont..

Type of probes

Damaged Ultrasound probes
Malfunction of signal cable
Malfunction of
matching layer
Strain relief was torn Cover was broken

Imaging
 Imaging is based on the pulse-echo principle or transmitter and
received signal.
 The later an echo is received, the deeper is the location of the

structure giving rise to the echo.
 The larger the amplitude of the echo received, the larger is the
average specific acoustic impedance difference between the
structure and the tissue just above

Cont..
 An image is then created by repeating this process with the
beam scanning the tissue.

Cont..
Transmit
Transducer
Receive Amplify Beam Former
Keyboard and I/O CPU Signal Processing
Display Image Processing Digital Scan Converter
Power Supply

Frequency vs Resolution
Transducer Frequency
Resolution and image details
 Higher Frequency transducer provide better image
resolution
 Better gray scale resolution
 Improve ability to distinguish fine detail

Mod of operation
1. A-mode:
A short pulse is emitted from the transducer, and at time 2d/c,
the echo from the point target is received by the same transducer.
Thus, the deeper the point scatterer is positioned, the later the
echo from this point scatterer arrives.

Cont..
M-mode
 If the sequence of pulse emission and reception is repeated
infinitely, and the scan lines are placed next to each other
(with new ones to the right), motion mode, or M-mode, is
obtained.
 The vertical axis will be depth in meters downwards, while

the horizontal axis will be time in seconds pointing to
the right.
 This mode can be useful when imaging heart valves, because

the movement of the valves will make distinct patterns in the
“image”
Cont..

Cont..
Brightness or B-mode is obtained by physically moving the scan
line to a number of adjacent locations.

Cont..

Cont..
 RT describe an ultrasound system that
Acquires
Processes
Displays
Images without storing the echo data.

Doppler
• Doppler principle in US: • Doppler principle in US:

• Blood cell NOT moving • Blood cell moving
forward/backward

Cont..
■ Continuous wave
● Use Doppler ultrasonography
as measurement of blood flow
speed
■ Pulsed wave
● Use short pulse of a sound
wave
Use almost ultrasonography

Cont..
General image Steps for image detection
1. emitting short bursts ultrasonic wave.

2. propagating through media such as water with low reflection
coefficient
3. reflected by obstacles along their propagation path,
4. detection of the reflection, or echo, of the ultrasonic wave
5. localize the obstacle

Sample key board

Cont..

Common key board buttons

Cont..

END

Reference
1. BIOMEDICAL TECHNOLOGY and DEVICES
HANDBOOK/Edited by James Moore George Zouridakis
2. Medical diagnostic ultrasound physical principles and

imaging/By Jens E. Wilhjelm, Andreas Illum, Martin
Kristensson and Ole Trier Andersen/Technical University of
Denmark
3. From different training document given by EWH
4. Different websites

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Basics about ultrasound machine

Summer Training for Regional colleges trainer

Prepared by: Mehamud Teyb

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 1

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 2

 A transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to

 In signal processing applications, the purpose of energy

 Usually, the output of a biomedical transducer is a voltage (or

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 3

 Input transducers use one of two different fundamental approaches:

1. the input energy causes the transducer element to generate a

2. the input energy creates a change in the electrical properties of the

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 4

 the most extensive signal processing is usually performed on

 Analog stage depends on the basic transducer operation.

 If the transducer is based on a variation in electrical property,

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 5

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 6

 This electronic component converts an analog voltage to an

 Then digital image processing is possible,

 Using different and specific algorithms to interpret the signal to

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 7

 Sound is mechanical energy that needs a medium to propagate.

 Ultrasound (as well as sound) needs a medium, in which it can

 The frequencies normally applied in clinical imaging lies

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 8

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 9

Wave Propagation Particle Motion

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 10

2. transversal(or shear waves)

 The frequency, f, of the particle oscillation is related to the

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 12

 As the ultrasonic wave passes through the tissue, or medium,

 Tissues are constituted by cells and groups of cells that serve

 As the wave propagates through all these complex structures,

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 13

 Specifically, reflection is taking place when the interface is large

 Reflection and scattering can happen at the same time, for

 Thus, speckle does not necessarily relate to a particular structure

. 12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 14

 the backscattered echoes are usually coherent and can be used

 Speckle is produced by the constructive and destructive

 Which case for the appearance of bright and dark echoes,

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 15

 several authors have tried different speckle cancellation

 As mentioned earlier, speckle is coherent, i.e., it preserves its

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 16

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 17

 The intensity is a measure of the power through a given cross-

 It can be calculated as the product between particle velocity

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 18

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 19

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 20

 Since the transducer should make mechanical vibrations in the

 Piezoelectric materials are ideal for this: it change electrical

 Piezoelectricity is the charge which accumulates in certain

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 21

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 22

 Medical diagnostic ultrasound is an imaging modality that makes

 It is a diagnostic modality, meaning that it gathers information

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 23

 ultrasound has become a very powerful imaging modality

12/17/2020 Basics of ultrasound machine 24