A Fiber Bragg Grating-Based Sensor for Passive Cavitation Detection at MHz Frequencies

Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are a potential alternative to piezoelectric ultrasound sensors for applications that demand high sensitivity and immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI). However, limited data exist on the quantitative performance characterization of FBG sensors in the MHz frequency range relevant to biomedical ultrasound. In this work, we evaluated an FBG to detect MHz-frequency ultrasound and tested the feasibility of measuring passive cavitation signals nucleated using a commercial contrast agent (SonoVue). The sensitivity, repeatability, and linearity of the measurements were assessed for ultrasound measurements at 1, 5, and 10 MHz. The bandwidth of the FBG sensor was measured and compared to that of a calibrated needle hydrophone. The FBG showed a sensitivity of 0.99, 0.769, and 0.818 V/MPa for 1, 5, and 10 MHz ultrasound, respectively. The sensor also exhibited linear response (
$0.975\leq {R}$
-Squared ≤ 0.996) and good repeatability with a coefficient of variation (CV) less than 5.5%. A 2-MHz focused transducer was used to insonify SonoVue microbubbles at a peak negative pressure of 175 kPa and passive cavitation emissions were measured, in which subharmonic and ultraharmonic spectral peaks were observed. These results demonstrate the potential of FBGs for MHz-range ultrasound applications, including passive cavitation detection (PCD).