Dual-frequency IVUS array for contrast enhanced intravascular ultrasound imaging

Recent studies suggest that contrast enhanced intravascular ultrasound (CE-IVUS) may be used for identifying vulnerable plaques through molecular imaging or detecting neovascularizations within a growing atherosclerotic lesion. However, typical intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) transducers operate at a high frequency band (20–60 MHz) which makes them not ideal for imaging microbubble contrast agents due to the less effective microbubble excitation at high frequencies. In this paper, a prototyped dual-frequency array for CE-IVUS was developed and tested. The prototype flat transducer array consists of a receiving array (32 elements, 30 MHz) built on the top of a transmitting array (8 sub-elements, 2.25 MHz) to achieve real-time superharmonic contrast enhanced imaging. The size of the receiving aperture was varied, tested and resultant images were compared. Images of a contrast-filled microtube can be observed clearly with only 4 receiving elements at an excitation voltage of 55 V, which indicates feasibility of CE-IVUS imaging after circularly wrapping the array for catheter integration.