A High Sensitivity 20-MHz Endoscopic Transducer With Integrated Miniature Amplifier

Endoscopic transducer with small size and high frequency has been widely studied and applied in medical ultrasound imaging. However, attenuation affects high frequency ultrasound waves to a greater degree than lower frequency waves, which results in limited endoscopic ultrasound detection depth and poor signal-to-noise ratio in the image. High sensitivity transducer is an effective way to improve this problem. In this paper, a high sensitivity endoscopic ultrasound transducer (HSEUST) with an integrated miniature amplifier was proposed, where the amplifier can effectively enhance the received ultrasound signal and reduce the impact of noise. According to the tests and experimental results, this sensor is about 4 times more in sensitive, 20% more in resolution than conventional endoscopic transducer. With high sensitivity, this transducer holds the potential for visualization of deeper tissue in the body with high resolution, which will greatly expand the application capabilities and fields of endoscope ultrasound imaging.