Real-time 3-D intracranial ultrasound with an endoscopic matrix array transducer

A transducer originally designed for transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) was adapted for real-time volumetric endoscopic imaging of the brain. The transducer consists of a 36 x 36 array with an interelement spacing of 0.18 mm. There are 504 transmitting and 252 receive channels placed in a regular pattern in the array. The operating frequency is 4.5 MHz with a -6 dB bandwidth of 30\%. The transducer is fabricated on a 10-layer flexible circuit from Microconnex (Snoqualmie, WA, USA). The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical feasibility of real-time 3-D intracranial ultrasound with this device. The Volumetrics Medical Imaging (Durham, NC, USA) 3-D scanner was used to obtain images in a canine model. A transcalvarial acoustic window,,vas created under general anesthesia in the animal laboratory by placing a 10-mm burr hole in the high parietal calvarium of a 50-kg canine subject. The burr-hole was placed in a left parasagittal location to avoid the sagittal sinus, and the transducer was placed against the intact dura mater for ultrasound imaging. Images of the lateral ventricles were produced, including real-time 3-D guidance of a needle puncture of one ventricle. In a second canine subject, contrast-enhanced 3-D Doppler color flow images were made of the cerebral vessels including the complete Circle of Willis. Clinical applications may include real-time 3-D guidance of cerebrospinal fluid extraction from the lateral ventricles and bedside evaluation of critically ill patients where computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging techniques are unavailable.

Duke Scholars

Author Patrick D. Wolf Biomedical Engineering

Author Stephen William Smith Biomedical Engineering