Modeling of an Ultrasonic

Transducer for Cardiac Imaging

S. Moten
D&C 2010.049

Traineeship report
Coach(es):

dr.ir N. Mihajlovic (Philips Research)

Supervisor:

prof.dr. H. Nijmeijer

Eindhoven University of Technology

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Dynamics & Control Group
Eindhoven, October, 2010

Abstract

Within Philips Research, ultrasonic transducers are integrated into the minimally
invasive needles and catheters for cardiac imaging. The existing ultrasonic transducers have a low signal to noise ratio (SNR) and a low bandwidth of the received
echo and, therefore, the transducer does not perform well for the cardiac imaging
application. A high SNR is needed to increase penetration depth into heart tissue
and an increased bandwidth is required to improve resolution.
Therefore, there is a need for a model that can predict the behavior of the ultrasonic
transducer. In this report, a model is developed and implemented for the complete
ultrasonic measurement system. This model is used for the improvement of the
design of a transducer and can also be used for design of ultrasonic transducer for
various applications. Various parameters needed for the simulation are estimated
experimentally. The comparison between the response of an ultrasonic transducer
and obtained model indicates the high accuracy of the model to predict the behavior of an ultrasonic transducer.

ii

Preface

This traineeship report is written as a part of the fulfillment of my Masters education in Dynamic and Control group at department of Mechanical Engineering,
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). It is pleasure for me to thank all those
who made this possible.
First of all, I owe my deepest gratitude to Prof. Henk Nijmeijer (TU/e) who made
his support available in a number of ways and made it possible to start my traineeship in Philips Research (High Tech Campus).
I am heartily thankful to Dr. ir. Nenad Mihajlovic (Philips Research) whose encouragement and guidance from the beginning to the end enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject. Finally, I would like to thank the whole team working
on transducer in Minimally Invasive Health Care group (Philips Research), especially Dr. ir. Szabolcs Deladi for making it possible for me to attend the weekly
group meetings and gave me an opportunity to discuss and share ideas amongst
the team.
Last but not least, I want to pay regards and blessings to my parents who always
stood behind me for support.
Sikandar Moten, Eindhoven
September, 2010

iii

iv

Executive Summary

In this report, the model of an ultrasonic measurement system is implemented to

predict the response of an ultrasonic transducer. The complete system is comprised
of an ultrasonic transducer, cable, pulser, receiver, attenuator and acoustic medium.
The main goal of the model is to improve the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and bandwidth of a transducer. In order to accomplish this, an ultrasonic system is divided
into three systems: the generation system, the propagation system and the reception system. The frequency response function for each of these linear time invariant
systems is determined. Some parameters needed for the simulation, which are not
available in material data sheet, are found experimentally. Then, model results are
validated for the existing configuration of the transducer.
It is shown that the implemented model has a good agreement with the measurement results. Based on this, the effects of the mechanical construction on the transducer performance are studied. Finally, some improvements in the mechanical construction are suggested and adopted. For the specified input conditions, the signal
to noise ratio (SNR) is increased by 160%, whereas, the increase in bandwidth is
recorded as 79%. Finally, further improvements are suggested to improve an ultrasonic diagnostic system.

vi

Contents
Abstract

Preface

iii

Executive summary

Contents
1

vii

Introduction

1.1

Cardiac Ablation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.2

Cardiac Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.3

Ultrasonic Measurement SystemSystem Description . . . . . . . . .

1.4

Modeling of the Ultrasonic SystemAn Overview . . . . . . . . . . .

1.5

Project Description and Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

2.1

Sound Generation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.1.1

Pulser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.1.1.1

Characterization of pulser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.1.1.2

Attenuator (optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.1.1.3

Measurement of circuit parameters of pulser with

attenuator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.1.2

Transmitting transducer

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10

2.1.2.1

Basic configuration of the ultrasonic transducer . .

10

2.1.2.2

Modeling of an ultrasonic transducer . . . . . . . .

10

vii

2.1.3
2.2

2.3

2.4

15

Acoustic/Elastic Propagation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16

2.2.1

Frequency response function of the propagation system . . .

17

2.2.2

Blocked force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

Sound Reception System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

2.3.1

Receiving transducer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

2.3.2

Receiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

2.3.3

Frequency response function of the sound reception system

23

Complete Ultrasonic Measurement System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

24

2.4.1

24

Model validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Transducer Improvement

27

3.1

Front Layer Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

27

3.1.1

Selection of the front layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

27

3.1.2

Effect of the thickness of the front layer . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28

Backing Layer Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

29

3.2.1

Selection of backing layer

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

29

3.2.2

Effect of the thickness of backing layer . . . . . . . . . . . . .

30

3.3

Decision Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

31

3.4

Results and Experimental Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

32

3.2

Frequency response function of the sound generation system

Conclusion and Recommendations

35

4.1

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

35

4.2

Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

36

A Parameter Estimation

37

A.1 Speed of Sound in the Backing Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37

A.1.1

Experimental setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37

A.1.2

Calculation for the speed of sound and attenuation constant .

39

A.2 Properties of the Piezo Crystal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40

A.2.1

Estimation of the capacitance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40

A.2.2

Estimation of the electromechanical coupling coefficient . . .

41

viii

B Hardware Description

43

B.1 Motion Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

43

B.2 Network Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

44

B.3 Digital Oscilloscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

44

B.4 Current Probe and Amplifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

44

References

48

ix

Chapter 1

Introduction
1.1

Cardiac Ablation

The heart is a pump that functions by pumping the blood in a controlled sequence
through its four chambers: left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle and right ventricle. Each heart beat originates as an electrical impulse from a small area of tissue
in the right atrium of the heart called the sinus node. The impulse initially causes
both of the atria to contract, then activates the atrioventricular node which is normally the only electrical connection between the atria and the ventricles. The impulse then spreads through both ventricles causing a synchronized contraction of
the heart muscle.
So, for a healthy person, this regular flow of electricity through defined paths is
the basis of normal heart muscle contractions which results in normal heart beat.
But, sometimes this flow of electricity becomes irregular due to a faulty electrical
pathway and, consequently, the heart beats very erratically. Such heart diseases
are termed arrhythmia in medical science. In adults the normal resting heart rate
ranges from 60 to 80 beats per minute. The resting heart rate in children is much
faster.
Medicine often helps in various cases for the treatment of arrhythmia. However,
an effective treatment is to destroy a heart tissue in a controlled manner. Consequently, sources of unwanted pulses or electrical pathways are destroyed. Cardiac
ablation is a minimally invasive procedure in which a catheter a thin flexible tube
as shown in figure 1.1 is inserted in the blood vessel and then moved into the
heart by surgeons. Once the tip of the catheter has reached the targeted place into
the heart, Radio Frequency(RF) energy is used to destroy the tissue.

Introduction

Figure 1.1: A typical catheter used for ablation [Courtesy: Philips Research]

1.2

Cardiac Imaging

During cardiac ablation, there is a potential risk to destroy the complete heart wall
due to extra energy. There is a need to monitor the wall thickness and to measure
thickness of lesion abnormal tissue throughout the ablation process as shown
in figure 1.2 . In Philips Research, the group of Minimally Invasive Health Care
integrates the ultrasonic transducer in needles and catheters so that imaging and
ablation can be done simultaneously.
Defective Site

Catheter
Heart Wall

Insertion of catheter through blood vessel

Figure 1.2: Cardiac ablation process [Courtesy: Philips Research]

An integrated ultrasonic transducer sends the acoustic waves into the heart wall
and receives the echo to characterize the heart tissue. The signal received back
from the transducer is processed and the image is created.

Introduction

1.3

Ultrasonic Measurement SystemSystem Description

An ultrasonic measurement process involves the generation of ultrasound by the

transducer, propagation of these ultrasonic waves into the propagating medium
and then reception of these waves through the transducer again. The complete
measurement system consists of a pulser, transducer and receiver. The pulser sends
the electrical pulse via a cable to an ultrasonic transducer. The transducer converts
the electrical pulse into an acoustical pulse in the generation system and an acoustical into an electrical signal in the reception system. In addition, a 50 attenuator
can be used in between the transducer and the pulser/receiver in order to avoid
the electrical reflections.
Transmission and reception of acoustic waves can occur via the same or a separate
ultrasonic transducer. The method where the same transducer is used is called
pulse echo method as shown in figure 1.3, whereas, with a separate transducer the
method is called pitch catch method as shown in figure 1.4. The pulse echo method
is used for cardiac imaging through a catheter. However, it is shown in Appendix
A that to find some crucial material properties for the simulation we need the pitchcatch setup as well.

Generation /
Reception System

Acoustic Propagation
System

Generation
System

Figure 1.3: Pulse echo method

Acoustic Propagation
System

Reception
System

Figure 1.4: Pitch catch method

A fundamental study of acoustics revolves around the generation, propagation and

reception of the acoustic waves. Generation and reception of acoustical waves
is usually done by transduction i.e. a transducer converts one form of energy
into acoustical energy and vice versa, whereas, in the propagation system acoustic waves are influenced by properties of the propagating medium. The ultrasonic
measurement system also follows this basic hierarchy as shown in figure 1.5, and
based on this hierarchy we will model the system in three parts.

Introduction

Generation
System

Propagation
System

Reception
System

Figure 1.5: Acoustic systems in an ultrasonic measurement system

1.4

Modeling of the Ultrasonic SystemAn Overview

Modeling of an ultrasonic measurement system comprises the individual modeling

of electrical components (pulser, receiver etc.), the electro-mechanical transducer
and the acoustic propagation medium.
The model of electrical components involved in transmission and the transducer
will be combined in a single Linear Time Invariant (LTI) system that characterizes
the complete sound generation system by the frequency response function tG ( ).
This frequency response function relates the pulser voltage Vs and the force Ft generated at the face of the transducer. Then, the frequency response function for the
acoustic wave propagation t A ( ) relates the transmitting force Ft and the force
received back at the face of the receiving transducer Fb . Similar to the sound generation system, the frequency response function for the reception system t R ( ) comprises the receiving transducer and the electrical components involved in the reception. This frequency response function relates the force Fb and the electrical signal
measured at the output port of the receiver VR . The complete ultrasonic system is
shown in figure 1.6.

Figure 1.6: Ultrasonic system model as a series of LTI system

With the combination of the first two frequency response functions, a 1D pressure
field in the acoustic medium can be simulated, whereas, with the combination of
all these frequency response functions we can get the echo at the output port of the
receiver due to the excitation by the pulser. Furthermore, it is very convenient to
work in the frequency domain during the complete modeling of components and

Introduction
combination of LTI systems rather than to work in the time domain. Therefore,
Fourier analysis at different stages of the modeling will become an integral part of
the modeling.

1.5

Project Description and Organization

The existing ultrasonic transducers have a low signal to noise ratio (SNR) and a
low bandwidth of the received echo and the transducer does not perform well for
the cardiac imaging application. A high SNR is needed to increase the penetration
depth into heart tissue and an increased bandwidth is required to improve resolution.
The aim of this project is to gain a better understanding of how the mechanical
construction of an ultrasonic transducer influences the overall performance of the
transducer. The focus is on an ultrasonic transducer with resonant frequency of 20
MHz and size less than 3 mm so that it can fit into the catheter. To accomplish this
task, the project can be stated into three parts.
Make a model of ultrasound transducer and perform experimental validation
of the model.
Based on the obtained model, study the influence of mechanical construction
on the overall performance of the transducer.
Suggest technical (mechanical) improvements for such transducers.
Chapter 2 is based on modeling of the ultrasonic system and validation of obtained
model with measurements. Various parameters needed to simulate the model,
which are not available in a material data sheet, are estimated in Appendix A.
Chapter 3 discusses about improvements that can be done to increase the SNR
and bandwidth of the transducer. Furthermore, prediction of the response of an
improved transducer is verified again with the experimental measurements. Chapter 4 concludes the overall assignment and gives recommendations for further improvements in an ultrasonic diagnostic system.

Chapter 2

Modeling and Validation of the

Ultrasonic System
In the previous chapter, we showed that complete ultrasonic measurement system
can be modeled as a series of three LTI systems. Now, we present the modeling of
each of those systems individually.

2.1

Sound Generation System

In the sound generation system,the model of pulser, attenuator, cable and transducer are included in a single Linear Time Invariant (LTI) system that characterizes
the complete system by the frequency response function tG . This frequency response function relates the input source voltage and the force generated at the face
of the transducer. Cables are used to transfer the electrical pulse from the pulser
to the ultrasonic transducer and from the transducer to the receiver. For frequencies in the range of 1 to 20 MHz, there is very little discussion of cabling effects
in literature [1] because of negligible effects of cable in this range. We neglect the
cabling effects as the resonant frequency of our transducer is 20 MHz. Thus, we
only model the pulser in combination with the attenuator and the transducer in the
sound generation system.

2.1.1

Pulser

In an ultrasonic measurement system, the pulser is used to generate the pulse

which drives the transmitting ultrasonic transducer. For the existing measurement
setup, we are using a custom made pulser. This pulser provides broadband nega-

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

tive spike excitation for maximum broadband transducer performance. For modeling purpose, the internal characteristics of the electrical driving circuit of pulser
are not relevant since we are only interested in output characteristics of the pulse:
the waveform of the spike excitation and the internal impedance of the pulser.
2.1.1.1

Characterization of pulser

The output of the pulser depends on the settings (mainly energy and damping
settings) selected by the user. We noticed that the pulser does not act linearly with
respect to these settings. The cause of this non-linearity is reported as the internal
protection circuit for a commercial pulser in [1]. C. Dang et al. in [2] assume the
pulser as a linear device and expressed the pulser by an equivalent voltage source
and impedance using Thevenins theorem. This assumption is valid because we
characterize the pulser for specific energy or damping settings. Both voltage source
and impedance of the pulser depend on the combination of these two settings.
2.1.1.2

Attenuator (optional)

To transmit the electrical signal between the pulser and ultrasonic transducer, a
coaxial cable of 50 impedance is usually used in ultrasonic measurement system.
If the output impedance of pulser is not 50 , then, this creates an impedance
mismatch between the frequency dependent internal impedance of the pulser and
the impedance of the cable. Due to this mismatch, electrical reflections take place
both during transmission and reception of the electrical signal which may cause
the electrical interference of signals during measurement. One possible solution to
decrease electrical reflections is to attach an attenuator between the cable and the
pulser.
2.1.1.3

Measurement of circuit parameters of pulser with attenuator

Using Thevenins theorem we can replace the electrical network of the pulser by
an equivalent voltage source Vs and impedance Zs as shown in figure 2.1. In order
to determine Vs and Zs , we use an open circuit (figure 2.1) and a circuit where we
attach a known impedance to the pulser (figure 2.2). In the open circuit no current
is flowing through the circuit; consequently, an equivalent source voltage Vs can
be estimated by measuring the open circuit voltage Vopen across the pulser output
port:
Vs = Vopen
(2.1)
Then, we attach the known impedance Zi of 50 to this circuit as shown in figure
2.2. Now, we measure the voltage across the known load Vi and using the voltage

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

divider formula as given in equation (2.2), we can find the impedance of the pulser.


Vs ( )
Zs = Zi
1
(2.2)
Vi ( )

Figure 2.1: Thevenins equivalent circuit for the pulser

Figure 2.2: 50 resistor attached to

the pulser circuit

Therefore, we can characterize the pulser completely. Both measurements are made
by an Agilent Technologies Oscilloscope DSO 6034A (hereby referred to as oscilloscope) and converted in to the frequency domain by Fourier transformation. The
measured source voltage both in time and frequency domain are shown in figures
2.3 and 2.4, whereas, the equivalent impedance is shown in figure 2.5.
Furthermore, the addition of an attenuator makes the impedance of the overall input system, pulser and attenuator, close to 50 over a wide band of frequency
range as shown in figure 2.5. This inclusion reduces the electrical reflections significantly, but, at the expense of a decrease of the energy transfer (voltage signal) as
shown in figure 2.3 and figure 2.4. Keeping in mind that the purpose of the present
assignment includes the validation of the model, to avoid electrical interferences
during measurements, we add the attenuator in the ultrasonic system and use the
model of the equivalent source voltage and impedance with attenuator.
Pulser/Source Voltage

100

50
Without 3dB attenuator
With 3dB attenuator
0

Magnitude [V/MHz]

80

50

Voltage [V]

Without 3dB attenuator

With 3dB attenuator

90

100

150

70
60
50
40
30
20

200
10
250
.15

0
.25

.35

.45

.55

.65

10

15

20

25

30

Frequency [MHz]

Time [ sec]

Figure 2.4: Measured effect of attenuation on the source voltage in the frequency domain

Figure 2.3: Measured effect of attenuation on the source voltage in the time
domain

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Source Impedance

100
Without 3dB attenuator
With 3dB attenuator

90

Magnitude [Ohm]

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

10

15

20

25

30

Frequency [MHz]

Figure 2.5: Measured effect of attenuation on the impedance in the frequency domain

2.1.2

Transmitting transducer

Before we start with the modeling of the ultrasonic transducer, it is necessary to

understand the basic configuration of the transducer.
2.1.2.1

Basic configuration of the ultrasonic transducer

The outer diameter of the catheter shown in figure 1.1 is 7F (3F = 1mm), and an
ultrasonic transducer should fit in such catheter. For the modeling of the transducer, we are not interested in the shape of the catheter (housing) and we consider
the transducer as an independent component irrespective of its application. An
ultrasonic transducer represents a layered structure as shown in figure 2.6. The basic component of a transducer is piezo crystal which converts the electrical energy
into mechanical (acoustic) energy and vice versa. In order to support the piezo
crystal, a backing plate is used at the back of the piezo crystal. A wear protection
plate is used at the front side. One or more front layers can be used to improve
the power transmission between the piezo crystal and the propagating fluid. The
effect of these plates is discussed in detail in the following sections. The diameter
of the piezo crystal is 1 mm. A simplified construction of an ultrasonic transducer
is shown in figure 2.6.
2.1.2.2

Modeling of an ultrasonic transducer

In this section, we model the ultrasonic transducer as a transmitter. The transducer

has a backing layer at the back and a single layer at the front side. In order to model
the complete transducer, we have to model the piezo-crystal, the backing layer and
the front layer separately. Two well known models used for modeling of an ultra-

10

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Figure 2.6: Simplified construction of an ultrasonic transducer

sonic transducer are Masons and KLM models, see [1]. These models are equivalent circuit models and use different electrical configuration,see [3]. These models
are 1-dimensional in nature and are very effective in predicting the response of an
ultrasonic transducer. In this report, we used Masons model.
Piezo crystal: The equivalent circuit of Masons model of a piezo crystal is shown
in figure 2.7. The circuit has three ports, one electrical and two mechanical ports
representing the front and back face of the piezo crystal. The front matching layers
and backing layer can be added to the mechanical ports at the front and the back
side respectively, in order to model the entire transducer. Finally, a load can be
added to the front side and electrical connections are made at the electrical port to
model the entire sound generation system.

Figure 2.7: Three port Masons model

for the piezo crystal

Figure 2.8: Conversion of three port into

two port by Sittig,[4]

11

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Backing port: The three port Masons model can be reduced to a two port model
if the material of backing plate is defined as a given acoustic impedance. Sittig in
[4] specifies the acoustic impedance of the backing material and converts the three
port Masons model into a two port system; one electrical and one front mechanical
port, as shown in figure 2.8. For this two port model, Sittig explicitly shows an
expression for the frequency response function matrix which relates the voltage
and current, on the electrical port, to the force and velocity, at the front mechanical
port:


Here,


V
I

A0 B0
C0 D0



F0
v0


(2.3)




1
A0 B0
1
i 2 /C0
=
.
C0 D0
0
Q0 i C0


cos(0 ) + i Zb sin(0 )/Z0 )
Zb cos (0 ) + i Z0 sin(0 )
,
i sin(0 )/Z0
2{cos (0 ) 1} + i Zb sin (0 )/Z0

Q0 = cos (0 ) 1 + i Zb sin (0 )/Z0

Here, Z0 is the acoustic impedance of the piezo crystal, Zb is the acoustic impedance
of the backing material, 0 is the normalize frequency constant and is an ideal
transformer ratio for the transducer . The relation of these quantities with backing
material properties and piezo crystal properties and size are given as:
Z0 = 0 c0 S0
Zb = b cb S0
0 C0 Z0 k2T
=

0 =
= l
f0
c0

(2.4)

For any frequency , the frequency response matrix for the Sittig model can be
described by the parameters given in table 2.1

12

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Table 2.1: Description of parameters for the Sittig Model

Parameter Description
Symbol
Value used
Piezo crystal (Lead Zirconate Titanate PZT-5A)
Density of piezo disc
0
7500 kg/m3
Speed of sound in piezo disc
c0
4119 m/s
Fundamental frequency of disc
0
1256 105 rad/s
Thickness of disc
l
102 106 m
Radius of disc
a
0.5 103 m
Cross-sectional area of piezo
S0
7.85 107 m2
Electromechanical coupling coefficient k T
0.2
Clamped capacitance
C0
0.77 1010 F
Backing material (Zeonex E48R)
Density of backing layer
b
2700 kg/m3
Speed of sound in backing layer
cb
6226 m/s

Most of these values can be found in material data sheets except k T , C0 and cb ,
which are estimated experimentally. This is due to the fact that electromechanical coupling coefficient k T and clamped capacitance of piezo crystal C0 are highly
influenced by type of mechanical construction and by the transducer manufacturing process, whereas, the speed of sound in the backing layer is not available in
the manufacturers data sheet. A detailed description for finding these parameters
experimentally is given in Appendix A.

Intermediate or matching layers: Front layers are normally used as wear protection plate and impedance matching plate to improve the power transmission.
These layers can be represented by two port acoustic system and behave as a transmission line. The equivalent circuit for any layer can be modeled as shown in figure
2.9. This model can be found in electrical engineering text books.

Figure 2.9: Representation of an intermediate layer

13

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Such two port acoustic transmission line relates the force and velocity of one port
to the second port. The frequency response function matrix of this two port model
is given by:

 


Fn1
An Bn
Fn
=
(2.5)
v n 1
Cn Dn
vn
Here n represents the layer number, with


An
Cn

Bn
Dn

cos(n )
i Zn sin(n )
cos(n )
i sin (n )/Zn

The frequency response function matrix can be describe for any frequency by
the acoustic impedance of the intermediate layer Zn and the normalize frequency
constant n . The relation of these quantities with the layer properties and size are
given as:
Zn = n cn S0

(2.6)
n =
ln
cn
For any frequency , the frequency response function matrix for parylene-C as a
matching layer can be described by the parameters given in table 2.2.
Table 2.2: Description of parameters for the intermediate/matching layer
Parameter Description
Symbol
Value used
Matching layer (Parylene-C)
Density of layer
n
1289 kg/m3
Speed of sound in layer
cn
2142 m/s
Thickness of layer
ln
3 103 m
Others
Cross-sectional area of Piezo
S0
7.85 107 m2
Sittigs model is particularly useful to consider any piezo-electrically inactive layer.
Such individual layers can concatenate at the front acoustic port as shown in figure
2.10. Mathematically, we can join these layers to Sittigs model by simply multiplying the frequency response function matrix of the piezo crystal by frequency
response function matrix of the layers in the same order as it will joined in practice.
Thus for the first layer, we can write:


[T ] =

A0 B0
C0 D0



A1 B1
C1 D1


(2.7)

More than one layer at the front can be handled exactly in the same way and the

14

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

resulting frequency response function matrix becomes:

 



A T BT
A0 B0
An
A1 B1
=
......
[T ] =
CT D T
Cn
C0 D0
C1 D1

Bn
Dn


(2.8)

Thus, we get the relationship between voltage and current at the electrical port and
the acoustical force and velocity at the mechanical port of the final layer as:

 


V
A T BT
Fn
=
(2.9)
I
CT D T
vn

2.1.3

Frequency response function of the sound generation system

Here, we combine the model of the pulser as shown in figure 2.1 with the model of
the transmitting transducer. We also add the acoustic impedance of load or fluid
to the front side of the last layer. This is done because the transducer is immersed
in fluid while generating a sound. The equivalent circuit diagram for the complete
sound generation system can be obtained by concatenation of the pulser model
to the electrical port of the transducer as shown in the figure 2.10. The model of
transmitting transducer in combination with the model of pulser and immersion
in fluid is termed as the sound generation system. With equation (2.9) and figure
2.10, C.Dang et al. in [1] explicitly mention the frequency response function, which
relates source voltage Vs with the force generated at the face of the transducer Ft =
Fn , as:
Zrad
Ft ( )
=
(2.10)
tG ( ) =
Vs ( )
( Zrad AT + BT ) + ( Zrad CT + DT ) Zs
Here, Zrad = 1 c1 S0 is the radiation impedance of the medium and can be calculated by the values given in table 2.3.
We have completed the sound generation system. However, before going to the
acoustic propagation system it is convenient to consider the model limitations.
Masons model has the following limitations:
The model is one dimensional, therefore only a one dimensional pressure
field can be investigated.
In the model it is assumed that the thickness of the backing is semi-infinite
without losses [5], which means that any acoustic wave transmitted to the
back does not back reflect from other interfaces. Practically, these reflections
can interfere with the received echo from the front. However, we can remove
this interference by using a highly attenuating material as backing plate so
that the signal attenuates enough and does not reflect back.

15

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Ft Fn Z radvn

vn
Fn

Figure 2.10: Model of the complete sound generation system

The model is valid for thickness mode which means the lateral dimension of
the crystal should be much larger than the thickness. In our case, crystal has
a diameter of 1 mm with a thickness of 0.102 mm and therefore it satisfies the
condition of thickness mode.
The model is made for a thin, loss-less, disc shape piezo crystal. This is also
valid for our case as we are using a circular disc shape ceramic based PZT5A as piezo material. Most of the ceramic based piezo crystals are near to
loss-less in contrast to polymer based piezo material.
The model can simulate only the first echo from the reflective surface (tissue
or metal block). Inner penetration of the waves into material is not possible.
But this first echo is enough to improve the transducer and to validate the
response.

2.2

Acoustic/Elastic Propagation System

In previous sections, we described the complete sound generation system by the

simple frequency response function which relates the source (pulser) voltage and

16

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

the force exerted by the transducer in the fluid or propagating medium. For the
pulse echo setup shown in the figure 1.3, this generated force travels as acoustic
wave through a fluid medium, reflects back from the front reflecting surface and
then returns back to the receiving transducer. This process of traveling of acoustic
waves in the propagating medium is called the acoustic/elastic propagation system.

2.2.1

Frequency response function of the propagation system

The relationship between the force exerted by the transducer during transmission
Ft and the force acting on the face of the transducer during reception FB represent
frequency response function:
t A ( ) =

FB ( )
Ft ( )

(2.11)

Sound propagation in any medium involves complex mechanisms such as the attenuation of waves in the fluid and three dimensional wave diffraction and scattering effects. Many authors assume this propagation as a loss free ideal transmission and compare the response of the transducer with the model without including
these effects,see [6]. However, Sanchez et al. in [7] explicitly gives the frequency
response function which includes the effects of all these phenomena as:
t A ( ) =

FB ( )
Ft ( )

= 2R12 exp (2w ( ) D ) .

(
!"
i k p1 a2
1 exp
J0
2D

k p1 a2
2D

i J1

k p1 a2
2D

(2.12)
!# )

Here, J0 and J1 are Bessel function of order zero and one respectively. The wave
number k p1 for the propagating fluid and reflection co-efficient R12 for the plane
wave at normal incidence for the interface between fluid and block are given by:
k p1 =
R12 =

c1
2 c2 1 c1
2 c2 + 1 c1

(2.13)

A description of the parameters used in equation (2.12) and (2.13) and actual values
of these parameters for water as the propagating fluid and aluminum alloy as the
reflecting block is given in table 2.3.
The formula mentioned in table 2.3 for frequency dependent attenuation in water
is derived from [7]. This attenuation is measured in Nepers/m with frequency f
given in Hz.

17

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Table 2.3: Description of parameters for the frequency response function of the
propagation system
Parameter Description
Symbol
Value used
Propagating Medium (De-mineralized Water)
Density of medium
1
1000 kg/m3
Speed of sound in medium
c1
1482 m/s
Attenuation in the medium
w ( )
25.3 1015 f 2 Nepers/m
Reflecting block (Aluminum Alloy)
Density of block
2
2700 kg/m3
Speed of sound in block
c2
6226 m/s
Others
Transducer distance from block
D
0.003 m
Radius of disc
a
0.5 103 m
Cross-sectional area of piezo
S0
7.85 107 m2

2.2.2

Blocked force

The force FB in equation (2.12) is called the blocked force and it acts on the face of
the transducer during reception. It is defined as the force that would be exerted on
the receiving transducer if its face is held rigidly fixed (motionless).
In order to model the pressure field, we need some more insight in the blocked
force. Consider an immersion setup in which the acoustic waves incident on the
receiving transducer, as shown in figure 2.11. If we neglect any wave diffraction
effects at the edges of the receiving transducer, then, these waves will reflect back
and the total pressure p B at the transducer face is:
p B = pinc + pre f = 2pinc

(2.14)

RR
If S0 is the area of the face
RRof the transducer, then the blocked force FB = S p B dS0
is twice the force Finc = S pinc dS0 exerted by the wave incident on the same area:
FB = 2Finc

(2.15)

Finc and pinc are the incident force and pressure respectively acting on the area S0
as if no transducer is present. Equations (2.14) and (2.15) are very useful because
once the frequency response function of the propagation system is obtained, we
can model the one dimensional pressure field of the transmitting transducer.

18

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Figure 2.11: Blocked force due to the incident and reflected wave

2.3

Sound Reception System

Now, after completion of the sound generation and propagation system, we model
the reception system in which we define a relationship between the blocked force
FB and the voltage received VR from the receiver. In the reception system, we have
to incorporate all the basic elements of the reception system which includes the
receiving transducer and receiver.

2.3.1

Receiving transducer

The receiving transducer can be modeled as a two port system which converts the
acoustic waves at the mechanical port to the electrical energy at the electrical port.
When the transmitting transducer is used as the receiving transducer, its frequency
response function matrix becomes (also see equation (2.9)):

 


Vr
A R BR
Fn
(2.16)
=
Ir
CR D R
vn
Here, Vr and Ir are the voltage and current at the electrical port respectively, and
Fn and vn are the total force acting on the face of the transducer and the velocity of
the transducer surface respectively. This change in signs as compared to equation
(2.9) for the transmitting transducer is due to the fact that the direction of current
and velocity is opposite as compared to those in generation system. Rearranging
the above equation, we will get:

 


Vr
A T BT
Fn
=
(2.17)
Ir
C T DT
vn
Furthermore, as the reception system is the reciprocal of the transmitting system
[1], it is convenient to express the mechanical and electrical quantities in the form.

 


Fn
D T BT
Vr
=
(2.18)
vn
CT A T
Ir

19

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System


Here,

A T BT
C T DT

 1

DT
CT

BT
AT


because of reciprocity.

Since, the elements of the receiving transducer in equation (2.9) are identical to
those of the receiving transducer, we do not have to model the receiving transducer
again. If we define A R = DT , BR = BT , CR = CT and DR = A T then:


Fn
vn

AR
CR

BR
DR



Vr
Ir


(2.19)

To find the force Fn acting on the transducer face, we can divide the scenario in two
cases.
Case 1: For case one, the face of the transducer is kept rigidly fixed as shown in
figure 2.12. The pressure from the incident waves, pinc , and pressure from the
reflected wave, pre f , will combine to have the blocked pressure p B at the transducer
face. The integral sum of this blocked pressure over the entire face is the force FB .
Case 2: For case two, incident waves are absent and the pressure at the transducer
face is created by the motion of the transducer face as shown in figure 2.13. This is
same as if the transducer is radiating force during transmission. If the transducer
face is moving with velocity vn then the force due to this motion, Fs , will be:
Fs = Zrad vn

(2.20)

Here, the force is negative because we used the convention that the velocity is flowing into the transducer and the transducer face is moving normal outwards.

Figure 2.12: Blocked force due to

the incident and reflected wave

Figure 2.13: Force due to the motion of transducer surface

In the sound reception system, the acoustic waves incident on the transducer face
are reflect back. These incident and reflected waves create a force on the transducer
face and excite the piezo crystal. Due to this excitation, the face of the transducer is

20

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

set into motion which creates a force in the propagating medium. So, the total force
acting on the face of the transducer is due to the combination of case one and two:
Fn = FB + Fs = FB Zrad vn

2.3.2

(2.21)

Receiver

In an ultrasonic measurement system, the receiver is used to get the signal from
the receiving ultrasonic transducer, amplifies or attenuates it depending on the requirement and applies filtering to the signal. A custom made system (transceiver)
that is used as a pulser also includes the receiver in it. Similar to the pulser, we are
not interested in the internal characteristics of the complex electrical driving circuit
of the receiver because it is not relevant for modeling purposes. As the receiver
provides an electrical termination at one end of the cable and amplifies the signal,
we model the receiver as an equivalent receiving impedance Zr ( ) and then we
model the amplifier as an amplification factor K ( ).
For characterization of the receiver, we used the same approach as used by Schmerr
et al. in [3]. As for the application of imaging of heart, we have to use the ultrasonic
transducer in pulse echo mode; so we characterize the transducer for that mode. We
measure both the voltage Vr (t) and current Ir (t) at the receiver input and only the
voltage VR (t) at the receiver output. An oscilloscope is used to measure the voltage
measurements, while a current probe in combination with an oscilloscope is used to
measure the current. The sampled data Vr (t), Ir (t) and VR (t) is transformed to the
frequency domain by taking its Fourier Transformation to get the corresponding
frequency domain values Vr ( ), Ir ( ) and VR ( ) respectively. The amplification
factor and receiver impedance are obtained by:
K ( ) =
Zr ( ) =

VR ( )
Vr ( )
Vr ( )
Ir ( )

(2.22)

Both the electrical impedance and the amplification factor of the receiver are dependent on the chosen settings by the user and both are frequency dependent. The
receiver part of the transceiver has two main parameters i.e. gain and attenuation.
Combination of these parameters can provide many possible combinations of the
amplification factor K ( ) and the electrical impedance Zr ( ). In pulse echo experiments as shown in figure 1.3, the transceiver uses the same port for sending or
receiving the signal, so the output signal from the receiver is also influenced by the
damping setting of the pulser. This means that amplification factor K ( ) and the
electrical impedance Zr ( ) also affect by the damping setting. The dependency of
receiver gain and impedance on the damping settings can be seen in figure 2.14.

21

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Receiver Gain

Receiver Impedance

1.5

600
Setting 1
Setting 2
Setting 3

500

Magnitude [Ohm]

Magnitude [Gain]

Setting 1
Setting 2
Setting 3

0.5

400

300

200

100
0

15

20

0
15

25

Frequency [MHz]

20

25

Frequency [MHz]

Figure 2.14: Receiver gain and impedance for the pulse-echo mode
Although, the damping setting influence the K ( ) and Zr ( ) non-linearly but we
use the specific setting and we characterize for that single setting only. Furthermore, addition of an attenuator (to decrease electrical reflections) affects the receiver characteristics. Figure 2.15 shows the effect of the attenuator on gain and
equivalent impedance. For the model, we found the values of receiver gain and
equivalent impedance with attenuator at 20 MHz from the figure 2.15. These values are given in table 2.4.
Receiver Gain

Receiver Impedance

1.5

600
Without 3dB attenuator
With 3dB attenuator

Without 3dB attenuator

With 3dB attenuator

Magnitude [Ohm]

Magnitude [Gain]

500

0.5

400

300

200

100
0

15

20

0
15

25

Frequency [MHz]

20

25

Frequency [MHz]

Figure 2.15: Receiver gain and impedance with and without attenuator

Table 2.4: Gain and impedance of the receiver with 3dB attenuator at 20 MHz
Parameter
Symbol
Value used
Gain
K ( )
0.65
Equivalent Impedance
Zr ( )
120

22

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

2.3.3

Frequency response function of the sound reception system

In this section, we combine the model of the receiver with the model of receiving
transducer which is the same as a transmitting transducer. If we compare figure
2.10 with figure 2.16, it can be clearly seen that the front part of transmitting model
is replaced by the blocked force and the equivalent impedance. This configuration
of the front part represents the total force acting on the transducer, as given by the
relation shown in equation (2.21). Moreover, pulser is replaced by receiver with
an impedance termination and gain. With equations (2.19), (2.21), (2.22) and figure
2.16, C.Dang et al. in [2] explicitly mention the frequency response function, which
relates voltage at the output port of the receiver VR and the blocked force acting on
the transducer FB , as:

t R ( ) =

VR
Zr K
=
FB
( Zrad D R + BR ) + ( Zrad C R + A R ) Zr

vn

Fn

Ir

Vr

Figure 2.16: Model of the complete reception system

23

(2.23)

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

2.4

Complete Ultrasonic Measurement System

With all the three frequency response functions given in equations (2.10), (2.12) and
(2.23), we can simulate the output response from the receiver VR of the ultrasonic
measurement system for the input source voltage Vs by:
VR
V F Ft
= t R .t A .tG = R . B .
Vs
FB Ft Vs
VR ( ) = (t R .t A .tG ) Vs ( )

(2.24)

We can also simulate the 1-D pressure field at any distance from the transducer in
the propagating medium as shown:
FB
Vs

= t A .tG =

p ( ) =

FB Ft
.
Ft Vs

FB ( )
Vs ( )
= (t R .t A .tG )
S0
S0

(2.25)

Where, S0 is the cross-sectional area of the piezo crystal. Both equation (2.24) and
(2.25) can be converted by inverse Fourier transformation to get the time domain
response.

2.4.1

Model validation

After completion of the modeling, it is implemented in MATLAB. Using all the

physical variables that are described earlier, we can simulate the model. The model
is simulated for an existing design of the transducer with backing material as
Zeonex E48R and front layer of parylene-C with thickness of 3 m. Furthermore, an
aluminum alloy block is used as the reflector(target) in the acoustic medium. The
frequency dependent pulser voltage and impedance used in the model are shown
in figure 2.4 and 2.5 (with 3dB attenuator case) respectively. The parameters for the
receiver used in the model are shown in table 2.4.
The echo response obtained by the actual measurement and model is shown in
figures 2.17 and 2.18 for a target distance of 1.5 mm and 2.2 mm respectively. It
can be clearly seen that the measured results are in good agreement with the model
results.
The radiating pressure field of transducer is measured in a water bath at room temperature in front of the transducer as shown in figure 2.19. A detailed scheme of
the experiment is shown in figure A.1 without specimen case. This is done with
a needle hydrophone with a 0.2 mm diameter of sensor (Polyvinylidene fluoride
film). The pressure field obtained experimentally is in terms of voltage which is

24

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Model validation by PulseEcho at 1.5 mm

Model validation by PulseEcho at 2.2 mm

2
Measured Echo Signal
Model Echo Signal

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

1.5

1.5

2
1.8

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

Measured Echo Signal

Model Echo Signal

1.5

Voltage [V]

Voltage [V]

1.5

2
2.8

3.2

Time [ sec]

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4.0

4.2

Time [ sec]

Figure 2.17: Echo response for the target

at a distance of 1.5 mm

Figure 2.18: Echo response for the target

at a distance of 2.2 mm

converted into pressure by division of frequency dependent sensitivity S( f ) of hydrophone.

voltage measured (t)
p (t) =
(2.26)
Sensitivity o f hydrophone at 20MHz
Note that the sensitivity of the hydrophone is taken at 20 MHz i.e. S(20 MHz) =
72.3 109 V/Pa . This is done because the measured waveform of voltage signal
is dominated by the resonant frequency (20 MHz) of the ultrasonic transducer. Although this will not give the exact conversion from voltage signal to pressure, this
is enough to measure the performance of transducer. The pressure field obtained
by the actual measurement and model is shown in figures 2.20 and 2.21 for the hydrophone at a distance of 3 mm and 4.5 mm respectively. It can be clearly seen that
the measured results are in good agreement with the model results.

Transducer

Hydrophone

Figure 2.19: Experimental setup in water bath

25

Modeling and Validation of the Ultrasonic System

Model validation by Hydrophone at 3mm

Model validation by Hydrophone at 4.5mm

4
Measured Pressure Signal
Model Pressure Signal

Measured Pressure Signal

Model Pressure Signal

Pressure [MPa]

Pressure [MPa]

4
1.8

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

4
2.8

3.2

Time [ sec]

3.2

3.4

3.6

3.8

4.0

4.2

Time [ sec]
Time [ sec]

Figure 2.20: Pressure field at a distance

of 3 mm

Figure 2.21: Pressure field at a distance

of 4.5 mm

As the model predicts well for both the received echo and radiating pressure field,
it is established that we can use this model to improve the transducer.

26

Chapter 3

Transducer Improvement
The design of a piezoelectric ultrasound transducer demands careful selection and
design of front and backing layer for the required performance. So in order to
improve the transducer bandwidth and signal to noise ratio, we focus on front and
backing layers.

3.1
3.1.1

Front Layer Improvement

Selection of the front layer

The front layer is not only used to protect the piezo crystal from the environment
but also used to improve the energy transmission. For designing the ultrasonic
transducer for in-vivo (within the living) applications such as our heart imaging
application, material of the front layer should be bio-compatible as well.
To improve the energy transfer, the simplest way is to select the front layer with
acoustic impedance Z1 such that it provides matching between impedance of the
piezo-ceramic Z0 and load impedance Zrad . This can be done by taking the geometric mean of two impedances as shown below [8].
p
Z1 = Z0 Zrad
(3.1)
But for wide-band transducer, the above matching formula is modified to the following as mentioned in [9]:
q
Z1 =

2
Z0 Zrad

(3.2)

For our case, acoustic impedance of piezo crystal is Z0 31 MRayls, whereas,

acoustic impedance of fluid or load is Zrad 1.5 MRayls. So, material with the
acoustic impedance of Z1 4 MRayls is required.

27

Transducer Improvement
In the existing transducer, parylene-C is used as the front layer which is biocompatible material and has an acoustic impedance of Z1 2.8 MRayls. This value
is very near to the required impedance for the wide band transducer. Therefore, the
existing selection of parylene-C is a good selection as the matching layer.

3.1.2

Effect of the thickness of the front layer

Theoretically, the maximum power transfer takes place when the thickness of the
front layer is set equal to quarter wavelength /4 of the acoustic plane waves in
it. This will increase the efficiency of the transducer which results not only in an
increase in amplitude of the acoustic wave transferred to the medium but due to
the lower loses over the wide bandwidth it also increases the bandwidth of the
transducer.
For the existing transducer the thickness of parylene-C is 3 m. Since, the resonant
frequency of piezo crystal is f = 20 MHz, and the speed of sound in parylene-C is
c1 = 1289 m/s. The wavelength of the acoustic wave in the front layer will be:
=

c
= 107m
f

(3.3)

The maximum power transfer takes place at quarter wave length of 26.8 m. To
improve the power transmission we have to change the thickness to the quarter
wave length.
In order to validate the effect of the thickness changes experimentally, a transducer
is made with piezo crystal PZT-5A with 20 MHz resonating frequency. Existing
Zeonex E48R is used as the backing material. Thickness of the front layer (ParyleneC) is deposited in steps to measure effect of thickness. This is performed by the
vacuum deposition system PDS 2010 Labcoter 2.
Each time after deposition of a layer, the radiating pressure field of transducer is
measured in a water bath at room temperature at a specified distance of 3 mm in
front of the transducer as shown in figure 2.19. A detailed scheme of the experiment
is shown in figure A.1 without specimen case. The transducer with a matching
layer thickness of 3m, 12m, 17m, 26m and 35m is developed and tested.
Figure 3.1 shows the voltage signal measure from hydrophone for 26m paryleneC. The maximum of that signal is taken and plotted in the figure 3.2 after converting
into pressure (using the sensitivity of hydrophone S = 72.3 109 V/Pa) as shown
by the blue line with an accuracy of 17% given by the manufacturer. The same
test is performed for all the transducers and then compared with the pressure field
predicted by the model. It can be clearly seen that the behavior for both the model
and experiment is identical. The result clearly shows that the maximum pressure
will be obtained if the thickness of the front layer is set equal to 26.8 m.

28

Transducer Improvement
Model validation by Hydrophone

Voltage measured by Hydrophone

6
Model Pressure Signal
Measured Pressure Signal

0.25
0.2

maximum amplitude = 0.1725 mV

Pressure [MPa]

0.15

Voltage [V]

0.1
0.05
0
0.05
0.1

0.15
0.2

0.25
2.0

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

Time [ s]

Figure 3.1: Pressure signal in terms of

voltage for 26m parylene-C

3.2
3.2.1

10

15

20

25

30

35

Thickness of Front layer (ParyleneC) [ m]

40

Figure 3.2: Maximum amplitude in the

pressure signal for all thicknesses

Backing Layer Improvement

Selection of backing layer

To select the appropriate backing layer, there are several design considerations
which are necessary to take into account. Brown in [10] discussed in detail these
considerations. Based on that discussion, the following design considerations are
necessary to take into account.
1. The impedance of the backing material has to be according to the required
bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer. For the imaging of a heart tissue, we
need higher bandwidth transducers. This gives a fast ringing down of the signal and, a higher resolution for imaging. However, increasing the bandwidth
with an increase of the backing impedance, also decreases the efficiency [11]
and thus the SNR. This means there is a tradeoff between these parameters.
2. The attenuation coefficient of the backing material should be as high as possible so that acoustic waves transmitted to the back cannot reflect back and we
receive an echo without interference.
There are other design considerations which do not influence the performance of
the ultrasonic transducer but these considerations are necessary for manufacturing
the transducer.
1. The backing material should be easy to machine and should be shaped into
different thickness and size.

29

Transducer Improvement

Table 3.1: Properties of the several candidate backing materials

Density Speed of Specific Acoustic Attenuation
Sound
Impedance
Constant
Material

c
z = c

[kg/m3 ]
[m/s]
[ MRayls]
[dB/mm]
Zeonex E48R
1010
2593
2.62
7.57
Zeonor 1020R
1010
2390
2.41
7.07
Zeonex 790R
1010
2489
2.51
6.42
Zeonex 690R
1010
2438
2.46
7.09
Zeonex RS420
950
2195
2.08
11.53
Epotek 353ND
1240
2578
3.19
4.81
TPX
822
2162
1.78
3.04
Epotek 353ND with
871
2402
2.10
23.50
Glass bubbles
2. The backing material should have good adhesion properties so that it can
adhere with the piezo ceramic.
3. The backing material should have high surface quality to ease the transfer of
energy to the back and reduce noise.
For improving the design, properties of several materials, other than the existing
Zeonex E48R, which are readily available, are investigated using the same experimental procedure as described for Zeonex E48R in Appendix A. The found properties are given in the table 3.1. In order to increase the attenuation constant, a mixture of epoxy (Epotek353ND) and glass balls (3M Glass bubbles S22) is tested. This
is made by mixing glass balls 9% by weight with epoxy (i.e. 9 gm glass balls with
91 gm epoxy) and the mixture is cured afterwards. It is noticed that the attenuation
increased significantly due to the scattering of waves inside the backing material
but the acoustic impedance of the mixture becomes less than the epoxy. However,
the noise level of transducers also increases due to high scattering of such backing
materials.

3.2.2

Effect of the thickness of backing layer

Masons model does not have any parameter for the thickness of the backing because the backing port with known impedance is fixed. In fact, the model assumes
that the thickness of the backing is semi-infinite. This is a valid assumption because
the model is not made to accommodate for the responses due to the reflections from
the back surface. It predicts only the response due to the power transmission from

30

Transducer Improvement
the piezo to the front side and reception of the echo from the front side. This prediction is enough to improve the transducer before experimental realization of the
particular design.
To validate the effect of backing thickness experimentally, three transducers are
made with PZT-5A of 20 MHz resonating frequency and with 26 m parylene-C as
the front layer. The thickness of Zeonex E48R as the backing material was set to 0.5
mm, 1 mm and 2 mm.
The radiating pressure field of the transducer is measured in a water bath at room
temperature at the specified distance of 3 mm in front of the transducer. The experimental configuration is identical as used in figure 2.19. In figure 3.3, the voltage
signal is shown that is received from the three different transducers. These voltage
signals are converted into the pressure using the formula given in equation (2.26)
with a sensitivity of hydrophone S = 72.3 109 V/Pa. The comparison of these
experimental results for different backing plate thicknesses with model for semi infinite thickness is shown in figure 3.4. The result clearly shows that thickness of the
backing has no influence on the pressure field which means that the amplitude and
bandwidth of the transducer is independent of the backing plate thickness. Also, it
can be seen that there is a good match between the model and actual measurement.
Pressure signal for 26 m ParyleneC

Pressure signal for 26 m ParyleneC

0.5
Transducer 0.5 mm backing
Transducer 1 mm backing
Transducer 2 mm backing

0.3

Voltage [V]

0.2
0.1
0
0.1
0.2

0.4

6
2

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

1.9

2.5

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

Time [ sec]

Time [ sec]

Figure 3.4: Measured pressure signal

for different thicknesses of the backing plate and its comparison with the
model

Figure 3.3: Measured pressure signal

in terms of voltage for different thicknesses of the backing plate

3.3

0.3

0.5
1.9

Transducer 0.5 mm backing

Transducer 1 mm backing
Transducer 2 mm backing
Model

Acoustic Pressure [MPa]

0.4

Decision Making

To improve the SNR and bandwidth, it is decided to change the thickness of the
front layer from 3m to 26.8m without changing the material (parylene-C) because its impedance is near to the optimal impedance for power transmission and

31

Transducer Improvement
it is also bio-compatible. This increases both the SNR and bandwidth. A change of
backing material is not adopted for current improvement. We investigated several
other materials available but their properties are close to the Zeonex E48R as shown
in table 3.1. A mixture of epoxy and glass balls is also tested, which improved the
attenuation constant but has less value of impedance which will decrease the bandwidth. Therefore, by changing the thickness of front layer we can get an increase in
both the SNR and bandwidth.

3.4

Results and Experimental Validation

An improved transducer is developed in the Philips Research Laboratories and is

tested for the pulse echo case, with the block of aluminum alloy with known properties. The frequency dependent pulser voltage and impedance used in the model
are shown in figure 2.4 and 2.5 (with 3dB attenuator case) respectively. The parameters for the receiver used in the model are shown in table 2.4. The echo response
obtained by the measurement and model for both the old and new transducer is
shown in figure 3.5 and figure 3.6 respectively.
It is found that, for improved transducer, the percentage increase in maximum of
signal magnitude is 160% which is improved from 250mV to 650mV. Where as, the
percentage increase for 3dB bandwidth is 79% which is improved from 2.4 MHz to
4.3 MHz. The results for the actual echo signal bandwidth is shown in figure 3.7
for old and new transducers.
Model validation by PulseEcho

Model validation by PulseEcho

2
Measured Echo Signal
Model Echo Signal

0.5

0.5

0.5

0.5

1.5

1.5

2
1.8

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

Measured Echo Signal

Model Echo Signal

1.5

Voltage [V]

Voltage [V]

1.5

2
1.8

3.2

Time [ sec]

Figure 3.5:
parylene-C

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

3.2

Time [ sec]

Echo signal for 3m

Figure 3.6:
parylene-C

32

Echo signal for 26m

Transducer Improvement

Old transducer
Improved transducer

0.12

Magnitude [V/MHz]

0.1

0.08

0.06

New Transducer: 3 dB BW = 4.3 MHz

0.04
Old Transducer: 3 dB BW = 2.4 MHz
0.02

10

20

30

40

Frequency [MHz]

Figure 3.7: Comparison of bandwidth for the old and new (improved) transducer

33

34

Chapter 4

Conclusion and Recommendations

The complete model of an ultrasonic measurement system includes a model of
transducer, a pulser, a receiver and a propagating medium that completely describes the ultrasonic diagnostic setup.

4.1

Conclusion

The main objective of this project is to improve the SNR and bandwidth of an ultrasonic transducer. To accomplish this task, there is a need of a model that can
predict the behavior of the ultrasonic transducer before realization.
In this report, an approach to make an equivalent circuit model for the transducer
is adopted. The model of each individual component in an ultrasonic measurement system is implemented to predict the response of the ultrasonic transducer.
Although, the focus is to improve the ultrasonic transducer, however, other components are also simulated and the model is validated both for the echo response
and radiating pressure field experimentally.
It is shown that the implemented model has a good agreement with measurement
results. Based on this, the effects of the mechanical construction of the transducer
are studied. Finally, some improvements in the mechanical construction are suggested and adopted. For the specified input conditions, the signal magnitude is
increased by 160%, whereas, the increase in bandwidth is recorded as 79%. We met
all the required goals of the project as defined in Chapter 1.
The modeling procedure described in this report provides a tool for analyzing the
complete ultrasonic measurement system. The present modeling has dealt with an
immersion system, however, this is also applicable to the contact ultrasonic systems
that are widely used for different applications.

35

Conclusion and Recommendations

4.2

Recommendations

The implemented model is one dimensional in nature and its purpose is to

predict the response of transducer in order to improve SNR and Bandwidth
of the transducer. However, there are other aspects which influence the performance of the transducer such as the three dimensional pressure field and
beam forming etc. These three dimensional effects cannot be studied by the
one dimensional equivalent circuit models and, there is a need for Finite element analysis (FEA). Commercial softwares like ANSYS and COMSOL and
PZFLEX can be very useful in this regard.
Detailed material research is needed to find a suitable backing plate with
the required impedance and high attenuation constant. This material can
be made by combination of epoxies and fine metal or rubber or glass particles. The change in mechanical properties can be studied with respect to
the change in concentration of these particles. Thus, optimum custom made
material can be made to employ in the transducer as backing plate. By adopting this, bandwidth can be set to the required value and adverse effects of
interference through back reflections can be avoided.
The transducer is improved using the aluminum block as the reflecting surface in the propagating medium. Real ex-vivo tissue experiments need to be
done with different types of tissues such as heart tissue, fat etc., before performing the clinical trials for in-vivo experiments.
Furthermore, all of the above improvements suggested and adopted are entirely related to the mechanical improvements. During the modeling process,
the effect of the transceiver(pulser/receiver) settings on impedance is shown
and it is noticed that the impedances in the transmitting and receiving part
are not matched to 50 with the cable. This causes unwanted electrical reflections within the cable. To avoid this, an improved transceiver for the ultrasonic system is required.
The modeling process involved in this report is not only useful for the ultrasonic
transducer used in cardiac imaging, but, it is applicable to any ultrasonic measurement system for inspection. Such a system can be a non-destructive evaluation
system for an aerospace structure or underwater pipe line inspection or any medical diagnostic system.
New horizons need to be found for the application of ultrasonic transducers either
by using a single ultrasonic transducer or in array. In future, the need of ultrasonic
transducers in medical diagnostics can be more demanding due to the reduction in
size of ultrasonic transducers to micro scale level.

36

Appendix A

Parameter Estimation
In order to simulate the obtained model, we need to determine and estimate all
the parameters in the model. Most of these parameters are calculated based on the
material properties. However, the speed of sound in the backing plate needs to be
estimate as it is not available in the manufacturers material data sheet. Furthermore, the electromechanical coupling coefficient and the clamped capacitance of
the piezo crystal are highly influenced by the mechanical construction and transducer manufacturing process. So, we estimate these two properties for the specific
designs of transducer.

A.1

Speed of Sound in the Backing Plate

The measurements that we performed for finding the longitudinal speed of sound
is also used to find the attenuation constant for the backing material. The attenuation constant is not needed for the simulation, however, in Chapter 3 we showed
that this parameter can be used to improve the other aspects of the transducer.

A.1.1

Experimental setup

The longitudinal speed of sound and attenuation constant are found experimentally in a pitch-catch setup. In this setup, the acoustic waves are generated in a
water bath using an ultrasonic transducer. The acoustic pressure is measured by
a Precision acoustic hydrophone needle at some specified distance. This commercial hydrophone is an ultrasonic transducer with a sensor diameter of 0.2 mm. Demineralized water is used at the room temperature as the propagating medium. We
keep the distance between the hydrophone and the ultrasonic transducer as small
as possible to avoid the scattering effects. A three axis motion controller is used to

37

place the hydrophone in front of the transducer. The received pressure waveform
from the amplifier/coupler (attached to the hydrophone) is sampled by a digital
oscilloscope. At first, we measure the pressure without a specimen, and then we
put a specimen between the hydrophone and the ultrasonic transducer as shown
in the Figure A.1. This experimental setup is used by many authors; see [12], [13]
and [14].

Figure A.1: Measurement of pressure through hydrophone with and without

specimen
When a specimen is placed between the transducer and hydrophone, the acoustic
waves are attenuated due to the specimen and we received the waves earlier or
later depending on the speed of sound, as shown in figure A.2 for a specimen of
Zeonex E48R (Cyclo Olefin Optical Grade Polymer).
Zeonex E48R
Without specimen
With specimen

20

Voltage [mV]

10

10

20

19.5

20.0

20.5

Time [ sec]

Figure A.2: Pressure signals in terms of voltage from the hydrophone (with and
without specimen

38

A.1.2

Calculation for the speed of sound and attenuation constant

In order to calculate the longitudinal speed of sound in the material and the attenuation constant, several authors discuss about the time domain techniques, see
[12].
For the materials with high attenuation constant, the wave shape for the pressure
wave changes dramatically as it transmitted through the material. In order to locate
the equivalent points for finding the amplitude ratio is detrimental [13]. Other
authors use the frequency domain technique developed by Sachse and Pao (1978),
see [14]. In this report, we adapt the frequency domain technique. Wang et al. in
[14] explicitly mention the formulae to calculate the speed of sound and attenuation
constant as given below:
cw
( s w + 2 f 4t)cw
1+
2 f d


TAw
1
s = w + 20log10
d
As

cs =

(A.1)

(A.2)

In equations (A.1) and (A.2), 4t is the trigger delay of the signal as shown in figure
A.2, cw is the speed of sound in water, f is the frequency, d is the thickness of
the specimen, Aw , As , w and s are the amplitude and phase spectra, obtained
by taking the Fourier transformation of the pressure signal, without and with a
specimen respectively as shown in figure A.3. T is the product of the transmission
coefficients for the interface of water to specimen and specimen to water:
T = Tws Tsw =

4zw zs

( z w + z s )2

(A.3)

Here, zw = w cw and zs = s cs are the specific acoustic impedance of the water

and specimen respectively. Figure 2.19 shows a picture of the transducer and hydrophone in water bath during the measurement. The results are given in table
A.1.
Table A.1: Properties of Zeonex E48R (found experimentally)
Density Speed of Specific Acoustic Attenuation
Sound
Impedance
Constant
Material

c
z = c

[kg/m3 ]
[m/s]
[ MRayls]
[dB/mm]
Zeonex E48R
1010
2593
2.62
7.57

39

Zeonex E48R

Zeonex E48R

1.2
Without specimen
With specimen

Without specimen
With specimen

Aw

20
s

0.8

Phase [rad]

Amplitude [mV/MHz]

1.0

0.6

40

60

0.4
80
0.2

As

10

20

30

100
40

50

60

70

80

90

Frequency [MHz]

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Frequency [MHz]

Figure A.3: Magnitude and phase of the pressure signals (with and without specimen)

A.2

Properties of the Piezo Crystal

Two of the main properties of the piezo crystal, i.e. capacitance and electromechanical coefficient, are highly influenced by the mechanical construction. There is a
need to estimate these values experimentally. We find these values by fitting the
measured input impedance of the transducer to the model input impedance.

A.2.1

Estimation of the capacitance

The purpose of a piezo crystal is to convert one form of energy into other. From the
manufacturer, we get a piezo crystal sandwiched between two electrodes. So, it acts
as a capacitor with some capacitance. The cross-sectional area of these electrodes

2
is equal to that of a crystal i.e. S0 = 0.5 103 . However, we used additional electrodes larger in size with these electrodes for the manufacturing ease.
This changes the effective capacitance to some other value. This value of effective
capacitance is also dependent on the insulation used between the additional electrodes.
To investigate the effect of mechanical construction experimentally, two transducers with different type of construction are tested as shown in figure A.4 and figure A.5. Type A construction is the replica of a transducer thats fits into catheter,
whereas, Type B is developed for investigation purposes.
An Agilent HP 8753ES Network Analyzer is used to find the reflection co-efficient
S11 of these transducers. Before measuring the reflection coefficient, it is necessary
to calibrate the network analyzer for the open, short and known load (50 in our
case) termination conditions. The measured reflection coefficient S11 is converted

40

Figure A.4: Type A construction

Figure A.5: Type B construction

to the input impedance Zin of the transducer by the relation:



1 + S11
Zin,measured = 50
1 S11

(A.4)

The effective capacitance is estimated by fitting the frequency dependent model

impedance, given in equation (A.5), with the measured impedance except near resonances.
V
Z A + BT
Zin,model =
= rad T
(A.5)
I
Zrad CT + DT
In equation (A.5), all the parameters are same as defined for the frequency response function of the sound generation system (see equation (2.10)). This input
impedance of model can be derived easily by solving equation (2.9) and also mention in [3]. We found the values for the capacitance as 0.77 1010 F for the type A
and 1.23 1010 F for the type B construction respectively.

A.2.2

Estimation of the electromechanical coupling coefficient

The ability of a piezo crystal to convert one form of energy into another is measured by its electromechanical coupling coefficient k T . This parameter is one of the
measures of the performance of a transducer. The electromechanical coupling coefficient of PZT-5A piezo ceramic with a resonant frequency of 20 MHz is not given
in the manufacturers data sheet. Tuning the capacitance fits the model impedance
curve with the measured impedance over the range of frequencies except near the
resonant frequency. To fit the curve near the resonant frequency, k T is tuned manually and its value is found equal to 0.2 for both type of the construction.
The magnitude and phase of the measured impedance and model impedance, after
tuning the capacitance and electromechanical coupling coefficient, can be seen in
figure A.6 and figure A.7 for the type A and type B construction respectively. The
lower order harmonics that can be seen in measurement except at 20 MHz are the
resonances of the modes other than the thickness mode and these are not included
in the Masons model.

41

Input impedance of transducer

Input impedance of transducer

1200

0
Measurement
Model

0.4
0.6

800

Phase [rad]

Magnitude [Ohm]

Measurement
Model

0.2

1000

600

400

0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6

200

1.8
0

10

15

20

25

30

10

Frequency [MHz]

15

20

25

30

Frequency [MHz]

Figure A.6: Magnitude and phase of the input impedance of transducer for
the type A construction

Input impedance of transducer

Input impedance of transducer

1200

0
Measurement
Model

0.4
0.6

800

Phase [rad]

Magnitude [Ohm]

Measurement
Model

0.2

1000

600

400

0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6

200

1.8
0

10

15

20

25

30

Frequency [MHz]

10

15

20

25

Frequency [MHz]

Figure A.7: Magnitude and phase of the input impedance of transducer for
the type B construction

42

30

Appendix B

Hardware Description
Following are the devices which are used apart from the ultrasonic measurement
setup during the experiments.

B.1

Motion Controller

Newport Universal motion controller (Driver ESP300) is a 3-axis motion controller

(shown in figure B.1) and it is used to position the hydrophone in front of the transducer to measure the radiating pressure. Manually, it is difficult to place the hydrophone in front of the transducer. This motion controller has a resolution of
0.005 mm in any direction of movement.

Figure B.1: Motion controller

43

B.2

Network Analyzer

An Agilent HP 8753ES Network Analyzer (as shown in figure B.2) is used to measure the reflection coefficient of the transducer. This reflection coefficient is converted into input impedance of the transducer. Before doing the measurements on
this analyzer, it is necessary to calibrate for the open, short and known load termination conditions.

Figure B.2: Network analyzer

B.3

Digital Oscilloscope

For measuring the voltage signals, an Agilent Technologies DSO 6034A digital oscilloscope is used (as shown in the figure B.3). This oscilloscope has a capability to
sample the data at the rate of 2Giga samples per second for four different channels
simultaneously .

B.4

Current Probe and Amplifier

For measuring the current during the characterization of the receiver, a Tektronics
TM502A AM 503B current probe amplifier (as shown in figure B.4) is used. This
current probe has a capability to measure a very small current even in the order of
magnitude of mA.

44

Figure B.3: Digital oscilloscope

Figure B.4: Current probe

45

46

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48