High Frequency Ultrasound Transducer Based on Sm-Doped Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.28PbTiO3 Ceramic for Intravascular Ultrasound Imaging

Sm-doped Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃-0.28PbTiO₃ (PMN-0.28PT) ceramic has been reported to exhibit very large piezoelectric response (d₃₃~1300 pC/N) that can be comparable with PMN-0.30PT single crystal. Based on the Sm-doped PMN-0.28PT ceramics, a high frequency ultrasound transducer with the center frequency above 30 MHz has been designed and fabricated for intravascular ultrasound imaging, and the performance of the transducer was investigated via ultrasound pulse-echo tests. Further, for a porcine vessel wall, the 2D and 3D ultrasound images were constructed using signal acquisition and processing from the fabricated high-frequency transducer. The obtained details of the vessel wall by the IVUS transducer indicate that Sm-doped PMN-0.28PT ceramic is a promising candidate for high frequency transducers.