Compact ultrasound, priced at only 100 USD

While most ultrasound machines are currently quite bulky and expensive, a team at the University of British Columbia (UBC, Canada) has successfully built devices with similar features , about the size of a piece. gauze tape and cost less than 100 USD.

Thanks to such incredible compactness, this machine is promised to bring ultrasound technology to distant places. On August 27, the team's results were published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering.

Extremely compact ultrasound equipment made by researchers at UBC.(Photo: Futurism).

The most important component for any ultrasound machine is the sensor or transducer - capable of emitting sound waves, which will be reflected when exposed to muscle tissue. body and echo formation. Next, the sensor (or transducer) will filter out bouncing signals to send to the computer - where the data will be used to form a negative graph (sonogram).

Currently, most sensors are integrated piezoelectric crystals - small crystals capable of generating voltage when undergoing vibration. However, such crystals are difficult to manufacture and expensive - which contributes to the cost of the sensor. Therefore, some engineers have tried to switch to the capacitive ultrasonic sensor (CMUT) - which contains small vibrating membranes that vibrate when exposed to electric current. This type of membrane is usually made from hard silicon, but the UBC team has sought to replace it with a cheaper polymer. In tests, the sensor containing polyCMUT resulted in an ultrasound image with a quality that is not inferior to piezoelectric crystals.

Also according to UBC press release, the cost of producing polyCMUT is very cheap, less than 100 USD, besides the requirement for equipment is only minimal. In addition, the sensor only needs a small power supply (about 10 V) to operate, meaning that the smartphone can power it, which opens up the possibility of use in power-hungry places. Furthermore, thanks to the compact size, new design options based on this technology become possible, for example, doctors can flexibly wrap probes around the patient's body to create The most accurate picture.