Pulsed Ultrasonic Doppler Blood-Flow Sensing

Abstract-Doppler detection of pulsed ultrasound is being used to map fluidflows in models and transcutaneously in blood vessels in man. A device has been developed and is being evaluated using I-ps bursts of 5 MHz ultrasound that are projected into the stream under study. The Doppler shift of the backscattered signals is sensed in a phase detector. This Doppler signal corresponds to the mean velocity over a small region in space defined by the ultrasonic beam dimensions, transmitted pulse duration, and transducer bandwidth. By usinga comb-type gateandsequential sampling, the flow velocity profilecan be mapped at selected intervals over one period of pulsatile flow i n a model or in man. From this information, a three-dimensional surface is generated as a function of velocity, tube diameter, and time. Volume flow, stroke volume, and flow acceleration can be derived directly from the data.

these devices in their n-ork and h v c reported significant findings regardingthe circulation [4]-[G]. The scope of ultrasonic Doppler applications has increased and become more sophisticatcd. One of the principal limitations of the early continuous-wave Dopplers was theirirubility t o detectthedirection of the flow velocityvectorwithrespect t o thetransducer.Andog recording of reversing blood flow t:rl;en with these devices nln-ays indicated the reversals as positive deflections. These flowmeters essent,i:dly rectified the flow w:hveform (Fig. 1).I n 1966 JIcCleod demonstrated the first directionsensing CW Doppler device. He used a version of qutLdrature phase detection common to single sideband t,echniques t o sep:u-at8e the upper : L I lolver ~ Doppler sidt:b:tnds HE KEED for a quantitative transcutmeous method of volume-blood-flolv me:tsurementis bc- from the carrier [7]. His systempresented the tlet'ectetl ch:mwls. comingincreasinglyimport:mt. 1Inr1y methods of outputs of form:ml and reverse flow on sep:mtc~ These could be combirml into :I single output that indic:lt,etl blood-flow dr:tcction and measurement huve been t'ried, the dirwtionof the blood-flow velocity. fromplethysmography to nuclear magnetic resonance. Early n.orl;crs tllought the direction of blood flow in Thesetechniqueslack the specificityrequired t o sense the pcripherxl vessels vxs uninlport:mt, particul:wly since flow at a p:lrticulnr site.UltrasonicDopplertechniques lmve the c:Lp:Lbility to overcome many of the limitations man?; felt reversnlsonly existed :It the root of the :wending :wrta. Thishas since been shown to be an incorrect concept of these metllocls. I\rnon:ledge xbout the :mounts of oxygen being delivered and, as : L consequence, direction-wnsing flowmeters have fomd erer-increasing use. Sometypical n.nveforms are to various regions o f tlle body is L : factor t h t c:ln assist shon-n in E'ig. 2.' iit lcxst three ~n:~nnf:~cturers market, tlle clinicianinhis m:ln:qpntnt, o f diseaseant1 tr:Lum:t. circuits, tllrougllout Volume blood flow may be o11c of tlle best inclic:1tors o f sucll devices, bwetl on 11cCleod's :ivailsble oxygen. It is also :III indicator of the ability of the I,Tnitcd St:Lt,e.: a n d Europe. ,Ilmost inpar:lllel with the development of more effective the heart tofunction as : L pump to maintnin normal body instruments, c1inici:ms beg:rn to nslc moresopllisticated processes. Other f x t o r s of blood flow ma>-l ~ v c1inic:ll e signifie:u~ce. di:qqlostic questions. .Is tlleir untlcrst:tnding o f d3m:rmic Tlle ;wxler:Ltion of t'he blood flow in t.ho :wending aorta bloodflow incrc:wxl,they found it important to 1;now or otller g r w t vcssels nxry :rlso be \'er!* useful i n :messing vessel dinmlsions, i.e., the site of occhsims, vol~~~ne-flow the performance of the heart. The velocity profile in the rates, velocitS7 profiles, nntl volume profiles. The need L more pori-erful mensurenmlt method was slowly vessels affectrtd by :Lrterialocclusive disease nxay be an for : important vnri:tble to n1e:lsure nnd to understand. being defined. It should be kept in nlind t811ntup until now almost Continuous-wave ultrsonic Doppler motion detection devices \vas qunlitntive, whether the was first demonstrated by Sntamurlr [l]in 19.56. Franldin all use of these Doppler sign& m r e processed and recorded as de nu log et al. were t'he first to sl~ow the use of these techniques based his conclusions on forblood-flt,\~--velocity detection in animals in 1961 [a]. waveforms or the clinician signals. We nlmt conclude The first pr:tctic:d device intended for tr:ulscutnneous list,eningto the detected Doppler devices currently a v d a b l e bloocl-flow-vclocity detection on m : ~ n \vas shown by for t,he most pnrtthatthe Baker et al. [3] in 1961. Since that time, marly nunu- are not flowmeter;: but rather flow detectors and, further velocity detect>or.s. Even a simple facturers tl~roughoutt l ~ e n-orld Ilsve built ancl sold C W thatthey : m only requires thatthe ultrasonic devices for many npplic:itions from fetal-llenrt- measurement of mean flow velocity wall motion to blood-flow-velocity detection for pripheral anglebet\\-een the sound beam and tfhevelocityvector known m:~y to determine vascular disease di:lgnosis. 3I:lny rcsearcllcrs have utilized be known. Thereisonlyone this angle \\-it11 :t C T W device and that involvesfinding the angle a t which the Doppler shift is minimal, i.e., 9O0

BAKER: ULTRISOXIC DOPI'LEH BLOOD-FLOW SENSING

171

REACTIVE HYPEREMIA

Jlrrsr1sn T E ( ' I I S I ( ) I . E S

There :Ire m:my re:~so11: wlly the coIltiriuolls-n-:bve wllcrt: ultrasonic Doppler flow detectors currently :Lv:d:tble can Itot nnnl;c: mc~asurernents, or be cnlibrnt,ccl to give :L qunntit:~tivcvolumc, or even velocity flow output. A review of CM- Dopl)ler tecl~niques will clarify tllcse re:tsons. In its simplest form, I beam of 11igl1-frequencyu1tr:tsound, 3-10 JIHz, is projectd t11ro11gl1 the skirl t o w d In :L pl~ysiologic sJ-+ml a l l o f these terms :\re functions the vessel of intert:st'. A lightly londed 1e:d zircon:tte tit:mtte transducer is usu:dly ubmlfor this purpose. These of time ancl sp:~ce. 13loocl-flon- d o c i t y is dependent on the pointa t wllicll it i? me:wred in the blood vcssel lumen. elements may range in size from l or 2 mm to as large Thisspacefunction iscalled tlle velocity profile. It is as 2 cm or more. h scparnte clement isused to detect blood. time dependent :is it varies wit11pu1s:Ltile flow in blood the ultrnsound hnclrscntterecl from the moving vessels. Since velocity :~nd cross-sect,ion:ll :Lre:L are v:~riubles, The blood appears to scatter ultrnsound in n llnyleighthey have to bemeasured in terms of their true wlue and like f:tshion (the details itre not understood completely). multiplied together to give :m :Iccur:tte me:~sure of volume The b:tclwxttered sign:d is I h p p l e r shifted by an amount

172
6 dB INTENSITY CONTOURS

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SONICS .AND ULTRASONICS, JULY

1970

Fig. 3.

us-wave

determined by the velocity of the scat'terers moving throughthesound field.Since the velocity wries with thediameter t o form n velocity profile, the returned signal will produce a spectrumcorrespondingto t,hese velocities. An example of this spectrum is shon-n in Fig. 3. I n this plot (made by a special spectrum analyzer) the Dopplerdifference frequency is plotted versus time. The sl1:lding of the plot corresponds to the intensity of the b:tcl;scuttered signal. At any instant of time it is possible to derive from this plot a measure of the velocity distribution. This information could be used to describe the profile a t t h t instant if the relationships between the sound-beam ch:mcteristics and the vessel geometry were lino\\-n. Studies to determine these rc1:ttionships arc currently being undertaken by Albright.* This kind of informxtion is generally not available, nor is it easily arrived at, since each new flow-measurement site and each different trxnsducer wouldinvolve new relationshipsor a t bestnew coefficients in those relationships. The lack of a, solution to this problem arises from some inherent limitations of the met'llod. The most b:asic limitation to a CW technique is its sensitivity to :l11 motion in the pathof the sound beam. The sound field from some typical transducers is shownin Fig. 4. Underwater Schlieren techniques [S] are used to make these sound fields visible. I n Fig. 4, both the transmitting and receiving elements are energized to show thebeamintersection.One element functions as transmitter and the other as receiver.
Ph.1). dissertation. Ilepnrtmetlt of Electricd Universit,y o f N'ashitrgton, Seattle.
Etlgineering,

Since t,he trmsmitting and receiving beam shapes are reciproc:tl functions, we can determine the region of sensitivity by the beam overlaps. I n practice, the region of Doppler sensitivity nctu:tlly extends somewhat beyond the discrete region implied by Fig. 4. Generdly a Doppler shift in a CW system will be detected for m y movement of scntters n-itllin the approximxte region of over1:y). It is therefore impossible to determine the rmge to the moving scatterin a simple CW system. I n other words, CW Dopplers Ilnre no range resolution. The intercepting region of lligllly focused transmitting nnd receiving elements could locnlize a moving scat'terer. However, since the focal points are generally fixed in space, it is aJT--kw:rdto use in tr:tnscutaneous npplicntions. For these reasons it is not possible with CW techniques to determine the blood-vessel diameter in order to c:tlculate the crosssectional area. Furthermore, the I d ; of range sensitivity premnts :my mevsurement of velocityversusdinmeter. Another difficulty arising from thermging problem occurs when more thnn one blood vessel a t a time passes throughthe region of Dopplersensitivity. All the flow sign:& in t'he benm will be combined into one composite signxl that cannot be sep;lr:rted into its elemental components. An example of this problemis illustrated inFig. 5 .

Pulse Doppler Techniques 3Iany of tlle problems associated with continuous-wave systems c m be overcome if the ultrasonic source is pulsed and the Doppler shift of the returning echo is determined. If the return signal is range gated, the distance t o the movinginterface as well as its velocity withrespect to thebeamcanbemeasured. I n a generul systemthe

BAKER: ULTRASONIC DOPPLER BLOOD-FLOW SENSING

173

VENOUS VELOCITY

phase detector, the Doppler components can be derived easily. Such spstenl a said is to be coherent. Some form of amplitude limiting is usually used in the receivingamplifier to remove the amplitudevariations in the echoes. These vnriations include a n amplitude composite echo when combined with clutter echoes is noise component as well as Doppler. A pulsed ultrasonic Doppler flow detector of the coherent amplitudeand phasemodulnted bythe moving target orscatterer.TheDoppler or velocityinformationcan type hasbeenbuiltandisbeingevaluated [g], [lo]. A simplified block diagmm is shown in Fig. 6. The system be reduced in two diff erent J K L ~ S . Noncoherent Pulse Doppler: I n a biological s y ~ t e m , t h e consists of the following: echoes returning from moving interfaces are al\~-ays mixed a mast,er oscillator withnon-Dopplercluttersignalsfrom st:ltion:try intera ripplecounter to divide themaster oscillator faces. ,411 these signals mix at the receiving transducer frequencydown to the basicpulse-repetitionfreto produce an amplitude-modulated return. The frequency quency of the system of the modulation corresponds to the Doppler difference a linear trnrlsmission gate that connects the master 3) signal. Such a system is sometimes said to be extcrnnlly oscillator t o a linear poweramplifierforexciting coherent. the transmitting transducer A noncoherentsystem is morecomplex tjhan a cona linear power amplifier tinuous-wave Doppler, yet it is simpler than the coherent transducers device to be discussed Inter. The noncoherent scheme a high-frequency amplifierand limiters to bring the would use a gated or pulsed transmitting signal, usually received signal echoes up t o S level for phase dea burst of sine wvaves at a n appropriate ultrasonic fretection quency. The receiver would have to be a linear or logn7) a phase detector for comparing the inst'antaneous rithmic amplifier to preserve the amplitude components. phase difference between the received echoes and Range gliting is used to select m : echo for detection from the reference signal from the master oscillator a predetermined depth. The Doppler component,is detected a range delay and gates that can be set to sample from the range-gated s:mple b y a square-lawdiode detector. the phase detector output according to the depth To the author's knowledge no tissue motion or blood of the blood vessel flow det'ectors have been built on the pulsed noncoherent a set of filters that removes the PRF components principal. from the boxcar output The primary difficulty of this system would be erratic an audio amplifier to raise the Doppler difference fluctuations in the detected Doppler signal due to variations frequency spectrum up to suitable levels for conin the mixing ratio of the Doppler and clutter sign:lls. version t o a n analog voltage. Coherent Pulse Doppler: The returnechoes from moving Master Oscillaior: The selection of the master-oscillator interfaces are phase modulated as well as amplitude modulated. I f a range-gated sample of the return echo is frequency is dependent on several factors. Experience in comparedwith a replica of the transmitted signal in a the development of the continuous-waveDopplers has

174

IEEE TRANS.4CTIONS O X SONICS A N D ULTRASONICS, JULY

1970

SIMPLIFIED PHASE

COHERENT

PULSED DOPPLER

Receiver Recelverr elementa Llmlter

Phose

Low poss Filter Detector

Somple

8
Hold
Amplifier

Low Poss Filler PRF

Audible +

Doppler

output

fo; 7j-

tronsmlthng

4
1

c
Somple Pulse

Power Amphfier

*-

Pulse Amplifier

Moster
Oscillotor

4.5-5.5
MHZ

c I

l
-

Freq Divlslon

20,lO. 5 . 2 5 1.25 K H Z

shown tllat .j JIHz is a good compromise frequency for detecting blood flo~vin vessels 4-6 cm in depth. Cnits have becn built with carriers as low as 2.25 3IHz :md as high :is 10 >[Hz. The choice depends on a t r x k off between tr:msmission :tttenu:ltion losses over a given p:ltll length that v:wic,s a t approximately CY ,Z U ver.sus the b:tcl<scattrr sign:d intensity that incre:rses xcordingto T b:Lcltsc:Ltteretl M w4. Fig. 7 shows :I plot of optim:d carrier frcqucwcy versusvessel dtq)th.3 The sensitivity of t11e receiver will:tlsoinflueuce the choicc of transmitted frequency. Doppler echo signals can usu:dly be detected from the larger vessels, i.e., 3 mm or larger, at ranges greater than the opt,in~al frequencies that Fig. 7 would suggest. The stability of the master oscillator is not a critical f:Lctor, bcing of the order of 0.01 percent per l~our.The jitter or plxise stability is i m p o h r l t . S o specification has been established for phase jitter othert l l : m to minimize it. lhis type of noise can p:\ss throughthesystemto produce phase noise sigwls atthe receiver phase detector. The master oscil1:ttor also provides : L continuous reference signal to thereceiver p11:~se detector for coherent detectiou of the Doppler shifted echoes, and it also drives the P R F ripple counter. PIZF Ripple Counle?: I n pulse Doppler equipment of this type, it isessential that e:tch transmittedacoustic burst 11:~ve nn identical phase relationship to the master oscillator. This isaccomplislled by dividing the mnsteroscil1:ttor frequency downto the pulse-repetition frequency (1RFj Tvith integratedcircuitbinaries and a programmable divide-by-N counter. The selection of the PRF is dependenton expected Doppler shift, depth of vessel, and attenuation chnracteristicsof the tissue. I n an unnmbiguous system, when it is desirable to measurc depth : u d velocity simultaneously,
3

severe restraints are imposed. The PR17 in the current pulse Doppler designs,functioningin m : unnmbiguous mode, :Ire limited by tllelaws of sampling theory. The IRF must, be twice the expected Iloppler difference frequency. In : I G-JIHz system, thedetectedDoppler shift mny be as high :IS G kHz when the u1tr:xsonic beam is projecteddirectly clo\vn n vessel wit11 blood-flow velocities t o 100 cm/s. Ec1u:ttion (I) c:m he rr~:lrr:~ngetl to c:llcul:ttc A;f for :my beam :~ngle :rnd carrier frcquencyfo.
3 i7f ro$ B = _U.

(3)

I h . .J. -\I. Reid.

Wlen the 1 T F is increased t o raise the s:tmplc rate for a lligll i l f , range :ambiguities c:m occm. These hnppen w h e n ecllom from theprevioustransmittedburst lmve thereby not yet dec:lyed below the dctection tllrcsllold : ~ n d persist intothenest tr:lnsmission interval, m:~king it difficult t o identify wllicll ecllo is relntcd to which trmsmitted bur&. There is insufficient I.rnon.ledge :xbo11t transducer losses, t.issne lowes! and backsc;lttcred sign:tl levelst,opredict rigorously wlmt the maximum PI<1? c m be for :L 6 ylven depth of me:carenwnt. This mill no doubt bc the topic of further research in the future. The tissue loss f:tctors that Imve been investigated to date fall in the range o f 1-3 dU/cm/JlHz. Ko reliable data arear:ril:lble tlxrt c m be used to predict the :woustic return from ;I p:uticulnr volume of moving blood in m : ultntsonic field. Experiments are in progress to determine thescattering cross section for blood. The tr:msducer gain or loss is unique t o ench tr:ulsducer and depends on its p:trticul:tr construction. At the present time, the sensitivity of no tn-o units isalike. A testingprogram mould be required to establish these factors for each transducer. It has generallybeenpossible,in thesystem being described, to adjust the PRF period to be about 20 percent

BAKER: ULTRQSOSIC DOPPLER

mmm-wnv

SE~~SIS-G

155

CW Dopplerunitsandthe wide-band width of pulse echo units. The Q of transducers designed for continuousIO0 wave applications range from 10 to 15 upwards t o 30 or more. Pulse echo transducers are mass loaded with a 50 tungstenepoxybackingandhave Q as low as 1.5-2.5. Units have a backing of aluminum powder in epoxy, for 20 the pulseDopplerhas a Q typicallyintherangeof 5-10. Overall transducer efficiency has not been measured 10 but is estimated to be in the range of 10 percent. Using 2 this coupling coefficient, the average radiated acoustical 5 power from the system ranges from 20 to 100 mW. The radiating area of t,hcse transducer plements ranges from 2 approximately 0.5 t o 3 cm'. A typicaltransducerisshownin Fig. S. A diagram I showing the construction of this transducer is shown in Fig. 9. 0.1 0.2 0.5 1 . 0 2 5 1 0 The pulse Doppler system described uses septtr:Lt8e D e p t h . cm o f m u s c l e transducer elements for transmitt'ing and receiving. This Fig. i. The optirnitlcarrier freq1mlc:y for a nmsimtm detection depends 011 b a d e o f T betweell nhsorpt,itrn lossw and scattering choice was made t,o avoid the problem of decoupling the return. transmitter from the receiver. Ideally, the carrier frequency leakage to the receiver inputshould bedown at least 100 d B from the transmitter burst Jvithin a few- microlonger than the delaytime to the range gateinterval. seconds :%fterexcitation. Reducing transducercase echoes, Despit,e reasons t o the contrary, experirnce to date suggests a major problem. etc., to achieve t,hc.se levels is n difficult, problem, even that the choice of PRF maynotbe poweramplifier output has a11 Generally, insufficientwork has been undertaken regardingthoughthetrnnsmitter the ranging and display aspect of pulse Doppler develop- on-off ratio approaching 120 dB. PulseultrnsonicDopplersystems do not,intrinsicnlly ment to allow one to say what the eventual difficulties avoidthetransmitter-receiverleakageproblem as one may be. The following list' of PRF's andrangedepths might think. Even if the t,rnnsceiver had no case echoes indicate the combinations most commonly used. and the electrical leakage from the master oscill:Ltor, etc., Approximate 3Iaximum was reduced to n minimum, there still exists a : situation PRF Depth Range A! Detectable m:llogous to leuknge in : L CW case. l?..; kHz 3 cm 25 kHz The concept of spnti:d Irnl<:lge is int~rotluced to describt! U liHX 4.3 cm 18 kHz a , sigo:~l-to-noise-r~~ti(~ difficulty cllnrneteristic to the 6.25 1cHz ti cm 12.5 kHz transcut:~l~eous apI)lic,:tt'ionof this system. 1 1 tr:tnsdncer Linear Il'r.cz,lsmission Gale and 1'orc.er Av1plificr: T h e elementwith an itle:tlized beam is sllown in Fig. 10. I n :L CW device there is spillover or 1e:llc:rge directly from I'ltF pulsetriggers : L 1.0-ps one-shot nau1tivibr:ltor tllat element. The CW device is gcnerntes tlle gating signd for : L linear trmm~ission gat<>.tr:lnsmit,ting to receiving When thc gate opens, 5 cycles of t>llemaster oscillator :dso sensitive to :my mot>ion occurring within the confines pass through t80 alinearpower nmplifier. The gxte 1 1 a h of tlle sound field. T h e vcctors in Fig. 10, lower left, show been fixed :it 1.0 p s although other durations are possible. the rct1:~tionsllip between the Doppler and 1e:tk:tg con]termirmls of : I CW systenl The 0.5-volt peal;-to-pe:ik 5-cycle burstis amplified ponents a t t h e receiver ir~put for :my instant of time. t,oan SO-volt pe:d;-to-pcal; signal by a quasi-con~plen~ent:~r~ When the system isconverted to n pulse mode, the power amplifier. The circuit uses : L broad-bund pulse rcgion of Doppler ernsitivity in t'lle be:m is reduced t o :I transformer to r:tise its output imped:um up t'o 50 ohms disk as sllon-n in Fig. 10. The locntion of the disk depends to drive ceramic the tr:msmitting transducers. 1Ceedb:lck is used :u-ound the pon-er amplifier to give t.he on the receiver rmge gate delay and its thickness depends on the rangedimcmion of the receiverresolution cell. transducer : L measure of dyn:lmic dnmping to reduce Doppler signals will be detected from moving scatterers transducer ringing. The peak power applied to the transmittingt.ransducer in the region or volume common t o both thc disk and thc out,side the vessel is in the range from 10 to 30 watts during the l-,us es- blood vessel. The region inthedisk will return a non-Doppler citationburst,.These figures are based on a range o f that haslittleornomotion transducerimpedancesfrom 50 t o 200 ohms. The duty signal. This signal is called the spat(ia1 leakage and comcycle at the highest P R F (25 kHz) is 0.035. The average bineswith the Dopplersignal a t the time the echo is This power applied to the transducer ranges from 0.25 to 0.75 receivedfrom the sampleregion(resolutioncell). sample window is sometimes called the Doppler window. watt depending on the transducer irnped.1nee. echoes combine in the vector Transducers: Pulse Doppler t'ransducers should ideally Spatial leakage and Doppler diagram, Fig. 10, lower right. Thus, ultrasonic pulse have the sensitivity of the lightlybackednarrow-band
Optlmum Carrier Frequency Ultrasonlc Doppler
for

176

IEEE TRAPISACTIONS ON SONICS AKD ~ I L T R ~ S O N I CJULY S,

1970

CERAMIC ELEMENTS

1
R

EPOXY ALUMINIUM , BACKING / I

/
Not to Scale

PLASTIC CASE

wYREN

Fig. 8. Close u p of transmitting and receiving elements in a pulse Doppler transdltcer with lens.

BLOOD VESSEL.,_

REGION OF DOPPLER SHIFTED BACKSCATTERING

TRANSMIT RECEIVE ELEMENT

REGION OF FULSE OOPRER SENSITIVITY

~

PULSE C W DOPPLER

WPPLER

Fig. 10. Comparison a t regions of serleitivit,y for CW and pulsed Doppler methods.

Dopplers do not overcome the lealage problemsimply because they are operatedin ;I pulsc mode. This problem is partially solved by using acoustic lenses on the transducer to focus the sound field dimensions don-11to the size o f the vessel or smaller. The sound field from :Ltransducer with a lcns attached is shomn in Fig. 11. Boththetransmittingand receiving elements are excited witha CW signal in orderto image the complete field. The transducer is constructed, as shown in Fig. 9, withtwo semidisk elements. The cross section of the beam in the focal region is ellipsoidal as a result of this configuration. Workremains t o bedone todeterminethe effect of sound-beam shape on the size and shape of the Doppler window or resolution cell. With a focused transducer, the window will change size and shape as the range to the window is increased. The manner in which the shape of the window will affect the resolving power of the pulse Doppler flowmeter for detecting velocities at a point in space will be discussed later. Receicer Limiters: ThebackscatteredDopplershifted signal from a blood vessel may range in intensity from 50 dB to more than 120 d B down from the transmit,ted signal. Several factors contribute to the overall losses. These start with the transmitting trmsducer and end at the receiver inputterminals. It is not possible to predict all these losses in an exact manner; however, experience indicates that the list of losses shown below are representative. The exact losses would require detailed measure-

Fig. 11. Underwater Schlieren photograph o f transducer with focusing. ( a ) side view; (b) top view; 5-RZIIz pulse Doppler, Q = S; spherical lens, 3-cm focus.

ments with a specific transducer:trrangcment particular flow-sensing site:

and at a

1) transmitting transducer losses: 10-20 dB 2 ) gain of transmitting transducer lens: +5-+l5 3) transmitting tissue losses: x 2 dB/cm/hiHz 4) scattering losses in blood: 20-40 d B 5) receiving tissue losses: ~2 dB/cm/MHz 6) gain of receiver lens: +5-+15 d B 7) receiving trnnsducer losses: 10-20 dB.

dB

The spread of these losses is plotted in Fig. 12 to show the \vide variability of thesefactors. I n thisexample, the tissue and scnttering losses have been computed for a system opxlting :It 5 JIHz with n blood vcssel loc:Lt,ed 3 cm au-ay from thetransducer.It.should bestressed t h a t t l m e values are only represcntntive and :Ire b:wd, in part, on experience : w l on occasional me:Lsurements. X o systematic study has been carried out to define the 1inlit)sof each of tallesefactors more precisely. Such data aretimeconsuming to collect and would, if available, contribute to improving the pulse Doppler device.

BAKER: ULTRASONIC DOPPLER BLOOD-FLOW SENSING

-30

:;h
\ I

177

-40
Decibel

Losses

-loot
1 1 0

\.l
Receiver -144db Noise

-1 4 0 - - l50 '

FIWI

Fig. 12. .4ccrrmrdative loxxs from transmitting transdrlcer to tissue and return to receiver e!ement. A and R represent typical values.

Several types of receivers have been constructed :md tested. The first of t l m e h:~d excess of 120413 gain. It consisted of a brosd-band (bandn-itlth = 3 IIHz) preamplifier with a bnntl center frerplency of 5 AIHz. A series of sixcarcadedcurrent mode s:ltur:ltion-t?-pe limiters followxl the prcnmp. Overload and recovery time problems n.ere avoided by using a separate receiving transducer.Thiscl~oice nvoided the needfordiodedecoupling networks between tr:tnsmit,t,er and receiver. This particular receiver configuration evolved after finding that hard limiting produced a significant amour~t of quieting due t o removal of the amplitude components from the Doppler shifted echo. Fig. 13 shows the signalto-noise improvement in the detected Doppler signal due t o quieting.Undersomeconditions of received signal, the quieting produced as much as a 40-dB improvement in the s/n ratio. From the listening test common to all investigators using Doppler techniques, it was quite apparent when quieting occurred with the resulting suppression of white noise. This receiver has morerecentlybeen modified to a lower gainunit' A % 76 dB due to poor stability. Icor rermons that have not been expl:tined, the receiver was only conditionally stable, often chirping or sputtering into transient oscilhtion. The gain W:Hreduced without giving up too much quieting. I t has performed reasonably well with Doppler echoes from vessels as deep as 5 em.

The wide bandn-idtll of the limiters, :q]proaching S AIHz, haspermittedthe use of intercllangesblepreamplifiers for operation at' other carrier frequencies. While this receiver has performed reasonably well, it is far from optimum, Operation with a single clement transducer is desirable. This type of operation will necessitate a quickrecovery timefrom thetransmittertmnsient.s inthe receiver. The role of time-variable gain inthe receiver has also not been ev:tlusted.

NEWRECEIVER REQUIREMENTS
The pulse Doppler system described here does not have a flow-direction-sensing capability. A unit has been built by Peronneauand Leger [l11 with a direction-sensing capability. That device uses a single-sideband-type quadrature phase detector to separatetheupperand lower Doppler sidebands for sensing flow direction. This system depends ona linear receiver that avoidsconversion of single sideband signals to double sidebands. The result is that receiver nonlinearit,ies would seem to produce cross talk between the forvmrd and reverse flow signals. It rrnxtins to be evaluatedwhether a receiver with deliberate limiting for the purposes of quieting, will reintroduce sidebands for all conditions of received signal. If limiting can be utilized with a direction sensing detector, a. significant improvementin signal-to-noise ratiomay result, making increased detection depth possible. For

178

IEEB TRANSACTIONS ON SONICS AND ULTRASONICS, JULY

1970

As mentioned previously, a system of quadrature phase detectors described by McCleod and I'eronneau has been used to separate the upper and lower Doppler sidebands t o indicate the directionof blood flow. Since bidirectional flow exists a t many points in the body, direction sensing will be essential to the eventual quantitative application of this inst,rument.
l<.LSC;E

DEI,.\Y.\NI)

S.\MPLE> CIIiCUITS

The depth at which the Doppler signal is sensed within the blood vessel and tissue depends on the delay interval between the transmitted burst and the sample gate. For Receiver input p volts a velocity of sound in tissueof approximat'ely 1500 meters per second, the range factor is 13-,us delay per centimeter Fig. 13. lfard limiting i n the receiving amplifier improves detected 1)oppler sigllal-to-noise ratio by qllieting effect. of depth. A simple one-shot multivibrAtor is used t o develop the range delay. The range delay potentiometer coupled is example?a system capable of detecting flow in the ascending t,o a range dial calibrat'ed in millimeters and centimeters aorta or renal artery transcutaneously on man will need of depth. every improvement that can be devised. With these calibrations, i t is a relatively simple matter Another aspect of receiver design relates to the echoranging poterha1 of the pulse Doppler system in addition to measure the sound path length that interceptsa blood at flow signals eommcnce to itsflow-sensing capability. I t is quite feasible to consider vessel, by noting the depthwhich a t which they disuppear. I f the angle between a conventional A-scan or B-mode display of echo position and the depth functioning simultaneously with the Doppler blood-flow the sound beam and the blood vessel is known, then the true vessel diameter can be determined. detection.This mode of operationmayrequireaquite A sample gate is actuated by the range delay multidifferent type of recciver connected in parallel or partially in cascade with the amplifier described previously. The vibrator. The duration of the pulse from the sample gate prospects of this development have barely been considered. generator depends on the type of Doppler detection that is desired.
I'IIhSE

I)ETE(:TOIt

The Doppler shift of t h e receivedechobac1m:ktered by the moving blood is detected by sensing the instnntaneous phase difference bet'ween the echo and a reference signal from t#he mast,er oscillator. The \rawforms in Figs. 14 and l5 illustrate thisprocess. All t'he received echoes after :mplificntion and limiting are coupled to a double-balancedmiserconnectedas a phase detector. The reference signal from the master oscillatorispresent a t a11 times.Theoutputfromthe phase detectorwill be a signal of &0.5 volt, which indicates the instantancous phase difference ( G l S O O ) betwcen the echoes and the reference as a function of range following each transmitted burst. Since the PRF is a t least twice the expected Doppler shift, the inst,nntnneous phase difference signal for each transmission will be a stationary function (nontime varying), If the echo a t a particular range or depth contains a Dopplershift,thenthe nmplit,ude of a sample of the instantaneous phase difference will vary in amplitude exactlywith theDoppler difference frequency.This is shown by the sample points 1, 2 , 3 in Fig. 1.7, taken from the phase-detector output over many PRF samples. The envelope frequency from the phase detector is the Doppler difference frequency. Thetime a t which this sample is taken in each PRF cycle determines the range or depth a t which the Doppler velocity measurement is made. This method of detection is incapable of sensing the direction of Doppler shift.

Method 1 This method is used when : L velocity measurement with maximum sensitivity is required a t a specific point inthe blood vessel. Thisdiscretemeasurement will be necessary when mapping the velocity profile within a blood vessel. Precise determination of the lumen diameter of n vessel d l d s o necessitate thediscretesensing of velocity to ddernline the margins of blood flow at the vessel walls. Thismaximum-resolutionnxlximum-sensitivityoperation is achieved by using broad-band t,ransducers, short t,ransmitted pulse durations, 0.5 ,us or less, and a boxcartype sample andhold circuit followingthe phase detector. The signal from the phase detector, indicating thc instantaneousphase difference, is sampledby a gate that is turned on foronly 0.1 ,us. This sample is stored in a capacitor. The capacitor voltage is held until the next transmitted burst and subsequent sample. Fig. 15 illustrates the mannerin which this sample and hold(boxcar)circuit stretchesthe 0.1-,us samples t o develop a signal corresponding to the envelope of the samples over many PRF cycles. This detection scheme appears to have the maximum possible gainforconversion of the instantaneous phase difference to a voltage representing the Doppler difference frequency. Thespatialresolution cell orsamplevolumeinthe blood vessel in this method is dependent on the dimensions

BhKER: ULTRASONIC DOPPLER BIX)OI)-FLOW Y C B P I X ( ;

Master Oscillator

Transmltted Burst

Doppler Shifted Rece i ved Burst

A + = instantaneous phasedifferenceduring
Delayed Phase ref. Bunt
C

sample interval.

<

Phase Detector output

~~

t =o

7-A+
e
fi!

+time

l
Output Recelver Input Phose Reference Burst

Y500ps

111

and has st cross section approximated by the sound-beam diameter at the range (depth) of the sample. The packet length is determined by the durationof the burst applied of tothetransmittingtransducerandthebandwidth thetransmittingand receivingelements. Thedetected Doppler shift frequency will correspond tothe mean velocity averaged over the sample volume. As a result, the larger thevessel diameter compared to the dimensions of the sample volume, the more accurate will be measurements of velocity profile and of diameter. Average velocity over the vessel cross section can be measured by another method.

Boxcar lntegrotor output

Fig. 15. Envelope of phase detector samples 1, 2, 3 forms Doppler signal. Range delay determines depth of Doppler velocity sensing.

of the acousticalpacketin the blood ratherthanthe duration of thesample pulse. Testsindicate thatthe packet is approximately 1.5-2.5 mminlength(depth)

Method 2 Rather than scan across the vessel with a high-resolution small sample volume in an attempt to measure the velocity profile, it is possible to sample the entire vessel diameter at onetimeandhave a directreadout of theaverage velocity. The output of the phasedetector is sampledinthe same manneras Method 1,except that the sanlple duration is set to extend across the vessel lumen diameter. Since there is a velocity distribution across the vessel (profile), there will be a corresponding Doppler shift distribution developed when the entire lumen is sampled simultaneously. When the detected Doppler shift is coupled t o a zerocrossingfrequency meter,themeter will indicate the mean frequency and, hence, the mean

180

IEEE TRANSACTIONS O N SONICS AND ULTRASONICS, JULY

1970

velocity. This sampling and detection method is useful when only the instantaneous mean ve1ocit.y overthe whole diameter is desired. If a direction sensing detector is used to read out the Doppler shift, reverse flow components occurring simultaneously with forward flow will be subtracted out. Of course, in this method no velocity profile information is av:Lilable from the readout. This method would be useful for following heart valve or wall motion since theseinterfaceshnvcratherlarge excursions that would quiclcly pass out of the range of the short fixed sample gate of Nethod 1.

A ~ D I AMPLIFIER O ASD PRF I;II,TERS

The Doppler signals at the output of the sample and hold amplifier are low in amplitude and contain frequency VESSEL DL4METER MEASUREMENTS componentsfromthetransmitter pulse repetitionrate. I n addition to the Doppler frequency, there are signals Several methods of determiningthe vessel diameter due to spatial leakage changes that extend down to dc :\re possible; each has its difficulties. and are large in amplitude. They could easily block any The principal difficulty relates to the resolving power high-gainamplifier t,h:ht mus connecteddirectly to the of the pulse Doppler range gate.Atthepresenttime, sample circuit output. diameter is determined by noting whenflow signals appear Inthe present pulse 1)oppler teclrnique, an active as the range gate is scnnned across the lumen and then bandpass filter wit'h unity gain follow directly from the when they disappear. Taking the difference inrange at sample holdcircuit,s. The high pass sectionscomefirst each of these points will give thediameter.The t,rue to remove the large-amplitude low-frequency spatid di:mxt)ercunthenbecomputed if the anglewith the leakage components. These leakage components vary vessel is kno\\-n. widely when thetransducer is movedintentionnlly or Tllis nwtlrod n.orl<svery well on plastic tubes in a model from r,tndom motion. The nttcnuation slope of thcsct if the be:m angle is SOo or morr: and the flow rates :we filters is I S dB per octaven.ith the 3-dB point set at 50 H z . high. Errors as s m d l ns 2-3 percent have been :rchieved. Z~ollowingthe high p:w sections, are : L group of ICJW As tilt! nnglc decrmses, it becomes increasinglydifficult pnss filters that are used to remove the 11igll-frequenc~- t o deternine the exact position of the far wall. The size P R F components from the detected Doppler signal. The and sh:tpe o f the snmple volume appears t o be the primnry selection of the roll-off frequencydepends on the PE; dif-ticult~-. Ttle [inite size of the samplec:mses the ngparcnt and on the highest expected Doppler frequency. Usu:llly vessel diameter to be larger t,hnn xtunlly exists. the highest PIW that avoids rnnge ambiguities is uwd. Studies to date suggest t8hnt it may be feasible t o come This I'IW rate is a!most always :tbovct the Iriglrcst I>opl)ler up u-it,I~ :I correction fact)or t h a t c m beused to reduce shift frequrncy; therefore, the filtw would be set to roll oft' resolution errors. This is : Ltopic of current research. just above the upper Doppler limits r:~t~l~er than one-1r:rlf at The :tctu:d effect of tllc resolution problem on the the I'ItF. h i n g this tends to improve tlle detected Doppler xccur:xy of the velocit,y profile is shown in Fig. 16 where signal-to-noise ratio. The attenuationslope of the 10w-p:lss the measured profile is compnred to the ideal. The measections rmges from 18 to 24 dB octave. sured profile was arrived at, by convolving a cy1indric:tl An audio frequency amplifier with a bandpass exceeding s:lmple volume with the idenlized velocity profile on the the maximum filter bandn-idtlls follom. The Iloppler centerline o f the tube. This illustrntion is included only signal is raised t o tllc l-voltlevel t o be used to drive external as ; m example of the problem. power amplifiers or frequency meters. Higher ultrasonic frequencies and shorter acoustic bursts should :dlow t'lle use of a smaller sample volume APPI,ICATIO\-S OF PULSE DOPPLERS to reduce this error. Of course, the errors will be propor: given The ability to me:mm thc rmge or distanceto a moving tion:ltely less as tlle vessel diameter increases for L interf$ce or flow, as well as to detect its velocity, opens snmple volume. At the present time,it may be possible to reduce diameter up many fruitful areas of potential application. The prospect of measuringvolumeblood flow q u m - errors to 10 percent or less if the transducer beam axis is aligned nearly normal t80the vessel. This is an awlmard titutivclyfromoutsidethebody is prob:tbly t,hemost intriguing of all. Whether thisgoal can actuallybe achieved :mgle since thedetcctedDopplershiftappro:~cI~es zero in a practical way remains to be demonstrated. as the be:tm appronehes n normal :mgle. It would seem simple enough to locate a vessel beneath If diameter is measured in this~ 1 ~ it 7 will , be necess:wg the skin, measure its diameter, t h e n the blood flow velocity, to sense the velocity at the same point' and at an angle to beaccurately and finally the anglebetweentllesoundbeam and the that will give suit'ableDopplershifts

velocityvector. All of thesefactors would beentered into a suitable equation and volume flow thereby computed. Prelimirlaryexperimentssuggest thatthis is notan easy god and that a great deal more work is necessary beforequantizationcanbe cnrricd outroutinelywith confidence. Thisearlyevaluationwork is beingcnrried out by Drs. Sasser, Rliller, andYates of the Bioengineering Program a t t h e University of Washington. Their resultsrevealcertain in:mcuracics betweenactual flows and measuredvalues.This work isbeingdone under :I variety of conditions on modelsand on animals. The two most important and most difficult parameters t o memure are thevessel diameter and the angle between the velocit,y vector and sound-beam axis.

B.%KER: ULTRASONIC DOPPLEll BLOOD-FLOW SENSING

181

50 cm sec
40

-MEASURED

30

7
Tube Diameter m m

Fig. 17. Theodolite-type transducer-holder positioner for measllring hor.izont,nl:tllcl vertical angles.

Fig. 16. Idealized example comparing meas\lred profile Icsing 1 . 5 mm long cylindrical Rample volume to theoretical paralmlic velocity profile.

equation:

detected.Investigations todate suggest that an angle from 45 to 6.5' with respect to the vessel mill permit t,he highesteasilyattainableaccuracyforsensing velocity.

where r1 rZ
=
=

DETEIIMINIKG THE BLOOD VESSELANGLE

Transcutaneous volume-blood-flow measurements require that the angle between the vessel and sound beam be determined accurately. Locating and measuring blood-vessel orientation beneath the skin can be likened to locating the position of mining tunnels within a mountain. The big difference is that, unlike the mining engineer, the bioengineer can not setup histheodolitewithin thetunnel (blood vessel) system. A theodolite-type transducer holder is being developed to allow themeasurement of horizontal and vertical angles from the surface of skin for locating the position of vessels. Fig. 17 shows one view of this device. A transducer isshownmountedinposition t o project a focused sound beam from the holder through the skin toward thevessel of interest. A definite procedure has been evolved for locating the vessel and measuring the sound-beam angle. The transducer and holder are positioned over the vessel with the pulse Doppler equipment functioning in CW mode. The initialbeam angleis notcriticalexcept t h a t i t should be less than GOo. The Doppler control is switched to pulse mode and the range measured to the near and far vessel walls. The centerline range r1 a t this initial angle is computed from these values. Next, a vertical angle of 10-15' is turned in a direction toward normal with the vessel. I f the holder is positioned properly and the vessel is straight, no horizontalanglemovement will be required to keep thesoundbeamcenteredonthe vessel. Therange is measured to the near and far walls at the new vertical angle and is used to compute the second centerline range r2 a$ before. The angle of the beam 0 with respect to theflow vector (vessel centerline) can now be computed using the following

range to vessel centerline position 1 range to vessel centcrline position 2 included angle between r1 and rz.

The lnrger t,he angle I#J the more nccur:ite will be the comput:ltion of the angle e. The othercriticalfactors are the precision with n-hicll the centerline rmges r , and rz can be measured. As mentionedpreviously, t,llese are dependent on the pulse Doppler resolution andability of this equipment to detect and locate the blood-vessel walls. VOLUME-BLOOD-FLOW COMPUTATION Bnowingtheangle e between the vessel andsound beam and the slant radius of the vessel R,, it is possible t o compute t,he volume flow rate from the average Doppler shift across the lumen at the measurement site. From(l), ( 2 ) , and R., an equation can be derived for Q, the volume flow rate.

where

true cross-sectional area of vessel

c = velocity of sound -

Af = average Doppler shift from profile or fromfull vessel sample g:lte e = angle between vessel and sound beam

since

A
where R ,
=

?rR:

true radius of vessel and

182

Withinthelimits of itsspatialresolution,the pulse of sample signnls that can be set to start at any range Doppler technique canbe a n effective tool for investigating and produce n sample a t range increments from 0.5-mm dynamic velocity profiles in models, on animals, and on spacing upward. This type of sampling is shown in Fig. 21 man. with simulated waveforms. The first published profiles taken by pulse Doppler Inthe example, nine gates are functioning in pnrallel techniques were published inFrancebyHienglaisandtoproduceninevelocityreadouts,allsimultaneously. Peronneau [ll]. Their profiles were made by scanning , 4 profile can be constructed in real time by sampling the across the vessel or tubeat aslow rateandthen recon- ninechannels a t highspeed,insequence,andthen

RELATIVE FLOW MLOClM

I'ig.

QUADRATURE SIGNAL

B O X CAR INTEGRATOR FILTER

--

HIGH PASS FILTER

L W PASS

FREWENCY To ----CHANNEL VOLTAGE CONVERTOR

REFERENCE PHASE

IDENTICAL N CHANNELS

--

VELOCITY OUTPUTS

BOX CAR ----c HIGH PASS INTEGRATOR FILTER FILTER

LOW PASS

GATE N SEOUENTIAL SYNC. GENERATOR

FREQUENCY TO VOLTAGE CONVERTOR

-CHANNEL
t @

displaying velocity as a function of range. This last phase of sampling \vould have to be synchronized by the electrocardiogram in order to present the data properly. Many types of displays of profile dynamics arepossible. A comprehenrive example is s1~0w-n in Fig. 22. Blood-flow velocity is plotted as afunction of time :~ndof vessel diameter. Systems could be designed t o display any plane of this 3-dimensional-type plot in real time, or even on other timebuses if that seemed advisable. A three-dimensionalmodel of the blood-flow velocity measured in the femoral arteryof a dog is shown in Fig. 23. Close examination will reved flow irregularities that result from tlle model being a composite collected over

32 cardiac cycles. A nlodel based on real time measurements of velocity over the full vessel dinmet'er, all taken simultaneously, should produce : L much smoother surface. The role of profile dynamics in research and in clinical diagnosis is not yet clear; however, many interesting ideas are in the prospect. I n any event: a great amount of work is yet to be done to develop : m d explore :dl the possibilities fully.

LIMIThTIOSS A S D NEW

~~EVELOPMETT

Pulse Doppler ultrasonicmeasurement of blood flow is probably t>lle most complex method yet attempted, and, as n-it11 :dl new instrumcant teclmiques, m:my design

184
EKG SYNC

IISEF: TRANS.4CTIONS

O N SONICS A N D UILTRASONICS, JULY

1970

&
/L

TRANSDUCER

/ A

p--==

SAMPLE KIIN"IIl_ ABC

Fig. ?:L JIodel depicts blood flow velocity as a fuuction o f lime ~ l c1i:tmeter. d Left edge of model is synchronized with ISCG. Flow was sensed in fernoral artery of dog. Diameter was 4.8 mm.

I l E E TR4NSACTIONS ON SONICS A N D ULTR4SONICS, VOL. SU-17. N O .

3. JULY 1970

1 8 5

problems must be overcome. In spite of these difficulties, the benefits that accrue to this approach, including noninvasivenondestructive ex:tmination of the flow profiltl in vessels embedded in soft tissue, justify the time and effort required for this development. Although nlucll hasalready been accomplisl~cdmsing the pulse Doppler appro:xch, some additional problems remain. Some of the most import:lnt, o n e inellde more appropriate transducers and coortliwlte systems. Increased resolution (both angle and rmge) is required in order to apply these measurement,s to small vessels. Further studies are necessary relating to the :wt,ionb e t w e n ultrasoundand flowing blood,before thisresearch tool will be suitable for clinical applica t Ion.
L4CKKOWLEDGJIEST

REFERESCES
[ I ] P. Satamilra, Stttdy o f the flow patterns i n peripheral arteries byultrmonicj, J. Acoust. Soc. Japan, vol. 15, pp. 151-15R,
[2] I). L. Franklin, W . A. Schlegel, and R. F. Rnshmer, Mood flow measllred bp D o p ~ l e rfreqltency shlft of backscattered c i m c e , vol. 132, pp. 564-565, ICJGI. I ~ l t r x ~ o l u dS , [R] 11. JV. Baker et al., . 4 sonic tr:tnscutaneom blood flowmeter, Proc. 17th Ann. Con!. Enqrg. Jfed. Niol., p. 76, 196L [1]I). 15. Stmndnese, Jr., IC. P. McCIltcheon, nnd It. F. Itltshmer, Applirat io11 of a transclltnneolls Ihppler flowmeter in ev:~In:ttion o f ocdllsive arterial disease, S t q . Gynec. Obstet., vol. 22, Jp. 1:):3b-104-5, 1966. [.5] I>. Pd. StrandlLess, Jr., el al., Cltrasonic flow detection: A usef111 t e r h n i q ~ ~ in e the evnlllntion of peripheral v:scltlar disease, Am. J . S u g . , vol. 113, pp. 311-830, 1967. [S] B. SigeI: el al., A Doppler ultmsollnci method for di:tgnosing lower extremity venolls disease, S ~ c r g . Gynecol. Obslef., vol. 127, pp. Xl9-3.i0, 1068. [7] F. D. JIcCleod, Jr., h directional Doppler flowmeter, Digest 7th Conj. d l r - l . Uiol. Engrg. (St.ockholm, Sweden), 1067. [X] D. C. EIarding and D. W . Baker, Laser schlieren optical system for andyzing llltrasonic fields, Hiomctl. Sci. In&., vol. 4, pp. 223-230, 1968. [g] I). \V.Baker and I>. Watkins, B phase coherent pulse Doppler system for cardiovascular measr~rement~, Proc. 20lh Ann. Conf. Engrg. M e d . Bid., vol. 27, p. 2, 1967. [lo] D. W . Baker, Pulsed ultrasonic Doppler flowmeter biological and engineering applications,presented atthe IERIC Ultrasonics Symp., (St. Louis, RIO.), September 21-26, 1969; also I E E E Trans. Sonics and Lih-nsonies (Abstract), vol. SU-17, Janllary 1970. Ill] P. Peronneau, et al., Blood flow velocit,y measurement by ultrasonic Dopnler effect, 4th Cong. European Soc. Exptl. Swg., April 19G9.
l!).X.

Special rccognit,ion is given to the following individuak who have contributed to the variousphases o f this instruments effort: V. E. Simmons, G. R. Bennett,,J . 31. Ofstad, Dr. J. M. lleid, R. F. Olson, C.C. Hnrtley, and D. W . Watkins,for engineeringdesign anddevelopment;Drs. D. E. Strandness, C. W . XIiller, M. G. Nasser, and W . G. Yates, for medical :Lpplication and evaluation.

Elastic Surface Waves: Thin-Film Transducers and Layered-System Dispersion

Abstract-Elastic surface waves were launched and received by thii-film transducers. Each transducer was a 2- to 3-pm-thick CdS layer with an interdigital-finger metal-film electrode pattern. Borosilicate glass was the substrate material. Frequencies between 18 and 60 MHz were excited at the fundamental and overtones of the transducers. The measured phase-velocity dispersion of the surface waves produced in the layered system of CdS on glass agreed with theoretical results based on earlier work.

IXTRODUCTION

HE FIELD of elastic surface waves has been

receivinggrowing attentioninrecentyears. Suggested applications include signal processing such as correlation and guided-\vave systems such as microwave analog acoustic systems. ,4 simple trarslucer that could beusedon any type o f substrate would be useful in reducing the system coat. Previowly, wedge transducers and fluid systems have been the principal nleans used t o launch and detect surface elastic waves on nonpiezoelectric substrates. These transducers are not convenient for use in many systems that would benefit from elastic surface ~vaves. Comb transducershave beenused also, butthey too present difficulties.

Manusrript. recrivcd .Janlmry 10, 1069; revised .Janrlary 2, 1970. This work is part o f aIh.1). dissertation, Ijept. of IClec. Engrg., Polytechnic Irtsiit.ute of Brookl?;n, Brooklyn, N. Y., June 1969, by P. Schnitzler. P. Schnitzler was with 11CA LahoratoriPs, Princetnn, X. ,J. He is now with 1tCA Jkfeuse IClectrollics Products, Somerville, N. J. 08876. L. Bergstein and I,. Strauss are with the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn,Brooklyn, N. Y.