Open Access
16 August 2023 Highly sensitive miniature needle PVDF-TrFE ultrasound sensor for optoacoustic microscopy
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Abstract

A wideband sensitive needle ultrasound sensor based on a polarized PVDF-TrFE copolymer piezoelectric film has been developed, which is capable of providing a noise equivalent pressure of 14 Pa and a uniform frequency response ranging from 1 to 25 MHz. Its high sensitivity (1.6 μV / Pa) and compact size were achieved by capitalizing on the large electromechanical coupling coefficient of PVDF-TrFE and minimizing parasitic capacitance in a two-stage amplifier structure. The detection sensitivity of the newly designed sensor outperformed commercially available hydrophones with an equivalent sensing element area by a factor of 9. The sensor has been successfully integrated into a light scanning optoacoustic microscopy (OAM) system with a limited working space. Submicrometer resolution images were subsequently attained from living mice without employing signal averaging. The miniature sensor design can readily be integrated into various OAM systems and further facilitate multimodal imaging system implementations.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE and CLP under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Yu-Hang Liu, Alexey Kurnikov, Weiye Li, Pavel Subochev, and Daniel Razansky "Highly sensitive miniature needle PVDF-TrFE ultrasound sensor for optoacoustic microscopy," Advanced Photonics Nexus 2(5), 056006 (16 August 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.APN.2.5.056006
Received: 15 December 2022; Accepted: 3 July 2023; Published: 16 August 2023
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KEYWORDS
Sensors

Optoacoustics

Signal detection

Ultrasonography

Capacitance

Image processing

In vivo imaging

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