Ultrasonic instruments international market trends and analysis of core technologies

Ultrasound instruments mainly refers to medical imaging ultrasound device in the system, because its cheaper than the CT and MRI are low and non-invasive and real-time access to human tissue image features, so more and more extensive range of clinical applications, world-wide total sales growth is expected to exceed the x-ray device.

International market turnover statistics 1994 to 20 billion to 2000 is estimated to be $ 28 billion.

In recent years, ultrasonic instrument as the international computer science, telecommunications, microelectronics, images and other related technologies, the rapid development, increasing precision perfected.

The world's major manufacturers of ultrasound equipment are introduced on behalf of their advanced level of the latest models, and promote the world ultrasound instruments of technology continues to develop.

Ultrasonic diagnosis equipment internationally in the last few years in the following areas have significant development:

1. ultrasonic transducers

(1) composite material in recent years, advanced medical ultrasound transducer increasingly using composite materials to replace traditional Piezoelectric ceramic materials.

In this kind of composites, piezoelectric ceramics and polymers in a certain scale and a certain space distribution, which has low acoustic impedance, horizontal coupled electromechanical coupling of weak, strong benefits. To make good performance of ultra-wideband transducer (such as the frequency bandwidth of up to 80 per cent of line zhenhuan energy).

(2) micro ultrasonic transducer for intravascular ultrasound imaging, frequency generally 30MHZ ~ 50MHZ abroad has a significant number of products available, applied to vascular disease diagnosis.

Another line of 1 cm of phased array transducers has also been introduced mainly for Pediatric cardiovascular diagnosis.

(3) a fine beam transducer besides cycles zhenhuan energy, traditional array transducer cannot reduce beam section thickness, in order to control the beam maintain narrow beam section, in recent years in the above products are in order to obtain a light beam transducer, which in the transducer array element landscape on cut into several small phase control array element, generally known as 1.5D, 2D, etc.

(4) high density transducer with full digital multi beam forming technology development, 128,256, 512 array element even 1024 element of transducer also appropriate, on the one hand support system for multi-channel technology, on the other hand increase system lateral resolution.

(5) various surgical endoscopic probes and probe with ultrasound technology to the whole body scan development, the massive intrusive ultrasonic transducers such as the vagina, urethra, rectum, stomach, esophagus, surgery surgical ultrasound probe, probe, and endoscopic ultrasound probes have been widely used in Clinical Diagnostics.

2, full digital ultrasound system has become a trend

In recent years as technological development, microelectronics, high-speed high-precision A/D and ASIC devices, allowing medical ultrasound instruments digital has become a trend.

Early 1990s, the first since ATL company first full digital ultrasound, since most of the world's leading several medical ultrasound equipment manufacturers are almost all launched their own digital Beamforming technology, digital color Doppler ultrasound. Its development trend is multibeam and bulk channel, improves Imaging speed and resolution. 4 beam above 128 channel to 512 channel products have been manufactured.

3, several new imaging technology

In recent years several of the world's leading manufacturers of ultrasound equipment introduced several new imaging method:

(1) Doppler energy imaging using orthogonal flow signal amplitude of squares as imaging information.

Suitable for small vessels of low flow imaging, but cannot be used for high speed flow, generally cannot display the flow direction.

(2) Doppler tissue imaging (TissueDopplerImaging, abbreviation TDI)

This imaging method and color Doppler Imaging (CFM), on the contrary, the high-frequency low-margin flow signal reserved filtrating, low-frequency high-amplitude of wall Doppler signal as imaging information.

TDI can provide organizational velocity, acceleration and energy reflection three aspects of the information in the broader clinical use.

(3) second harmonic generation and contrast imaging

Ultrasound beam irradiated tissue containing contrast agents, due to the contrast agent cross-section, enable backscatter signals enhance, improve the quality of the ultrasound image.

In addition, an air bubble in contrast frequency oscillation near substantially, second-harmonic component larger than non-contrast agent organization harmonic components. Use of this principle will ultrasound imaging system design in the passband frequency range, you can get the contrast agent for second-harmonic imaging, effectively suppress background noise. In recent years without contrast agent for second-harmonic imaging technology (NativeHarmonic) has also been applied.

Harmonic technology and earlier Doppler Imaging combined with energy method may be harmonic Doppler energy image, very suitable evaluation of myocardial perfusion.

Harmonic imaging technology as probes require higher (multiplier receive), the other by FDA standard contrast agents are less expensive, though still in development, but will become a new imaging technologies and gradually spreading.

4. development of three-dimensional imaging

Depends primarily on the acquisition of three dimensional signal transducer development and system imaging speed enhancement and expansion capability.

In recent years due to the development of computer technology, help to promote technical progress by three-dimensional imaging. Currently used for three-dimensional imaging of abdominal organs and Transesophageal dynamic heart three-dimensional imaging system and equipment already on the market, and will be gradually extended. As the face of development zhenhuan, it can be expected in the next few years, real-time three-dimensional ultrasound imaging system will also be available.

5, remote and networking ultrasound image workstation

With the rising tide of information freeways, medical remote diagnostics technology has medical ultrasound imaging field development.

Was originally developed by PACSSystem and ultrasonic instrument match, complete extensive ultrasound image information processing, analysis, statistics, archiving, management, and so on, but there are single, different models, different interfaces to the Internet as a network, but not with other medical imaging device networking CT, MRI. At present, because international standards establish DICOM3.0, ultrasonic instrument company and ultrasonically image workstation integration products to market, and will become premium model development trends.