OuSense: Electronic-Photonic System-on-Chip for Real-time Endoscopic Ultrasound 3D Imaging

OuSense：用于实时内窥镜超声 3D 成像的电子光子片上系统

• 批准号: 2128402
• 负责人: Vladimir Stojanovic
• 金额: $ 40万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-11-01 至 2024-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2128402&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OuSense; Electronic; Photonic; System; Chip

For decades, ultrasound imaging has been one of the most indispensable tools in numerous medical disciplines ranging from oncology to cardiology and from dermatology to ophthalmology because of its portability and ease of use. However, in endoscopic, intravascular and catheterized applications, i.e., inside the body imaging systems, which constitute a huge part of the Point-of-Care spectrum of applications, traditional ultrasonic imagers have demonstrated serious shortcomings in terms of power dissipation and being too large in size. A unique platform developed by the Principal Investigator's research team, which enables tight co-integration of high-performance photonic devices with fast sophisticated transistors will serve as the vehicle towards achieving the goal of personalized, portable diagnostic systems that can shine new light INTO human physiology. Such a system, with highly sensitive, micro-scale optical sensors in its core, can be ultra-low power and size, ensuring safe operation inside the human body without sacrificing key system attributes. These optical sensors can provide 3D imaging in real time and pave the way towards the realization of a first of its kind miniaturized optical ultrasonic reception probe. The photonic nature of this system will also enable the applications such as ultrasound photoacoustic imaging that can assist the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of important diseases from breast cancer to cardiovascular. This framework, along with associated educational materials and experiences will help create a new crop of engineers who are capable of tackling the complex, multidisciplinary nature of biomedical imaging and sensing systems.The proposed research will develop first of its kind optical ultrasound probe with thousands of sensor elements, capable of real-time 3-D imaging with high power and area efficiency (target: 0.5W, 5mm3. Transduction of the ultrasonic signal in the optical domain will remote the power hungry receive electronics outside the probe tube, and consequently the human body. Thus, more power will be externally available to lower receiver noise, without contributing to probe heat-up. The micro-ring resonators that will be used as the main sensing element have been proven to mitigate the sensitivity-bandwidth tradeoff of their piezo and CMUT counterparts. Replacing electrical transducers will also greatly simplify packaging, eliminating most electrical connections and interfaces, relying on extremely compact optic fiber arrays instead of micro-coax cables to carry the ultrasonic modulation. Electronic-photonic co-design will result in ultra-efficient thermal tuning control circuitry placed on-chip, in close proximity to the optics. The result of this effort will be the first optical ultrasound reception system simultaneously interrogating multiple optical sensors. Dense packing of thousands of sensing elements enables targeting the emerging applications like photoacoustic imaging, which require high sensitivity, frequency and resolution. This work will investigate an all-optical multi-modal ultrasound imaging, combining traditional ultrasound with photoacoustics to generate high contrast images that can assist the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of important diseases from breast cancer to cardiovascular.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

几十年来，超声成像一直是从肿瘤学到心脏病学到从皮肤病学到眼科学的许多医学学科中最必不可少的工具之一，因为它具有可移植性和易用性。 然而，在内窥镜，血管内和反插入的应用中，即在身体成像系统内部，这构成了应用点范围的重要组成部分，传统的超声成像器在功率耗散方面表现出了严重的缺陷，并且大小太大。 由首席研究员研究团队开发的独特平台，可以通过快速复杂的晶体管将高性能光子设备的紧密整合到实现人类生理学的个性化，便携式诊断系统的目标。 这样的系统具有高度敏感的微型光学传感器的核心，可以是超低的功率和大小，从而确保在不牺牲关键系统属性的情况下在人体内部进行安全操作。这些光学传感器可以实时提供3D成像，并为实现第一个小型化的光学超声接收探针铺平道路。该系统的光子性质还将实现诸如超声光声成像之类的应用，这些应用可以帮助诊断和治疗从乳腺癌到心血管的广泛重要疾病。该框架以及相关的教育材料和经验将有助于创建新的工程师，这些工程师能够应对生物医学成像和感应系统的复杂，多学科的性质。该拟议的研究将首先开发出具有数千个传感器元素的光学超声探针的首先，具有数以千计的传感器元素，能够具有高功率和区域效率的实时3-D成像（目标）：0.5mm 3 mmm3。饥饿的电源在探针管之外接收，因此，人体将在降低接收器的噪声上可用，而无需探测探测器的呼吸器。消除大多数电气连接和界面，依靠极度紧凑的光纤阵列而不是微型coax电缆来携带超声调制。电子光谱共同设计将导致在片上放置超有效的热调节控制电路，与光学材料非常接近。这项工作的结果将是同时询问多个光学传感器的第一个光学超声接收系统。数千种传感元素的密集堆积可以针对新兴应用，例如光声成像，这些应用需要高灵敏度，频率和分辨率。这项工作将研究全光模式超声影像，将传统的超声和光声学结合起来，产生高对比度的图像，可以帮助诊断和治疗从乳腺癌到心血管疾病的广泛重要疾病。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估基金会的智力效果，并通过评估了基金会的范围。

项目成果

Fully Integrated Electronic-Photonic Ultrasound Receiver Array for Endoscopic Applications in a Zero-Change 45-nm CMOS-SOI Process

零变化 45 nm CMOS-SOI 工艺中用于内窥镜应用的全集成电子-光子超声接收器阵列

• DOI: 10.1109/jssc.2022.3222829
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits
• 影响因子: 5.4
• 作者: Zarkos, Panagiotis;Buchbinder, Sidney;Adamopoulos, Christos;Madhvapathy, Sarika;Hsu, Olivia;Whinnery, Jake;Bhargava, Pavan;Stojanović, Vladimir
• 通讯作者: Stojanović, Vladimir