Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers for Ultrasound Imaging

Ultrasound imaging is an effective method for noninvasive examination of both biological and non-biological structures. As the core parts ultrasound imaging, existing medical ultrasound probes consist of bulky piezoelectric ceramics. And the development direction of ultrasonic imaging is decrease in probe volume and increase in resolution. However, it is hard for conventional ultrasound probes to follow this trend. In this report, some novel piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (pMUT) arrays for nondestructive evaluation are introduced. And PZT is chosen as the piezoelectric material due to its high piezoelectric coefficient. With the increasing need of medical imaging in health care, these PZT based pMUT arrays have a broad prospect in the future.