Wearable transcranial dual-mode ultrasound transducers for neuromodulation
An ultrasound transducer array is incorporated in a light-weight, conformable, and wearable patch that may be used to deliver, monitor, and control localized transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS). The patch may include full-duplex transmit-receive circuitry that may be used for continuous monitoring of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) application. The circuitry may include a circulator. The ultrasound transducer array may be coupled to an aperture interface having irregularly sized or shaped channel conductors to provide a coarse aperture for the array. The coarse aperture may be designed using a method that provides a reduced channel count.
1. An ultrasound transducer system comprising:
a lens layer configured to partially or completely compensate for a predetermined ultrasound beam distortion associated with an ultrasound obstacle;
an ultrasound transducer layer configured to deliver a transmit ultrasound wavefront into the lens layer and to receive a reflected ultrasound wavefront that has passed through the lens layer corresponding to a reflection of the transmit ultrasound wavefront;
a coarse aperture layer coupled to the ultrasound transducer layer and comprising a plurality of channel conductors, wherein each channel conductor is configured to couple to a different portion of a surface of the ultrasound transducer layer, wherein each channel conductor defines a conductive surface area having a size or shape different than at least one other channel conductor, the coarse aperture layer configured to decouple from the ultrasound transducer layer;
a fine aperture layer configured to couple to the ultrasound transducer layer and comprising a greater number of channel conductors than the coarse aperture layer; and
a backing layer comprising an electrically insulative material coupled to the coarse aperture layer.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a portable control circuit configured to couple to the plurality of channel conductors of the coarse aperture layer, the portable control circuit comprising:
a transmit circuit configured to provide an excitation waveform vector to the plurality of channel conductors to generate the transmit ultrasound wavefront using the ultrasound transducer layer; and
a receive circuit configured to receive a reflection waveform vector from the plurality of channel conductors corresponding to the reflected ultrasound wavefront received by the ultrasound transducer layer.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the conductive surface area of each channel conductor has a size or shape different than all the other channel conductors.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the fine aperture layer comprises a number of channel conductors equal to at least 10 times the number of channel conductors of the coarse aperture layer.
5. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a control circuit configured to couple to the channel conductors of the fine aperture layer.
6. A method using an ultrasound transducer system, comprising:
partially or completely compensating for a predetermined ultrasound beam distortion associated with an ultrasound obstacle using a lens layer;
delivering a transmit ultrasound wavefront into the lens layer and receiving a reflected ultrasound wavefront that has passed through the lens layer corresponding to a reflection of the transmit ultrasound wavefront;
providing a coarse aperture layer coupled to the ultrasound transducer layer and comprising a plurality of channel conductors, wherein each channel conductor is configured to couple to a different portion of a surface of the ultrasound transducer layer, wherein each channel conductor defines a conductive surface area having a size or shape different than at least one other channel conductor, and the coarse aperture layer configured to decouple from the ultrasound transducer layer;
providing a fine aperture layer configured to couple to the ultrasound transducer layer and comprising a greater number of channel conductors than the coarse aperture layer; and
providing a backing layer comprising an electrically insulative material coupled to the coarse aperture layer.
7. The method of claim 6 , comprising:
providing an excitation waveform vector to the plurality of channel conductors to generate the transmit ultrasound wavefront using the ultrasound transducer layer; and
receiving a reflection waveform vector from the plurality of channel conductors corresponding to the reflected ultrasound wavefront received by the ultrasound transducer layer.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the conductive surface area of each channel conductor has a size or shape different than all the other channel conductors.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the fine aperture layer comprises a number of channel conductors equal to at least 10 times the number of channel conductors of the coarse aperture layer.
10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising operably coupling a control circuit to the channel conductors of the fine aperture layer.
11. An ultrasound transducer system comprising:
a lens layer configured to partially or completely compensate for a predetermined ultrasound beam distortion associated with an ultrasound obstacle;
an ultrasound transducer layer configured to deliver a transmit ultrasound wavefront into the lens layer and to receive a reflected ultrasound wavefront that has passed through the lens layer corresponding to a reflection of the transmit ultrasound wavefront;
a coarse aperture layer coupled to the ultrasound transducer layer and comprising a plurality of channel conductors, wherein each channel conductor is configured to couple to a different portion of a surface of the ultrasound transducer layer, wherein each channel conductor defines a conductive surface area and the conductive surface area of each channel conductor has a size or shape different than all the other channel conductors; and
a backing layer comprising an electrically insulative material coupled to the coarse aperture layer.
12. A method using an ultrasound transducer system, comprising:
partially or completely compensating for a predetermined ultrasound beam distortion associated with an ultrasound obstacle using a lens layer;
delivering a transmit ultrasound wavefront into the lens layer and receiving a reflected ultrasound wavefront that has passed through the lens layer corresponding to a reflection of the transmit ultrasound wavefront;
providing a coarse aperture layer coupled to the ultrasound transducer layer and comprising a plurality of channel conductors, wherein each channel conductor is configured to couple to a different portion of a surface of the ultrasound transducer layer, wherein each channel conductor defines a conductive surface area and the conductive surface area of each channel conductor has a size or shape different than all the other channel conductors; and
providing a backing layer comprising an electrically insulative material coupled to the coarse aperture layer.