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We present a 3-D ultrasound imaging system utilizing a light-based ultrasound transmitter. The system achieves high spatial resolution through a plain surface coated with a thin layer of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which is optically scanned by a pulsed laser. The transmitter is fabricated by depositing a CNT-polydimethylsiloxane composite onto a glass substrate using techniques such as dip coating, dropping, and spin coating. The transmission characteristics are dependent on the laser beam width and CNT layer thickness, with the spin-coated layer demonstrating a center frequency of 9.08 MHz and bandwidth of 12.65 MHz. The imaging system boasts an axial resolution of 200 μm and lateral resolution of 190 μm. 3-D imaging was successfully performed on a chicken heart with a penetration depth up to 30 mm, providing a potential replacement for complex high voltage pulser circuits with a simple and manufacturable optical ultrasound transmitter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate measurement of bladder volume is an important tool for evaluating bladder function. In this study, we propose a wearable bladder scanner system that can continuously measure bladder volume in daily life for urinary patients who need urodynamic studies. The system consisted of a 2-D array, which included integrated forward-looking piezoelectric transducers with thin substrates. This study aims to estimate the volume of the bladder using a small number of piezoelectric transducers. A least-squares method was implemented to optimize an ellipsoid in a quadratic surface equation for bladder volume estimation. Ex-vivo experiments of a pig bladder were conducted to validate the proposed system. This work presents the potential of the approach for wearable bladder monitoring, which has similar measurement accuracy compared to the commercial bladder imaging system. The wearable bladder scanner can be improved further as electronic voiding diaries by adding a few more features to the current function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]