title: Design of a multilayer transducer for acoustic bladder volume assessment.
abstract: Catheterization remains the "gold standard" for bladder volume assessment, but it is invasive and introduces the risk of infections and traumas. Therefore, noninvasive bladder volume measurement methods have gained interest. In a preceding study a new technique to measure the bladder volume on the basis of nonlinear ultrasound wave propagation was validated. This paper describes a first prototype of a dedicated multilayer transducer to implement this approach. It is composed of a PZT transducer for transmission and a PVDF layer for reception. Acoustical measurements in a water tank and phantom measurements showed that there is a relation between bladder volume and the harmonic contents of the echo obtained from a region of interest behind the bladder. Simulations with an equivalent transducer model on the basis of KLM-circuit modeling closely matched with the results from the acoustical measurements. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the multilayer transducer design for bladder volume assessment on the basis of nonlinear wave propagation.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Thoraxcentre, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. e.merks@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: Egon J W
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Merks
authors.forename: Ayache
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bouakaz
authors.forename: Nicolaas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bom
authors.forename: Charles T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Lancée
authors.forename: Antonius F W
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: van der Steen
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: de Jong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009929:Organ Size; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014159:Transducers; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*