Semi-rigid acoustic coupling articles for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment applications

Abstract

Disclosed are articles, devices and systems providing a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium for ultrasound diagnostic and treatment techniques. In some aspects, an acoustic coupling article includes a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) able to conform to a receiving body through deformation of the SACM body in order to propagate an acoustic signal within the SACM to and from the receiving body. In some embodiments, the SACM is configured in a shape having one or more attachment portions located at one end of an acoustic interface portion, such that the acoustic interface portion is operable to contact the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signal and the attachment portions are configured to be secured by an acoustic probe device to transmit and receive the propagated acoustic signal.

1 - 10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . A method for acoustic tomographic imaging using a semi-rigid acoustic coupling article, the method comprising:
 synthesizing, at a computing device, a plurality of individual coded waveforms that correspond to different frequency bands, such that each of the individual coded waveforms includes a distinct frequency with respect to another of the individual coded waveforms;   forming, at the computing device, a composite waveform from at least some of the plurality of individual coded waveforms;   transducing, at an array of acoustic transducer elements disposed along a curved trajectory in a housing body of an acoustic probe, an acoustic waveform to be transmitted at a target in a biological receiving medium, wherein the acoustic waveform corresponds to the composite waveform formed at the computing device;   transmitting, from the array of acoustic transducer elements, the acoustic waveform through an acoustic coupling article that is physically and acoustically coupled to (i) each of the acoustic transducer elements of the array and (ii) the biological receiving medium, wherein the acoustic coupling article comprises:
 a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) including a hydrogel material that comprises a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water, 
 wherein the SACM contacts and conforms to the acoustic transducer elements at a first end of the SACM and to the biological receiving body at a second end of the SACM and propagates acoustic signals of the acoustic composite waveform within the SACM between the acoustic transducer elements and the receiving body; 
   receiving one or more returned acoustic waveforms that are returned from at least part of the target corresponding to the transmitted acoustic composite waveform, wherein the receiving includes selecting at least some of the transducing elements of the array to receive the one or more returned acoustic waveforms; and   producing a tomographic image of the at least part of the target based on the one or more returned acoustic waveforms and the transmitted acoustic composite waveform.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the hydrogel material of the SACM further comprises N,N′-methylenebisacrylaminde (MBA), N′,N′,N,N-tetramethlethylenediamine (TMED), calcium sulfate (CA), and ammonium persulfate (APS). 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the SACM propagates the acoustic signals through the hydrogel material with an acoustic impedance matching in a range of 2 MRayls or less. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the SACM propagates the acoustic signals through the hydrogel material with an acoustic attenuation in a range of about 0.0001-1.00 dB/cm/MHz. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the SACM is configured to undergo stretchability in a range of 10% to 2500% elongation. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the SACM is configured to undergo compression in a range of 20% to 99.99%. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the SACM is configured to have a Young's modulus in a range of 1 kPa to 500 kPa. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the SACM propagates the acoustic signals through the hydrogel material with: a speed of sound (SOS) of about 1549 m/s, an attenuation (ATTN) of about 0.14 dB/MHz·cm, an acoustic impedance (Z) of about 1.597 MRayls, a Young's Modulus (E) of about 32 kPa, and an engineering strain (ε) of about −15 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the SACM comprises a single hydrogel material having a shape that includes one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface and is operable to conform to the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body, wherein the attachment portions are configured to be secured by the acoustic probe to transmit and receive propagated acoustic signals through the single hydrogel material. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the SACM is structured to have a T-shape including two attachment portions located at the first end, and the acoustic interface portion spans away from the two attachment portions and terminates at the second end. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the curved trajectory of the array of acoustic transducer elements in the housing body of the acoustic probe is concave. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the acoustic coupling article is physically and acoustically coupled to (i) each of the acoustic transducer elements of the array and (ii) the biological receiving medium and without an intervening fluid between the acoustic coupling article and the acoustic transducer elements or the biological receiving medium. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the acoustic coupling article is physically and acoustically coupled to (i) each of the acoustic transducer elements of the array and (ii) the biological receiving medium and without a fluid-filled sac between the acoustic coupling article and the acoustic transducer elements or the biological receiving medium. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the acoustic probe includes a large array of transducer elements, where at least some of the acoustic transducer elements have a size greater than 100 mm. 
     
     
         25 . A system for acoustic tomographic imaging, comprising:
 a computing device comprising a processor and memory and configured to synthesize a plurality of individual coded waveforms that correspond to different frequency bands, such that each of the individual coded waveforms includes a distinct frequency with respect to another of the individual coded waveforms, and to form a composite waveform from at least some of the plurality of individual coded waveforms;   an acoustic probe comprising a housing body and an array of acoustic transducer elements disposed along a curved trajectory in the housing body, the acoustic probe configured to transduce an acoustic waveform to be transmitted at a target in a biological receiving medium, wherein the acoustic waveform corresponds to the composite waveform formed at the computing device; and   acoustic coupling article comprising a semi-rigid acoustic coupling medium (SACM) including a hydrogel material that comprises a dimethyl acrylamide monomer (DMAm), a sodium alginate block copolymer (P(SA)), and water, wherein the acoustic coupling article is configured to physically and acoustically couple to (i) each of the acoustic transducer elements of the array and (ii) the biological receiving medium, such that, when physically and acoustically coupled to the acoustic transducer elements and the biological receiving medium, the acoustic coupling article is operable to propagate the acoustic waveform to be transmitted at the target in the biological receiving medium and to propagate one or more returned acoustic waveforms that are returned from at least part of the target corresponding to the transmitted acoustic composite waveform,   wherein the system is operable to produce a tomographic image of the at least part of the target based on the one or more returned acoustic waveforms and the transmitted acoustic composite waveform.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the hydrogel material of the SACM further comprises N,N′-methylenebisacrylaminde (MBA), N′,N′,N,N-tetramethlethylenediamine (TMED), calcium sulfate (CA), and ammonium persulfate (APS). 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the SACM comprises a single hydrogel material having a shape that includes one or more attachment portions located at the first end and an acoustic interface portion spanning away from the one or more attachment portions and terminating at the second end, such that an outward surface of the acoustic interface portion at the second end is structured to have multiple curves in multiple directions along the outward surface and is operable to conform to the receiving body to propagate the acoustic signals into and from the receiving body, wherein the attachment portions are configured to be secured by the acoustic probe to transmit and receive propagated acoustic signals through the single hydrogel material. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 27 , wherein the SACM is structured to have a T-shape including two attachment portions located at the first end, and the acoustic interface portion spans away from the two attachment portions and terminates at the second end. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the acoustic probe includes a large array of transducer elements, where at least some of the acoustic transducer elements have a size greater than 100 mm. 
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 25 , wherein the curved trajectory of the array of acoustic transducer elements of the acoustic probe is concave.