Band-aid sized device designed to provide low-cost ultrasounds

Engineers have created a new smartphone-powered, wearable, portable and band-aid sized ultrasound device, which is set to largely slash down the prices of ultrasound scanners.

Engineers at University of British Columbia (UBC) have developed an innovative ultrasound transducer that can cut down costs of ultrasound scanners to as low as $100. The probe is a band-aid sized portable and wearable device that can be powered by smartphone.

Ultrasound devices can see the human body’s internal structures and transducer or probe is a device that is a chief component of the device, explained Futurism. As explained in the research published in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering, the device gives out sound waves that bounce off body tissue, hence producing echoes. The probe then picks up those echoes and transfers them to a computer, which then uses the data to produce an image called sonogram.

You can now conduct ultrasounds with your smartphone

Usual ultrasound scanners use piezoelectric crystals in order to create these images. UBC researchers, however, replaced these crystals with small vibrating drums made out of polymer resin, known as polyCMUTs (polymer capacitive micro-machines ultrasound transducers), which are cheaper to manufacture.

The sonograms produced by their device were as sharp and even more detailed than the general sonograms produced by piezoelectric tranducers.

The construction of these polyCMUTs needed minimal equipment and cost less than $100. The transducer too needs only 10V to function which means that it can be powered simply by a smartphone, leading to usage for such devices in low-power locations.

Additionally, the tiny size of the device can made new design options possible as well. Their next step is to develop a vast range of prototypes and also to test their device in clinical applications. However, the team is still waiting for certification from the patents committee.

“You could miniaturize these transducers and use them to look inside your arteries and veins. You could stick them on your chest and do live continuous monitoring of your heart in your daily life. It opens up so many different possibilities,” expressed co-author Robert Rohling.