Efficient Driving of Piezoelectric Transducers Using a Biaxial Driving Technique

PLoS One. 2015 Sep 29;10(9):e0139178. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139178. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Efficient driving of piezoelectric materials is desirable when operating transducers for biomedical applications such as high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) or ultrasound imaging. More efficient operation reduces the electric power required to produce the desired bioeffect or contrast. Our preliminary work [Cole et al. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. 2014;26(13):135901.] suggested that driving transducers by applying orthogonal electric fields can significantly reduce the coercivity that opposes ferroelectric switching. We present here the experimental validation of this biaxial driving technique using piezoelectric ceramics typically used in HIFU. A set of narrow-band transducers was fabricated with two sets of electrodes placed in an orthogonal configuration (following the propagation and the lateral mode). The geometry of the ceramic was chosen to have a resonance frequency similar for the propagation and the lateral mode. The average (± s.d.) resonance frequency of the samples was 465.1 (± 1.5) kHz. Experiments were conducted in which each pair of electrodes was driven independently and measurements of effective acoustic power were obtained using the radiation force method. The efficiency (acoustic/electric power) of the biaxial driving method was compared to the results obtained when driving the ceramic using electrodes placed only in the pole direction. Our results indicate that the biaxial method increases efficiency from 50% to 125% relative to the using a single electric field.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Acoustics
  • Ceramics
  • Electric Impedance
  • Electric Stimulation
  • Electricity
  • Electrodes*
  • Equipment Design*
  • High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation / instrumentation*
  • Lead
  • Titanium
  • Transducers*
  • Ultrasonics / instrumentation*
  • Zirconium

Substances

  • lead titanate zirconate
  • Lead
  • Zirconium
  • Titanium

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant (386715), http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca (SP); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant (386265), http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca (LC); and MaRS Innovation Proof of Principle Grant, http://marsinnovation.com (OR, LC, SP). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.