Researchers have developed a 1-mm ultrasound lens that can focus intense ultrasound waves on the interior arterial walls to measure the dragging force of blood as it surges past.
Mechanical engineering professor Craig Friedrich of Michigan Technological University and Robert Keynton of the University of Louisville said the ultrasound waves can measure blood-flow turbulence, which can cause inflammation on interior arterial walls. This can result in more plaque build-up and subsequent blockage, especially within grafts placed by surgeons during coronary artery bypass surgery.
What makes this acoustical lens-transducer system special, they said, is not only its small size, but the fact that the lens keeps its shape because it is milled out after the system is assembled.
The device also holds promise in other areas, such as detecting small tumors.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersApril 24, 2002
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