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World's smallest ultrasound detector is tinier than a blood cell:
Scientists in Germany have succeeded in developing the smallest ultrasound detector ever created, which is tinier than a blood cell and opens up new possibilities in what is known as super-resolution imaging. The researchers describe the results as "breathtaking," and hope the technology could allow for the study of biological tissue in unprecedented detail.
Developed by scientists at the Helmholtz Zentrum München (German Research Center for Environmental Health) and the Technical University of Munich, the new device represents something of a departure from the technology behind traditional ultrasound imaging, which usually relies on what are known as piezoelectric devices that take the pressure created by ultrasound waves and turn it into an electric voltage.
The image quality produced through this method is directly tied to the size of the piezoelectric detector, with the smaller the detector the higher the resolution, but this in turn compromises the sensitivity of the device. The authors of the new study detail a solution to this problem, by turning to a different type of imaging technology that relies on silicon photonics.
[...] The research was published in the journal Nature.
Journal Reference:
Rami Shnaiderman, Georg Wissmeyer, Okan Ülgen, et al. A submicrometre silicon-on-insulator resonator for ultrasound detection, Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2685-y)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 19 2020, @09:39PM
Damn! I dropped it.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Saturday September 19 2020, @10:17PM (1 child)
Put a bunch of them together in a... cluster
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2020, @05:26AM
From tfl:
"The SWED device is around half a micron in size and at least 10,000 times smaller than the smallest piezoelectric detectors in clinical use, giving it the ability to image features smaller than one micrometer in size."
If true, this should be turned into imaging equipment in a hot second. Normal ultrasound imaging is low cost (but also low res). Would be a step change if high res was not too much more expensive. Maybe the ridiculous cost of MRI imaging could be saved (in most cases). Also nice to avoid the x-ray exposure from CAT scans and dental x-rays.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2020, @02:15AM
rock paper scissors nigger spock
rock paper scissors nigger spock
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 20 2020, @06:11AM
She may be crazy, but this is really, really small. And, it doesn't work!!