Researchers in Canada design wearable ultrasound scanner

Image credit- philips.com

A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada has created a new ultrasound transducer that is wearable, portable, cost-effective and can be powered by a smartphone.

The new wearable ultrasound consists of tiny vibrating drums that are made of polymer resin. These are called polymer capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducers (polyCMUTs) and are cheaper to manufacture.

The new ultrasound scanner is expected to potentially slash the device cost to $100. Also, the new transducer only requires 10 volts for operation and hence can be powered using a smartphone.

The researchers are currently working towards developing different prototypes of their transducer, with plans to investigate its use in various clinical applications in the future.