Ultrasonic imaging of medical puncture using array probe

In this paper, we describe the trial manufacture of ultrasonic linear array probes for medical puncture while observing the needle tip and the front lesion by imaging. Two kinds of linear array probes having 13 elements and 128 elements were fabricated. The signal intensity received from the needle tip was simulated and experimentally confirmed as a function of the insertion depth of the needle. The puncture of a simulated blood vessel phantom and a blood vessel of a pig were observed by B-mode imaging. We experimented on the puncture of a dog with the 128-channel linear array probe, and the femoral artery and vein were imaged. The needle tip position was successfully detected during the puncture of the femoral muscle of the dog, and the human median cubital vein was also imaged. (C) 2014 The Japan Society of Applied Physics