About Opportunity:

Ultrasound is a safe, low cost technology with a vast array of applications. The transducer in an ultrasound system is analogous to the lens in a camera. As such, ultimate system performance is dependent on it and new transducer capabilities can lead directly to improvements in system performance. A particularly important transducer parameter is bandwidth. Bandwidth has a direct impact on the definition of the information that is obtained, for example, the sharpness of images, and additional bandwidth can also be utilised with modern instrumentation to allow imaging of objects at greater distances. The project combines state-of-the-art technology in three areas: composites, new materials and new physical structures. This will permit the production of ultrasonic transducers with bandwidths exceeding those of existing devices by a factor as much as five. The primary target markets for the new transducers are underwater sonar, biomedical diagnosis and non-destructive testing.