Medical ultrasound field characterisation

Medical ultrasound field characterisation

NPL's unique range of hydrophones and beam-plotting tanks provide acoustic output measurements of medical ultrasound equipment in the frequency range 500 kHz to 50 MHz, with a positional resolution of 2.5 micrometres.

Facilities include:

Bespoke beam-plotting tank with 9 computer-controlled axes
Precision Acoustics Ltd beam-plotting tank with 3 computer-controlled axes
Multi-element hydrophone-based Ultrasound Beam Calibrator

These facilities cover measurements of the acoustic output of ultrasonic devices against the following standards: IEC 61157, IEC 60601-2-5, IEC 61689 and IEC 60601-2-37 ISO EN45502-1 Clause 22.1 AIUM/NEMA UD-2 AIUM/NEMA UD-3 FDA 510(k), FDA 1050.10

Typical work includes:

Acoustic output testing of diagnostic and therapeutic devices for FDA approval and CE marking
CW and pulsed ultrasound check source characterisation
Ultrasound exposure tests

Experimental investigations can also be carried out to examine the field distribution of pre-market devices, from medical and industrial applications, providing the user with valuable information on beam patterns produced by prototype transducers.