On June 24, invited by Prof. Shuxiang Dong in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering (COE), Professor Xiaoning Jiang from North Carolina State University gave a seminar to COE teachers and students. The lecture was entitled “Ultra-broadband Ultrasound Transducers for Biomedical Imaging and Therapy”.

Dr. Xiaoning Jiang is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and an Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University. His current research interests include smart materials and structures, micro/nanotechnology enabled ultrasound transducers and sensors, and smart M/NEMS.

Jiang pointed out in the lecture that emerging biomedical applications present unprecedented challenges to ultrasound transducer technology. He presented his team’s recent study on ultrasound transducer materials, structures and devices enabled by micro/nanotechnology.

In specific, they investigated micromachined piezoelectric composite transducers for high frequency intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging, and dual frequency transducers for contrast enhanced IVUS imaging. In ultrasonic therapy study, they demonstrated ultrasound-induced site-specific cell membrane permeabilization (sonoporation) at the cellular level. They also demonstrated multi-frequency ultrasound induced efficient tissue ablation. These new findings suggest that multi-frequency or broadband ultrasound transducers are increasingly important in advancing medicine and biology in many aspects.

The lecture aroused great interests among the COE teachers and students. They raised many questions and Jiang answered them accordingly.