Miniaturised pipe organ boosts medical imaging

A miniaturised version of a musical instrument that could be used to improve the quality of medical images has been manufactured by researchers at the University of Strathclyde.

The team created a miniaturised pipe organ, based on the wide range of pipes seen in the full-sized instrument. The device has been designed to improve images from ultrasound scanners by broadening the range of frequencies used to emit sound waves.

Professor Tony Mulholland, Head of Strathclyde’s Department of Mathematics & Statistics and a partner in the research, said: “Musical instruments have a wide variety of designs but they all have one thing in common – they emit sound across a broad range of frequencies.  So there is a treasure trove of design ideas for future medical imaging sensors lying waiting to be discovered amongst this vast array of designs.

Around 20% of medical scans are performed using ultrasound.  The scanner creates images by emitting sound waves with a frequency that lies above human hearing.  The scanner operates at a single frequency - similar to a piano that can play just one note- and this accounts in part for the relatively poor resolution that one sees in ultrasound images.

“If we had a scanner that could emit waves across a broad range of frequencies, this would provide a marked improvement in the imaging capability,” said Professor Mulholand.

The multidisciplinary team of researchers developed and tested the designs using mathematical models and computer simulations to speed up the design process.

While its development is at an early stage, the team hope technology could also have significant implications in the design of hearing aids, in underwater sonar and the non-destructive testing of safety critical structures such as nuclear plants.

The work is published in IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control.