$10 Microchip by Duke and Stanford turns 2-D Ultrasound Machines to 3-D Imaging Devices

Researchers from Duke University and Stanford University have designed a $10 microchip to make a simple 3D ultrasound imaging device that produces 3D scans similar in quality to CT or MRI scans using your regular 2D ultrasound machine.

The researchers and physicians from Duke demonstrated their device on Oct. 31 at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) Research Forum in Washington, D.C. 

The budget microchip is roughly the size of a fingernail, and like a Nintendo Wii video game controller, the chip registers the probe’s orientation, then uses software to seamlessly stitch hundreds of individual slices of the anatomy together in three dimensions to give an instant 3-D model similar in quality to a CT scan or MRI. And the better the ultrasound machine being used, the higher the quality of the generated 3D image.

The chip can be added to your regular 2D ultrasound armament by using a 3D printed clip on attachment. 3D ultrasound machines can cost around $250,000, around five times more than their 2D counterparts.

 Joshua Broder, M.D., an emergency physician and associate professor of surgery at Duke Health and one of the creators of the technology got the idea behind the chip while playing Nintendo games with his son.

 After working on the chip for a year, he took sketches to Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, connecting with then-undergraduate Matt Morgan, and biomedical engineering instructors and professors Carl Herickhoff and Jeremy Dahl, who have since taken positions at Stanford where they continue to develop the device.

The team has used Duke’s own 3-D printing labs to create a prototype, in the form of a streamlined plastic holster that slips onto the ultrasound probe. A physician can use the probe as a regular 2D probe or add the 3-D capability by simply snapping on a plastic attachment containing the location-sensing microchip. To get the best 3-D images, the team also devised a plastic stand to help steady the probe as the user hones in on one part of the anatomy.

The microchip and the ultrasound probe connect via computer cables to a laptop programmed for the device. As the user scans, the computer program whips up a 3-D model in seconds.

Both Duke and Stanford are testing the technology in clinical trials to determine how it fits in the flow of patient care. The creators believe some of the most promising uses could be when CT scans or MRIs are not available, in rural or developing areas, or when they are too risky.

“Instead of looking through a keyhole to understand what’s in the room, we can open a door and see everything in front of us.”

This upgrade is especially important for babies and trauma patients who cannot be moved. The team has already received a grant from Emergency Medicine Foundation and General Electric to conduct clinical trials for application of the device to located bleeding vessels in trauma patients.

The quality of resulting 3D model is comparable to images produced by a 3D sonography machine, CT scan or MRI scan.”

Clinical trials are already on the way to test the technology in real life applications and emergency scenarios.

Here is a video in which Dr.Broder demonstrate the device.