Computer Vision News - June 2022

62 Medical Imaging Application at the onset, whereas a cMUT has some limitations, from the amount of power to the different software algorithms you can use, ” Jeff explains. “ The P, the piezoelectric, is where the differentiation takes place. The FDA limits the amount of power you can put in the body, but the piezoelectric allows us to do broader frequencies and higher power up to the FDA limit. ” That extra power can help image patients for whom it is difficult for the ultrasound to penetrate. For example, someone who is bigger than average, where that extra power afforded by the pMUT is needed to see deep inside of the body. Jeff joined Exo four years ago, having spent almost two decades at GE Healthcare , where his career in ultrasound began. “ What attracted me to Exo is its vision of helping the world with imaging, ” he tells us. “ Three-quarters of the planet doesn’t have access to any imaging, and ultrasound is a For more than fifty years, ultrasound probes have beenmade by taking a piece of piezoceramic, dicing it into small elements, and attaching wires to each element. This process is labor-intensive and expensive. The technology developed by Exo (pronounced ‘echo’) is completely different from anything on the market today. Described as ‘silicon meets piezo,’ its nanotech hardware deposits the piezoelectric on a piece of silicon, giving users the capability of a three-dimensional imager in their pocket. It is relatively inexpensive but would offer a much higher performance than other handhelds, and the technology has the potential to be used in many different form factors. The device itself is a Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer , or pMUT , rather than a Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducer , or cMUT . “ A pMUT uses high-end ultrasound technology and performance capabilities Jeff Peiffer is the VP of Marketing at Exo, a start- up in Redwood City, in the heart of Silicon Valley. He speaks to us about Exo’s plans to disrupt the marketplace with its advanced ultrasound hardware and high- performance point-of-care ultrasound platform for medical imaging.