Ultrasound Needle Guidance System for Precision Vaccinations and Drug Deliver

Abstract

Image-guided needles are currently used for drug delivery in bodies, but the additional time associated with aligning and maintaining the needle’s position results in increased patient discomfort or risk of invasion of the human body. In this paper, a needle guidance system using piezoelectric materials is designed and analyzed for precise drug delivery without damaging parts of the body and improving processing time. A piezoelectric generates an ultrasound wave that can propagate through different mediums, and a second piezoelectric crystal can receive that energy and convert it into voltage. A 1D real-time image represents the changes of the voltage induced in the double piezoelectric crystal. Extensive data analysis and visualization are done using different obstacles and location of the needle verified for other mediums. The presence of obstacles in between those crystals can be identified in the real-time grayscale image. The needle can reach its destination using this image information as directional guidance. This guided drug delivery improves patient recovery time and eliminates extra injuries that can be caused due to wrong needle injections, such as lumbar puncture-related nerve damage.