PhD Scholarship in Microfabricated Ultrasound Transducers

A 3-year PhD scholarship in Microfabricated Ultrasound Transducers is available at DTU Health Tech.

This multidisciplinary research project is focused on developing silicon-based 3D ultrasound transducers for medical ultrasound.

Ultrasound is widely used at hospitals for medical imaging and allows both 2D (well-known from fetal scans) and 3D images to be created, which helps medical doctors in diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Transducers for 3D imaging are advanced and complicated devices. Commercial 3D transducers are most often made as so-called matrix transducers, but these are limited in the number of ultrasound emitters that can be practically fabricated, which limits the attainable image quality.

To overcome this problem row-column addressed arrays (RCA) for ultrasonic imaging have recently attracted attention, as they offer volumetric imaging and larger arrays can be fabricated. Such arrays have very desirable properties as resolution scales linearly with the number of elements, and very large arrays with a good penetration depth are attainable. 

Recent years has seen the development of transducers based on silicon technology. Using silicon surface micromachining allows for fabrication of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUT). Such CMUT transducers use fairly standard integrated circuit fabrication technology to make very small (10-20 micron size) ultrasound transducers, which are grouped to form larger elements. Each of these devices have a thin plate that can be actuated by electrostatic forces thus generating an ultrasound pulse. 2D arrays with a very large array count can be made and there is also the potential to integrate switching capabilities on the die. In this project there will be special emphasis on new microfabrication techniques suitable for CMUTs.  

The purpose of this project is to fabricate CMUT probes that are suitable ultrasound imaging using the DTU NanoLab clean room facility and use these with the facilities at Center for Fast Ultrasound imaging's (CFU) facilities for ultrasound imaging. DTU NanoLab has a state of the art cleanroom suited for fabrication of micromachined structures. CFU are experts in synthetic aperture ultrasound imaging and has the SARUS experimental ultrasound scanner, which can acquire and process data from 1024 transducer elements in real time. In synthetic aperture imaging it is possible to build up the image from several emissions and different elements can be measured from emissions to emissions. Combining all the data will significantly increase the image quality. The purpose is therefore to make CMUT probes with a large number of elements based on a row-column addressing scheme. These are then interfaced to the SARUS system and commercial scanners for real-time operation and experimentation.   

Responsibilities and qualifications

• You will design, develop and fabricate CMUT transducers
• You will integrate the developed CMUTs and be part of building prototype ultrasound probes
• You will test their performance in collaboration with experts in medical ultrasound imaging.
• You have the ability to motivate your colleagues to be their best and achieve ambitious goals

You must have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree.

We envision that the ideal candidate has an experimental background in materials science, physics, nanotechnology, or micro engineering but if you have another background that fits the project, you are welcome to apply.

Approval and Enrolment
The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see the DTU PhD Guide .

Assessment
The assessment of the applicants will be made by the PhD project supervisors Professor Erik V Thomsen (expert in nano and microtechnology) and Professor Jørgen Arendt Jensen (expert in ultrasound imaging).

We offer
DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and appointment terms
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. The period of employment is 3 years.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here .  

Further information
Additional information may be obtained from Professor Erik V Thomsen, phone (+45) 21363016, e-mail: [email protected] .  

You can read more about DTU Health Tech on www.healthtech.dtu.dk/english . 

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark .   

Application
Your complete online application must be submitted no later than1 November 2021 (Danish time). Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply online", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• A 3 page PowerPoint presentation summarizing the main results from your master thesis
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
• Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system (see guidelines and Excel spreadsheet here )

You may apply prior to ob­tai­ning your master's degree but cannot begin before having received it.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

DTU Health Tech engages in research, education, and innovation base on technical and natural science for the healthcare sector. The Healthcare sector is a globally expanding market with demands for the most advanced technological solutions. DTU Health Tech creates the foundation for companies to develop new and innovative services and products which benefit people and create value for society. DTU Health Techs expertise spans from imaging and biosensor techniques, across digital health and biological modelling, to biopharma technologies. The department has a scientific staff of about 210 persons, 130 PhD students and a technical/administrative support staff of about 160 persons, of which a large majority contributes to our research infrastructure and related commercial activities.

Technology for people
DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear vision to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That vision lives on today. DTU has 12,900 students and 6,000 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland, and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.