Development and evaluation of a titanium-based planar ultrasonic scalpel for precision surgery.

This paper introduces a titanium-based planar ultrasonic microscalpel. The concept of silicon-based planar ultrasonic transducers has already been proven, but they are not yet suitable for clinical use due to material failure. The main objective of this work was to develop a smaller, lighter, and more cost-effective ultrasonic scalpel that could be used as an alternative or supplementary device to current surgical instruments. Various prototypes were fabricated and characterized, differing in bonding by three epoxy adhesives and two solder pastes as well as three variations in tip design. The instruments were designed to operate in the frequency range of commercial instruments and to generate a longitudinal displacement amplitude. The electro-mechanical characterization through impedance analysis and vibration measurements was complemented by an in vitro cutting trial and an acute in vivo animal experiment in comparison to commercial ultrasonic and electrosurgical devices. The operating frequency was around 40 kHz and 48 kHz depending on whether matched or unmatched operation was used. Unmatched operation turned out to be more suitable, achieving displacement amplitudes of 25.3 μm and associated velocity amplitudes of up to 7.9 m/s at an electrical power of 10.2 W. The cutting ability was demonstrated in vivo by successful dissection even under anticoagulation. The geometry of the instrument tip was found to have a major influence on cutting performance by affecting the resonance behaviour and tissue penetration

Development and in-vitro characterization of an implantable flow sensing transducer for hydrocephalus

An implantable transducer for monitoring the flow of Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the treatment of hydrocephalus has been developed which is based on measuring the heat dissipation of a local thermal source. The transducer uses passive telemetry at 13.56MHz for power supply and read out of the measured flow rate. The in vitro performance of the transducer has been characterized using artificial Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) with increased protein concentration and artificial CSF with 10% fresh blood. After fresh blood was added to the artificial CSF a reduction of flow rate has been observed in case that the sensitive surface of the flow sensor is close to the sedimented erythrocytes. An increase of flow rate has been observed in case that the sensitive surface is in contact with the remaining plasma/artificial CSF mix above the sediment which can be explained by an asymmetric flow profile caused by the sedimentation of erythrocythes having increased viscosity compared to artificial CSF. After removal of blood from artificial CSF, no drift could be observed in the transducer measurement which could be associated to a deposition of proteins at the sensitive surface walls of the packaged flow transducer. The flow sensor specification requirement of +−10% for a flow range between 2ml/h and 40ml/h. could be confirmed at test conditions of 37°

Controlled nucleation of thin microcrystalline layers for the recombination junction in a-Si stacked cells

In high-efficiency a-Si : H based stacked cells, at least one of the two layers that form the internal n/p junction has preferentially to be microcrystalline so as to obtain sufficient recombination at the junction [1–6]. The crucial point is the nucleation of a very thin μc-Si : H layer on an amorphous (i-layer) substrate [2, 4]. In this study, fast nucleation is induced through the treatment of the amorphous substrate by a CO2 plasma. The resulting n-layers with a high crystalline fraction were, however, found to reduce the Voc when incorporated in tandem cells. The reduction of the Voc could be restored only by a precise control of the crystalline fraction of the n-layer. As a technologically more feasible alternative, we propose a new, combined n-layer, consisting of a first amorphous layer for a high Voc, and a second microcrystalline layer, induced by CO2 treatment, for a sufficient recombination at the n/p junction. Resulting tandem cells show no Voc losses compared to two standard single cells, and an efficient recombination of the carriers at the internal junction as proved by the low series resistance (15 Ωcm2) and the high FF ( 75%) of the stacked cells

Thin-film silicon solar cells: A review and selected trends

A case is developed for considering silicon as the prime medium-term candidate for semiconductor photovoltaic cells; the argumentation is based on other materials not being abundantly available, highly toxic and/or very expensive. Crystalline silicon solar cells have excellent efficiencies, however, according to data presented by the authors on material fluxes and energy consumption there are serious bottlenecks for this technique with respect to future large-scale applications both from an economical as well as from an ecological point of view. Thus, the authors consider thin-film silicon solar cells as the main option for large-scale energy applications in the foreseeable future. Thin-film silicon solar cells are either polycrystalline or amorphous. The first category is gaining in interest at this moment, but major technological problems remain unresolved, e.g., growth of a high-quality crystalline structure on foreign (low-cost) substrates, reduction of deposition temperature and increase of deposition rate. The second category has so far yielded only limited stable efficiencies, although progress has been recently achieved in improving the stability of solar cells using stacked or tandem/triple structures. Novel approaches to further improve the stable efficiencies, such as using low-level doping profiles within the i-layer of the p-i-n solar cell, are listed. Entirely microcrystalline p-i-n solar cells that are stable and can be deposited at low temperatures (220° C) with rates up to 1 å/s by the VHF plasma deposition technique are described as further, recent contribution to thin-film silicon photovoltaic technology

Potential of VHF-plasmas for low-cost production of a-Si: H solar cells

Compared to the use of the standard glow discharge technique the production of amorphous silicon solar cells by the very high frequency glow discharge (VHF-GD) bears yet additional cost reduction potentials: Using VHF-GD at excitation frequencies higher than 13.56 MHz, a more efficient dissociation of silane gas is obtained; thus, higher deposition rates are achieved; this reduces considerably the deposition time for intrinsic amorphous and microcrystalline silicon layers. Furthermore, by itself and even more so, in combination with argon dilution, VHF-GD technique improves silane utilisation and leads, thus, to further cost reduction. Finally, by combining the VHF-GD technique and the “micromorph” concept “real” tandem cells (i.e. a superposition of two cells with distinctly different band gaps) can be deposited at low temperatures without the use of expensive germane gas