GHz Ultrasound for Quantitative Oocyte Mechanobiology

This paper presents a quantitative characterization method for oocyte mechanobiology that is performed using an AlN piezoMEMS GHz ultrasound transducer array. This is the first demonstration of a GHz ultrasound imaging array (128×128) with high spatial resolution (50×50 μm/pixel) being used for quantitative characterization of a single oocyte cell with <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\sim 80\mu \mathrm{m}$</tex> diameter, which provides a pathway to an accurate assessment of mechanical properties for the oocyte selection process in assistive reproductive technologies (ART) [1]. Our ultrasound pulse-echo reflectometry measurements performed at ~1.8GHz using this array showed that we can detect the acoustic impedance changes between 1.89±0.23 MRayl and 1.61±0.28 MRayl depending on the presence and condition of zona pellucida (ZP) to make inferences about oocyte health.