Design of a Custom Flexible Ultrasound Transducer as an Implantable Cranial Sensor for Long-Term Post-Operative Monitoring of Brain Tumor Regrowth

Glioblastoma is a highly invasive, malignant brain tumor that affects over 13,000 patients in the United States each year, with a high rate of recurrence following resection. One possible solution to allow for long-term brain monitoring involves integrating wearable or implantable ultrasound devices with cranial implants. The objective of this study was to design, develop, and characterize and test a novel ultrasound probe that could be used in conjunction with a sonoluscent cranial implant to provide long-term brain monitoring following neurosurgery. A cranioplasty was performed on a human cadaver head and a cranial implant was placed over an ex vivo porcine brain, and ultrasound images of the brains with implanted tumors were captured using a custom, flexible ultrasound transducer. This proof of concept study lays the promising groundwork for the production of a wireless transducer housed inside of a cranial implant to provide long-term brain monitoring.