FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A PROTOTYPE ENTERAL TUBE DEVELOPED BY MEANS OF THE MAGNETO-ACOUSTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE COUPLED TO ULTRASOUND

• Grant number: 23/11205-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2023
• End date: September 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nursing
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda Raphael Escobar Gimenes de Sousa
• Grantee: Larissa Gleyciani Verdeli da Silva
• Host Institution: Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto (EERP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/16939-8 - Development and implementation of novel acoustic, magnetic and optical techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, AP.TEM

Abstract

The objective of this scientific initiation project is to evaluate the feasibility of a new imaging technology called magnetoacustrography, a combination of magnetism with ultrasound, to visualize the path of the enteral feeding tube as well as the location of the distal end of the tube in real time. The first step will consist of training the use of the probe guided by magnetoacoustography images in a test body that simulates the gastrointestinal tract. Then, the evaluation of magnetoacoustography imaging protocols with different frequencies and amplitude of the magnetic field generated by a coil coupled to the ultrasound transducer will be performed. Thus, a prototype under development at the Laboratory of Ultrasound and Magnetism (LUMA) of the Biomedical Instrumentation and Ultrasound Innovation Group (GIIMUS) of the University of São Paulo will be evaluated. The magnetoacoustography technique consists in the use of acoustic techniques for the mapping of ferromagnetic targets under the action of an oscillating magnetic field. In this project, magnetoacoustography image will be obtained by Doppler ultrasound technique to map the microvibrations of the enteral tube generated by the oscillating magnetic force conceived between the external magnetic field and the metallic targets fixed at the end of the tube. A radiological ultrasound from Ultrasonix, model Sonix-RP from LUMA laboratory will be used. The magnetoacoustic transducer, under development at GIIMUS, will consist of a coil around the ultrasound transducer energized with a current source consisting of a signal generator and a power amplifier. The frequency to be exploited will be between 10 and 100 Hz. The amplitude of the field will be maintained by the maximum capacity of the amplifier and the field generated in the target region will be of the order of tens of milli-Tesla.