Use of piezoelectric materials as markers in ultrasound imaging

Piezoelectric materials can be used as a type of contrast agent and implanted marker in medical diagnostic ultrasound images. Their use depends on their generation of ultrasound evoked electrical potentials that can be detected by remote electrodes. When these potentials are introduced into the imaging circuits of real time ultrasound imaging machines, it can produce a high image contrast for the material. This approach is fundamentally different than the usual methods of producing contrast in diagnostic images because it depends on a different physical interaction process. The method appears suited to labeling objects, catheters, biopsy needles, and other kinds of objects used as implanted markers in the body