Torsional Ultrasound Sensor Optimization for Soft Tissue Characterization Melchor Rodríguez, Juan Manuel Muñoz Beltrán, Rafael Rus Carlborg, Guillermo Torsional ultrasound Probability of detection Soft tissue mechanics Finite element method Optimization Inverse problem Torsion mechanical waves have the capability to characterize shear stiffness moduli of soft tissue. Under this hypothesis, a computational methodology is proposed to design and optimize a piezoelectrics-based transmitter and receiver to generate and measure the response of torsional ultrasonic waves. The procedure employed is divided into two steps: (i) a finite element method (FEM) is developed to obtain a transmitted and received waveform as well as a resonance frequency of a previous geometry validated with a semi-analytical simplified model and (ii) a probabilistic optimality criteria of the design based on inverse problem from the estimation of robust probability of detection (RPOD) to maximize the detection of the pathology defined in terms of changes of shear stiffness. This study collects different options of design in two separated models, in transmission and contact, respectively. The main contribution of this work describes a framework to establish such as forward, inverse and optimization procedures to choose a set of appropriate parameters of a transducer. This methodological framework may be generalizable for other different applications. 2017-07-27T11:36:01Z 2017-07-27T11:36:01Z 2017-06-15 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Melchor Rodríguez, J.M.; Muñoz Beltrán, R.; Rus Carlborg, G. Torsional Ultrasound Sensor Optimization for Soft Tissue Characterization. Sensors, 17(6): 1402 (2017). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/47291] 1424-8220 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/47291 10.3390/s17061402 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess MDPI