About Me

I am a PhD student in Biomedical Engineering @ Duke University (expected 2027), advised by Prof. Pengfei Song, working on ultrasound imaging systems and medical device R&D. My current focus is FASTER-AIR, a portable clip-on device that turns a conventional 1-D linear-array probe into a high-resolution 3-D imaging system.

I hold an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from USC, where I worked at the Ultrasound Transducer Resource Center on transducer design and fabrication and on an ultrasound tweezer platform for cell manipulation.

My work spans the full device pipeline: concept development, wave propagation simulation, transducer design and fabrication, prototyping, system integration, image reconstruction, and benchtop verification and validation.

Up till now my focus has been on focused & therapeutic ultrasound, 3-D imaging and Doppler, ULM, microbubble cavitation modeling, and deep learning–based computational imaging, with experience in k-Wave, Field II, Verasonics, hydrophone metrology, MEMS, and embedded control. Feel free to reach out if any of the above interests you.

Projects

FASTER-AIR: Portable High-Resolution 3-D Ultrasound

Clips onto a standard 1-D probe
3-D phantom volume from a single reflector sweep

A clip-on 3-D system built on a MEMS tilting acoustic reflector. My air-backed convex–concave design improved elevational resolution from 2.98 to 1.39 mm and CNR from 1.57 to 2.24; volumetric flow via power-weighted SIVV matched reference rates from 60–420 mL/min.

D. Yan*, M. R. Lowerison, D. P. Bradway, M. Yi, S. Abbasikamazani, J. Zou, and P. Song, “Air-backing acoustic reflectors for enhanced FASTER 3-D ultrasound imaging,” submitted to IEEE TUFFC, 2026.

Beam Scope: Portable Calibration Accessory

Replaces a two-scanner, two-transducer water-tank calibration with a single-system workflow completed in minutes, alongside Arduino-based control for reflector actuation, imaging-plane positioning, and acquisition synchronization.

Focused Ultrasound with Concurrent Imaging

A stainless-steel convex–concave clip-on beam-path remodulator for H-102 transducers, with a central aperture for imaging arrays that enables image guidance during neuromodulation. Includes fUS in mice mapping stimulus-evoked cerebral hemodynamics.

Focused Ultrasound Microbubble Cavitation Simulation [Code]

A MATLAB tool that predicts how a microbubble population will behave before a sonication is run. Given a k-Wave focal pressure field and a size distribution, it places a polydisperse population in a bifurcating vessel, solves the Keller–Miksis equation with a Marmottant lipid shell for each bubble at its own local pressure, and classifies the regime it lands in — under-driven, stable cavitation, inertial collapse, or destroyed. Built for choosing frequency, pressure, and agent size for blood–brain-barrier opening and drug delivery.

Transcranial Ultrasound Localization Microscopy

Deep learning phase-aberration correction using experimentally acquired skull-aberrated and reference PSF banks to cut training-to-in-vivo domain shift — up to 10.96% better in vivo resolution through intact mouse skulls.

M. Yi, Z. Huang, Y. Wang, B.-Z. Lin, D. Yan, Y. Shin, M. Lowerison, and P. Song, “Addressing domain shift in deep learning-based phase aberration correction for transcranial ULM,” submitted to IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2026.

Talks

  • IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS 2026), Raleigh, NC — selected oral, “Air-Backed Curved Acoustic Reflectors for Elevational Beam Refocusing in FASTER 3-D Ultrasound Imaging.” Oct 2026.
  • International Symposium on Ultrasonic Imaging and Tissue Characterization, Silver Spring, MD — oral, on FASTER-AIR’s reflector architecture, calibration workflow, and volumetric flow validation. Apr 2026.
  • AIUM Annual Convention, Orlando, FL — poster, clip-on 3-D ultrasound and volumetric flow on a GE LOGIQ E10 with a clinical L2-9D probe. 2025.

Pub List

  1. D. Yan*, M. R. Lowerison, D. P. Bradway, M. Yi, S. Abbasikamazani, J. Zou, and P. Song, “Air-backing acoustic reflectors for enhanced FASTER 3-D ultrasound imaging,” submitted to IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, 2026.
  2. M. Yi, Z. Huang, Y. Wang, B.-Z. Lin, D. Yan, Y. Shin, M. Lowerison, and P. Song, “Addressing domain shift in deep learning-based phase aberration correction for transcranial ultrasound localization microscopy,” submitted to IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 2026.
  3. M. R. Lowerison et al., including D. Yan, “Comparison of high-frequency ultrasound transducers for microvascular localization microscopy in the mouse brain,” Imaging Neuroscience, vol. 3, 2025.
  4. M. R. Lowerison et al., including D. Yan, “Capillary-scale microvessel imaging with high-frequency ultrasound localization microscopy in mouse brain,” bioRxiv, 2024.
  5. Z. Dong et al., including D. Yan, “Real-time 3-D ultrasound imaging with a clip-on device attached to common 1-D array transducers,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am., vol. 155, p. A102, 2024.
  6. Y. Zeng et al., including D. Yan, “Manipulation and mechanical deformation of leukemia cells by high-frequency ultrasound single beam,” IEEE TUFFC, vol. 69, no. 6, pp. 1889–1897, 2022.