Design and Fabrication of a High-Frequency Microconvex Array Transducer for Small Animals Imaging

Chen, Weicen; Zhang, Qi; Liu, Jiamei; Lei, Shuang; Li, Yongchuan; Huang, Jiqing; Guo, Lunhuang; Zheng, Hairong; Wu, Dawei; Ma, Teng

doi:10.1109/tuffc.2022.3146309

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Reducing the space occupied by the connection between the array and cabling is a significant challenge for fabricating endoscopic or miniature arrays. The method presented here allows a more compact integration of the array and interconnect compared to the cumbersome bending of the FPCB toward the back or side of the array, as implemented in previous work [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. Vacuum-deposited metals are widely used as electrodes in piezoceramic and MUT transducers [ 17 , 20 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The element electrodes, ending in 50 μm diameter bond pads, were connected to the transmission line traces with silver-coated glass spheres and conductive epoxy using a flip-chip bonding process. Flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs) with traces matching the micro-US array pitch have been used to connect directly to element electrodes, either as a layer between the array and the backing layer [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] or at the end of extended array electrodes using anisotropic conductive adhesives [ 26 ], and packaged into needles [ 22 , 26 ] or catheters [ 23 ]. However, in these examples, a bend in the flexible circuit is necessary to avoid strain in the traces or in the acoustic stack, adding 0.5 to 1 mm to the elevation dimension.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development of a Small-Footprint 50 MHz Linear Array: Fabrication and Micro-Ultrasound Imaging Demonstration

Roa,

Chérin,

Singh

et al. 2024

Sensors

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Compact high-frequency arrays are of interest for clinical and preclinical applications in which a small-footprint or endoscopic device is needed to reach the target anatomy. However, the fabrication of compact arrays entails the connection of several dozens of small elements to the imaging system through a combination of flexible printed circuit boards at the array end and micro-coaxial cabling to the imaging system. The methods currently used, such as wire bonding, conductive adhesives, or a dry connection to a flexible circuit, considerably increase the array footprint. Here, we propose an interconnection method that uses vacuum-deposited metals, laser patterning, and electroplating to achieve a right-angle, compact, reliable connection between array elements and flexible-circuit traces. The array elements are thickened at the edges using patterned copper traces, which increases their cross-sectional area and facilitates the connection. We fabricated a 2.3 mm by 1.7 mm, 64-element linear array with elements at a 36 μm pitch connected to a 4 cm long flexible circuit, where the interconnect adds only 100 μm to each side of the array. Pulse-echo measurements yielded an average center frequency of 55 MHz and a −6 dB bandwidth of 41%. We measured an imaging resolution of 35 μm in the axial direction and 114 μm in the lateral direction and demonstrated the ex vivo imaging of porcine esophageal tissue and the in vivo imaging of avian embryonic vasculature.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Small-Footprint 50 MHz Linear Array: Fabrication and Micro-Ultrasound Imaging Demonstration

Roa,

Chérin,

Singh

et al. 2024

Sensors

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Ultrasound transducers with both imaging and power output capabilities by anti-matching at backing layers

Cai,

Xu,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Applied Physics Letters

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Precise ultrasound therapy requires long-term power output and imaging guidance. However, traditional therapeutic transducers do not have imaging capabilities due to the low bandwidth and long ringing. Whereas for a diagnostic transducer, 20%–30% of the energy is dissipated as heat in the backing layer, resulting in degradation of the transducer under high duty cycle and high voltage excitation. Therefore, the transducers with both power output and imaging capabilities are unmet demands for precise ultrasonic treatment. To address this problem, we propose an ultrasound transducer with both imaging and power output capabilities. An anti-matching layer is designed at the position of the backing layer of the transducer, which reflects the backward ultrasound waves to forward waves. Therefore, the majority of the energy is transmitted efficiently and little energy is dissipated in the backing layer. Finite element simulations demonstrated that a double-layer anti-matching design reflects 99.8% of the backward energy, resulting in an insertion loss of −27.7 dB. The performance was validated by a transducer prototype with transmission measurement using hydrophone and pulse-echo test. This design of transducers with both imaging and power output capabilities indicates a promising application of self-guided ultrasound therapy.

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Low-Stress Ultrafast Laser Micromachining for High-Frequency PMN–PT/Epoxy Composite Transducers

Lei,

Xu,

Liu

et al. 2024

IEEE Sensors J.

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Design and Fabrication of a High-Frequency Microconvex Array Transducer for Small Animals Imaging

Cited by 8 publications

References 30 publications

Development of a Small-Footprint 50 MHz Linear Array: Fabrication and Micro-Ultrasound Imaging Demonstration

Development of a Small-Footprint 50 MHz Linear Array: Fabrication and Micro-Ultrasound Imaging Demonstration

Ultrasound transducers with both imaging and power output capabilities by anti-matching at backing layers

Low-Stress Ultrafast Laser Micromachining for High-Frequency PMN–PT/Epoxy Composite Transducers

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