Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

St. Jude Medical Coordination Center Bvba

Medtronic Bakken Research Center B.v.

Technische Universiteit Delft

Vincent Adrianus Henneken

Ronald Dekker

Marcus Cornelis Louwerse

Johannes Wilhelmus Weekamp

Peter Dirksen

John Douglas Fraser

Antonia Cornelia Van Rens

Arjen Van Der Horst

Alfons Wouter Groenland

Ke Wang

Sergei Shulepov

Johan Hendrik Klootwijk

Bout Marcelis

Adriaan Leeuwestein

Johannes Wilhelmus Weekemp

Maria Filomena Raganato

Aslihan Arslan Carisey

Wojtek Sudol

Irina Waechter-Stehle

Franciscus Johannes Gerardus Hakkens

Frank Michael Weber

Edward Willem Albert Young

Roland Alexander Van De Molengraaf

Lucas Johannes Anna Maria Beckers

Maarten Petrus Joseph Kuenen

Nicolaas Johannes Anthonius Van Veen

Marcel Mulder

Tiemen Poorter

Egbertus Reinier Jacobs

Michel Marcel Jose Decré

Roland Wilhelmus Maria Bullens

Marc Godfriedus Marie Notten

Stefan Tiensuu

Dirk Van Pijkeren

Angel Metodiev Savov

Antonia Cornelis Van Rens

Jacobus Adrianus Johanna Maria Deckers

Bruno Jean François Frackowiak

Antonia Cornelia Jeannet Van Rens

Sergei Y Shulepo

Adriaan Leeuwenstein

Michel Marcel Jose DecrÉ

A medical device () for insertion into a patient is disclosed. The medical device () comprising an elongate body (), the medical device terminating in a distal portion and further comprising a carrier () carrying an annular sensor arrangement (), wherein the annular sensor arrangement is attached on a forward facing surface of the elongate body (). Also disclosed is a system () including such a medical device ().

Medical device comprising sensor array and system for measurements

Devices, systems, and methods relating to intraluminal imaging are disclosed. In an embodiment, an intraluminal imaging device is disclosed. One embodiment of the intraluminal imaging device comprises a flexible elongate member configured to be inserted into a body lumen of a patient, the flexible elongate member comprising a proximal portion and a distal portion. The intraluminal imaging device further comprises an ultrasound imaging assembly disposed at the distal portion of the flexible elongate member. The imaging assembly comprises a support member, a flexible substrate positioned around the support member, a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements integrated in the flexible substrate, and a plurality of control circuits disposed on the flexible substrate at a position proximal to the plurality of transducer elements. The plurality of control circuits has an outer profile that does not extend beyond an outer profile of the plurality of transducer elements.

Intraluminal ultrasound scanner with reduced diameter

Disclosed is a method for manufacturing an ultrasonic transducer assembly comprising an ultrasonic transducer chip having a main surface comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements and a plurality of first contacts for connecting to said ultrasound transducer elements, a contact chip having a further main surface comprising a plurality of second contacts, a backing member comprising ultrasound absorbing and/or scattering bodies, said backing member comprising a first surface on which the transducer chip is mounted and a second surface on which the contact chip is mounted. A flexible interconnect extends over said backing member from the main surface to the further main surface, the flexible interconnect comprising a plurality of conductive tracks, each conductive track connecting one of said first contacts to a second contact. An ultrasound probe including such an assembly, an ultrasonic imaging system including such an ultrasound probes and manufacturing methods of such an assembly and probe are also disclosed.

Ultrasonic transducer chip assembly, ultrasound probe, ultrasonic imaging system and ultrasound assembly and probe manufacturing methods

An intraluminal ultrasound imaging device includes a flexible elongate member configured to be positioned within a body lumen of a patient. The flexible elongate member includes a proximal portion and a distal portion. The device also includes an ultrasound imaging assembly disposed at the distal portion of the flexible elongate member. The ultrasound imaging assembly is configured to obtain imaging data of the body lumen. The ultrasound imaging assembly includes a transducer array including a substrate, a silicon oxide layer disposed over the substrate, and a plurality of rows of micromachined ultrasound transducer elements disposed on the silicon oxide layer. Two of the plurality of rows of micromachined ultrasound transducer elements are spaced apart by a trench formed by etching through a screen formed in the silicon oxide layer. Associated devices, systems, and methods are also provided.

Intraluminal ultrasound imaging device comprising a substrate separated into a plurality of spaced-apart segments, intraluminal ultrasound imaging device comprising a trench, and method of manufacturing

An intraluminal ultrasound imaging device includes a flexible elongate member configured to be inserted into a body lumen of a patient, the flexible elongate member comprising a proximal portion and a distal portion. The device includes an ultrasound scanner assembly disposed at the distal portion of the flexible elongate member. The ultrasound scanner assembly includes a flexible substrate comprising a longitudinal width extending from an inner edge to an outer edge; a control region embedded in the flexible substrate; a transducer region embedded in the flexible substrate; and a window region disposed between the outer edge of the flexible substrate and the transducer region, and wherein the window region, the transducer region, and the control region are radially arranged relative to one another. Associated devices, systems, and methods are also described.

Rolled flexible substrate with integrated window for intraluminal ultrasound

An imaging device () is disclosed comprising an ultrasound transducer array () having a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements defining an ultrasound emitting surface of the ultrasound transducer array; and an acoustic window () on the ultrasound emitting surface, said acoustic window comprising: a first layer () of a hydrocarbon elastomer contacting the ultrasound emitting surface, said first layer further containing an antioxidant; and a second layer () of a further hydrocarbon elastomer on the first layer, said second layer having a greater Shore A hardness than the first layer. Also disclosed are an ultrasound imaging system () comprising such an imaging device, such as catheter (), and a method () of forming an acoustic window () on an ultrasound transducer array () for such a device ().

Imaging device with ultrasound transducer array

The present invention relates to an ultrasound transducer assembly (), in particular for intra vascular ultrasound systems. The assembly () comprises a transducer array () including a plurality of transducer elements () for transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves. Two support elements () are provided for supporting the transducer array () in a curved or polygonal shape. The support elements () are connected via a flexible connection layer () to the transducer array () for flexibly connecting the support elements () to the transducer array ().

Ultrasound transducer assembly and method for manufacturing an ultrasound transducer assembly

Disclosed are an imaging system () or an interventional tool, such as a catheter (), having a first ultrasound transducer array () and a second ultrasound transducer array () spaced by a fixed distance (D) from each other; wherein both arrays may be used to generate diagnostic images; and a processing arrangement () to process a first sensor signal indicative of the first array imaging a reference location (X) at a first point in time, and to process a second sensor signal indicative of the second array imaging the reference location at a second point in time; and determine a translation (pullback) speed of the catheter from the set distance and the difference between the first point in time and the second point in time. Alternatively, a catheter may be provided comprising an ultrasound transducer array at a distal end of the catheter, and two pressure sensors for determining the translation speed.

Imaging system and method of determining a translation speed of a catheter

A large aperture CMUT transducer array is formed of a plurality of adjacently located tiles of CMUT cells. The adjacent edges of the tiles are formed by an anisotropic etch process, preferably a deep reactive ion etching process which is capable of cutting through the die and its substrate while maintaining vertical edges in close proximity to the CMUT cells at the edge of the tile. This enables the CMUT cells of continuous rows or columns to exhibit a constant pitch over multiple CMUT cell tiles. The tiles also contain interconnect electrodes along an edge for making electrical connections to the tiles with flex circuit.

Tiled CMUT dies with pitch uniformity

The present invention relates to an ultrasound transducer assembly, in particular for intravascular ultrasound systems. The ultrasound transducer assembly comprises at least one silicon substrate element including an ultrasound transducer element for emitting and receiving ultrasound waves and including electrical connectors for electrically connecting the transducer element. The substrate element has a top surface, a bottom surface and a side surface connecting the top surface and the bottom surface. An isolation layer forms the side surface for electrically isolating the substrate element.

An ultrasound transducer arrangement () is disclosed comprising a plurality of substrate islands () spatially separated and electrically interconnected by a flexible polymer assembly () including electrically conductive tracks providing said electrical interconnections, said plurality including a first substrate island () comprising a plurality of ultra sound transducer cells () and a second substrate island () comprising an array of external contacts for connecting the ultrasound sensor arrangement to a flexible tubular body including a coaxial wire assembly () comprising a plurality of coaxial wires () each having a conductive core () covered by an electrically insulating sleeve (); and an electrically insulating body () having a first main surface (), a second main surface () and a plurality of through holes () each extending from the first main surface to the second main surface and coated with an electrically conductive member, wherein each coaxial wire comprises an exposed terminal core portion mounted in one of said though holes from the first main surface, and wherein each through hole is sealed by a solder bump () on the second main surface such that the ultrasound transducer arrangement can be directly mounted on the flexible tubular body without the need for a PCB.

Ultrasound transducer arrangement and assembly, coaxial wire assembly, ultrasound probe and ultrasonic imaging system

Disclosed is an ultrasonic transducer assembly comprising an ultrasonic transducer chip () having a main surface comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements () and a plurality of first contacts () for connecting to said ultrasound transducer elements; a contact chip () having a further main surface comprising a plurality of second contacts (); an backing member () comprising ultrasound absorbing and/or scattering bodies (), said backing member comprising a first surface () on which the transducer chip is mounted and a second surface () on which the contact chip is mounted; and a flexible interconnect () extending over said backing member from the main surface to the further main surface, the flexible interconnect comprising a plurality of conductive tracks (), each conductive track connecting one of said first contacts to a second contact. An ultrasound probe including such an assembly, an ultrasonic imaging system including such an ultrasound probes and manufacturing methods of such an assembly and probe are also disclosed.

An integrated circuit array, in particular for two dimensional sensor arrays such as ultrasound imaging systems is disclosed. The integrated circuit array () comprises a plurality of integrated circuit elements () each formed in a substrate (), wherein the substrates are separated from each other. The array comprises a flexible and/or stretchable connection layer () connected to the integrated circuit elements for flexibly connecting the integrated circuit elements to each other. The array further comprises a plurality of electrical interconnects () for electrically connecting the integrated circuit elements to each other, wherein the electrical interconnects are formed as metal lines in one piece with integrated interconnects of the integrated circuit elements.

Integrated circuit array and method for manufacturing an array of integrated circuits

A CMUT transducer array comprising a first column () of spaced CMUT cells on at least one silicon island, a second column () of spaced CMUT cells on at least one further silicon island, the second column being staggered in alignment with the first column such that cells of the second column are partially located in spaces between successive cells of the first column, the first column and the second column being spaced apart by a gap, and a flexible foil retaining the respective silicon islands, the flexible foil comprising conductive interconnects.

Catheter transducer with staggered columns of micromachined ultrasonic transducers

Growing community of inventors

Utrecht, Netherlands

Vincent Adrianus Henneken