公开(公告)号：US20110172543A1

公开(公告)日：2011-07-14

申请号：US13073670

申请日：2011-03-28

申请人： Norman Hugh Hossack ,  Blair Walker ,  Stephen Charles Davies ,  Donald Stanley Mamayek ,  John F. Sheridan

发明人： Norman Hugh Hossack ,  Blair Walker ,  Stephen Charles Davies ,  Donald Stanley Mamayek ,  John F. Sheridan

IPC分类号： A61B8/14

CPC分类号： A61B8/12 ,  A61B8/0841 ,  A61B8/445 ,  A61B8/54

摘要： An ultrasound catheter is described herein for insertion into a cavity such as a blood vessel to facilitate imaging within a vasculature. The catheter comprises an elongate flexible shaft, a capacitive microfabricated ultrasonic transducer, and a sonic reflector. The elongate flexible shaft has a proximate end and a distal end. A capacitive microfabricated ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) is mounted to the shaft near the distal end. The reflector is positioned such that a reflective surface redirects ultrasonic waves to and from the transducer. In other embodiments, the catheter comprises a plurality of cMUT elements and operates without the use of reflectors. In further embodiments, integrated circuitry is incorporated into the design.

摘要翻译： 本文描述了一种用于插入诸如血管的空腔中的超声导管，以便于脉管系统内的成像。 导管包括细长的柔性轴，电容微型超声换能器和声波反射器。 细长柔性轴具有近端和远端。 电容微型超声波换能器（cMUT）安装在靠近远端的轴上。 反射器被定位成使得反射表面将超声波重定向到和从换能器。 在其他实施例中，导管包括多个cMUT元件并在不使用反射器的情况下操作。 在另外的实施例中，将集成电路并入设计中。