Foldable 2D CMUT Arrays for Intracardiac Echography
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current intracardiac echography (ICE) catheters are limited by their size, which restricts the resolution and acoustic power for 3D imaging in the heart, and existing transducer arrays are rigid, making it difficult to achieve flexible and effective imaging.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a support structure that can fold and unfold, allowing a plurality of planar 2D arrays of ultrasonic transducers, such as CMUTs or pMUTs, to be deployed within a narrow catheter for improved imaging aperture, utilizing a reduced number of electrical interconnects and flexible substrates for enhanced flexibility and imaging capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a large aperture transducer array is used for improved imaging resolution and acoustic power, then imaging quality is improved, but the device size and complexity increase making it difficult to insert into narrow body cavities
Solution Approach 1:
The transducer array is divided into multiple smaller sub-arrays that can be independently folded and stored within the catheter. Each sub-array contains a portion of the total transducer elements, allowing the large aperture array to be segmented into compact units that fit within narrow delivery catheters while maintaining the capability to form a large imaging aperture when deployed
Solution Approach 2:
The transducer arrays are nested within the catheter structure in a folded configuration, with multiple arrays arranged in a compact nested pattern. The arrays can be folded back onto themselves or arranged in a concentric pattern within the catheter lumen, allowing the large aperture structure to be contained within a small delivery profile similar to a nested doll configuration
Solution Approach 3:
The catheter incorporates expandable support structures such as balloons or self-expanding frames that transition from a compressed delivery state to an expanded imaging state. The transducer arrays are mounted on these dynamic support structures, allowing them to be delivered in a compact folded state and then deployed to form a large aperture imaging array when the support structure expands at the target site
2Stability of the object's composition
If traditional rigid transducer arrays are used, then structural stability is maintained, but flexibility and adaptability for navigating narrow arteries are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter incorporates flexible materials and thin-film structures for the transducer array supports and housing. The catheter shaft and support structures are made from flexible polymers or shape memory materials that can bend and conform to narrow arterial pathways during delivery, while maintaining sufficient structural integrity to support the transducer arrays during imaging
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter uses dynamic support structures that transition from flexible during delivery to rigid during imaging. Expandable balloons or self-expanding frames provide structural stability only when needed at the target site, while remaining flexible and collapsible during navigation through the vascular system, allowing the catheter to adapt its mechanical properties to different operational phases
3Ease of operation
If the catheter is made narrow for easy insertion, then ease of insertion is improved, but the imaging aperture and acoustic power are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The transducer array is segmented into multiple sub-arrays that can be efficiently packed within the narrow catheter. This segmentation allows optimal use of the limited space within the catheter lumen while maintaining the total number of active elements needed for high acoustic power output and high-resolution imaging when the arrays are deployed
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter delivers transducer arrays in a compact folded configuration along the longitudinal dimension, then deploys them to expand in the transverse dimension to form a large imaging aperture. This dimensional transformation allows the system to achieve both narrow profile for delivery and large aperture for imaging by utilizing different spatial dimensions for different operational phases
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the catheter to fit within narrow arteries and expand for improved imaging, providing better resolution and acoustic power, overcoming the size limitations of traditional ICE catheters and achieving effective 3D imaging within the heart.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of planar two-dimensional (2D) arrays of ultrasonic transducers supported by the support structure
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus, including an insertion tube, configured to be inserted into a body cavity and having a first lumen having a first lumen diameter and a distal opening, and a tubular channel, having a second lumen and an outer channel diameter smaller than the first lumen diameter, inserted into the first lumen. The apparatus includes a support structure, configured to be passed through a space between an inner wall of the insertion tube and an outer wall of the tubular channel to the distal opening in a folded state and to unfold, upon exit of the support structure through the distal opening, in a direction transverse to the first lumen to reach a support dimension that is greater than the first lumen diameter. A plurality of planar two-dimensional arrays of ultrasonic transducers are supported by the support structure, the arrays having transverse dimensions less than the first lumen diameter.