Patent ID: 11857361
Assignee: KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A  G

Claim 18:
19. An intraluminal ultrasound imaging system, comprising:
an ultrasound imaging catheter configured to obtain imaging data while positioned within a body lumen of a patient, the ultrasound imaging catheter comprising a proximal portion, a distal portion, and a longitudinal axis, wherein the ultrasound imaging catheter further comprises:
a plurality of substrate islands;
a plurality of acoustic elements formed on each of the plurality of substrate islands, wherein the plurality of acoustic elements comprises a plurality of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) elements, wherein each of the plurality of CMUT elements comprises a membrane movable relative to the plurality of substrate islands;
a flexible interconnect coupled to the plurality of substrate islands such that the flexible interconnect directly contacts the membrane and the plurality of substrate islands is arranged around the longitudinal axis at the distal portion, wherein the flexible interconnect comprises a plurality of openings, each opening of the plurality of openings overlapping with an associated acoustic element of the plurality of acoustic elements; and
an acoustically-transparent window disposed over the plurality of acoustic elements, the acoustically-transparent window comprising:
a first material layer positioned over and directly contacting the membrane;
a second material layer positioned over and directly contacting the first material layer; and
a third material layer positioned over and directly contacting the second material layer,

wherein the second material layer couples the first material layer and the third material layer, and
wherein the acoustically-transparent window is disposed over the flexible interconnect; and

a processor in communication with the ultrasound imaging catheter and configured to output, to a display, an ultrasound image based on the obtained imaging data.