Fluid-fillable ultrasound imaging catheter tips

An imaging catheter tip, comprising:

• a housing;
• a transducer located within the housing in a distal portion of the imaging catheter tip;
• a motor assembly located within the housing in a proximal portion of the imaging catheter tip, wherein the motor assembly comprises a motor holder and a motor configured to facilitate oscillation of the transducer about a longitudinal axis of the imaging catheter tip;
• and
• a flexible interconnect cable disposed between the motor assembly and the housing, wherein the flexible interconnect cable is configured to connect to the transducer.

A method of using an imaging catheter tip, comprising:

• filling a distal portion of the imaging catheter tip with acoustic coupling fluid from a proximal end of the imaging catheter tip using a fill tube;
• inserting the imaging catheter tip into a patient;
• and
• collecting ultrasound imaging data using a transducer assembly disposed in the distal portion of the imaging catheter tip.

A method of initializing the oscillation of a transducer assembly within an imaging catheter tip, comprising:

• rotating the transducer assembly in a first rotational direction about an axis of rotation until a first hard stop is contacted;
• determining a first rotational location indicative of the location of the first hard stop;
• and
• rotating the transducer assembly about the axis of rotation to a second rotational location based on at least the first rotational location.

A system, comprising:

• an imaging system for collecting imaging data;
• and
• an imaging catheter, comprising:
• an imaging catheter tip, comprising:
• a transducer assembly located in a distal portion of the imaging catheter tip;
• a motor assembly located in a proximal portion of the imaging catheter tip;
• and
• a fill tube configured to fill the distal portion of the imaging catheter tip with fluid from a proximal end of the imaging catheter tip.