Materials and processes for bonding acoustically neutral structures for use in ultrasound catheters
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsDonald Joseph Buckley, JR., Douglas Glenn Wildes, Warren Lee, Weston Blaine Griffin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided herein is a method of manufacturing ultrasound probe comprising a probe housing defining a distal end, an ultrasonic transducer array disposed within the probe housing and rotatable within said probe housing, an acoustically neutral structure bonded to a surface of the ultrasonic transducer array by an adhesive, a motor coupled to the ultrasonic transducer array, the motor being configured to rotate the ultrasonic transducer array in order to image a three-dimensional volume; and an acoustic coupling fluid disposed within free volume of the probe housing.
Claims5
A method of manufacturing an ultrasound probe comprising:
- a probe housing defining a distal end;
- an ultrasonic transducer array disposed within the probe housing and rotatable within said probe housing;
- a two layered acoustically neutral structure bonded to a surface of the ultrasonic transducer array by an adhesive said acoustically neutral structure comprising a polymer cap bonded to a polymer film base;
- and
- wherein said method comprises molding the polymer cap to the polymer film base using injection molding, compression molding, or a combination thereof.
The method of manufacturing an ultrasound probe according to claim 14 wherein the polymer cap comprises a polyether-polyamide block copolymer and the polymer film base comprises a polyimide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.