Inductive coil device on flexible substrate

A device comprising:

• a contiguous flexible substrate;
• N coiled conductors deposited on the flexible substrate, the N coiled conductors connected in series by conductive interconnects, wherein the N coiled conductors only cover a portion of the flexible substrate, wherein a remaining portion of the flexible substrate represents an insulating flap that does not include a deposited one of the N coiled conductors, wherein the insulating flap has a profile large enough to cover one of the N coiled conductors;
• M coiled conductors which are insulated from the N coiled conductors;
• and
• a plurality of folding regions in the flexible substrate, each of the folding regions defined by a separation distance between adjacent ones of the N coiled conductors except that at least one folding region in the plurality of folding regions is between the insulating flap and an adjacent one of the N coiled conductors,
• wherein the conductive interconnects traverse the folding regions between the N coiled conductors to connect the N coiled conductors in series, wherein the flexible substrate is folded such that the N coiled conductors form a stack of N coiled conductors, wherein the flexible substrate is folded such that the insulating flap is sandwiched between two of the N coiled conductors thereby electrically insulating the two of the N coiled conductors from one another,
• wherein N is greater than 1, and
• wherein M is greater than 1.

A device comprising:

• a contiguous flexible substrate;
• N coiled conductors deposited on the flexible substrate and connected in series, wherein the N coiled conductors only cover a portion of the flexible substrate, wherein a remaining portion of the flexible substrate represents an insulating flap that does not include a deposited one of the N coiled conductors, wherein the insulating flap has a profile large enough to cover one of the N coiled conductors,
• wherein at least one of the N coiled conductors circumscribes a center region a plurality of times, wherein the flexible substrate is folded such that the N coiled conductors form a stack of N coiled conductors, wherein the flexible substrate is folded such that the insulating flap is sandwiched between two of the N coiled conductors thereby electrically insulating the two of the N coiled conductors from one another within the stack, and wherein N is greater than 1;
• and
• M coiled conductors which are insulated from the N coiled conductors, wherein the N coiled conductors and the M coiled conductors form a transformer when the flexible substrate is folded, wherein the N coiled conductors form a first coil of the transformer, wherein the M coiled conductors form a second coil of the transformer, and wherein M is greater than 1.

A method comprising:

• depositing a flexible material on a support substrate;
• depositing N coiled conductors on a portion of the flexible material, wherein the N coiled conductors only cover a portion of the flexible substrate, wherein a remaining portion of the flexible substrate represents an insulating flap portion that does not include a deposited one of the N coiled conductors, wherein the insulating flap has a profile large enough to cover one of the N coiled conductors, and wherein N is greater than 1;
• separating the flexible material from the support substrate;
• folding the insulating flap portion over one of the N coiled conductors;
• folding the flexible material such that the N coiled conductors form a stack of N coiled conductors, wherein the flexible material is folded such that the insulating flap portion is sandwiched between two of the N coiled conductors in the stack thereby electrically insulating the two of the N coiled conductors from one another within the stack;
• and
• depositing M coiled conductors in proximity to the N coiled conductors such that the M coiled conductors are insulated from the N coiled conductors, wherein the N coiled conductors and the M coiled conductors form a transformer when the flexible material is folded, wherein the N coiled conductors form a first coil of the transformer, wherein the M coiled conductors form a second coil of the transformer, and wherein M is greater than 1.

An image guided therapy (IGT) system comprising:

• an inductive device comprising:
• a flexible substrate;
• N coiled conductors deposited on the flexible substrate and connected in series,
• wherein at least one of the N coiled conductors circumscribes a center region a plurality of times, wherein the flexible substrate is folded such that the N coiled conductors form a stack of N coiled conductors, and wherein N is greater than 1;
• and
• conductive interconnects that electrically connect the N coiled conductors, wherein the conductive interconnects are deposited on folding regions of the flexible substrate such that at least one of the conductive interconnects is located at the inside of a bend radius created when the flexible substrate is folded;
• and
• a tracking system that receives signals from the inductive device and that determines a position of the inductive device in the IGT system based on the received signals.