P5J-5 Direct Attach of Planar-Based and Ribbon-Based Cables to Ultrasound Imaging Arrays

This paper describes a fabrication process that incorporates ribbon-based cables with the signal leads connected directly to the electroacoustic transducer array elements. This approach, termed the direct attach process, takes advantage of the dimensional control of the signal conductor spacing inherent in ribbon-based cables to build arrays with challenging interconnect and packaging requirements without complicated and expensive components between the cable and the transducer. This reduces the time and costs associated with prototyping arrays and probes for more efficient evaluation of acoustic performance and image quality. The approach can be used where the pitch of the array is different than the pitch of the cable, and where the cable contains grounds between the signal lines or contains all signals. The direct attach fabrication process is described and results presented for a family of miniature phased arrays designed for catheter-based imaging and a fully sampled 2-D array for transthorasic imaging.