P3D-6 Simulation, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Novel Flexible, Conformal Ultrasound Transducer Array

A flexible, conformal ultrasound transducer array has been developed for use in medical imaging. The transducer has been designed such that it can wrap conformally around curved body surfaces and provide volumetric imagery of soft tissue and hard tissue structures without mechanical scanning. PZFlextrade, finite element time domain piezoelectric simulation software, was used to model and simulate the curved transducer array in two dimensions. A flexible, conformal transducer array prototype was fabricated, and characterization of the array elements yielded a 15.5 MHz fundamental resonance, a 35% instantaneous bandwidth, and a 300 ns pulse width, resulting in high axial (220 mum in water) resolution. The design and fabrication process allows for scaling of the array to fit various applications, including imaging of the extremities, abdominal imaging, and ultrasound guidance of procedures.