Development of a Small-Footprint 50 MHz Linear Array: Fabrication and Micro-Ultrasound Imaging Demonstration

Compact high-frequency arrays are of interest for clinical and preclinical applications in which a small-footprint or endoscopic device is needed to reach the target anatomy. However, the fabrication of compact arrays entails the connection of several dozens of small elements to the imaging system through a combination of flexible printed circuit boards at the array end and micro-coaxial cabling to the imaging system. The methods currently used, such as wire bonding, conductive adhesives, or a dry connection to a flexible circuit, considerably increase the array footprint. Here, we propose an interconnection method that uses vacuum-deposited metals, laser patterning, and electroplating to achieve a right-angle, compact, reliable connection between array elements and flexible-circuit traces. The array elements are thickened at the edges using patterned copper traces, which increases their cross-sectional area and facilitates the connection. We fabricated a 2.3 mm by 1.7 mm, 64-element linear array with elements at a 36 μm pitch connected to a 4 cm long flexible circuit, where the interconnect adds only 100 μm to each side of the array. Pulse-echo measurements yielded an average center frequency of 55 MHz and a -6 dB bandwidth of 41%. We measured an imaging resolution of 35 μm in the axial direction and 114 μm in the lateral direction and demonstrated the ex vivo imaging of porcine esophageal tissue and the in vivo imaging of avian embryonic vasculature.