Micromachine intracardiac ultrasound scanner fabricated with integrated circuit technology

We have previously described a hand crafted prototype intracardiac scanner that consists of a single high frequency PZT piston transducer that is mechanically steered by a micromachine (MEMS) actuator to produce a sector scan. More recently, we have improved the mechanical sector scanner design using finite element analysis and integrated circuit fabrication. Our new devices were designed using ANSYS finite element software to maximize the sector scan angle for the forces produced by the linear actuator, the integrated force array (EFA). These new devices are fabricated on silicon wafers using conventional integrated circuit technology. The designs include both a forward looking hinged table similar to the previous prototypes and a new side viewing device that has a transducer table tilting on miniature torsion hinges. In this paper we will present results from the design, fabrication, and testing of these new devices.