US 12,156,766 B2
Robust, simple, and efficiently manufacturable transducer array
Reinout Woltjer, Utrecht (NL); and Bastianus Theodorus Johannes Alberts, Nijmegen (NL)
Assigned to NovioScan B.V., Nijmegen (NL)
Appl. No. 17/777,072
Filed by NovioScan B.V., Nijmegen (NL)
PCT Filed Nov. 20, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/082983
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 16, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/099618, PCT Pub. Date May 27, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 2024291 (NL), filed on Nov. 22, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0401072 A1, Dec. 22, 2022
Int. Cl. A61B 8/00 (2006.01); B06B 1/06 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 8/4494 (2013.01) [B06B 1/0607 (2013.01); A61B 8/4488 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A transducer for ultrasound, comprising:
a one-dimensional transducer array of piezoelectric material comprising at least n transducer elements extending only in a first array direction, wherein n≥8, wherein adjacent transducer elements are provided with at least partial first separations therebetween,
a flexible cable comprising at least n conductors, individually electrically connected to the respective at least n transducer elements by a self-aligned electrical contact, whereby the at least partial first separations between adjacent transducer elements comprise cuts extending through the piezoelectric material and also through the self-aligned electrical contact,
an electrical circuit, for supply of signals for driving the transducer elements, in electrical connection with respective conductors of the flexible cable, and
a casing for the transducer array, in which casing the transducer array is provided.