Integrated Circuits for Intra-Vascular Ultrasound Imaging (IVUS)

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging is an important tool for the visualization, diagnosis and treatment of vascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart. Conventional IVUS catheters are side-looking devices that provide a 2D cross-sectional image of the vessel wall. An ultrasound transducer mounted at the tip of the catheter is excited by high-voltage pulses to generate an acoustic pulse, and the resulting echo signals are processed to form the image. To enable 3D IVUS imaging without relying on mechanical translation or rotation of the transducer, we develop integrated circuits that allow an array of transducer element to be integrated at the tip of the catheter and to be interfaced with an imaging system using a small number of cables.