The fabrication of conformal ultrasound phased arrays for thermal therapy

A method for fabricating two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound phased arrays for thermal therapy is described. A 96 element conformal prototype is constructed, and focusing results are also presented. Measured focal patterns indicate that these conformal arrays require some calibration before focusing. Results show that offsets in the element coordinates with respect to the expected positions are the primary source of focal degradation. Measured focal patterns improve dramatically after compensating for element offsets and variations in electronic component values.