Ultrasound Probes Fabricated on Silicon for Medical Imaging

Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (cMUTs) are micro-electromechanical devices (MEMS) fabricated using silicon micromachining techniques. In the past decade, their use has proved to be attractive mainly in the field of medical ultrasound imaging as active elements in ultrasound probes. The interest of this novel technology relies in its full compatibility with standard integrated circuit technology that makes it possible to integrate, on the same chip, the transducers and the electronics, thus enabling the realization of extremely compact and high-performance devices.