Construction of an intravascular ultrasound catheter with a micropiezoelectric motor internally installed

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has become a useful tool in the detection of coronary artery disease. However, non-uniform rotation distortion (NURD) reduces the image quality. In order to suppress the influence of NURD, a piezoelectric motor that can meet the requirements of IVUS catheters has been proposed. The motor has a diameter of 1 mm and a length of 10 mm using the new polarization direction proposed in the paper. A 45° mirror is fixed on the top of the motor to reflect the ultrasound transmitted from the transducer. The manufacture and drive of the piezoelectric motor is simple, and the maximum speed of the piezoelectric motor can reach 6450 rpm under the voltage of 20Vp-p. The minimum power required by the rotating motor is only 0.038 W, which can be directly driven by the signal generator without a power amplifier. The motor can operate at a low voltage and still has a high and stable speed. Meanwhile, the speed of the motor is controllable and has a satisfactory stability with a maximum angular error of 8°. The images detected by the cooperation of the motor and the ultrasonic transducer are also shown, which indicates that the motor has the rotational stability that meets the imaging requirements and the potential for application in the IVUS catheter to help improve the image quality of the coronary arteries and prevent and help treat potential diseases.