Method of manufacturing a curved array ultrasonic transducer assembly

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A presently preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a curved array medical transducer, whereby transducer array elements are formed by first bonding a flexible support layer to one surface of a transducer plate.
The transducer plate is cut into segments, each cut penetrating only a portion of the support layer, thus forming a plurality of transducer array elements each being bonded to the support layer.
The support layer is then bent to the desired radius to form a curved array of transducer elements.
A flexible circuit board, having conductive traces disposed therein for transmitting electrical signals to and from the transducer elements, is aligned with the curved array such that the traces are adjacent to the transducer elements.
The traces are then electrically connected to the transducer elements in the array.
The conductive traces extend into a plurality of branches in the flexible circuit board.
After connection of the transducer elements to the circuit board, the circuit board is bent toward the center of the array at a right angle.
In doing so, conductive holes, which are associated with the ends of the conductive traces in the branches, become aligned in such a manner that a connector can be soldered to the holes in the conductive traces.