The new CMUT comes with an open development tool
In short: what is CMUT?
CMUTs can be valuable in various industries, such as microscopy, inkjet printing, and of course medical. CMUT technology increases precision and allows you to work on a much smaller scale. You can attach CMUTs to a catheter, for example, and enter the body for examination. The use of harmful X-rays is therefore no longer necessary. A big win – and just one of the many advantages that CMUTs offer over conventional technology. Additionally, CMUTs come with increased bandwidth, easy fabrication of large arrays, and the ability to integrate them with driver circuitry: CMUT-on-CMOS. In addition to these advantages, CMUTs offer a great deal of design freedom, allowing you to produce a custom ultrasound device that exactly fits your specific needs.
What can the new and improved CMUT do for you?
Philips MEMS Foundry has more than 10 years of experience designing and processing CMUT devices. This enables us to produce large volumes at low prices in a short period of time, which shortens your design cycle. Recently we have started a partnership with Cephasonics, a company that provides ultrasound solutions for medical, research, and industrial applications. One of their principles is that the system can be fully adapted to your requirements, even if these requirements change over time.
The new full-fledged ultrasound imaging system comes in a compact size. This allows low-level control over both the operation (transmit and receive) and the raw data coming from the ultrasound transducer connected to it. This means that you can obtain very fast and accurate results, in addition they are enabled to dive deeper into this data. This allows them to look for performance characteristics, optimization or even alternative practices. This level of control is not accessible in current commercially available ultrasound devices, as they are tailored to specific transducers. Existing research-focused ultrasound systems do allow for this level of control, but are less accessible due to cost, size, and lack of plug-and-play capabilities.
Next to that, the system can be used as a platform for further development. Something that is not possible with research-oriented systems. In the medical field, for example, there are many application developers who have great game-changing ideas with ultrasound. It costs them a lot of (valuable) time gathering bits and pieces to complete their setup to even begin testing their new methods. With our new system, that search is significantly shorter and easier.
The next level CMUT
Philips MEMS Foundry has created a technology platform to fabricate game changing CMUT modules. The partnership with Cephasonics allows us to further add capabilities that perfectly complement our already extensive expertise. Together, we will be able to develop and implement programs that will make it easier for you to both evaluate CMUT and develop new CMUT-based solutions. With the open development tools and real-time access to data, combined with CMUT development capabilities, you will be able to quickly create, adapt, and commercialize innovative new ultrasound applications. The result? An end-to-end, plug-and-play package that can truly offer the fastest way to develop new innovations and bring them to market.
Want to know more about CMUT?
Are you interested in learning more about the design and manufacturing of CMUT devices? Read more about our offering and expertise on our CMUT page, or get in touch. Curious to see how we can help with other MEMS and Micro Devices? Read more about it on our MEMS and Micro Devices page.
Paul Bekkers
Business Development Manager