Development of a 3 French Dual-Frequency Intravascular Ultrasound Catheter.

Coronary plaque morphology, including plaque size and fibrous cap thickness, is thought to contribute to the risk of plaque rupture and future cardiac events. Dual-frequency intravascular ultrasound has been proposed as a possible technique to visualize both large-scale features and superficial detail of coronary plaque; however, it has not been found to be feasible within the constraints of a clinically functional intravascular ultrasound catheter. In this study, we describe the design and fabrication of a dual-frequency catheter using a bidirectional transducer stack with center frequencies of approximately 30 and 80 MHz.

Symmetric miniaturized heating system for active microelectronic devices.

To qualify interconnect technologies such as microelectronic fine wire bonds for mass production of integrated circuit (IC) packages, it is necessary to perform accelerated aging tests, e.g., to age a device at an elevated temperature or to subject the device to thermal cycling and measure the decrease of interconnect quality.