Abstract:Ultrasound transducer is one of the most critical components in the intravascular ultrasound imaging systems and plays a decisive role in imaging performance. Since it is vital to obtain detailed information on atherosclerotic plaques in clinical, it is important to enhance the imaging resolution. Additionally, it is indispensable to achieve sufficient penetration depth for the complete assessment of plaque and blood vessels. The center frequency of the transducer determines the ultrasound imaging resolution and penetration depth, which are restricted by each other. In this paper, a 60 MHz miniature highfrequency transducer is carefully designed and fabricated to meet the coronary artery imaging requirements for imaging resolution and depth. The phantom experiments show that the transducer proposed in this paper can provide high-resolution imaging with the imaging depth meeting the needs of coronary imaging. In vivo experiment of large animals shows that, compared with commercial 40 MHz transducers, the transducer designed in this paper can image the vascular media intima and stent structure more clearly, which can provide more precise guidance for clinical practice.