Expandable catheter assembly with flexible printed circuit board (pcb) electrical pathways

Abstract

Provided is a flex-PCB catheter device that is configured to be inserted into a body lumen. The flex-PCB catheter comprises an elongate shaft, an expandable assembly, a flexible printed circuit board (flex-PCB) substrate, a plurality of electronic components and a plurality of communication paths. The elongate shaft comprises a proximal end and a distal end. The expandable assembly is configured to transition from a radially compact state to a radially expanded state. The plurality of electronic elements are coupled to the flex-PCB substrate and are configured to receive and/or transmit an electric signal. The plurality of communication paths are positioned on and/or within the flex-PCB substrate. The communication paths selectively couple the plurality of electronic elements to a plurality of electrical contacts configured to electrically connect to an electronic module configured to process the electrical signal. The flex-PCB substrate can have multiple layers, including one or more metallic layers. Acoustic matching elements and conductive traces can be includes in the flex-PCB substrate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An expandable assembly configured to be inserted into a body lumen, comprising:
 a plurality of splines configured to transition between a radially compact state and a radially expanded state;   a flexible printed circuit board (flex-PCB) substrate extending at least a portion of a length of the plurality of splines; and   a plurality of electronic elements distributed over portions of the splines and coupled to the flex-PCB substrate, the plurality of electronic elements configured to receive and/or transmit one or more electrical signals via the flex-PCB substrate to a plurality of electrical contacts.