Development of intravascular ultrasound transducers to monitor chronic total occlusion treatment by microrobots

Chronic total occlusion (CTO) is a completely blocked coronary artery disease. For treatment, surgical procedure for CTO tunneling is generally conducted. The success rate of this procedure relies mainly upon the proficiency of the surgeon. During the surgery, the surgeon is constantly exposed to radioactivity emitted by X-ray based imaging devices such as angiography to locate a surgical wire. To ensure a high surgical success rate without the risk of radiation exposure, a new technology can be devised to perform CTO tunneling using a microrobot controlled by an externally generated magnetic field. To maximize the effectiveness of this new technology, it is essential to identify the components of CTO and the location of the microrobot. This paper reports a recently developed intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) transducer for ultrasound signal-guided CTO tunneling using microrobot. The IVUS transducer was designed and fabricated to enable easy integration with microrobots for CTO tunneling.