SENSOR UNIT FOR A MEDICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR IMPLANTATION IN A PATIENT AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A SENSOR UNIT

Abstract

The invention relates to a sensor unit (100) for an implant system for medical support of a patient, wherein the sensor unit (100) comprises a carrier material (110) in which a recess (120) is formed and, furthermore, the sensor unit (100) comprises a semiconductor component (130) for forming a sensor, wherein the semiconductor component (130) is arranged in the recess (120) and, lastly, the sensor unit (100) comprises a substrate layer (140), which covers at least partially the recess (120) and/or comprises an opening (150) on at least one side of the sensor unit (110), as well as a diffusion barrier, by means of which at least the semiconductor component (130) is at least partially covered or coated in order to ensure a medium access (150) to the sensor.

Claims

1.-16. (canceled)

17. A sensor unit for a mechanical circulatory support device, the sensor unit comprising: a carrier comprising a recess; a semiconductor component configured to form a sensor, wherein the semiconductor component is positioned in the recess; a substrate layer configured to cover at least a portion of the recess and comprising an opening; and a diffusion barrier configured to cover at least a portion of the substrate layer and the semiconductor component, at least a portion of the diffusion barrier extending into a gap between the substrate layer and the semiconductor component.

18. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein at least a portion of the substrate layer is coated with the diffusion barrier.

19. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein the diffusion barrier comprises a fluid-tight coating or membrane preventing infusion of fluids.

20. The sensor unit of claim 17, further comprising a carrier material, wherein the carrier comprises at least one of: a metallic material, a thermoplastic material, a ceramic material, and glass.

21. The sensor unit of claim 17, further comprising at least one contacting element positioned between the semiconductor component and the substrate layer, the semiconductor component connected to the substrate layer via the at least one contacting element, the at least one contacting element comprising a gold material.

22. The sensor unit of claim 21, wherein a thickness of the at least one contacting element is within a range between 90 μm and 110 μm.

23. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein the substrate layer is configured to be in direct contact with a tissue or a fluid of a patient, and wherein the substrate layer comprises at least one of: a polyimide element, a ceramic material, glass, and silicon.

24. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein the recess is filled with silicone gel or silicone oil, and wherein the semiconductor component is partially surrounded by the silicone gel or the silicone oil.

25. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein a size of the semiconductor component corresponds to a size of the recess.

26. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein a thickness of the substrate layer is within a range between 40 μm and 60 μm.

27. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein the sensor is a pressure sensor configured to detect an arterial pressure.

28. The sensor unit of claim 17, wherein the substrate layer is raised from the semiconductor component such that the opening of the substrate layer is positioned above the semiconductor component.

29. A method for manufacturing a sensor unit comprising: placing a semiconductor component within a recess of a carrier; covering at least a portion of the semiconductor component and at least a portion of the recess with a substrate layer, the substrate layer comprising an opening; and placing a diffusion barrier over at least a portion of the substrate layer and at least a portion of the semiconductor component, at least a portion of the diffusion barrier extending into a gap between the substrate layer and the semiconductor component.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising filling the recess with silicone gel or silicone oil, wherein the silicone gel or the silicone oil is configured to anchor the semiconductor component inside the recess.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein placing the diffusion barrier over at least the portion of the substrate layer and at least the portion of the semiconductor component comprises coating the semiconductor component and the substrate layer with the diffusion barrier.

32. The method of claim 29 further comprising: positioning at least one contacting element between the semiconductor component and the substrate layer, wherein the semiconductor component is connected to the substrate layer via the at least one contacting element.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the covering at least the portion of the semiconductor component and at least the portion of the recess with the substrate layer comprises positioning the substrate layer such that the substrate layer is raised form the semiconductor component and the opening of the substrate layer is positioned above the semiconductor component.

34. A system for manufacturing a sensor unit, the system comprising: a processor; a computer-readable storage medium storing therein computer-readable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to: place a semiconductor component within a recess of a carrier; cover at least a portion of the semiconductor component and at least a portion of the recess with a substrate layer, the substrate layer comprising an opening; and place a diffuser barrier over at least a portion of the substrate layer and at least a portion of the semiconductor component, at least a portion of the diffusion barrier extending into a gap between the substrate layer and the semiconductor component.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the computer-readable instructions further cause the processor to: fill the recess with silicone gel or silicone oil, wherein the silicone gel or the silicone oil is configured to partially surround the semiconductor component in the recess.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the substrate layer is raised from the semiconductor component such that the opening of the substrate layer is positioned above the semiconductor component.

Description

[0028] Exemplary embodiments of the approach presented here are shown in the drawings and explained in more detail in the following description. The drawings show:

[0029] FIG. 1 in schematic form, a cross-sectional view of a sensor unit in accordance with one exemplary embodiment;

[0030] FIG. 2 section of a cross-section of a sensor unit in accordance with one exemplary embodiment in a schematic detail view; and

[0031] FIG. 3 flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method for producing a sensor unit in accordance with one exemplary embodiment.

[0032] In the following description of advantageous exemplary embodiments of the present invention, identical or similar reference numerals are used for the elements that are shown in the various figures and that act in a similar manner, and there is no need to repeat the description of these elements.

[0033] FIG. 1 shows in schematic form a cross-sectional view of a sensor unit 100 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment.

[0034] The sensor unit 100 has a carrier material 110, wherein a recess 120 is formed in the carrier material 110. In this respect, the recess 120 is formed in a parallel trapezoidal shape in accordance with one exemplary embodiment. A semiconductor component 130 for forming a sensor is arranged in the recess 120, wherein the semiconductor component 130 is shaped in a rectangular manner in accordance with one exemplary embodiment. In this context, a rectangular shape of the recess 120 and/or the semiconductor component 130 offers the advantage of a space-saving and cost-effective production of these components. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the recess 120 is made larger than the inserted semiconductor component 130, wherein an edge, which in accordance with one exemplary embodiment corresponds to no more than 10% of the extent of the semiconductor component 130, remains open inside the recess 120. Before the sensor unit 100 is assembled, the recess 120 is filled with a silicone gel and/or a silicone oil and/or a similar support material in order to decouple the semiconductor component 130 from mechanical stress and/or to mechanically anchor the same. However, such a stress decoupling or mechanical anchoring can also be omitted, depending on the requirement of the implant system. In so doing, the semiconductor component 130 is at least partially or completely covered or coated in an advantageous way with a diffusion barrier that will be described in greater detail below. The diffusion barrier is applied, for example, as a coat or layer that prevents a diffusion of body fluids into the sensor unit 100 or that prevents damage to parts of the sensor unit 100. For example, the diffusion barrier can also be deposited or formed by means of a final process step in a production process.

[0035] Furthermore, the sensor unit 100 comprises a substrate layer 140 that at least partially covers the recess 120, wherein the substrate layer 140 in one exemplary embodiment has an opening 150 and/or a perforation above the semiconductor component 130 in order to ensure a medium access to the sensor. The same reference numeral is used below for the opening 150 and the medium access 150. The substrate layer 140 is designed to be in direct contact with a tissue and/or a fluid of the patient. At the same time, the substrate layer 140 is used to make electrical contact with the sensors and microcontrollers. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the semiconductor component 130 is electrically and/or mechanically connected to the substrate layer 140 by means of two contacting bumps 160. In accordance with one embodiment, the two contacting bumps 160 have an elliptical shape. The diffusion barrier 210 can also cover or coat not only a surface or a portion of the surface of the semiconductor component 130 but can also completely coat or cover a portion of the substrate layer 140 or the substrate layer 140 itself.

[0036] As an alternative to the exemplary embodiment of a sensor unit 100 presented here, a sensor unit 100 can also be produced without a medium access 150, depending on the requirement of the implant system, wherein the structure of a sensor unit 100 without a medium access 150 is, in principle, identical to the structure of the sensor unit 100 shown here with a medium access 150.

[0037] In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the sensor unit 100 shown here is produced by means of a so-called flip chip assembly. The flip chip assembly is a method of the construction and connection technology for contacting an unhoused semiconductor component 130 by means of at least one contacting bump 160. In the case of the flip chip assembly, a microchip (not shown) is mounted directly and without further connecting wires with the active contacting side facing the substrate layer 140. This arrangement leads to extremely small dimensions of the sensor unit 100 and short conductor lengths. In the case of very complex circuits, this technology often offers the only useful connection possibility, because otherwise several thousand contacts would have to be produced. In this way, the entire surface of the semiconductor component 130 can be used for contacting, by contrast to contacting methods that use bonding wires. However, such a contacting method is not possible and/or is possible only to a very limited extent, because the wires cross and are very likely to come into contact with one another. Furthermore, in contacting methods that use the bonding wires, the connections are produced one after the other. In the case of the flip chip assembly, all of the electrical contacts are connected simultaneously, an aspect that saves time.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a section of a cross-section of a sensor unit 100 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment in a schematic detail view.

[0039] In the view of the sensor unit 100 shown here, the focus is on a diffusion barrier 210, in particular, by means of which the semiconductor element 130, the at least one contacting bump 160, and the substrate layer 140 are at least partially or completely coated in accordance with one exemplary embodiment. Such a coating ensures a medically qualified surface and provides protection for the electrical contacts from penetrating fluid and/or short circuits. In this embodiment, the medically qualified surface is shown only in the sensor unit 100, which also has a medium access 150.

[0040] In practice, the diffusion barrier is, for example, a layer of parylene C. Said layer is not in the form of a film, but rather is deposited directly onto the component, for example from the vapor phase in a vacuum. Therefore, in accordance with one exemplary embodiment, this diffusion barrier is not present as a component in a step of the method for producing the component, but rather, for example, is deposited from the vapor phase as the last production step in this exemplary embodiment. However, a separate laminating film or thin metallic membrane is, of course, also conceivable.

[0041] In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the size of the recess also essentially matches the size of the semiconductor component 130 in the detail view of the sensor unit 100 shown here, as a result of which the semiconductor component 130 is integrated in the carrier material 110.

[0042] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of one exemplary embodiment of a method 300 for producing a sensor unit in accordance with one exemplary embodiment. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the method 300 is executed and/or triggered on a device 310 for producing a sensor unit.

[0043] In a step 320, a carrier material, a semiconductor component, a substrate layer, and a diffusion barrier are provided. In a step 330 of the method 300, the carrier material, the semiconductor component, the substrate layer, and the diffusion barrier are arranged in such a way as to produce the sensor unit.

[0044] If an exemplary embodiment comprises an “and/or” conjunction between a first feature and a second feature, then such a conjunction should be understood to mean that the exemplary embodiment comprises both the first feature and the second feature in accordance with one exemplary embodiment and comprises either only the first feature or only the second feature in accordance with another embodiment.