The invention generally relates to intravascular imaging catheters and methods of making catheters for imaging systems. The invention provides a connector for an imaging catheter that includes a unitary body with very thin electrical contacts that are formed on the surface of the body. Due to the scale of the contacts, the connector operates essentially as a single unitary piece of material. Each of the leads may be less than about 100 μm wide and less than about 8 μm thick, and further the leads may be spaced apart by less than about 160 μm.