Ultrasonic irradiation apparatus

• US 20030135135A1
• Filed: 11/21/2002
• Published: 07/17/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MIWA Science Laboratory Incorporated
• Original Assignee: MIWA Science Laboratory Incorporated
• Inventors: Miwa, Hiroaki, Miwa, Hirohide, Kino, Masato
• Granted Patent: US 7,399,284 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 601/2
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/2253 using a coupling gel or liquid
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00005 Cooling or heating of the probe or tissue immediately surrounding the probe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2018/00041 Heating, e.g. defrosting
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2007/0078 with multiple treatment transducers
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 7/00 Ultrasound therapy lithotripsy A61B17/22, A61B17/225; massage using supersonic vibration A61H23/00 ; using ultrasound for introducing media into the body A61M37/0092
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0637 Spherical array
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0688 with foil-type piezoelectric elements, e.g. PVDF
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/004 Mounting transducers, e.g. provided with mechanical moving or orienting device mountings specially adapted to a particular sound-producing device, see the preceding groups G10K1/00 - G10K9/00, e.g. G10K1/26, G10K1/28, G10K9/22; arrangements of sonic watch equipment on submarines B63G8/39; buoys B63B22/00

Abstract

An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus is presented which is capable of easily irradiating, with ultrasonic waves, a wide area (range) of an object having three-dimensionally curved surfaces. The apparatus includes an ultrasonic irradiator having a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in planar manner, wherein the position of at least a portion of the ultrasonic transducers is arranged to be mutually and flexibly changeable in three dimensions. The ultrasonic irradiator includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers installed on a surface of a sheet member being flexible and/or elastic or on a net member being flexible and/or elastic. The ultrasonic irradiator further includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers composed of a flexible piezoelectric sheet member, wherein driving electrodes are arranged on one surface and opposed electrodes are arranged on another surface facing each other. The ultrasonic irradiator may be installed on a surface of a flexible planar bag containing a fluidic material serving as an ultrasonic conductive medium or arranged inside of the planar bag. The apparatus also includes means for moving or tilting the ultrasonic irradiator with respect to an object. The ultrasonic irradiator further has a band holding member for fitting the irradiator to an object.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus comprising an ultrasonic irradiator having a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in plane-like pattern, wherein at least some part of the position of said plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged mutually changeable, freely and flexibly in three dimensional way

2. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has a plurality of ultrasonic transducers installed on a surface of a sheet member being flexible and/or elastic.

3. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said sheet member has a plurality of line recesses and is flexibly deformable by allowing the edge of line recesses getting apart.

4. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said line recesses are penetrating said sheet member from one surface to the other surface.

5. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has a plurality of ultrasonic transducers installed on a net member being flexible and/or elastic.

6. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said net member is composed of at least one material of a string, a band, a spring, a chain and rods linked together mutually rotatable.

7. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has a plurality of ultrasonic transducers composed of drive electrodes arranged on one surface of a flexible piezoelectric sheet member and opposed electrodes arranged facing each other on the other surface of the flexible piezoelectric sheet member,

8. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the flexible piezoelectric sheet member has a plurality of line recesses and is flexibly deformed based on the edges of the line recesses getting apart.

9. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the line recesses are penetrating the flexible piezoelectric sheet member from one surface to the other surface.

10. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 9, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has a soft material layer, which is an ultrasonic conductive medium transferring ultrasonic waves to an object to be irradiated, between the ultrasonic irradiator and the object.

11. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the soft material layer is of an heatable or refrigeratable high specific heat material.

12. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 11, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has a fluidic material layer, which is an ultrasonic conductive medium transferring ultrasonic waves to an object to be irradiated, between the ultrasonic irradiator and the object.

13. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 12, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator is installed on a surface of a flexible plane-like bag containing a fluidic material as an ultrasonic conductive medium.

14. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the bag has a tube channeling the outside of the bag and the inside of the bag, and a pump for, with time, changing a volume of the fluidic material in the bag by adding/reducing the fluidic material through the tube.

15. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the bag has a connection member connecting an internal upper plane to an internal bottom plane in the bag and maintaining at least the maximum distance between the internal upper plane and the internal bottom plane within a predetermined range.

16. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 12, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator is arranged in the inside of a plane-like bag containing a fluidic material as an ultrasonic conductive medium and having at least one flexible plane.

17. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator is arranged so as to be freely moved along a plane area of the plane-like bag having the at least one flexible plane.

18. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 16 or claim 17, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator is arranged so as to be freely tilted to a plane area of the plane-like bag having the at least one flexible plane.

19. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 16 through claim 18, wherein the plane-like bag having the at least one flexible plane has a plurality of line-like recesses arranged almost mutually in parallel on a surface so as to be flexibly deformable in a direction crossing the line-like recesses.

20. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 12 through claim 19, wherein the fluidic material as an ultrasonic conductive medium is an heatable or refrigeratable high specific heat material.

21. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 20, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has a band holding member for fitting itself to the object.

22. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator is arranged so as to be flexibly reciprocated along a length direction and/or a width direction of the band holding member.

23. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 22, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has drive means for driving each of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers in each different condition by at least two or more drive systems so as to average, instead of a fixed distribution at single drive system, a space distribution of the strength caused on the interference at an overlapping portion of each sonic field of the ultrasonic transducers while each ultrasonic transducer is fitted mutually deformed in three-dimensional way.

24. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 23, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has impedance adjusting means for adjusting output allocation for the plurality of ultrasonic transducers so that each sonic field of transducers take a predetermined intensity ratio when each transducer is arranged mutually deformed in three-dimensional way, and said impedance adjusting means is arranged in parallel to each transducer or a unit of predetermined number of transducers.

25. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus according to any one of claim 1 through claim 24, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator has an adjusting inductance, approximately resonating to each ultrasonic transducer so that each sonic field of the ultrasonic transducer acquires a predetermined intensity ratio while each transducer is fitted to a object mutually deformed in three-dimensional way, and said adjusting inductance is arranged in series to each ultrasonic transducer or to a unit of predetermined number of ultrasonic transducers.

26. An ultrasonic irradiation apparatus comprising an ultrasonic irradiator having a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in plane-like on a surface of a rigid sheet member, wherein said ultrasonic irradiator is arranged movable inside of a plane-like bag containing a fluidic material as an ultrasonic conductive medium and having at least one flexible plane.