ULTRASOUND PROBE

• US 20130285174A1
• Filed: 01/05/2012
• Published: 10/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FUJIFILM Healthcare Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Medical Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sako, Akifumi, Ishida, Kazunari, Takenaka, Tomoko
• Granted Patent: US 8,975,713 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 257/416
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4444 related to the probe
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0292 Electrostatic transducers, e.g. electret-type
• CPC Class Codes: G10K 11/002 Devices for damping, suppressing, obstructing or conducting sound in acoustic devices G10K1/06 - G10K1/10 take precedence; for electro-mechanical transducers for communication H04R3/002
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/84 controllable by variation of applied mechanical force, e.g. of pressure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49005 Acoustic transducer

Abstract

Disclosed is an ultrasonic probe comprising: CMUT cells (13) that mutually convert ultrasonic waves and electrical signals; a semiconductor substrate (15) that has a plurality of the CMUT cells (13) formed on the surface thereof; an acoustic lens (3) that is provided on the front face side of the CMUT cells (13); and a backing layer (5) that is provided on the rear face side of the semiconductor substrate (15). The backing layer (5) is formed by a first backing layer (27) that makes contact with the semiconductor substrate, and a second backing layer (29) that is provided on the rear face side of the backing layer (27). The acoustic impedance of the backing layer (27) is set based on the sheet thickness of the semiconductor substrate (15). The backing layer (29) is formed by attenuating material capable of attenuating ultrasonic waves transmitted through the backing layer (27). Multiple reflection of reflection echoes is suppressed by setting the acoustic impedance of the backing layer (29) to match the acoustic impedance of the backing layer (27).

Claims

1. An ultrasound probe comprising:

a capacitive vibration element configured to mutually convert ultrasound and an electric signal;

a semiconductor substrate including a plurality of the capacitive vibration elements formed on the surface thereof;

an acoustic lens provided on a front face side of the capacitive vibration element; and

a backing layer provided on a rear face side of the semiconductor substrate, wherein

the backing layer includes a first backing layer set in contact with the semiconductor substrate and a second backing layer provided on a rear face side of the first backing layer,

an acoustic impedance of the first backing layer is set on the basis of thickness of the semiconductor substrate,

the second backing layer is formed of an attenuating material capable of attenuating the ultrasound transmitted through the first backing layer, and

an acoustic impedance of the second backing layer is set to match the acoustic impedance of the first backing layer.

2. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic impedance of the first backing layer is set to a value close to an acoustic impedance of the acoustic lens compared with an acoustic impedance of the semiconductor substrate.

3. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein the first backing layer is formed of resin and is formed by mixing, in the resin, an adjusting material for adjusting a coefficient of linear expansion of the first backing layer to be close to a coefficient of linear expansion of the semiconductor substrate.

4. The ultrasound probe according to claim 3, wherein the adjusting material is carbon fiber or glass fiber and is mixed in the resin with a longitudinal direction of the fiber adjusted to a longitudinal direction of the first backing layer.

5. The ultrasound probe according to claim 1, wherein the first backing layer is formed by filing resin in porous ceramic.

6. The ultrasound probe according to claim 3, wherein an ultrasound attenuation ratio of the second backing layer is higher than an ultrasound attenuation ratio of the first backing layer.

7. The ultrasound probe according to claim 6, wherein the second backing layer is formed using resin having a modulus of elasticity smaller than that of the resin used for the first backing layer.

8. The ultrasound probe according to claim 7, wherein the acoustic impedance of the second backing layer is set close to the acoustic impedance of the first backing layer by mixing tungsten or silicon in the resin forming the second backing layer.

9. The ultrasound probe according to claim 3, wherein the thickness of the semiconductor substrate is equal to or larger than 25 μ

m and equal to or smaller than 50 μ

m.

10. The ultrasound probe according to claim 3, wherein

a frequency range of the ultrasound is equal to or higher than 2 MHz and equal to or lower than 15 MHz, and

the acoustic impedance of the first backing layer is set to an acoustic impedance equal to or larger than 1.5 MRayl and equal to or smaller than 6 MRayl and, desirably, equal to or larger than 4 MRayl and equal to or smaller than 6 MRayl.