Ultrasonic probe

• US 8,961,422 B2
• Filed: 02/21/2008
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Osawa, Atsushi
• Primary Examiner(s): EVOY, NICHOLAS LANE
• Application Number:
  US12/035,179
• Publication Number:
  US 20080200812A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,560 Days
• US Class Current: 600/459
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/12 in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters catheters per se A61M25/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/445 Details of catheter construction
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4488 the transducer being a phased array
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/483 involving the acquisition of a 3D volume of data
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0633 Cylindrical array
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8909 using a static transducer configuration
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49005 Acoustic transducer

Abstract

An ultrasonic probe that can be relatively easily manufactured and has a desired ultrasonic radiation surface. The ultrasonic probe includes: plural supporting materials, each having a principal surface on which plural signal wires are formed, the plural supporting materials arranged such that the principal surfaces are oriented in different directions from one another; plural groups of ultrasonic transducers, plural ultrasonic transducers in each group having plural electrodes formed on side surfaces, the plural electrodes respectively joined to the plural signal wires formed on the principal surface of the respective one of the plural supporting materials.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic probe comprising:

plural ultrasonic transducer arrays, each including (i) a supporting material having a principal surface on which plural signal transmission paths are arranged, and (ii) plural ultrasonic transducers attached to the principal surface of said supporting material and one-dimensionally arranged in an elevation direction, each of said plural ultrasonic transducers having an ultrasonic radiation surface and a side surface on which two electrodes are arranged, and said side surface being attached to the principal surface of said supporting material such that said two electrodes are joined via electrically conductive pastes to selected two of the plural signal transmission paths arranged on the principal surface of said supporting material; and

at least one holding member having a surface curved in an azimuth direction and formed with grooves each oriented in the elevation direction, the supporting materials of said plural ultrasonic transducer arrays being inserted into the grooves, and said at least one holding member being configured to hold said supporting materials such that said plural ultrasonic transducer arrays are radially arranged in the azimuth direction.

2. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic radiation surfaces of the ultrasonic transducers included in said plural ultrasonic transducer arrays are arranged along a curved surface.

3. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein, on the principal surface of said supporting material, said plural ultrasonic transducers are arranged such that the ultrasonic radiation surfaces thereof are oriented in the same direction.

4. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein, on the principal surface of said supporting material, said plural ultrasonic transducers are arranged such that the ultrasonic radiation surfaces thereof are oriented in different directions from one another.

5. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein each of said plural ultrasonic transducers includes a multilayered piezoelectric vibrator having plural piezoelectric material layers and plural electrode layers configured to alternately apply opposite electric fields to said plural piezoelectric material layers.

6. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein said supporting material includes at least one of silicon, silicon oxide, silicon carbide, glass epoxy, polyimide, alumina, and zirconia.

7. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein said supporting material includes a silicon chip with an integrated circuit formed thereon.

8. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 7, wherein said supporting material includes a multiplexer configured to selectively connect said plural ultrasonic transducers to an input/output terminal.

9. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 8, wherein said supporting material further includes plural amplification circuits configured to amplify electric signals outputted from said plural ultrasonic transducers respectively, plural analog/digital converters (A/D converters) configured to convert output signals of said plural amplification circuits into digital signals respectively, and a parallel/serial conversion circuit configured to convert parallel digital signals outputted from said plural A/D converters into serial digital signals.