Micro-grooves for the design of wideband clinical ultrasonic transducers
First Claim
1. An ultrasonic probe comprising:
- an acoustically damping support body having an acoustic impedance;
a piezoelectric ceramic element having a bulk acoustic impedance, a rear face for acoustically coupling signals from the element to the support body, and a front face;
means integral with the piezoelectric ceramic element for substantially providing an acoustic impedance match between the bulk acoustic impedance of the piezoelectric ceramic element and the acoustic impedance of the support body, said means including grooves disposed on the rear face of the piezoelectric ceramic element; and
a pair of electrodes, electrically coupled to the piezoelectric ceramic element, the pair of electrodes including a front electrode coupled to the front face of the piezoelectric element and a rear electrode extending into and contacting the grooves disposed on the rear face of the piezoelectric ceramic element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An ultrasonic probe including one or more piezoelectric ceramic elements mounted on an acoustically damping support body. Desired acoustic signals are transmitted and received through a front portion of the probe while unwanted acoustic signals are dampened by the support body at the rear portion of the probe. Each element has a respective rear face and a respective piezoelectric ceramic layer integral therewith to provide efficient acoustic coupling between the element and the acoustically damping support body. The respective piezoelectric layer of each element includes shallow grooves disposed on the respective rear face of each piezoelectric element. A groove volume fraction of the piezoelectric layer is selected to control acoustic impedance of the piezoelectric layer so as to provide a desired acoustic impedance match between a bulk acoustic impedance of the element and an acoustic impedance of the acoustically damping support body. Electrodes extend into and contact the grooves, imposing electrical boundary requirements that support a desired electrical field distribution within the element.
136 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An ultrasonic probe comprising:
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an acoustically damping support body having an acoustic impedance; a piezoelectric ceramic element having a bulk acoustic impedance, a rear face for acoustically coupling signals from the element to the support body, and a front face; means integral with the piezoelectric ceramic element for substantially providing an acoustic impedance match between the bulk acoustic impedance of the piezoelectric ceramic element and the acoustic impedance of the support body, said means including grooves disposed on the rear face of the piezoelectric ceramic element; and a pair of electrodes, electrically coupled to the piezoelectric ceramic element, the pair of electrodes including a front electrode coupled to the front face of the piezoelectric element and a rear electrode extending into and contacting the grooves disposed on the rear face of the piezoelectric ceramic element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification