CN117942160A - Transducer, transducer device and ablation device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a transducer, a transduction apparatus and an ablation apparatus. The transducer comprises a shell, a piezoelectric component and a pre-tightening device, wherein the piezoelectric component is arranged in the shell, the pre-tightening device is connected with the shell and the piezoelectric component, the piezoelectric component generates vibration in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric component after being excited, the shell is driven by the vibrating piezoelectric component to generate bending vibration, and the shell is provided with a concave cambered surface for focusing the bending vibration. When the device is configured, the bending vibration of the shell can be utilized to generate sound waves to generate 360-degree radiation, the shell can achieve the effect of focusing the sound waves due to the fact that the concave cambered surface is used as a radiation surface, the energy utilization rate is finally improved, the radiation power is increased, and the treatment time can be further shortened.

Description

Transducer, transducer device and ablation device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of energy conversion, in particular to a transducer, a transduction device and an ablation device.

Background

The principle of ultrasonic focusing ablation is to make the ultrasonic wave outside the body pass through the tissue and focus on the focus tissue of the target area, and after focusing, the ultrasonic wave amplifies the energy to raise the focus temperature in the tumor in a short time, thus causing the damage or necrosis of focus cells. In recent years, the medical community has more research on ablation in human body cavities, but the energy utilization rate of the applied ultrasonic ablation transducer is not high, the radiation power is not high enough, and most of ultrasonic ablation transducers are single-focus ablation. When the internal or external tissues around the cavity are required to be ablated, the ultrasonic ablation transducer is required to be rotated to traverse the target tissues point by point, so that the operation time is long, the operation positioning difficulty is increased, the requirement on an operator is high, and meanwhile, the discomfort of a patient is increased.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a transducer, a transduction device and an ablation device, wherein the transducer can radiate sound waves in the 360-degree direction, can focus the sound waves, and finally improves the energy utilization rate and radiation power.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a transducer comprising: the piezoelectric device comprises a shell, a piezoelectric component and a pre-tightening device, wherein the piezoelectric component is arranged in the shell, the pre-tightening device is connected with the shell and the piezoelectric component, the piezoelectric component is configured to vibrate in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric component after being excited, the shell is configured to be driven by the vibrating piezoelectric component to generate bending vibration, and the shell is provided with a concave cambered surface for focusing the bending vibration.

In one embodiment, the concave cambered surface is an annular concave surface surrounding the periphery of the piezoelectric component in the thickness direction;

And/or the piezoelectric component comprises a plurality of piezoelectric elements, the piezoelectric elements are sequentially stacked and coaxially distributed, each piezoelectric element is polarized along the thickness direction of the piezoelectric element, and the polarization directions of two adjacent piezoelectric elements are opposite.

In one embodiment, the piezoelectric assembly has an inner hole penetrating through the piezoelectric assembly in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric assembly, and the pretensioning device is locked with the housing after partially penetrating through the inner hole.

In one embodiment, the transducer further comprises a wire connected to the piezoelectric element, the wire being led out of the housing via the pretensioning device.

In one embodiment, the pre-tightening device comprises a bolt and a nut, the bolt is partially locked with the shell through the nut after passing through the piezoelectric assembly, the bolt is provided with an inner cavity which axially penetrates through the bolt, and the wire enters the inner cavity through a hole on the side wall of the bolt and extends out of the shell along the inner cavity.

In one embodiment, the pretensioning device further comprises a support structure made of an insulating material, the support structure being disposed in the interior cavity of the bolt, the wire penetrating the support structure and extending along the support structure.

In one embodiment, the transducer further comprises a metal cushion block arranged in the shell, and one end of the piezoelectric component in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric component is detachably connected with the shell through the metal cushion block; or, the two ends of the piezoelectric assembly in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric assembly are detachably connected with the shell through the metal cushion blocks.

In one embodiment, a buffer pad is arranged between the metal cushion block and the inner wall of the shell;

and/or the piezoelectric assembly comprises a plurality of piezoelectric elements which are stacked in sequence and coaxially arranged, and the thickness of the metal cushion block is larger than that of the piezoelectric elements;

And/or the surface of the metal cushion block, which faces away from the piezoelectric assembly, is provided with a wiring groove.

In an embodiment, each piezoelectric element includes a piezoelectric structure and an electrode, the electrode is disposed between two adjacent piezoelectric structures, and the electrodes are uniformly disposed on two opposite surfaces of each piezoelectric structure along a thickness direction of the piezoelectric structure.

In one embodiment, the number of the piezoelectric structures is an even number, and the electrodes at both ends of the piezoelectric assembly in the thickness direction thereof are negative electrodes.

In one embodiment, the outer surface of the shell is covered with a protective layer; and/or, the concave cambered surface is covered with a matching layer.

In one embodiment, the housing is cylindrical and the concave cambered surface is disposed along the entire circumferential outer surface of the housing.

To achieve the above object, the present invention also provides a transduction apparatus including a signal generating device and any one of the transducers, the piezoelectric assembly being connected to the signal generating device, the signal generating device being configured to output an electrical signal to the piezoelectric assembly.

To achieve the above object, the present invention also provides an ablation device comprising a transduction device according to any one of the above.

The transducer, the transduction device and the ablation device provided by the invention have at least the following beneficial effects:

1) The transducer can convert vibration of the piezoelectric component along the thickness direction of the transducer into bending vibration of the shell, when the bending vibration of the shell generates sound waves, the sound waves are radiated in 360 degrees, and the shell can also achieve the effect of focusing the sound waves due to the fact that the concave cambered surface is used as a radiation surface.

2) When the shell is bent and vibrated to generate sound waves, namely 360-degree radiation is generated, the whole circumferential outer surface of the shell is provided with an inward concave cambered surface, at this time, the sound waves can be focused in the 360-degree direction, and the effect of annular ablation is achieved, so that when the inner or outer tissues around the cavity are required to be ablated, the transducer does not need to be rotated to traverse the target tissues point by point, the operation difficulty can be reduced, the treatment time is shortened, and the uncomfortable feeling of a patient in the treatment process is reduced.

3) Leads in the transducer are led out to the outside of the shell through the pre-tightening device, so that the structure of the transducer can be compact, the transducer is not increased, the transducer is convenient to use in a body, the leads are not easily affected by vibration, and the risk of damaging the leads is reduced.

4) The pretensioning device is arranged in a mode of bolts and nuts, and is simple in structure, convenient to assemble, good in pretensioning effect and convenient to arrange wires through the bolts.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a transducer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a piezoelectric assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a transducer of an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of a sound field forming focal zone of a transducer of an embodiment of the present invention.

Wherein, the reference numerals are as follows:

10-a piezoelectric assembly; 11-a piezoelectric element; 12-electrode; 13-arrow; 20-a pre-tightening device; 21-a bolt; 22-nut; 211-lumen; 30-conducting wires; 40-a housing; 41-concave cambered surface; 50-screws; a-an anode lead; b-negative electrode lead; 60-metal cushion blocks; 70-cushion pad.

Detailed Description

The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the drawings and the detailed description. The advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description. It should be noted that the drawings are in a very simplified form and are all to a non-precise scale, merely for the purpose of facilitating and clearly aiding in the description of embodiments of the invention. For a better understanding of the invention with objects, features and advantages, refer to the drawings. It should be understood that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc. shown in the drawings are shown only in connection with the present disclosure for the understanding and reading of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims, and any structural modifications, proportional changes, or dimensional adjustments, which may be made by the present disclosure, should fall within the scope of the present disclosure under the same or similar circumstances as the effects and objectives attained by the present invention.

It is noted that relational terms such as first and second, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

Furthermore, in the description herein, reference to the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the various embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the various embodiments or examples may be combined and combined by those skilled in the art without contradiction. In addition, in the following description, for convenience of description, "axial", "longitudinal", and "circumferential" are used; "axial" and "longitudinal" refer to directions along the thickness of the piezoelectric assembly itself; "circumferential" refers to the direction of the thickness of itself around the piezoelectric assembly.

The invention has the core that the transducer, the transduction equipment and the ablation equipment are provided, wherein the transducer can convert the vibration of the piezoelectric component along the thickness direction of the transducer into the bending vibration of the shell, so that 360-degree radiation of the shell is realized through an amplitude amplification effect, the radiation power is increased, and when the bending vibration of the shell generates sound waves, the shell is provided with a concave cambered surface as a radiation surface, the effect of focusing the sound waves can be achieved, and the energy utilization rate is high. If the transducer is applied to ablation, the target tissue can reach the ablation temperature faster, and the ablation efficiency is high, so that the treatment time is effectively shortened, and the operation efficiency is improved. Under the preferred condition, when the shell flexural vibration radiates sound waves in the 360-degree direction, the whole circumferential outer surface of the shell is provided with the concave cambered surface, and at the moment, the sound waves can be focused in the 360-degree direction, so that annular ablation is realized, and therefore, in the operation process, the transducer does not need to be rotated to traverse target tissues point by point, the operation difficulty is reduced, the treatment time is further shortened, the discomfort of a patient in the treatment process is reduced, and the operation is more comfortable and safer.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3, a schematic diagram of a transducer according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in fig. 1-3, the transducer includes a piezoelectric assembly 10, a pretensioning device 20, and a housing 40. The piezoelectric assembly 10 is disposed in a housing 40. The pretensioning device 20 connects the housing 40 and the piezoelectric assembly 10. The pre-tightening device 10 is used for pre-tightening the piezoelectric assembly 10, so that all structures in the piezoelectric assembly 10 are tightly connected, displacement of the piezoelectric assembly 10 after the piezoelectric assembly is electrified and loaded is avoided, and vibration unidirectional radiation without a baffle is realized. The piezoelectric assembly 10 is configured to vibrate in its thickness direction upon being excited. The housing 40 is configured to be driven by the vibrating piezoelectric assembly 10 to generate bending vibration. And the housing 40 is provided with a concave arc surface 41 for focusing the bending vibration. The shape of the housing 40 may be a column, a square, a rectangular parallelepiped, or the like, and in this embodiment, the housing 40 is schematically illustrated as a column.

As shown in fig. 2, in one embodiment, the piezoelectric assembly 10 includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements 11. The plurality of piezoelectric elements 11 are stacked in order and coaxially laid. Each piezoelectric element 11 is polarized in its own thickness direction, and the polarization directions of the adjacent two piezoelectric elements 11 are opposite. In a specific embodiment, each piezoelectric element 11 includes a piezoelectric structure 111 and an electrode 112, the electrode 112 is disposed between two adjacent piezoelectric structures 111, the electrodes 112 are uniformly disposed on two opposite surfaces of each piezoelectric structure 111 along the thickness direction thereof, the two electrodes 112 corresponding to each piezoelectric structure 111 are respectively a negative electrode and a positive electrode, the polarity of the negative electrode is denoted by "-", and the polarity of the positive electrode is denoted by "+". The piezoelectric structure 111 and the electrode 112 are both sheet-like structures. The piezoelectric structure 111 is made of a piezoelectric material. The electrode 112 is typically a conductive film coated on the surface of the piezoelectric structure 111.

As shown in fig. 3, the description is made with respect to an X axis and a Y axis, wherein the Y axis corresponds to the axial direction of the piezoelectric assembly 10 and the housing 40, and the axial direction of the piezoelectric assembly 10 is the thickness direction of the piezoelectric element 11, that is, the stacking direction of the piezoelectric element 11, and the X axis is perpendicular to the Y axis. When the transducer of the invention works, the piezoelectric component 10 is excited to work in a longitudinal vibration mode along the thickness direction of the piezoelectric component so as to generate telescopic vibration along the Y-axis direction; when the piezoelectric assembly 10 generates an elongation motion in the Y-axis direction, the case 40 is driven by the elongated piezoelectric assembly 10 to be stretched; when the piezoelectric assembly 10 generates a contracting motion in the Y-axis direction, the housing 40 is driven by the contracted piezoelectric assembly 10 to be compressed; the passive stretching and compressing movements of the housing 40 constitute its own bending vibrations. During this movement, a conversion of the longitudinal vibration of the piezoelectric assembly 10 into a bending vibration of the housing 40 is achieved.

Referring to fig. 4, the transducer provided by the present invention can radiate ultrasonic waves and also can radiate infrasonic waves, when the shell 40 is bent and vibrated to generate sound waves, the sound waves are radiated in 360 ° directions, and the effect of focusing the sound waves can be achieved because the radiation surface of the shell 40 is the concave arc surface 41, wherein S represents a single focusing area. Accordingly, the present invention improves the energy utilization rate and increases the radiation power by converting the longitudinal vibration of the piezoelectric assembly 10 in the thickness direction thereof into the bending vibration of the case 40. If the transducer is applied to ablation, the target tissue can be quickly warmed up, the ablation efficiency is improved, and the treatment time is effectively shortened.

Referring to fig. 1, the housing 40 is preferably a cylindrical body, and the concave cambered surface 41 is provided along the entire circumferential outer surface of the housing 40, that is, the concave cambered surface 41 is an annular concave surface surrounding the entire circumference in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric assembly 10. When so arranged, the radiation surface of the housing 40 is an annular concave surface, so that an annular sound wave radiation area can be generated when the housing 40 radiates sound waves in the 360-degree direction. When the inner or outer tissues around the cavity are required to be ablated, an operator can realize annular ablation without rotating the transducer, so that the operation difficulty can be reduced, the treatment time can be shortened, and the discomfort of a patient in the treatment process can be reduced.

The number of piezoelectric structures 111 is generally even, but there are also odd ones. The adjacent two piezoelectric structures 111 may share one electrode 112, that is, one electrode 112 is disposed between the adjacent two piezoelectric structures 111, but the adjacent two piezoelectric structures 111 may not share one electrode 112, and at this time, two electrodes 112 stacked on each other are disposed between the adjacent two piezoelectric structures 111.

The electrodes 112 are used to apply an electrical signal to the piezoelectric structure 111. The electrode 112 is preferably made of phosphor bronze or beryllium bronze. Phosphor bronze or beryllium bronze has the characteristic of good wear resistance. The shape and size of the electrode 112 are substantially the same as the shape and size of the piezoelectric structure 111. The piezoelectric structure 111 is excited to deform upon receiving an electric signal, so that the piezoelectric assembly 10 as a whole generates longitudinal vibration in its thickness direction. The piezoelectric structure 111 is used to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy, and excite longitudinal vibration, and the applied electrical signal may be a sine voltage signal or a cosine voltage signal.

The piezoelectric structure 111 includes, but is not limited to, piezoelectric ceramics, and may be made of a piezoelectric composite material, a piezoelectric single crystal, or the like. The piezoelectric structure 111 may be a ring structure or a non-ring structure, and specifically, the piezoelectric structure 111 may be set according to a pre-tightening manner. If the piezoelectric structure 111 is a ring structure, including but not limited to a circular ring structure.

In the present embodiment, the piezoelectric element 11 is deformed by force to a thickness deformation type. Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the polarization direction of the piezoelectric structure 111 is the up-down direction (i.e., the thickness direction) indicated by the arrow 13 in fig. 2, and the direction of the electric signal applied to the piezoelectric structure 111 is also the thickness direction, and thus, deformation in the thickness direction occurs. The thickness direction of the piezoelectric structure 111 is the axial direction (i.e., longitudinal direction) of the piezoelectric assembly 10. When an electrical signal is applied to the piezoelectric structure 111, the piezoelectric structure 111 deforms in the thickness direction, and the piezoelectric assembly 10 mechanically vibrates in the thickness direction.

Preferably, two adjacent piezoelectric elements 11 are fixedly connected to each other to avoid relative displacement. The piezoelectric elements 11 are connected to each other by adhesive, preferably epoxy adhesive. The epoxy adhesive has good corrosion resistance, good oxidation resistance and high bonding reliability. The connection between the electrode 112 and the piezoelectric structure 111 may be adhesive, and it is preferable to fix the electrode 112 and the piezoelectric structure 111 by using an epoxy adhesive.

The specific structure of the pre-tightening device 20 is not limited by the present application, and various suitable structures may be used to pre-tighten the electrical component 10, which are within the scope of the present application. Preferably, the piezoelectric assembly 10 has an inner hole penetrating through the piezoelectric assembly 10 in its thickness direction, and the pretensioning device 20 is locked with the housing 40 after partially penetrating through the inner hole of the piezoelectric assembly 10. This arrangement does not cause the pretensioning device 20 to occupy too much of the internal space of the housing 40, and also facilitates installation of the pretensioning device 20.

In the illustrated embodiment, the piezoelectric assembly 10 is preloaded by means of a bolt 21 and a nut 22. Specifically, the pretensioning device 20 includes a bolt 21 and a nut 22. The bolt 21 is partially inserted through the inner hole of the piezoelectric assembly 10 and then locked with the housing 40 by the nut 22. At this time, the pretensioning device 2 is simple in structure, convenient to install, good in pretensioning effect, convenient to wire by using the bolts 21, and capable of enabling the whole transducer to be compact in structure and not oversized. However, in other embodiments, the pretensioning device 20 may not extend through the entire piezoelectric assembly 10, in other words, the inner hole of the piezoelectric assembly 10 may be disposed in a thickness direction without extending through the entire piezoelectric assembly 10, such as adjusting the length of the threaded connection between the bolt 21 and the piezoelectric assembly 10, and the pretensioning force of the piezoelectric assembly 10 may also be adjusted. Further, the bolt 21 is made of a metal material, more preferably a corrosion-resistant material such as stainless steel or the like.

The transducer may further comprise a wire 30 connected to the piezoelectric element 11, the piezoelectric element 11 being connected to the signal generating means by the wire 30. More specifically, the electrode 112 in the piezoelectric element 11 is directly connected to the wire 30. For example, the wires 30 include a positive electrode wire a and a negative electrode wire B. The positive electrode in the piezoelectric assembly 10 is connected with the signal generating device through a positive electrode lead A, and the negative electrode in the piezoelectric assembly 10 is directly grounded through a negative electrode lead B. The signal generating means may be a low frequency signal generator or a high frequency signal generator, the corresponding signal generator being selected in particular according to the frequency of the sound wave. To facilitate connection with the wire 30, at least part of the electrode 112 is provided with a protrusion extending beyond the edge of the piezoelectric structure 111, said protrusion being connected with the wire 30. The connection between the lead 30 and the electrode 112 may be by soldering and/or glue bonding. Preferably, the lead 30 is led out of the housing 40 through the pre-tightening device 20, so that the structure of the transducer can be compact, the transducer is not increased, the transducer is convenient to use in a human body, the lead 30 is not easily affected by vibration, and the risk of damage to the lead 30 is reduced.

As shown in fig. 3, as an embodiment, the bolt 21 is provided with an inner cavity 211 penetrating axially, and the wire 30 enters the inner cavity 211 through a hole on a side wall of the bolt 21 and extends out of the housing 40 along the inner cavity 211, so that the wire 30 in the housing 40 is led out of the housing 40. Alternatively, the positive electrode lead a and the negative electrode lead B may be led out from both ends of the bolt 21 through the inner cavities 211 of the bolt 21, respectively. However, in other embodiments of the present application, the lead 30 may be routed through the redundant space between the housing 40 and the piezoelectric assembly 10 instead of the pre-tightening device 20 after being connected to the electrode 112, and the housing 40 may be perforated to pass through the lead 30, so that the lead 30 may directly pass through the housing 40.

In view of the fact that the bolts 21 are mostly of metallic material, which may damage the wires 30, for this purpose the transducer is further provided with a support structure made of insulating material, which is arranged in the inner cavity 211 of the bolts 21, through which the wires 30 penetrate and extend. The support structure may be a tubular structure or a non-tubular structure. For example, the support structure is an insulating tube or a spiral structure. The support structure is beneficial in that the wires 30 are conveniently routed, and damage to the wires 30 can be reduced.

In addition to the connection between the piezoelectric assembly 10 and the housing 40 via the pretensioning device 20, the piezoelectric assembly 10 itself is also fixedly connected to the housing 40, preferably by means of screws. Since both the piezoelectric structure 111 and the electrode 112 are relatively thin, it is inconvenient to directly connect with the screw 50, and thus, as shown in fig. 3, the transducer further includes a metal pad 60, and the thickness of the metal pad 60 is greater than that of the piezoelectric element 11, which is sufficient to effectively connect with the screw 50. At least one end of the piezoelectric assembly 10 in its thickness direction is first fixed to the metal pad 60, and then the metal pad 60 is detachably connected to the screw 50. The metal pad 60 may be welded and/or glued to the piezoelectric assembly 10. One end of the piezoelectric assembly 10 in the thickness direction thereof is detachably connected with the housing 40 through the metal pad 60, or both ends of the piezoelectric assembly 10 in the thickness direction thereof are detachably connected with the housing 40 through the metal pad 60.

With the mounting orientation shown in fig. 3 as an example, the top and bottom ends of the piezoelectric assembly 10 in its thickness direction are detachably connected to the screw 50 by a metal pad 60. The metal cushion block 60 is connected with the shell 40 through a plurality of screws 50, and the specific number of the screws 50 is set according to the requirement. The screws 50 are preferably evenly distributed along the circumference of the housing 40 to ensure even stress. The metal pad 60 is preferably made of a hard metal material such as stainless steel or the like. The shape and size of the metal pad 60 generally corresponds to the shape and size of the piezoelectric element 11. Optionally, a central opening of the metal spacer 60 is provided for passing through the bolt 21. The screw hole depth on the metal pad 60 does not penetrate the metal pad 60. As a specific embodiment, in order to facilitate the wire 30 entering the bolt 21, a wiring groove may be disposed on the surface of the metal pad 60 facing away from the piezoelectric assembly 10, so that the wire 30 is embedded in the wiring groove, so as to avoid the influence of the protruding surface of the metal pad 60 on the use of the metal pad 60.

Preferably, the electrodes 112 at both ends (e.g., top and bottom ends) of the piezoelectric assembly 10 in the thickness direction thereof are negative electrodes. Since the negative electrode can be directly grounded through the lead 30, at this time, even if the electrode 112 on the surface of the piezoelectric structure 111 is directly contacted with the metal pad 60, the safety of use can be ensured. The four piezoelectric elements 11 are shown schematically, and from top to bottom, the electrode 112 on the upper surface of the first piezoelectric structure is a negative electrode (-), the electrode 112 on the lower surface is a positive electrode (+) and the electrode 112 on the upper surface of the second piezoelectric structure is a positive electrode (+) and the electrode 112 on the lower surface is a negative electrode (-), the electrode 112 on the upper surface of the third piezoelectric structure is a negative electrode (-), the electrode 112 on the lower surface is a positive electrode (+) and the electrode 112 on the upper surface of the fourth piezoelectric structure is a positive electrode (+) and the electrode 112 on the lower surface is a negative electrode (-), respectively, as viewed from the direction shown in fig. 2.

Preferably, a cushion 70 is provided between the metal pad 60 and the inner wall of the housing 40 for providing a resilient cushion for the connection between the housing 40 and the piezoelectric assembly 10. The cushion 70 may be made of a metallic or non-metallic material that is more resilient. The cushion pad 70 may be connected or disconnected with the metal pad 60, and the cushion pad 70 may be connected or disconnected with the inner wall of the housing 40. In this case, the cushion pad 70 may not be connected with the metal pad 60 or the inner wall of the housing 40 because the cushion pad 70 is clamped between the inner wall of the housing 40 and the metal pad 60.

The manner of manufacturing the housing 40 is not limited. The casing 40 is schematically illustrated as a cylinder, for example, the cylinder may be punched on the basis of a cylinder to obtain the casing 40 with a continuous or discontinuous concave cambered surface 41 on the circumferential outer surface. The material of the housing 40 is preferably a metallic material, more preferably a material that is not easily corroded by the environment, and a material that is easily bent and deformed, such as stainless steel.

For easy installation, the housing 40 is mainly formed by splicing two parts, and the two parts of the housing 40 can be welded, bonded or connected with the aid of a mechanical structure. The height of the housing 40 in the axial direction (i.e., the internal height) is less than the sum of the heights of the piezoelectric assembly 10, the metal spacer 60 and the cushion 70 prior to assembly so that the pretensioning device 20 applies an axial pretension to the piezoelectric assembly 10 through the housing 40.

As a specific embodiment, during assembly, the bolt 21 is first sequentially passed through the upper half of the housing, the upper cushion, the upper metal pad, the piezoelectric assembly 10, the lower metal pad, the lower cushion and the lower half of the housing, then the wire 30 is led out of the housing 40 along the wire-running groove of the metal pad 60 through the hole of the bolt 21 near the end of the bolt into the inner cavity 211, and finally the bolt 21 and the screw 50 are locked.

To prevent liquids, air or impurities from entering the electrical parts (piezoelectric ceramics, electrodes) of the piezoelectric assembly 10, the housing 40 needs to be sealed, such as by filling with a sealant, for example, in the screw holes connected to the screws 50 and the screw holes connected to the bolts 21.

For better protection of the transducer, it is preferable to cover the outer surface of the housing 40 with a protective layer. The protective layer may be made of impact and/or corrosion resistant materials, such as when the transducer is used in a relatively harsh environment, the protective layer may protect the housing 40 from impact damage or corrosion by the environment.

In order to be able to radiate sound better, the concave curved surface 41 of the housing 40 is preferably covered with a matching layer. The matching layer is made of a material with good sound transmission performance, such as a proper acoustic material, including a sound transmission material matched with the acoustic impedance of the soft tissue of the human body, such as silicon rubber and the like. The matching layer can radiate sound waves outwards better, and radiation efficiency is improved.

The matching layer and/or the protective layer may be connected to the housing 40 by injection molding, or adhesively connected to the housing 40, or may be deposited or sprayed on the outer surface of the housing 40.

The present embodiment also provides a transduction apparatus comprising a signal generating means and a transducer of the present embodiment, the piezoelectric assembly 10 being connected to the signal generating means, the signal generating means being configured to output an electrical signal to the piezoelectric assembly 10.

In one embodiment, the signal generating device performs separate excitation on at least part of the piezoelectric elements 11 in the transducer, that is, the excitation of at least part of the piezoelectric elements 11 is independent from each other, so as to separately control some piezoelectric elements 11, so that some piezoelectric elements 11 can work independently, so as to flexibly adjust the output of energy to meet various use requirements. Therefore, in actual use, the voltage values received by the piezoelectric element 11 may be the same or different. To individually excite each piezoelectric element 11, it is necessary that the electrodes 112 on both sides of each piezoelectric structure 11 be provided individually without being shared with other piezoelectric structures 11 and be led out through the leads 30 separately.

In an embodiment, all piezoelectric elements 11 in the transducer may be excited simultaneously, i.e. all piezoelectric elements 11 receive the same electrical signal. At this time, the electrodes 112 on both sides of each piezoelectric structure 11 may be shared with other piezoelectric structures 11, and may be led out by the shared wire 30.

Furthermore, the transducer may be provided with sound absorbing means (acoustic backing) or the sound absorbing means may be omitted. The sound absorbing means serves to absorb part of the sound waves and is generally disposed between the inside of the housing 40 and the piezoelectric assembly 10. Preferably, the transducer eliminates the sound absorbing means so that all of the longitudinal vibration energy is converted to mechanical energy (bending vibration) of the housing 40, with less energy loss throughout the process, amplified amplitude, high power emissions achieved, enhanced ablation energy, and reduced treatment time.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an ablation device, which comprises the transduction device of the embodiment of the invention. The ablation device is used for performing ultrasonic ablation on target tissue through a transducer.

It should be noted that the transducer and the transducer device provided by the present invention may be used in other fields besides medical application, and are not limited thereto. By taking intra-cavity ablation as an illustration, the transducer provided by the invention can utilize bending vibration of the shell 40 to generate sound waves, namely 360-degree radiation, and the shell 40 can also achieve the effect of focusing the sound waves due to the fact that the concave cambered surface 41 is used as a radiation surface. After the configuration, the energy utilization rate is improved, the radiation power is increased, and if the device is applied to ablation, the target tissue can be heated more quickly, the ablation efficiency is improved, so that the treatment time is shortened, and the operation efficiency is improved. Particularly, when the shell 40 is bent and vibrated to generate sound waves, namely, 360-degree radiation is generated, and the whole circumferential outer surface of the shell 40 is provided with the concave cambered surface 41, the sound waves can be focused in the 360-degree direction, and at the moment, annular ablation can be realized, so that the situation that the transducer rotates to gradually point-calendar target tissues is avoided, the operation difficulty is reduced, the treatment time is shortened, and the uncomfortable feeling of a patient in the treatment process is reduced.

It should be noted that several modifications and additions will be possible to those skilled in the art without departing from the method of the invention, which modifications and additions should also be considered as within the scope of the invention. Equivalent embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings disclosed herein, when made with the changes, modifications, and variations to the invention; meanwhile, any equivalent changes, modifications and evolution of the above embodiments according to the essential technology of the present invention still fall within the scope of the technical solution of the present invention.

Claims (14)

1. A transducer, comprising: the piezoelectric device comprises a shell, a piezoelectric component and a pre-tightening device, wherein the piezoelectric component is arranged in the shell, the pre-tightening device is connected with the shell and the piezoelectric component, the piezoelectric component is configured to vibrate in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric component after being excited, the shell is configured to be driven by the vibrating piezoelectric component to generate bending vibration, and the shell is provided with a concave cambered surface for focusing the bending vibration.

2. The transducer of claim 1, wherein the concave cambered surface is an annular concave surface surrounding a circumference in a thickness direction of the piezoelectric component;

And/or the piezoelectric component comprises a plurality of piezoelectric elements, the piezoelectric elements are sequentially stacked and coaxially distributed, each piezoelectric element is polarized along the thickness direction of the piezoelectric element, and the polarization directions of two adjacent piezoelectric elements are opposite.

3. The transducer of claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric assembly has an internal bore extending through the piezoelectric assembly in a direction of thickness thereof, and wherein the pretensioning device is secured to the housing after passing partially through the internal bore.

4. The transducer of claim 1, further comprising a wire connected to the piezoelectric element, the wire being routed out of the housing through the pretensioning device.

5. The transducer of claim 4, wherein the pre-tightening means comprises a bolt and a nut, the bolt being locked with the housing by the nut after passing partially through the piezoelectric assembly, and the bolt being provided with an axially extending lumen, the wire passing through a hole in a side wall of the bolt into the lumen and extending out of the housing along the lumen.

6. The transducer of claim 5, wherein the pre-tightening means further comprises a support structure made of an insulating material, the support structure being disposed in the interior cavity of the bolt, the wire passing through and extending along the support structure.

7. The transducer according to claim 1, further comprising a metal pad provided in the housing, one end of the piezoelectric component in a thickness direction thereof being detachably connected to the housing through the metal pad; or, the two ends of the piezoelectric assembly in the thickness direction of the piezoelectric assembly are detachably connected with the shell through the metal cushion blocks.

8. The transducer of claim 7, wherein a cushion pad is disposed between the metal pad and an inner wall of the housing;

and/or the piezoelectric assembly comprises a plurality of piezoelectric elements which are stacked in sequence and coaxially arranged, and the thickness of the metal cushion block is larger than that of the piezoelectric elements;

And/or the surface of the metal cushion block, which faces away from the piezoelectric assembly, is provided with a wiring groove.

9. The transducer according to claim 2, wherein each of the piezoelectric elements includes a piezoelectric structure and an electrode, the electrode is provided between two adjacent piezoelectric structures, and the electrodes are provided uniformly on two opposite surfaces of each of the piezoelectric structures in a thickness direction thereof.

10. The transducer according to claim 9, wherein the number of the piezoelectric structures is an even number, and the electrodes at both ends of the piezoelectric assembly in the thickness direction thereof are negative electrodes.

11. The transducer of any of claims 1-10, wherein an outer surface of the housing is covered with a protective layer; and/or, the concave cambered surface is covered with a matching layer.

12. The transducer of any of claims 1-10, wherein the housing is cylindrical and the concave arcuate surface is disposed along the entire circumferential outer surface of the housing.

13. A transducer apparatus comprising a signal generating device and a transducer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12, the piezoelectric assembly being connected to the signal generating device, the signal generating device being configured to output an electrical signal to the piezoelectric assembly.

14. An ablation device comprising the transducing device of claim 13.