EP0285482A1 - Akustischer Multifrequenzwandler, insbesondere für medizinische Abbildung - Google Patents

Akustischer Multifrequenzwandler, insbesondere für medizinische Abbildung Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0285482A1
EP0285482A1 EP88400583A EP88400583A EP0285482A1 EP 0285482 A1 EP0285482 A1 EP 0285482A1 EP 88400583 A EP88400583 A EP 88400583A EP 88400583 A EP88400583 A EP 88400583A EP 0285482 A1 EP0285482 A1 EP 0285482A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
frequency
transducer
blade
transducer according
medical imaging
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP88400583A
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English (en)
French (fr)
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EP0285482B1 (de
Inventor
Charles Maerfeld
Jean-François Gelly
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Thales SA
Original Assignee
Thomson CSF SA
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Thomson CSF SA filed Critical Thomson CSF SA
Priority to AT88400583T priority Critical patent/ATE72609T1/de
Publication of EP0285482A1 publication Critical patent/EP0285482A1/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0285482B1 publication Critical patent/EP0285482B1/de
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10K—SOUND-PRODUCING DEVICES; METHODS OR DEVICES FOR PROTECTING AGAINST, OR FOR DAMPING, NOISE OR OTHER ACOUSTIC WAVES IN GENERAL; ACOUSTICS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G10K11/00—Methods or devices for transmitting, conducting or directing sound in general; Methods or devices for protecting against, or for damping, noise or other acoustic waves in general
    • G10K11/02—Mechanical acoustic impedances; Impedance matching, e.g. by horns; Acoustic resonators

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to multifrequency acoustic transducers used in particular in medicine to form images of the human body by ultrasound.
  • FIG. 1 It is known to use in medical ultrasound probes, a cross section of which is shown in FIG. 1.
  • This probe is formed from aligned transducer elements such as 101 whose thickness is adapted to the operating frequency. The two faces of these elements are covered with electrodes 102 making it possible to apply the electrical voltages which make them vibrate.
  • the vibration frequency chosen is most often the resonance frequency f r which corresponds to the fundamental mode of vibration depending on the thickness of the transducer.
  • a thickness of 1 mm is commonly used for medical probes and the frequency used is therefore most often 2.85 MHz.
  • the overvoltage factor Q of the transducers is approximately equal to the ratio between the impedance of the piezoelectric material constituting this transducer and the impedance of the external medium where the vibration will propagate. If ⁇ and ⁇ o are respectively the specific masses of the piezoelectric material and the external medium, and c and c o the velocities of sound in this material and in this medium, Q is then equal to In the case of a piezoelectric ceramic such as PZT, this ratio is close to 17.
  • the vibrations are emitted in the form of short duration pulses in order to have sufficient distance resolution. This widens the frequency band of the transmitted signal and therefore requires having a relatively large probe bandwidth. To obtain this, it is known to place in front of the transducers a blade 103 whose thickness is a quarter of the wavelength at the frequency fundamental. The impedance of this quarter wave plate is chosen to be of the order of ⁇ c ⁇ o c o .
  • the transducers are fixed to the body of the probe by means of a reflector 104, known by the Anglo-Saxon backing name, which is advantageously of the soft type, that is to say having a neighboring acoustic impedance from 0.
  • the invention proposes to modify the traditional probes by adding additional adaptation blades in order to be able to operate these probes. simultaneously on several frequencies and therefore simultaneously perform mode B imaging and DFM imaging with a single probe.
  • the probe according to the invention comprises a transducer 201 provided with two electrodes 202 and a quarter-wave plate 203. According to the invention, this transducer is fixed to the soft reflector 204 by means of a half-wave plate 205.
  • this probe operates for two passbands centered one around a high frequency f o , and the other around a low frequency f1 equal to These frequencies are for example equal to those mentioned above, ie 5 MHz and 2.5 MHz.
  • half-wave and quarter-wave used respectively for the transducer 201 and the blade 205 on the one hand and for the blade 203 on the other hand correspond to the high frequency.
  • the materials used not being dispersive, at the low frequency the transducer 201 and the blade 205 are quarter wave, while the blade 203 is at 1 / 8th of the wavelength.
  • the transducer would obviously not resonate at the frequency f1 and the acoustic signal possibly emitted would be extremely weak.
  • the presence of the blade 205 does not change anything at the frequency f o since, being half-wave at this frequency, it is transparent to the acoustic waves and it brings back to the level of the transducer the same impedance than that of reflector 204.
  • this blade being quarter wave at this frequency, everything happens as if the transducer were extended by a quarter wavelength and that the transducer assembly 201-blade 205 is equivalent to a half wave. Under these conditions, the excitation brought back by the electrodes 202 allows this assembly to vibrate at resonance on the frequency f1.
  • FIG. 3 represents the amplitude A of the vibrational speed along the transducer 201 and the blade 205.
  • Such a line would be short-circuited at the end on the side of the reflector where there would therefore always be a maximum vibrational speed, known as the belly, whatever the frequency, in particular at the frequencies f o and f1.
  • this blade 203 it is always quarter wave at the frequency f o and therefore plays its role of bandwidth expander.
  • this blade only has a length equivalent to 1 / 8th of a wavelength and the adaptation to this frequency is therefore very different from that obtained at the frequency f1, so that the band of frequencies obtained around f o is narrower than that around f1.
  • this frequency f o is used for DFM imaging, such a narrowing of the bandwidth is not a problem.
  • the electronic equipment associated with the probe includes circuits which make it possible to use the two frequencies f o and f1 both on transmission and on reception.
  • FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section of a probe according to the invention operating at 5 MHz and at 2.5 MHz. It can be seen that this probe comprises a set of transducers 201 coated with metallizations 202. These transducers are obtained by sections of a block of ceramic previously metallized on its two faces to form the electrodes. This set of transducers is bonded to the blade 205 which is itself bonded to the reflector 204. The blade 203 itself covers the transducers on which it is also bonded. Note that only the transducer block is formed of individual elements, while both the blades 203 and 205 as the reflector 204 are continuous. In this example shown the bar is linear, but the invention also applies to bars having another shape and in particular to curved bars.
  • the invention is not limited to the case of probes operating on two frequencies, one of which is half the other. It also extends to probes and in general to acoustic transducers operating on a set of distinct frequencies forming the center frequencies of separate frequency bands. For this, the number of additional adaptation blades is multiplied so as to create the number of degrees of freedom sufficient in the transfer function to determine these bandwidths.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Ultra Sonic Daignosis Equipment (AREA)
  • Transducers For Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging Apparatus (AREA)
  • Medicines Containing Antibodies Or Antigens For Use As Internal Diagnostic Agents (AREA)
  • Endoscopes (AREA)
  • Investigating Or Analyzing Materials By The Use Of Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)
EP88400583A 1987-03-19 1988-03-11 Akustischer Multifrequenzwandler, insbesondere für medizinische Abbildung Expired - Lifetime EP0285482B1 (de)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT88400583T ATE72609T1 (de) 1987-03-19 1988-03-11 Akustischer multifrequenzwandler, insbesondere fuer medizinische abbildung.

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR8703839A FR2612722B1 (fr) 1987-03-19 1987-03-19 Transducteur acoustique multifrequences, notamment pour imagerie medicale
FR8703839 1987-03-19

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0285482A1 true EP0285482A1 (de) 1988-10-05
EP0285482B1 EP0285482B1 (de) 1992-02-12

Family

ID=9349214

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP88400583A Expired - Lifetime EP0285482B1 (de) 1987-03-19 1988-03-11 Akustischer Multifrequenzwandler, insbesondere für medizinische Abbildung

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (1) US4870972A (de)
EP (1) EP0285482B1 (de)
JP (1) JPS63255044A (de)
AT (1) ATE72609T1 (de)
DE (1) DE3868337D1 (de)
FR (1) FR2612722B1 (de)
NO (1) NO881125L (de)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0550193A1 (de) * 1991-12-30 1993-07-07 Xerox Corporation Verfahren zum Ausschleudern von Tintentropfen in einem akustischen Tintendrucker sowie piezoelektrischer Wandler für einen Tintendrucker
DE4313229A1 (de) * 1993-04-22 1994-10-27 Siemens Ag Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung mit einem Dämpfungskörper
EP0641606A2 (de) * 1993-09-07 1995-03-08 Acuson Corporation Breitbandige phasengesteuerte Gruppenwandlerentwurf mit frekwenzkontrollierte Zwei-dimensionale Mögligkeit und Verfahren zu ihrer Produktion
FR2722358A1 (fr) * 1994-07-08 1996-01-12 Thomson Csf Transducteur acoustique multifrequences a larges bandes
US5582177A (en) * 1993-09-07 1996-12-10 Acuson Corporation Broadband phased array transducer design with frequency controlled two dimension capability and methods for manufacture thereof
US5743855A (en) * 1995-03-03 1998-04-28 Acuson Corporation Broadband phased array transducer design with frequency controlled two dimension capability and methods for manufacture thereof

Families Citing this family (17)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5400788A (en) * 1989-05-16 1995-03-28 Hewlett-Packard Apparatus that generates acoustic signals at discrete multiple frequencies and that couples acoustic signals into a cladded-core acoustic waveguide
US5212671A (en) * 1989-06-22 1993-05-18 Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha Ultrasonic probe having backing material layer of uneven thickness
GB2301892B (en) * 1992-07-14 1997-02-26 Intravascular Res Ltd Methods and apparatus for the examination and treatment of internal organs
US5351546A (en) * 1992-10-22 1994-10-04 General Electric Company Monochromatic ultrasonic transducer
GB2293240B (en) * 1994-09-15 1998-05-20 Intravascular Res Ltd Ultrasonic visualisation method and apparatus
JP3782107B2 (ja) * 1994-11-30 2006-06-07 ボストン サイエンティフィック リミテッド 音響像形成、ドプラーカテーテルおよびガイドワイヤ
US5558623A (en) * 1995-03-29 1996-09-24 Rich-Mar Corporation Therapeutic ultrasonic device
US6254542B1 (en) 1995-07-17 2001-07-03 Intravascular Research Limited Ultrasonic visualization method and apparatus
US5825117A (en) * 1996-03-26 1998-10-20 Hewlett-Packard Company Second harmonic imaging transducers
JP3573567B2 (ja) * 1996-04-12 2004-10-06 株式会社日立メディコ 超音波探触子及びそれを用いた超音波検査装置
DE29708338U1 (de) * 1997-05-12 1998-09-17 DWL Elektronische Systeme GmbH, 78354 Sipplingen Multifrequenz-Ultraschallsonde
US6589174B1 (en) * 2000-10-20 2003-07-08 Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre Technique and apparatus for ultrasound therapy
FR2815723B1 (fr) * 2000-10-24 2004-04-30 Thomson Csf Procede systeme et sonde pour l'obtention d'images par l'intermediaire d'ondes emises par une antenne apres reflexion de ces ondes au niveau d'un ensemble servant de cible
JP2004535882A (ja) * 2001-07-24 2004-12-02 サンライト メディカル リミテッド 超音波を用いた骨年齢評価方法
WO2003009738A2 (en) * 2001-07-24 2003-02-06 Sunlight Medical, Ltd. Method and apparatus for bone diagnosis
US7396332B2 (en) * 2002-06-10 2008-07-08 Scimed Life Systems, Inc. Transducer with multiple resonant frequencies for an imaging catheter
JP2010273097A (ja) * 2009-05-21 2010-12-02 Iwaki Akiyama 超音波プローブ

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3008553A1 (de) * 1979-03-12 1980-09-25 Kretztechnik Gmbh Schallkopf fuer untersuchungen mit ultraschall nach dem impuls-echoverfahren und mit diesem schallkopf ausgestattetes ultraschallgeraet
US4490640A (en) * 1983-09-22 1984-12-25 Keisuke Honda Multi-frequency ultrasonic transducer

Family Cites Families (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS599859B2 (ja) * 1979-07-21 1984-03-05 アロカ株式会社 可変周波数超音波探触子
US4276491A (en) * 1979-10-02 1981-06-30 Ausonics Pty. Limited Focusing piezoelectric ultrasonic medical diagnostic system
US4503861A (en) * 1983-04-11 1985-03-12 Biomedics, Inc. Fetal heartbeat doppler transducer

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE3008553A1 (de) * 1979-03-12 1980-09-25 Kretztechnik Gmbh Schallkopf fuer untersuchungen mit ultraschall nach dem impuls-echoverfahren und mit diesem schallkopf ausgestattetes ultraschallgeraet
US4490640A (en) * 1983-09-22 1984-12-25 Keisuke Honda Multi-frequency ultrasonic transducer

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN, vol. 5, no. 66 (E-55)[738], 2 mai 1981, page 163 E 55; & JP-A-56 017 598 (AROKA K.K.) 19-02-1981 *

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0550193A1 (de) * 1991-12-30 1993-07-07 Xerox Corporation Verfahren zum Ausschleudern von Tintentropfen in einem akustischen Tintendrucker sowie piezoelektrischer Wandler für einen Tintendrucker
DE4313229A1 (de) * 1993-04-22 1994-10-27 Siemens Ag Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung mit einem Dämpfungskörper
EP0641606A2 (de) * 1993-09-07 1995-03-08 Acuson Corporation Breitbandige phasengesteuerte Gruppenwandlerentwurf mit frekwenzkontrollierte Zwei-dimensionale Mögligkeit und Verfahren zu ihrer Produktion
EP0641606A3 (de) * 1993-09-07 1996-06-12 Acuson Breitbandige phasengesteuerte Gruppenwandlerentwurf mit frekwenzkontrollierte Zwei-dimensionale Mögligkeit und Verfahren zu ihrer Produktion.
US5582177A (en) * 1993-09-07 1996-12-10 Acuson Corporation Broadband phased array transducer design with frequency controlled two dimension capability and methods for manufacture thereof
US5976090A (en) * 1993-09-07 1999-11-02 Acuson Corporation Broadband phased array transducer design with frequency controlled two dimension capability and methods for manufacture thereof
FR2722358A1 (fr) * 1994-07-08 1996-01-12 Thomson Csf Transducteur acoustique multifrequences a larges bandes
WO1996001702A1 (fr) * 1994-07-08 1996-01-25 Thomson-Csf Transducteur acoustique multifrequences a bandes larges
US5743855A (en) * 1995-03-03 1998-04-28 Acuson Corporation Broadband phased array transducer design with frequency controlled two dimension capability and methods for manufacture thereof

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
FR2612722B1 (fr) 1989-05-26
DE3868337D1 (de) 1992-03-26
EP0285482B1 (de) 1992-02-12
ATE72609T1 (de) 1992-02-15
FR2612722A1 (fr) 1988-09-23
JPS63255044A (ja) 1988-10-21
NO881125D0 (no) 1988-03-14
US4870972A (en) 1989-10-03
NO881125L (no) 1988-09-20

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