EP0590176A1 - Transducteur ultrasonore muni d'une couche d'adaptation acoustique - Google Patents

Transducteur ultrasonore muni d'une couche d'adaptation acoustique Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0590176A1
EP0590176A1 EP92116561A EP92116561A EP0590176A1 EP 0590176 A1 EP0590176 A1 EP 0590176A1 EP 92116561 A EP92116561 A EP 92116561A EP 92116561 A EP92116561 A EP 92116561A EP 0590176 A1 EP0590176 A1 EP 0590176A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
particles
ultrasonic transducer
transducer arrangement
arrangement according
acoustic
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
EP92116561A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0590176B1 (fr
Inventor
Clemens Dr.-Ing. Fiebiger
Erhard Ing.Grad. Schmidt
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.)
Siemens AG
Original Assignee
Siemens AG
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Siemens AG filed Critical Siemens AG
Priority to AT92116561T priority Critical patent/ATE174445T1/de
Priority to DE59209589T priority patent/DE59209589D1/de
Priority to EP92116561A priority patent/EP0590176B1/fr
Priority to US08/120,339 priority patent/US5418759A/en
Priority to JP26314393A priority patent/JP3478857B2/ja
Publication of EP0590176A1 publication Critical patent/EP0590176A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0590176B1 publication Critical patent/EP0590176B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • 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
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B06—GENERATING OR TRANSMITTING MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS IN GENERAL
    • B06B—METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR GENERATING OR TRANSMITTING MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS OF INFRASONIC, SONIC, OR ULTRASONIC FREQUENCY, e.g. FOR PERFORMING MECHANICAL WORK IN GENERAL
    • B06B1/00—Methods or apparatus for generating mechanical vibrations of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic frequency
    • B06B1/02—Methods or apparatus for generating mechanical vibrations of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic frequency making use of electrical energy
    • B06B1/06—Methods or apparatus for generating mechanical vibrations of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic frequency making use of electrical energy operating with piezoelectric effect or with electrostriction
    • B06B1/0644—Methods or apparatus for generating mechanical vibrations of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic frequency making use of electrical energy operating with piezoelectric effect or with electrostriction using a single piezoelectric element
    • B06B1/0662—Methods or apparatus for generating mechanical vibrations of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic frequency making use of electrical energy operating with piezoelectric effect or with electrostriction using a single piezoelectric element with an electrode on the sensitive surface
    • B06B1/067—Methods or apparatus for generating mechanical vibrations of infrasonic, sonic, or ultrasonic frequency making use of electrical energy operating with piezoelectric effect or with electrostriction using a single piezoelectric element with an electrode on the sensitive surface which is used as, or combined with, an impedance matching layer

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an ultrasonic transducer arrangement with an electroacoustic transducer part, which is assigned at least one acoustic adaptation layer.
  • adaptation layers are used in order to reduce reflections at the interfaces of two materials with different impedances outside an examination object or to transmit the ultrasound energy from the transducer part into the examination object and back with as little loss as possible.
  • at least one adaptation layer is arranged between the two materials.
  • Adaptation layers are used for the acoustic adaptation of an electroacoustic transducer part to an examination object.
  • an acoustic sump or damping body with at least one adaptation layer can also be adapted to the transducer part.
  • the invention is based on the object of specifying a simply constructed ultrasound transducer arrangement with an acoustically homogeneous adaptation layer, the function-determining properties of which can be set within a wide range.
  • the acoustic adaptation layer consists of an electrically conductive framework with interconnected interspaces, that the framework is made up of interconnected particles, that the size of the particles is smaller than the wavelength of an acoustic wave in the adaptation layer, which means in there is no significant scattering of the wave in the adaptation layer and that the interstices are filled with a hardenable potting material.
  • the electrically conductive framework simplifies the construction of the ultrasonic transducer arrangement in such a way that the electroacoustic transducer part can be contacted or shielded via the adaptation layer.
  • the acoustic impedance can be adjusted over a wide range via the choice of material and the size of the particles, so that various acoustic matching problems can be solved.
  • the size of the particles depends on the ultrasound frequency used. The lower the frequency, the larger the particles can be without causing a disturbing scattering of the ultrasonic wave. The smallness of the particles also ensures a homogeneous distribution of the acoustic impedance.
  • volume fraction of the particles in the adaptation layer is between 5% and 95%.
  • the hardenable potting material guarantees sufficient mechanical stability. It has also been found that even with a volume fraction of the particles of 95%, the interspaces remain interconnected, so that adaptation layers with a high volume fraction of the particles can also be produced without air inclusions.
  • the volume fraction of the particles is between 10% and 60%. Adaptation layers in which the volume fraction of the particles is in this range can be produced without complex manufacturing measures.
  • the framework consists of sintered metal powder particles.
  • the sintering ensures a stable and electrically conductive connection of the particles in the framework.
  • the particles are of the same type, as a result of which a particularly high degree of homogeneity is achieved.
  • the particles are dendritic in shape, as a result of which adaptation layers can be produced with a small volume fraction of the particles.
  • the particles are spherically shaped, as a result of which medium and high volume fractions can be achieved.
  • the particles contain copper. Copper particles are easily sinterable under protective gas and in various particle shapes, such as B. spherical or dendritic forms available.
  • the potting material is a hardenable synthetic resin. This allows the gaps to be filled with the sealing compound at normal ambient temperature.
  • the adaptation layer borders directly on a surface of the transducer part.
  • the adaptation layer thus fulfills on the one hand the function of acoustic adaptation and on the other hand also the function of electrical contacting on the electroacoustic transducer part.
  • the converter part is designed for medical applications.
  • the matching layers according to the invention are particularly suitable for matching the impedances occurring in the medical field of application to one another.
  • the ultrasound transducer arrangement 2 comprises a transducer array for sending ultrasound waves into the examination area 3 and for receiving echo signals therefrom.
  • the electroacoustic transducer arrangement or transducer array 4 consists of a multiplicity of identical element transducers 6, e.g. consists of a phased array provided for sector scanning of 64 and a linear array of 192 elementary transducers 6 for creating rectangular sectional images is provided.
  • the polarized piezoceramic of the elementary transducer 6 has a relatively high acoustic impedance on the order of 35 MRayl while the area under investigation is out Body tissue has an acoustic impedance of the order of 1.5 MRayl.
  • the adaptation layer 12 has a thickness of approximately a quarter of the wavelength of an acoustic wave in the adaptation layer 12.
  • the matching layer 12 must then have an acoustic impedance of the order of 5 to 10 MRayl.
  • the adaptation layer 12 is the only adaptation layer directly adjacent to a surface of the transducer array 4, it is conductively glued to the electrodes 8.
  • the adaptation layer 16 is connected to a common potential 13, so that no further electrical contacting is provided for the electrodes 8 of the elementary transducer 6 must become.
  • the electrodes 10 are each electrically connected to a signal channel (not shown in FIG. 1) which comprises delay elements provided for control and / or focusing.
  • a thin protective layer 14 made of a plastic is placed in front of the adaptation layer 12.
  • the acoustic properties of the protective layer 14 are matched to those of the body tissue, so that the protective layer 14 does not impair the acoustic sound waves.
  • the structure of the acoustic adaptation layer 12 will now be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 shows the micrograph of the surface of the acoustic adaptation layer 12 in a 200-fold magnification.
  • a scale 18 is also shown to illustrate the orders of magnitude.
  • the acoustic adaptation layer 12 consists of an electrically conductive framework 20 with interspaces 22 connected to one another.
  • the conductive framework 20 touching the surface appears bright in the micrograph, while those with a hardenable potting material, e.g. an epoxy resin, filled gaps 22 appear dark.
  • the framework 20 consists of similar copper particles connected to one another by sintering under protective gas, the size of the particles being smaller than the wavelength of an acoustic wave in the adaptation layer 12.
  • the particles here are smaller than one tenth of the wavelength, so that practically no further scattering occurs .
  • the acoustic impedance can be set within wide limits via the material used for the particles and, above all, the volume fraction.
  • the volume fraction of the particles can in turn be influenced by the shape and size of the particles. Particularly high volume fractions of the particles can be achieved by additionally pressing the unsintered particles. Furthermore, the volume fraction of the particles can be adjusted via the sintering conditions.
  • the table below shows the dependence of the parameters important for adaptation layers, such as acoustic damping and acoustic impedance, on the particle shape, particle size, sintering temperature and sintering time.
  • TF TG ⁇ m ST ° C Bedroom min AD db / MHz mm AI
  • gaps 22 are interconnected even with a high volume fraction so that they can be filled with potting material without air pockets.
  • the particles used are dendritic in shape and have a size of 30 to 40 ⁇ m. Without pressing and with pressure-free sintering, the volume fraction is approximately 18 to 25%.
  • the acoustic impedance of the matching layer can be determined by a combination of different metal particles, be it different types of material and / or different particle shapes continue to vary and adapt to acoustic requirements.
  • adaptation layers 12 described above can also be used for the acoustic adaptation of individual transducers. Furthermore, these adaptation layers 12 can also be used in therapeutic ultrasound transducer arrangements.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Transducers For Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)
  • Ultra Sonic Daignosis Equipment (AREA)
  • Investigating Or Analyzing Materials By The Use Of Ultrasonic Waves (AREA)
EP92116561A 1992-09-28 1992-09-28 Transducteur ultrasonore muni d'une couche d'adaptation acoustique Expired - Lifetime EP0590176B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT92116561T ATE174445T1 (de) 1992-09-28 1992-09-28 Ultraschall-wandleranordnung mit einer akustischen anpassungsschicht
DE59209589T DE59209589D1 (de) 1992-09-28 1992-09-28 Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung mit einer akustischen Anpassungsschicht
EP92116561A EP0590176B1 (fr) 1992-09-28 1992-09-28 Transducteur ultrasonore muni d'une couche d'adaptation acoustique
US08/120,339 US5418759A (en) 1992-09-28 1993-09-14 Ultrasound transducer arrangement having an acoustic matching layer
JP26314393A JP3478857B2 (ja) 1992-09-28 1993-09-28 超音波変成装置

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP92116561A EP0590176B1 (fr) 1992-09-28 1992-09-28 Transducteur ultrasonore muni d'une couche d'adaptation acoustique

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0590176A1 true EP0590176A1 (fr) 1994-04-06
EP0590176B1 EP0590176B1 (fr) 1998-12-09

Family

ID=8210066

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP92116561A Expired - Lifetime EP0590176B1 (fr) 1992-09-28 1992-09-28 Transducteur ultrasonore muni d'une couche d'adaptation acoustique

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US5418759A (fr)
EP (1) EP0590176B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP3478857B2 (fr)
AT (1) ATE174445T1 (fr)
DE (1) DE59209589D1 (fr)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4418887C1 (de) * 1994-05-30 1995-04-06 Siemens Ag Verfahren zum Herstellen einer Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung
WO1996011753A1 (fr) * 1994-10-14 1996-04-25 Parallel Design, Inc. Matrice de transducteurs a ultrasons soumis a une apodisation de la focalisation en elevation
DE19523974A1 (de) * 1995-06-30 1997-01-02 Siemens Ag Verfahren zur Herstellung einer akustischen Funktionsschicht für eine Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung
US7368852B2 (en) 2003-08-22 2008-05-06 Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. Electrically conductive matching layers and methods
WO2021048617A1 (fr) * 2019-09-10 2021-03-18 Surf Technology As Transducteur ultrasonore et procédé de fabrication

Families Citing this family (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2722358B1 (fr) * 1994-07-08 1996-08-14 Thomson Csf Transducteur acoustique multifrequences a larges bandes
DE59510158D1 (de) * 1995-09-28 2002-05-16 Endress Hauser Gmbh Co Ultraschallwandler
JP4723732B2 (ja) * 2000-07-12 2011-07-13 セイコーインスツル株式会社 脈検出装置及び超音波診断装置
US20050039323A1 (en) * 2003-08-22 2005-02-24 Simens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. Transducers with electically conductive matching layers and methods of manufacture
US8792307B2 (en) * 2010-02-22 2014-07-29 Baker Hughes Incorporated Acoustic transducer with a backing containing unidirectional fibers and methods of making and using same
US10602289B2 (en) * 2010-03-09 2020-03-24 Baker Hughes, A Ge Company, Llc Acoustic transducer with a liquid-filled porous medium backing and methods of making and using same
KR20160086709A (ko) * 2015-01-12 2016-07-20 삼성메디슨 주식회사 정합 부재 및 이를 포함한 초음파 프로브
CN110300631B (zh) 2017-02-24 2021-09-24 传感频谱有限责任公司 其中包括声学匹配区域的超声设备

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3968055A (en) * 1974-10-25 1976-07-06 Combustion Engineering, Inc. Method of preparing conductive room temperature vulcanizing material
EP0031049A2 (fr) * 1979-12-19 1981-07-01 INTERATOM Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Transducteur acoustique
EP0095619A2 (fr) * 1982-05-24 1983-12-07 INTERATOM Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Milieu pour accouplage acoustique à températures élevées et procédé de l'application

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE8611844U1 (de) * 1986-04-30 1986-08-07 Siemens AG, 1000 Berlin und 8000 München Ultraschall-Applikator mit einer Anpassungsschicht

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3968055A (en) * 1974-10-25 1976-07-06 Combustion Engineering, Inc. Method of preparing conductive room temperature vulcanizing material
EP0031049A2 (fr) * 1979-12-19 1981-07-01 INTERATOM Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Transducteur acoustique
EP0095619A2 (fr) * 1982-05-24 1983-12-07 INTERATOM Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Milieu pour accouplage acoustique à températures élevées et procédé de l'application

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
PATENT ABSTRACTS OF JAPAN vol. 8, no. 239 (E-276)(1676) 2. November 1984 & JP-A-59 119 998 ( TOSHIBA K.K. ) 11. Juli 1984 *

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4418887C1 (de) * 1994-05-30 1995-04-06 Siemens Ag Verfahren zum Herstellen einer Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung
WO1996011753A1 (fr) * 1994-10-14 1996-04-25 Parallel Design, Inc. Matrice de transducteurs a ultrasons soumis a une apodisation de la focalisation en elevation
DE19523974A1 (de) * 1995-06-30 1997-01-02 Siemens Ag Verfahren zur Herstellung einer akustischen Funktionsschicht für eine Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung
DE19523974B4 (de) * 1995-06-30 2005-03-24 Siemens Ag Verfahren zur Herstellung einer Anpaß- oder Dämpfungsschicht oder einer akustischen Linse für eine Ultraschall-Wandleranordnung
US7368852B2 (en) 2003-08-22 2008-05-06 Siemens Medical Solutions Usa, Inc. Electrically conductive matching layers and methods
WO2021048617A1 (fr) * 2019-09-10 2021-03-18 Surf Technology As Transducteur ultrasonore et procédé de fabrication

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPH06217394A (ja) 1994-08-05
EP0590176B1 (fr) 1998-12-09
JP3478857B2 (ja) 2003-12-15
ATE174445T1 (de) 1998-12-15
DE59209589D1 (de) 1999-01-21
US5418759A (en) 1995-05-23

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