JP2749488B2 - Ultrasonic probe manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe used in an ultrasonic endoscope or the like used for medical purposes, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a back load member of an ultrasonic transducer.
And a method for producing the same .

[0002]

In recent years, ultrasonic probe, other non-destructive inspection apparatus, has been rapidly utilized as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for medical use. An ultrasonic probe such as an ultrasonic endoscope radiates high-frequency acoustic vibrations from the ultrasonic transducer into a living body, receives the reflected ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic transducer, and generates a slight interface characteristic. By processing different information depending on the difference, a cross-sectional image of the inside of the living body can be obtained.

The ultrasonic transducer is roughly composed of a piezoelectric element, an acoustic matching layer, and a back load material. The ultrasonic transducer applies a high-frequency voltage pulse to the piezoelectric element by using an electrode formed on the surface of the piezoelectric element, causes the piezoelectric element to resonate, causes rapid deformation, and generates an ultrasonic pulse.

The back load member is disposed on one side of the piezoelectric element, and has a function of mechanically supporting the piezoelectric element and a function of acoustically damping and shortening the ultrasonic pulse waveform.
Further, there is a demand for a function of attenuating the ultrasonic wave radiated to the back surface of the piezoelectric element so that the reflected ultrasonic wave does not reach the piezoelectric element.

Conventionally, as a back load material of an ultrasonic probe, a material in which tungsten powder is mixed with an epoxy resin as a filler is generally known. Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. -292500, a small amount of another metal oxide based on tungsten powder is added as a filler to the insulating cement to form a composite.
There is known a back load member that improves electrical insulation while suppressing a decrease in acoustic impedance and attenuation rate α.

[0006]

Some of the ultrasonic probes, including the catheter, need to be reduced in size and diameter, and the back-loading material itself has a thickness of about 200 μm. The above-mentioned functions such as electrical insulation and the like are required. However, in the back load material using a mixture of the above-mentioned tungsten powder and an epoxy resin as a filler, and having a thickness of about 200 μm, there is a problem in electrical insulation because the tungsten powder is a good conductor,
There was a problem that reliability was low. Also, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
-29500, the thickness is 2
For a back load material of about 00 μm, a decrease in the decay rate caused by adding a metal oxide leads to an increase in the pulse width,
In addition to a decrease in image accuracy, there is also a problem in the variation in insulation resistance caused by the bias of the filler because the base is based on tungsten powder, which is a good conductor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. Even if the thickness of the back load material becomes thinner due to the reduction in size and diameter, the reliability of the damping characteristics is ensured and the electrical insulation is improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe having a high degree of reliability .

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, the present invention provides at least one or more acoustic matching layers.
Is an acoustic lens, a piezoelectric element,
Ultrasonic probe composed of a housing fixed after lamination and an ultrasonic probe
In the manufacturing method, a sheet having no adhesiveness on its surface is used.
One of the two rigid bodies, such as a pair of bonded glass,
Place a spacer of the desired thickness on the surface of the sheet attached to
And a known method in the space surrounded by the spacers
Using tungsten powder prepared as a filler
After placing the synthetic resin layer, supply the liquid insulating material and
The synthetic resin layer and the insulating material are sandwiched between the two sets of rigid bodies.
And apply a load to the rigid body to apply the insulating material to the spacer.
Thicken and harden to form an insulating part made of insulating material.
The back load material is made integrally with the
It was decided to manufacture a contact.

[0009]

In a method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe comprising at least one or more acoustic matching layers or acoustic lenses, a piezoelectric element, a back load member, and a housing for fixing the laminated body after the lamination, the tungsten powder After placing the epoxy resin mixed in a cylindrical container, it is rotated at high speed, segregates tungsten only on the outer periphery, hardens the inner periphery only with the resin layer, and the synthetic resin layer and the inner periphery on the outer periphery An ultrasonic probe may be manufactured by integrally forming an insulating portion in the portion and manufacturing a back load material.

[0011]

According to the above construction, since the synthetic resin layer and the insulating portion are integrally formed to constitute the back load member, the insulating property is improved even if the back load material is formed thin. As a result, even in the case of an ultrasonic transducer with a thin back-loading material in response to the demand for a smaller and smaller ultrasonic probe,
A highly reliable ultrasonic probe having good attenuation characteristics and good image accuracy can be easily obtained.

[0012]

Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is to prepared in Example 1 of the present invention
Ultrasonic probe a sectional view schematically showing that, FIGS. 2-5,
It is a flowchart showing the manufacturing method of the back load material in an ultrasonic probe. First, the outline of the ultrasonic probe manufactured in the present embodiment will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1. The ultrasonic probe 1 includes a (+) side electrode 2 and a (−) side electrode 3. The acoustic matching layer 5 is laminated on the (+) electrode 2 side of the piezoelectric element 4 formed on the surface by bonding (or printing),
After laminating and bonding the back load material 6 to the (−) side electrode 3 side,
The rear load member 6 is fixed to a housing 9 formed by processing a metal pipe. The back load material 6 includes a resin portion 7 made of an epoxy resin using tungsten powder as a filler,
And an insulating layer portion 8 made of only an epoxy resin.

Next, a method of manufacturing the back load member 6 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. First, tungsten powder (8μ
m and 50 μm) and epoxy resin in a weight ratio of 1
The resin 10 is prepared by mixing at a ratio of 0: 1. And
After subjecting the resin 10 to degassing under reduced pressure, the rigid body is 10 mm thick.
A suitable amount of the resin 10 is placed on a 125 μm-thick PET sheet 12 fixed to a glass plate 11, and the glass plate 11 is defoamed with a vibrator (not shown) (see FIG. 2).

Thereafter, rectangular spacers 13 (170 μm thick) are arranged on the PET sheet 12 so as to surround the four sides of the resin 10 (see FIG. 2), and the resin 10 is fixed from above with the glass 15 to which the PET sheet 14 is fixed. With a weight of 16
Is placed on a glass 15 and the resin 10 is cured while applying a load to the resin 10 (see FIG. 3).
Is formed. In the cured resin plate, the tungsten powder has a lower fluidity than the epoxy resin.
As shown in the figure, the density of the outer peripheral portion is reduced. Therefore, for the portion of the back load member 6 used as the resin portion 7, only the central portion where the density of tungsten is substantially uniform is cut and used.

The resin portion 7 formed by the cutting is again
Place on a PET sheet 12 of a glass plate 11 and hang an epoxy resin on the PET sheet 12
The sheet 14 is sandwiched between fixed glass plates 15 and cured to form an insulating layer portion 8a made of only epoxy resin on the side surface of the resin portion 7 (see FIG. 5). Since the step of forming the insulating layer portion 8a is substantially the same as the step of curing the resin 10 to form the resin plate for the back load material (FIGS. 2 and 3), detailed description thereof will be omitted. Then, after curing, the insulating layer portion 8a on the extra side is cut off, and the insulating layer portion 8 having a desired thickness is cut.
Is formed, and the back load material 6 including the resin portion 7 and the insulating layer portion 8 is manufactured.

In the above process, as shown in FIG. 2, since the rectangular spacers 13 are arranged so as to surround the four sides of the resin 10, each of the spacers 13 and the
A gap is created between The periphery of the PET sheet 14 fixed to the upper glass plate 15 is
, The periphery of the PET sheet 14 hangs down under its own weight, and the upper PET sheet 14 and the lower PET sheet 14
The distance from the sheet 12 may be narrow. for that reason,
When the insulating layer portion 8a is formed by curing a low-viscosity epoxy resin, the above-mentioned spacers 13 and the spacers 13 are formed by a capillary phenomenon caused by a narrow interval between the upper PET sheet 14 and the lower PET sheet 12. The epoxy resin before solidification may flow out of the gap. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, by making the periphery of the PET sheet 14 smaller than the periphery of the spacer 13 arranged as shown in FIG. As a result, the distance between the upper PET sheet 14 and the lower PET sheet 12 is prevented from being reduced.

FIG. 6 shows an ultrasonic probe 1 manufactured using the back load member 6 manufactured in this embodiment. The piezoelectric element 4 is affixed to the surface of the back load member 6 so that the electrode 3 on the (−) side of the piezoelectric element 4 is in contact with the surface of the electrode 2 on the (+) side of the piezoelectric element 4. An acoustic matching layer 5 is attached. An electrode slit position 17 is formed between the (+) side electrode 2 and the (−) side electrode 3 so that the electrodes 2 and 3 do not contact each other, and the (−) side electrode 3 Is brought into contact only with the resin portion 7 of the back load member 6, and the electrode slit position 17 is laminated and bonded to the insulating layer portion 8 of the back load member 6.

As described above, the back load member 6 to which the piezoelectric element 4 and the acoustic matching layer 5 are attached is cut into a predetermined size and fixed to the housing 9. A conductor 18 is fixed to the housing 9 as shown in FIG. A coaxial cable 19 is inserted into the conductor 18,
The lead wire (GND) 20 of the coaxial cable 19 is fixed to the housing 9 by the conductive resin 21 and is conducted. The (−) side electrode 3 is connected to the housing 9 also serving as GND via a conductive resin 22. On the other hand, a lead (+) 24 in the coaxial cable 19 is connected to the (+) side electrode 2 by a conductive resin 23, and the lead 24 is fixed to the housing 9 with an insulating resin 25.

When the back load material 6 is manufactured by the above-described method,
Can be manufactured with a thickness accuracy of ± 5 μm or less. In addition, as described above, since tungsten compared to epoxy resin has no fluidity, excess resin moves to the outer peripheral portion, and the center portion has a nearly constant mixing ratio of epoxy resin and tungsten, acoustic impedance, Characteristics such as the attenuation rate become almost constant. In addition, when the fluidity of tungsten is poor due to its shape and the like, and the load of the weight 16 alone does not make the back load member 6 a desired thickness, it is desirable to apply a load while rotating or circularly moving one sheet with a glass plate. The thickness of the back load material resin plate is obtained. When the insulating layer 8 is formed on the resin portion 7 of the back load member 6, the surface of the resin portion 7 may be rubbed with sandpaper or the like to improve the adhesiveness. The ultrasonic probe 1 manufactured using the back load member 6 having the insulating layer portion 8 has a positive electrode 2 and a G
The ND-side electrode 3 is reliably insulated, and
It is reliably insulated from the D housing 9 as well.

According to this embodiment, the resin portion 7 and the insulating layer portion 8 are formed by being sandwiched between the rigid glass plates 11 and 15 with the spacer 13 interposed therebetween. The thickness accuracy of the load material 6 can be easily obtained, and the mixing ratio of the tungsten powder and the epoxy resin (the distribution density of the tungsten powder) in the resin portion 7 is almost constant, so that stable performance as the back load material 6 can be obtained. it can. In addition, by using the sheet-like PETs 12 and 14, even a thin and brittle back load material that is easy to release can be released without being damaged.

In this embodiment, PET is used for the sheet. However, the same effect can be obtained without reacting with the resin and having no adhesiveness. Although an epoxy-based resin is used as the resin, a similar effect can be obtained with a phenol-based synthetic resin or the like. Further, in the present embodiment, only one acoustic matching layer 5 is provided, but a plurality of acoustic matching layers 5 may be stacked as necessary. Further, instead of the acoustic matching layer 5, an acoustic lens 27 may be laminated as shown in FIG. Furthermore, it may be laminated acoustic lens 27 on the surface of the acoustic matching layer 5 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a modification of the step of forming the insulating layer 8a in the first embodiment. When the backing material 6 is manufactured, the viscosity of the insulating layer 8a before solidification is increased. This shows a means for preventing an epoxy resin having a low viscosity from flowing out by capillary action as described above. The other manufacturing steps of the back load member are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Inside the lower glass plate 11 to which the lower PET sheet 12 is fixed, a suction port 26 is provided to pass through the surface of the glass plate 11 on the spacer 13 side. Is provided. Then, by suctioning through the suction port 26, the end of the PET sheet 12 is fixed so as to follow the inclined surface 11a. When the insulating layer portion 8a of the back load member 6 is formed from the glass plate 11 having the above-described structure via the spacer 13, even if a low-viscosity material such as an epoxy resin is used, the PET sheet 12 is formed on the inclined surface 11a. By imitating, the distance between the upper PET sheet 14 and the lower PET sheet 12
Since the outer circumference becomes wider as the outer circumferences 1 and 15, the outflow of low-viscosity resin due to the capillary phenomenon can be suppressed. Further, the upper glass plate 15 has the same configuration as the lower glass plate 11, so that the above-mentioned effect is further ensured.

[0024]

Embodiment 2 FIG. 10, prepared in Example 2 of the present invention
Sectional view of the distal end of the ultrasonic probe to, 11 and 12 are process diagrams showing a part of manufacturing process of the backing material in the ultrasonic probe. The basic configuration of the method for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment,
The same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only the differences will be described. Ultrasonic probe 3 manufactured in this embodiment
0 denotes the piezoelectric element 4 on the acoustic matching layer 5 side as shown in FIG.
(Hereinafter referred to as a surface electrode) is referred to as a (−)-side electrode 3, and an electrode on the back load material 32 side is referred to as a (+)-side electrode 2. Then, the back load member 32 is fixed to the housing 9 via the insulating layer 8 of the back load member 32. Also,
In the first embodiment, when the back load member 6 is manufactured, only two insulating layers 8a are provided on the left and right sides of the six surfaces of the resin portion 7 (see FIG. 5). , 6 of resin part 7
It is characterized in that the insulating layer portions 8a are formed on three of the surfaces.

Next, the manufacturing process of the back load member 32 in this embodiment will be described. First, after forming the resin portion 7 in the same manner as in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. It is fixed to a PET sheet 12 fixed on a plate 11. Then, along with the resin portion 7, a resin obtained by mixing zirconia having an average particle diameter of 3 μm as a filler with epoxy resin at a weight ratio of 1: 3 is added to the epoxy resin.
4 is pressed from above the resin onto the glass plate 15
The resin is cured under a load by a press or the like to form the insulating layer portion 8a of the back load member 32. At this time, the resin part 7
The height of the spacer 33 surrounding the four sides is made higher than the spacer when the resin portion 7 is formed. Then, the side surface of the cured insulating layer portion 8a is cut to a predetermined size, and the three side surfaces (left and right, lower surface in the figure) of the resin portion 7 as shown in FIG.
The base material 31 of the back load material having the insulating layer portion 8 is prepared.

Next, the base material 31 of the back load material 31
The piezoelectric element 4 is so set that the (+) side electrode 2 is in contact with the resin portion 7.
And the acoustic matching layer 5 is sequentially attached to the surface of the electrode 3 on the (−) side of the piezoelectric element 4. The piezoelectric element 4, by cutting the base material 31 of the backing load member which acoustic matching layer 5 is adhered to a predetermined size, ultrasonic Trang used in the ultrasonic probe 30
Get a producer . When cutting the base material 31 of the back load material, as shown in FIG. 12, the base material 31 is cut in half around the resin portion 7 along the broken line A, and then cut along the broken line B. Then, the individual components of the rear load member 32 and the other ultrasonic probe manufactured by cutting as described above are assembled in the housing 9 by a known method, and FIG.
The ultrasonic probe 30 shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, zirconia, which is an insulator, is mixed as a filler with the epoxy resin forming the insulating layer portion 8 of the back load member 32, so that the viscosity of the epoxy resin increases and the PET sheet The resin part 7 placed on the resin sheet 12 can be reliably pressed against the PET sheet 12 by the glass plate 15 and the PET sheet 14 via the epoxy resin, and the epoxy resin flows between the PET sheet 12 and the resin part 7. Not to be. The surface electrode is the (−) side electrode 3 and the (+) side electrode 2 is the piezoelectric element 4.
And the rear load member 32, electrical noise is reduced due to the shielding effect. Further, the back load material 32
Is fixed to the housing 9 via the insulating layer portion 8, the insulation between the housing 9 serving as GND and the resin portion 7 containing a large amount of tungsten powder, which is an electrically good conductor, is ensured, and the surface electrode The electrode 3 on the (-) side eliminates the problem of insulation.

According to this embodiment, since the surface electrode is the GND electrode 3, electric noise is reduced due to the shielding effect, the monitor after image processing becomes clear, and an excellent evaluation device is obtained. Further, by using zirconia as a filler of the insulating layer portion 8, a back load material 32 with an insulating layer having a more damping effect than the insulating layer of the epoxy resin alone can be manufactured.
A thin back load material having equivalent damping characteristics can be manufactured. The same effect can be obtained with other metal oxides such as alumina and tungsten oxide other than zirconia.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view showing a tip portion of an ultrasonic probe 34 showing a modification of the manufacturing method in this embodiment. In a modified example, the base material 31 of the back load material shown in FIG. 12 is cut along only the broken line B without cutting along the broken line A so that the resin portion 7 is formed on three surfaces of the resin portion 7. Thus, a back load member 35 was formed.

In the second embodiment, when the back load material 32 to which the piezoelectric element 4 and the acoustic matching layer 5 are attached has a predetermined size, the back load material base material 31 shown in FIG.
After cutting the resin part 7 in half along the broken line A and then cutting it along the broken line B to produce the back load member 32 as shown in FIG. 10, the ultrasonic probe 30 is connected to the ultrasonic probe 30 in FIG.
In such a case, bubbles may be mixed into the insulating resin 25, and the resin portion 7 and the housing 9 may be short-circuited.
Therefore, as in the modification, the insulating layer 8
Is formed to form the back load member 35, so that the insulation between the resin portion 7 and the housing 9 is further improved.

[0031]

[Embodiment 3] FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view of a semiconductor device manufactured in Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
Sectional view of the distal end of the ultrasonic probe to FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a glass-epoxy substrate, FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the resin portion of the back load member, FIG. 17 shows one manufacturing process of a backing layer FIG. The basic configuration of an ultrasonic probe manufactured in this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. The same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and only different points will be described.

The ultrasonic probe 4 manufactured in the present embodiment
As shown in FIG. 14, the back load material 41 in FIG. 0 has a glass epoxy substrate 42 having an insulating property on the side surface of the resin portion 7 and an insulating layer portion 8 on the lower surface in contact with the housing 9.
Is formed.

Next, a method of manufacturing the back load member 41 will be described. The resin portion 7 having a thickness of 170 μm is manufactured in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Next, the size (a ×
A glass epoxy substrate 42 having a thickness of 200 μm having holes 43 of the same size as in b) is prepared, and the glass epoxy substrate 42 is mounted on the PET sheet 12 fixed on the glass plate 11. Then, the resin portion 7 glass epoxy substrate 42 cut to a predetermined size
After placing in the hole 43 and placing the PET sheet 12 on the PET sheet 12, an appropriate amount of the epoxy resin mixed with zirconia shown in Example 2 is supplied along the resin portion 7. Then, after performing the vibration defoaming, the PET sheet 1 fixed to the glass plate 15 from above.
Press 4 and apply a load with a press machine, etc.
The resin is cured, and an insulating layer 8 having a thickness of 30 μm, which is the difference between the height of the resin portion 7 and the glass epoxy substrate 42, is formed on the upper surface of the resin portion 7 (see FIG. 17). As a result, the back load member 41 having the insulating layer portion 8 and the insulating layer composed of the glass epoxy substrate 42 on both side surfaces is manufactured.

In this embodiment, the glass epoxy substrate 42
Functions as a spacer in each of the above embodiments, and also functions as an insulating material on the side surface of the back load member 41. Further, when the ultrasonic probe 40 is configured by incorporating the back load member 41 into the housing 9, even if the surface electrode of the piezoelectric element is used as the (-) side electrode 3, the side surface and the back surface (FIG.
, The upper surface) has electrical insulation properties, so that the rear load member 41 and the housing 9 are reliably insulated.

In this embodiment, the resin containing the zirconia filler is used as the insulating layer portion 8 on the back surface. However, even if a perforated glass epoxy substrate 42 having the same thickness as the resin portion 7 and a 30 μm glass epoxy substrate are adhered, the glass epoxy substrate 42 is not bonded. A back load material with an insulating layer consisting only of the above is obtained. In this embodiment, as in the second embodiment, since the surface electrode can be the GND electrode 3, electric noise is reduced due to the shielding effect, and the monitor display after image processing becomes clear.

According to this embodiment, the surface electrode can be the GND electrode 3, the electric noise is reduced due to the shielding effect, the monitor display after the image processing becomes clear, and an excellent evaluation device is obtained. Then, by using zirconia as a filler for the insulating layer portion 8, a back load member 41 with an insulating layer having an attenuation effect can be manufactured. The same effect can be obtained with other metal oxides such as alumina and tungsten oxide other than zirconia.

As shown in FIG. 18, an electrode terminal (land) 44 may be provided on the upper surface of the glass epoxy substrate 42 by printing, printing, or the like in advance. With such a configuration, if the electrode terminals (lands) 44 are provided in advance on the glass epoxy substrate 42 by printing, printing, or the like,
Connection by soldering is possible, and defects due to floating of the lead wires 24 are eliminated, and a highly reliable ultrasonic probe can be easily manufactured. Further, the piezoelectric element 4 is
And the electrode material is 3 to 15μ
m, a glue is attached, and conduction is established from the land 44 by contact.

[0038]

Embodiment 4 FIG. 19 and FIG. 20, the fourth embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a manufacturing process of a back load material in the ultrasonic probe manufactured in the above, FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a base material of the back load material manufactured by the above manufacturing process, and FIG. It is a perspective view which shows a back load material. First, a method for manufacturing the back load member 51 will be described. The epoxy resin is increased by about 20% in advance and mixed with the tungsten powder. In particular,
Tungsten powder is a mixture of 8 μm and 50 μm in particle size. The epoxy resin is mixed at a weight ratio of 8.5: 1 and degassed under reduced pressure. And An appropriate amount of this resin 52 is placed in a cylindrical container 54 provided with a Teflon coat or the like and having a non-adhesive cap 53, and is rotated at a high speed by a rotating device (not shown).
To rotate. Then, the resin 52 is moved by the centrifugal force into the cylindrical container 52.
And the resin 52 is cured in a stable state to form a two-layer cylindrical resin part 7 and an insulating layer part 8 at the same time.

Then, the substrate 56 is taken out of the cylindrical container 54, and a base material 56 of the back load material is obtained in a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. This base material 56 was cut into a required width in the axial direction, and this was cut into a curved surface with sandpaper or the like, thereby producing a back load member 51 shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, when a centrifugal force is applied to the resin 52 to cure the resin 52 on the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical container 54, the tungsten powder having a high specific gravity is applied to the cylindrical outer peripheral side of the resin 52. Gather to form a resin layer of only epoxy resin on the inner peripheral side. As a result, the cylindrical outer peripheral portion is
In addition, the base material 56 of the back load material having the two-layer structure in which the inner peripheral portion is formed in the insulating layer portion 8 can be manufactured. Further, when the insulating layer portion 8 is provided on the side surface portion, it can be formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the back load material 56 having a two-layer structure including the resin portion 7 and the insulating layer portion 8 can be manufactured in one step. Obtainable. In addition to the movement of the tungsten to the outer peripheral portion by the high-speed rotation, bubbles contained in the resin are removed and a stable product can be manufactured.

In the first to third embodiments, the PET sheet was used when fabricating the back and side insulating portions. However, when fabricating by curing a resin having low viscosity, an adhesive material was applied to one of the sheets. When the resin layer is used and fixed, the resin does not flow into unnecessary portions, and a resin layer can be obtained only on desired side surfaces.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, due to the demand for smaller size and smaller diameter, even in an ultrasonic transducer in which the back load material is thin, the attenuation characteristics as the back load material are not deteriorated, and the electrical insulation property is maintained. A highly reliable ultrasonic probe can be easily manufactured with stable quality, and a highly reliable ultrasonic probe can be manufactured .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an ultrasonic probe manufactured in Example 1 of the present invention.
It is sectional drawing which shows a child .

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a first step in the method for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of molding a resin part in the method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a distribution state of tungsten in a resin portion and a cutting position of the resin portion.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of forming an insulating layer in the method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a distal end portion of the ultrasonic probe manufactured in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification of the method for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification of the method for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification of the manufacturing process of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a distal end portion of an ultrasonic probe manufactured in Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of forming an insulating layer portion in a manufacturing process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a base material of a back load material manufactured by the manufacturing method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a modification of the method of manufacturing the ultrasonic probe according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view showing a distal end portion of an ultrasonic probe manufactured in Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a glass epoxy substrate.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a resin part.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of forming an insulating part in a manufacturing step according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a back load member provided with lands.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of supplying a mixed resin to a cylindrical container in the method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing a step of forming a resin portion and an insulating layer portion of the back load member.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a base material of a back load member formed of a cylindrical container.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a back load member manufactured by cutting a base material of the back load member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,30,34,40 Ultrasonic probe 4 Piezoelectric element 5 Acoustic matching layer 6,32,35,41,51 Back load material 7 Resin layer 8 Insulating layer 9 Housing 11,15 Glass plate 12,14 PET sheet 13,33 Spacer 54 Cylindrical container

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-72900 (JP, A) JP-A-61-210795 (JP, A) JP-A-62-47550 (JP, A) JP-A-62-133899 (JP, A) JP-A-2-286138 (JP, A) JP-A-4-48900 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe comprising at least one or more acoustic matching layers or acoustic lenses, a piezoelectric element, a back load member, and a housing for fixing and stacking them, the surface of the ultrasonic probe is provided. A pair of rigid bodies, such as glass, to which a non-adhesive sheet is adhered, a spacer having a desired thickness is arranged on the surface of the sheet adhered to one rigid body, and a known space is surrounded by the spacer. After placing a synthetic resin layer using tungsten powder as a filler prepared by the method described above, a liquid insulating material is supplied, and the synthetic resin layer and the insulating material are sandwiched between the two sets of rigid bodies. An ultrasonic probe characterized in that a weight is applied to the rigid body, the insulating material is cured to a thickness of a spacer, and an insulating portion made of the insulating material is formed integrally with the synthetic resin layer to produce a back load material. Tentacle Manufacturing method. 2. A method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe comprising at least one or more acoustic matching layers or acoustic lenses, a piezoelectric element, a back load member, and a housing for fixing and stacking them, the method comprising: After placing the epoxy resin mixed in a cylindrical container, it is rotated at high speed, segregates tungsten only on the outer periphery, hardens the inner periphery only with the resin layer, and the synthetic resin layer and the inner periphery on the outer periphery A method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe, comprising: forming an insulating portion integrally with a portion to produce a back load member.