JP4769127B2 - Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic probe manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe used in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus, and the like, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  An ultrasonic probe is an apparatus for irradiating an ultrasonic wave toward an object and receiving reflected waves from interfaces having different acoustic impedances in the object for the purpose of imaging the inside of the object. As an ultrasonic imaging apparatus employing such an ultrasonic probe, for example, there are a medical diagnostic apparatus for inspecting the inside of a human body, an inspection apparatus for the purpose of flaw detection inside a metal weld, and the like.

  This ultrasonic probe is mainly composed of a piezoelectric element. 9 and 10 are diagrams for explaining a configuration of a typical ultrasonic probe 50. FIG. 9 and 10, an acoustic matching layer 52 is formed on the ultrasonic transmission / reception surface of the ultrasonic transducer 51. An acoustic lens 58 is formed over the entire acoustic matching layer 52. Further, in order to hold the ultrasonic transducer 51, a back material 55 is formed on the lower surface (the surface opposite to the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface).

  The GND shared electrode plate 56 is connected to the first electrode 53 of the ultrasonic transducer 51. In addition, an electrical signal lead wire for ultrasonic transmission / reception is drawn out from the second electrode 54 of the ultrasonic transducer 51 and connected to the flexible printed wiring board 57, and is connected via a signal cable (not shown). It is connected to the pulser and receiver of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

  A conventional ultrasonic probe is completed by performing the following processes. That is, first, after joining the flexible printed wiring board 57 and the piezoelectric element (that is, the ultrasonic transducer block before cutting) after dicing, the flexible printed wiring board protruding from the piezoelectric element is folded about 90 ° to the back material side. Then, by dicing, the piezoelectric element is divided for each CH, and each ultrasonic vibration element 51 is generated. Here, when the aspect ratio of the vibration element to be generated is 0.6 or more, a further better vibration mode can be obtained by sub-dicing 1ch. In addition, the convex scanning type ultrasonic probe is primarily fixed to a flexible back material (not shown), and then the same separation for each vibration element 51 is performed up to the back material by dicing. Thereafter, the flexible backing material is formed by joining the backing material 55 having an R shape.

  By the way, the flexible printed wiring board 57 used for the conventional ultrasonic probe has the common electrode 571, the individual electrode 570, and the auxiliary electrode part 573 by copper foil, as shown in FIG. 11 before dicing. The flexible printed wiring board 57 is joined by soldering a part of the shared electrode 571 to a part of the second electrode 54 of the piezoelectric element (area indicated by the wavy line), so that the common electrode 571 is surely cut. Thus, it is cut together with the piezoelectric element.

  An ultrasonic probe manufactured by such a conventional method may lack reliability in terms of durability, acoustic characteristics, and the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the joint between the flexible printed wiring board 57 and each ultrasonic transducer is only the width of the common electrode 571, and a sufficiently reliable joint region cannot be secured. . Moreover, since it is necessary to cut the common electrode 571 reliably, the depth of cutting must be cut to the back material. Therefore, in addition to the R-shaped back material, a flexible back material for primary fixing is also required. Due to the strong restoring force against these R-bends, warping in the slicing direction occurs, the slice sound field shifts, and the acoustic characteristics vary. There is a problem that occurs.

  In addition, an ultrasonic probe manufactured by a conventional method has a low machinability of an ultrasonic transducer, which causes variations in acoustic characteristics. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the separation into the ultrasonic transducer is performed by cutting out the piezoelectric element together with the common electrode 571 along the scanning direction (elevation direction) (see the dashed line in FIG. 11). At this time, the object in which the cutting load exists discontinuously with respect to the cutting direction is cut, and the performance of the cutting process is degraded. In particular, since the common electrode 571 for soldering is a copper foil, the cutting load is large, and the cutting performance is greatly reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an acoustically stable and highly reliable ultrasonic probe and a method for manufacturing the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures.

The invention according to claim 1 is a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array along the first direction, each having a first electrode and a second electrode, a base material, and the base material A plurality of wiring portions provided on the first surface, each connected to the second electrode of each ultrasonic transducer, and from the width of the ultrasonic transducer in the first direction A flexible printed wiring board having a first wiring portion having a narrow width, a backing layer provided on the second surface of the base material, and dividing the ultrasonic transducer into the array, A plurality of ultrasonic transducers and flexible printed wiring, each comprising a groove extending through the printed wiring board to the middle of the backing layer and a back material formed in an R shape and bonded to the backing layer. The substrate and the backing layer are in the R shape of the backing material. The ultrasonic probe is provided so as to be convex along the ultrasonic irradiation direction.
The invention according to claim 11 is a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array along the first direction, each having a first electrode and a second electrode, a base material, and the base material A plurality of first wiring portions provided on the first surface and connected to the second electrodes over the entire width of the ultrasonic transducer in the scanning direction; A backing layer provided on the second surface of the base material, a groove that divides the ultrasonic transducer into the array, penetrates the flexible printed wiring board, and reaches the middle of the backing layer, and the backing A plurality of ultrasonic vibrators, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are superposed along the R shape of the backing material. Protruding in the direction of sound wave irradiation Rukoto an ultrasonic probe according to claim.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array along the first direction, each having a first electrode and a second electrode, a base material, and the base material A flexible printed wiring board having a plurality of first wiring portions each connected to the second electrode of each of the ultrasonic transducers, and a second of the base material A backing layer provided on the surface, a first acoustic matching layer formed on the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and having a width wider than a width of each ultrasonic transducer in the scanning direction, and the ultrasonic vibration Dividing a child into the array, comprising a groove extending through the flexible printed wiring board to the middle of the backing layer, and a backing material formed in an R shape joined to the backing layer, A plurality of ultrasonic vibrators, the flexible printed wiring board The ultrasonic probe is characterized in that the plate and the backing layer are provided so as to protrude in the ultrasonic irradiation direction along the R shape of the back material.
The invention according to claim 14 is a method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged at a predetermined interval along a first direction, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are provided. An ultrasonic transducer block, a base material, and a plurality of wiring portions provided on the first surface of the base material, each connected to the second electrode of each ultrasonic transducer block, And a flexible printed wiring board having a plurality of first wiring portions having a width narrower than the width in the first direction of each of the ultrasonic transducers, and backing the second surface of the base material Forming a layer, cutting the ultrasonic transducer block and the flexible printed wiring board between the adjacent first wiring portions, cutting out the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, and halfway the backing layer Forming a groove extending up to A backing material formed in an R shape is joined to the formed backing layer, and the plurality of ultrasonic vibrators, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are ultrasonicated along the R shape of the backing material. It is provided with a convex shape with respect to the irradiation direction.
The invention according to claim 15 is a method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged at a predetermined interval along a first direction, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are provided. An ultrasonic transducer block, a base material, and a plurality of wiring portions provided on the first surface of the base material, each connected to the second electrode of each ultrasonic transducer block, And a flexible printed wiring board having a plurality of first wiring portions arranged along the first direction at intervals wider than the predetermined interval, and joining the second surface of the base material Forming a backing layer, cutting the ultrasonic transducer block and the flexible printed wiring board between the adjacent first wiring portions, cutting out the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, and forming the backing layer Forming a groove leading to the middle, A backing material formed in an R shape is bonded to the backing layer in which the groove is formed, and the plurality of ultrasonic vibrators, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are arranged along the R shape of the backing material. A method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe, comprising: providing a convex shape with respect to an ultrasonic wave irradiation direction.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an acoustically stable and highly reliable ultrasonic probe and a method for manufacturing the same.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be given only when necessary.

  First, the configuration of an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an ultrasonic probe 10 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic probe 10 includes an ultrasonic transducer 11, a first acoustic matching layer 12, a second acoustic matching layer 13, a backing layer 14, a backing material 15, a GND common electrode 16, a flexible A printed wiring board 17, an acoustic lens 18, and a side resin layer 20 are provided.

  The ultrasonic vibrator 11 is an element in which an upper electrode and a lower electrode (not shown) are provided on a two-component or three-component piezoelectric ceramic or the like shaped in a rectangular shape. Are arranged so as to form a convex surface. The ultrasonic transducer 11 generates an ultrasonic wave based on the drive signal from the pulser and converts the reflected wave from the subject into an electric signal.

  The first acoustic matching layer 12 and the second acoustic matching layer 13 are provided on the ultrasonic wave irradiation side of the ultrasonic transducer 11. By matching physical parameters such as sound velocity, thickness, and acoustic impedance in the first acoustic matching layer 12 and the second acoustic matching layer 13, the acoustic impedance of the subject and the ultrasonic transducer 11 is matched. Can do.

  Note that the ultrasonic probe 10 according to the present embodiment has the first acoustic matching layer 12 and the second acoustic matching layer 13, but has only the first acoustic matching layer 12. Also good. Further, the scan direction width of the first acoustic matching layer 12 is wider than the scan direction width of the ultrasonic transducer 11, and the scan direction width of the second acoustic matching layer 13 is the scan direction of the first acoustic matching layer 12. Wider than width. This is to reduce the load when the blade is pulled out in the dicing process of the ultrasonic transducer described later.

  The backing layer 14 is provided on the lower side of the flexible printed wiring board 17 (the side opposite to the side irradiated with ultrasonic waves). The backing layer 14 is used to make the depth of the dicing sufficient in the dicing process of the ultrasonic transducer described later, and is cut halfway in the thickness direction by the blade (that is, not completely cut). ). Further, in order to make the acoustic matching with the flexible printed wiring board 17 and the ultrasonic transducer 11 appropriate, a resin such as polyimide is used as a material.

  The backing material 15 is provided on the lower side of the backing layer 14 (on the side opposite to the side irradiated with ultrasonic waves), mechanically supports the ultrasonic transducer 11 and is used to shorten the ultrasonic pulse. The sound wave oscillator 11 is braked. The thickness of the back member 15 is sufficient to maintain the acoustic characteristics, and is sufficiently thick with respect to the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave to be used (that is, a thickness at which the ultrasonic wave in the back direction is sufficiently attenuated). Is set. Similarly, from the viewpoint of acoustic matching, the backing material 15 is mixed with an inorganic substance so as to have an acoustic impedance within ± 20% of the acoustic impedance of the backing layer 14.

  The GND common electrode 16 is provided at one end of the upper (ultrasonic irradiation side) electrode (not shown) of the ultrasonic transducer 11 and is an electrode for grounding the upper electrode. This electrode is taken out from the end of the ultrasonic transducer 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and is connected to and integrated with the flexible printed wiring board 17 from the middle as shown in FIG.

  The flexible printed wiring board 17 is provided on the lower side of each ultrasonic transducer 11, a wiring pattern made of copper foil for applying power to each ultrasonic transducer 11, a flexible base material, and the like. It is composed of

  3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining the configuration of the flexible printed wiring board 17. As shown in each drawing, the flexible printed wiring board 17 includes a base material 170 made of a resin such as polyimide, a first wiring portion 171, a second wiring portion 172, a third wiring portion 173, and a fourth wiring portion. The wiring portion 174 is provided.

  The first wiring portion 171 is connected to the lower electrode of each ultrasonic transducer 11 and is used to take out an electric wiring from the lower electrode. As shown in FIG. 3 (or FIG. 6), the first wiring portion 171 branches off at the joint portion with the ultrasonic transducer 11 and is grouped for each channel outside the joint portion. . Further, the first wiring part 171 is configured with a predetermined interval so that the first wiring part 171 is not cut in a dicing process of the ultrasonic transducer 11 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the third wiring portion 173 is provided on the surface opposite to the first wiring portion 171 and electrically connects the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus main body and the ultrasonic probe 10. The second wiring part 172 penetrates the base material 170 and electrically connects the first wiring part 171 and the third wiring part 173. The fourth wiring 174 is provided on the upper surface (the same side as the first wiring portion 171) of the flexible printed wiring board 17, and is connected to the GND common electrode 16.

  The acoustic lens 18 is a lens made of silicone rubber or the like whose acoustic impedance is close to that of a living body, and uses an acoustic refraction to converge an ultrasonic beam and improve resolution.

  The side resin layer 20 fills the step in the scanning direction between the first acoustic matching layer 12 and the ultrasonic transducer 11 and the step in the scanning direction between the second acoustic matching layer 13 and the first acoustic matching layer 12. For example, it is made of a filler-containing adhesive or the like.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe 10 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe 10. As shown in FIG. 5, first, on the upper electrode of a block (hereinafter referred to as “ultrasonic transducer block”) in which an upper electrode and a lower electrode for applying voltage are formed on a piezoelectric element (piezo element). First, the first acoustic matching layer 12 and the second acoustic matching layer 13 are formed (step S1). Note that the second acoustic matching layer 13 has a width larger than the width of the ultrasonic transducer block in the scanning direction, and the second acoustic matching layer 13 has the first acoustic matching layer in the scanning direction. It is formed to have a width greater than 12.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the first wiring portion 171 of the flexible printed wiring board 17 is joined to the lower electrode of the ultrasonic transducer block (ultrasonic transducer 11) (step S2), and the blade is attached. Then, the ultrasonic block is diced at a predetermined interval (step S3). In this dicing, the first acoustic matching is ensured by cutting the backing layer 14 to a certain depth so that the blade passes between the patterns of the first wiring portion 171 shown in FIGS. This is performed by cutting the layer 12, the second acoustic matching layer 13, and the ultrasonic transducer block. Therefore, the blade does not cut the wiring pattern made of hard copper foil. For this reason, the load applied to the blade at the time of cutting is continuous and lower than the conventional one.

  In addition, the first acoustic matching layer 12 is wider on both sides than the scanning direction width of the ultrasonic transducer 11, and the second acoustic matching layer 13 is wider on both sides than the scanning direction width of the first acoustic matching layer 12. During the actual cutting, the blades are sequentially extracted from the ultrasonic transducer 11. In this way, by sequentially removing the blades from the cutting target, the load applied to the blades is distributed.

  Next, in order to make the arrangement of the ultrasonic transducers 11 convex to the ultrasonic irradiation surface, an R-shaped back material 15 is bonded (step S4), and each ultrasonic transducer 11 is connected by the GND common electrode 16. The GND wiring is taken out from the upper electrode (step S5). Thereafter, the acoustic lens 18 is bonded onto the second acoustic matching layer 13 (step S6), and the ultrasonic probe 10 is completed.

(Example)
Next, an embodiment of the ultrasonic probe 10 will be described. This embodiment is a 3.5 MHz convex scanning ultrasonic probe. The thickness of the ultrasonic transducer block to be used is about 350 μm, and a sub die is required to obtain an effective longitudinal vibration mode.

  In addition, the flexible printed wiring board 17 is made of polyimide as the base material 170 and thin copper foils on both sides (that is, the first wiring part 171, the third wiring part 173, the fourth wiring part 174) and the through holes. This is a composite structure having the second wiring portion 172. The arrangement pitch of the first wiring portions 171 is 400 μm, and the interval between adjacent first wiring portions 171 (that is, the width of only the base without the wiring pattern on the lower surface of the vibrator) is 80 μm. The first wiring portions 171 are grouped for each channel outside the lower surface of the vibrator.

  In addition, since the base material is bent at the time of storage, a thinner one is preferable. Also, based on the relationship between the dicing depth and the acoustic matching layer on the lower surface of the vibrator 11, a polyimide resin backing layer 14 is 100 μm on the base material of the flexible printed wiring board 17 on the side opposite to the adhesive face of the ultrasonic vibrator 11. Is formed.

  Next, a manufacturing method of the convex scanning ultrasonic probe 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the first acoustic matching layer 12 and the second acoustic matching layer 13 are formed on the ultrasonic transducer block (step S1), and the flexible printed wiring board 17 and the ultrasonic transducer block are connected with a conductive adhesive or the like. (Step S2).

  Next, the ultrasonic transducer block to which the flexible printed wiring board 17 is bonded is temporarily fixed as a work to a cutting base such as glass, and is diced with a 50 μm blade at intervals of 200 μm (step S3). At this time, the blade passes through the base material region having a width of 80 μm between the first wiring portions 171, and the cutting depth is set to cut to 50 μm on the vibrator lower surface in consideration of acoustic matching. To.

  Next, the temporarily fixed work, that is, the ultrasonic transducer block to which the flexible printed wiring board 17 is bonded is removed, and the R-shaped back material 15 is bonded to the backing layer 14 (step S4). Here, it is desirable that the R-shaped back material 15 has the same acoustic impedance as the backing layer 14 made of polyimide and the base material of the flexible printed wiring board 17. Therefore, the backing material 15 is prepared by adding a desired amount of ZnO powder to chloroprene rubber and adjusting the acoustic impedance to within ± 20% of the polyimide base.

  Next, the GND wiring is taken out from the upper electrode of each ultrasonic transducer 11 by the GND common electrode 16 (step S5), and then the acoustic lens 18 is bonded onto the second acoustic matching layer 13 (step S6). The 3.5 MHz convex scanning ultrasonic probe 10 is completed.

  According to the configuration described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  The first wiring portions 171 drawn out from the lower electrodes of the ultrasonic transducers 11 are arranged with a wider interval than the blade width used in the dicing process, and the blades are arranged in the first wiring portions 171. Pass through the base material region in between. Therefore, the cutting load can be made substantially uniform with respect to the cutting direction (scanning direction), and there is no need to cut a copper stay with a large cutting load. As a result, it is possible to improve the cutting performance as compared with the prior art, reduce the variation in acoustic characteristics, and provide a highly reliable ultrasonic probe.

  In addition, in consideration of the fact that the blade is usually a disk type, the ultrasonic probe is directed toward the upper side (the ultrasonic irradiation side), the ultrasonic transducer 11, the first acoustic matching layer 12, and the second acoustic matching. The width in the scanning direction is increased in the order of the layer 13. Accordingly, in the cutting process, the blade comes out in the order of the ultrasonic transducer 11, the first acoustic matching layer 12, and the second acoustic matching layer 13. Therefore, the cutting load can be dispersed, and the cutting performance can be improved as compared with the conventional case where the load is applied at once.

  The lower electrode of each ultrasonic transducer 11 and the flexible printed wiring board 17 are joined by the first wiring portion 171 across the lower surface of the ultrasonic transducer 11. Therefore, a sufficient joining area can be ensured, and suitable signal transmission / reception and durability can be ensured. In particular, the lower electrode and the first wiring portion 171 are joined over the entire width of the ultrasonic transducer 11 in the scanning direction. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer 11 has a substantially uniform strength on its lower surface. have. Therefore, as compared with the conventional ultrasonic probe having a configuration in which the back material 55 and the electrode 571 having different hardnesses are bonded to the lower surface of the ultrasonic transducer as shown in FIGS. , Durability against the array direction and the direction substantially orthogonal to the scan direction) can be improved.

  In addition, with such a bonding form, as in the conventional ultrasonic probe shown in FIG. 11, the bonding portion between the lower electrode of each ultrasonic transducer 51 and the flexible printed wiring board 57 is removed from the effective aperture as much as possible. The target auxiliary electrode portion 573 for bonding is not required. As a result, compared to the conventional ultrasonic probe, it is possible to reduce the extra aperture other than the effective aperture and to realize a compact ultrasonic probe with a small living body contact portion.

  In the production of the ultrasonic probe 10, there is no need to cut the common electrode 571 as shown in FIG. 11, and therefore a flexible back material for temporarily fixing the piezoelectric element to be cut and the flexible printed wiring board is necessary. do not do. Therefore, the thickness of the backing material is thinner than the conventional one, and the restoring force of the backing material against the R-bending can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to prevent warping of the 11 rows of ultrasonic transducers in the slicing direction, and it is possible to prevent a slice sound field shift and variations in acoustic characteristics.

  Further, the back material of the ultrasonic probe is configured to have an acoustic impedance comparable to that of the polyimide-based backing layer 14. Thereby, acoustic matching with the backing layer 14 can be maintained, and the received ultrasonic waves can be efficiently transmitted and attenuated backward from the ultrasonic transducer 11.

  Conventionally, the cutting depth of the ultrasonic transducer in the cutting process has been affected by the bonding deviation between the transducer and the flexible printed wiring board. This misalignment causes variation in the cutting depth, and thereby the thickness of the flexible backing material for primary fixing that functions acoustically on the back side is not uniform, and variation in acoustic characteristics exists. On the other hand, in the cutting process in manufacturing the ultrasonic probe 10, the ultrasonic transducer block having relatively good machinability, the base material 174 of the flexible printed wiring board 17, and the middle of the backing layer 14 are cut. To do. Accordingly, there is no need to cut the common electrode 571 as shown in FIG. 11, and the cutting depth does not depend on the joining deviation between the vibrator and the flexible printed wiring board as in the prior art, and the thickness of the back material is It becomes uniform. As a result, the acoustic characteristics can be improved as compared with the prior art.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, those skilled in the art can come up with various changes and modifications within the scope of the idea of the present invention. It is understood that it belongs to the scope of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without changing the gist thereof, for example, as described below.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the signal wiring from each ultrasonic transducer 11 is pulled out to one side in the scanning direction by the first wiring portion 171 and the GND common electrode 16. An ultrasonic probe was taken as an example. On the other hand, at least every other signal wiring from each ultrasonic transducer 11 may be alternately drawn out to both sides in the scanning direction. In this case, for example, by using a flexible printed wiring board 17 as shown in FIG. 7, the ultrasonic probe 30 in which the signal wiring from each ultrasonic transducer 11 is drawn out on both sides as shown in FIG. Can be manufactured. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, it is preferable that the GND common electrode 16 is also drawn out on both sides in the scan direction similarly to the first wiring portion 171.

  Further, the embodiments may be combined as appropriate as possible, and in that case, the combined effect can be obtained. Furthermore, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the column of the effect of the invention If at least one of the following is obtained, a configuration in which this configuration requirement is deleted can be extracted as an invention.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an acoustically stable and highly reliable ultrasonic probe and a method for manufacturing the same.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an ultrasonic probe 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a side surface of the ultrasonic probe 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the flexible printed wiring board 17. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the flexible printed wiring board 17. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for manufacturing the ultrasonic probe 10. FIG. 6 is a view showing the bonding between the ultrasonic transducer block (ultrasonic transducer 11) and the flexible printed wiring board 17. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a modification of the ultrasonic probe 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a modification of the ultrasonic probe 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a conventional ultrasonic probe 50. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a conventional ultrasonic probe 50. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a cutting process in manufacturing the conventional ultrasonic probe 50.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 30 ... Ultrasonic probe, 12 ... 1st acoustic matching layer, 13 ... 2nd acoustic matching layer, 14 ... Backing layer, 15 ... Back material, 16 ... Common electrode for GND, 17 ... Flexible printed wiring board, 18 ... acoustic lens, 20 ... side resin layer

Claims (18)

A plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array along the first direction, each having a first electrode and a second electrode;
A base material and a plurality of wiring portions provided on a first surface of the base material, each connected to the second electrode of each ultrasonic transducer, and the ultrasonic transducer A first wiring portion having a width narrower than the width in the first direction, and a flexible printed wiring board,
A backing layer provided on the second surface of the base material ;
Dividing the ultrasonic transducer into the array, a groove extending through the flexible printed wiring board to the middle of the backing layer;
A back material formed in an R shape, which is bonded to the backing layer,
The plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are provided in a convex shape with respect to the ultrasonic irradiation direction along the R shape of the back material,
Ultrasonic probe characterized by.   2. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of first wiring portions are arranged along the first direction at intervals wider than an arrangement interval of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers. A ground connection unit for grounding the first electrode;
A second wiring portion provided on the same surface as the plurality of wiring portions of the flexible printed wiring board and connected to the ground connection unit;
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1 or 2. The ground connection unit is alternately pulled out at least for each wiring on both sides of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers along the first direction,
The second wiring portion is formed on both sides;
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 3. A third wiring portion provided on a part of the second surface of the base material;
A fourth wiring portion penetrating the base material and electrically connecting the first wiring portion and the third wiring portion;
The ultrasonic probe according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The plurality of first wiring portions are alternately drawn at least for each wiring on both sides of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers along the first direction,
The third wiring portion and the fourth wiring portion are formed on both sides;
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 5.   The supersonic wave according to claim 1, further comprising a first acoustic matching layer formed on the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and having a width wider than a width of each ultrasonic transducer in a scanning direction. Acoustic probe.   8. The apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a second acoustic matching layer formed on the first acoustic matching layer and having a width wider than a width of the first acoustic matching layer in the scanning direction. Ultrasonic probe.   The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the back material is mixed with an inorganic substance so as to have an acoustic impedance within ± 20% of the acoustic impedance of the backing layer.   The plurality of first wiring portions are connected to the second electrodes over the entire width in the scanning direction of the ultrasonic transducer, respectively. The described ultrasonic probe. A plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array along the first direction, each having a first electrode and a second electrode;
A plurality of first wiring portions provided on a first surface of the base material and connected to the second electrodes over the entire width in the scanning direction of the ultrasonic transducer; A flexible printed wiring board having
A backing layer provided on the second surface of the base material;
Dividing the ultrasonic transducer into the array, a groove extending through the flexible printed wiring board to the middle of the backing layer;
A back material formed in an R shape, which is bonded to the backing layer,
The plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are provided in a convex shape with respect to the ultrasonic irradiation direction along the R shape of the back material,
Ultrasonic probe characterized by. A plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array along the first direction, each having a first electrode and a second electrode;
A flexible printed wiring board having a base material and a plurality of first wiring portions provided on the first surface of the base material, each connected to the second electrode of each ultrasonic transducer; ,
A backing layer provided on the second surface of the base material;
A first acoustic matching layer formed on the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and having a width wider than the width of each ultrasonic transducer in the scanning direction;
Dividing the ultrasonic transducer into the array, a groove extending through the flexible printed wiring board to the middle of the backing layer;
A back material formed in an R shape, which is bonded to the backing layer,
The plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are provided in a convex shape with respect to the ultrasonic irradiation direction along the R shape of the back material,
Ultrasonic probe characterized by.   13. The apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a second acoustic matching layer formed on the first acoustic matching layer and having a width wider than a width of the first acoustic matching layer in the scanning direction. Ultrasonic probe. An ultrasonic probe manufacturing method in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged at predetermined intervals along a first direction,
An ultrasonic transducer block having a first electrode and a second electrode, a base material, and a plurality of wiring portions provided on the first surface of the base material, each of the ultrasonic transducer blocks A flexible printed wiring board having a plurality of first wiring portions connected to the second electrode and having a width narrower than the width of each ultrasonic transducer in the first direction,
Forming a backing layer on the second surface of the base material;
In between the adjacent first wiring portion, wherein the ultrasonic transducer block, said cutting the flexible printed wiring board, the groove extending to the middle of the backing layer with to cut out the plurality of ultrasonic transducers Form the
A backing material formed in an R shape is bonded to the backing layer in which the groove is formed, and the plurality of ultrasonic vibrators, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are arranged along the R shape of the backing material. Provided in a convex shape with respect to the ultrasonic irradiation direction,
An ultrasonic probe manufacturing method comprising: An ultrasonic probe manufacturing method in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged at predetermined intervals along a first direction,
An ultrasonic transducer block having a first electrode and a second electrode, a base material, and a plurality of wiring portions provided on the first surface of the base material, each of the ultrasonic transducer blocks A flexible printed wiring board having a plurality of first wiring portions connected to the second electrode and arranged along the first direction at intervals wider than the predetermined interval. And
Forming a backing layer on the second surface of the base material;
In between the first wiring portion adjacent said cutting and said flexible printed circuit board and the ultrasonic transducer block, a groove extending to the middle of the backing layer with to cut out the plurality of ultrasonic transducers Forming,
A backing material formed in an R shape is bonded to the backing layer in which the groove is formed, and the plurality of ultrasonic vibrators, the flexible printed wiring board, and the backing layer are arranged along the R shape of the backing material. Provided in a convex shape with respect to the ultrasonic irradiation direction,
An ultrasonic probe manufacturing method comprising:   16. The method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe according to claim 14, wherein the backing layer is partially cut in the thickness direction in cutting out each of the ultrasonic transducers. A first acoustic matching layer having a width wider than the width of each ultrasonic transducer in the scanning direction is further formed on the plurality of ultrasonic transducers,
In cutting out the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the ultrasonic transducer block, the flexible printed wiring board, and the like so that a cutting unit to be used is pulled out from the ultrasonic transducer block to the first acoustic matching layer. Cutting,
The method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe according to any one of claims 14 to 16. On the first acoustic matching layer, a second acoustic matching layer having a width wider than the width in the scanning direction of the first acoustic matching layer is further formed.
In cutting out the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the ultrasonic wave is used so that a cutting unit to be used exits from the ultrasonic transducer block in the order of the first acoustic matching layer and the second acoustic matching layer. Cutting the vibrator block and the flexible printed wiring board;
The ultrasonic probe manufacturing method according to claim 14, wherein:

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