JPH01293799A - Ultrasonic probe and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a probe, for which internal reaction does not remain, by cutting an ultrasonic oscillator, obtaining an array shape, sandwiching the array- shaped oscillator with a mold stand, which has a desired curved surface, through a high polymer sheet to be provided on both sides, charging a resin material to an array gap and setting the gap. CONSTITUTION:A high polymer sheet 2 of rich flexibility is fixed to the bottom surface of a flat board-shaped ultrasonic oscillator 1 with being detachable and an acoustic matching layer 3 is formed on the upper surface of the oscillator 1. Next, the layer 3 and oscillator 1 are cut and the array shape is obtained. Then, a high polymer sheet 6 to have the flexibility is fixed in the opposite side of an oscillator array 1a with being detachable. The array 1a is sandwiched by a pair of mold stands 4 and 7, which have the desired curved surfaces, and a resin material 10 to be adhesive is charged and set to an array gap 9. After the setting, the mold stands 4 and 7 are put off and the sheets 2 and 6 are detached. Then, the array 1a, which is fixed in a bending condition, is fixed to the curved surface of a back load material. Thus, the probe, for which the internal reaction does not remain, can be easily manufactured with satisfactory yield.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe used in ultrasonic diagnostic equipment and the like, and a method for manufacturing the same.

Conventional technology As a conventional ultrasonic probe, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 124199/1986
2. Description of the Related Art As described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-100003, a configuration in which an ultrasonic transducer array is curved in a convex or concave shape with a constant curvature is known. Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the conventional ultrasonic probe will be described with reference to FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b).

As shown in Figure 3(a), first, an ultrasonic sensor that converts electrical signals into mechanical vibrations (actually electrodes are provided on both sides of the piezoelectric element, but this is shown in a simplified manner) 51
A thin backing material (backing material) 52 with a thickness of about 1 to 3 mm is adhered to the bottom surface, and an acoustic matching layer 53 is adhered to the top surface. Next, using the back load material 53 as a base, the ultrasonic transducer 51 is cut into strips by a cutting machine to form an ultrasonic transducer array. Then, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the ultrasonic transducer array is curved together with the back load material 53 and bonded to a curved surface 55 that has been previously processed on the thick back load material 54.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional examples described above, the back load material 52 is required to have large ultrasonic propagation attenuation and appropriate acoustic impedance, and several types of materials that can satisfy these requirements are used. It is being However, no matter which material is used, it is difficult to say that it is highly flexible, and stress generated in the back load material 52 when bending it after cutting may cause breakage of the back load material 52 or damage to the ultrasonic transducer array. There are problems in the production process such as breakage, and even if there is no breakage or breakage during bending, there is still a considerable amount of stress remaining inside, and it is used as an ultrasonic probe. However, there was a risk of performance deterioration due to changes over time, and there were many problems with reliability.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and provides an ultrasonic probe that can maintain high reliability over a long period of time.
Moreover, it can be manufactured with high yield, and therefore,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe that can be provided at low cost.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above objects, the ultrasonic probe of the present invention has the following features:
Ultrasonic transducers that convert electrical signals into mechanical vibrations are arranged in a curved array with a constant curvature, and each gap is filled with an adhesive resin material and hardened, and this curved and fixed The ultrasonic transducer array is fixed to the curved surface of the back load material.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, the method for manufacturing an ultrasound probe of the present invention is characterized in that one surface of a flat ultrasound transducer that converts electrical signals into mechanical vibrations is made of a flexible polymer. A sheet is releasably fixed, the ultrasonic transducers are cut to form an array, and a flexible polymer sheet is releasably fixed to the opposite side of the ultrasonic transducer array to obtain a desired curvature. sandwiched between a pair of mold stands having curved surfaces, each gap between the ultrasonic transducer arrays is filled with an adhesive resin material and cured, and after curing, the mold stands are removed and the polymer sheets on both sides are peeled off. However, the ultrasonic transducer array fixed in this curved state is fixed to the curved surface of the back load material.

Effects The ultrasonic probe of the present invention has the following effects due to the above-mentioned technical means. That is, by filling the gap with an ultrasonic transducer array with a resin material having adhesive properties and curing it, the curved ultrasonic transducer array can be bonded to the curved surface of the back load material without any stress remaining inside. It is possible to prevent peeling, changes in curvature, etc. over a long period of time.

The method for manufacturing an ultrasonic probe of the present invention has the following effects using the above technical means. That is, the cut ultrasonic transducer array is curved together with the polymer sheet, but since the ultrasonic transducer array is completely cut, only the polymer sheet is curved. The external force required for this is very small. Then, by filling each gap of the ultrasonic transducer array with a resin material and curing it, and then peeling off the polymer sheets on both sides, even that slight stress can be removed, and the ultrasonic transducer array It can be bonded to the curved surface of the back load material without any residual stress inside.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of an ultrasonic transducer array and an acoustic matching layer constituting an ultrasonic probe according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 (a) to c) are an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic side view which shows the manufacturing method of the ultrasonic probe in .

Figure 2 (a) A flat ultrasonic vibrator that converts electrical signals into mechanical vibrations as shown in K (Actually, electrodes are provided on both sides of the piezoelectric element, but the illustration is simplified) 1
An adhesive layer of a thin and highly flexible polymer sheet 2 is removably fixed to the bottom surface of the ultrasonic transducer 1, and an acoustic matching layer 3 is provided on the top surface of the ultrasonic transducer 1. As this polymer sheet, 20 to 100
It is preferable to use a material with dimensional stability such as polyester, polyind, polypropylene, etc. with a thickness of μm.
As the adhesive material to be treated on the surface, general materials such as acrylic materials such as acrylic acid esters, silicone materials, rubber materials, etc. can be used. Next, using the polymer sheet 3 as a base, the acoustic matching layer 2 and the ultrasonic vibrator 1 are cut into strips using a cutting machine as shown in FIG. 2(b), and the ultrasonic vibrator having the acoustic matching layer 2a is An array 1a is formed. At this time, only the ultrasonic sensor 1 is completely cut in the thickness direction of the ultrasonic transducer 1.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2(C), the ultrasonic transducer array 1a is placed on the curved surface of the mold table 4, which is a convex surface 5 in the illustrated example, which has been formed to have a desired blood content, with the polymer sheet 2 side facing down. As a result, the polymer root 2 is curved following the convex surface 5 of the mold base 4 due to its flexibility. Next, the ultrasonic transducer array 1a
On the opposite side, that is, on the upper side of the acoustic matching layer 3a in the illustrated example, an adhesive layer of a polymer sheet 6 similar to that described above is removably fixed in a curved state. Next, the curved surface of the mold base 7, that is, the concave surface 8 having a curvature corresponding to the convex surface 5 of the mold frame 4 is placed on top of the polymer sheet 6. The ultrasonic transducer array 1a and the acoustic matching layer 3
has adhesive properties from the sides of each gap 9 of a, and
A resin material 10 such as Epoquine resin having appropriate hardness is filled and hardened. After curing, each mold base 4.7 is removed and the polymer sheets 2.6 on both sides are peeled off, thereby being fixed and curved to a desired curvature with the resin material 10, as shown in FIG. Ultrasonic transducer array 1 with no residual stress
a and an acoustic matching layer 3a can be obtained. Then, the ultrasonic transducer array 1a fixed in this curved state is fixed to a curved surface formed with the same curvature on a back loading material (not shown) by adhesive or other means, and each electrode of the ultrasonic transducer array 1a is fixed. The ultrasonic probe of the present invention can be obtained by connecting a conductor for applying an electric signal to the probe.

In the above embodiment, the acoustic matching layer 3 is provided on the flat ultrasonic transducer 1 before it is cut, but it may be provided after the ultrasonic transducer array 1a is bent. Further, the ultrasonic transducer array 1a can also be curved in a concave shape.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the gap between the ultrasonic transducer array is filled with adhesive resin material and cured, and the curved ultrasonic transducer array is Since it can be bonded to the curved surface of the back load material in a state where no stress remains inside, it is possible to prevent peeling, change in curvature, etc. over a long period of time. Therefore, high reliability can be maintained over a long period of time.

Further, according to the method for manufacturing an ultrasound probe of the present invention, the cut ultrasound transducer array is curved together with the polymer sheet, but since the ultrasound transducer array is completely cut, the curved Only the polymer sheets are bent, and the external force required to bend them is very small.

Then, by filling each gap of the ultrasonic transducer array with a resin material and curing it, and then peeling off the polymer sheets on both sides, even that slight stress can be removed, and the ultrasonic transducer array It can be bonded to the curved surface of the back load material without residual stress inside. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer array will not be missing during the manufacturing process.
Even in ultrasonic sensor arrays with small curvature, it is easy to
Moreover, it can be manufactured with good yield, and can be provided at low cost with high reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of an ultrasonic transducer array and an acoustic matching layer constituting an ultrasonic probe in an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 (a) to C) is an embodiment of the present invention. A schematic side view showing the manufacturing method of the ultrasonic probe in Fig. 3 (
FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic side views showing a conventional method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe. 1... Flat ultrasonic transducer, 1a... Ultrasonic transducer array, 2. Polymer sheet), 3.1. Acoustic matching layer, 4
... mold stand, 5 ... convex surface, 6 ... polymer sheet, 7
...Mold base, buttock, concave surface, 9...gap, 10...
・Resin material. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person 2nd
figure

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Ultrasonic transducers that convert electrical signals into mechanical vibrations are arranged in a curved array with a constant curvature, and each gap is filled with an adhesive resin material and cured;
An ultrasonic probe characterized in that this curved and fixed ultrasonic transducer array is fixed to the curved surface of a back load material. (2) A flexible polymer sheet is removably fixed to one side of a flat ultrasonic transducer that converts electrical signals into mechanical vibrations, and the ultrasonic transducer is cut into an array. A flexible polymer sheet is releasably fixed to the opposite side of the ultrasonic transducer array, and is sandwiched between a pair of molds having curved surfaces with a desired curvature. Each gap is filled with adhesive resin material and cured. After curing, the mold table is removed, the polymer sheets on both sides are peeled off, and the ultrasonic transducer array fixed in this curved state is placed on the curved surface of the back load material. A method of manufacturing an ultrasonic probe characterized by being fixed.