JPH03182234A - Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic diagnosing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide clear ultrasonic images with sharp focus from short to long distances with an ultrasonic probe by disposing an oscillator portion having a single frequency in the peripheral portion and arranging an oscillator portion having a plural number of frequencies in the central portion. CONSTITUTION:A probe body 10 comprises a plural number N of arranged oscillators, each of which comprising both peripheral oscillator sections 11A1, 11A2 and a central oscillator section 11B and arranged in the number N in the scanning direction and in the number three in the lens direction, namely in two dimensions as a whole. Each of the N pieces of oscillators is electronically scanned with a receiving and transmitting circuit 12. The reception signals are passed through a first BPS(band pass filter) 13A and a second BPF 13B, and the passed reception signals are detected with a signal processing circuit 14, and synthesized into an image. Assuming f1 as the frequency of the central and peripheral portions and f1, f2 as the frequencies of the central portion, large aperture drive is performed with the frequency f1 and small aperture drive is performed with the frequency f2, providing sharp focusing in the lens direction from short to long distances.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides an array type ultrasound probe and an ultrasound beam scanned onto a subject to obtain an M-mode image (motion image),
B mode image (Tomography) *D mode image (
Blood flow velocity image), DF mode image (CFM image: Co1or
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that obtains ultrasonic image information such as flow map images) and displays the obtained ultrasonic image information for diagnosis. (Prior Art) A typical example of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is one that uses an array type ultrasonic probe to obtain a B-mode image by electronic scanning. For this type of device, it is preferable if clear images can be obtained from shallow to deep areas, but for devices that use an array type ultrasonic probe in which transducers are arranged one-dimensionally, the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the transducers are arranged is (hereinafter referred to as the "lens direction") has a constant aperture, so the ultrasonic beam in the lens direction is not narrowed down except at the focus point, that is, the image quality is poor at locations other than the focus point. To solve this problem, the following methods have been conventionally adopted. In other words, a short-distance ultrasound probe equipped with a close-focus acoustic lens and a long-distance ultrasound probe equipped with a far-focus acoustic lens are prepared separately, and the short-range ultrasound probe is used for diagnosis of shallow areas. For deep diagnosis, a long-distance ultrasonic probe is attached to the device for diagnosis. In addition, in one probe, the transducer is divided in the lens direction, and only the central transducer is driven for transmission and reception so that the aperture is small and the focus point is formed in the shallow part for shallow diagnosis. Sometimes, a full-width transducer with a large aperture is driven to transmit and receive so that the focus point is formed deep, thereby obtaining ultrasound image information. (Surfaced by the invention: SS) The former method has problems in that it takes time to switch the probe and it is not possible to diagnose images of shallow and deep areas at the same time. Alternatively, a changeover switch for long-distance transmission and reception must be built into the device, which complicates the transmission and reception circuit.Furthermore, the switch used is a high-voltage switch, which increases costs. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can obtain sharp lens direction focus from short distances to long distances and can obtain clear ultrasonic images. [Object of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has a configuration in which the following means are taken to solve the above problems and achieve the objects. In the sonic probe, a single frequency transducer part having a single transducer frequency is arranged at the edge of each transducer in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the transducers are arranged in parallel, and the transducer frequency of this transducer part is The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention uses the above-described ultrasonic probe as an ultrasonic probe and , comprising an excitation means for generating an excitation signal having a frequency corresponding to the plurality of transducer frequencies as a transmitting/receiving system, and a filter means for band-passing a received signal having a frequency corresponding to the plurality of transducer frequencies, the filter means The ultrasonic image information is generated based on the reception number 73 of the frequency corresponding to the plurality of transducer frequencies obtained by. (Operation) According to the ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as above. , the center and the edges are driven simultaneously, where:
For example, if the frequencies at the center and edges are [l, and the frequencies at the center are fl and f2, then the frequency fl
A large aperture drive is performed at a frequency f2, and a small aperture drive is simultaneously performed at a frequency f2, and sharp lens direction focus is obtained from short distances to long distances. Moreover, the filter means produces two signals with different focus depths and different frequencies. By combining these images, clear ultrasound images can be obtained from short distances to long distances. (Example) An example of an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the probe body 10 from which the case of the ultrasonic probe of this embodiment is removed, and the backing material 1
．． Piezoelectric element part 2. First matching layer 3° Second matching layer 4. Acoustic lens 5. Signal flexible board6. It is composed of a common flexible substrate 7. Here, the piezoelectric element portion 2 is made of a piezoelectric material such as ceramics, and is formed to have a concave cross-section in the direction of the lens on one surface thereof, and to have a flat shape in the direction of the lens on the other surface. The number of vibrator arrays (N
), a signal flexible substrate 6 having a plurality of conductive patterns formed thereon is disposed, a filling piezoelectric material 2A is embedded in the recessed portion, and a common flexible substrate 7 is disposed on the other side. Here, it is assumed that the resonance frequency fl is due to the total thickness of the piezoelectric element portion 2, and the resonance frequency is 12 (f2>fl) due to the thin thickness due to the recess. Therefore, the resonant frequencies fl and f2 are at the concave portion at the center, and the resonant frequency fl is at the flat portions at both edges. Using the probe main body 10 configured as described above, the second
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this embodiment is configured as shown in the figure. That is, the probe main body 10 has N arranged transducers, each consisting of transducer parts 11A1 and 11A2 on both edges and a transducer part 11B in the center, and a total of N lenses in the scanning direction. It is an array of three two-dimensional vibrators in the direction. A vibrator section 11AI of this probe body 10. 11A2. Each of the N transducers in the scanning direction, which is a parallel circuit of IIB, is electronically scanned by the transmitter/receiver circuit 12, and the received signal is passed through a first BPF (band bus filter) 13A and a second BPF (band bus filter). filter)
The received signals that have passed through the signal processing circuit 13B are subjected to detection, etc. in the signal processing circuit 14, and then synthesized and converted into an image. Here, the vibrator sections 11AI, 11A2. IIB and 1st. 2nd BPF (band pass filter) 13A
. The frequency characteristics of 13B are shown in Figure 3 (a), (b), (c), and (d).
It looks like this. In this configuration, the vibrator section 11AI of the probe body 10,
11A2. When each of the N transducers in the scanning direction, which is a parallel circuit of IIB, is driven to transmit and receive by the transmitting/receiving circuit 12, as shown in FIG.
Vibrator section 11AI. 11A2. It is transmitted and received from the entire IIB with a large aperture. Further, ultrasonic waves having resonance frequencies fl and f2 are transmitted and received from the central transducer section 11B through a small aperture. Here, in large-diameter transmission and reception, the focus point is F], and in small-diameter transmission and reception, the focus point is F2 (Fl>F2), therefore, in large-diameter transmission and reception, the echo signal ESI centered around the focus point Fl is is obtained, and an echo signal ES2 centered on the focus point F2 is obtained in small-diameter transmission/reception. Then, the echo signal ES1. ES2 is the first degree second B
By transmitting through PF13A and 13B, an echo signal with a center frequency f1 with a deep field of view for large-diameter transmission and reception, and a center frequency 1 with a shallow field of view for small-diameter transmission and reception.
2 echo signals are obtained, and by detecting and combining these signals, it is possible to obtain a B-mode image with a wide field of view from focus points Fl to F2 in - times of ultrasonic scanning. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, in the present invention, an ultrasonic probe having a 111-frequency transducer section and a plurality of frequency transducer sections that are simultaneously driven in the lens direction is used, and the plurality of vibrations are transmitted as a transmitting/receiving system. By configuring an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus including an excitation means for generating an excitation signal having a frequency corresponding to the transducer frequency and a filter means for band-passing a received signal having a frequency corresponding to the plurality of transducer frequencies, For example, if the frequencies at the center and the edges are fl, and the frequencies at the center are fl and f2, large-diameter driving is performed at the frequency fl, and at the same time the frequency f2 A small aperture drive is performed by the lens, and sharp lens direction focus is obtained from short distances to long distances, and two signals with different focus depths and different frequencies can be obtained by the filter means, and these signals can be synthesized. This allows you to obtain clear ultrasound images from short distances to long distances. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can obtain sharp lens direction focus from short distances to long distances and can obtain clear ultrasonic images. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the essential parts of an embodiment of an ultrasound probe according to the present invention, FIG. tJ2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. It is a frequency characteristic diagram of an example. 1... Backing material, 2... Piezoelectric element part, 3...
First matching layer, 4... Second matching layer, 5... Acoustic lens, 6... Signal flexible substrate, 7... Common flexible substrate, 10... Probe body, llA1.11
A2... Vibrator parts on both edges, IIB... Vibrator part in the center, 12... Transmission/reception circuit, 13A... First B
PF (band pass filter), 13B...second
BPF (band pass filter), 14... signal processing circuit.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an array-type ultrasonic probe in which a large number of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in parallel, each of the transducers is a single-frequency transducer having a single transducer frequency in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the transducers are arranged in parallel. 1. An ultrasonic probe characterized in that a multi-frequency transducer part having a plurality of transducer frequencies including the transducer frequency of this transducer part is arranged in the center part. (2) In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that receives an echo signal obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves from an ultrasonic probe to a subject, and processes the signal to obtain diagnostic information about the subject, the ultrasonic probe As a transmission/reception system, an excitation means for generating an excitation signal having a frequency corresponding to the plurality of oscillator frequencies, and a reception signal having a frequency corresponding to the plurality of oscillator frequencies are used as a transmitting/receiving system. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a filter means for passing through, and generating ultrasonic image information based on received signals of frequencies corresponding to the plurality of transducer frequencies obtained by the filter means.