JPS59102159A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the controllable freedom of a frequency characteristic of an ultrasonic pulse transmitted by arranging ultrasonic vibrators so as to face acoustic radiation surfaces laid one upon another to control the amplitude and the phase of an excitation signal thereof. CONSTITUTION:A plurality of ultrasonic vibrators 1 are arranged so as to face acoustic radiation surfaces 2 piled one upon another. Leads 5 are arranged independently for each of ultrasonic vibrators 1 so that the amplitude and the phase of excitation signals thereof can be controlled separately with amplitude/ phase controllers 7 separately. Thus, independent control of the amplitude and the phase of excitation signals of the ultrasonic vibrators 1 enables the varying of waveforms of ultrasonic pulses transmitted into material to be inspected at a greater freedom as compared with the conventional type.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe used for nondestructive testing, medical diagnosis, and the like.

Conventional ultrasound probe in this building/f! 9 For example, as shown in Figure 1, a backing material (3) is provided on the acoustic radiation surface (2) of one ultrasonic probe mountain, and the other acoustic radiation surface is
It was constructed by providing one or more layers of acoustic impedance metamorphic layer (4) on the radiation surface (2). (The 5th line is the lead wire.

The materials to be tested are subject to non-destructive testing, medical diagnosis, etc.

Some defects and internal structures have frequency characteristics.

In such cases, first measure the frequency characteristics of the ultrasonic pulses sent into the specimen material by the ultrasonic probe, and then measure the frequency characteristics of the echoes reflected from inside the specimen material. Information about the interior of the specimen is obtained from the frequency characteristics of the second reflected echo and the frequency characteristics of the transmitted ultrasonic pulse. Note that the reason why a pulse is used instead of a continuous plate is to inspect the test material with good distance resolution.

Now, in 9 conventional ultrasonic probes of this type, the frequency characteristics of the transmitted ultrasonic pulses are determined by the material constants of the ultrasonic transducer mountain, the backing material (3), and the acoustic impedance transformation layer (4). is fixed at a certain level. Of course.

By changing the electrical drive circuit constants of the ultrasound probe.

Although it is possible to slightly change the frequency characteristics of the transmitted ultrasonic pulse, it is often difficult to achieve the full frequency characteristics required for Pfr using this method. Namely.

Conventional ultrasonic probes of this type have a small degree of freedom in controlling the frequency characteristics of the transmitted ultrasonic pulses, which has the disadvantage of reducing the amount of information that can be obtained about the inside of the specimen. Ta.

In this invention, a plurality of ultrasonic transducer peaks are arranged in a stacked manner with the acoustic radiation surfaces (2) of the ultrasonic transducers facing each other, and the amplitude of the excitation signal of the ultrasonic transducer ill The above-mentioned drawbacks are solved by fully controlling the phase, and will be explained in detail below using an embodiment shown in FIG.

The second reason is an embodiment of the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, in which a plurality of ultrasonic transducer peaks are stacked and arranged with their acoustic radiation surfaces (2) facing each other.

13) is a backing material similar to the conventional one, and (4) is an acoustic impedance change layer similar to the conventional one. (6) is an Ie membrane for electrically insulating between the peaks of each ultrasonic transducer. (5) is a lead wire, which is connected to each ultrasonic transducer peak independently, and the amplitude and phase of the excitation signal of each ultrasonic transducer peak is controlled by fR@ and phase controller (7). This allows for independent control.

Now, regarding the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention.

The frequency characteristics of the ultrasonic pulses generated by each ultrasonic probe peak are the same as those of the conventional ultrasonic transducer (1).

It is determined by the material constants of the backing material, the acoustic impedance change layer (4), and the absolute R film (6). However, in the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, the ultrasonic pulses transmitted into the specimen are a total synthesis of the ultrasonic pulses excited by the respective ultrasonic transducers. Therefore, as mentioned above, if the amplitude and phase of the excitation signal of each ultrasonic transducer peak are controlled independently, the waveform of the ultrasonic pulse transmitted into the material under test can be controlled with a greater degree of freedom than before. You can change it with That is, in the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, by fully controlling the amplitude and phase of the excitation signal of each ultrasonic transducer, it is possible to perform two rotations with a much greater degree of freedom than in the conventional art.
It has the advantage of being able to control numerical characteristics.

Incidentally, although two or more have been described for the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, it is clear that similar advantages can be obtained also when the number of ultrasonic transducers (1) is three or more. Also,
The present invention may also be applied to an oblique ultrasonic branch probe that transmits ultrasonic waves obliquely to the surface of a test material using a wedge or the like.

As described above, in the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, a plurality of ultrasonic transducer peaks are stacked and arranged with their acoustic radiation surfaces (2) facing each other, and the excitation signal of each ultrasonic transducer fi+ is By controlling the amplitude and phase of the ultrasonic pulse, there is an advantage that the frequency characteristics of the ultrasonic pulse transmitted into the specimen can be controlled with a greater degree of freedom than in the past.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The first figure shows a conventional ultrasonic wave probe, and the second figure shows an embodiment of the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention. In the figure, the peaks are the ultrasonic transducers, (2) are the acoustic radiation surfaces, and (3)
is the backing material, (4) is the acoustic impedance modified layer (
5) Beam sparse, (6) insulating film, f711′i #
A and a phase controller. Note that the same or equivalent parts in the prisoner are indicated by the same reference numerals. Agent Makoto Kuzuno - Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of ultrasonic transducers are stacked and arranged so that the acoustic radiation surfaces of the ultrasonic transducers face each other, and the amplitude and phase of the excitation signal of each ultra-M-wave transducer are fully controlled to generate a signal inside the material to be inspected. An ultrasonic probe that is characterized by being able to control the frequency characteristics of the ultrasonic wave transmitted to the ultrasonic probe.