KR20120091737A - Structure of ultrasound probe - Google Patents

Structure of ultrasound probe Download PDF

Info

Publication number
KR20120091737A
KR20120091737A KR1020110011703A KR20110011703A KR20120091737A KR 20120091737 A KR20120091737 A KR 20120091737A KR 1020110011703 A KR1020110011703 A KR 1020110011703A KR 20110011703 A KR20110011703 A KR 20110011703A KR 20120091737 A KR20120091737 A KR 20120091737A
Authority
KR
South Korea
Prior art keywords
transducer
region
ultrasonic
probe structure
ultrasonic probe
Prior art date
Application number
KR1020110011703A
Other languages
Korean (ko)
Inventor
박성희
Original Assignee
주식회사 테라노바
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by 주식회사 테라노바 filed Critical 주식회사 테라노바
Priority to KR1020110011703A priority Critical patent/KR20120091737A/en
Publication of KR20120091737A publication Critical patent/KR20120091737A/en

Links

Images

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4444—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/46—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient
    • A61B8/467—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient characterised by special input means
    • A61B8/469—Ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic devices with special arrangements for interfacing with the operator or the patient characterised by special input means for selection of a region of interest
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N29/00—Investigating or analysing materials by the use of ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves; Visualisation of the interior of objects by transmitting ultrasonic or sonic waves through the object
    • G01N29/22—Details, e.g. general constructional or apparatus details
    • G01N29/24—Probes
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S15/00—Systems using the reflection or reradiation of acoustic waves, e.g. sonar systems
    • G01S15/88—Sonar systems specially adapted for specific applications
    • G01S15/89—Sonar systems specially adapted for specific applications for mapping or imaging
    • G01S15/8906—Short-range imaging systems; Acoustic microscope systems using pulse-echo techniques

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ultrasonic probe structure is provided to ensure a simplified operation by obtaining an image from the harmonic wave of a concentrated ultrasonic wave reflected off the internal side of a human body. CONSTITUTION: A first transducer(10) is installed in a first area and forms a focus in a predetermined area by generating an ultrasonic wave. A second transducer(20) is installed adjacent to or separately from the first transducer in a second area to obtain the harmonic wave from a reflected ultrasonic wave and extract information on the predetermined area.

Description

Ultrasonic Probe Structure

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe structure, and specifically, to transmit an ultrasonic wave in a specific wavelength region to a predetermined region inside the skin of a human body to acquire an image or to generate a thermal action, thereby enabling local deformation in the predetermined region. It relates to an ultrasonic probe structure.

Ultrasound is a sound wave having a frequency of 20 kHz or more that is generally beyond the human audible maximum range, and has a property of penetrating or reflecting through a specific medium. It is used in various industrial fields. Ultrasound, for example, can be used for ultrasonography to produce fetal photographs and also for nondestructive testing to detect defects such as pores or cracks inside industrial products.

Ultrasound is actively applied to diagnostic ultrasound technology, which belongs to the field of diagnostic medical imaging, in which tomography and visualization of the size, structure, or pathological damage of muscles, tendons, or organs in the human body in real time. The real-time ultrasound imaging apparatus used in the diagnostic ultrasound technique may generally include a probe, an image display apparatus, a recording apparatus, and an input apparatus. The probe includes a piezo-electric crystal as a device for generating ultrasonic waves and transmitting the reflected signals to the inside of the human body. Piezoelectric elements can be made of a material with a large number of electrical dipoles arranged in a geometrical form that can convert electrical energy into mechanical energy while converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. Natural crystals and synthetic ceramic crystals ceramic crystals). For example, a quartz or tourmaline may be used as a natural piezoelectric element, and an artificial piezoelectric element may be a material such as barium titanate, lead zirconate, sodium potassium stannate, lithium sulfate, or zinc oxide. Alternatively, materials such as lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ), lead titantate, lead zirconium titanate (PZT), or barium-titanate corresponding to the composite material may be used as the piezoelectric element. As such, the probe may include a piezoelectric element, and the piezoelectric element may be a transducer that functions to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa, and the probe used in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes the transducer.

Ultrasound generated by the probe may be transmitted into the human body so that a focal point is generally formed at a point where an image is required. Methods for causing foci to be formed at a given location are known in the art and are used, for example, in the field of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU). Focused ultrasound therapy refers to a treatment method that removes tissue using a high temperature of 65 to 100 ° C generated when focusing on high-intensity ultrasound energy at one point. Pancreatic cancer, uterine myoma, liver cancer, prostate cancer, and endometrial cancer It is applied to the treatment of kidney cancer, breast cancer, soft tissue or bone tumor. Focused ultrasound can be used for the removal of a specific site generated in the tissue in this way, but on the other hand it can be applied to generate a thermal deformation in a particular site. In general, a human face is composed of a skin layer, a dermis layer, a fat layer, a muscle layer (Superficial Muscular Aponeurotic System), and muscles, and focused ultrasound may be used to generate thermal coagulation at a predetermined point of the muscle layer. Skin wrinkles may be removed in the process of generating a predetermined amount of thermal coagulation in the muscle layer in a dispersed form and then regenerating the heat coagulated portion by the peripheral portion of the thermal coagulation. As such, focused ultrasound may be used to remove a portion of tissue or to apply thermal deformation to a specific site.

8A and 8B schematically illustrate an operation process of a conventional ultrasound diagnostic apparatus. Referring to FIG. 8A, the probe 80 generates a ultrasonic wave of a specific frequency for treatment and transmits the ultrasonic wave into the human body, and the receiving transducer 81b receives the ultrasonic wave reflected from the human body. ). The transmitting transducer 81a is controlled by the controller 82 to generate ultrasonic waves, for example, 1 MHz to 10 MHz, and transmit them to a predetermined position in the human body in the form of pulses. The reflected ultrasonic waves are received by the receiving transducer 81b and imaged in the image circuit 83 controlled by the controller 82, and the associated image can be displayed on the display device 84. Alternatively, probe 80a may be made at the same transducer for both transmission and reception. Referring to (b) of FIG. 8, transmission and reception of an ultrasonic pulse may be performed in the same transducer 81. Specifically, the controller 82 first generates an ultrasonic pulse of 20 Mhz and transmits it into the human body by, for example, controlling the controller 82 to obtain an image of a portion requiring treatment, and then turns on the first switch 85a. on) to cause the reflected wave to be received by the image circuit 83. The electrical signal for the reflected wave received by the image circuit 83 may be converted into an image by the controller 82 and displayed on the display device 84. Then, the position to be treated is determined based on the image displayed on the display 84, and the controller 82 may generate an ultrasonic pulse of 10 Mhz for treatment, and transmit the ultrasonic pulse to form a focal point at a predetermined position. have. The first switch 85a should be off and the second switch 85b should be on to generate and transmit ultrasound for the treatment. The known ultrasound diagnostic apparatus shown in FIG. 8A has a disadvantage in that it is difficult to apply when it is necessary to apply a thermal deformation to a specific point by generating focused ultrasound, for example. And the known ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus shown in (b) of Figure 8 has the disadvantage that the ultrasonic pulse must be transmitted repeatedly at the same point in the transducer for image formation and thermal deformation. In addition, the pulses with different frequencies must be generated in the transducer, and image processing and treatment must be performed separately.

The present invention is to solve the problems with the probe structure applied to the known ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as described above has the following object.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe structure capable of receiving a harmonic of a focused ultrasound while at the same time generating a required deformation by transmitting focused ultrasound (HIFU) at a predetermined point in a human body. will be.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic probe structure comprising a first transducer for generating focused ultrasound with a specific frequency and a second transducer for obtaining harmonics for a specific frequency from the reflected wave of the focused ultrasound.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic probe structure comprising a first transducer for generating focused ultrasound and a second transducer arranged to obtain enhanced harmonic components from reflected waves of the focused ultrasound.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasonic probe structure for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is provided in a first transducer and a second region which are installed in a first region and generate an ultrasonic wave to form a focal point in a predetermined region. And a second transducer provided to be adjacent to or spaced from the transducer to obtain harmonic components from the reflected ultrasonic waves to obtain information on a predetermined region.

According to another suitable embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasonic waves generated in the first transducer are high intensity focused ultrasonic waves for applying thermal deformation to a predetermined region.

According to another suitable embodiment of the present invention, the first transducer and the second transducer have different geometrical structures, different acoustic structures or different electronic arrangements.

According to another suitable embodiment of the invention, the first region and the second region are arranged in parallel or in series in the quadrangular plane as a whole, or are disposed so as to adjoin along the circumference of a certain radius in the circular plane as a whole.

According to another suitable embodiment of the present invention, the first transducer has a single element structure, a linear array structure, a convex, a spherical structure, an annular array structure or a planar two-dimensional array structure.

According to another suitable embodiment of the invention, the second transducer is located at the center of symmetry with a plurality of symmetrically arranged piezoelectric elements of the first transducer.

According to another suitable embodiment of the present invention, the second transducer is installed to enable a change in position relative to the first transducer.

According to another suitable embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further includes sound wave inducing means for guiding the reflected wave to the second transducer.

The probe structure according to the present invention has the advantage of simplifying the operation of the probe by sending focused ultrasound to obtain the required deformation on a specific part of the human body and obtaining an image from the harmonics of the focused ultrasound reflected in the human body. Has On the other hand, by extracting the harmonic components from the reflected wave of the transmitted wave to be used as an image, it is possible to obtain accurate information on the heat deformation region.

1 illustrates an embodiment of a probe structure according to the present invention.
FIG. 2A illustrates a process in which ultrasonic waves having a linear characteristic are distorted while passing through a part of a body.
Figure 2b shows the generation of harmonic components according to the intensity of the ultrasonic wave.
2C illustrates an embodiment of a probe structure applied to a known probe.
3 compares the frequency of ultrasonic waves generated by the first transducer 10 with the frequency of harmonics received by the second transducer 20 in the probe structure according to the present invention.
4 illustrates an embodiment of a pulse inversion technique that can be applied to a probe structure according to the present invention.
5 illustrates an embodiment of a mutual arrangement relationship between the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 in the probe structure according to the present invention.
6 illustrates an embodiment of an arrangement of piezoelectric elements that may be applied to a transducer according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a first transducer and a second transducer having different acoustic structures.
8A and 8B schematically illustrate an operation process of a conventional ultrasound diagnostic apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 illustrates an embodiment of a probe structure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, ultrasonic probe structures for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves are installed in a first region and are installed in a first transducer 10 and a second region that generate ultrasonic waves to focus on a predetermined region. And a second transducer 20 to obtain harmonic components from the reflected ultrasonic waves so as to obtain information on a predetermined region.

Ultrasound (Ultrasound) as used herein refers to the sound wave used in the acoustic field of 25kHz or more or electrically generated in the 1MHz to 20MHz or more, and High Intensity Focused Ultrasound refers to the electrically generated sound wave of 750kHz or more it means. However, if necessary, high intensity focused ultrasound induces thermal deformation in a part of the tissue by causing a sound wave generated by a single transducer or a transducer array to focus at a certain area of the body, for example, to a temperature of 40 to 120 ° C. It is used to mean that it can contain sound waves. In addition, harmonics (harmonics) refers to the sound waves having a frequency that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency and the fundamental frequency refers to the frequency of the sound waves generated from the transducer. If the fundamental frequency is f 0 , the frequencies of the harmonics are 2f 0 , 3f 0 , 4f 0 ,... , nf 0 (n is a natural number), each of which is a second harmonic, a third harmonic, a fourth harmonic,... n harmonics. And information is a concept that includes not only the image but also the depth or relative position between two points.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the transducer 10 is installed in front of the piezoelectric element 11 and the piezoelectric element 11 generating ultrasonic waves by a piezoelectric effect, thereby detecting the reflected wave. At the same time, it is provided at the rear of the matching layer 12 and the piezoelectric element 11 for removing the reflected wave generated between the probe and the contact surface, so that the resolution in the axial direction can be improved. Backing material 13 may be installed. The bonding layer 12 may have a structure in which the acoustic impedance between the contact surface through which ultrasonic waves are transmitted and any portion where ultrasonic waves are generated may be reduced to any material known in the art, such as glass or epoxy resin, for example. . The piezoelectric element 11 includes quartz, synthetic ceramic crystals, tourmaline, barium titanate, lead zirconate, sodium potassium stannate, lithium sulfate, iron oxide zinc oxide, lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ), lead titantate, lead zirconium titanium It may be made from materials such as butyrate (PZT), Rochell salt, polyvinylidene difluoride (PVF2) or barium-titanate, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the probe includes a first transducer 10 installed in a first region and a second transducer 20 installed in a second region. The first region and the second region mean different regions that are physically divided within the probe, and the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 are installed in physically divided regions to have different functions. Can be. Specifically, the first transducer 10 may generate an ultrasound having a frequency of 1 MHz to 20 MHz, and transmit the ultrasonic wave to a predetermined position in the body. In addition, the first transducer 10 may have a geometric structure that allows the generated ultrasound to be focused at a predetermined position, or an electronic array that allows ultrasound of a delayed phase to be generated. The electronic arrangement means, for example, a phased array in which ultrasonic waves having different phases are generated in the plurality of piezoelectric elements 11. The signal generated by the first transducer 10 may be delivered to a target area in the form of a pulse. On the other hand, the second transducer 20 receives the reflected wave generated and transmitted from the first transducer 10 and reflected at the target point. Ultrasonic waves generated by the first transducer 10 may have a nonlinear characteristic by causing distortion in the progression region, for example, when the density of the medium may change due to pressure to reach a target point through a part of the body. .

Referring to (C) of FIG. 1, the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 may be spaced apart from each other without being adjacent to each other in the first region and the second region. The first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 may be installed adjacent to each other or spaced apart from each other. In addition, the installation direction or the relative installation direction is not limited. The distinction between the first region and the second region in this specification is merely to indicate that the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 installed in each have different functions. It is not intended to limit the installation orientation or relative positional relationship. The adjacent installation does not necessarily mean that the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 should be installed in contact with each other. The same is true in the following description.

FIG. 2A illustrates a process in which ultrasonic waves having a linear characteristic are distorted while passing through a part of a body.

As shown in (a) of FIG. 2A, the ultrasonic wave generated by the transducer 10 proceeds along the direction indicated by the arrow A while having a linear characteristic in the form of a sine wave having a fundamental frequency. If the density of the medium can be changed by the action of pressure, such as the body, different pressures are applied to the traveling direction A of the ultrasonic wave depending on the amplitude and thus the pressure of the medium is changed. The pressure on the medium acts in the form indicated by arrow B according to the amplitude, and due to the pressure change, the ultrasonic wave is distorted as shown in (b) and (c) and has a nonlinear characteristic. Due to this, the ultrasonic waves having the nonlinear characteristics shown in (c) are 2f 0 , 3f 0 , 4f 0 ,... Which are integer multiples of the fundamental frequency f 0 . , harmonics with a frequency of nf 0 (n is a natural number). Distortion occurs most frequently in the area where the focus is formed and increases as the intensity of the applied ultrasound increases. And the harmonic components are generated a lot according to the degree of distortion. Figure 2b shows the degree of generation of harmonic components according to the intensity of the ultrasonic wave, the upper part of (a) and (b) shows the shape of the pulse wave having the sound pressure energy from each other in the same time domain. And the lower part of (a) and (b) shows the harmonic components represented by the frequency domain because of the distortion generated when passing the same medium with respect to the upper part. It can be seen that for higher sound pressure energy (b), more harmonics with larger amplitudes appear. Nonlinear characteristics due to ultrasonic distortion with a fundamental frequency may occur due to thermal deformation at the target point. For example, it may occur when thermal deformation occurs at a certain point inside the body by high intensity focused ultrasound.

In the probe structure according to the present invention, the first transducer 10 generates ultrasonic waves of a fundamental frequency f 0 and transmits them to a target point. The second transducer 10 may be configured to receive information about a target point by selecting a specific harmonic from various harmonic components by receiving the distorted ultrasound generated during the transmission of the ultrasound. The selected harmonic component may be various harmonics having frequencies (2f 0 , 3f 0 , 4f 0 ,…, nf 0 ) that are integer multiples of the fundamental frequency (f 0 ) and become second harmonics (2f 0 ) having a large amplitude. But it is not limited to this.

On the other hand, in the known harmonic imaging method, when receiving a harmonic component to make an image, ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the same transducer and a harmonic component is obtained from the reflected wave.

2C illustrates an embodiment of a probe structure applied to a known probe.

As also, as shown in the 2c (a), in the case of the known probe transmits the fundamental frequency (f 0) and receives the reflected wave with a fundamental frequency (f 0), or (B) shown in default at the transmitting transducer Transmit frequency f 0 and receive harmonic components 2f 0 from the same transducer. As shown in (a), when the image is formed using the fundamental frequency, the width of the beam becomes wider and the side lobe becomes large, resulting in weak lateral resolution and interference with the side lobe. The problem is that the image is not clear due to the phenomenon. This problem may be improved when a harmonic image is obtained from the harmonic components. In particular, harmonic imaging can increase the ability to distinguish light and dark areas, improve image noise, improve lateral resolution, improve cross-sectional representation, and affect ultrasound compared to fundamental frequency imaging. By eliminating inherent elements, the signal-to-noise ratio is increased, which increases the overall image quality. However, when transmitting the ultrasound and receiving the reflected wave with the same transducer as shown in (b), the bandwidth is limited and the energy of the received signal is weakened, thereby limiting the diagnosis depth and making it difficult to obtain a signal of the signal-to-noise ratio. For example, in the process of separating harmonic components from the fundamental frequency, a significant portion of harmonic components can be removed.

According to the present invention, the problem caused in the existing harmonic image can be improved by allowing the transmission of the ultrasonic wave and the reception of the reflected wave to be made in different transducers 10 and 20. In particular, when the diagnosis and treatment is made by generating high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), the effect is even greater.

3 compares the frequency of ultrasonic waves generated by the first transducer 10 with the frequency of harmonics received by the second transducer 20 in the probe structure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the frequency of the ultrasonic waves generated by the first transducer 10 and the frequency of the harmonics generated by the second transducer 20 have different bandwidths. As such, the structure in which the reflected wave of the ultrasonic wave generated by the first transducer 10 is received by the second transducer 20 to obtain a harmonic component has energy at a target point by the ultrasonic wave generated by the first transducer 10. The transmission allows the position, size of the focal point and the arrangement of the piezoelectric elements in the first transducer 10 to be properly adjusted. This has the advantage that it is possible to generate harmonic components with sufficient amplitude and various bands. For example, the second transducer 20 may be made of a geometrical or electromagnetic arrangement suitable for receiving the harmonic components 2f 0 , 3f 0 , 4f 0 ,... Nf 0 necessary for imaging. As described above, according to the probe structure of the present invention, each of the transducers 10 and 20 has an advantage that it can be appropriately designed according to the characteristics of the ultrasound to be transmitted or received.

Various methods are known for forming information or images for a target point from the received harmonics and can be applied to the probe structure according to the invention.

4 illustrates an embodiment of a pulse inversion technique that can be applied to a probe structure according to the present invention.

Referring to (a) of FIG. 4, a wave having a fundamental frequency is reflected at a half wavelength phase change at a fixed end. As a result, the incident wave and the reflected wave cancel each other out and do not generate a detection signal. In the case of forming the waveguide image having linearity, the received signal is weak due to such destructive interference. On the contrary, as shown in (b), in the case of the reflected wave and the incident wave having the nonlinear characteristic generated by the distortion of the signal, only the fundamental frequency cancels each other and the harmonic component may be reinforced. This can increase the sensitivity of the received signal and enable the formation of a clear image. In this way, the ultrasonic wave having a fundamental frequency is canceled when synthesized with a wave having a phase difference of half wavelength, but the pulse reversal technique uses a property that the harmonic component is rather reinforced. In the case of the pulse reversal technique, two ultrasonic waves having a half-wave phase difference are incident. The two incident signals are distorted and reflected back in the course of the process, resulting in the positive fundamental and harmonic components, and the negative fundamental and harmonic components. Positive and negative fundamental frequency components that are out of phase with each other cancel each other and harmonic components are reinforced. Therefore, the fundamental frequency components are effectively canceled in the reflected wave so that only the harmonic components can be received to obtain the required image. In the probe structure according to the present invention, ultrasonic waves having two polarities are generated and transmitted from the first transducer 10, and only the harmonic components reinforced by the second transducer 20 are received to extract necessary harmonic components. Can be made with The presented imaging technique is exemplary, and various types of imaging techniques may be applied to the probe according to the present invention. For example, a coded harmonic imaging technique using a frequency decoder may be applied to the probe structure according to the present invention without using conventional frequency filtering to remove unnecessary noise signals. In addition, a Hilbert transformer may be applied to the probe structure according to the present invention to separate fundamental and harmonic waves from the reflected wave. As such, various imaging techniques known or developed in the art may be applied to the probe structure according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the probe structure according to the present invention, the first transducer and the second transducer may have independent placement relationships, geometries or electronic arrangements.

5 illustrates an embodiment of a mutual arrangement relationship between the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 in the probe structure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the first region in which the first transducer 10 is installed and the second region in which the second transducer 20 is installed are arranged in parallel or in series in a quadrangular plane as a whole or in a circular plane as a whole. It can be arranged to adjoin along the circumference of a certain radius at. The first region and the second region mean regions that are physically divided within the probes in which the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 are installed. Each of the first transducer 10 or the second transducer 20 may have at least one piezoelectric element, and in each region, the piezoelectric elements may be arranged in the same or different forms.

The first region and the second region may be linear, planar or solid, and the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 disposed in each region may have a linear, planar or solid structure, respectively. . However, the first transducer 10 or the second transducer 20 has a linear, planar or three-dimensional structure means the geometric arrangement of the piezoelectric elements disposed in each transducer (10, 20). A rectangular or circular plane means that the linear, planar or three-dimensional structure is viewed from above and does not mean that the actual geometry is planar.

As shown in (a) of FIG. 5, the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 have a rectangular plane and one side is disposed adjacent to each other, or as shown in (b) as a whole, linearly. At this time, one side is disposed adjacent to each other, or as shown in (C), a second transducer 20 having a square plane is inserted between two first transducers 10 having a square plane. Can be. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5D, the circular branches may be arranged such that the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 are adjacent to each other in a circumference according to a specific radius.

In this specification, the parallel arrangement means that the two transducers are arranged adjacent to each other while forming a planar structure, and the serial arrangement means that the two transducers are arranged adjacent to each other while forming a linear structure.

The position of the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 may vary and adjacent means that the first and second regions are in contact with each other. Also, the serial arrangement or parallel arrangement can be plural and the serial arrangement and the parallel arrangement can be mixed with each other. As such, the first region and the second region may be set in various ways, and the present invention is not limited to a specific setting method.

The first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 may have the same geometrical structure or different structures. In addition, the first transducer 10 and the second transducer 20 may have a different electronic arrangement structure.

6 illustrates an embodiment of an arrangement of piezoelectric elements that may be applied to a transducer according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, a transducer according to the present invention may have at least one piezoelectric element and a plurality of array elements may be arranged in various forms. 6A illustrates a transducer formed of a single piezoelectric element 61, and FIG. 6B illustrates an embodiment of piezoelectric elements arranged in a spherical shape. The piezoelectric elements 611, 612, and 613 constituting the first transducer may be plural and the piezoelectric elements 62 constituting the second transducer may be one. In addition, the first transducer may have a bonding layer 63, but the second transducer may have a bonding layer different from the first transducer. As such, the first transducer and the second transducer may have different geometries or different acoustic structures. Although not shown in FIG. 6, a sound absorbing layer may not be installed in the second transducer as necessary. Referring to FIG. 6C, a second region in which the second transducer is installed may be circular, and a single piezoelectric element 62 may be installed in the second region. In contrast, the first region in which the first transducer is installed may be similarly circular, and the piezoelectric element array groups 61A, 61B, and 61C may be disposed. In each piezoelectric element array group 61A, 61B, 61C, a plurality of piezoelectric elements may be arranged along the circumference uniformly or nonuniformly. Referring to FIG. 6D, the first region and the second region may form a truncated cone or pyramid. Each piezoelectric element 611, 612, 613 constituting the first transducer may be arranged on the side of a truncated cone or pyramid and the piezoelectric elements 621, 622 constituting the second transducer may be disposed at the apex of the truncated cone or pyramid. . There may be a plurality of piezoelectric elements 621 and 622 constituting the second transducer. As illustrated in FIG. 6E, the piezoelectric elements 611, 612, and 613 constituting the first transducer and the piezoelectric elements 62 constituting the second transducer may be linearly disposed. The piezoelectric elements 611, 612, and 613 constituting the first transducer may generate ultrasonic waves having different phases by the time delays T1, T2, and T3, thereby focusing the target point. On the other hand, the phase difference due to such a time delay cannot be generated for the piezoelectric element 62 constituting the second transducer. As such, the first transducer and the second transducer may have different electronic arrangement structures. In addition, the bonding layer 63 provided on the first transducer and the coupling layer 63a provided on the second transducer may have different acoustic properties.

As can be seen from the presented embodiment, the first transducer and the second transducer may have different geometries or different electronic arrangements, and the piezoelectric elements installed in each may likewise be different or different. As described above, the probe structure according to the present invention has an advantage that each function can be optimized by allowing the first transducer and the second transducer to have independent acoustic structures.

Since the second transducer is for the reception of the reflected wave, it is advantageous to be located at the center of symmetry in terms of geometry. It is also advantageous that the respective piezoelectric elements 611, 612, 613 constituting the first transducer are arranged symmetrically. As described above, the piezoelectric elements 611, 612, 613, 621, and 622 may be arranged in various forms in consideration of the functions of the respective transducers, and the present invention is not limited to the present exemplary embodiment.

As described above, the first transducer and the second transducer may have different acoustic structures.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of a first transducer and a second transducer having different acoustic structures.

Referring to FIG. 7A, a coupling layer 63 may be installed in front of the piezoelectric element 61 constituting the first transducer, and ultrasonic or high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) may be installed in front of the coupling layer 63. Acoustic lenses 64a and 64b may be provided to cause the focal point F to form the focal point F at the target point. In contrast, the acoustic lenses 64a and 64b may not be installed in front of the piezoelectric element 62 constituting the second transducer. However, as shown in FIG. 7B, sound wave inducing means 65 for inducing reflected wave R X reflected from the focal point F at an appropriate position with respect to the piezoelectric element 62 constituting the second transducer. ) Can be installed. The sound wave inducing means 65 may be, for example, an acoustic mirror or an acoustic lens made of a material capable of reflecting sound waves, but is not limited thereto.

On the other hand, the second transducer may be installed to be movable relative to the first transducer. Such movement of the second transducer can be applied, for example, when acquisition of images for different depths is required. It can also be used for the formation of clear images.

The probe structure according to the present invention can be applied to any diagnostic ultrasound device, but can be particularly useful for an ultrasound device in which high intensity focused ultrasound is used. For example, when it is necessary to deliver a high-intensity focused ultrasound to destroy or permanently damage a specific site in the tissue, the probe structure according to the present invention can be usefully applied in that it is possible to form an accurate image of a target point. It may also be applied to the case where thermal coagulation is required in the muscle layer (SMAS), for example, for skin beauty.

The probe structure according to the present invention has the advantage of simplifying the operation of the probe by sending focused ultrasound to obtain the required deformation on a specific part of the human body and obtaining an image from the harmonics of the focused ultrasound reflected in the human body. Has On the other hand, by extracting the harmonic components from the reflected wave of the transmitted wave to be used as an image, it is possible to obtain accurate information on the heat deformation region.

Although described in detail above with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications and modifications to the invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention with reference to the embodiments presented. . The invention is not limited by these variations and modifications, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.

10, 20: transducer 11: piezoelectric element
12: bonding layer 13: sound absorbing layer
61, 611, 612, 613, 62, 621, 622: piezoelectric elements
63, 63a: bonding layer 61A, 61B, 61C: piezoelectric element array group
64a, 64b: Acoustic lens 65: Sound guide means
80, 80a: probe 81: transducer
81a: transmit transducer 81b: receive transducer
82: controller 83: image circuit 84: display device
85a: first switch 85b: second switch

Claims (8)

In the ultrasonic probe structure for the transmission and reception of ultrasonic (Ultrasound),
Information on a predetermined region obtained by acquiring harmonic components from reflected ultrasonic waves installed in the first region and installed in the first and second regions adjacent to or spaced apart from the first transducer in the first region and the second region to generate a focal point in the predetermined region. Ultrasonic probe structure comprising a second transducer to obtain. The ultrasonic probe structure of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wave generated by the first transducer is a high intensity focused ultrasonic wave for applying thermal deformation to a predetermined region. The ultrasonic probe structure of claim 1, wherein the first transducer and the second transducer have different geometrical structures, different acoustic structures, or different electronic arrangements. The ultrasonic probe structure of claim 1, wherein the first region and the second region are disposed in parallel or in series in a quadrangular plane as a whole or adjacent along a circumference of a specific radius in a circular plane as a whole. The ultrasonic probe structure of claim 1, wherein the first transducer has a single element structure, a linear array structure, a convex structure, a spherical structure, an annular array structure, or a planar two-dimensional array structure. The ultrasonic probe structure of claim 1, wherein the second transducer has a plurality of symmetrically disposed piezoelectric elements of the first transducer and the second transducer is located at the center of symmetry. The ultrasonic probe structure of claim 1, wherein the second transducer is installed to allow a change in position relative to the first transducer. The ultrasonic probe structure of claim 1, further comprising sound wave inducing means for inducing reflected waves into the second transducer.
KR1020110011703A 2011-02-10 2011-02-10 Structure of ultrasound probe KR20120091737A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
KR1020110011703A KR20120091737A (en) 2011-02-10 2011-02-10 Structure of ultrasound probe

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
KR1020110011703A KR20120091737A (en) 2011-02-10 2011-02-10 Structure of ultrasound probe

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
KR20120091737A true KR20120091737A (en) 2012-08-20

Family

ID=46884037

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
KR1020110011703A KR20120091737A (en) 2011-02-10 2011-02-10 Structure of ultrasound probe

Country Status (1)

Country Link
KR (1) KR20120091737A (en)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR101386593B1 (en) * 2012-11-28 2014-04-17 한국과학기술원 Imaging method of pipe damage
KR101528608B1 (en) * 2014-01-29 2015-06-12 알피니언메디칼시스템 주식회사 Ultrasound imaging apparatus and method for visualizing focal point using the apparatus
WO2015115683A1 (en) * 2014-01-28 2015-08-06 알피니언메디칼시스템 주식회사 High-intensity focused ultrasonic wave treatment device and method for controlling same
CN107260216A (en) * 2017-06-22 2017-10-20 苏州国科昂卓医疗科技有限公司 Pry head and elastogram system, method in a kind of ultrasound
KR20210005516A (en) * 2019-07-05 2021-01-14 고려대학교 산학협력단 Portable Imaging Device integrating ultrasound and nuclear medicine
WO2021006563A1 (en) * 2019-07-05 2021-01-14 고려대학교 산학협력단 Portable imaging device that fuses ultrasound and nuclear medicine
KR102383268B1 (en) * 2021-09-14 2022-04-08 주식회사 메타소닉 Transducer of integrated type which generates complex ultrasonic sound
KR20230123407A (en) 2022-02-16 2023-08-23 (주)이끌레오 High intensity focused ultrasonic device with magnetic coupling

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR101386593B1 (en) * 2012-11-28 2014-04-17 한국과학기술원 Imaging method of pipe damage
WO2015115683A1 (en) * 2014-01-28 2015-08-06 알피니언메디칼시스템 주식회사 High-intensity focused ultrasonic wave treatment device and method for controlling same
KR101528608B1 (en) * 2014-01-29 2015-06-12 알피니언메디칼시스템 주식회사 Ultrasound imaging apparatus and method for visualizing focal point using the apparatus
CN107260216A (en) * 2017-06-22 2017-10-20 苏州国科昂卓医疗科技有限公司 Pry head and elastogram system, method in a kind of ultrasound
CN107260216B (en) * 2017-06-22 2023-09-19 苏州国科昂卓医疗科技有限公司 Ultrasonic endoscopic probe and elastic imaging system and method
KR20210005516A (en) * 2019-07-05 2021-01-14 고려대학교 산학협력단 Portable Imaging Device integrating ultrasound and nuclear medicine
WO2021006563A1 (en) * 2019-07-05 2021-01-14 고려대학교 산학협력단 Portable imaging device that fuses ultrasound and nuclear medicine
US11937978B2 (en) 2019-07-05 2024-03-26 Korea University Research And Business Foundation Handheld ultrasound and nuclear medicine fusion imaging device
KR102383268B1 (en) * 2021-09-14 2022-04-08 주식회사 메타소닉 Transducer of integrated type which generates complex ultrasonic sound
WO2023043142A1 (en) * 2021-09-14 2023-03-23 주식회사 메타소닉 Integrally-structured complex ultrasound generation transducer
KR20230123407A (en) 2022-02-16 2023-08-23 (주)이끌레오 High intensity focused ultrasonic device with magnetic coupling

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
KR20120091737A (en) Structure of ultrasound probe
KR101929198B1 (en) Ultrasound vibrometry with unfocused ultrasound
KR20080093281A (en) Ultrasound diagnostic probe
JP2007160093A (en) High intensity focused ultrasound system and combination head for high intensity focused ultrasound system
JP2016509925A (en) Ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and method for generating ultrasonic diagnostic image
JP6808362B2 (en) Devices and methods for hybrid optical acoustic tomography and ultrasonography
US20140031684A1 (en) System for transcranial ultrasound imaging
He et al. Broadband three-dimensional focusing for an ultrasound scalpel at megahertz frequencies
JP2017164559A (en) Ultrasonic device
JP6633314B2 (en) Ultrasound medical equipment
CN105662465A (en) Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic testing method
Estrada et al. Looking at the skull in a new light: Rayleigh-lamb waves in cranial bone
KR101340967B1 (en) Method for Tightening Skin Using Thermocoagulation by Ultrasound
Leão-Neto et al. Development and characterization of a superresolution ultrasonic transducer
US20170113250A1 (en) Ultrasound probe
Hwang et al. Principles of ultrasound
KR20120129276A (en) Probe for Diagnosing and Treating with Ultrasound Wave to Improve the Transmitting or Receiving Rate
Chen et al. Ultrasonic imaging based on pulsed Airy beams
KR101348663B1 (en) Method for Regulating the Output of a Ultrasound Probe and Medical Apparatus for Generating Ultrasound having Frequency Approximate to Resonance Frequency of Ultrasound Probe
Kang et al. Transmission efficiency comparison between dual-mode conversion incidence and normal incidence
KR102415740B1 (en) Apparatus for ultrasonic imaging and therapy using an ultrasonic transducer with attachable acoustic lens
WO2021056551A1 (en) Super-resolution ultrasonic microscopy device and application thereof
JPH04338462A (en) Ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus
Fillinger et al. 4B-3 Time Reversal Focusing of Short Pulses
Wang et al. Design and phantom testing of a bi-frequency co-linear array

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
A201 Request for examination
E902 Notification of reason for refusal
E701 Decision to grant or registration of patent right
NORF Unpaid initial registration fee