WO2020062257A1

WO2020062257A1 - Backing block of ultrasonic probe, manufacturing method of backing block, and ultrasonic probe

Info

Publication number: WO2020062257A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/109129
Authority: WO
Inventors: 王金池; 吴飞
Original assignee: 深圳迈瑞生物医疗电子股份有限公司; 深圳迈瑞科技有限公司
Priority date: 2018-09-30
Filing date: 2018-09-30
Publication date: 2020-04-02
Also published as: CN112638271A

Abstract

A backing block (100) of an ultrasonic probe, a manufacturing method of a backing block (100), and an ultrasonic probe. The backing block (100) manufactured by using the manufacturing method of a backing block (100) of an ultrasonic probe has a good characteristic of attenuation, adjustable acoustic impedance and high coefficient of thermal conductivity, and is easy to manufacture and suitable for batch production. When applied in an ultrasonic probe, the present invention can effectively conduct the heat produced when the ultrasonic probe is operated from a front end to a rear end of the probe, simplifying the heat dissipating structure of the front end of the ultrasonic probe without additionally increasing the size of the ultrasonic probe and the complexity of the structure.

Description

Backing block of ultrasonic probe, manufacturing method of backing block, and ultrasonic probe

Technical field

The present application relates to a medical device, and in particular to the manufacture of a backing block for an ultrasonic probe.

Background technique

The ultrasound probe is an important part of ultrasound diagnostic imaging equipment. Its working principle is to use the piezoelectric effect to convert the excitation electric pulse signal of the entire ultrasound machine into an ultrasound signal and enter the patient's body, and then convert the ultrasound echo signal reflected by the tissue into an electric signal. In order to achieve the detection of the organization. Ultrasonic probes are mainly composed of lenses, matching, piezoelectric materials, signal and ground FPC, backing block and so on. The backing block on the one hand serves as a sound attenuation material to absorb the unfavorable ultrasonic waves propagating backward by the ultrasonic probe, and on the other hand serves as a structural support block to ensure the structural reliability of the array of ultrasonic probe elements.

During the conversion of electro-acoustic signals, the working ultrasonic probe generates a lot of heat. Since the traditional backing material is mainly made of epoxy resin and filler, the thermal conductivity is very small, and it cannot effectively conduct heat and heat, which causes the temperature of the front end of the probe to rise. The probe's heat may affect the patient's personal safety. Therefore, the regulations specify the temperature of the probe when it comes into contact with the patient. Moreover, if the probe is operated at a higher temperature for a long time, it will accelerate the aging of the probe and shorten the life of the probe.

On the other hand, from the perspective of medical detection and diagnosis, it is desirable to increase the detection depth of the probe. Increasing the excitation voltage of the probe to the whole machine is an effective way to increase the depth of detection of the probe. Increasing the excitation voltage will inevitably cause the probe to generate more heat. It can be seen that severe probe fever not only affects patient comfort and probe life, but also affects the performance of the probe.

In order to allow the heat to be guided from the front of the probe to the back of the probe as much as possible, the thermal conductivity of the backing block is usually increased. The current solution to improve the thermal conductivity of the backing block is to insert some heat sinks or heat sink arrays into the backing block. Although these solutions can improve the thermal conductivity of the backing block to a certain extent, the magnitude of the thermal conductivity is related to the number of heat sinks inserted into the backing block. If the number of inserts is small, the effect of increasing the thermal conductivity of the backing block is not obvious. If the number of inserts is large, the ultrasonic reflection of the interface between the heat sink and the backing adhesive will have a great impact on the acoustics of the ultrasonic probe. Therefore, these solutions are difficult to balance the performance and heat dissipation of the ultrasound probe. At the same time, the preparation process of these solutions is complicated, which is not conducive to mass production.

technical problem

The present application mainly provides a method for manufacturing a backing block of an ultrasonic probe and a backing block manufactured by the method. The backing block has a better heat conduction effect and can be used to reduce the temperature at the front end of the probe. The application also provides an ultrasonic probe using such a backing block.

Technical solutions

An embodiment provides a method for manufacturing a backing block of an ultrasonic probe, including:

Impregnation step: immersing the carbon fiber cloth in the polymer resin so that the polymer resin is distributed to the inside and the surface of the carbon fiber cloth;

Laminating step: a plurality of carbon fiber cloths impregnated with a polymer resin are stacked and applied with a pressing force to fix them into a whole to form a backing block.

In one embodiment, the method further includes:

Coating step: coating the surface of the carbon fiber cloth treated with the impregnation step with a mixture, wherein the mixture is mixed with a polymer resin and a filler;

The laminating step is performed after the coating step.

In one embodiment, the filler includes metal powder and / or inorganic powder.

In one embodiment, the metal powder includes tungsten powder and / or copper powder.

In one embodiment, the inorganic powder includes alumina.

In one embodiment, in the coating step, the method of applying the mixture is achieved by doctor blade, screen printing, or casting.

In one embodiment, the polymer resin includes at least one of epoxy resin, polyurethane, terpolymer ABS, polyvinyl chloride PVC, and polymethyl methacrylate PMMA.

In one embodiment, the thickness of the carbon fiber cloth is 2 mm or less.

In one embodiment, the thickness of the carbon fiber cloth is 0.2 mm or less.

In one embodiment, a backing block of an ultrasonic probe is provided, and the backing block is made by the manufacturing method according to any one of the above.

An embodiment provides an ultrasonic probe, including an acoustic head and an acoustic head shell, the acoustic head is installed in the acoustic head shell, and a part of the acoustic head is exposed, and the acoustic head includes a piezoelectric material layer, The circuit board and the backing block according to any one of the above, the piezoelectric material layer is electrically connected to the circuit board, the piezoelectric material layer is mounted on the backing block; the circuit board is mounted on the backing block Between the piezoelectric material layer and the backing block, or installed outside the piezoelectric material layer.

In one embodiment, the lamination direction of the carbon fiber cloth of the backing block is perpendicular to the crystal arrangement direction of the piezoelectric material layer.

Beneficial effect

The manufacturing method of the above embodiment and the backing block manufactured by the manufacturing method adopt a method of impregnating a polymer resin with a carbon fiber cloth to distribute the polymer resin to the inside and the surface of the carbon fiber cloth, and then laminating and curing the polymer Carbon fiber cloth is made into a whole to form a backing block. The backing block of this material not only has good attenuation, adjustable acoustic impedance, and high thermal conductivity, but also is simple to manufacture and easy to mass produce. When it is used in an ultrasonic probe, it can effectively guide the heat generated from the front end of the ultrasonic probe to the back of the probe, simplifying the heat dissipation structure of the front end of the ultrasonic probe, without increasing the size and structure of the ultrasonic probe. Complexity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

1 is a schematic flowchart of a method for manufacturing a backing block according to the first embodiment of the present application;

2 is a schematic flowchart of another method for manufacturing a backing block according to the first embodiment of the present application;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a backing block in Embodiment 1 of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of an ultrasonic probe in Embodiment 2 of the present application.

Embodiments of the invention

detailed description

The present invention will be further described in detail below through specific embodiments in combination with the accompanying drawings. In the different embodiments, similar elements are labeled with associated similar elements. In the following embodiments, many details are described so that the present application can be better understood. However, those skilled in the art can effortlessly realize that some of these features can be omitted in different situations, or can be replaced by other elements, materials, and methods. In some cases, some operations related to this application are not shown or described in the description. This is to prevent the core part of this application from being overwhelmed by excessive descriptions. For those skilled in the art, these are described in detail. The related operations are not necessary, they can fully understand the related operations according to the description in the description and the general technical knowledge in the field.

In addition, the features, operations, or features described in the specification can be combined in any suitable manner to form various embodiments. At the same time, the steps or actions in the method description can also be sequentially swapped or adjusted in a manner obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the various orders in the description and drawings are only for clearly describing a certain embodiment, and are not meant to be a necessary order, unless otherwise stated that a certain order must be followed.

The serial numbers of components in this article, such as "first", "second", etc., are only used to distinguish the described objects and do not have any order or technical meaning. The terms “connection” and “connection” in this application include direct and indirect connections (connections) unless otherwise specified.

This embodiment provides a method for manufacturing a backing block. The backing block is used in an ultrasonic probe, and on the one hand, it serves as a sound attenuation material to absorb the unfavorable ultrasonic waves propagating backward by the ultrasonic probe, and on the other hand, it serves as a structural support block to ensure the structural reliability of the ultrasonic probe element array.

Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 3, the manufacturing method includes:

Impregnation step S02: immersing the carbon fiber cloth 101 in the polymer resin so that the polymer resin is distributed to the inside and the surface of the carbon fiber cloth 101;

Laminating step S04: a plurality of carbon fiber cloths 101 impregnated with a polymer resin are stacked and applied with a pressing force to fix them as a whole to form a backing block 100.

Among them, in the impregnation step S02, the impregnation is to impregnate the carbon fiber cloth 101 into the polymer resin liquid, so that the polymer resin enters the inside of the carbon fiber cloth 101 by capillary pressure, and is also attached to the surface of the carbon fiber cloth 101 .

Referring to FIG. 3, in the laminating step S04, a plurality of carbon fiber cloths 101 may be stacked first, and then a pressing force is applied from the lamination direction, so that the layers of carbon fiber cloths 101 are force-bonded to form a whole. In the laminating step S04, it is preferable that the entire carbon fiber cloth 101 is laminated and placed and then pressed together as a whole, so that the overall performance of the backing block thus formed is better. Of course, in other embodiments, one or more layers of carbon fiber cloth may be added to the underlying carbon fiber cloth for lamination and curing.

In the laminating step S04, after the carbon fiber cloth 101 is impregnated with the polymer resin, it can be laminated and cured before the polymer resin is dried. Of course, the dried carbon fiber cloth 101 can also be laminated and cured. At this time, the dried polymer resin can be softened by heating, and then pressed and cured.

The backing block 100 of this material not only has good attenuation, adjustable acoustic impedance, and high thermal conductivity, but also is simple to manufacture and easy to mass produce. When it is used in an ultrasonic probe, it can effectively guide the heat generated from the front end of the ultrasonic probe to the back of the probe, simplifying the heat dissipation structure of the front end of the ultrasonic probe, without increasing the size and structure of the ultrasonic probe. Complexity.

Among them, after repeated experiments and analysis, it is found that if a thinner carbon fiber cloth 101 is selected, the backing block 100 produced in the end will have better attenuation and thermal conductivity. For example, in one embodiment, the thickness of the carbon fiber cloth is less than or It is equal to 2mm. In one embodiment, the thickness of the carbon fiber cloth is less than or equal to 0.2 mm.

The polymer resin includes at least one of epoxy resin, polyurethane, terpolymer ABS, polyvinyl chloride PVC, and polymethyl methacrylate PMMA. The terpolymer may be a terpolymer of three monomers: acrylonitrile (A), butadiene (B), and styrene (S).

Further, referring to FIG. 2, in an embodiment, the manufacturing method may further include:

Coating step S03: coating the surface of the carbon fiber cloth 101 treated with the dipping step S02 with a mixture, and the mixture is mainly composed of a polymer resin and a filler. In other embodiments, the mixture may further contain an antioxidant or the like.

This coating step S03 is performed after the dipping step S02, and after the coating step S03 is completed, the laminating step S04 is performed. After the backing block 100 processed through the coating step S03, its attenuation is greater, and a high thermal conductivity with adjustable acoustic impedance can be obtained.

The filler may include metal powder and / or inorganic powder. The metal powder may include tungsten powder and / or copper powder. The inorganic powder may include alumina and the like.

Further, in the coating step S03, the method of applying the powder mixture may be achieved by a process such as doctor blade, screen printing, or casting.

In one embodiment, an ultrasonic probe is provided, which is mainly used for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves as part of an ultrasonic device, so that the ultrasonic device can form an image of a detection part of a subject for reference by an operator.

The ultrasonic probe includes a sonotrode and a sonotrode shell. The acoustic head is installed in the acoustic head shell, and a part of the acoustic head is exposed for contact with the object to be detected. Other structures of the ultrasonic probe are not repeated here, and the features related to the improvement of the present application are mainly described below.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the acoustic head 1 includes a backing block 100, a circuit board 200, and a piezoelectric material layer 300. Of course, the acoustic head 1 also includes a matching layer 400, an acoustic lens layer 500, and the like. These structures are not described in detail here.

The piezoelectric material layer 300 is electrically connected to the circuit board 200, and the piezoelectric material layer 300 is mounted on the backing block 100, for example, on the outermost carbon fiber cloth 101. The circuit board 200 is installed between the piezoelectric material layer 300 and the backing block 100, or is mounted outside the piezoelectric material layer 300. Of course, as shown in FIG. 4, the circuit board 200 may also extend to both sides of the backing block 100.

In one embodiment, the stacking direction of the carbon fiber cloths 101 of the backing block 100 (ie, the stacking direction of the carbon fiber cloths 101) is perpendicular to the crystal arrangement direction of the piezoelectric material layer 200. Such an arrangement is beneficial to improve the heat radiation effect on the heat generated by the piezoelectric material layer 200. The lamination direction of the carbon fiber cloth 101 of the backing block 100 and the crystal arrangement direction of the piezoelectric material layer 200 may be arranged in parallel or at a certain angle, and the heat dissipation effect can also be achieved.

Wherein, the backing block 100 is made by using any one of the manufacturing methods of Embodiment 1, so that the backing block 100 not only has good attenuation and adjustable acoustic impedance, but also has a high thermal conductivity, and it is simple and easy to manufacture. Mass production. When it is used in an ultrasonic probe, it can effectively guide the heat generated from the front end of the ultrasonic probe to the back of the probe, simplifying the heat dissipation structure of the front end of the ultrasonic probe, without increasing the size and structure of the ultrasonic probe. Complexity.

Zh

The above uses specific examples to illustrate the present invention, but is only used to help understand the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the idea of the present invention, changes can be made to the above specific implementations.

Claims

A method for manufacturing a backing block of an ultrasonic probe, characterized in that it includes:

Impregnation step: immersing the carbon fiber cloth in the polymer resin so that the polymer resin is distributed to the inside and the surface of the carbon fiber cloth;

Laminating step: a plurality of carbon fiber cloths impregnated with a polymer resin are stacked and applied with a pressing force to fix them into a whole to form a backing block.
The manufacturing method according to claim 1, further comprising:

Coating step: coating the surface of the carbon fiber cloth treated with the impregnation step with a mixture, wherein the mixture is mixed with a polymer resin and a filler;

The laminating step is performed after the coating step.
The manufacturing method according to claim 2, wherein the filler comprises a metal powder and / or an inorganic powder.
The manufacturing method according to claim 3, wherein the metal powder comprises tungsten powder and / or copper powder.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the inorganic powder includes alumina.
The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that, in the coating step, a method of coating the mixture is achieved by a doctor blade, screen printing, or casting process.
The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the polymer resin comprises epoxy resin, polyurethane, terpolymer ABS, polyvinyl chloride PVC, and polymethyl methacrylate PMMA At least one of.
The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the thickness of the carbon fiber cloth is ≤ 2 mm.
The manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a thickness of the carbon fiber cloth is ≤0.2 mm.
A backing block of an ultrasonic probe, characterized in that the backing block is made by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
An ultrasonic probe is characterized in that it includes an acoustic head and an acoustic head shell, the acoustic head is installed in the acoustic head shell, and a part of the acoustic head is exposed, and the acoustic head includes a piezoelectric material layer, a circuit board, and The backing block according to claim 10, wherein the piezoelectric material layer is electrically connected to a circuit board, the piezoelectric material layer is mounted on the backing block; the circuit board is mounted on the piezoelectric material layer And the backing block, or installed outside the piezoelectric material layer.
The ultrasonic probe according to claim 11, wherein a lamination direction of the carbon fiber cloth of the backing block is perpendicular to a crystal arrangement direction of the piezoelectric material layer.