WO2022104686A1

WO2022104686A1 - Endoscopic ultrasonography system and ultrasonic transducer thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2022104686A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/130402
Authority: WO
Inventors: 马腾; 黄继卿; 张琪; 谭清源; 李永川; 王丛知; 肖杨; 郑海荣
Original assignee: 深圳先进技术研究院
Priority date: 2020-11-20
Filing date: 2020-11-20
Publication date: 2022-05-27

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention are an endoscopic ultrasonography system and an ultrasonic transducer thereof. The ultrasonic transducer comprises: a piezoelectric wafer, configured to emit and receive an ultrasonic signal, the piezoelectric wafer enclosing an annular structure; a column circuit board, arranged on one face of the piezoelectric wafer, wherein the column circuit board is provided with a plurality of column electrodes which are parallel to one another and are independently arranged, the electrode directions of the column electrodes are the axial direction of the ultrasonic transducer, each of the plurality of column electrodes is provided with a column electrode pad for welding with a cable wire, and the plurality of column electrode pads are arranged on the side of the column circuit board close to a connecting end of the ultrasonic transducer; and a row circuit board, arranged on the other face of the piezoelectric wafer, wherein the row circuit board is provided with a plurality of row electrodes which are parallel to one another and are independently arranged, the electrode directions of the row electrodes are the circumferential direction of the ultrasonic transducer, each of the plurality of row electrodes is provided with a row electrode pad for welding with the cable wire, and the plurality of row electrode pads are arranged on the side of the row circuit board close to the connecting end of the ultrasonic transducer. The described ultrasonic transducer improves the imaging effect.

Description

Ultrasound endoscope system and its ultrasonic transducer

technical field

The invention relates to the technical field of ultrasonic equipment, in particular to an ultrasonic endoscope system and an ultrasonic transducer thereof.

Background technique

Endoscopic Ultrasonography System (EUS) is a medical device that integrates ultrasound and endoscopy. After the endoscope enters the body cavity, tomography scan is performed on the internal organ wall or adjacent organs under the direct vision of the endoscope to obtain ultrasound images of the layers below the mucosa of the internal organ wall and surrounding adjacent organs, such as the mediastinum, pancreas, bile duct and It has great advantages in staging of gastrointestinal tumors and judging the nature of tumors originating from the intestinal wall.

At present, the ultrasonic transducers of the ultrasonic endoscope system are mainly one-dimensional linear arrays, convex arrays and ring arrays. Although the 3D image of the endoscope can be obtained by mechanical scanning of the 1D endoscopic ultrasound transducer, the endoscopic 3D imaging achieved by this method has a slow acquisition speed, poor resolution in the elevation direction, and is prone to displacement artifacts Impact.

Therefore, how to improve the imaging effect is an urgent problem to be solved by those skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of this, the present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer to improve the imaging effect. The present invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

An ultrasonic transducer, comprising:

A piezoelectric wafer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals, the piezoelectric wafer encloses a ring structure;

a column circuit board arranged on one side of the piezoelectric wafer, the column circuit board has a plurality of column electrodes parallel to each other and independently arranged, and the electrode direction of the column electrodes is the axial direction of the ultrasonic transducer, Each of the plurality of column electrodes has column electrode pads for welding with cables, and the plurality of column electrode pads are arranged on the side of the column circuit board close to the connection end of the ultrasonic transducer;

A row circuit board arranged on the other side of the piezoelectric wafer, the row circuit board has a plurality of row electrodes parallel to each other and independently arranged, and the electrode direction of the row electrodes is the circumferential direction of the ultrasonic transducer direction, a plurality of the row electrodes all have row electrode pads for welding with cables, and a plurality of the row electrode pads are arranged on the side of the row circuit board close to the connection end of the ultrasonic transducer .

Optionally, in the above ultrasonic transducer, the column electrode pad area where the column circuit board is provided with a plurality of the column electrode pads and the row electrode pads where the row circuit board is provided with a plurality of the row electrode pads are welded. Disk region interleaving setting.

Optionally, in the above ultrasonic transducer, the positional dislocation distribution of the plurality of the column electrode pads on the column circuit board;

And/or, the positions of the plurality of the row electrode pads on the row circuit board are staggered and distributed.

Optionally, in the above ultrasonic transducer, the column circuit boards are arranged on the inner side of the piezoelectric wafer, and the row circuit boards are arranged on the outer side of the piezoelectric wafer.

Optionally, the above ultrasonic transducer further includes a backing layer disposed on the inner side of the column circuit board.

Optionally, the above ultrasonic transducer further includes a matching layer wrapped on the outside of the piezoelectric wafer, the column circuit board and the row circuit board.

Optionally, in the above ultrasonic transducer, the column circuit board is provided with a plurality of column electrode pad areas of the column electrode pads and the row circuit board is provided with a plurality of row electrode pads of the row electrode pads. The disk area is not wrapped by the matching layer.

Optionally, in the above ultrasonic transducer, the number of the matching layers is two, which are the first matching layer and the second matching layer respectively;

The second matching layer is wrapped outside the first matching layer.

Optionally, in the above ultrasonic transducer, the piezoelectric wafer is made of a piezoelectric composite material.

The present invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system, comprising an ultrasonic transducer, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is the ultrasonic transducer according to any one of the above.

It can be seen from the above technical solutions that, in the ultrasonic transducer provided by the present invention, since the plurality of column electrodes on the column circuit board are parallel to each other and are independently arranged, and the electrode direction of the column electrodes is the axial direction of the ultrasonic transducer, therefore , after the column circuit board is arranged on one side of the piezoelectric wafer of the annular structure, a plurality of column electrodes are arranged along the circumferential array direction of the ultrasonic transducer; The electrode direction of the ultrasonic transducer is the circumferential direction of the ultrasonic transducer. Therefore, after the row circuit board is arranged on the other side of the piezoelectric wafer of the annular structure, a plurality of row circuit boards are arranged along the elevation direction of the ultrasonic transducer. Since the plurality of column electrodes and the plurality of row electrodes are independent of each other, each of the plurality of column electrodes has a column electrode pad for welding with the cable, so that the plurality of column electrodes form an array element, and each of the plurality of row electrodes has The row electrode pads soldered to the cables make a plurality of row electrodes form a row array element. Therefore, during the working process, the size of the ultrasonic aperture in the circumferential array direction can be changed by controlling the number of column electrodes excited on the array element. The number of row electrodes can change the size of the ultrasonic aperture in the elevation direction. The row electrodes give electronic signals in the row direction of the piezoelectric wafer, so as to realize the operation of controlling the size of the ultrasonic aperture by two directions, and then obtain focusing fields of different depths, thereby obtaining Clear images at different depths, effectively improving the imaging effect.

The present invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system, comprising an ultrasonic transducer, and the ultrasonic transducer is any of the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducers. Since the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer has the above-mentioned technical effect, the ultrasonic endoscope system having the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer should also have the same technical effect, which will not be described one by one here.

Description of drawings

In order to explain the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only These are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic endoscope system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer and a flexible tube portion provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is an exploded schematic diagram of an ultrasonic transducer provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of a 1-3 piezoelectric composite material provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a column circuit board provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The invention discloses an ultrasonic transducer to improve the imaging effect. The present invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1-5 , an embodiment of the present invention provides an ultrasonic transducer, which includes a piezoelectric wafer 102 , a column circuit board 103 and a row circuit board 104 . The piezoelectric wafer 102 is used for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals, and the piezoelectric wafer 102 forms a ring-shaped structure; the column circuit board 103 is arranged on one side of the piezoelectric wafer 102, and the column circuit board 103 has a plurality of column electrodes 1031 parallel to each other and independently arranged , the electrode direction of the column electrodes 1031 is the axial direction of the ultrasonic transducer, the plurality of column electrodes 1031 all have column electrode pads for welding with cables, and the plurality of column electrode pads are arranged on the column circuit board 103 close to One side of the connecting end of the ultrasonic transducer; the row circuit board 104 is arranged on the other side of the piezoelectric wafer 102, and the row circuit board 104 has a plurality of row electrodes 1041 parallel to each other and independently arranged, and the electrode direction of the row electrodes 1041 is ultrasonic In the circumferential direction of the transducer, the plurality of row electrodes 1041 all have row electrode pads for welding with the cables, and the plurality of row electrode pads are arranged on the side of the row circuit board 104 close to the connection end of the ultrasonic transducer .

In the ultrasonic transducer provided by the embodiment of the present invention, since the plurality of column electrodes 1031 on the column circuit board 103 are parallel to each other and are independently arranged, the electrode direction of the column electrodes 1031 is the axial direction of the ultrasonic transducer. After the circuit board 103 is arranged on one side of the piezoelectric wafer 102 of the annular structure, the plurality of column electrodes 1031 are arranged along the circumferential array direction a of the ultrasonic transducer 10; since the plurality of row electrodes 1041 on the row circuit board 104 are parallel to each other and independently arranged , the electrode direction of the row electrodes 1041 is the circumferential direction of the ultrasonic transducer. Therefore, after the row circuit boards 104 are arranged on the other side of the piezoelectric wafer 102 of the annular structure, the plurality of row circuit boards 104 are arranged along the ultrasonic transducer 10 . The elevation (Elevation) direction b is arranged. Since the plurality of column electrodes 1031 and the plurality of row electrodes 1041 are independent of each other, each of the plurality of column electrodes 1031 has column electrode pads for welding with cables, so that the plurality of column electrodes 1031 form a column array element, and the plurality of row electrodes Each of the row electrodes 1041 has row electrode pads for soldering with cables, so that a plurality of row electrodes 1041 form a row array element. Therefore, during the working process, the size of the ultrasonic aperture in the circumferential array direction a can be changed by controlling the number of the column electrodes 1031 excited on the array elements. The number of row electrodes 1041 excited on the element can change the size of the ultrasonic aperture in the elevation direction b. The row electrodes 1041 give the piezoelectric wafer 102 an electronic signal in the row direction, so as to realize the operation of controlling the size of the ultrasonic aperture by two directions, and then obtain Focusing fields of different depths, so as to obtain clear images of different depths, which effectively improves the imaging effect.

Through the above arrangement, the ultrasonic transducer provided by the embodiment of the present invention forms a two-dimensional torus array ultrasonic transducer. The information from the affected area received by the ultrasonic transducer 10 is transmitted to the two-dimensional image generation system through the connected coaxial cable, and a two-dimensional image of the affected area is generated in real time, and a three-dimensional image can also be formed through subsequent processing. When the endoscope enters the body cavity Afterwards, tomography is performed on the internal organ wall or adjacent organs under the direct vision of the endoscope to obtain ultrasound images of the layers below the mucosa of the internal organ wall and surrounding adjacent organs.

The ultrasonic aperture is an area where the piezoelectric wafer 102 is deformed and vibrated. The piezoelectric wafer 102 realizes the function of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals.

It can be understood that due to the particularity of the working environment of the endoscope (ultrasonic transducer 10 ), the cables can only be drawn out from the end face of the ultrasonic transducer 10 . The electrode pads are all arranged on the side of the column circuit board 103 close to the connection end of the ultrasonic transducer, so as to facilitate the connection of the cable to the column electrode pad and the row electrode pad from the connection end of the ultrasonic transducer.

In this embodiment, the connecting end of the ultrasonic transducer is the end connecting the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the flexible tube portion 11 .

Since the ultrasonic transducer 10 needs to be inserted into the body from a restricted area such as the esophagus, the diameter of the entire ultrasonic transducer 10 is limited. Currently, ultrasound transducers 10 are typically less than 13 mm in diameter. Since the cables and the solder joints have a certain volume, it is necessary to weld and lead out a plurality of cables in a small space inside the ultrasonic transducer 10 (the cables correspond to a plurality of row electrode pads and a plurality of column electrode pads one-to-one). ) is very difficult. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3 , the column electrode pad area where the column circuit board 103 is provided with a plurality of column electrode pads and the row electrode pad area where the row circuit board 104 is provided with a plurality of row electrode pads are arranged alternately . That is, the row electrode pad area and the column electrode pad area are distinguished along the circumferential direction of the ultrasonic transducer, which effectively avoids the overlapping of the cables connected to the row electrode pads and the cables connected to the column electrode pads, reducing the It reduces the accumulation of solder joints, saves space, and meets the needs of wiring.

Further, in order to further reduce the volume superposition of the solder joints at the same horizontal position, as shown in FIG. 5 , the positions of the plurality of column electrode pads on the column circuit board 103 are dislocated and distributed. Through the above settings, space is saved and the wiring requirements are met.

Same as above, the positions of the plurality of row electrode pads on the row circuit board 104 are staggered and distributed. It also reduces the volume superposition of solder joints at the same horizontal position.

Of course, the positions of the plurality of row electrode pads on the row circuit board 104 may also be arranged at one end of the row circuit board 104 along a straight line. Alternatively, a plurality of column electrode pads on the column circuit board 103 are arranged at one end of the column circuit board 103 along a straight line.

Preferably, the column circuit boards 103 are arranged on the inner side of the piezoelectric wafer 102 , and the row circuit boards 104 are arranged on the outer side of the piezoelectric wafer 102 . The curvature of the outer surface of the row circuit board 104 is smaller than the curvature of the inner surface of the piezoelectric wafer 102 . By arranging the column circuit board 103 on the inner side of the piezoelectric wafer 102, the column electrodes 1031 of the column circuit board 103 are arranged parallel to the axis of the ultrasonic transducer, so the column electrodes 1031 do not need to be bent in their extending direction. By arranging the row circuit board 104 on the outer side of the piezoelectric wafer 102, the row circuit 1041 of the row circuit board 104 is arranged along the axis perpendicular to the ultrasonic transducer, thus reducing the bending amount of the row circuit 1041.

Of course, the column circuit boards 103 can also be arranged on the outer side of the piezoelectric wafer 102 , and the row circuit boards 104 can be arranged on the inner side of the piezoelectric wafer 102 .

The ultrasonic transducer provided by the embodiment of the present invention further includes a backing layer 101 disposed on the inner side of the column circuit board 103 . The function of the backing layer 101 is to support, fix, absorb sound, reduce echo tailing, and increase the bandwidth. By arranging the backing layer 101, the detection accuracy is effectively improved.

The ultrasonic transducer provided by the embodiment of the present invention further includes a matching layer wrapped on the outside of the piezoelectric wafer 102 , the column circuit board 103 and the row circuit board 104 . The matching layer realizes the matching and transition of the acoustic impedance, increases the transmittance between the piezoelectric wafer 102 and the measured object, and improves the sound transmission efficiency.

In order to facilitate the connection between the pads and the cables, the column electrode pad area where a plurality of column electrode pads are arranged on the column circuit board 103 and the row electrode pad area where a plurality of row electrode pads are arranged on the row circuit board 104 are not wrapped by the matching layer . That is, the row electrode pad area and the column electrode pad area are exposed outside the matching layer, and the connection operation between the pad and the cable is not restricted by the matching layer.

In this embodiment, the number of matching layers is two, which are the first matching layer 105 and the second matching layer 106 respectively; the second matching layer 106 is wrapped outside the first matching layer 105 .

The matching layer can be set as one layer, two layers or no matching layer according to the needs. Of course, more matching layers can also be set. It is not described in detail here and is within the scope of protection. The matching layer realizes the matching and transition of the acoustic impedance, increases the transmittance between the piezoelectric wafer 102 and the measured object, and improves the sound transmission efficiency.

In order to conveniently surround the piezoelectric wafer 102 in a ring shape, the piezoelectric wafer 102 is made of 1-3 piezoelectric composite materials. As the core component of the ultrasonic transducer, the piezoelectric wafer 102 is made of 1-3 piezoelectric composite materials. In this embodiment, 1-3 piezoelectric composite material refers to a piezoelectric material (ceramic column) and a non-piezoelectric material (epoxy resin) combined together in a certain connection manner to form a new material with piezoelectric effect. As shown in Figure 4, 1 of the 1-3 piezoelectric composite material means that the piezoelectric material (ceramic column) is connected in the Z direction, and 3 means that the non-piezoelectric material (epoxy) is connected in the X, Y and Z directions. All 3 directions are connected. The advantage of the 1-3 piezoelectric composite material is that when heated to the glass temperature of the epoxy resin, the epoxy resin will become soft. At this time, the whole piece of material can be formed into an arc or a torus to improve the success rate.

The manufacturing process of the ultrasonic transducer provided by the present invention is as follows:

The first step: making 1-3 piezoelectric composite materials;

The second step: set electrodes on both sides of the 1-3 piezoelectric composite material, and then divide the electrode surface into rows and columns;

The third step: setting a matching layer on the outer surface of the row circuit board 104, the matching layer cannot cover the entire row circuit board 104, and the row electrode pad area is not covered by the matching layer;

The fourth step: adhering and welding the column circuit board 103 and the column electrode 1031;

The fifth step: toroidal forming the column circuit boards 103, 1-3 piezoelectric composite materials and the row circuit boards 104 as a whole;

The sixth step: pouring a backing into the middle area of the annular shape to form a backing layer 101;

Step 7: Solder the cable wire to the pad and encapsulate it.

The present invention also provides an ultrasonic endoscope system, which includes an ultrasonic transducer 10, and the ultrasonic transducer 10 is any of the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducers. Since the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer has the above-mentioned technical effect, the ultrasonic endoscope system having the above-mentioned ultrasonic transducer should also have the same technical effect, which will not be described one by one here.

The ultrasonic endoscope system provided by the present invention includes:

Ultrasonic transducer 10, as a component for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals;

The flexible tube portion 11 has flexibility, and can maintain the curved shape after being bent under force;

The hose 12 can be bent and introduced along the pipeline to wrap the cables and functional pipelines;

The operating handle 13 and the left and right turning knobs 14 can control the left and right turning of the flexible tube portion 11, and the front and rear turning knobs 15 can control the forward and backward turning of the flexible tube portion 11;

Ultrasonic excitation system 20 for sending and receiving electrode electrical signals;

computer system 30 .

During the operation of the ultrasonic endoscope system, the ultrasonic transducer 10 receives the row electrode electrical signal and the column electrode electrical signal given by the ultrasonic excitation system 20, and the row electrode electrical signal is transmitted to the piezoelectric wafer by the corresponding row electrode 1041 on the row circuit board 104. 102, the column electrode electrical signal is transmitted to the piezoelectric wafer 102 by the corresponding column electrode 1031 on the column circuit board 103, resulting in an inverse piezoelectric effect, and the piezoelectric wafer 102 is perpendicular to the electrode surfaces of the row circuit board 104 and the column circuit board 103. Vibrates and generates ultrasonic waves in both directions. The outwardly propagating ultrasonic wave passes through the matching layer and reaches the object to be measured. After contacting the object to be measured, an echo is generated. The echo passes through the matching layer and reaches the piezoelectric wafer 102. At this time, a positive piezoelectric effect is generated, and the piezoelectric wafer 102 The electrical signal is generated by the force, and the electrical signal is transmitted to the cable by the corresponding row electrodes 1041 on the row circuit board 104 and the corresponding column electrodes 1031 on the column circuit board 103, and then received and processed by the ultrasonic excitation system 20; The backing layer 101 propagates, and the backing layer 101 absorbs this unwanted ultrasound, reducing interference.

The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

An ultrasonic transducer, characterized in that, comprising:

a piezoelectric wafer (102) for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals, the piezoelectric wafer (102) enclosing a ring structure;

A column circuit board (103) arranged on one side of the piezoelectric wafer (102), the column circuit board (103) is provided with a plurality of column electrodes (1031) parallel to each other and independently arranged, the column electrodes (1031) The direction of the electrodes is the axial direction of the ultrasonic transducer, a plurality of the column electrodes (1031) all have column electrode pads for welding with the cables, and the plurality of column electrode pads are arranged on the the side of the circuit board (103) close to the connection end of the ultrasonic transducer;

A row circuit board (104) disposed on the other side of the piezoelectric wafer (102), the row circuit board (104) having a plurality of row electrodes (1041) parallel to each other and independently arranged, the row electrodes ( The electrode direction of 1041) is the circumferential direction of the ultrasonic transducer, a plurality of the row electrodes (1041) all have row electrode pads for welding with cables, and a plurality of the row electrode pads are provided on the side of the row circuit board (104) close to the connection end of the ultrasonic transducer.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the column circuit board (103) is provided with a plurality of column electrode pad regions of the column electrode pads and the row circuit board (104) is provided with a plurality of column electrode pad regions. The row electrode pad regions of the row electrode pads are arranged in a staggered manner.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, characterized in that the positional dislocation distribution of a plurality of the column electrode pads on the column circuit board (103);

And/or, the positions of the plurality of the row electrode pads on the row circuit board (104) are staggered and distributed.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, wherein the column circuit board (103) is arranged on the inner side of the piezoelectric wafer (102), and the row circuit board (104) is arranged on the inner side of the piezoelectric wafer (102). The outer side of the piezoelectric wafer (102).
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 4, further comprising a backing layer (101) disposed on the inner side of the column circuit board (103).
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 1, further comprising a matching layer wrapped on the outside of the piezoelectric wafer (102), the column circuit board (103) and the row circuit board (104). .
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 6, wherein the column circuit board (103) is provided with a plurality of column electrode pad regions of the column electrode pads, and the row circuit board (104) is provided with a plurality of column electrode pad regions. A row electrode pad area of each of the row electrode pads is not wrapped by the matching layer.
The ultrasonic transducer according to claim 6, wherein the number of the matching layers is two, which are a first matching layer (105) and a second matching layer (106) respectively;

The second matching layer (106) is wrapped outside the first matching layer (105).
The ultrasonic transducer according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the piezoelectric wafer (102) is made of 1-3 piezoelectric composite materials.
An ultrasonic endoscope system, comprising an ultrasonic transducer, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is the ultrasonic transducer according to any one of claims 1-9.