Ultrasonic probe

Abstract

A highly sensitive ultrasonic probe is provided by effectively damping the ultrasonic wave emitted from a piezoelectric oscillator (1) toward the back surface by means of a backing layer (4) and reducing the reflected wave returning to the piezoelectric oscillator (1) side. The thickness of the backing layer (4) is reduced to a value much smaller than conventional. The ultrasonic probe is provided with a piezoelectric oscillator (1) for generating an ultrasonic wave and a backing layer (4) joined to the back surface of the piezoelectric oscillator (1) and adapted for damping the ultrasonic wave which is emitted toward the back surface of the piezoelectric oscillator (1) and has an opposite phase to the phase of the ultrasonic wave emitted toward the front surface of the piezoelectric oscillator (1). In the backing layer (4), a plurality of sound tubes (5) having different lengths on the basis of the principle of sound wave superposition are arranged in such a way that the longitudinal direction of the sound tubes (5) agrees with the directions in which the ultrasonic waves generated from the piezoelectric oscillator (1) travel toward the front and back surfaces. The sound tubes (5) damp the whole or part of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the piezoelectric oscillator (1) to the backing layer (4) side.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe for ultrasonic diagnosis. Background technique [0002] figure 1 It is a figure which shows an example of the external appearance of an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. like figure 1 As shown in (a), the ultrasonic probe is connected to the ultrasonic diagnostic device through a cable, transmits ultrasonic waves in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and receives the reflected wave reflected by the living body in the opposite direction to the arrow. like figure 1 As shown in (b), the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus performs image analysis on reflected waves received by the ultrasonic probe, and displays the image of the inside of the living body obtained by the analysis on a monitor. [0003] In such an ultrasonic probe, when ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the piezoelectric vibrator, the ultrasonic waves are radiated not only to the front of the vibrator but a...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0015] However, in the conventional structure, there was a problem that the backing layer 4 would become thick anyway.

In addition, even in the case where a heat dissipating block is provided on the back side of the backing layer 4 in order to reduce the thickness of the backing layer 4, a heat dissipating block is required in addition to the backing layer 4, so it is necessary to reduce the thickness for attenuating ultrasonic waves. The overall thickness of the structure is very difficult

Furthermore, in the case of using a heat slug, an additional member different from the backing layer is required, which raises the problem of an increase in the cost of manufacturing the ultrasonic probe.

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