JPH05199587A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To reliably reduce electromagnetic wave noise mixed from the acoustic lens surface. [Structure] A matching layer 4 and an acoustic lens 7 are sequentially provided on the transmitting and receiving sides of a piezoelectric ceramic 3, and a surface of the acoustic lens 7 is
A copper thin film 22 was attached and the thin film 22 was grounded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic probe having an improved shielding effect against electromagnetic noise.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a technique for preventing electromagnetic wave noise from entering from the head portion of an ultrasonic probe, FIG.
And the structure described in FIG. 6 is known. Among these, in the head portion structure shown in FIG. 5, the periphery of the piezoelectric ceramic 100, the backing material 101, the matching layer 102, and the acoustic lens 103 that form the head main body is covered with a conductive metal film (for example, copper foil tape) 104. The metal coating 104 is connected to the chassis ground on the apparatus main body side. The head structure shown in FIG. 6 has a case 10 that encloses the head body.
An electrically conductive metal coating 106 is attached to the inside of No. 5, and the coating 106 is connected to the chassis ground on the apparatus main body side. The structures shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 may be used together. When the metal coatings 104 and 106 receive an external electromagnetic wave noise, the noise current is escaped to the ground to exert a shielding effect.

Further, according to the ultrasonic probe described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 58-48221, a conductive layer is provided on the matching layer side of the piezoelectric element, and the conductive layer is grounded to prevent noise coming from the ultrasonic wave radiation surface side. Has a shielding effect. Further, in the ultrasonic probe described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-132544, a conductive portion is provided in a portion of the probe outer casing accommodating the ultrasonic transducer that comes into contact with a subject or a portion gripped by an operator.
It is grounded. As a result, the external radio noise is shielded.

[0004]

However, in each of the above-mentioned conventional shield techniques, the acoustic lens surface for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is not shielded at all.
Electromagnetic noise may be mixed into the signal system directly or around the acoustic lens surface. Therefore, due to the mixing of the electromagnetic wave noise, for example, in the case of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for medical use, the image quality is deteriorated and the diagnosis is hindered.

The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and more reliably prevents electromagnetic wave noise mixed from an acoustic lens surface as compared with the conventional case, and aims to improve image quality deterioration due to the noise. To provide an ultrasonic probe,
Its purpose.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic probe according to the present invention comprises a vibrator capable of bidirectionally converting an ultrasonic wave and an electric signal, and an ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving side of the vibrator. An ultrasonic probe provided with an acoustic lens for transmitting and receiving the ultrasonic wave to and from the outside world, a shield capable of transmitting the ultrasonic wave and shielding electromagnetic waves on the surface of the acoustic lens. A body was provided and the shield body was grounded.

Further, in the ultrasonic probe according to the second aspect of the present invention, the shield body is one of the conductive metal thin film and the metal mesh.

[0008]

In the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, electromagnetic wave noise reaching the acoustic lens from the outside is captured by the shield body such as a conductive metal thin film and reaches the ground as a noise current, so that the electromagnetic wave shielding effect is exerted. To be done. On the other hand, since ultrasonic waves can be transmitted through the shield body, they have almost no effect on the operation of the vibrator.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a head portion 1 of the ultrasonic probe according to the first embodiment. In this head portion 1, the piezoelectric ceramics 3 is adhered to the backing material 2, and the matching layer 4 is adhered to the upper surface of the piezoelectric ceramics 3. On one surface of the matching layer 4, an aluminum vapor deposition film 5 is thinly and integrally formed (for example, a film thickness of about 0.01 μm to 1 μm) by vapor deposition of aluminum. The matching layer 4 is oriented so that the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 is located on the side far from the piezoelectric ceramics 2. From this state, a cutting process is performed so as to have a predetermined element width, and a plurality of strip-shaped vibrators 3a, ..., 3a arranged perpendicularly to the scanning direction are formed.
In the figure, a, ..., A are cutting grooves.

Further, one end of the lead wire 6 is soldered to the surface of the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 (or may be brought into contact with an adhesive), and the other end is connected to a grounding frame on the main body of the apparatus (not shown). .. Further, the acoustic lens 7 is bonded to the upper surface of the matching layer 4 with the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 sandwiched therebetween.

The side surface of the head portion 1 is covered with the copper foil tape 9 as in the prior art described above. This copper foil tape 9 is also electrically connected to the grounding frame on the apparatus body side. Although not shown, the inside of the head case 10 including the head portion 1 is also shielded by a copper foil tape.

Next, the function and effect of the first embodiment will be described.

Of the electromagnetic wave noise propagated from the outside,
Noise that hits the side surface or the bottom surface of the head portion 1 and enters is blocked by the head case 10 and the copper foil tape 9 on the inner side surface. On the other hand, the noise that hits the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving surface of the head unit 1, that is, the lens surface of the acoustic lens 7 and enters the inside is shielded by the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 between the acoustic lens 7 and the matching layer 4, and the shielding current is read. It flows through line 6 to earth.

That is, the shielding effect can be exhibited in almost all directions with respect to the head portion 1, and most of the external noise can be shielded properly. In particular, it is possible to reliably suppress the mixing of noise propagating from the ultrasonic transmission / reception direction, and it is possible to significantly reduce the ratio of the noise superposed on the main signal for measurement as compared with the related art. Therefore, even when the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for medical use to which the first embodiment is applied is used in an examination room or an operating room with a lot of external noise, an image with a high S / N ratio and high resolution can be obtained. There is an advantage that the diagnostic ability can be improved and the diagnostic time can be shortened. In addition, the reliability of the diagnostic device can be improved.

On the other hand, since the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 is formed as a thin film as described above, most ultrasonic signals can be transmitted. That is, there is almost no hindrance in image diagnosis by transmitting and receiving main ultrasonic waves. In the case where the power of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted and received is slightly lowered by the insertion of the aluminum vapor deposition film 5, it can be easily compensated by increasing the drive voltage of the vibrator 3.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted (this also applies to the following embodiments).

The head portion 1 of the ultrasonic probe shown in FIG.
1 is a plurality of strip-shaped vibrators 3a, after the piezoelectric ceramics 3 is bonded to the upper surface of the backing material 2 in FIG.
The cutting process for forming 3a is performed as illustrated. Further, a matching layer 4 is adhered to the piezoelectric ceramics 3, and the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 is previously attached to the matching layer 4.
(Thin film) is integrally formed. The position of the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 is set on the side far from the ceramics 3. Further, a lead wire 6 is drawn out from the aluminum vapor deposition film 5, and the lead wire 6 is connected to a ground member on the apparatus main body side. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment. As a result, the plurality of vibrators 3a, ..., 3a are arranged in a strip shape, but the head portion 11 having a structure in which the matching layer 4 forms a single plate is formed.

Therefore, also in the second embodiment, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those in the first embodiment. Furthermore, since the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 formed on the matching layer 4 is not cut, it remains a single plate, and the aluminum vapor deposition film 5 is on the lower surface of the vibrators 3a, ..., 3a.
, A is also covered. As a result, electromagnetic noise can be prevented from entering the cutting grooves a, ..., A, and there is a new advantage that the shield effect is further enhanced as compared with the first embodiment.

Next, third and fourth embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS.

In the head portion 21 of the ultrasonic probe in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a copper thin film 22 is attached to the lens surface of the acoustic lens 7, and the thin film 22 is grounded by a lead wire (not shown). It was done. Here, the thin film 22 may be, for example, silver, chromium, or nickel in addition to copper, or may be formed by vapor deposition as in the above-described embodiment.

In the head portion 31 of the ultrasonic probe in the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A mesh-shaped aluminum vapor deposition film 32 is integrally formed on the surface of the lens. By thus forming the film 32 as the shield body in a mesh shape, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in designing for transmission of ultrasonic waves and shielding of electromagnetic waves.

With the third and fourth embodiments, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the above-mentioned embodiments.

The shield according to the present invention is not limited to the one described in each of the above embodiments.
They may be inserted at different positions in an appropriate combination.

The ultrasonic probe to be applied is not limited to the structure in which the vibrators are arranged in a strip shape, but can be applied to a mechanical probe, for example. Further, of course, the present invention is not limited to the ultrasonic probe for medical use, and can be widely applied to other uses (for example, a probe for flaw detection).

[0027]

As described above, in the ultrasonic probe according to the present invention, the acoustic lens surface is provided with the shield body capable of transmitting the ultrasonic wave and shielding the electromagnetic wave. Since the is grounded, electromagnetic waves and electromagnetic noise that enter the signal system through the transmitting / receiving surface, that is, the acoustic lens, can be shielded properly. As a result, even when using an ultrasonic device in an environment where a lot of electromagnetic noise is generated, such as an operating room using an electric scalpel,
By using the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, it is possible to significantly reduce the noise on the image, improve the diagnostic ability and the examination ability, and significantly reduce the diagnostic time and the treatment time as compared with the conventional ultrasonic equipment. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a head portion of an ultrasonic probe according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a head portion of an ultrasonic probe according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a head portion of an ultrasonic probe according to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a head portion of an ultrasonic probe according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a head portion of an ultrasonic probe according to a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a head case according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 1 head part 3 piezoelectric ceramics 3a vibrator 4 matching layer 5 aluminum vapor deposition film 6 lead wire 7 acoustic lens 11 head part 21 head part 22 metal film 31 head part 32 mesh aluminum vapor deposition film

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An oscillator capable of bidirectionally converting an ultrasonic wave and an electric signal, and an acoustic lens provided on the ultrasonic wave transmitting / receiving side of the oscillator and transmitting / receiving the ultrasonic wave to / from the external world. In the provided ultrasonic probe, on the surface of the acoustic lens,
An ultrasonic probe, characterized in that a shield body capable of transmitting the above-mentioned ultrasonic waves and shielding electromagnetic waves is provided and the shield body is grounded. 2. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the shield is one of a conductive metal thin film and a metal mesh.