JPS62201143A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe used in a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to improving the utilization rate of the actual contact area with a subject.

(Prior Art) FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of an example of a conventional ultrasonic probe. In FIG. 3, 1 is a piezoelectric plate made of PZT or the like. A common electrode 2 is attached to one surface of the piezoelectric plate 1 so as to wrap around the other surface, and a signal electrode 3 is attached to the other surface.

Here, between the common electrode 2 and the signal electrode 3 which are attached so as to wrap around, there is a thickness of the piezoelectric plate 1 to prevent it from being destroyed by creeping discharge when the piezoelectric plate 1 is polarized. Sad
A gap g having a width approximately equal to (for example, 1 to 21+1) is provided. Also, the other end of the signal Tj pole 3 is removed with a width 9' that is approximately the same as the gap 9 in order to maintain symmetry.

As a result, area A that can be effectively used as an ultrasonic probe
corresponds to the width of the signal electrode 3, and is considerably limited compared to the overall width B of the piezoelectric plate 1. In the case of an actual ultrasonic probe, a structure for holding them is added as shown by the broken line, so the actual contact length C with the object is longer than the width B of the piezoelectric plate 1. As the length increases, the utilization rate of the actual contact area with the subject further decreases.

(Problems to be solved by the defense) The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to reduce the utilization rate of the actual contact area with the subject due to the conventional wrap-around electrode. The objective is to realize an improved ultrasound probe.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention, which solves the problems described above, comprises a piezoelectric plate having electrodes adhered to both sides, a group of external conductive wires connected to one surface of the piezoelectric plate, and It includes a packing material adhered to the piezoelectric plate so as to fix the external conductor group, and a conductor layer that commonly connects the common electrodes of the piezoelectric element array formed by cutting and separating the piezoelectric plate. This is a characteristic feature.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main parts of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a common electrode 2 is deposited on one surface of a piezoelectric plate 1 without wrapping around to the other surface, and a signal electrode is deposited on the other surface so as to completely oppose the common electrode 2. 3
is covered.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a group of external conductive wires, for example, a flexible printed wiring board having a plurality of conductor patterns formed on both sides at a predetermined pitch is used. The flexible printed wiring board 4
The ends of each conductor pattern are connected to the signal electrode 3 by solder, conductive adhesive, wire bonding, or the like. 5 is a packing material. As the packing material 5, for example, a material that is divided into two parts so as to sandwich the flexible printed wiring board 4 from the left and right sides is used,
An adhesive is applied to the entire surface of these and adhered to the signal electrode 3 side of the piezoelectric plate 1 so as to sandwich the flexible printed wiring board 4 therebetween. In this way, the packing material 5 is attached to the piezoelectric plate 1.
After adhering to the piezoelectric plate 1, the piezoelectric plate 1 is diced and separated into a large number of elements to form a piezoelectric element array. For dicing, for example, as has been conventionally done, the cutting edge of the dicing saw is cut to a depth that completely cuts the piezoelectric plate 1, using the conductor pattern of the flexible printed wiring board 4 as a guide, and the flexible printed wiring is cut. A large number of grooves are provided in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which the conductor patterns are arranged on the plate 4 so that a large number of piezoelectric elements are arranged along the direction in which the conductor patterns are arranged on the plate 4. Furthermore, due to each of these grooves,
The continuous connection portion between the signal electrode 3 and the flexible printed wiring board 4 is cut and separated. Reference numeral 6 denotes a conductor layer provided to commonly connect the common electrodes 2 of the piezoelectric element array thus formed. The conductor layer 6 has a thickness of, for example, several μIIPi! A metal foil of 30% or a net made of such metal foil is used, and these are uniformly bonded with solder or conductive adhesive. 7 is the conductor layer 6
It is a matching layer laminated on the surface of the wafer, and is diced as necessary.

8 is an acoustic lens laminated on the surface of the matching layer 7.

According to such a configuration, the common electrode 2 and the signal electrode 3 can be applied to the entire surfaces of both sides of the piezoelectric plate 1, and each of these electrodes 2.3 can be effectively used, and the conventional wrap-around electrode tank) The utilization rate of the actual contact area with the subject can be increased compared to the point. This is particularly effective when using a piezoelectric plate cut into a predetermined circular or rectangular shape without increasing moisture content from a piezoelectric plate that has been subjected to polarization treatment.
Furthermore, in the case of making it from a disk, the external conductor l
! A circular aperture element array, which has not been able to obtain good characteristics due to the difficulty of drawing out Y all at once, can be easily realized.

In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the piezoelectric element array and the external conducting wire group are connected so as to intersect with each other at right angles, but they may also be connected so as to intersect with each other diagonally, as shown in FIG. Thereby, the pitch of the external conducting wire group can be made coarser than the pitch of the piezoelectric element array, and by varying the angles at which they intersect, the pitch of the external conducting wire group can be made to correspond to any pitch of the piezoelectric element array.

In addition, the packing material is not limited to one formed by dividing into a plurality of pieces, but it is also possible to use a packing material in which slots are formed for passing the external conductor group, or uncured injection material is used to separate the external conductor group. Alternatively, it may be injected so as to be encapsulated and then hardened and molded into a predetermined shape.

In addition to the flexible printed wiring board, thin conducting wires may be used as the external conducting wire group.

The present invention is also useful for convex type ultrasound probes. That is, as a result, the height of the piezoelectric element array and the width of the contact surface can be reduced.

Further, when dicing the piezoelectric plate, marks may be printed on both sides of the piezoelectric plate in advance so that marks serving as a guide for dancing coincide with each other, or markings may be made on both sides of the piezoelectric plate.

Furthermore, as a conductor layer that commonly connects the common electrodes of the piezoelectric element rows, a conductor layer may be previously deposited on the lowest layer of the matching layer.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize an ultrasonic probe that has a higher utilization rate of the actual contact area with a subject than a conventional wrap-around electrode structure.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the main parts of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the correspondence between a piezoelectric element array and an external conductor group, and Fig. 3 is an example of a conventional ultrasonic probe. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing main parts. 1...Piezoelectric plate 2...Common electrode 3...Signal electrode

Claims (8)

[Claims] (1) a piezoelectric plate having electrodes adhered to both sides, a group of external conductors connected to one side of the piezoelectric plate, and a packing material adhered to the piezoelectric plate so as to fix the group of external conductors; An ultrasonic probe comprising a conductor layer that commonly connects common electrodes of piezoelectric element rows formed by cutting and separating the piezoelectric plate. (2) The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein a flexible printed wiring board is used as the external conducting wire group. (3) The ultrasonic probe according to claim 2, wherein a flexible printed wiring board having conductor patterns formed on both sides is used. (4) The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the packing material is formed in advance into a plurality of pieces so as to sandwich the group of external conductive wires. (5) The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the packing material is a material having slots formed therein for passing the group of external conductive wires therethrough. (6) The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein an uncured injection material is used as the packing material. (7) The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, characterized in that the matching layer is provided with a conductor layer that commonly connects the common electrodes of the piezoelectric element rows. (8) The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the external conductive wire group is connected diagonally to the piezoelectric element array.