JPH08307995A - Ultrasonic probe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an ultrasonic probe where a taking-out method with a GND electrode is improved. CONSTITUTION: The ultrasonic probe is provided with a piezoelectric vibrator 31 where a GND electrode layer 33 is formed on a surface opposite to a rear surface load material 37 side, conductive acoustic matching layers 34 and 35 which are laminated on the GND electrode layer 33 of the piezoelectric vibrator 31 and an acoustic lens 40 which is laminated on the acoustic matching layer 35 and where a conductive layer 41 if formed on the surface facing against the acoustic matching layer 35. The conductive layer 41 of the acoustic lens 40 is adopted as a part for taking-out the GND electrode.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe,
More specifically, the ground of the ultrasonic probe (hereinafter GND
Called) electrode extraction structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the first extraction structure of the GND electrode of the conventional ultrasonic probe, and FIG. 3 is the second GND electrode of the conventional ultrasonic probe.
It is a figure explaining the take-out structure of.

First, in FIG. 2, 1 is a back load material. One side of the back load material 1 is on the back load material 1.
The piezoelectric vibrator 2 having the protruding portion 2a protruding from the side surface of the is laminated. The signal electrode layer 3 is provided on the surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 2 on the back load material 1 side, and the GND electrode layer 4 is provided on the opposite surface.
Are formed. Further, the signal electrode layer 3 is formed with an exposed portion 3a that extends to the protrusion 2a and is exposed to the outside, and the GND electrode layer 4 is formed with a wraparound portion 4a that wraps around to the back load material 1 side in the protrusion 2a. Has been done. GN
The wraparound portion 4a of the D electrode layer 4 and the exposed portion 3a of the signal electrode layer 3 are insulated by using an insulator 5. An acoustic matching layer 6 is laminated on the GND electrode layer 4 of the piezoelectric vibrator 2. Further, on the acoustic matching layer 6, the acoustic lens 11
Are stacked.

7 is a conductive adhesive such as a silver epoxy adhesive 8
The GND electrode lead-out wire such as a copper foil connected to the wraparound portion 4a of the GND electrode layer 4 by using 9 is an exposed portion 3a of the signal electrode layer 3 by using a conductive adhesive 10 such as a silver epoxy adhesive.
A signal electrode lead-out line of an FPC (flexible printed circuit board) or the like connected to the.

In the ultrasonic probe having such a structure, the back load material 1, the piezoelectric vibrator 2, the acoustic matching layer 6 and the acoustic lens 11 are laminated one by one using an adhesive, and then the signal is applied. Connect the electrode lead wire 9 and the GND electrode lead wire 7.

Next, in FIG. 3, reference numeral 21 is a piezoelectric vibrator having a signal electrode layer 22 formed on one surface and a GND electrode layer 23 formed on the other surface. On the GND electrode layer 23 of the piezoelectric vibrator 21, a conductive acoustic matching layer 24 having a protruding portion 24a whose one side projects from the side surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 21 is laminated, and a conductive pattern is formed on the signal electrode layer 22. The signal electrode lead-out wire 25 such as the FPC is attached, and the other surface of the signal electrode lead-out wire is laminated on the back load material 26. An acoustic lens 29 is laminated on the conductive acoustic matching layer 24.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a protrusion 24 of the conductive acoustic matching layer 24.
GND such as copper foil connected to a using conductive adhesive 28
It is an electrode lead-out line. In the ultrasonic probe having such a configuration, first, the piezoelectric vibrator 21 and the signal electrode lead wire 25
The conductive acoustic matching layer 24 is laminated and integrated. The back load material 26 and the acoustic lens 29 are attached to this, and finally the GND electrode lead-out wire 27 is connected.

[0008]

However, the ultrasonic probe having the structure shown in FIG. 2 has the following problems. (1) Back load material 1, piezoelectric vibrator 2, acoustic matching layer 6, acoustic lens 11 are laminated one by one using an adhesive, and then connection of signal electrode lead wire 9 and GND electrode lead wire 7 is made. Therefore, it is very time-consuming and requires skill in manufacturing.

(2) Conductive adhesives 8 and 10 with weak adhesion
To connect the GND electrode lead-out line 7 and the signal electrode lead-out line 9
Since it is connected to the GND electrode layer 4 and the signal electrode layer 3, the GND electrode lead-out line 7 and the signal electrode lead-out line 9 easily come off, which is not reliable.

(3) Since the piezoelectric vibrator 2 has the protrusion 2a, it becomes a factor that hinders miniaturization of the ultrasonic probe. On the protruding portion 2a, the signal electrode lead-out wire 9 and the GN
Since the two electrode lead-out wires including the D electrode lead-out wire 7 are connected, there is a limit in reducing the amount of protrusion of the protruding portion 2a. Furthermore, the protrusion 2a of the piezoelectric vibrator 2 cannot be used as a sensor.

Next, in the ultrasonic probe having the structure shown in FIG. 3, the piezoelectric vibrator 21, the signal electrode lead-out wire 25 and the conductive acoustic matching layer 24 are laminated and integrated in advance. The number of assembly steps is less than that of a structured ultrasonic probe.

However, since the GND electrode lead-out line 27 is structured to be connected to the conductive acoustic matching layer 24 using the conductive adhesive 28, the GND electrode lead-out line 27 is not reliable, and
Since the GND electrode lead-out wire 27 is connected to the protruding portion 24a of the conductive acoustic matching layer 24, it becomes a factor that hinders the miniaturization of the ultrasonic probe. The amount of protrusion of the protrusion 24a is smaller than that of the ultrasonic probe of FIG. 2 because there is only one electrode lead line connected, but there is a limit.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an ultrasonic probe having a highly reliable GND electrode lead-out line and capable of reducing the number of manufacturing steps. It is in.

[0014]

The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is directed to a piezoelectric vibrator having a GND electrode layer formed on a surface opposite to a back load material, and a piezoelectric vibrator laminated on the GND electrode layer of the piezoelectric vibrator. And a conductive acoustic matching layer, and an acoustic lens laminated on the acoustic matching layer, the conductive layer is formed on the surface facing the acoustic matching layer, the conductive layer of the acoustic lens of the GND electrode It was taken out.

Further, it is preferable that an extension portion extending in a side surface direction of the piezoelectric vibrator is formed on the acoustic lens.

[0016]

In the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the piezoelectric vibrator
The GND electrode layer and the conductive layer of the acoustic lens are electrically connected via a conductive acoustic matching. Therefore, the conductive layer functions as a lead wire for the GND electrode.

On the other hand, since this conductive layer that functions as a GND electrode lead-out line is formed on the surface of the acoustic lens laminated on the conductive acoustic matching layer that faces the conductive acoustic matching layer, the GND electrode lead-out line is formed. High reliability. Further, since the GND electrode lead-out line is formed only by laminating the acoustic lens on the conductive acoustic matching layer, the manufacturing process can be reduced.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 31 is a piezoelectric vibrator having a signal electrode layer 32 formed on one surface and a GND electrode layer 33 formed on the other surface. On the GND electrode layer 33 of the piezoelectric vibrator 31, a first conductive acoustic matching layer 34 and a second conductive acoustic matching layer 35 which are acoustically matched with the subject are laminated.

On the signal electrode layer 32 of the piezoelectric vibrator 31, a signal electrode lead-out line 36 such as an FPC having a conductive pattern corresponding to the divided piezoelectric vibrator element is formed.
Is attached, and the other surface of the signal electrode lead-out wire 36 is laminated on the back load material 37.

Reference numeral 40 denotes an extension portion 40 which is laminated on the second conductive acoustic matching layer 35 and extends in the lateral direction of the piezoelectric vibrator 31.
It is an acoustic lens which has a and converges an ultrasonic beam. The surface of the acoustic lens 40 facing the second conductive acoustic matching layer 35 and the surface of the extending portion 40a of the acoustic lens 40 facing the piezoelectric vibrator 31 are used as signal electrode lead wires by a method such as copper sputtering. Functional conductive layer 4
1 is formed.

Next, a method of manufacturing the above structure will be described. First, the signal electrode layer 32, the piezoelectric vibrator 31, the first conductive acoustic matching layer 34, the second conductive acoustic matching layer 35, and the back load material 37 are laminated and divided into elements. Then, the acoustic lens 40 in which the conductive layer 41 is formed is attached to one surface of the laminated body.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. The signal electrode lead-out line 36 and the conductive layer 41 functioning as the GND electrode lead-out line are connected to a wave transmitting / receiving circuit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus via a coaxial cable or the like. The transmitted voltage from the main body is applied to each element of the piezoelectric vibrator 31 via the signal electrode lead wire 36, converted into a sound wave, and radiated from the acoustic lens 40 into the subject.

The reflected sound wave from the inside of the subject is detected by the piezoelectric vibrator 3.
The signal is converted into an electric signal at 1 and is sent to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus through a route opposite to that at the time of wave transmission. According to the above configuration, the piezoelectric vibrator 3
The first GND electrode layer 33 and the conductive layer 41 of the acoustic lens 40 are electrically connected via the first and second conductive acoustic matching layers 33 and 34. Therefore, the conductive layer 41 becomes a lead wire for the GND electrode.

On the other hand, the conductive layer 41 functioning as a GND electrode lead-out line is formed on the surface of the acoustic lens 40 laminated on the second conductive acoustic matching layer 35, which is opposed to the second conductive acoustic matching layer 35. Therefore, the reliability of the GND electrode lead-out line is high. Furthermore, since the GND electrode lead-out line is formed only by stacking the acoustic lens 40 on the second conductive acoustic matching layer 35, the manufacturing process can be reduced.

Further, the back load material 3 is formed on the entire surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 31.
Since 7 and the first and second conductive acoustic matching layers 33 and 34 can be laminated, the entire surface of the piezoelectric vibrator 31 can be used as a sensor.

The present invention is not limited to the above invention. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the contact surface with the subject is a linear ultrasonic probe, but the contact surface with the subject may be a convex ultrasonic probe having a curvature. .

[0028]

As described above, according to the ultrasonic probe of the present invention, the GND electrode layer of the piezoelectric vibrator and the conductive layer of the acoustic lens are electrically connected through the conductive acoustic matching. . Therefore, the conductive layer functions as a lead wire for the GND electrode.

On the other hand, since this conductive layer that functions as a GND electrode lead-out line is formed on the surface of the acoustic lens laminated on the conductive acoustic matching layer that faces the conductive acoustic matching layer, the GND electrode lead-out line is formed. High reliability. Further, since the GND electrode lead-out line is formed only by laminating the acoustic lens on the conductive acoustic matching layer, the manufacturing process can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional configuration diagram illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first extraction structure of a GND electrode of a conventional ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a second extraction structure of the GND electrode of the conventional ultrasonic probe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 31 Piezoelectric Vibrator 32 Signal Electrode Layer 33 GND Electrode Layer 34 First Conductive Acoustic Matching Layer 35 Second Conductive Acoustic Matching Layer 36 Signal Electrode Extraction Line 37 Back Load Material 40 Acoustic Lens 40a Extension 41 Conductive Layer

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Ken Hideo 127 GE Yokogawa Medical Systems Co., Ltd. 4-7 Asahigaoka, Hino City, Tokyo

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A piezoelectric vibrator having a ground electrode layer formed on a surface opposite to a back load material, a conductive acoustic matching layer laminated on the ground electrode layer of the piezoelectric vibrator, and the acoustic matching. An acoustic lens having a conductive layer formed on a surface facing the acoustic matching layer, wherein the conductive layer of the acoustic lens is a ground electrode. Child. 2. The ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic lens is formed with an extending portion extending in a side surface direction of the piezoelectric vibrator.