Kureha Kagaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Akira Funakoshi

Akira Hamada

Keiichi Ohira

Array type ultrasonic probes including those of the annular array type and the linear array type are produced with a high accuracy of arrangement of unit transducer elements by first providing an integral processed plate wherein unit back electrodes are almost configurated into their final shapes but connected with each other by connecting portions so as to facilitate the handling thereof as an integral plate. The integral processed plate is bonded to a substrate and the connecting portions are removed to leave the back electrodes separately bonded to the substrate. On the back electrodes, a piezoelectric polymer film and a front electrode are applied to give an array type ultrasonic probe adapted for medical diagnosis.

Process for producing array-type ultrasonic probe

An array-type ultrasonic probe for an ultrasonic transducer has a basic structure comprising a substrate on which are successively disposed a plurality of parallel stripe form back electrodes, a polymer piezoelectric film and a front electrode. One end of each stripe-form back electrode is made thin, bent along the side wall of the substrate and connected to a lead wire from the ultrasonic transducer. Such a connection structure allows a tight arrangement of the back electrodes while avoiding contact between the electrodes, thus providing a high resolution to the ultrasonic probe.

Lead structure for a piezoelectric array-type ultrasonic probe

An ultrasonic detector is provided wherein electrodes are formed on the front and rear surfaces of a high polymer piezoelectric film, such that opposing electrode portion and nonopposing electrode portions are alternately and continually formed, most parts of the electrodes on the front and rear surfaces being opposed to each other through the piezoelectric film at the opposing electrode portions, most parts of the electrodes on the front and rear surfaces of the film which are different from the most parts of the electrodes at the opposing electrode portions being shifted from each other at the nonopposing electrode portions so as to have substantially no capacitance, and the piezoelectric film is wound around a base in an even number of layers such that the opposing electrode portions overlap each other and the nonopposing electrode portions overlap each other.

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Iwaki, Japan

Akira Funakoshi