Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Bertram Sachs

Bernd Granz

Fritz Breimesser

Peter Krammer

Ralph Oppelt

Heinrich Diepers

Bernd Gromoll

Ingmar Feigt

Jacques Borburgh

Hans-Peter Heindel

An ultrasound transducer device with a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of transducer elements (4.sub.j) has at least one plate-shaped component. This component contains an acoustical attenuation element (3), at one narrow side (3c) of which the transducer elements (4.sub.j) are arranged with piezoelectric oscillation elements and electrodes, as well as an electronic circuit part (17a) and connection leads (10a) between this circuit part and the electrodes. An electrode is arranged at each transducer element (4.sub.j) between its oscillation element and the attenuation element (3), which has a connection part for the connection leads (10a) which leads to a broad side (3a), and a strip-shaped carrier element (14) is connected with the attenuation element (3), with the electronic circuit (17a) located on the one broad side. Cooling channels (20, 21) may be used as a means for cooling the carrier element (14, 14.sub.k). Preferably, two components can form a common partial system (2) of the transducer device.

Ultrasound transducer device with a one-dimensional or two-dimensional

An ultrasound sensor is used for measuring the sound pressure amplitude in the focal range of focused ultrasound shock waves. The sensor contains a polymer foil which is piezoelectrically activated in one region and is coupled to electrodes which are physically separated from the region. The polymer foil is arranged in a hollow plastic cylinder with its flat surface sides parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the hollow cylinder. By this measure, interfering diffraction effects are reduced and miniaturization of the ultrasound sensor is achieved.

Ultrasound sensor

The invention concerns an ultrasonic transducer for the determination of the acoustic power of an ultrasonic field (1) focused at a point (F). According to the invention, an ultrasonic transducer 2 contains a support structure (4) which has the shape of a spherical cup and whose center coincides with the focus (F) of the focused ultrasonic field (1), and a piezoelectric polymer foil (6) equipped on its respective surfaces (62, 64) with a conductive layer (8) is attached to said support structure. These measures ensure that the acoustic charge vibrations within the area formed by the piezoelectric polymer foil (6) are at least approximately in phase and that the respective surface charge vibrations can be measured with the aid of a single, continuous electrode without partial mutual cancellation.

Ultrasonic transducer for the determination of the acoustic power of a

A miniature hydrophone is disclosed which contains a piezoelectric foil as a base element (2) with a linear arrangement of multiplicity of detector elements (10). In accordance with the invention, the electrodes (5) are arranged on a top surface (15) of one of the flat sides of a support (16) and are capacitively coupled by a bonding layer (6) to the base element (2). The detector elements (10) are associated with an amplifier (32) which, with equal length connecting leads (11, 26 and/or 12, 27), is fastened to a side face of the support (16). The electrical interconnection between the detector element (10) and the associated amplifier (32) employs a groove (24) through the corners of support 16. Additional such modules can form an assembly unit in a row arrangement of a size equal to that of the detector elements (10). Since all the connections (11, 26, 12, 27) to the amplifiers (32, 36) are very short and of equal length, the sensitivity of a system arrangement of such detector elements (10) and amplifiers (32 and/or 36) is homogeneous and very high.

Hydrophone

Stacked slab-shaped support bodies of electrically insulated material are provided with electrodes at one of their side surfaces. In the stack, the electrodes of a support body form the rows of a matrix. The support bodies are each connected detachably to a circuit board on which switchable amplifiers are arranged. In a preferred embodiment, the switchable amplifiers are dual-gate MOS-FETs, the first gate terminals of which are each connected electrically to an electrode of the support body.

Device for reading a two-dimensional charge image

The invention concerns a method for surveying the focal point (F, F') of a focussed ultrasonic field (8, 14) and an apparatus for carrying out the method. According to the invention an ultrasonic field (4, 12) produced by an ultrasonic transmitter (2) is measured at several sites in a plane in the path of the waves at the site of the imaging device (6). The values determined at these sites are compared with given reference values for which the position of the focus is known. In an advantageous device, one surface of the imaging device (6) is equipped with several piezoelectric transducers.

Method controlling the focusing of an ultrasonic field and apparatus for

A device for reading out two-dimensional charge patterns contains a receiver matrix (consisting of elementary transducers arranged in rows and columns) and a switching matrix (consisting of a carrier plate and electronic components in chip form) which are arranged on the long side of the carrier plate which faces away from the receiver matrix. A switchable amplifier in chip form is assigned to each of the elementary transducers connecting lines of at least approximately the same length are provided between contact lips and the corresponding switchable amplifiers, and signal output lines and ground lines run parallel to one another, while control lines run perpendicular to them. This design of the switching matrix makes the device unusually simple in its construction, with the amplifiers that are arranged on the long side of the carrier plate, which faces away from the receiver matrix, always being accessible, even after the device has been assembled. Thus, when individual image points drop out, the corresponding amplifiers can be replaced quickly and easily.

Device for reading out a two-dimensional charge pattern by means of an

Method for facilitating the fabrication of a read-out device having large stacked printed circuit boards, each of which is provided on one of its faces with switch-selected amplifiers and to each of which a leak resistance is assigned and each of which is provided on one of its narrow sides and on a portion of the adjacent face that is equipped with the leak resistance with a thin film of electrically conductive material. According to the invention, in order to separate the thin film on the narrow sides and on the faces into individual electrodes, a laser beam is conducted over the narrow edges of the stacked printed circuit boards. This process makes it possible to divide several, preferably several hundred, narrow sides and faces simultaneously into individual electrodes in a single cutting procedure.

Method for the manufacture of a device for the read-out of a

In an ultrasonic transducer arrangement having a plurality of ultrasonic oscillators, the ultrasonic oscillators each consist of a matrix of column shaped transducer elements, which are arranged in columns and rows. A planar array which can be addressed separately is formed from a matrix of such ultrasonic oscillators. This array permits focussing of the radiated sound in its longitudinal as well as transversal direction.

Ultrasonic transducer arrangement and method for fabricating same

In an exemplary embodiment, the transducer elements are arranged in rows and columns, the transducer elements bein contacted at both sides by oppositely disposed contact surfaces, and switches being associated with the contacts of the one contact surface as well as with the contacts of the other contact surface for the purpose of adjustment of preselectable transmitting and/or receiving surface of transducer elements during a transmitting/receiving cycle, in particular, for the purpose of dynamic focusing. It is an object of the disclosure to construct an ultrasonic array which can function with an optimally low outlay of switches and which if desired also permits a transition to continuously varied apertures. In accordance with the disclosure, this object is achieved in that transducer elements, with their one contact surface in the direction of the rows, and with their other contact surface in direction of the columns, are contacted together into groups, and that there is maximally associated, with each row group, an individual common row group switch, and that there is maximally associated, with each column group, an individual common column group switch. A transfer to continuously variable aperture is possible in the simplest manner if continuously variable switching elemets, such as controllable resistances, or the like, are utilized as transmitting and/or receiving switches.

Ultrasonic array

In an exemplary embodiment, transducer combs for ultrasonic arrays or compound scanners, which consist of a specifiable number of transducer elements, are produced by a technically particularly simple and cost-saving manufacturing process, with the following method steps:

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Erlangen, Germany

Bertram Sachs