General Electric Company

Michael S Horner

Axel F Brisken

Lowell Scott Smith

Claudio I Zanelli

An ultrasonic transducer assembly includes noise suppressing backing material for the transducer comprising a composite of a matrix material and particles of an attenuating soft material such as rubber, epoxy, and plastic. The particle size is preferably selected by sieving the particles through a sieve of grid size 30 to 80. In preferred embodiments the particles of attenuating soft material are filled with particles of heavy oxides, metal powders, or other density lowering fillers. The ratio of matrix material to filler particles determines mechanical strength and attenuation of the composite material. Attenuation coefficient and size of the filler particles determines the attenuation of the composite material.

Ultrasonic transducer and attenuating material for use therein

An improved material for an ultrasonic transducer assembly having improved noise suppression characteristics comprising an ultrasonic transducer having a plurality of surfaces, a housing for receiving said transducer whereby one surface of said transducer is free to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, and a material positioned about said transducer and between said transducer and the environment or housing for attenuating ultrasonic energy, said material comprising a heavily loaded resin based on an unfilled low viscosity potting gel and a filler selected from the group consisting of heavy oxides, metal powders, and density lowering fillers. In specific embodiments lead oxide, tungsten powder, and glass microspheres have been used as the filler in a silicone or flexible epoxy.

A linear array for rectilinear and sector scan imaging has identical approximately diamond-shaped transducer elements fabricated by making two pairs of straight line cuts at small angles through a piezoelectric slab. The Y-axis radiation pattern (parallel to element length and perpendicular to the array length) has lower side lobe levels than equal sized rectangular elements. No changes in the imager electronics among channels is required, and the shading function may be modified by changing only the transducer.

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Davis, CA, United States of America

Michael S Horner