Biplane phased array for ultrasonic medical imaging

The authors report a transducer structure that combines two orthogonal phase arrays that enable the real-time scanning of two orthogonal sectors. This biplane phased array is formed by partially dicing the opposite faces of a composite piezoelectric plate in orthogonal directions. Individual elements of the orthogonal arrays show broad radiation patterns close to the theoretical expectations for isolated elements. Arrays formed by patterning the electrode alone, without cross dicing, show a narrower directivity pattern for a single element. This narrowing is a refractive effect due to the relatively high acoustic velocities in the composite material as compared with the sound velocity in the propagation medium. It is noted that the concept of the biplane phased array forms the basis for a new class of transducer systems that combine two transducer arrays in a single piezocomposite plate.<<ETX>>

[1]  G. Kino,et al.  Transducer Arrays Suitable for Acoustic Imaging , 1975 .

[2]  W. A. Smith,et al.  Performance of Ultrasonic Transducers Made from Composite Piezoelectric Materials , 1984 .

[3]  John D. Larson,et al.  A Phased Array Acoustic Imaging System for Medical Use , 1980 .

[4]  J F Dias.  An experimental investigation of the cross-coupling between elements of an acoustic imaging array transducer. , 1982, Ultrasonic imaging.

[5]  J F Dias.  Construction and Performance of an Experimental Phased Array Acoustic Imaging Transducer , 1981, Ultrasonic imaging.

[6]  Gordon S. Kino,et al.  Design of Slotted Transducer Arrays with Matched Backings , 1979 .

[7]  B. Delannoy,et al.  Anomalous behavior in the radiation pattern of piezoelectric transducers induced by parasitic Lamb wave generation , 1980 .

[8]  Charles S. DeSilets.  Transducer arrays suitable for acoustic imaging , 1978 .

[9]  W. A. Smith.  Composite Piezoelectric Materials for Medical Ultrasonic Imaging Transducers - A Review , 1986, Sixth IEEE International Symposium on Applications of Ferroelectrics.

[10]  J. E. Snyder,et al.  Real-time orthogonal mode scanning of the heart. I. System design. , 1986, Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

[11]  B. Singer,et al.  Properties of Composite Piezoelectric Materials for Ultrasonic Transducers , 1984 .

[12]  B Noorbehesht,et al.  Spatial response of arbitrarily electroded piezoelectric plates by plane-wave decomposition. , 1980, Ultrasonic imaging.

[13]  Gordon S. Kino,et al.  A theory for the radiation pattern of a narrow‐strip acoustic transducer , 1980 .

[14]  B. Auld,et al.  Acoustic fields and waves in solids , 1973 .

[15]  G. Kino,et al.  A New Acoustic Array for Acoustic Imaging , 1974 .

[16]  A. Macovski.  Ultrasonic imaging using arrays , 1979, Proceedings of the IEEE.