Composite acoustic absorber for ultrasound transducer array
AssigneeSiemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
InventorsIsaac Abothu, Stephen Davis, Phong Cha
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Acoustic absorbers are formed for ultrasound transducers. The acoustic absorber provides desired attenuation, impedance, and thermal conductivity qualities based on a filler of rubber, ceramic, and metal particles. The relative amounts of the different fillers may be adjusted to tune the acoustic attenuation, thermal conductivity, and/or acoustic impedance.
Claims18
An ultrasound transducer comprising:
- an array of transducer elements, the transducer elements of the array operable separably for transducing between acoustic and electrical energies, the array having a face at which the acoustic energies are transmitted and received and a back opposite the face;
- and
- a backing adjacent the back of the array, the backing comprising a composite of a base and filler comprising rubber particles, metal particles, and ceramic particles;
- wherein the backing comprises an epoxy as the base with a substantially homogeneous distribution in the backing of each of the rubber particles, metal particles, and ceramic particles as the filler, a quantity of the homogenously distributed ceramic particles tuned relative to quantities of the homogenously distributed metal and rubber particles for thermal conductivity of the backing with the epoxy as the base;
- and
- wherein the backing has an acoustic attenuation of at least 2 dB/mm at 2.0 MHZ, an acoustic impedance of at least 1 Mrayl, and a thermal conductivity of at least 3 W/mk.
A composite acoustic absorber for an ultrasound transducer array, the composite acoustic absorber comprising:
- cured epoxy;
- rubber filler;
- metal filler;
- and
- ceramic filler;
- wherein the rubber filler, metal filler, and ceramic filler are each distributed with a substantially homogeneous distribution in the cured epoxy, a quantity of the ceramic filler tuned relative to quantities of the metal and rubber fillers for thermal conductivity of the composite acoustic absorber with the cured epoxy as a base;
- and
- wherein the distribution of the rubber, metal, and ceramic fillers in the cured epoxy provides an acoustic attenuation of at least 2 dB/mm at 2.0 MHZ, an acoustic impedance of at least 1 Mrayl, and a thermal conductivity of at least 3 W/mk.
A composite acoustic absorber for an ultrasound transducer array, the composite acoustic absorber comprising:
- cured epoxy;
- rubber filler;
- metal filler;
- and
- ceramic filler;
- wherein the rubber filler, metal filler, and ceramic filler are each distributed with a substantially homogeneous distribution in the cured epoxy, a quantity of the ceramic filler tuned relative to quantities of the metal and rubber fillers for thermal conductivity of the composite acoustic absorber with the cured epoxy as a base;
- and
- wherein the cured epoxy comprises a matrix and wherein the rubber, metal, and ceramic fillers in the matrix form air gaps.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.