Acoustic lens packaging model
By designing a removable acoustic lens packaging model, the problem of fixing the focus depth of existing ultrasonic probes is solved, and the function of replacing the acoustic lens according to clinical needs is realized, reducing costs and improving imaging quality.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202411681318.0
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2024-11-22
- Publication Date
- 2025-03-14
AI Technical Summary
The focus depth of existing ultrasound probes is fixed, which is difficult to adapt to different clinical needs, and increases costs.
A package model of acoustic lens is designed, including an ultrasonic transducer probe and a plurality of focusing acoustic lenses of different focus depths. Each acoustic lens is connected to a package housing. The ultrasonic transducer probe is removably mounted on the first end of the package housing, and the focus acoustic lens is fixed at the second end of the package housing to achieve coupling with acoustic lenses of different focus depths.
Users can independently replace acoustic lenses with different focus depths according to different clinical needs, reducing costs and increasing the bandwidth and imaging resolution of ultrasonic transducers.
Smart Images
Figure CN119626196A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The invention relates to an acoustic lens packaging model, belonging to the technical field of acoustic devices. Background Art
[0002] Ultrasonic technology has developed rapidly since its birth, playing a significant role in various fields such as daily life, engineering measurement and detection, medical diagnosis and treatment, and scientific research and analysis. Similar to optical focusing, the acoustic energy can reach a maximum value at the focus during the ultrasonic focusing process. In general, the position of the focus coincides with the center of curvature of the converging mirror. During acoustic focusing, the sound pressure, particle vibration velocity, and sound intensity all reach a maximum. An acoustic lens refers to a device that can converge or diverge sound waves propagating in a straight line after being made into an appropriate shape. The focusing depth of existing ultrasonic probes is fixed and difficult to adapt to different clinical needs. For example, almost all medical ultrasonic transducers integrate the acoustic lens inside the probe, which cannot be replaced by the user himself, so different types of ultrasonic probes must be designed to cope with different focusing depths, which significantly increases the cost.
[0003] Therefore, designing an acoustic lens packaging model that can change the focusing depth has become a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention
[0004] The present invention provides an acoustic lens packaging model, which allows users to independently replace focusing acoustic lenses with different focusing depths according to different clinical needs.
[0005] According to one aspect of the embodiment, an acoustic lens packaging model is proposed, comprising: an ultrasonic transducer probe and a plurality of focused acoustic lenses with different focusing depths, each of the focused acoustic lenses being connected to a packaging shell, the ultrasonic transducer probe being configured to be able to be assembled onto the packaging shell to which the focused acoustic lenses with different focusing depths are connected, so as to achieve coupling with the focused acoustic lenses with different focusing depths, and a medium is filled between the ultrasonic transducer probe and the focused acoustic lens.
[0006] In the above-mentioned acoustic lens packaging model, the ultrasonic transducer probe is detachably mounted on the first end of the packaging shell, and the focusing acoustic lens is fixed on the second end of the packaging shell and arranged opposite to the ultrasonic transducer probe to couple external acoustic signals to the ultrasonic transducer probe and couple out the acoustic signals generated by the ultrasonic transducer probe.
[0007] In the above-mentioned acoustic lens packaging model, the ultrasonic transducer probe includes: a base frame, which includes a receiving portion; a PCB board, which is horizontally fixed in the receiving portion; and an ultrasonic transducer, which is located at the center of the PCB board.
[0008] In the above-mentioned acoustic lens packaging model, the ultrasonic transducer probe has a protective acoustic lens that covers the PCB board to protect the ultrasonic transducer and cooperates with the focusing acoustic lens to increase the bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer, and the protective acoustic lens is parallel to the ultrasonic transducer.
[0009] In the above-mentioned acoustic lens packaging model, the ultrasonic transducer is located at the focal position of the focusing acoustic lens.
[0010] In the above-mentioned acoustic lens packaging model, the interior of the first end of the packaging shell has a first annular boss, the open end of the accommodating portion is placed on the first boss, the side surface of the accommodating portion is attached to the packaging shell, the bottom of the accommodating portion is coplanar with the end surface of the first end of the packaging shell, and the bottom of the accommodating portion is connected to the end surface of the first end of the packaging shell through a first fixing plate to cooperate with the first boss to fix the base frame in the axial direction.
[0011] Compared with the traditional ultrasonic probe, the present invention provides good sealing protection for the ultrasonic transducer and can replace the acoustic lens with different focusing depths according to different clinical needs. Therefore, the double-layer acoustic lens packaging model proposed by the present invention can be applied and promoted in more sensing fields. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an acoustic lens packaging model according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] Figure 2 is an exploded view of an acoustic lens packaging model according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0014] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of an acoustic lens packaging model according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 4( a ) is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic transducer pulse echo response and spectrum experiment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0016] FIG4( b ) is a diagram showing the bandwidth of the double-layer acoustic lens packaging model and the ultrasonic transducer with a traditional matching layer and without an acoustic lens configuration determined based on the experimental results shown in FIG4( a ). DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] like Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 4 , a double-layer acoustic lens packaging model includes an ultrasonic transducer 10 , a PCB board 11 , a base frame 12 , a packaging shell 13 , a medium 14 , a focusing acoustic lens 15 , a protective acoustic lens 16 , a first fixing plate 17 and a second fixing plate 18 .
[0018] The base frame 12 includes a housing 120, and the bottom 125 of the housing 120 has a lead hole 121, and the lead hole 121 protrudes outward to form a cylindrical channel 122 for receiving the wire. The PCB board 11 is horizontally fixed in the housing 120. The ultrasonic transducer 10 is located at the center of the PCB board 101. The ultrasonic transducer 10 can use a CMUT. The protective acoustic lens 16 is located in the housing 120 and covers the PCB board 11. The protective acoustic lens 16 covers the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the PCB board 11 to achieve electrical insulation and protect the CMUT made by the micromachining process from destructive mechanical damage caused by destructive factors such as external environmental vibration and impact. The base frame 12, the ultrasonic transducer 10, the PCB board 11 and the protective acoustic lens 16 constitute an ultrasonic transducer probe as a whole. The PCB board 11 is used to process the acoustic signal received by the ultrasonic transducer 10 and control the ultrasonic transducer 10 to transmit the acoustic signal.
[0019] The encapsulation shell 13 is a hollow structure. The base frame 12 is mounted on the first end 130 of the encapsulation shell 13. The first end 130 has an annular first boss 131 inside. The open end 123 of the accommodating portion 120 is placed on the first boss 131, the side 124 of the accommodating portion 120 is close to the encapsulation shell 13, and the bottom 125 of the accommodating portion 120 is coplanar with the end face 132 of the first end 130 of the encapsulation shell 13. The first fixing plate 17 is fixed to the end face 132 of the first end 130 of the encapsulation shell 13 and the bottom 125 of the accommodating portion 120 by screws / screws 170, etc., and cooperates with the first boss 131 to fix the base frame 12 in the axial direction. The end face 132 of the first end 130 has a screw hole / screw hole 133 matching the screw / screw 170. The first fixing plate 17 has a hole 171 for the cylindrical channel 122 to pass through.
[0020] The focusing acoustic lens 15 can focus and amplify the acoustic wave signal, enhance the sound pressure intensity at the receiving end, and improve the transmitting and receiving capabilities of the ultrasonic transducer. The focusing acoustic lens 15 is installed at the second end 134 of the package shell 13, and is aligned with the ultrasonic transducer 10 on the base frame 12, and its focus is exactly located at the position of the ultrasonic transducer 10, which can couple the external acoustic signal to the ultrasonic transducer 10, and couple out the acoustic signal generated by the ultrasonic transducer 10. The interior of the second end 134 of the shell 13 has an annular second boss 135. The edge 153 of the face 150 of the focusing acoustic lens 15 facing the ultrasonic transducer 10 is placed on the second boss 135. The side 151 of the focusing acoustic lens 15 is attached to the package shell 103. The face 152 of the focusing acoustic lens 15 facing away from the ultrasonic transducer 10 is exposed from the second end 134. The second fixing plate 18 is fixed to the end face 136 of the second end 134 of the package shell 103 and the edge 154 of the surface 152 of the focusing acoustic lens 15 facing away from the ultrasonic transducer 10 by means of screws / screws 180, etc., and cooperates with the second boss 135 to fix the focusing acoustic lens 15 in the axial direction. The end face 136 of the second end 134 of the package shell 13 has a screw hole / screw hole matching the screw / screw 180. The second fixing plate 18 has a hole 181 for the cylindrical channel 122 to pass through. The present invention does not limit the connection method of the focusing acoustic lens 15 and the second end 134 of the shell 13, and any known technology can be used to assemble them together.
[0021] In one embodiment, the acoustic lens packaging model includes: a base frame 12 (i.e., an ultrasonic transducer probe) equipped with an ultrasonic transducer 10, a PCB board 11, and a protective acoustic lens 16; and a plurality of focusing acoustic lenses 15 equipped with a packaging shell 13. Different focusing acoustic lenses 15 have different focusing depths and different external dimensions, so each focusing acoustic lens 15 is equipped with a packaging shell 13, but the dimensions of the first ends 130 of different packaging shells 13 connected to the base frame 12 are consistent, so that the ultrasonic transducer probe can be disassembled from the packaging shell 13 connected to the focusing acoustic lens 15 of one focusing depth and assembled to the packaging shell 13 connected to the focusing acoustic lens 15 of another focusing depth, so as to adjust the focusing depth. By disassembling the first fixing plate 17, the base frame 12 can be disassembled from the shell 13 equipped with the focusing acoustic lens 15 of one focusing depth, and then the base frame 12 can be assembled to the shell 13 equipped with the focusing acoustic lens 15 of another focusing depth. No matter which focusing acoustic lens 15 the ultrasonic transducer probe is matched with, the ultrasonic transducer 10 is always located at the focal position of the focusing acoustic lens 15 .
[0022] The present invention provides good sealing protection for the ultrasonic transducer and can replace acoustic lenses with different focusing depths according to different clinical needs. Therefore, the lens packaging model of the present invention can be applied and promoted in more sensing fields.
[0023] The focusing acoustic lens 15 and the protective acoustic lens 16 may be made of a convex lens, a concave lens or a flat lens. The materials of the focusing acoustic lens 15 and the protective acoustic lens 16 may be polyurethane (PU), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), copolymer of styrene and acrylate (NAS), polypropylene (PP), poly-4-methylpentene-1 (TPX), room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV), etc.
[0024] In one embodiment, the focusing acoustic lens 15 is a plano-convex lens, and the lens material is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which can achieve a better acoustic focusing effect.
[0025] In one embodiment, the protective acoustic lens 16 is a flat lens to ensure that the sound waves maintain their original direction when passing through, and the lens material is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The surface of the protective acoustic lens 16 is as parallel and smooth as possible to the surface of the ultrasonic transducer 10 to prevent any angular changes in the sound waves when incident and emitted.
[0026] The medium 14 fills the internal space of the packaging shell 13. Specifically, the medium 14 is added between the focusing acoustic lens 15 and the protective acoustic lens 16. The medium 14 should have a low sound wave propagation loss to ensure that the sound wave loss is reduced and the transmission efficiency of the sound energy is improved. When selecting the medium 14, it is necessary to match the acoustic impedance of the focusing acoustic lens 15 and the protective acoustic lens 16, and minimize the sound wave propagation loss. Acoustic impedance is defined as the product of density and sound speed. The difference in acoustic impedance between two objects is defined as impedance mismatch; the greater the mismatch in acoustic impedance, the more energy is reflected at the boundary between the two media. The material of the medium 14 can be silicone oil, water, salt water of appropriate concentration, etc.
[0027] If the focusing acoustic lens 15 and the protective acoustic lens 16 are made of PDMS, the acoustic impedance of PDMS is usually between 1.7 and 1.8 MPa·s / m, and the acoustic impedance of water is about 1.54 MPa·s / m. It can be seen that the acoustic impedances of water and PDMS are relatively matched.
[0028] When salt is dissolved in water, it increases the mass of the water, causing the density of the water to increase. The dissolution of salt also affects the compressibility of water, thereby affecting the propagation speed of sound waves in water. The density and compressibility of water can be increased by adding salt to water, thereby increasing the acoustic impedance of water. Therefore, salt water of appropriate concentration is selected as the medium 14, and its acoustic impedance matches the acoustic impedance of the focusing acoustic lens 15 and the protective acoustic lens 16 made of PDMS material to maximize the transmission efficiency of acoustic energy.
[0029] The present invention uses two acoustic lenses 15 and 16 to form good packaging protection while also providing good acoustic impedance matching, which can enhance the sound pressure intensity at the focus and focus the sound waves to the ultrasonic transducer 10, thereby improving imaging resolution and sensitivity.
[0030] For an acoustic lens packaging model composed of an ultrasonic transducer probe and a plurality of focused acoustic lenses 15 with different focusing depths, when the user assembles the ultrasonic transducer probe by himself, the user first needs to add the medium 14 into the packaging shell 13 matched with the focused acoustic lens 15, and then connect the ultrasonic transducer probe to the packaging shell 13. Since the focused acoustic lens 15 and the ultrasonic transducer probe are respectively fixed at both ends of the packaging shell 13 and form a closed environment, the medium 14 will not leak.
[0031] The materials of the package shell 13, the base frame 12, the first fixing plate 16, and the second fixing plate 17 can be PLA, ABS, photosensitive resin, aluminum alloy, etc. The sides of the first fixing plate 16 and the second fixing plate 17 are consistent with the package shell 13, and have multiple edges to facilitate demoulding during processing.
[0032] In the field of ultrasonic imaging, bandwidth is a key performance indicator used to define the effective operating frequency range of the transducer. A larger bandwidth can improve spatial resolution, thereby presenting finer details in the image. Selecting a suitable transmission frequency in different application scenarios can improve the accuracy of ultrasonic detection and the adjustability of the scanning range, which greatly improves subsequent data processing and imaging. The present invention uses a double-layer acoustic lens composed of a focusing acoustic lens 15 and a protective acoustic lens 16 to improve ultrasonic focusing and transmission efficiency while also significantly improving bandwidth. The use of PDMS material for the focusing acoustic lens 15 and the protective acoustic lens 16 is also helpful in improving bandwidth.
[0033] In order to evaluate the performance of the double-layer acoustic lens packaging model of the present invention, a bandwidth measurement comparison experiment was conducted using a traditional matching layer and an equivalent thickness reference object without a lens. The traditional matching layer is directly on the ultrasonic transducer, has no focusing function, and only relies on the material itself to solve the problem of acoustic impedance matching to reduce the reflection loss of the sound wave between the transducer and the medium, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of the sound wave.
[0034] The pulse echo method is used to test the bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer. This method can test the relative sensitivity bandwidth of the transducer. Figure 4 (a) shows a schematic diagram of the pulse echo response and spectrum experiment. The double-layer acoustic lens packaging model of the present invention, the ultrasonic transducer using a traditional matching layer, and the ultrasonic transducer without an acoustic lens are used as transmitters (a) and are connected to a DPR300 pulse generator / receiver (d) running at 3MHz pulse repetition. The transmitter (a) faces an aluminum block (b). During operation, it can convert the echo reflected from the interface or defects in the material into electrical signals and send them to the DPR300. The DPR300 amplifies these signals and applies adjustable high-pass and low-pass filtering. The echo signal V echo Both the voltage and the driving signal V0 are recorded on an oscilloscope (c) for analysis.
[0035] Figure 4(b) shows the bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer determined from the experimental results for the double-layer acoustic lens packaging model as well as the traditional matching layer and the configuration without an acoustic lens. The results show that the use of lenses can significantly improve the bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer. Specifically, the double-layer acoustic lens packaging model achieves a bandwidth of 36.5%, significantly higher than the 33.6% observed in the configuration without a lens. The wider bandwidth enables the ultrasonic transducer to cover a wider frequency range, thereby providing more comprehensive frequency information and improving the overall quality of imaging and detection.
Claims
1. An acoustic lens packaging model, characterized in that: include: An ultrasonic transducer probe and a plurality of focused acoustic lenses with different focusing depths, each of the focused acoustic lenses being connected to a packaging shell, the ultrasonic transducer probe being configured to be assembled onto the packaging shell to which the focused acoustic lenses with different focusing depths are connected, so as to achieve coupling with the focused acoustic lenses with different focusing depths, and a medium being filled between the ultrasonic transducer probe and the focused acoustic lenses.
2. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ultrasonic transducer probe is detachably mounted on the first end of the packaging shell, and the focusing acoustic lens is fixed on the second end of the packaging shell and arranged opposite to the ultrasonic transducer probe to couple external acoustic signals to the ultrasonic transducer probe and couple out acoustic signals generated by the ultrasonic transducer probe.
3. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The ultrasonic transducer probe comprises: a base frame, which comprises a receiving portion; a PCB board, which is horizontally fixed in the receiving portion; and an ultrasonic transducer, which is located at the center of the PCB board.
4. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 3, characterized in that: The ultrasonic transducer probe has a protective acoustic lens which covers the PCB board to protect the ultrasonic transducer and cooperates with the focusing acoustic lens to increase the bandwidth of the ultrasonic transducer. The protective acoustic lens is parallel to the ultrasonic transducer.
5. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 3, characterized in that: The ultrasonic transducer is located at the focal point of the focusing acoustic lens.
6. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first end of the packaging shell has a first annular boss inside, the open end of the accommodating portion is placed on the first boss, the side of the accommodating portion is attached to the packaging shell, the bottom of the accommodating portion is coplanar with the end face of the first end of the packaging shell, and the bottom of the accommodating portion is connected to the end face of the first end of the packaging shell through a first fixing plate to cooperate with the first boss to fix the base frame in the axial direction.
7. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 3, characterized in that: The interior of the second end of the shell is provided with a second annular boss, the edge of the focusing acoustic lens facing the ultrasonic transducer is placed on the second boss, the side surface of the focusing acoustic lens is attached to the packaging shell, the surface of the focusing acoustic lens facing away from the ultrasonic transducer is exposed from the second end, and the end surface of the second end of the packaging shell and the edge of the surface of the focusing acoustic lens facing away from the ultrasonic transducer are connected by a second fixing plate to cooperate with the second boss to fix the focusing acoustic lens in the axial direction.
8. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 3, characterized in that: The bottom of the accommodation portion is provided with a lead hole, and the wire connected to the PCB board passes through the lead hole.
9. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the medium is silicone oil, water, or salt water.
10. The acoustic lens packaging model according to claim 9, characterized in that: The focusing acoustic lens and the protective acoustic lens are made of polyurethane, polydimethylsiloxane, polymethyl methacrylate, polystyrene, a copolymer of styrene and acrylate, polypropylene, poly-4-methylpentene-1 or room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber.