CN-114630623-B - Ultrasonic transducer array

Abstract

In an ultrasound transducer array (T) having a plurality of Transducer Elements (TE), each transducer element having a respective field of view (FOV-1 to FOV-5), the ultrasound transducer array (T) is positionable about an object having a curved surface (S) resulting in a convergence of the respective fields of view of the Transducer Elements (TE), the Transducer Elements (TE) being arranged or being arrangeable on the ultrasound transducer array (T) in a manner opposite to the curvature of the curved surface (S) so as to counteract the convergence of the respective fields of view.

Inventors

• P. C. hamelman
• A.F. Collen

Assignees

• 皇家飞利浦有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20201027

Priority Date

20191105

Claims (4)

1. 1. An ultrasound transducer array (T) having a plurality of Transducer Elements (TE), each transducer element having a respective field of view (FOV-1 to FOV-5), the ultrasound transducer array (T) being positionable about an object having a curved surface (S) resulting in convergence of the respective fields of view of the Transducer Elements (TE), wherein the Transducer Elements (TE) are or can be arranged on the ultrasound transducer array (T) in a manner opposite to the curvature of the curved surface (S) so as to counteract convergence of the respective fields of view, wherein the respective orientation of the Transducer Elements (TE) can be adjusted and the Transducer Elements (TE) are arranged in a sodium acetate liquid which, when crystalline nuclei are provided by an actuator, can change its state from liquid to solid, thereby fixing the respective orientation.
2. 2. The ultrasound transducer array (T) according to claim 1, wherein the Transducer Elements (TE) are arranged in the ultrasound transducer array (T) at respective tilt angles that are opposite to the angle at which the Transducer Elements (TE) would be positioned when the transducer array (T) is positioned around the object.
3. 3. A set of ultrasound transducer arrays (T) formed by the ultrasound transducer array (T) according to claim 2, wherein the set of ultrasound transducer arrays comprises: A first ultrasound transducer array (T) having first Transducer Elements (TE) arranged in the first ultrasound transducer array (T) at a first respective tilt angle, and A second ultrasound transducer array (T) having second Transducer Elements (TE) arranged in the second ultrasound transducer array (T) at second respective tilt angles, each of the second respective tilt angles exceeding a corresponding one of the first respective tilt angles.
4. 4. An ultrasound system (100), the system comprising: An ultrasound transducer array according to any one of claims 1-2, or a set of ultrasound transducer arrays according to claim 3, and A processor (120) adapted to receive and process ultrasound signals acquired by the ultrasound transducer array or from a selected ultrasound transducer array of the set of transducer arrays.

Description

Ultrasonic transducer array Technical Field The present invention relates to an ultrasound transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements. Background US 3780725 discloses a fetal heartbeat monitoring system in which a plurality of ultrasound beams are transmitted at different angles into the uterus of a mother. The plurality of receiving transducers are tilted at different angles to receive signals reflected from the fetal and/or uterine wall, the frequency of the reflected signals being different from the frequency of the transmitted signals, wherein the different amounts correspond to the rate of fetal heart movement. A system for calculating velocity from the generated doppler fetal heart motion signal is employed that utilizes frequency domain techniques. The heart rate signal is extracted from the doppler heart motion signal by a diode demodulator and a low frequency band pass filter. US 2018/130457 discloses an ultrasound array comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements on a carrier body which also carries an actuator arrangement formed of a material having an adjustable shape in response to electromagnetic stimulus, such as an electroactive polymer or an optically responsive polymer. US 2003/135135 discloses an ultrasound irradiation apparatus capable of easily irradiating a large area (range) of an object having a three-dimensional curved surface with ultrasound. Disclosure of Invention It is, among other things, an object of the present invention to provide an improved ultrasound transducer array. The invention is defined by the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. An aspect of the invention provides an ultrasound transducer array having a plurality of transducer elements, each transducer element having a respective field of view, the ultrasound transducer array being positionable about an object having a curved surface to cause convergence of the respective fields of view of the transducer elements, wherein the transducer elements are or can be arranged on the ultrasound transducer array in a manner opposite to the curvature of the curved surface so as to counteract the convergence of the respective fields of view. The term "surrounding" does not necessarily mean "all around", here, which refers to the transducer array being positioned along a curved surface of an object, for example, atop the abdomen of a pregnant woman, such that the transducer elements are directed toward the interior of the abdomen for fetal monitoring purposes. The invention is based on the insight that in prior art arrangements, due to the curvature of the maternal abdomen, all individual ultrasound transducer elements are directed towards the same region of the maternal abdomen, since the propagation of ultrasound waves is only perpendicular to the skin surface. This limits the overall field of view (FOV) of the ultrasound transducer array employed. Moreover, the ultrasound beams of multiple transducer elements may overlap to a large extent, which may lead to high levels of acoustic dose (safety risk). In embodiments of the present invention, the transducer elements are embedded in the ultrasound transducer array at a specific tilt angle to compensate for the curvature of the parent abdomen and produce a large overall FOV. Here, no complete and perfect compensation is required and the concept of "cancellation" should be understood accordingly, if the respective tilt angles at which the individual transducer elements are positioned in the transducer array are such that they reduce the net angle due to the positioning of the transducer array on the curved surface of the object, then under-compensation or over-compensation is allowed as it is sufficient. Thus, the concepts of "opposite angle" and "opposite way to the curvature of the curved surface" should not be understood as (resulting in) angles having exactly the same absolute value either. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. Drawings FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art ultrasound transducer array; Figure 2 shows an embodiment of an ultrasound transducer array according to the invention, and FIG. 3 shows the azimuth and elevation components of the tilt angle of an individual transducer element in a flexible transducer array, and Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of an ultrasound system including an ultrasound transducer array and a processor. Detailed Description Fig. 1 shows a prior art ultrasound transducer array T having a plurality of transducer elements TE, in this embodiment formed of 5 transducer elements TE, each having a respective field of view FOV-1, FOV-2, FOV-3, FOV-4, FOV-5, schematically represented by arrows representing the central axis of the cone-like field of view. When the ultrasonic transducer array T is bent along the skin S of the abdomen of the pregnant woman, as shown in the lower part