Ultrasound probe transducer assembly and production method

Abstract

An improved ultrasound transducer assembly, e.g. a thickness-mode transducer assembly includes a plurality of elements comprising piezoelectric material, and a backing material disposed adjacent to a back surface of the plurality of elements. The piezoelectric material and backing material define at least a portion of a side surface, wherein an electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with at least a portion of the side surface. The elements may comprise one or a plurality of front electrodes, and one or a plurality of back electrodes, wherein the front electrode(s) is electrically interconnected to the electrically conductive material disposed on the side surface portion. In a mass processing method, a plurality of thickness-mode ultrasound probe transducer assemblies may be produced, wherein a plurality of interconnected transducer subassemblies comprising a mass backing are processed in tandem.

1 . A transducer assembly for an ultrasound probe comprising: 
 a plurality of elements comprising piezoelectric material, said elements having a front surface and a back surface opposite the front; and    backing material adjacent to the back surface of the plurality of elements, wherein the piezoelectric material and said backing material define at least two side surface portions, wherein each of said at least two side surface portions have electrically conductive material disposed upon and in contact therewith, wherein the electrically conductive material forms at least two electrically isolated regions, and wherein each of said at least two electrically isolated regions is electrically connected to at least one of said plurality of elements.    
   
   
       2 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one of said plurality of elements comprises a front electrode defining its front surface, said front electrode being electrically connected to at least one of said at least two electrically isolated regions.  
   
   
       3 . The transducer assembly of  claim 2 , in which at least two of said plurality of elements each comprise a corresponding front electrode defining the corresponding front surface and being electrically connected to different ones of said at least two electrically isolated regions.  
   
   
       4 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , in which the at least two side surface portions are located on a common side of said transducer assembly.  
   
   
       5 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1  in which at least two of said plurality of elements each comprise a corresponding front electrode defining the corresponding front surface and being electrically connected to different ones of said at least two electrically isolated regions, and wherein each of said plurality of elements further comprises a back electrode defining its back surface, each of said back electrodes being electrically isolated from the electrically conductive material.  
   
   
       6 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , in which said elements are arranged to form a 1D array.  
   
   
       7 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , in which said elements are arranged to form a 2D array.  
   
   
       8 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , in which the electrically conductive material comprises one or more metal layers.  
   
   
       9 . The transducer assembly of  claim 8 , in which at least one metal layer comprises copper.  
   
   
       10 . The transducer assembly of  claim 8 , in which at least one metal layer is selected from the group consisting of copper, gold, chromium, nickel and nichrome.  
   
   
       11 . The transducer assembly of  claim 8 , in which the electrically conductive material comprises a first layer comprising chromium and a second layer of comprising copper.  
   
   
       12 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , in which the electrically conductive material comprises a curable conductive material.  
   
   
       13 . The transducer assembly of  claim 12 , in which the electrically conductive material comprises a first component consisting of said metalized layer and a second component consisting of a curable conductive material.  
   
   
       14 . The transducer assembly of  claim 13 , in which the curable conductive material comprises silver loaded epoxy.  
   
   
       15 . The transducer assembly of  claim 14 , in which the metalized layer comprises copper.  
   
   
       16 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , in which said backing material has a front surface adjacent to the back surfaces of the plurality of elements and a back surface, wherein the side surface includes at least one edge adjacent to the back surface of the backing material.  
   
   
       17 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , in which said backing material includes at least one conductive pathway embedded within said backing material, the conductive pathway extending from a back surface of said backing material to electrically contact at least one of said plurality of elements.  
   
   
       18 . The transducer assembly of  claim 17 , in which said backing material includes a plurality of conductive pathways embedded within said backing material, each of the plurality of conductive pathways extending from a back surface of said backing material to electrically contact a different, corresponding one of said plurality of elements  
   
   
       19 . The transducer assembly of  claim 1 , wherein each of said electrically isolated regions has a front electrode of at least one element electrically connected to it, and wherein each of the plurality of elements further comprise a back electrode defining its back surface, each said back electrode being electrically isolated from the conductive material.  
   
   
       20 . The transducer assembly of  claim 19 , in which each of the front electrodes is electrically isolated from each of the other front electrodes.  
   
   
       21 . The transducer assembly of  claim 19 , in which each of the back electrodes is electrically isolated from each of the other back electrodes.  
   
   
       22 . An ultrasound probe transducer assembly comprising: 
 a backing material having a plurality of conductive portions extending through said backing material and separated by electrically insulating material, wherein the plurality of conductive portions include at least one ground path and a plurality of signal paths; and    a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements comprising piezoelectric material, said plurality of ultrasound transducer elements being electrically connected to said at least one electrically conductive ground path and electrically connected to different ones of said plurality of signal paths.    
   
   
       23 . A transducer assembly for an ultrasound probe comprising: 
 a plurality of elements, said elements having a front surface and a back surface opposite the front surface and comprising piezoelectric material, wherein each of said elements has a front electrode defining the front surface and a back electrode defining the back surface;    backing material having a plurality of electrically conductive portions extending therethrough, the electrically conductive portions separated by electrically insulating portions, said backing material being adjacent to the back surfaces of said back electrodes, wherein said piezoelectric material and said backing material define at least one side surface, the side surface including both said piezoelectric material and said backing material; and    electrically conductive material disposed upon and in contact with the at least one side surface, wherein at least one of said front electrodes is electrically connected to said electrically conductive material and at least one of said back electrodes is electrically connected to at least one conductive portion of said backing material.    
   
   
       24 . The transducer assembly of  claim 23 , in which the side surface includes at least one edge adjacent to a back surface of the backing material.  
   
   
       25 . The transducer assembly of  claim 23 , in which said backing material includes at least one conductive pathway embedded within said backing material, the conductive pathway extending from the back of said backing material to the conductive material on the side surface.  
   
   
       26 . The transducer assembly of  claim 23 , in which each said front electrode is electrically connected to a ground.  
   
   
       27 .- 73 . (canceled)  
   
   
       74 . The transducer assembly of  claim 2 , wherein said electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with a front surface of said piezoelectric material to define a front electrode of said at least one of said plurality of elements.  
   
   
       75 . The transducer assembly of  claim 3 , wherein said electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with a front surface of said piezoelectric material to define a front electrode of said at least two of said plurality of elements.  
   
   
       76 . The transducer assembly of  claim 13 , in which the metalized layer comprises copper.  
   
   
       77 . A transducer assembly for an ultrasound probe comprising: 
 a plurality of elements comprising piezoelectric material, said elements having a front surface and a back surface opposite the front; and    backing material adjacent to the back surface of the plurality of elements, wherein the piezoelectric material and said backing material define at least a portion of a side surface, the side surface including both said piezoelectric material and backing material, wherein electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with said portion of the side surface, and wherein the electrically conductive material comprises at least one of a curable conductive material and a metalized layer.    
   
   
       78 . The transducer assembly of  claim 77 , in which the electrically conductive material comprises a first component consisting of a metalized layer and a second component consisting of a curable conductive material.  
   
   
       79 . The transducer assembly of  claim 78 , in which the curable conductive material comprises silver loaded epoxy.  
   
   
       80 . The transducer assembly of  claim 79 , in which the metalized layer comprises copper.  
   
   
       81 . The transducer assembly of  claim 78 , in which the curable conductive material comprises silver loaded epoxy.  
   
   
       82 . The transducer assembly of  claim 77 , in which said backing material has a front surface adjacent to the back surfaces of the plurality of elements and a back surface, wherein the side surface includes at least one edge adjacent to the back surface of the backing material.  
   
   
       83 . The transducer assembly of  claim 77 , in which said backing material includes at least one conductive pathway embedded within said backing material, the conductive pathway extending from a back surface of said backing material to electrically contact at least one of said plurality of elements.  
   
   
       84 . The transducer assembly of  claim 83 , in which said backing material includes a plurality of conductive pathways embedded within said backing material, each of the plurality of conductive pathways extending from a back surface of said backing material to electrically contact a different, corresponding one of said plurality of elements  
   
   
       85 . The transducer assembly of  claim 77 , in which the electrically conductive material consists of at least two electrically isolated regions, wherein each of said electrically isolated regions has a front electrode of at least one element electrically connected to it, and wherein each of the plurality of elements further comprise a back electrode defining its back surface, each said back electrode being electrically isolated from the conductive material.  
   
   
       86 . The transducer assembly of  claim 85 , in which each of the front electrodes is electrically isolated from each of the other front electrodes.  
   
   
       87 . The transducer assembly of  claim 85 , in which each of the back electrodes is electrically isolated from each of the other back electrodes.  
   
   
       88 . The transducer assembly of  claim 77 , wherein said at least one of said plurality of elements comprises a front electrode defining its front surface, said front electrode being electrically connected to at least one of said at least two electrically isolated regions.  
   
   
       89 . The transducer assembly of  claim 88 , wherein said electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with a front surface of said piezoelectric material to define said front electrode of said at least one of said plurality of elements.  
   
   
       90 . The transducer assembly of  claim 77 , in which at least two of said plurality of elements each comprise a corresponding front electrode defining the corresponding front surface and being electrically connected to different ones of said at least two electrically isolated regions.  
   
   
       91 . The transducer assembly of  claim 90 , wherein said electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with a front surface of said piezoelectric material to define said front electrode of said at least two of said plurality of elements.  
   
   
       92 . A transducer assembly for an ultrasound probe comprising: 
 a plurality of elements comprising piezoelectric material, said elements having a front surface and a back surface opposite the front; and    backing material adjacent to the back surface of the plurality of elements, wherein the piezoelectric material and said backing material define at least a portion of a side surface, the side surface including both said piezoelectric material and backing material, wherein electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with said portion of the side surface and wherein the electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with a front surface of said piezoelectric material to define a front electrode of said at least one of said plurality of elements.    
   
   
       93 . The transducer assembly of  claim 92 , wherein said electrically conductive material is disposed upon and in contact with a front surface of said piezoelectric material to define a front electrode of said at least two of said plurality of elements.  
   
   
       94 . The transducer assembly of  claim 92 , in which the electrically conductive material comprises a first component consisting of a metalized layer and a second component consisting of a curable conductive material.  
   
   
       95 . The transducer assembly of  claim 94 , in which the curable conductive material comprises silver loaded epoxy.  
   
   
       96 . The transducer assembly of  claim 95 , in which the metalized layer comprises copper.  
   
   
       97 . The transducer assembly of  claim 94 , in which the metalized layer comprises copper.