Ultrasonic transducer array with a reduced number of transducer elements

US5488956A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Siemens Aktiengesellschaft · DE

Inventors

• Hartmut Bartelt · Erlangen, DE
• Ekkert Bartosch · Erlangen, DE
• Peter Kraemmer · Erlangen, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 23, 1994
• Grant date: Feb 6, 1996
• Expiry date: Sep 23, 2014

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01S15/8925
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An ultrasonic transducer array in which distances between the array's transducer elements (T.sub.ij) increase in the direction of the rows (x direction) and in the direction of the columns (y direction) from a center of symmetry (S) outward. The integral over a straight-line function f(x) and/or g(y), which steeply decreases on either side of a center of symmetry (S) between the center points (M.sub.ij) of adjacent transducer elements (T.sub.ij), is constant for each row and/or column. Thus, the number of transducer elements (T.sub.ij) is reduced without considerable deterioration of the beam characteristic of the transducer array.