| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic probe which can obtain a high-resolution diagnostic image by avoiding the attenuation of an ultrasonic wave by an acoustic lens and which can increase directivity by virtue of structural simplicity, and ultrasonic diagnostic equipment. SOLUTION: An acoustic matching layer 2 is formed in such a manner that an acoustic impedance of the acoustic matching layer 2 is continuously changed in the direction of thickness to a value close to the acoustic impedance of a subject 15 from a value close to that of a piezoelectric element 1, and a subject-side surface 2s of the acoustic matching layer 2 is formed in a curved shape along the width direction and arrangement direction of the piezoelectric element 1. This enables ultrasonic beams to converge in the width direction so that the acoustic lens 13 can fall into disuse, and enables the ultrasonic beams to be diffused in the arrangement direction so that the directivity can be increased. The thickness of the acoustic matching layer 2 is set equal to/greater than half the wavelength of an ultrasonic frequency, so that a change in thickness, caused by the curved shape, cannot affect frequency characteristics. When a subject-side sonic velocity of the acoustic matching layer 2 is lower than the sonic velocity of the subject, the curved shape is convexly formed in the width direction and concavely formed in the arrangement direction. COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT |
