| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To observe a wide angle visual field range while keeping the contact area with a living body small without polarizing ultrasonic beam, by constituting a probe by bending two-dimensional array vibrators at desired radii of curvature in respective axial directions. CONSTITUTION:A transmitting-receiving surface of an ultrasonic wave is constituted of (nXm) vibrators E1, 1-Em, n consisting of (n) vibrators in an x-axis direction and (m) vibrators in a y-axis direction and is a circular arc two-dimensional array bent at a radius Rx of curvature in the x-axis direction and at a radius Ry of curvature in the y-axis direction in the case of Rx=Ry in a radius of curvature, said array just becomes a square-shape taken out of a spherical surface having the radius Rx. As mentioned above, since the vibrators are two-dimensionally arranged in a circular arc state, scanning can be performed so as to spread ultrasonic beam in a solid angle manner and the contact area with a living body can be extremely reduced as compared with a visual field. Therefore, since a visual field can be observed over a wide range in spite of the same contact area, the three-dimensional imaging and observation of the interior of the heart or skull can be easily performed. |
