In general probe, the focal length in the elevational direction and resolution are fixed by the acoustic lens, so that sufficient resolution cannot be obtained in the region other than the focal point, except for special ultrasonic probes. Therefore, to improve the elevational resolution in the very shallow region, we devised the "narrow aperture method" for attaching a tape slit to an acoustic lens, and verified the method and its effect. The result of the study, for the slit, use Transpore™ tape overlaid on three layers and set the slit width to 1 mm. In addition, as a result of measurement of the slice thickness of the linear probe PLT-1204B manufactured by Canon Medical Systems, it was possible to reduce the slice thickness to a depth of 9 mm by 1 mm slit. The effectiveness of a 1 mm slit was also confirmed by probes from other companies. Moreover, it was found that the beam profile of 1 mm slit has almost the same shape even if the probe is different. The narrow aperture method of the acoustic lens can improve the elevational resolution in a very shallow region of a general ultrasonic probe.

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