PI Ceramic, a global leader in the design and production of ultrasonic transducers, piezoelectric actuators and electro-ceramic mechanisms, offers a line of standard-size and miniaturized transducers for ultrasonic applications.
Image Credit: PI (Physik Instrumente) LP
Piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers can transmit and detect soundwaves up to very high frequencies in the Megahertz range. In medical applications, ultrasound is used for therapeutics, for tumors removal, for imaging, and also for blood flow monitoring. In industrial automation applications, contactless fluid metering of liquids and gases, and level detection systems are also based on ultrasound transducers. As for every-day life applications, most modern cars have piezoelectric ultrasound transducers built into their bumpers to help the drivers avoid collisions with nearby objects during parking maneuvers.
Piezo Effect and Ultrasound Generation
Piezoelectric materials convert electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa; the so-called inverse piezo effect is harnessed for the generation of oscillation and precision motion. For ultrasonic applications that require high bandwidth, hemispheres and hollow spheres are currently available with an outside diameter range from 2 – 100mm with wall thickness as small as 0.2mm. Uses for electro-ceramic spherical transducers include medical high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), therapeutic ultrasound, hydrophones, and sonar transducers.
Types of Piezoelectric Transducers
PI Ceramic designs and manufactures standard and custom piezoelectric ultrasound transducers. Available are the following standard and custom transducer types: discs, rings, rods, plates, cylinders, tubes, hemispheres, and hollow spheres for applications including therapeutics, surgery, echolocation (sonar), precision dosing, micro and nano-dispensing, digital printing, flow measurement, and downhole communication.
To learn more on the Applications of Ultrasound Piezo Transducers, read this Blog Post.