Transducer Engineering

The acoustic transducer of an ultrasound measurement system converts the electrical signals from the system into the acoustic wave and vice versa. The acoustic wave is used to collect the desired information from the medium or body (e. g., the distance to an object or changes in tissue or in materials). It is the front end of the measurement system in contact to the object or media of interest and with this an important, performance-determining part of the measurement chain. As it is in direct contact with the measurement object or the medium, it is also exposed to the environmental conditions at the measurement location and, as well as the necessary acoustic properties, also has to fulfil all of the requirements in terms of pressure, temperature, resistance to media, vibrations or shock. In addition to this, there are requirements in terms of space, design or appearance. Such a wide range of special requirements can generally only be fulfilled with an application-specific product development.

This is why we offer services for the new development or optimization of specialized sensors or actuators. This includes, for example, the specification and design of transducer systems, prototype construction, electric and acoustic validation as well as load and endurance tests. Our developments are already on the market in a wide range of products in the fields of medicine, industry or sonar applications. The frequency range in which we offer solutions knows almost no limits. It begins at low frequency at 20 kHz for cleaning or sonar applications, and ends at very high frequency at 1 GHz with sensors for applications in ultrasound microscopes. Other examples for possible sensors include:

  • medical phased, linear or curved arrays
  • matrix arrays for volumetric diagnostics
  • therapeutic and combined diagnostic/therapeutic sensors
  • catheter-based single-element transducers and arrays
  • sensors for flow measurement in gases and fluids (e. g. also clamp-on)
  • level or distance sensors (e. g. level metering in a tank, parking assistance)
  • echosounders, sidescan sonar systems
  • volumetric sonar sensors (based on Mills-Cross technology or full-matrix arrays)
  • special solutions for sonar-based object recognition (active/passive)

We work in close cooperation with the other development groups of the main department of Ultrasound and offer the entire development process from the idea to the product. Thanks to our long years of experience, our effective processes and excellent technical equipment, we can realize lean developments with short time-to-market.

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Technical Ultrasound

Industrial Sensors

Ultrasound is widely used for industrial measurements. The best possible interaction between transducer, coupling media and measurement object under given environmental conditions (e.g. pressure, temperature, propagation media) is a prerequisite for high quality and safe signal analysis.

Technical Ultrasound

Airborne Ultrasonic Transducers

To measure distances and flow in gases or to characterize surfaces of objects needs special ultrasound transducers adapted to the low impedance of gases.

Transducer with sensitive and broadband transfer characteristic at reasonable cost normally require an application specific development.

Technical Ultrasound

Wetted and Contact Transducers

Wetted and contact transducer form a special group of industrial transducers because they are in direct contact with the propagation medium or object. They do not only experience the environmental conditions like pressure and temperature but also need to have the media and abrasion resistance of an industrial environment

Technical Ultrasound

Power Ultrasound

Applications of ultrasound in which high acoustic power is transferred into a medium are so called ultrasonic power applications.

We offer the full range of development services and manufacturing technologies of highly efficient resonant systems for a broad range of applications.

 

Technical Ultrasound

Matrix Arrays

Matrix arrays allow to steer and focus the sound beam within the investigation volume by electronically controlling the excitation and analysis of the chessboard like arranged ultrasound transducers.

Serial qualification or the inspection of mov-ing parts require very short test times. IBMT develops customized matrix arrays for highest accuracy and short test times.n.