Investigations of compact self focusing transducers using stacked piezoelectric elements for strong sound pulses in therapy

A new design for self-focusing piezoelectric transducers used in therapy is presented. Common transducers have large dimensions with diameters up to 500 mm in order to generate sufficiently high-pressure pulses. The reduction of the overall size can be achieved by a stacked placement of the single piezoelectric elements. Two prototype transducers of different dimensions are investigated considering their acoustic output compared to the former design. It is shown that similar focusing properties as well as comparable pressure pulse shapes and amplitudes can be achieved at significantly smaller transducer dimensions.