Patent ID: 8740800

Claim:
An ultrasonic endoscope comprising: an ultrasonic transducer having an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving surface that is bent, the ultrasonic transducer including: a flexible sheet; a plurality of transducer elements arranged on an upper surface of the flexible sheet, wherein each of the plurality of transducer elements is a minimum driving unit of the ultrasonic transducer; and a groove portion formed between adjacent transducer elements of the plurality of transducer elements to reach the flexible sheet, so as to isolate adjacent transducer elements with respect to each other; wherein, a transducer element of the plurality of transducer elements includes at least one transducer cell, a transducer element of the plurality of transducer elements comprising: a rigid body portion having a lower side arranged on the upper surface of the flexible sheet such that the flexible sheet is bendable along the groove portion, the rigid body portion comprising a lower electrode, an insulating partition portion arranged on an upper side of the rigid body portion, the insulating partition portion defining at least one cavity, wherein each of the at least one cavity corresponds to one transducer cell of the transducer element, and an upper electrode separated by the insulating partition portion from and opposed to the lower electrode.