Patent ID: 7744539

Claim:
An ultrasonic endoscope comprising an insertion portion comprising: an angle part; a distal hard part; a cylindrical body that connects the angle part and the distal hard part; an ultrasonic transducer backing plate formed annularly; an endoscopic observation section attaching portion including a lighting portion and an observation portion, the lighting portion and the observation portion passing through an inside of the ultrasonic transducer backing plate and facing a front edge surface of the distal hard part; an ultrasonic transducer in which a plurality of ultrasonic vibrators are arranged in a cylindrical shape or in an arcuate shape so as to perform ultrasonic electronic scanning in a circumferential direction, the ultrasonic transducer being attached to the ultrasonic transducer backing plate, the ultrasonic transducer having a distal end side facing the front edge surface of the distal hard part and having a proximal end side facing away from the front edge surface of the distal hard part; a first flexible board connected to the distal end side of the ultrasonic transducer backing plate, a second flexible board connected to the proximal end side of the ultrasonic transducer backing plate, wherein the first flexible board comprises connection parts to electrodes of ones of the ultrasonic vibrators, the second flexible board comprises connection parts to electrodes of the other ones of the ultrasonic vibrators, each of the first and second flexible boards comprises a predetermined number of wire connection parts, wires are connected to each of the wire connection parts, those of the wires connected to the second flexible board are extended, and the first flexible board or those of the wires connected to the first flexible board are extended toward the angle part through a hollow part of the ultrasonic transducer backing plate, and after a wire of a tip end of the distal end side passes through the hollow part of the ultrasonic transducer once, the wire is disposed to change a direction thereof.