A cylindrical rod ultrasonic motor with 1 mm diameter and its application in endoscopic OCT

A tiny ultrasonic motor was constructed by using a piezoelectric ceramic cylindrical rod as a vibration generator of the stator. The fabricated tiny motor has a diameter of 1 mm, a length of 5 mm and a weight of 36 mg. The resonant frequency is 32 kHz with one fixed boundary or 83 kHz with two free boundaries. Four silver electrodes were deposited on the cylindrical surface. The spacing between two adjacent electrodes was carefully designed. A method was developed for the polarization of the stator. By using the bending vibration mode of the stator, the motor shows a performance with a speed of 1800 rpm and a stalled torque of 4 mu Nm, and can bear a high driving voltage up to 350 V-pp. The motor was used to drive an optical prism for circular scanning in an endoscopic OCT system. The tomographic images of the inner cavities of a plastic tube and a scallion were obtained, and the resolution was of the order of micrometer-scale.