Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Akifumi Suzuki

Hiroshi Sasaki

Masayuki Takano

Kaoru Machida

Yushichi Kikuchi

An attachment to a diagnostic ultrasound probe having a beam radiating surface from which ultrasound beam is radiated in a first plane toward a skin surface of an organic body through the attachment which comprises a reservoir section containing acoustic medium. The reservoir section includes an auxiliary membrane, a contact membrane, and a first plane. The auxiliary membrane has an outer surface in contact with the beam radiating surface and is capable of transmitting an ultrasound beam. The contact membrane is arranged to face the auxiliary membrane, has an outer surface in contact with the skin surface of an organic body, and an inner surface, and is capable of transmitting an ultrasound beam. The first wall connects the auxiliary membrane with the contact membrane and has the inner surface crossing the first plane. When an ultrasound beam is radiated from the beam radiating surface and transmitted to the contact membrane, the ultrasound beam is split into a component transmitted through the contact membrane and transferred to the skin surface in the first plane, and the remaining component reflected by the inner surface of the contact membrane. When the remaining component of ultrasound beam is transferred to the first wall in the first plane, a major part of ultrasound beam reflected by the inner surface of the first wall is prevented from being returned to the contact membrane to be reflected by the inner surface thereof, and from being returned to the beam radiating surface.

Attachment for diagnostic ultrasound probe

A coupler for use between an ultrasonic transducer probe and a sample to be examined thereby to keep the ultrasonic transducer probe and the sample spaced a prescribed distance from each other includes an acoustic lens in an area through which a ultrasonic signal is to pass from the ultrasonic transducer probe. The acoustic lens allows the focusing point of the lens of the ultrasonic transducer probe to be shifted to a desired position. Since the ultrasonic transducer probe and the sample are spaced from each other by the coupler, the image of an observed region of the sample can be positioned in a wide field of view on a screen.

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Otawara, Japan

Akifumi Suzuki