General Electric Company

Ge Precision Healthcare LLC

Frederic Lanteri

Flavien Daloz

Edouard Da Cruz

Charles Edward Baumgartner

Jean-Francois Gelly

Alan Tai

Serge Gerard Calisti

Rupak Bardhan Roy

Lowell Scott Smith

Scott William Easterbrook

Coraly Cuminatto

Maxence Borot

Charles Gerard Woychik

Douglas Glenn Wildes

Bruno Hans Haider

David Martin Mills

Robert Stephen Lewandowski

Edouard Dacruz

Giandonato Stallone

Jian Zhong Zhao

Jianzhong Zhao

Fan Zheng

Stephen Edwardsen

Alexandre Gilibert

Jeremie Barrel

Omid Farhanieh

Jean-François Gelly

Jean Francois Gelly

A capacitive transducer is provided. The capacitive transducer includes a plate including a protruding center mass and a substrate with a center depression configured to accept the center mass. The capacitive transducer also includes a first electrode coupled to a non-horizontal edge surface of the center mass and a second electrode coupled to a non-horizontal edge surface of the center depression. The capacitive transducer further includes a third electrode coupled to a horizontal edge surface of the center mass and a fourth electrode coupled to a horizontal edge surface of the center depression. The plate is coupled to the substrate at least along an outer perimeter area of the plate and the substrate.

Micromachined ultrasonic transources with dual out-of-plane and in-plane actuation and displacement

A micromachined ultrasonic transducers with non-coplanar actuation and displacement comprising a plate with a protruding center mass, a substrate with a center depression configured to accept the center mass, a first electrode coupled to a non-horizontal edge surface of the center mass, and a second electrode coupled to a non-horizontal edge surface of the center depression. The plate may be coupled to the substrate at least along an outer perimeter area of the plate and the substrate.

Micromachined ultrasonic transducers with non-coplanar actuation and displacement

A capacitive transducer comprising a top electrode and a bottom electrode, and a sidewall between the top electrode and the bottom electrode. The sidewall is configured to separate the top electrode and the bottom electrode by a gap. There is a high contact resistance part on one or both of a bottom side of the top electrode or a top side of the bottom electrode.

Capactive micromachined transducer having a high contact resistance part

A backing panel for a transducer of an ultrasound scanner probe, comprising a core layer sandwiched by a first skin layer and a second skin layer. The transducer may comprise a front portion and a rear portion, where the front portion points to a direction of a target for the ultrasound scanner probe, and the first skin layer is adjacent to the rear portion of the transducer.

Stressed-skin backing panel for image artifacts prevention

An ultrasound-enabled invasive medical device and a method of manufacturing the ultrasound-enabled invasive medical device. The ultrasound-enabled invasive medical device includes an invasive medical device, an electrical trace deposited either directly on the surface of the invasive medical device or onto an insulating layer covering at least a portion of the surface of the invasive medical device, where the electrical trace is deposited during an additive manufacturing process. The ultrasound-enabled invasive medical device includes an ultrasound transducer assembly attached to the invasive medical device and electrically connected to the electrical trace, and a transducer support structure attached to the invasive medical device, where the transducer support structure defines a nest that is adapted to receive the ultrasound transducer assembly.

Ultrasound-enabled invasive medical device and method of manufacturing an ultrasound-enabled invasive medical device

Various methods and systems are provided for maintaining polarization of an ultrasound probe and increasing image quality of an image generated during an imaging procedure. As one example, a method for an ultrasound imaging system may include executing one or more imaging sequences with an ultrasound transducer; and applying a repolarization sequence to the ultrasound transducer one or more of before, after, and interleaved between the one or more imaging sequences, where the repolarization sequence is separate from the one or more imaging sequences.

Methods and system for maintaining polarization of an ultrasound transducer

An ultrasound transducer and an ultrasound imaging system including an acoustic layer with a plurality of transducer elements and a dematching layer coupled to the acoustic layer. The dematching layer has an acoustic impedance greater than the acoustic layer and the dematching layer has a thickness that varies in order to alter a bandwidth of the ultrasound probe.

Ultrasound transducer and ultrasound imaging system with a variable thickness dematching layer

A method for forming an acoustical stack for an ultrasound probe comprises partly dicing a single crystal piezoelectric material to form single crystal pieces that are partly separated by a plurality of kerfs. The single crystal piezoelectric material comprises a carrier layer. The kerfs are filled with a kerf filling material to form a single crystal composite and the carrier layer is removed. At least one matching layer is attached to the single crystal composite, and dicing within the kerfs is accomplished to form separate acoustical stacks from the single crystal composite.

Method for forming an acoustical stack for an ultrasound probe

A system for improving the acoustic performance of an ultrasound transducer by reducing artifacts within the acoustic spectrum is disclosed. The system includes an acoustic layer having an array of acoustic elements, a dematching layer coupled to the acoustic layer and having an acoustic impedance greater than an acoustic impedance of the acoustic layer, and an interposer layer coupled to the dematching layer and comprising a substrate and a plurality of conductive element. The interposer layer is formed to have an acoustic impedance lower than the acoustic impedance of the dematching layer. The ultrasound transducer also includes an integrated circuit coupled to the interposer layer and electrically connected to the array of acoustic elements through the dematching layer and the interposer layer.

Ultrasound transducer with improved acoustic performance

An acoustical stack for an ultrasound probe comprises a piezoelectric layer having top and bottom sides and a plurality of matching layer sections forming a matching layer structure. Each of the matching layer sections comprises a spring layer comprising a first material and a mass layer comprising a second material that is different than the first material. The spring layer within the matching layer section that is positioned closest to the piezoelectric layer is thinner than the spring layer within the other matching layer sections.

Method for forming a matching layer structure of an acoustic stack

A method for manufacturing an acoustical stack for use within an ultrasound transducer comprises using a user defined center operating frequency of an ultrasound transducer that is at least about 2.9 MHz. A piezoelectric material and a dematching material are joined with an assembly material to form an acoustical connection therebetween. The piezoelectric material has a first acoustical impedance and *at least one of* an associated piezoelectric rugosity (Ra) and piezoelectric waviness (Wa). The dematching material has a second acoustical impedance that is different than the first acoustical impedance and at least one of an associated dematching Ra and dematching Wa. The piezoelectric and dematching materials have an impedance ratio of at least 2. The assembly material has a thickness that is based on the center operating frequency and at least one of the piezoelectric Ra, piezoelectric Wa, dematching Ra and dematching Wa.

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Le Cannet, France

Frederic Lanteri