Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Jeffrey Scott Hart

David Becker

Dennis Dean Clark

Terry Wray

Kevin Wickline

Alan Hornberger

David N Roundhill

Andrew Lee Robinson

Dino Francesco Cuscuna

Ryan Manning

Barry Carl Scheirer

Elizabeth Brunelle

Charles Clark Cruikshank

Harry Amon Kunkel

Susan Gay Heller

Martha Gail Grewe Wilson

Gerred Allen Price

Xidong Chen

Loriann Davidsen

Brian Moist

James William Hackenberry

Daniel Agius

Mark Harpster

An ultrasound probe has an acoustic window () or lens () through which ultrasound is transmitted and received by a transducer array () located behind the lens or window inside a probe enclosure. The external, patient-contacting surface () of the acoustic lens or window is textured. The texturing of the surface of the lens or window better retains gel spread over the lens or window for an ultrasound procedure, reduces reverberation artifacts, and diminishes the appearance of scratches on the lens or window.

Acoustic lens for ultrasonic transducer probe with a manufactured textured surface

A medical imaging system configured to analyze an acquired image to determine the imaging plane and orientation of the image. The medical imaging system may be further configured to determine a location of an aperture to acquire a key anatomical view and transmit instructions to a controller to move the aperture to the location. A sonographer may not need to move the ultrasound probe for the medical imaging system to move the aperture to the location. An ultrasound probe may include a transducer array that may have one or more degrees of freedom of movement within the probe. The transducer array may be translated by one or more motors that receive instructions from the controller to position the aperture.

Translation of ultrasound array responsive to anatomical orientation

An ultrasound probe including an active thermal management system is disclosed. The active thermal management system may include a fluid chamber coupled to a transducer assembly of the ultrasound probe. The fluid chamber may include a coolant that may dissipate heat from the transducer assembly. The active thermal management system may further include a heat sink coupled to the fluid chamber and thermal management system. The heat sink may include fins that extend into the coolant. The coolant may be a liquid or a gas. The coolant may be circulated within the fluid chamber by a circulation device. The circulation device may be a pump, a fan, or an impeller. An ultrasound probe may further include a window that forms an enclosure over the lens of the transducer assembly. The enclosure may be fluidly coupled to the fluid chamber and filled with coolant to dissipate heat from the lens.

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for active thermal management of ultrasound transducers

Ultrasound probe

An intracavity ultrasound probe includes a pivotally mounted array transducer which is oscillated to scan a volumetric region from within the body. The transducer is oscillated by a motor located in the probe handle. The array transducer is immersed in a liquid which acoustically couples ultrasonic energy between the elements of the transducer and the body. The acoustic coupling liquid is located in the distal tip of the probe shaft, where only 6 cc of liquid is required. The small amount of liquid reduces the weight of the shaft of the probe so that the center of gravity of the probe is in the handle, making the probe comfortable and easy to manipulate. The majority of parts in the probe shaft are made of aluminum or other low density materials, keeping the overall weight of the probe to about 250 grams.

Ultrasonic intracavity probe for 3D imaging

An ultrasound probe includes a transducer array which is moved back and forth to sweep the image plane of the array through a volumetric region for 3D scanning. The transducer array is mounted on a carriage assembly which moves back and forth on a pair of rails inside a fluid compartment in the probe. The rails are preferentially arcuately curved to provide an elevationally divergent scan with a relatively wide aperture in the near field. A cam is provided for a motor-driven cable drive for the carriage assembly which provides relatively linear motion through the path of travel of the transducer array.

Three dimensional imaging ultrasound probe

An ultrasound probe has a transducer array which is moved to scan a patient with ultrasonic energy. The array is located in a fluid chamber () which is enclosed by an acoustic window end cap (). The acoustic window cap is coated with a thin conductive layer () which shields the transducer and its motive mechanism from EFI/RFI emissions. The conductive layer is coupled to a reference potential.

Intracavity probe with continuous shielding of acoustic window

An ultrasound probe includes a transducer which is pivotally mounted inside a fluid chamber for scanning a region outside the probe as the transducer is oscillated. A volume compensation balloon is attached to the fluid chamber and is partially filled with acoustic fluid at nominal (room) temperatures. The balloon is made of a high performance thermoplastic which enables the balloon to have a very thin wall. The thin wall is highly compliant as the volume of the fluid inside the balloon changes, and remains so at low temperatures of transport and use. The thin wall exhibits a low permeability to the acoustic fluid. The balloon is formed of a non elastic material and exhibits good thermal stability and high burst strength.

Ultrasonic probe volume compensation system

An ultrasound probe includes a transducer () which is mechanically oscillated to sweep beams from the transducer over an image region of a subject. The transducer is located in a first compartment of a fluid-filled chamber which is coupled to a second compartment of the fluid-filled chamber by a bubble trap tube. A drive shaft () which is coupled to oscillate the transducer enters and passes through the secondary chamber before terminating at the transducer oscillation mechanism in the main chamber. This locates the dynamic seal of the drive shaft which is connected between the fluid-filled chamber and the outside air so that any air leakage of the seal will leak into the secondary compartment and not into the compartment where the transducer is located.

Ultrasound probe with multiple fluid chambers

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Port Royal, PA, United States of America

Jeffrey Scott Hart