Fujifilm Sonosite, Inc.

John R Stice

Clinton T Siedenburg

Andrew Lundberg

Justin M Coughlin

Yanwei Wang

Max Nielsen

A scan head for an ultrasound imaging device has a body that encloses a number of ultrasound transducers and controlling electronics. The electronics are sealed in the body of the scan head. The scan head has a fan that is configured to remove heat caused by the operation of the electronics. The motor is magnetically controlled and has controlling electronics that are sealed in the body of the scan head. In one embodiment, an airflow channel surrounds the electronics in the scan head and the fan is configured to move air through the airflow channel. In another embodiment, the electronics are thermally coupled to a heat exchanger heat via a conductive substrate and the fan is configured to move air over the heat exchanger.

Ultrasound transducer with sealed, active cooling

The use of power-efficient transmitters to establish acoustic wave energy having low undesirable harmonics is achieved by adjusting the transmitter output waveform to minimize the undesirable harmonics. In one embodiment, both the timing and slope of the waveform edges are adjusted to produce the desired output waveform having little or no second harmonics. In the embodiment, output waveform timing adjustments on the order of fractions of the system clock interval are provided. This then allows for very fine control of a coarsely produced waveform. In one embodiment, the user can select the fine tuning to match the transmitter output signal to a particular load transducer.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

John R Stice