Fujitsu Corporation

Yale University

Kenji Kawabe

Takaki Shimura

Kazuhiro Watanabe

Hiroshi Ishikawa

Atsuo Iida

Kiyoto Matsui

Yasushi Hara

Kenichi Hayakawa

Hajime Hayashi

Fumihiro Namiki

Hirohide Miwa

Takehiko Hayashi

Tadahiko Yanashima

Yoshiyasu Nakashima

Yutaka Igarashi

Shiro Takeda

Takao Goto

Narutaka Nakao

Roman B Kuc

Kunihiro Chihara

James J Szinger

Takai Shimura

A method and apparatus for performing biomagnetic imaging to determine the location and intensity of current sources within a subject includes a sensor unit for sensing the magnetic field within the subject and for providing sensing signals. A signal processor defines a grid having multiple grid points and performs inverse estimation to determine the distribution of current sources on the defined grid based on the sensing signals. The signal processor then modifies the grid to improve the resolution of the current sources distributed on the grid. A control unit controls the operation of the signal processor and processes image data to provide magnified and non-magnified displays on a display unit. The biomagnetic imaging method and apparatus can be combined with a system for providing magnetic resonance imaging data so as to produce a superimposed display including an MRI image and a biomagnetic image.

Biomedical magnetism imaging apparatus and method

Ultrasonic transducer and method of manufacturing the same

An ultrasonic probe for use in hollow organs such as blood vessels of a living body and in other hollow objects of structures such as pipes, includes a piezoelectric transducer, a reflector and a rotor all housed in a tube. The rotor moves and/or rotates the piezoelectric transducer and/or the reflector and is driven by a stator located outside the object under examination.

Ultrasonic probe

An Ultrasonic Equipment and its Catheter-type Ultrasonic Probe can be inserted in capillaries such as blood vessels, and comprises a catheter-type ultrasonic probe for generating ultrasonic waves by a piezoelectric transducer arrayed at its tip. A plurality of the piezoelectric transducer segments are arrayed on a two-dimensional plane, perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the insertion direction of the probe into a capillary with their ultrasonic wave emitting surface faced in the insertion direction. A part of the plane is cut out to provide a guide unit for passing a treating catheter or a guide wire in the insertion direction.

Ultrasonic equipment and its catheter-type ultrasonic probe

Acoustic coupler

Ultrasonic transducer

The applicator according to the present invention applies an ultrasonic gel to an ultrasonic wave radiating surface of a probe. The applicator includes a container containing the ultrasonic gel, a belt partly immersed in the ultrasonic gel in the container and partly protruding therefrom and exposed to the outside, and a belt drive unit driven by rollers for drawing up the ultrasonic gel in the container to an exposed position outside of the container.

Apparatus for applying gel to an ultrasonic probe

An ultrasonic probe includes a housing, and a plurality of piezoelectric elements radially arranged in a plane substantially perpendicular to a direction in which the ultrasonic probe is inserted into a hollow portion to be scanned. The ultrasonic probe also includes an electrical part for carrying electricity to the piezoelectric elements to thereby cause the piezoelectric elements to emit ultrasonic waves and for carrying, to an external device, electric signals generated from the ultrasonic waves reflected by the hollow portion and received by the piezoelectric elements.

Ultrasonic probe having a piezoelectrical element

An ultrasonic probe includes a housing, a piezoelectric element provided in the housing, the piezoelectric element emitting an ultrasonic beam, and a refracting member rotatably provided in the housing. The refracting member has a first surface opposite to the piezoelectric element and a second surface at which the ultrasonic beam emitted from the piezoelectric element and passing through the first surface is deflected in a state where a deflection angle between an axis perpendicular to a surface of the piezoelectric element and a deflected ultrasonic beam changes as the refracting member rotates.

Ultrasonic probe having rotary refracting member

A plurality of rectangular piezo-electric ultrasonic sector transducers are aligned to form an array, and each transducer has first and second electrodes on its radiating surface. The first electrode is located on a center line of the sector transducer's length, and has a first length in the longitudinal direction and a first width along the center line. Two of the second electrodes are arranged outside the first electrode, symmetrical to the center line. The two second electrodes have a second length in the longitudinal direction longer than the first length, and have a second width which is almost the same as the first width, along a line near the center line. Thus, diamond-shaped electrodes excellent for providing a beam narrow in the longitudinal direction can be employed as the first electrode, and the combination of the first and second electrodes can be connected to each other. The first electrode is designed to provide an ultrasonic beam narrow at a distance shorter than a focal length of an acoustic lens provided on the transducers, and the combination of the first and second electrodes is used to provide an ultrasonic beam narrow in another distance substantially longer than the focal length, so that a sharp beam can be delivered for both the short distance and the long distance.

Ultrasonic transducer array

An apparatus is provided for measuring a very weak magnetic field generated by a human body, etc. External magnetic noise components coming from other magnetic sources and existing around an object whose magnetic field is to be measured are detected by compensation coils of the apparatus. The compensation coils are oriented in multiple dimensional directions. The detected noise components are weighted and added to each other to correctly find the noise components. Thereafter, the noise components mixed in the objective very weak magnetic field are removed, thereby correctly measuring the very weak magnetic field.

Gradiometer apparatus with compensation coils for measuring magnetic

An ultrasound probe for a medical imaging system, comprising an ultrasound absorber and a piezoelectric vibrator mounted on the ultrasound absorber, cut in the direction from the surface of the piezoelectric vibrator to the ultrasound absorber into an array by a plurality of cutting grooves. The cutting depth d of each cutting groove in the ultrasound absorber is determined as an integer multiple of a quarter of a wave length .lambda. corresponding to a center frequency f.sub.0 of ultrasound waves radiated from the piezoelectric vibrator. Consequently, symmetrical electro-acoustic conversion characteristics of the ultrasound probe can be obtained in the frequency domain.

Ultrasound probe for medical imaging system

Ultrasonic transducer having a plurality of piezoelectric elements arranged in a matrix, and a method for fabricating them. L shaped printed wiring boards are respectively bonded to each arrays of piezoelectric elements arranged in azimuthal direction. The bonding points of the L shaped printed wiring board to respective piezoelectric element are located at edge portion of respective back electrode. The other branch of L shaped printed wiring boards are stretched vertically to the surface of the piezoelectric elements matrix. A backing plate is formed by molding on the back side of the piezoelectric elements matrix leaving the top of the L shaped printed wiring board protruded from the molded surface of the molded backing plate. Such configuration prevents the reflection from the wiring plate of the piezoelectric element. A flexible printed wiring board is provided with wiring pattern having bonding areas positioned corresponding to the matrix of piezoelectric elements. So, the bonding of the printed wiring board to each of the piezoelectric element is easy. After the bonding, the printed wiring board is cut and bent vertically to the matrix surface to form the L shape. The matrix of piezoelectric elements may be cut out from a large size piezoelectric element before the molding of the backing plate or after its molding.

Ultrasonic transducer and method for fabricating thereof

An ultrasonic sector-scan probe comprises at least an array having a plurality of ultrasonic transducer segments, a window for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves and an ultrasonic wave propagation medium filled in a front space between the array and the window. A group of the ultrasonic transducer segments are selectively driven as an aperture and ultrasonic waves emitted therefrom are converged into a beam for transmission and reception. By partly or entirely changing the segments in the group with the ones outside the group the scan line is shifted to a new angle, and a member under test contacted with the window on the outside thereof is sector-scanned by the ultrasonic beam. The array is arranged so that scanning lines of the groups intersect at one point in the window or in its vicinity for sector scan. An acoustic lens is provided in the window or in its vicinity so that the ultrasonic beam may be converged over the measuring depth range of the member under test with or without phase control of the segments in the group. Furthermore, the array is arranged multidimensionally or in plural linear arrays so that the scanning lines of the groups intersect substantially at one point in the window or in its vicinity for sector scan, thereby performing sector scan of at least two sections and/or three-dimensional sector scan.

Ultrasonic sector-scan probe

An ultrasonic sector-scan probe comprises at least an array having a plurality of ultrasonic transducer segments, a window for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves and an ultrasonic wave propagation medium filled in a front space between the array and the window. A group of the ultrasonic transducer segments are selectively driven as an aperture and ultrasonic waves emitted therefrom are converged into a beam for transmission and reception. By partly or entirely changing the segments in the group with the ones outside the group the scan line is shifted to a new angle, and a member under test contacted with the window on the outside thereof is sector-scanned by the ultrasonic beam. The array is arranged so that scanning lines of the groups intersect at one point in the window or in its vicinity for sector scan. And an acoustic lens is provided in the window or in its vicinity so that the ultrasonic beam may be converged almost over the measuring depth range of the member under test with/without phase control of the segments in the group. Furthermore, the array is arranged multidimensionally or in plural linear arrays so that the scanning lines of the groups intersect substantially at one point in the window or in its vicinity for sector scan, thereby performing sector scan of at least two sections and/or three-dimensional sector scan.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Kenji Kawabe