Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.V.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.v.

Ryan Manning

Dennis Dean Clark

Barry Carl Scheirer

John William Myers

Jeffrey Scott Hart

Haifeng Wang

Samuel Raymond Peters

Gerred Allen Price

Barry Sheirer

An ultrasound imaging device includes a housing with an outer surface and an inner surface. The outer surface is grasped by a user. The device includes an array of acoustic elements transmitting ultrasound energy and receiving ultrasound echoes. The array is at an end of the housing. The device includes a heat sink within the housing and receiving heat generated by the array. The device includes a heat pipe within the housing and transmitting the heat away from the end of the housing. The device includes a heat spreader material on the inner surface of the housing and dissipating the heat. The distal portion of the heat pipe is in thermal contact with the heat sink and the proximal portion of the heat pipe is in thermal contact with the heat spreader material. The proximal portion and the distal portion have a flattened profile.

Heat dissipation in ultrasound probes

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

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for dissipating heat from an ultrasound transducer are disclosed. A passive thermal management system including thermally conductive materials is disclosed. The passive thermal management system may include thermally conductive layers in a flexible circuit coupled to the transducer stack. The flexible circuit may be coupled to a thermally conductive bolster plate. The bolster plate may be coupled to a handle heat spreader that may be coupled to the interior surface of an ultrasound probe housing.

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

A curved high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducer comprising a curved piezoelectric array having opposite convex and concave surfaces, the concave surface being a transmitting surface, and a plurality of acoustic transmission areas, a plurality of electrodes located on the surfaces of the curved piezoelectric array for applying electrical transmit signals to the acoustic transmission areas, and a unitary, continuously formed curved matching layer pre-formed to the desired curvature of the curved transducer array and bonded to the transmitting surface of the curved piezoelectric array which provides acoustic matching and electrical isolation for the transmitting surface of the curved piezoelectric array.

Curved ultrasonic HIFU transducer with pre-formed spherical matching layer

A curved high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducer comprising a curved piezoelectric array having opposite concave front and convex back surfaces, and a plurality of acoustic transmission areas, a plurality of electrodes located on the convex back surface of the curved piezoelectric array for applying electrical transmit signals to the acoustic transmission areas, and a printed circuit board spaced apart from and in opposition to the back surface of the curved piezoelectric array which couples electrical signals to the acoustic transmission areas, the printed circuit board comprising a plurality of metal contacts which are compliant in the presence of thermal expansion and contraction and which span the space between the printed circuit board and the curved piezoelectric array and are electrically coupled to electrodes of the acoustic transmission areas of the curved piezoelectric array.

Curved ultrasonic HIFU transducer with compliant electrical connections

A curved high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducer comprising a curved piezoelectric array having opposite convex and concave back surfaces, the front surface comprising an acoustic transmitting surface, and a plurality of electrodes located on the convex back surface for applying electrical transmit signals to the array, and a printed circuit board spaced apart from and in opposition to the back surface of the curved piezoelectric array which couples electrical signals to the electrodes of the array, the space between the printed circuit board and the curved piezoelectric array comprising an acoustic air backing passageway of the piezoelectric array for air-cooling the curved piezoelectric array and the printed circuit board.

Curved ultrasonic HIFU transducer with air cooling passageway

A high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducer comprising a piezoelectric array with a layer of piezoelectric material having a patient-facing front surface and a back surface, the front surface comprising a transmitting surface, and a plurality of electrodes located on the front and back surfaces of the piezoelectric material for applying electrical signals to the piezoelectric array. Electrical connections between an electrode on the back surface to an electrode on the front surface of the piezoelectric array are made through non-magnetic conductive vias extending through the layer of piezoelectric material.

Growing community of inventors

Lewistown, PA, United States of America

Ryan Manning