The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 01, 1996
Filed:
Jun. 13, 1994
John W Sliwa, Jr, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Michael G Curley, Belmont, CA (US);
Donald R Mullen, Fremont, CA (US);
Jay S Plugge, Mountain View, CA (US);
Richard A Lyon, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Acuson Corporation, Mountain View, CA (US);
Abstract
An ultrasound transducer assembly having a housing, a transducer array mounted in the housing, and active cooling mechanism positioned adjacent to the transducer array for actively removing heat generated by the array by transport of heat energy from the affected site. The active cooling mechanism may comprise a heat exchanger including a closed loop circulating coolant system circulating coolant, or a single-pass flowed coolant, passing through the heat exchanger, a heat pipe, a thermoelectric cooler, an evaporative/condenser system, and/or a phase change material. One or more heat exchangers may be used having gas or liquid coolants flowing therethrough. The heat exchangers and coolant pumps may be located in various components of the transducer assembly, including the array housing, the connector assemblies or the ultrasound console.