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:
Feb. 18, 1997
Filed:
Feb. 27, 1996
Lauren S Pflugrath, Seattle, WA (US);
Jacques Souquet, Issaquah, WA (US);
Advanced Technology Laboratories, Inc., Bothell, WA (US);
Abstract
A remotely upgradeable medical diagnostic ultrasound system is described which is upgradeable with a new transducer probe by means of air shipment of the upgrade hardware and remote transmission of upgrade data which controls operation of the probe. The ultrasound system includes a data communicator such as a network link or modem for receiving upgrade data from a remote location. A process for upgrading the system is provided whereby a communications link is established over a common carrier communications medium between the ultrasound system and a remote terminal, which transmits upgrade program data to the ultrasound system. The program data portion of an upgrade is provided via the communications link while the hardware portion of the upgrade is shipped by air freight to the user. In this way, an ultrasound upgrade can be provided to a user from a remote location in a matter of hours.