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:
Sep. 30, 1997
Filed:
Jul. 29, 1996
Applicant:
Inventors:
William Robert Dreschel, State College, PA (US);
Bradley R Nelson, State College, PA (US);
Farley Peechatka, Jr, Port Matilda, PA (US);
Assignee:
Acuson Corporation, Mountain View, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
12866101 ; 12866203 ;
Abstract
An ultrasonic transducer array for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic energy in multiple two-dimensional imaging planes. The ultrasonic energy in the imaging planes is focused in elevation by the curvature of the transducer array. An imaging plane is selected from a plurality of available imaging planes by electronic switching. Each imaging plane when selected is positioned at a known angle, different from all other imaging planes, due to the known curvature of the transducer array, and the known dimensions of the transducer elements.