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:
May. 21, 2002
Filed:
Jul. 21, 1999
Applicant:
Inventor:
Don S. Mamayek, Mountain View, CA (US);
Assignee:
SCIMED Life Systems, Inc., Maple Grove, MN (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 8/12 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 8/12 ;
Abstract
The present invention provides exemplary transducer elements, transducer packages and methods of making same. One exemplary transducer element ( ) has first and second transducer surfaces ( ) and a plurality of tapered pillars ( ) that comprise piezoelectric material and extend between the first and second transducer surfaces. At least one of the pillars has a first cross-sectional area at the first transducer surface that is larger than a second cross-sectional area at the second transducer surface. Hence, the transducer has a lower acoustic impedance at the second surface than at the first surface.