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:
Dec. 31, 2002
Filed:
Nov. 09, 2000
John T. Carlon, Madison, OH (US);
Benjamin R. Stern, Willoughby Hills, OH (US);
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Eindhoven, NL;
Abstract
An endocavity RF coil assembly for an MRI apparatus includes a reusable probe ( ). The reusable probe has a sealed hollow outer housing or cover having a closed distal end and an open proximate end ( ). The distal end is formed to fit into a cavity of a subject being examined. An active RF coil element ( ) is connected with a circuit board located within the outer housing. The housing includes a plurality of ABS plastic pieces ( ) that have mating surfaces that are surface treated to break polymer chains at the surface. An epoxy ( ) bonds to the polymer chain ends to connect the pieces. An over-molded form ( ) is connected to the proximate end ( ) of the outer cover or housing. The over-molded form ( ) is arranged such that it seals the proximate end ( ) of the outer cover ( ) closed. In order to make the coil assembly more assuredly sterilizable, the epoxy completely fills the seams and optionally forms a projection bead ( ) in order to smooth over and assure crevice free junctions. Crevices can shelter microbes from liquid and gaseous sterilants jeopardizing assurance that the sterilization process killed all the microbes.