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:
Aug. 24, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 18, 2002
Douglas N. Stephens, Davis, CA (US);
Matthew O'Donnell, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Volcano Therapeutics, Inc., Laguna Hills, CA (US);
Abstract
An ultrasound transducer array ( ) includes at least one transducer element ( ) having a first ( ) and second ( ) portions separated by an acoustical discontinuity ( ). The first portion ( ) has the desired length to form a half-wave k resonance, while the second portion ( ) has a resonant length for an undesired very low frequency out-of-band k resonance. The thickness of the transducer element ( ) is designed for k half-resonance. Given the design, the transducer element ( ) can operate and provide for both forward-looking ( ) and side looking ( ) elevation apertures. A method is also disclosed for using the disclosed ultrasound transducer ( ) in ultrasound imaging.