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:
Mar. 15, 2005
Filed:
Sep. 03, 2003
Aimé Flesch, Andrésy, FR;
An Nguyen-dinh, Valleres, FR;
Aimé Flesch, Andrésy, FR;
An Nguyen-Dinh, Valleres, FR;
Vermon, Tours Cedex, FR;
Abstract
An ultrasonic endoscopic probe tip device which provides signals to an imaging system for transesophageal diagnosis includes a removable housing adapted to be attached to the distal end of an endoscope. A rotatable, ball-bearing-mounted phased array transducer within the housing is rotatable around its acoustic propagation axis through multiple turns. The transducer is driven by an immersed micro-motorized drive. A torque limiting gearbox couples the drive to the transducer. A position encoder provides the imaging system with transducer position information over a 360° range. An automatic transducer position locking/unlocking system is used to lock the transducer in a selected rotational position.