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. 13, 2013
Filed:
Mar. 25, 2010
Masashi Kunita, Kanagawa, JP;
Yasuhiro Nakamura, Kanagawa, JP;
Takashi Sakai, Kanagawa, JP;
Takehiko Suginouchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Masashi Kunita, Kanagawa, JP;
Yasuhiro Nakamura, Kanagawa, JP;
Takashi Sakai, Kanagawa, JP;
Takehiko Suginouchi, Kanagawa, JP;
Panasonic Corporation, Osaka, JP;
Abstract
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes: a plurality of vibration elements () that transmit and receive an ultrasonic beam; a plurality of transmission circuits () that are connected to the respective vibration elements and output a transmission driving signal to be used for driving the vibration elements; and a transmission power source () that supplies electric power to the transmission circuits. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus further includes: a pulse detection unit () that detects a transmission signal to be used for generating the transmission driving signal; an electric power measurement unit () that detects an amount of electric power supplied to the transmission circuits as a whole; a distribution calculation unit () that calculates an amount of electric power distributed into each of the vibration elements based on outputs of the pulse detection unit and the electric power measurement unit; and a power distribution derivation unit () that derives electric power having been supplied to each of the plurality of vibration elements based on an output of the distribution calculation unit, wherein the transmission driving signal is controlled based on the power distribution derived in the power distribution derivation unit. With this configuration, it is possible to provide a more compact and highly reliable ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of performing a temperature monitoring that detects local heat generation of the vibration elements based on the actual transmission power by using a circuit with a reduced number of components.