§
Luxuse
Patent Intelligence
Sign In
← Back to Patent Explorer
EP0509297A1 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Transesophageal ultrasound probe

Assignee: HP Inc
•
Filing: 1992-03-27
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2012-03-27
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract An endoscopic ultrasound probe for use in transesophagael echo cardiography comprises a rotatable ultrasound transducer array (12) for obtaining two-dimensional cross-sectional images along a variety of scan planes. The array is formed of a plurality of transducer elements (12A - 12K) and rotates about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the transducer elements. The rotating array (12) defines a circular region of rotation and has a surface area which substantially matches the area of the circular region of rotation within the probe. More specifically, the elements of the array have varying mechanical lengths such that the rotatable array may have a substantially circular shape.

Inventors

  • 👤 James Fearnside
  • 👤 Wojtek Sudol

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-23 04:11
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B8/00; A61B8/12; A61B8/44; A61B8/4444; A61B8/445; A61B8/4461; H; H01; H01R; H01R13/00; H01R13/46; H01R13/52; H01R13/5224; H02; H02G; H02G11/00; H02G11/02

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim 137 words
An ultrasound probe for use with ultrasound imaging electronics in echo cardiography comprising: a probe housing (11); a rotational ultrasound array (12; 112; 116; 212) positioned within a volume (14) in the probe housing, tha array comprising a plurality of elongated piezoelectric transducer elements (12A - 12K) having different mechanical lengths and arranged in parallel in a plane, the array being rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the transducer elements and the rotating array defining a circular region of rotation about the axis, the array having a surface area in the plane of the transducer elements which substantially matches the area of the circular region of rotation; a cable (30) connecting the array with the ultrasound imaging electronics; and a drive mechanism (24, 26, 28, 29) for rotating the array (12; 112; 116; 212).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 18 words
An ultrasound probe as claimed in Claim 1 in which the rotatable array (116) has a circular shape.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 30 words
An ultrasound probe as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the rotatable array (112; 212) has an N-sided polygonal shape wherein N is an integer greater than four.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 48 words
An ultrasound probe as claimed in one of Claims 1 to 3 in which the rotatable array has a surface area in the plane of the transducer elements which occupies at least eighty percent, preferably at least ninety percent, of the area of the cirular region of rotation.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 22 words
An ultrasound probe as claimed in one of the preceeding Claims wherein the probe is adapted for insertion into a subject's esophagus.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 48 words
An ultrasound probe as claimed in one of the preceeding Claims wherein the array (116) has two flat regions (124A, 124B) along its periphery, the flat regions being symmetrically disposed about an axis through the center of the array and parallel to the transducer elements (116A - 116K).

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3779234A Cited
EP0006623A2 Cited
WO1992002180A1 Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag