Ultrasonic probe having means for receiving a puncturing cannula therethrough

Claim 1

An ultrasonic probe for insertion substantially wholly into the human abdomen, and having means for receiving a puncturing cannula therethrough, the probe comprising: a substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped support member, the height of said member being relatively much less than the length or width, thus forming top and bottom surfaces of the member of much larger area than any other surfaces; a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements arranged in at least one row in, and closely adjacent to one edge of, the bottom surface of the support member, said row extending substantially the length of said edge but being of relatively short width for occupying only a relatively small portion of said bottom surface; cable means for individually connecting said transducer elements to an external processing unit; and a narrow slot for guiding the puncturing cannula, said slot opening into a first face of said parallelepiped-shaped member perpendicular to said bottom surface and adjoining said row of transducer elements, said slot being centrally positioned relative to said row of transducer elements and permitting substantially no lateral movement of the cannula parallel to said row.