Probe for ultrasonic imaging apparatus

Claim 1

An ultrasonic probe for receiving therethrough a puncturing cannula, said probe comprising: a support member having at least one substantially planar surface, said member including a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements arranged in at least one row on said one planar surface, a pyramid-shaped space formed in said member, said space having a V-shaped cross section, the apex of the V comprising a first slot between converging walls of the space and lying substantially at the center of said row of transducer elements, said space opening through a wall of the support member substantially perpendicular to said one planar surface; and a wedge-shaped auxiliary member removably inserted into said space, said auxiliary member being substantially complementary in shape to said space and having a pair of tapering walls conforming to said converging walls, the inner apex edges of said tapering walls forming a second slot lying substantially in the plane of said planar surface and overlying the edges of the converging walls forming the first slot, the side edges of said tapering walls being free and conforming on one side to said opening of said space in said perpendicular wall and terminating on the other side in a back wall perpendicular to said tapering walls, said auxiliary member including a pair of opposing partitions extending from said tapering walls parallel to said back wall and spaced therefrom a predetermined distance, and the surfaces of said opposing partitions facing away from said tapering walls forming a uniform gap of substantially the same width as said predetermined distance, said gap opening into said second slot and said predetermined distance being slightly greater than the diameter of said cannula, the portions of said tapering walls being unobstructed between said partitions and said edges on one side for forming said free edges of said auxiliary member, and wherein said probe also includes a pair of grooves in the inner surfaces of said converging walls parallel to said perpendicular wall, and a pair of projections on the outer surfaces of said tapering walls, said projections conforming with and fitting into said grooves when said auxiliary member is installed in said support member and being positioned on the outer surfaces of said unobstructed portions of said tapering walls, and said tapering walls are formed of elastic synthetic resin and include projecting tab means on said free edges, said unobstructed portions of said elastic tapering walls being manually compressible toward each other for installation of said auxiliary member substantially horizontally into said support member, said installation including the insertion of said projections into said grooves.