Probe for ultrasonic-echo planigraphic imaging apparatus

Claim 1

A probe for an ultrasonic-echo planigraphic imaging apparatus, comprising a support having a bottom wall adapted to be brought into contact with a human body, a plurality of transducer elements provided on said bottom wall and arranged at least in one row lengthwise of the support, said support having a cavity extending partly across the support from one lengthwise lateral wall thereof and having a wedge-shape and extending perpendicularly to the human body-contacting side of the support and being progressively tapered toward said human body-contacting side and having a top plane thereof made flush with the upper surface of the support, and a pair of transparent adapters separately and detachably inserted in the cavity and spaced from each other at a predetermined distance which substantially corresponds to a minimum cavity width at the bottom wall of the support, thereby defining a guide slit between the aligned lateral walls of the adapters and the inner wall of the support facing said lateral walls, and a guide groove between the mutually facing walls of the adapters to jointly constitute an opening for oblique insertion of a puncturing cannula, and for removal of the probe from the puncturing cannula while leaving the puncturing cannula pierced obliquely in the body.