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Attachment attached to ultrasound probe for clinical application

  • US 4,867,169 A
  • Filed: 07/07/1987
  • Issued: 09/19/1989
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/29/1986
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. An attachment device for attachment to a diagnostic ultrasonic probe of the type including a transducer means for radiating ultrasound beams in a scanning plane for scanning an organic body and for converting echoes produced in the scanned organic body and returned to the transducer means to electric signals for reconstructing a tomographic image of the scanned organic body, said attachment device comprising:

  • a housing for holding an acoustic medium for transmitting the ultrasound beams without attenuation, said housing including sidewall elements;

    a transmission section operatively coupled to said sidewall elements and permitting ultrasound beams to be transmitted therethrough, said transmission section including acoustic lens means for converging the ultrasound beams radiated from the transducer means to a predetermined point in the scanning plane;

    a contact membrane mounted to said sidewall elements and spaced from said transmission section, said contact membrane permitting ultrasound beams to be transmitted therethrough;

    an inner surface of said sidewall elements, the transmission section, and the contact membrane defining a chamber for receiving the acoustic medium;

    an outer surface of said contact membrane relative to said chamber being adapted to be brought into contact with a skin surface of the organic body;

    said contact membrane being mounted to said sidewall elements so as to have a cross-section in the scanning plane which is convex and defines a predetermined radius of curvature such that a majority of the ultrasound beams radiated from the transducer means of the probe and transmitted through the acoustic medium are transmitted through the contact membrane; and

    means for coupling the housing to the probe, said coupling means coupling the housing to the probe so that the transducer means is in facing relation to the transmission section of the housing and so that said scanning plane of the probe extends through the transmission section, the acoustic medium and the contact membrane when the attachment device is attached to the probe.

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