Immersible ultrasound probe and cable
First Claim
1. A sterilizable connector comprising:
- a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it;
a flexible planar circuit which is electrically coupled to a probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end, said flexible planar circuit having its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the flexible planar circuit and the connector housing; and
a plurality of electrical contacts formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector and on the flexible planar circuit,wherein the sterilizable connector can be connected to a mating connector of a medical equipment while the sterilizable connector remains sealed, said mating connector having a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector, andwherein the sterilizable connector can be separated from the mating connector to be sterilized.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A ultrasound platform is used to generate, process and display ultrasound images using a probe connected via a sterilizable connector. The probe is used to take ultrasound images, and can be a sterilizable finger mounted probe. The sterilizable connector includes a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it, and a multi-wire cable which is electrically coupled to the probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end. The multi-wire cable has its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the multi-wire cable and the connector housing. A plurality of electrical contacts are formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector. A mating connector is used to electrically couple the sterilizable connector to a standard connector for directly connecting to the ultrasound platform. The mating connector has a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector. The sterilizable connector can be separated from the standard connector and the mating connector, such that the probe and the sterilizable connector can be sterilized.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A sterilizable connector comprising:
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a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it; a flexible planar circuit which is electrically coupled to a probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end, said flexible planar circuit having its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the flexible planar circuit and the connector housing; and a plurality of electrical contacts formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector and on the flexible planar circuit, wherein the sterilizable connector can be connected to a mating connector of a medical equipment while the sterilizable connector remains sealed, said mating connector having a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector, and wherein the sterilizable connector can be separated from the mating connector to be sterilized. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A sterilizable connector comprising:
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a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it; a multi-wire cable which is electrically coupled to a probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end, said multi-wire cable having its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the multi-wire cable and the connector housing; a plurality of electrical contacts formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector; and a flexible circuit board and a backing, wherein the flexible circuit board is at least partially wrapped around said backing, and the backing provides a spring force to keep the electrical contacts in contact with the mating contacts, wherein the sterilizable connector can be connected to a mating connector of a medical equipment while the sterilizable connector remains sealed, said mating connector having a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector, and wherein the sterilizable connector can be separated from the mating connector to be sterilized. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6)
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7. A sterilizable connector comprising:
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a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it; a multi-wire cable which is electrically coupled to a probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end, said multi-wire cable having its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the multi-wire cable and the connector housing; and a plurality of electrical contacts formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector, wherein the sterilizable connector can be connected to a mating connector of a medical equipment, said mating connector having a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector, wherein the sterilizable connector can be separated from the mating connector to be sterilized, and wherein an anisotropic conducting contact pad is disposed between the sterilizable connector and the mating connector. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A sterilizable connector comprising:
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a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it; a multi-wire cable which is electrically coupled to a probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end, said multi-wire cable having its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the multi-wire cable and the connector housing; and a plurality of electrical contacts formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector, wherein the sterilizable connector can be connected to a mating connector of a medical equipment, said mating connector having a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector, wherein the sterilizable connector can be separated from the mating connector to be sterilized, and wherein mating surfaces between the sterilizable connector and the mating connector is V-shaped, wherein the electrical contacts make electrical connection with the mating contacts on each of the two surfaces of the V-shaped mating surfaces. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A connector assembly comprising:
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a sterilizable connector comprising; a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it; a multi-wire cable which is electrically coupled to a probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end, said multi-wire cable having its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the multi-wire cable and the connector housing; and a plurality of electrical contacts formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector; a standard connector for connecting directly to a standard medical equipment connector of a medical equipment; a mating connector for electrically coupling the sterilizable connector to the standard connector while the sterilizable connector remains sealed, said mating connector having a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector, wherein the sterilizable connector can be separated from the standard connector and the mating connector to be sterilized. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A medical ultrasound system comprising:
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an ultrasound platform that can be used to generate, process and display ultrasound images; a probe for taking ultrasound images; a sterilizable connector comprising; a connector housing which has been sealed to prevent moisture from entering it; a flexible planar circuit which is electrically coupled to the probe at a first end and coupled to the connector housing at a second end, said flexible planar circuit having its second end sealed with the connector housing to prevent moisture from entering the sealing between the flexible planar circuit and the connector housing; and a plurality of electrical contacts formed on at least one surface of the sterilizable connector and on the flexible planar circuit; a standard connector for connecting directly to the ultrasound platform; a mating connector for electrically coupling the sterilizable connector to the standard connector while the sterilizable connector remains sealed, said mating connector having a plurality of mating contacts formed thereon for electrical coupling with the electrical contacts of the sterilizable connector, wherein the sterilizable connector can be separated from the standard connector and the mating connector, such that the probe and the sterilizable connector can be sterilized. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification