Early warning method and device for ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic apparatus

• US 8,587,447 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2010
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company LLC (GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company LLC (GE Healthcare Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chen, You
• Primary Examiner(s): Ghayour, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILSON, BRIAN P
• Application Number:
  US12/979,887
• Publication Number:
  US 20110156922A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,057 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 340/679
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0276 Determining malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/00 Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves imaging of objects using sonar G01S15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4461 Features of the scanning mechanism, e.g. for moving the transducer within the housing of the probe

Abstract

An early warning device for use with an ultrasonic probe includes a service lifetime acquisition unit configured to acquire service lifetimes of individual parts of the ultrasonic probe, a total working time acquisition unit configured to acquire total working times of the individual parts of the ultrasonic probe, a calculation unit configured to calculate existing service lifetime percents depending on the service lifetimes and the total working times, and a judgment and warning unit configured to determine whether any of the existing service lifetime percents is less than a threshold value, and to issue a warning if the existing service lifetime is less than the threshold value.

Claims

1. An early warning method for use with an ultrasonic probe, said early warning method comprising:

acquiring service lifetimes of individual parts of the ultrasonic probe;

acquiring total working times of the individual parts;

acquiring existing service lifetime percents depending on the service lifetimes and the total working times; and

issuing a warning if any of the existing service lifetime percents is less than a threshold value, wherein acquiring total working times of the individual parts comprises;

for a gearbox, calculating the total working time of the gearbox using the following equation;

a total working time of a gearbox=probe swing angle×

link rod swing ratio×

times of probe swing; and

for a motor, calculating the total working time of the motor using the following equation;

a total working time of a motor=working cycles of a gearbox×

reduction ratio of a gearbox.

2. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, wherein the service lifetimes are present in a configuration file.

3. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, further comprising storing the obtained total working times in a nonvolatile memory within the ultrasonic probe.

4. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 3, wherein acquiring existing service lifetime percents comprises calculating the existing service lifetime percents using the following equation:

existing service lifetime percents=((service lifetimes−

total working times)/service lifetimes)×

100%.

5. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 1, further comprising acquiring parameters of the environment where the ultrasonic probe is.

6. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 5, further comprising storing the environment parameters in a nonvolatile memory.

7. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 6, wherein the environment parameters include a real-time voltage, a real-time electric current and temperature.

8. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 7, wherein the warning is delivered to a maintenance station by email.

9. The early warning method for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 7, wherein the warning is presented in the form of a dialogue box and is displayed on a display interface.

10. An early warning device for use with an ultrasonic probe, said early warning device comprising:

a service lifetime acquisition unit configured to acquire service lifetimes of individual parts of the ultrasonic probe;

a total working time acquisition unit configured to acquire total working times of the individual parts of the ultrasonic probe, said total working time acquisition unit further configured to;

calculate, for a gearbox, the total working time of the gearbox using the following equation;

probe swing angle×

link rod swing ratio×

times of probe swing; and

calculate, for a motor, the total working time of the motor using the following equation;

working cycles of a gearbox×

reduction ratio of a gearbox;

a calculation unit configured to calculate existing service lifetime percents depending on the service lifetimes and the total working times; and

a judgment and warning unit configured to determine whether any of the existing service lifetime percents is less than a threshold value, and to issue a warning if the existing service lifetime is less than the threshold value.

11. The early warning device for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 10, wherein the service lifetimes are present in a configuration file.

12. The early warning device for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 10, further comprising a nonvolatile memory within the ultrasonic probe, said nonvolatile memory configured to store the obtained total working times of the individual parts.

13. The early warning device for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 12, wherein said calculation unit is configured to calculate the existing service lifetime percents using the following equation:

existing service lifetime percents=((service lifetimes−

total working times)/service lifetimes)×

100%.

14. The early warning device for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 10, further comprising a unit configured to acquire environment parameters configured to acquire parameters of an environment where the ultrasonic probe is operated.

15. The early warning device for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 14, wherein the environmental parameters are stored in a nonvolatile memory.

16. The early warning device for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 15, wherein the environment parameters include a real-time voltage, a real-time electric current and temperature.

17. The early warning device for an ultrasonic probe according to claim 16, wherein the warning is delivered to a maintenance station by email.

18. An ultrasonic apparatus comprising:

an ultrasonic probe comprising a plurality of individual parts; and

an early warning device comprising;

a service lifetime acquisition unit configured to acquire service lifetimes of individual parts of the ultrasonic probe;

a total working time acquisition unit configured to acquire total working times of the individual parts of the ultrasonic probe, said total working time acquisition unit further configured to;

calculate, for a gearbox, the total working time of the gearbox using the following equation;

probe swing angle×

link rod swing ratio×

times of probe swing; and

calculate, for a motor, the total working time of the motor using the following equation;

working cycles of a gearbox×

reduction ratio of a gearbox;

a calculation unit configured to calculate existing service lifetime percents depending on the service lifetimes and the total working times; and

a judgment and warning unit configured to determine whether any of the existing service lifetime percents is less than a threshold value, and to issue a warning if the existing service lifetime is less than the threshold value.