Balance body ultrasound system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hand held ultrasound system having a balance body, a transducer assembly connected to said balance body via a communication means and a plurality of control elements arranged in an ergonomic fashion on said balance body, such that a user may hold said system and operate at least one of said control elements with the same hand. In particular a medical ultrasound system comprising a balance body incorporating system electronics, a power supply and a user interface wherein the user interface comprises a D-controller and a touch screen and a transducer assembly attached to the balanced body by a cable.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 404,220, filed Mar. 31, 2003, which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 227,160, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,908, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10 / 099,474, filed on Mar. 15, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,807, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates to handheld ultrasound instruments having various diagnostic modes and transducer assemblies incorporating a balance body design, or other form factor to reduce strain of use during scanning procedures.[0004]2. Description of the Background Art[0005]As is well known, modern ultrasonic diagnostic systems are large, complex instruments. Today's premium ultrasound systems, while mounted in carts for portability, continue to weigh several hundred pounds. In the past, ultrasound systems such as the ADR 4000 ultr...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]In a second embodiment of the present invention, a medical ultrasound system comprising a balance body incorporating system electronics, a power supply and a user interface wherein said user interface comprises a D-controller and a touch screen and a transducer assembly attached to said balanced body via a cable. Control of the control of the medical ultrasound device is achieved through selecting through a series of window menus either by using the D-controller or the touch screen or a combination of both. The second embodiment is lightweight and preferably weighs less than three and a half (3.50 lbs) pounds and the balance body can be held with the same hand that operates the D-controller. Optionally the system further comprises an I / O port for connecting to a docking station, and a handle.

[0013]In still another embodiment, we describe a lightweight medical ultrasound system comprising a first body having system electronics, a first transmit / receive element and a first power supply, said first body weighing less than two pounds; a second body having a digital beam former, an A / D converter circuit, a transducer array, a second power supply, a second transmit / receive element and at least one control element, said second body weighing less than one pound; and a headset comprising a visual display, a receive element and a third power supply such that the first body, second body and head set are in communication with each other through the first and second transmit / receive element and the receive element so that a user may control the system through the at least one control element of the second body, while the first body performs the diagnostic operations through said system electronics, and the user may see the operations through the visual display of the head set.

Problems solved by technology

As is well known, modern ultrasonic diagnostic systems are large, complex instruments.

However, such instruments lacked many of the advanced features of today's premium ultrasound systems such as color Doppler imaging and three dimensional display capabilities.

As ultrasound systems have become more sophisticated they have also become bulkier.

The tendency has been the smaller systems also lose attributes of their larger stationary cousins due to limitations in space and power availability, the same factors that increase portability.

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