Ultrasound probe with integrated electronics

Abstract

A hand-held ultrasound system includes integrated electronics within an ergonomic housing. The electronics includes control circuitry, beamforming and circuitry transducer drive circuitry. The electronics communicate with a host computer using an industry standard high speed serial bus. The ultrasonic imaging system is operable on a standard, commercially available, user computing device without specific hardware modifications, and is adapted to interface with an external application without modification to the ultrasonic imaging system to allow a user to gather ultrasonic data on a standard user computing device such as a PC, and employ the data so gathered via an independent external application without requiring a custom system, expensive hardware modifications, or system rebuilds. An integrated interface program allows such ultrasonic data to be invoked by a variety of such external applications having access to the integrated interface program via a standard, predetermined platform such as visual basic or c++.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 354,946 filed Jan. 30, 2003 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 094,950 filed Mar. 11, 2002 which is a continuation-in-part of International Application PCT / US02 / 05764 filed on Feb. 22, 2002 which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09 / 822,764 filed Mar. 30, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09 / 791,491 filed Feb. 22, 2001, which is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT / US00 / 17236 filed on Jun. 22, 2000 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 449,780 filed on Nov. 26, 1999 and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 140,430, filed on Jun. 22, 1999, the entire contents of the above applications being incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Conventional ultrasound imaging systems typically include a ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent is about an improved portable ulposes system that can be used with personal computers. The system is integrated, meaning it includes the control circuitry and beamforming circuitry in a single package, making it easier to use. The system can be used with a standard user computing device without needing expensive hardware modifications. It also includes safety features to ensure safe use. The method of controlling the system allows the operator to perform ultrasonic imaging operations with a single hand while controlling the system using a common operating position. Additionally, the patent describes a way for a third-party application to control the flow rate and amount of memory required for the system. This ensures that every frame is delivered to the third-party application without causing data loss or latency.

Problems solved by technology

These imaging systems tend to be unwieldy, expensive, and difficult to upgrade.

Further, since dedicated systems have specialized components, it is difficult to employ the gathered ultrasound data in other contexts, such as by downloading to another application for processing and / or operations which are unavailable on the native dedicated system.

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