Ultrasonic device for effectively mechanically applying ultrasound waves

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ultrasound device for effectively applying ultrasound waves on a treatment area by mechanically moving an ultrasound transducer over an area larger than the effective radiating area (ERA), comprising: (a) an ultrasound transducer connected by wiring, said ultrasound transducer for dispersing ultrasound waves; (b) an electric actuator for spinning a crank, wherein a shaft is eccentrically attached to said crank for circularly rotatably whirling said transducer.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to cosmetic treatment devices. More specifically, this invention relates to an ultrasound device for use in various therapeutic applications. Background Technology

[0002] To date, ultrasound has been widely used in medicine, cosmetics, body shaping, wound treatment, pain relief, blood flow stimulation, skin therapy, and hydrotherapy. Ultrasound waves are applied to the body via a handheld device that directly contacts the treatment area or a stationary, fixed device. There is a need for a convenient, easy-to-use, and comfortable method to effectively apply ultrasound waves.

[0003] US2015297182 discloses a mechanically rotating intravascular ultrasound probe. This application discloses a prospective mechanically rotating intravascular ultrasound probe with small size, high image resolution, and good imaging stability. The intravascular ultrasound probe includes a catheter, an ultrasound transducer disposed at the front end of a cavity in the catheter, and a drive device for driving the mechanical rotation of the ultrasound transducer. The drive device is a miniature motor disposed in the cavity of the catheter, including a rotor and a stator. The ultrasound transducer is mounted on top of the rotor and electrically connected to the rotor, and the rotor is also electrically connected to the stator. The catheter is a magnetic metal tube, and the front end of the catheter is closed by an acoustic window with a spherical end that allows ultrasound waves from the ultrasound transducer to pass through. The acoustic window is filled with an ionic liquid that functions as an ultrasound coupling agent. The ultrasound probe solves the problem of image rotation distortion when the catheter passes through lesions with severe stenosis or tortuous vascular segments, and enables both anteroposterior and lateral scanning imaging of the vessel wall. However, the described probe is limited to rotation about its own axis. The use of ionic liquids as a second conductor also limits the power specifications and application types of the aforementioned transducers.

[0004] Since therapeutic ultrasound requires up to 1,000 times the power specifications of diagnostic ultrasound, it is desirable to propose a system that does not have these drawbacks. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The object of this invention is to provide an ultrasonic device for effectively applying ultrasonic waves.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-surgical ultrasound device that can easily, automatically and safely apply ultrasound waves to a patient.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide an automated ultrasound device for cosmetic treatment.

[0008] As the description proceeds, other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent.

[0009] This invention relates to an ultrasound device for effectively applying ultrasound waves to a treatment area by mechanically moving an ultrasound transducer, the ultrasound device comprising: (a) an ultrasound transducer connected by wiring, the ultrasound transducer for dispersing ultrasound waves; (b) a shaft for holding the transducer; (c) an electric actuator for causing a crank to spin, wherein the shaft is eccentrically attached to the crank to cause the transducer to rotate in a circularly rotatable manner; (d) a stabilizer for guiding the wiring of the ultrasound transducer and for holding the shaft at an angle of reduced twist of the wiring of the ultrasound transducer when the actuator causes the transducer to rotate; (e) a first linear bearing for guiding the bottom of the stabilizer as it slides up and down; and (f) a control unit logically connected to the electric actuator, capable of receiving instructions from a user and capable of controlling the rotation of the ultrasound transducer by controlling the electric actuator to execute the instructions.

[0010] Preferably, the device further includes a friction damper and a second linear bearing, which are used to protect the wiring and guide it through the correction mechanism when the actuator rotates the transducer.

[0011] Preferably, a single cable provides a continuous electrical connection from the device's input connector to the moving ultrasonic transducer to enable multiple rotations without damaging the cable.

[0012] Preferably, the electric actuator is driven by electronic circuitry or by directly applied electrical power to cause the ultrasonic transducer to rotate in at least one direction with at least one type of motion (such as circular motion, linear motion, angular motion, spin motion, vibration) or a combination of said direction and motion type patterns.

[0013] Preferably, the device further includes a connector having at least one BNC connector for connection to the ultrasound device, wherein the entire connector assembly, including non-BNC contacts, is held in place by utilizing a BNC locking mechanism.

[0014] Preferably, the device can be embodied as a standalone unit, or it can be integrated into a larger, more comprehensive mechanical device.

[0015] In one embodiment, the device further includes a coupler configured to change the speed, mode, torque, or amplitude of the ultrasonic transducer's motion.

[0016] In one embodiment, the ultrasonic transducer is directly attached to the electric actuator.

[0017] In one embodiment, the device is used to avoid burns caused by high-power ultrasound applied to the same part of the treatment area for a longer period of time than necessary.

[0018] In one embodiment, electrically driven ultrasound transducers are used to increase blood flow in the treatment area due to their ability to perform motion at speeds, amplitudes, and patterns that cannot be manually executed.

[0019] In one embodiment, an electrically driven ultrasonic transducer generates a certain type of motion movement of its own low-frequency wave, which is coherent with the main ultrasonic carrier frequency to produce a more effective and penetrating pulse that cannot be generated by a single frequency source.

[0020] In one embodiment, an electrically driven ultrasound transducer reduces the difficulty of manual movement during the treatment process. Attached Figure Description

[0021] Some embodiments of the invention are illustrated herein by way of example only, using accompanying drawings and specific references to their details.

[0022] In the attached diagram:

[0023] Figure 1 This is a diagram of a handheld ultrasonic device for effectively applying ultrasonic waves according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 This is a diagram of some internal components of an ultrasonic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 This is an isometric view of some internal components of an ultrasonic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 This is a diagram of a connector for an ultrasonic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0027] The terms “front,” “rear,” “lower,” “upper,” “bottom,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” “right,” “left,” or any reference to sides or directions are used throughout the specification for the sake of brevity only and are relative terms only, not intended to require a specific orientation of a component.

[0028] As is known in the art, ultrasound can be used for wound treatment, ulcer treatment, pain relief, blood flow stimulation, body contouring, lipid reduction, cellulite reduction, skin treatment, and other applications for cosmetic or medical purposes. Ultrasound can be applied to a patient via handheld or stationary, fixed-position devices through direct contact with the skin of the treatment area. However, the effective radiation area (ERA) of an ultrasound transducer is very small. Therefore, in order to apply the same amount of energy to an area larger than the transducer's ERA, the transducer needs to move at a constant speed throughout the treatment area. Furthermore, due to the conical shape of the ultrasound beam, the focusing area of ​​the beam is typically narrower than the transducer's ERA, requiring considerable movement of the transducer to be effective, even when the treatment area is small. Not to mention that when high-power ultrasound is applied to the same area over time, wave absorption can cause the body part to heat up and be burned. This invention introduces an ultrasonic device for effectively applying ultrasonic waves over an area larger than the ERA of an ultrasonic transducer by means of an electric actuator that causes the ultrasonic transducer to rotate to disperse the ultrasonic waves over an area larger than the ERA, thereby protecting the customer from harm.

[0029] Figure 1 This is a diagram of a handheld ultrasonic device for effectively applying ultrasonic waves according to an embodiment of the present invention. Device 100 may be a handheld ultrasonic device having a rotatable transducer 40. For example, the transducer 40 may be made of, for example, a device with a rotatable transducer 40. Figure 2 The described electric actuator rotates. When the operator holds the ultrasound device by gripping the handle 30 and aligns the transducer 40 with the patient's body, the ultrasound transducer can rotate in a circular motion while applying ultrasound waves. Therefore, the transducer 40 effectively disperses ultrasound waves over an area larger than the transducer's initial ERA.

[0030] One feature of the described device is the provision of a continuous electrical connection to the ultrasonic transducer 40, while allowing the device to rotate countless times in a circular pattern without causing excessive twisting of the electrical conductors. Before being converted into ultrasonic vibrations by the ultrasonic transducer, the driving electrical signal is typically formed as a high-power RF signal, as therapeutic ultrasound may require the application of up to tens of watts of power. Therefore, the conduction of this signal presents additional challenges due to the nature of the RF cable, which requires uninterrupted coaxiality of the internal conductors. The implementation of sliding contacts can pose engineering challenges in terms of cost and reliability.

[0031] The simplest and most reliable approach would be to use a basic cable without any additional contacts. The following mechanism describes how this can be achieved at a fixed input terminal, for example... Figure 1 A single-cable connection is achieved between the connection point 99 and the mobile end, such as the transducer 40, where the cable twist parameters can be calculated and adjusted as needed.

[0032] Figure 2 This is a diagram of some internal components of an ultrasonic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. (As per...) Figure 1 Described, the ultrasonic transducer 40 may have a stainless steel cap with a PZT807 piezoelectric crystal or any other ultrasonic transducer capable of guiding ultrasound waves for human treatment. The ultrasonic transducer 40 may be connected via wiring. The wiring may be an RF cable or any other wiring capable of transmitting electrical signals to the transducer 40. The ultrasonic transducer 40 may be rotatable by an electric actuator 10. The actuator 10 may be, for example, a brushed or brushless electric motor, a stepper motor or servo motor, a solenoid, an angular actuator or a linear actuator, such as a Nema 17 stepper motor, or any other actuator capable of rotatable the transducer. In one embodiment, the actuator 10 may rotate the transducer 40 in a circular pattern or in any other angular pattern in any direction. In one embodiment, the actuator 10 may rotate the transducer 40 in one direction and then switch the direction of rotation of the actuator 10 before completing one revolution. In other embodiments, the actuator 10 may vibrate the transducer 40 by rapidly changing the direction of rotation of the actuator. According to other embodiments, a combination of vibration and rotation is also possible.

[0033] In one embodiment, such as in Figure 2 As depicted, actuator 10 can cause crank 60 to spin, wherein crank 60 has a pivotable and eccentrically attached shaft 62 to rotatably rotate transducer 40. Transducer 40 can be attached to shaft 62. Thus, when actuator 10 spins, crank 60 can spin as it makes circular movements on the eccentrically positioned shaft 62, causing transducer 40 to rotate in a circular motion. When shaft 62 of actuator spins, it can make circular movements about the central axis of actuator 10, which enables transducer 40 to rotate in the same circular pattern. By switching the direction of rotation of actuator 10 before completing one revolution, this allows transducer 40 to rotate in a circular pattern or in any other angular pattern in any direction, or allows it to vibrate by rapidly changing the direction of rotation of actuator. In one embodiment, a combination of vibration and rotation is also possible. In one embodiment, appropriate displacement of the axis, namely the axis of axis 62 and the axis of actuator 10, will allow the transducer to move in a circular pattern without overlapping with the ultrasound beam focusing area, thus increasing the uniformity of energy applied to the entire treatment area.

[0034] Figure 2The device 100 may also include a stabilizer 50, which can be used to stabilize the angle of the transducer 40 when the actuator 10 causes the transducer 40 to spin and rotate. The stabilizer 50 may be a hollow tube made of metal or any other rigid material to guide the wiring of the ultrasonic transducer 40. In one embodiment, the top of the stabilizer 50 is inserted into and attached to a shaft 62. As the shaft 62 moves the transducer 40, the stabilizer 50 can hold the shaft and the transducer 40 in a position perpendicular to a first linear bearing 90, which guides the stabilizer 50 at the bottom, thus reducing twisting of the wiring attached to the ultrasonic transducer 40. The first linear bearing 90 is held within the device cover by its axis 91, so that the bearing is capable of angular movement about the axis 91. When the stabilizer 50 repeats the circular motion applied by the shaft 62 at its top side, the angular movement of the bearing 91 holding the bottom side of the stabilizer 50 can have a much lower angular movement amplitude.

[0035] In one embodiment, such as in Figure 2 As depicted, the friction damper 70 can be used to protect the movement of the wiring 80. The friction damper 70, i.e., the linear guide, can be a hollow tube made of metal or any other rigid material to guide the wiring of the ultrasonic transducer 40. In one embodiment, the friction damper 70 can be movably held by a second linear bearing 73. Therefore, as the friction damper 70 slides up and down inside the second linear bearing 73 with the movement of the transducer 40, the wiring 80 can be protected within the friction damper 70.

[0036] Figure 3 This is an isometric view of some internal components of an ultrasonic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. (See also: Regarding...) Figure 2 Described, the transducer cable 80 can travel through the stabilizer 50 and further through the hollow shaft 62 to which the transducer is attached. The stabilizer 50 can be inserted into a first linear bearing 90, which is rotatable about its axis 91 within the device cover. The first linear bearing 90 can serve as a guide for the stabilizer 50 and as a first-stage corrector for cable twisting. Figure 3As shown, the maximum cable twist angle "d" is defined by the equation tan(d) = radius of movement of axis 62 (MR) / length (LF) between the actuator axis and the axis 91 of the first linear bearing. The desired maximum cable twist angle can be achieved by adjusting MR and LF. While the first linear bearing 90 reduces the left / right movement of the cable in the X direction caused by the X and Y movement paths, the second linear bearing 73 restricts the up / down movement of the cable only to the Y direction. In the second stage, correction of cable movement in the Y direction is addressed. The friction damper 70 encapsulates the cable on the contact surface with the second linear bearing 73, thereby minimizing friction and protecting the cable. The distance between the two linear bearings 90 and 73 affects the cable twist radius 87 – the radius increases with increasing distance.

[0037] In addition to the friction damper 70, the cable 80 can be freely folded in an arc of 180 degrees with a desired radius, until as shown in Figure 2 The fixed point within the device embodiment depicted. As the cable moves in the Y direction, the arc can maintain its radius when its center displacement can be equal to half the amplitude of the cable's Y-direction movement.

[0038] return Figure 1 The device 100 may have a control unit capable of receiving instructions, such as through a user interface 20. The user interface 20 may have buttons, joysticks, screens, touchscreens, or any other user interface components. The control unit, which may also be logically connected to an electric actuator, may be able to control the rotation of the ultrasonic transducer by controlling the electric actuator to execute instructions received from the user. The control unit may also be able to control the speed and angular amplitude of the transducer 40 in different ways to create different types of massage motion. In one embodiment, to allow proper displacement of the axis, the control unit may control the transducer to move in a circular pattern without overlapping with the ultrasound beam focusing area, thereby increasing the uniformity of energy applied to the entire treatment area.

[0039] In one embodiment, the ultrasonic device may further include electronic circuitry to allow the user to control the speed of motion, the amplitude and / or mode of the ultrasonic waves from the transducer. In one embodiment, the actuator can be directly driven by applying electrical power to an electric actuator.

[0040] The described ultrasound device can help reduce the difficulty of manual movement during treatment procedures used today. As mentioned above, the use of ultrasound devices can provide a more uniform energy distribution throughout the treatment area compared to manually moved transducers used today.

[0041] In one embodiment, the ultrasound device can be used to increase blood flow in the treatment area due to its ability to perform motion in terms of velocity amplitude and pattern. In one embodiment, the ultrasound device can cause the ultrasound transducer to rotate in a specific type of motion, such as vibration or otherwise, and it can generate its own low-frequency wave (which is coherent with the main ultrasound carrier frequency), which can produce more effective and penetrating pulses that cannot be generated by a single frequency source.

[0042] In one embodiment, the ultrasonic device may have a coupler or coupler mechanism, such as a gearbox, joystick, camshaft, or any other mechanism for changing the speed, mode, torque, or amplitude of the motion of the ultrasonic transducer rotated by the actuator. Alternatively, the ultrasonic transducer may be directly attached to an electric actuator.

[0043] In one embodiment, the electric actuator of the ultrasonic device may be driven by electronic circuitry or directly applied electricity to cause the ultrasonic transducer to rotate in at least one direction with at least one type of motion, such as circular motion, linear motion, angular motion, spin motion, vibration or other types of motion, or a combination of different directions and types of motion.

[0044] Figure 4 This is a diagram of a connector for an ultrasonic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment, a connector 200 having two BNC connectors 91-93 can be used to connect to an ultrasonic device. The first BNC connector 91 can be used, for example, to connect an RF signal feed point to an ultrasonic transducer, while the second BNC connector 92 can be used, for example, to feed power to a controller and an electric actuator. The connector may also have other contacts 93 for transmitting other signals to the ultrasonic device. The ultrasonic device may have suitable connectors at its bottom, such as those on... Figure 1 Connection point 99, as depicted, receives connector 200. In one embodiment, a lever, such as lever 94, can be attached to each BNC connector to easily lock the connector to the ultrasound device. Thus, connector 200 can be attached to the bottom of ultrasound device 100, and the lever can be rotated to lock the cable feeding ultrasound device 100. Therefore, the entire connector assembly 200 can be reliably attached and secured using an effective BNC locking mechanism.

[0045] While the foregoing description discloses many embodiments and specifications of the invention, these are illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. The described invention can be practiced through many variations within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An ultrasound device for effectively applying ultrasound waves to a treatment area by mechanically moving an ultrasound transducer, comprising: An ultrasonic transducer, the ultrasonic transducers being connected by wiring, the ultrasonic transducers being used to disperse ultrasonic waves; A shaft for holding the ultrasonic transducer; An electric actuator for causing a crank to spin, wherein the shaft is eccentrically attached to the crank for causing the ultrasonic transducer to rotate in a circularly rotatable manner. A stabilizer for guiding the wiring of the ultrasonic transducer and for maintaining the axis at a constant angle relative to the stabilizer to reduce the twisting of the wiring of the ultrasonic transducer when the electric actuator rotates the ultrasonic transducer; A first linear bearing is used to guide the bottom of the stabilizer when it slides up and down. and A control unit, logically connected to the electric actuator, is capable of receiving instructions from a user and controlling the rotation of the ultrasonic transducer by controlling the electric actuator to execute the instructions.

2. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1 further includes a friction damper and a second linear bearing, the friction damper and the second linear bearing being used to protect the wiring and guide the wiring through the correction mechanism when the electric actuator rotates the ultrasonic transducer.

3. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, wherein, A single cable provides a continuous electrical connection from the input connector of the ultrasound device to the moving ultrasound transducer for multiple rotations without damaging the cable.

4. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, wherein, The electric actuator is driven by electronic circuitry or by directly applied electricity to cause the ultrasonic transducer to rotate in at least one direction in at least one type of motion, wherein the type of motion is circular motion, linear motion, angular motion, spin motion, and vibration.

5. The ultrasound device of claim 1, further comprising a connector having at least one BNC connector for connection to the ultrasound device, wherein the entire connector assembly, including non-BNC contacts, is held in place by utilizing a BNC locking mechanism.

6. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1 further includes a coupler, the coupler being configured to change the speed, mode, torque or amplitude of the motion of the ultrasonic transducer.

7. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, wherein, The ultrasound device is used to avoid burns caused by high-power ultrasound applied to the same area of ​​the treatment region for a longer period of time than necessary.

8. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, wherein, An electrically driven ultrasonic transducer moves by generating a certain type of motion that produces its own low-frequency waves, which coherently generate more effective and penetrating pulses that cannot be produced by a single frequency source, along with the frequency of the main ultrasonic carrier wave.

9. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, wherein, Electrically driven ultrasound transducers reduce the difficulty of manual movement during treatment.

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