Tele-Echography Probe Layout for Compact 3-Axis Scanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robot-assisted echography probes are bulky, making them difficult to handle and limiting their use in restricted access areas, despite providing precise movement reproduction for tele-echography examinations.
Innovation Solution
The transducer module's moving mechanisms are housed within the sealed compartment of the enclosure, utilizing spinning, nutation, and precession movements, actuated by actuators, to achieve compactness while maintaining precise image acquisition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the moving mechanisms are housed outside the sealed compartment, then the device structure is simpler and easier to manufacture, but the probe becomes bulky and difficult to handle in restricted access areas
Solution Approach 1:
The moving mechanisms (first moving mechanism for rotating the transducer module, second moving mechanism for pivoting the guide sleeve) are nested within the sealed compartment, with the transducer module housed in a support housing that contains the first moving mechanism, and the guide sleeve containing the second moving mechanism. This nesting arrangement reduces the overall probe volume while maintaining all necessary functional components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes three-dimensional spatial arrangement within the sealed compartment, positioning the transducer module at the distal end of the guide sleeve, with rotating and pivoting mechanisms arranged in different spatial dimensions (rotation about transducer axis, pivoting of guide sleeve). This multi-dimensional arrangement optimizes space utilization and reduces probe bulkiness.
2Reliability
If the transducer module is moved by external mechanisms, then the sealed compartment can remain simple, but parasitic movements occur at the contact zone with the patient's body
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the moving mechanisms from the external environment and places them entirely within the sealed compartment. The first moving mechanism rotates the transducer module about its own axis, and the second moving mechanism pivots the guide sleeve, both internally. This extraction eliminates parasitic movements at the patient contact zone, ensuring reliable image acquisition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a faithful reproduction of the doctor's manual probe movements through the moving mechanisms. The first moving mechanism copies the rotation movement, and the second moving mechanism copies the pivoting movement, allowing the transducer module to reproduce the exact scanning patterns the doctor would perform manually, thereby maintaining diagnostic accuracy.
3Ease of operation
If the probe is made compact by internal arrangement, then handling in confined spaces is improved, but the actuators must be miniaturized and precisely integrated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the moving mechanisms into distinct functional units: the first moving mechanism for rotation, the second moving mechanism for pivoting, and the acoustic coupling system. Each segment is independently designed and integrated into the sealed compartment, facilitating manufacturing while achieving compact dimensions for ease of handling in confined spaces.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The compact design allows for precise and efficient tele-echography examinations without parasitic movements, enhancing handling and usability in confined spaces.
Implementation Method 1
an ultrasonic transducer module (15) comprising a support housing (150) mounted at a distal end of a guide sleeve (23)... the transducer module being adapted to emit and receive ultrasonic waves through the enclosure shell (180)
Implementation Method 2
the transducer module being submerged in an acoustic coupling agent, for example oil, filling the sealed compartment, so as to promote the propagation of the ultrasonic waves emitted and received by the transducer module
Data Source
AI summary
A robot-assisted echographic probe that includes an enclosure, an ultrasonic transducer module having a support housing mounted at a distal end of a guide sleeve in a sealed compartment of the enclosure that is separated from a control compartment of the enclosure by a sealed transversal wall, and means for moving the transducer module which are suitable for directing the transducer module along three axes of rotation so as to sweep the inner surface of an enclosure shell of the sealed compartment, the moving means being motor-driven by actuators, at least a portion of the actuators being housed in the control compartment, and the means for moving the transducer module being arranged in the sealed compartment of the enclosure.