Handheld ultrasound imager

A handheld ultrasound imager comprising:

• a) a case;
• b) an ultrasound transducer module disposed within the case and comprising an array of capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers (cMUTs) or piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers (pMUTs);
• c) a first heatsink in contact with the ultrasound transducer module and associated with a first heat zone;
• d) a plurality of receiver subsystems and transmitter subsystems disposed within the case and integrated into a multilayer stack;
• e) a second heatsink in contact with the multilayer stack and associated with a second heat zone, wherein the second heatsink is coupled to the case, the multilayer stack, and first heatsink so as to serve as a primary structure providing an internal rigid structure for the handheld ultrasound imager;
• f) an anisotropic thermally conductive material configured to move heat from the first heat zone to the second heat zone, wherein the anisotropic thermally conductive material reduces thermal coupling between the first heatsink and the second heat sink;
• and
• g) logic to actively monitor an ultrasound procedure to manage ultrasound transducer module heating within transient heating limits by adjusting available user power to limit overheating.