Modularized acoustic probe

A modularized acoustic probe comprising:

• a probe scanhead including:
• an acoustic transducer disposed on a first substrate and in a first row of a two-row transducer array, the acoustic transducer configured to generate an acoustic signal and to transmit the acoustic signal toward tissue or bone;
• an optical sensor disposed on a second substrate and in a second row of the two-row transducer array, the optical sensor configured to detect a reflected acoustic signal, which results from the acoustic signal reflecting from the tissue or bone, and to convert the reflected acoustic signal to an electrical signal, wherein the first substrate of the acoustic transducer and the second substrate of the optical sensor are discrete substrates, and wherein the acoustic transducer and the optical sensor have at least one different acoustic parameter;
• a thermal module disposed on the second substrate including at least one thermal circuit and configured to regulate a temperature inside the probe scanhead;
• a first lens module associated with the acoustic transducer and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals transmitted by the acoustic transducer;
• and
• a second lens module associated with the optical sensor having a different acoustic design than the first lens module and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals received by the optical sensor.

A method of making a modularized acoustic probe, the method comprising:

• fabricating a plurality of transducer sub-components having a plurality of respective discrete substrates;
• combining a first subset of the plurality of transducer sub-components to form an acoustic transducer disposed on a first substrate and configured to generate an acoustic signal and is further configured to transmit the acoustic signal toward tissue or bone;
• combining a second subset of the plurality of transducer sub-components to form an optical sensor disposed on a second substrate and configured to detect a reflected acoustic signal, which results from the acoustic signal reflecting from the tissue or bone, and is further configured to convert the reflected acoustic signal to an electrical signal, wherein the first substrate of the acoustic transducer and the second substrate of the optical sensor are discrete substrates and the acoustic transducer and the optical sensor have at least one different acoustic parameter;
• combining the acoustic transducer and the optical sensor in a probe scanhead to form the modularized acoustic probe;
• providing a thermal module disposed on the second substrate including at least one thermal circuit and configured to regulate a temperature inside the probe scanhead;
• providing a first lens module associated with the acoustic transducer and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals transmitted by the acoustic transducer;
• and
• providing a second lens module associated with the optical sensor having a different acoustic design than the first lens module and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals received by the optical sensor.

A method of making a modularized acoustic probe, the method comprising:

• fabricating a plurality of transducer sub-components having a plurality of respective discrete substrates;
• combining a first subset of the plurality of transducer sub-components to form an acoustic transducer disposed on a first substrate in a first row of a two-row transducer array, the acoustic transducer configured to generate an acoustic signal and further configured to transmit the acoustic signal toward tissue or bone;
• combining a second subset of the plurality of transducer sub-components to form an optical sensor disposed on a second substrate in a second row of the two-row transducer array, the optical sensor configured to detect a reflected acoustic signal, which results from the acoustic signal reflecting from the tissue or bone, and further configured to convert the reflected acoustic signal to an electrical signal, wherein the first substrate of the acoustic transducer and the second substrate of the optical sensor are discrete substrates and the acoustic transducer and the optical sensor have at least one different acoustic parameter;
• combining the first transducer and the second transducer in a probe scanhead to form the modularized acoustic probe;
• and
• providing a thermal module disposed on the second substrate including at least one thermal circuit and configured to regulate a temperature inside the probe scanhead;
• providing a first lens module associated with the acoustic transducer and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals transmitted by the acoustic transducer;
• and
• providing a second lens module associated with the optical sensor having a different acoustic design than the first lens module and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals received by the optical sensor.

A modularized acoustic probe comprising:

• an acoustic transducer configured to generate an acoustic signal and to transmit the acoustic signal toward tissue or bone;
• an optical sensor disposed on a second substrate and configured to detect a reflected acoustic signal, which results from the acoustic signal reflecting from the tissue or bone, and to convert the reflected acoustic signal to an electrical signal, wherein the first substrate of the acoustic transducer and the second substrate of the optical sensor are discrete substrates and the acoustic transducer and the optical sensor have at least one different acoustic parameter differing by a threshold difference;
• and
• a thermal module disposed on the second substrate including at least one thermal circuit and configured to regulate a temperature of the optical sensor;
• a first lens module associated with the acoustic transducer and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals transmitted by the acoustic transducer;
• and
• a second lens module associated with the optical sensor having a different acoustic design than the first lens module and configured to provide mechanical focusing of acoustic signals received by the optical sensor.