Apparatus and method for detecting cavitations using through-transmission alveolar ultrasonography (TAU)

A system comprising:

• a measuring unit for performing through-transmission alveolar ultrasonography (TAU) for locating cavitations in a jawbone, wherein the measuring unit comprises:
• an ultrasonic transducer;
• and
• a round ultrasonic receiver, the system being configured to define the geometric position of the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic receiver with respect to each other, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is coupled to an arm and the ultrasonic receiver of the measuring unit is coupled to another arm, wherein the arms are connected to each other by a connecting element, and wherein at least one of the arms is pivotably coupled with the connecting element;
• a semi-solid gel being fixable between the ultrasonic transducer and/or the ultrasonic receiver and the jawbone for ensuring acoustical conductivity,
• wherein:
• the system further comprises a means configured to multiplex analogue signal data generated by the ultrasonic receiver,
• wherein amplification means and/or the multiplexing means is located in the arm to which the ultrasonic receiver is coupled and in close proximity to the ultrasonic receiver, and
• the system further comprises a means to transmit the multiplexed analogue signal data to a discrete main unit associated with the system for further processing,
• wherein a number of transmission means from the system to the discrete main unit is smaller than a number of active piezoelectric elements in the ultrasonic receiver.

A method for determining an absence and/or presence and location of the cavitations in the jawbone using a system comprising:

• a measuring unit for performing through-transmission alveolar ultrasonography (TAU) for locating cavitations in a jawbone, wherein the measuring unit comprises:
• an ultrasonic transducer;
• and
• a round ultrasonic receiver, the system being configured to define the geometric position of the ultrasonic transducer and the ultrasonic receiver with respect to each other, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is coupled to an arm and the ultrasonic receiver of the measuring unit is coupled to another arm, wherein the arms are connected to each other by a connecting element, and wherein at least one of the arms is pivotably coupled with the connecting element;
• a semi-solid gel being fixable between the ultrasonic transducer and/or the ultrasonic receiver and the jawbone for ensuring acoustical conductivity,
• wherein the method comprises using the semi-solid gel to ensure acoustical conductivity between the transducer and/or the receiver and the jawbone;
• wherein the method further comprises:
• transmitting amplified and multiplexed analogue signal data to a processing means in a discrete main unit associated with the system concurrently with digitalizing the signal data;
• partially processing the digital signal data;
• storing the partially processed signal data in a memory;
• and
• transmitting the partially processed digital signal data to a software application being run by the processing means for final processing and subsequent transmission to a display unit associated with the system, further comprising the steps of:
• receiving the analogue signal data of groups of piezoelectric elements in sequence;
• and
• multiplexing and amplifying the analogue signal data generated by the ultrasonic receiver, further comprising a step of displaying further processed data by associating different signal strengths with at least one of:
• a grayscale comprising different tones, one or more color schemes comprising different colors and a graph, wherein signal data for unproblematic zones are displayed with reduced colored areas whilst data indicating peculiarities are displayed as large areas, further comprising displaying the further processed data by superimposing the further processed data over an x-ray image of a jawbone area being measured.