Ultrasonic probe for intraoral soft tissue imaging

A probe member intended to be used for 2D and/or 3D imaging a soft tissue in an intra oral cavity, comprising:

• an acoustic window intended to face the soft tissue to be imaged;
• an ultrasound transducer system configured for:
• emitting an ultrasound signal, in the form of a beam having an ultrasound beam axis, through the acoustic window;
• and
• receiving a corresponding ultrasound return signal through the acoustic window;
• a beam forming and scanning assembly configured for driving the ultrasound beam axis across at least one scanning axis different from the ultrasound beam axis so as to scan the emitted beam through the acoustic window
• the ultrasound transducer system operating at a center frequency in the range of 10 MHz to 100 MHz;
• a conformable material portion external to and surrounding the acoustic window;
• and
• coupling medium circulation circuitry configured for guiding a flow of coupling medium between the acoustic window and the external conformable material portion;
• wherein the conformable material portion conforms upon contact to the soft tissue to be imaged and the coupling medium acoustically couples the acoustic window to the conformable material portion.