Systems and methods for cooling ultrasound transducers
AssigneeFujifilm Sonosite, Inc.
InventorsGreg Nieminen, Todd Willsie, Evan McCormack
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods of transmitting heat away from an ultrasound probe are disclosed within. In one embodiment, a handheld ultrasound probe includes a transducer, electronics configured to drive the transducer, and a housing surrounding the transducer assembly and the electronics. A slot extending from a first side of the housing to a second side of the housing and can allow air to pass adjacent transducer and the electronics. The slot can be sized to inhibit accessibility of an operator’s finger to an inner surface of slot.
Claims20
A handheld ultrasound imaging probe, comprising:
- a transducer assembly at a distal end of the imaging probe;
- electronics coupled to the transducer assembly;
- a housing at least partially enclosing the transducer assembly and the electronics, the housing extending along a longitudinal axis between a proximal end of the imaging probe and the distal end of the imaging probe;
- a heat spreader within the housing configured to absorb heat from the transducer assembly and the electronics;
- and
- a conduit extending from a first side of the housing to a second side of the housing and aligned in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the imaging probe, wherein the heat spreader is located between the electronics and the conduit, and wherein the conduit is configured for a coolant to flow through the conduit from the first side of the housing to the second side of the housing to dissipate the heat absorbed by the heat spreader.
The handheld ultrasound imaging probe, wherein the heat spreader is a first heat spreader at an upper portion of the conduit, and the probe comprises a second heat spreader at a lower portion of the conduit, wherein each of the first heat spreader and the second heat spreader is configured to transmit the heat from the transducer assembly and the electronics to the conduit.
A handheld ultrasound imaging probe, comprising:
- a housing having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, the housing defining a cavity;
- an ultrasound transducer assembly and a circuit disposed within the cavity in the housing;
- a first aperture at the first side of the housing and a second aperture at the second side of the housing;
- a conduit extending through the housing from the first aperture to the second aperture, wherein the conduit includes a first conduit opening adjacent to the first aperture and a second conduit opening adjacent to the second aperture, wherein the conduit includes an interior surface that defines a path for a coolant between the first aperture and the second aperture, wherein the interior surface is sealed from an interior portion of the housing and a thermal conductivity of the interior surface of the conduit is greater than a thermal conductivity of the housing to prevent the coolant within the conduit from flowing into the cavity in the housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.