Ultrasonic Endocavitary Imaging System and Method

Abstract

An ultrasonic endocavitary imaging system for developing an image of a portion of a body cavity includes an elongate probe having a longitudinal axis, a distal end configured for insertion into the body cavity, a proximal end opposite to the distal end. The system also includes a shaft rotatably mounted in the probe, in a manner supporting rotation about the longitudinal axis, and having a proximal end protruding from the proximal end of the probe and a distal end opposite to the proximal end. The system further includes handle pivotally attached to the proximal end of the shaft and configured to rotate the shaft within the probe and an image capture assembly. The image capture assembly includes a piezo crystal array, the array coupled to the distal end of the shaft and having an axis aligned with the longitudinal axis, the array configured to cause capture of an ultrasound image of the interior of the body cavity lying in a plane through which the longitudinal axis passes, so that, when the shaft is rotated within the probe by means of the handle, the plane is correspondingly rotated about the longitudinal axis, causing generation of swept image data in the interior of the body cavity. The image capture assembly further includes a radio frequency transceiver disposed in the probe and coupled to the piezo crystal array, the transceiver configured for transmitting the image data from the piezo crystal array to a computing device of a user.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.