Ultrasonic probe
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsKazuyoshi Irioka, Eiichi Ookawa, Jun Koizumi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An ultrasonic probe is provided which may be employed in medical applications to radiate an ultrasonic wave for inspecting the interior of a patient's body noninvasively. The ultrasonic probe includes a scan mechanism which consists of a rotating mechanism and a swinging mechanism. The rotating mechanism is designed to rotate a cylindrical holder having installed thereon a piezoelectric element which emits an ultrasonic wave and receives the echo. The swinging mechanism is designed to swing a rotary base which supports the rotating mechanism to swing the cylindrical holder about an axis of rotation extending perpendicular to that of the piezoelectric element.
Claims7
An ultrasonic probe comprising:
- a piezoelectric element emitting an ultrasonic wave and receiving an echo thereof, said piezoelectric element converting the echo into an electric signal;
- holding member holding said piezoelectric element;
- rotating mechanism rotating said holding member about a first axis;
- a rotary base supporting said rotating mechanism;
- a fixed chassis supporting said rotary base so as to allow said rotary base to swing about a second axis, said second axis extending substantially perpendicular to the first axis and traversing a length of the ultrasonic probe;
- and
- a swinging mechanism swinging said rotary base.
An ultrasonic probe comprising:
- a piezoelectric element emitting an ultrasonic wave and receiving an echo thereof, said piezoelectric element converting the echo into an electric signal;
- a holding member holding said piezoelectric element;
- a rotating mechanism rotating said holding member about a first axis to scan said piezoelectric element over a first angular range;
- a rotary base supporting said rotating mechanism;
- a fixed chassis supporting said rotary base so as to allow said rotary base to swing about a second axis in a direction different from the first axis;
- and
- a swinging mechanism swinging said rotary base cyclically about the second axis to reciprocate a scan of said piezoelectric element performed by said rotating mechanism over a second angular range.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.