Operator supervised temperature control system and method for an ultrasound transducer
AssigneeKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
InventorsMichael Peszynski, David Miller, Ivan Salgo
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Abstract
A system and method for controlling the heat of an ultrasonic transducer is disclosed. In the presently preferred embodiments, the operator selects one or more mutable system parameters of the ultrasound system which will be changed if either the temperature becomes too great, or at the operator's command, or both.
Claims18
A method of cooling an imaging ultrasonic transducer in an imaging ultrasonic transducer system, wherein a patient-contacting surface of said imaging ultrasonic transducer is pressed externally against the skin of a patient in order to generate an image, comprising the steps of:
- selecting by an operator at least one mutable system parameter of the imaging ultrasonic transducer system;
- determining a temperature of the imaging ultrasonic transducer at the patient-contacting surface;
- and
- implementing a parameter change in the selected at least one mutable system parameter based on the determined temperature, wherein the parameter change will cause a reduction, if necessary, in the temperature of the patient-contacting surface of the imaging ultrasonic transducer to prevent damage to the skin of the patient and pain to the patient.
A system for cooling an imaging ultrasonic transducer in an imaging ultrasonic transducer system, comprising:
- a patient-contacting surface of said imaging ultrasonic transducer for pressing externally against the skin of a patient in order to generate an image;
- a user interface by which an operator may select at least one mutable system parameter from a displayed at least one mutable system parameter;
- at least one temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the patient-contacting surface of the ultrasonic transducer;
- and
- a controller for implementing a parameter change in a selected at least one mutable system parameter based on the sensed temperature, wherein the parameter change will cause a reduction in the temperature of the patient-contacting surface of the imaging ultrasonic transducer to prevent damage to the skin of the patient and pain to the patient.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.