Digital capacitive membrane transducer
AssigneeSiemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.
InventorsNelson H. Oliver, Worth B. Walters
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A capacitive membrane is used as a digital sensor. Membranes act as binary devices, such as being in a collapsed or non-collapsed state. By providing drum heads (membranes and associated gaps) with different response characteristics, the drum heads of an element digitally indicate the amplitude of the acoustic force by which of the drum heads are triggered or change states. The digital transducer may be used for different types of sensors, such as a CMUT, an air pressure, a temperature, a humidity, a chemical or biological stimulus or other sensor.
Claims12
A system for receiving ultrasound energy, the system comprising:
- a first element having a plurality of acoustic drum heads, at least two of the acoustic drum heads having different acoustic response characteristics;
- an encoder connected with the first element, the encoder operable to output digital information as a function of collapse, opening, or both collapse and opening operation of the acoustic drum heads.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.