Replaceable attachment for an ultrasound probe

Inventors

BAUMANN, Ulrich André • BAUMANN, Vincent Boris • FREI, Peter Nuot

Assignees

Compremium AG

Abstract

A replaceable attachment for an ultrasound probe includes a ring-like fastening region for fastening the attachment to the ultrasound probe, and a flexible membrane arranged on the fastening region. A first liquid or gel-like contact medium is applied to an inner contact surface of the membrane. The contact surface makes contact with an end face of the ultrasound probe when an attachment is fastened to the ultrasound probe. Before the attachment is fastened, the first contact medium is distributed on the contact surface in such a manner that, in an array region of the contact surface, a quantity of the first contact medium per surface is at least twice as large as in a remaining region of the contact surface. A positioning and extent of the array region is adapted to a positioning and extent of a piezo array of the ultrasound probe.

Core Innovation

The invention provides a replaceable attachment for an ultrasound probe with a ring-like fastening region and a flexible membrane arranged on the fastening region. A first contact medium is applied to an inner contact surface of the flexible membrane, and the inner contact surface is configured to make contact with an end face of the ultrasound probe when the replaceable attachment is fastened to the ultrasound probe. Before fastening, the first contact medium is distributed on an array region of the inner contact surface, where the quantity of the first contact medium in the array region is at least twice as large as in a remaining region.

The positioning and extent of the array region are configured to position a piezo array of the ultrasound probe, so that the array region is sized and positioned to match the piezo array and to improve coupling. The replaceable attachment further includes a casing section comprising four curved segments of identical length surrounding the flexible membrane, with rounded corners located at transitions between each curved segment, and protrusions formed in each rounded corner that extend radially inward from each rounded corner.

In additional embodiments, the end face of the ultrasound probe has a convex geometry, and the flexible membrane is deformed to match the convex geometry during placement. Prestress is created in the flexible membrane by deformation, and a pressure sensor measures an initial pressure caused by the prestress through the replaceable attachment for calibration and attachment correctness detection. Further embodiments describe an optional second contact medium on an outer surface of the flexible membrane, tamper-evident features including a tamper ring and a destroyed data store, and a packaged attachment with a cup-like main part and a matching cover/recess configured to position and contain media such that the probe is ready upon mounting.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes one independent claim, which defines the replaceable attachment as a combination of a ring-like fastening region, a flexible membrane with a first contact medium concentrated in an array region, and a specific casing section geometry with four identical curved segments, rounded corners, and radially inward protrusions. The independent claim is followed by multiple dependent refinements that add specific interface deformation, prestress and pressure sensing, packaging structure, and tamper-evident features.

Overall, the claim coverage centers on a replaceable ultrasound-probe attachment that concentrates a first contact medium on an array region to position the piezo array, combined with a casing section defined by four identical curved segments with rounded corners and radially inward protrusions. Dependent features further refine the interface with convex end-face matching, prestress and pressure sensing, packaged attachment structure with a cup-like main part and cover, and tamper-evident elements.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications