Ultrasound endoscopy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024099697-A1
Application number	US-202318373006-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 26, 2023
Priority date	Sep 27, 2022
Publication date	Mar 28, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

An ultrasound transducer including a convex ultrasound transducer array including a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements, an electrical circuit for receiving and providing electrical signals to the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements, and a support structure having a convex upper surface facing the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements and extending in a direction parallel to a first axis. The electric circuit includes a plurality of first flexible conductors bend around the support structure at a first curve section and at a second curve section, the first curve section being separate from the second curve section.

First claim

We claim:

1 . An ultrasound transducer comprising:
a convex ultrasound transducer array comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer elements; a support structure having a convex upper surface facing the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements and extending in a direction parallel to a first axis; and an electrical circuit configured to receive and provide electrical signals to the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements, the electrical circuit comprising:
a base section that is flexible and comprises a plurality of first electrical contacts, each first electrical contact of the plurality of first electrical contacts connected to an ultrasound transducer element of the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements and extending along a central axis parallel to the first axis, the base section arranged on the convex upper surface of the support structure;
a plurality of first electrical conductors, each first electrical conductor of the plurality of first electrical conductors electrically connected to a first electrical contact of the plurality of first electrical contacts; and
a contact section comprising a plurality of second electrical contacts, each second electrical contact of the plurality of second electrical contacts electrically connected to a first electrical conductor of the plurality of first electrical conductors and further electrically connected or connectable to a second electrical conductor or a transducer port of an ultrasound processing apparatus,
wherein a first group of the plurality of first electrical conductors are bent around the support structure at a first curve section and a second group of the plurality of first electrical conductors are bent around the support structure at a second curve section, the first curve section being separate from the second curve section.

2 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 1 , wherein the base section and the plurality of first flexible conductors are comprised in a single flexible printed circuit.

3 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 1 , wherein the support structure comprises a first side surface arranged in a plane perpendicular to the first axis, the first side surface connected to the convex upper surface, and wherein the first curve section is arranged along the connection between the convex upper surface and the first side surface.

4 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 3 , wherein the second curve section is arranged along the connection between the convex upper surface and the first side surface and divided from the first curve section by a gap.

5 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 4 , wherein the support structure comprises a concave lower surface opposite to the convex upper surface, the first side surface is connected to the concave lower surface, the gap extends along the entire first side of the support structure, and wherein the plurality of the first electrical conductors are further bent around the support structure at a third curve section and at a fourth curve section, the third curve section being separate from the fourth curve section by the gap, and wherein the third curve section and the fourth curve section are arranged along the connection between the first side surface and the concave lower surface.

6 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 3 , wherein the support structure comprises a second side surface opposite to the first side surface, the second side surface is arranged in a plane perpendicular to the first axis, the second side surface is connected to the convex upper surface, the second curve section is arranged along the connection between the convex upper surface and the second side surface, and wherein the first group of electrical conductors are bent around the first curve section and the second group of electrical conductors are bent around the second curve section.

7 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 6 , wherein the first group of electrical conductors is arranged, along a part of a length of the first group of electrical conductors, in a first plane, and the second group of electrical conductors is arranged, along a part of a length of the second group of electrical conductors, in a second plane, and wherein the first plane overlaps the second plane.

8 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of second electrical contacts are connected to a second electrical conductor.

9 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 8 , wherein for each of the plurality of second electrical contacts, the second electrical conductor is a coaxial cable permanently connected the second electrical contact.

10 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of second electrical contacts is configured to be detachably connectable to a second electrical conductor or a transducer port of an ultrasound processing apparatus.

11 . The ultrasound transducer of claim 1 , wherein the first electrical contacts are positioned between the convex upper surface of the support structure and the ultrasound transducer elements, wherein the support structure comprises a first side surface and a second side surface opposite the first side surface, the first side surface connected to the convex upper surface, the second side surface connected to the convex upper surface, the first curve section arranged along the connection between the convex upper surface and the first side surface, the second curve section arranged along the connection between the convex upper surface and the second side surface, the first group of the plurality of first electrical conductors extending at least partially along the first side surface, and the second group of the plurality of first electrical conductors extending at least partially along the second side surface.

12 . An endoscope comprising:
a handle; an insertion tube having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end attached to the handle; an image capturing device supported by the distal end of the insertion tube; an ultrasound transducer according to claim 1 , the ultrasound transducer supported by the distal end of the insertion tube; and a first flexible cable extending from the handle and being electrically connected to the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements via the electrical circuit of the ultrasound transducer.

13 . The endoscope of claim 12 , wherein the first flexible cable is connectable to an ultrasound processing apparatus and configured to provide the ultrasound processing apparatus with electrical signals generated by the plurality of ultrasound transducer elements.

14 . The endoscope of claim 13 , the endoscope further comprising a second flexible cable extending from the handle and being electrically connected to the image capturing device via the electrical circuit of the ultrasound transducer.

15 . A system comprising:
an endoscope according to claim 12 ; and an ultrasound processing apparatus, wherein the first flexible cable is connectable to the ultrasound processing apparatus.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first flexible cable is further configured to receive electrical signals from the image capturing device and provide the received electrical signals to the ultrasound processing apparatus, and wherein the ultrasound processing apparatus comprises one or more processing units configured to process both the signals received from the ultrasound transducer and the signals received from the image capturing device.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the system further comprises an video processing apparatus, and wherein the endoscope furth

Assignees

• Ambu As

Inventors

• Diederichsen Søren Elmin
• Sonnenborg Finn
• Sørensen Morten

Classifications

• A61B8/4494 Primary

  characterised by the arrangement of the transducer elements · CPC title

• A61B8/12

  in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters · CPC title

• A61B8/445

  Details of catheter construction · CPC title

• A61B8/4477

  using several separate ultrasound transducers or probes · CPC title

• A61B2562/166

  the sensor is mounted on a specially adapted printed circuit board · CPC title