Benjamin M Herrick

Apparatus and methods for controlling sensitivity of transducers

Apparatus and methods for controlling electrostrictive transducer sensitivity in a pulse-echo medical ultrasound system. Certain characteristics of each transducer element are tested after manufacture and recorded on a storage medium. The stored data is then used, along with certain model relations, for monitoring certain operational parameters of the transducer during use, and feedback compensation applied for maintaining the transducer sensitivity substantailly constant. The parameters to be monitored may include the temperature, acoustic pressure, input power, and a figure of merit determined from the dielectric constant and coupling coefficient.

Two-dimensional phased array ultrasound transducer with a convex environmental barrier

A two-dimensional phased array ultrasound transducer comprises a transducer housing, a sensor mounted within the housing, and a convex environmental barrier for placement against, and maximizing contact with, a patients body. The environmental barrier does not necessarily provide any focusing capability, therefore the propagation velocity of sound through the environmental barrier is approximately equal to the propagation velocity of sound through tissue of the patients body.