Hiroshi Fukukita

Ultrasonic diagnostic multiple-sector image display system

In an ultrasonic imaging system echo signals representative of the amplitude of ultrasonic energy returning along a plurality of angularly spaced paths are sampled at a constant speed and stored into a buffer memory. At a speed inversely proportional to the cosine of the angle of said path with respect to a reference line the echo samples are read out of the buffer memory and written into a specified area of a graphic memory at a constant speed in the direction of the rows thereof and at a speed proportional to the tangent of the angle of the path with respect to the reference line in the direction of the columns thereof. At a constant speed echo samples are read out of the graphic memory in the directions of the rows and columns and applied to a monitor to be displayed in a raster scan field.

Farfield angular radiation pattern generated from arrayed piezoelectric transducers

Farfield angular radiation patterns generated from plank‐shaped and arrayed piezoelectric transducers are obtained by using a finite element analysis method. The calculation and experimental results are obtained for piezoelectric ceramic transducers with typical width W to thickness T ratio of 0.6 and 2.0. At W/T=0.6 the radiation pattern is that of diffraction from a plane aperture, while at W/T=2.0 the pattern is significantly different from the plane aperture theory. This is mainly due to the coupling between the thickness and other modes of vibrations in the piezoelectric transducer.

Ultrasonic tomographic with alternate image scaling

An ultrasonic tomographic diagnosis apparatus suitable for skin disease displays a first ultrasonic tomographic image (12) of an object of a fairly broad area, wherein sizes in depthwise direction (X in FIG. 1) displayed in an enlarged scale in relation to sizes in a direction (Y in FIG. 1) on the skin surface, and further a second ultrasonic tomographic image (13) of an object wherein sizes in depthwise direction and sizes in the direction on the skin surface are displayed in substantially proportional to actual size relations, for a selected part marked by a marker (14) on the first tomographic image (12). While specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is realized that modifications and changes will occur to those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all modifications and changes as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

Sound generating apparatus, a sound detection apparatus, an acoustic sensor, and an acoustic living body measuring apparatus

A sound generating apparatus or a sound detecting apparatus includes: a flexible substrate; and a plurality of bimorphs arranged on a surface of the flexible substrate in a direction at a predetermined interval, each of the bimorphs having input/output terminals. Each of the bimorphs has a rectangular shape and its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the direction. The flexible substrate has a slit between successive two of the bimorphs. A width of the slit outside the bimorphs is wide. A buffering material covering surfaces of the flexible substrate with the bimorphs exposed or a cover covering the bimorphs with a space may be provided. The cover and the buffering material may have slit. A sound generating apparatus including a plurality of flexible substrates respectively supporting bimorphs may be provided. The flexible substrate may have a comb shape. An acoustic sensor includes the sound generating apparatus, the sound detection apparatus connected therebetween by a flexible substrate, wherein the flexible substrate may include a cable and a connector. A living body measuring apparatus includes the acoustic sensor, wherein phase shift between the sound signal induced by the bimorph and a reference drive signal is detected and a blood pressure is operated by the phase shift amount.

System for measuring physical parameter utilizing vibration transmission

A physical parameter measuring system is provided which measures a physical parameter such as a blood pressure of a person using oscillation transmission. The system includes a phase detector, an A/D converter, an arc center determining circuit, and a phase angle determining circuit. The phase detector detects a phase of a sensor signal produced, in sequence, by monitoring oscillations which are applied by an exciter and transmitted through a living body to map the signal on a two-dimensional plane as a sample point. The A/D converter converts the sample point signal into a digital sample point signal in sequence. The arc center determining circuit determines a center of an arc defined by a distribution of the sample points mapped for a given period of time. The arc determining circuit selects the sample points which are located at an interval greater than a given reference sample-to-sample distance to form a sample group consisting of at least three of the selected sample points and determines a center of a circle passing through the sample group as the center of the arc. The phase angle determining circuit determines a phase angle of the sample point as viewed from the arc center determined by the arc center determining circuit and provides it as a parameter used to determine a physical parameter of the subject.