A breast imaging ultrasound system for ultrasound imaging of a body includes: scanning uniform sub-volumes of a mammalian breast with an ultrasound transducer having a fixed focal number (FN), acquiring ultrasonic images of portions of the target volume, the acquired images having the same voxel resolution, and processing the ultrasonic images, thereafter providing a 2D or 3D image of the target volume using constant size volume pixels (Voxels).

The present invention relates to a flat-plate focusing ultrasonic transducer and an acoustic lens composed of an annular array piezoelectric element and methods of manufacturing and designing thereof, more particularly to a flat-plate focusing ultrasonic transducer composed of an annular array piezoelectric element, wherein the annular array piezoelectric element has a plurality of concentric regions which is concentrically arranged in a concentric circle shape with respect to a center point, the concentric region has ring shaped sound insulation regions and piezoelectric regions which are alternatively formed in a direction from the center point to a radius direction, so as to focus a sound wave near a focal point, wherein the piezoelectric regions are composed of a piezoelectric ring that is composed of a piezoelectric material and thus excites a sound wave, the concentric region is in a shape of a flat-plate of which both sides are flat and which has a constant thickness, and each radius of the plurality of the sound insulation regions and the piezoelectric regions in the concentric region are calculated based on a set focal length of the ultrasonic transducer and a frequency of a set sound wave.

A vibration device includes a protective cover to transmit light with a predetermined wavelength, a first cylindrical body to hold the protective cover at one end, a plate spring to support the other end of the first cylindrical body, a second cylindrical body to support, at one end, a portion of the plate spring in an outer side portion of a portion that supports the first cylindrical body, and a vibrating body that is provided at the other end of the second cylindrical body to vibrate in an axial direction of the second cylindrical body.

Ultrasound devices, and associated methods of assembly thereof, are disclosed whereby an annular electrode array of an ultrasound transducer is electrically connectedto a flexible printed circuit board in a compact configuration. The flexible circuit board includes an elongate flexible segment and a distal distribution segment, where the distribution segment is attached to a peripheral support ring that surrounds at least a portion of the ultrasound transducer. The distribution segment includes a plurality of spatially distributed contact pads, and electrical connections are provided between the contact pads and the annular electrodes of the annular array. A backing material may be provided that contacts and extends from the annular array electrodes, and a distal portion of the elongate flexible segment may be encapsulated in the backing material, such that the distal portion extends inwardly from the peripheral support ring, without contacting the electrical connections and without contacting the array surface.

A plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the invented probe are separated in a concentric circle pattern, separated in rows that are orthogonal to a reference line L that passes through the center of circles, and positioned line symmetrically with respect to the reference line L. The detection surface of the invented probe has a circular shape having the diameter D, and has a plurality of segments divided into a plurality of arc-shaped portions that are symmetrical with respect to the reference line L. Further a controller which has a plurality of control channels for controlling pairs of the line symmetrical ultrasonic transducers under the same conditions is provided.

A contact lens for application to a human eyeball capable of emitting ultrasonic pressure waves from a plurality of piezoelectric transducers to mitigate the effects of airborne eye irritants and infectious microorganisms. The piezoelectric transducers converts mechanical energy applied upon the contact lens from the eyelid as the eyelid blinks and/or winks into electrical energy to be used for emitting ultrasonic pressure waves from the piezoelectric transducers. The ultrasonic pressure waves destroy airborne microorganisms near the contact lens. A photodiode onboard the contact lens indicates when the eyelid is not closed in order to limit or prevent emission of ultrasonic pressure waves from the piezoelectric transducers while the eyelid is closed. An antenna onboard the contact lens receives information from augmented reality glasses or other computing devices.

Devices, systems, and methods relating to intraluminal imaging are disclosed. In an embodiment, an intraluminal imaging device is disclosed. One embodiment of the intraluminal imaging device comprises a flexible elongate member configured to be inserted into a body lumen of a patient, the flexible elongate member comprising a proximal portion and a distal portion. The intraluminal imaging device further comprises an ultrasound imaging assembly disposed at the distal portion of the flexible elongate member. The ultrasound imaging assembly comprises a support member, a flexible substrate positioned around the support member and including a proximal region and a distal region, the proximal region comprising a plurality of cutouts defining a plurality of substrate ribbons, a plurality of transducer elements integrated in the distal region of the flexible substrate, and a plurality of control circuits disposed on the proximal region of the flexible substrate.

A characterization device for non-destructively characterizing a material includes emitter/receiver cells, each cell being able, in an emit mode, to emit ultrasound waves towards the material for characterizing, and, in a receive mode, to receive ultrasound waves that have been transmitted through the material. The non-destructive characterization device includes a ring made up of a plurality of adjacent angular sectors, each angular sector including ultrasound cells stacked in a radial direction of the ring.

A vibration device includes a protective cover to transmit light with a predetermined wavelength, a first cylindrical body to hold the protective cover at one end, a plate spring to support the other end of the first cylindrical body, a second cylindrical body to support, at one end, a portion of the plate spring in an outer side portion of a portion that supports the first cylindrical body, and a vibrating body that is provided at the other end of the second cylindrical body to vibrate in an axial direction of the second cylindrical body.

This document describes a single-element planar focused ultrasonic transducer with electrically tunable focal size (focal diameter in the focal plane), through modifying the design of a self-focusing acoustic transducer (SFAT). The transducer is built on a 1-mm-thick lead zirconate titanate (PZT) with (1) Fresnel acoustic lens formed with annular rings of air cavities on the top and (2) patterned annular ring electrodes on the bottom. By controlling the number of Fresnel rings being driven from the center, we were able to tune the focal size between 371 and 866 μm, while keeping the focal length at 6 mm, with 2.32 MHz pulsed ultrasound. When tested as a droplet ejector, the transducer ejected water droplets with diameter between 294 and 560 μm (between 13.3 and 92.0 nL in volume), depending on which set of electrodes are actuated.