US 12,239,483 B2
Ultrasound transducer unit with friction guiding function
Robertus Leonardus Maria In 'T Groen, Tilburg (NL); Fei Zuo, Eindhoven (NL); Mark Thomas Johnson, Arendonk (BE); and Deep Bera, Bangalore (IN)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Appl. No. 17/415,555
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
PCT Filed Dec. 12, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/084946
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 17, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/126844, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 25, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 18213817 (EP), filed on Dec. 19, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2022/0054108 A1, Feb. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. A61B 8/00 (2006.01); G06N 20/00 (2019.01)
CPC A61B 8/4254 (2013.01) [A61B 8/429 (2013.01); A61B 8/54 (2013.01); G06N 20/00 (2019.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound transducer unit, comprising:
a tissue contact area;
a vibration generator at the tissue contact area;
a movement sensor for sensing a sliding direction of the ultrasound transducer unit across an incident surface; and
a controller operable to control a slide friction of the ultrasound transducer unit across an incident surface based on adjusting a vibration setting of the vibration generator, and configured to implement a friction guiding function for guiding an operator along a slide path across the incident surface based on controlling the slide friction responsive to a sensed sliding direction, wherein the controller is configured to set a relative lower slide friction by increasing the vibration setting when the sliding direction is along the slide path, and set a higher slide friction by decreasing the vibration setting when the sliding direction is divergent from the slide path.