US 12,465,468 B2
Ultrasonic probe for intraoral soft tissue imaging
Jean-Marc Inglese, Bussy-Saint-Georges (FR); Dominique Biava, Croissy-Beaubourg (FR); Jean-René Jacquet, Croissy-Beaubourg (FR); Victor C. Wong, Pittsford, NY (US); Jean-Marc Gregoire, Mettray (FR); Franck Levassort, Saint-Avertin (FR); and Frédéric Ossant, Tours (FR)
Appl. No. 16/486,457
Filed by Carestream Dental Technology Topco Limited, London (GB)
PCT Filed Feb. 15, 2018, PCT No. PCT/EP2018/053847
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Aug. 15, 2019,
PCT Pub. No. WO2018/149948, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 23, 2018.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/459,250, filed on Feb. 15, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2024/0268937 A1, Aug. 15, 2024
Int. Cl. A61C 9/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/12 (2006.01)
CPC A61C 9/0086 (2013.01) [A61B 8/12 (2013.01); A61B 8/4411 (2013.01); A61B 8/4444 (2013.01); A61B 8/483 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A probe member intended to be used for 2D and/or 3D imaging a soft tissue in an intra oral cavity, comprising:
an acoustic window intended to face the soft tissue to be imaged;
an ultrasound transducer system configured for:
emitting an ultrasound signal, in the form of a beam having an ultrasound beam axis, through the acoustic window; and
receiving a corresponding ultrasound return signal through the acoustic window;
a beam forming and scanning assembly configured for driving the ultrasound beam axis across at least one scanning axis different from the ultrasound beam axis so as to scan the emitted beam through the acoustic window
the ultrasound transducer system operating at a center frequency in the range of 10 MHz to 100 MHz;
a conformable material portion external to and surrounding the acoustic window; and
coupling medium circulation circuitry configured for guiding a flow of coupling medium between the acoustic window and the external conformable material portion;
wherein the conformable material portion conforms upon contact to the soft tissue to be imaged and the coupling medium acoustically couples the acoustic window to the conformable material portion.