US 12,484,878 B2
Acoustic window with compound shape for ultrasound probe
Michael J. Wight, Stoneham, MA (US); John Bench Caswell, Manchester, NH (US); Dino Francesco Cuscuna, Reading, MA (US); Kathryn Therese Jinks, Lynnfield, MA (US); and Michael Eugene Peszynski, Newburyport, MA (US)
Assigned to KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
Appl. No. 17/617,385
Filed by KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V., Eindhoven (NL)
PCT Filed Jun. 11, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/066223
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 8, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/249685, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 17, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/860,291, filed on Jun. 12, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0240893 A1, Aug. 4, 2022
Int. Cl. A61B 8/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 8/4272 (2013.01) [A61B 8/4444 (2013.01); A61B 8/4455 (2013.01); A61B 8/4488 (2013.01); A61B 8/4281 (2013.01); A61B 8/4405 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound probe, comprising:
a housing configured to be grasped by a user and comprising a distal end extending zero degrees horizontally;
a transducer array coupled to the housing and configured to obtain ultrasound data; and
an acoustic window disposed over the transducer array and configured to contact a subject,
wherein the acoustic window comprises an end surface, a first radiused edge, a second radiused edge, a first side-facing planar surface, and a second side-facing planar surface,
wherein the end surface comprises a compound shape including:
a curved section;
a first planar section disposed on a first side of the curved section; and
a second planar section disposed on a second side of the curved section opposite the first side,
wherein an entirety of the end surface of the acoustic window is distal-facing such that the curved section, the first planar section, and the second planar section are distal-facing, and
wherein the first planar section and the second planar section comprise a first oblique angle relative to the distal end of the housing such that:
the first planar section is configured to be positioned against to a first rib of the subject;
the second planar section is configured to be positioned against a second rib of the subject that is adjacent to the first rib, and
the curved section is configured to be positioned against tissue of the subject that is between the first rib and the second rib,
wherein the first side-facing planar surface and the second side-facing planar surface comprise a larger, second oblique angle relative to the distal end of the housing,
wherein the first radiused edge is located between the first side-facing planar surface and the first planar section such that:
the first radiused edge is located inward of the first side-facing planar surface; and
the first planar section is located inward of the first radiused edge;
wherein the second radiused edge is located between the second side-facing planar surface and the second planar section such that:
the second radiused edge is located inward of the second side-facing planar surface; and
the second planar section is located inward of the second radiused edge.