Patent ID: 11874254
Assignee: ABB SCHWEIZ AG
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. An integrity detection system for detecting an integrity status of an acoustic coupling between an ultrasound transducer and a wall of a vessel, comprising:
a signal processing unit configured to:
cause a first ultrasound emitter, when attached to a wall of a vessel, to emit a first ultrasound test signal;
receive, from at least one ultrasound receiver, when attached to the wall of the vessel, the first ultrasound test signal;
detect a first time of flight of the received first ultrasound test signal; and
determine that an acoustic coupling of the first ultrasound emitter and a first ultrasound receiver of the at least one ultrasound receiver to the wall of the vessel is intact if the detected first time of flight corresponds to a length of a path in the wall of the vessel from the first ultrasound emitter to the at least one ultrasound receiver; and

a first ultrasound transducer configured to be attached to the wall of the vessel, the first ultrasound transducer comprising the first ultrasound emitter and the first ultrasound receiver,
wherein the at least one ultrasound receiver is configured to be attached to the wall of the vessel,
wherein one ultrasound receiver of the at least one ultrasound receiver is the first ultrasound receiver of the first ultrasound transducer,
wherein the at least one ultrasound receiver is configured to receive an excitation signal of a first ultrasound test signal and to transmit the received excitation signal to the signal processing unit as a measured excitation signal,
wherein the signal processing unit is configured to receive the excitation signal from the at least one ultrasound receiver, determine a decay time of the measured excitation signal, and determine that the acoustic coupling of the first ultrasound emitter and the at least one ultrasound receiver is intact if the decay time is less than a threshold, and
wherein, if the signal processing unit has determined that the acoustic coupling of the first ultrasound emitter and the at least one ultrasound receiver is not intact, the signal processing unit is further configured to then detect the first time of flight and to determine that the acoustic coupling between the first ultrasound emitter and the wall of the vessel is intact based on the first time of flight.