Patent ID: 11857291
Assignee: PHOTOSOUND TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A

Claim 6:
7. The instrument according to claim 1, wherein:
the transducer or transducer array comprises one or more transducers configured for applying mechanical energy to the interrogated object and receiving acoustic signals from the interrogated object;
a pulser is provided for applying non-stationary electromagnetic energy to said transducer or said transducer array enabling the instrument's operation ion ultrasound emit mode;
wherein the instrument is configured with a plurality of electronic switches used to bypass the thermoacoustic preamplifier in an analog signal chain in ultrasound mode and enable the thermoacoustic preamplifier in thermoacoustic mode, the plurality of electronic switches comprising at least two single-pole-single-throw (SPST) switches or at least one single-pole-double-throw (SPDT) switch per channel, the plurality of electronic switches being configured to select thermoacoustic or ultrasound modes, the plurality of electronic switches being configured such that at least one of said plurality of electronic SPST switches or SPDT switch position is a bypass switch and another of said plurality of electronic SPST switches or SPDT switch position is an output switch.