Patent ID: 9700280
Date: 2017-07-11
CPC Classifications: A61B,B06B,G10K

Claim:
1. An imaging probe comprising: a longitudinal body; an imaging assembly housed within said longitudinal body; a first ultrasonic transducer provided within said longitudinal body, wherein said first ultrasonic transducer is located remote from a proximal end of said longitudinal body, and wherein said first ultrasonic transducer is configured to deliver an ultrasonic imaging beam to a region outside of said longitudinal body and to receive reflected ultrasonic imaging energy from the region, and wherein said first ultrasonic transducer is provided within said imaging assembly; a second ultrasonic transducer housed within said longitudinal body; and a first electrical path and a second electrical path extending through said longitudinal body, said first electrical path and said second electrical path defining a common electrical channel; wherein said first ultrasonic transducer and said second ultrasonic transducer are each connected to said first electrical path and said second electrical path, and wherein said first electrical path and said second electrical path are electrically connectable to an image processing system; wherein said imaging assembly includes a movable member for scanning an angular orientation of the ultrasonic imaging beam; wherein said second ultrasonic transducer is an angle sensing ultrasonic transducer configured for generating an angle sensing ultrasonic beam and generating an angle sensing signal associated with an angular orientation of said movable member relative to a longitudinal axis of said longitudinal body; and wherein said imaging assembly further includes an acoustically reflective substrate, wherein said angle sensing ultrasonic transducer is configured to direct the angle sensing ultrasonic beam towards said acoustically reflective substrate and to receive a reflected ultrasonic beam reflected from said acoustically reflective substrate, wherein the angle sensing signal is produced by said angle sensing ultrasonic transducer in response to the reflected ultrasonic beam, wherein the angle sensing signal is detectable on said common electrical channel.