Patent ID: 7699782
Filing Date: 2010-04-20
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. An ultrasound imaging probe having a distal imaging end to be inserted into a body, and a proximal end, opposite along the probe to said distal end, to be connected to an external ultrasound imaging instrument outside said body, said probe comprising: an ultrasound transducer array disposed proximate to said distal imaging end, said ultrasound transducer array including means for electronically steering an ultrasound beam in a 2D azimuth plane; means for mechanically wobbling said ultrasound transducer array in an elevation direction substantially normal to said 2D azimuth plane and to steer said ultrasound beam in said elevation direction in a back and forth manner, wherein said means for mechanically wobbling said ultrasound transducer includes a hydraulic pump mechanism for pumping hydraulic fluid through at least one channel in said probe to thereby wobble the transducer array, and said hydraulic fluid pumped by said hydraulic pump mechanism fills a space around said ultrasound transducer array in said distal probe end to function as an acoustic transmission fluid; whereby through said combined electronic steering of said ultrasonic beam in said 2D azimuth plane and said mechanical wobbling of said ultrasound transducer array in said elevation direction, said ultrasound beam being steered at a sufficiently dense set of directions in a region of 3D space around said distal end of said probe so that 3D ultrasound imaging of said region appears in substantially real time to a human observer.