Patent ID: 8221324

Claim:
A method for ruggedized ultrasound imaging comprising the steps of: electronically coupling an embedded computer, a power supply, an ultrasound transducer, ultrasound front end, an output device, an input device, and a computer-readable medium; enclosing the embedded computer, the computer-readable medium, at least one device interface, at least one communications interface, and the power supply in a sealed enclosure; maintaining the temperature inside the sealed enclosure with a cooling device; creating ultrasound images in the embedded computer from a signal received from the front end and the ultrasound transducer; providing the ultrasound images to the output device; storing the ultrasound images in a database; configuring the embedded computer with a power supply controller for controlling the power supply; receiving power supply data from the power supply and the power source through the power supply controller; electronically coupling a power source with the power supply; sequencing the use of the power source based on the power supply data; detecting abnormal power conditions based on the power supply data; correcting abnormal power conditions based on the power supply data; maintaining the power source based on the power supply data; and activating and deactivating the cooling device based on the temperature of the heat sink and a pre-selected temperature of the enclosure.