ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SYSTEM WITH CONTEXTUALLY VARIABLE CONTROL PANEL

摘要

An ultrasound system has a control panel formed of a top glass plate with control area graphics screened onto the bottom surface of the glass plate. Capacitive foils are attached to the are of the screened graphics, enabling a user control to be capacitively selected by touching the top surface above the screened graphics. Each control area is selectively back-illuminated by a diffuser frame with light pipes fastened below the glass plate. LEDs for illumination are mounted on a printed circuit board fastened to the diffuser frame, which are controlled by the printed circuit board. Different groups of user controls are illuminated in accordance with the context of the operating mode or imaging procedure being performed so that only needed control are illuminated while unneeded controls are invisible to the user. All of the controls can be extinguished and de-activated so that the top surface of the control panel can be cleaned without randomly activating the controls of the control panel.

主权项

1. A diagnostic ultrasound system which is selectively operable in one of a plurality of operating modes for the conduct of one of a plurality of different imaging procedures the system comprising:
a connector for connecting an ultrasound probe to the system for use in imaging; an image display screen; and a user control panel comprising a smooth top surface formed by a sheet of transparent material, a plurality of control graphics located on the underside of the sheet at fixed positions that correspond to user controls, the control graphics being surrounded by a dark opaque color, a barrier layer below the control graphics defining illumination areas confined to the fixed positions of the user controls, the illumination areas containing selectively illuminated light sources, and an illumination controller coupled to the light sources, wherein different groups of user controls are illuminated for use during different operating modes or imaging procedures in accordance with the need for the controls during a selected mode or procedure, with the illumination of unneeded user controls being extinguished such that the unneeded controls are substantially invisible to a user by reason of the dark opaque color.