ULTRASOUND SCANNING CAPSULE ENDOSCOPE

摘要

The present invention relates to ultrasound imaging on a capsule endoscope platform. It relates to the generation of a focused ultrasound acoustic signal and the receiving of echo signals from the wall of a body lumen with an array of acoustic transducers wrapped around the circumference of the capsule. It relates to sending the generated echo image signals to receiver devices attached or worn on the body. It relates to the generation of 360° overlapping sidewall ultrasound scans of a body lumen, and image processing techniques to assemble these scans into a high resolution continuous ultrasound image. Finally, it relates to the manufacture and assembly of such an ultrasound scanning capsule endoscope (USCE). The concept is extendable to conventional endoscopes and catheters.

主权项

1. An ultrasound scanning capsule endoscope, comprising:
a housing having a size that is ingestible; and an ultrasonic transducer array, wrapped around a circumference of the housing, configured to transmit a plurality of ultrasonic signals and to receive a plurality of echo signals, wherein wavelengths of the plurality of ultrasonic signals are configured to be a multiple of a center-to-center transducer element spacing between adjacent transducers in the ultrasonic transducer array.