Hand-held ultrasound scanning device with position and orientation sensors

摘要

Disclosed is a hand-held ultrasound imaging system. The system includes a probe unit (10) having a transducer (13) in a fixed spatial relationship with the probe unit (10). The transducer (13) is adapted to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals in substantially only one direction. The probe unit (10) includes an orientation sensor adapted to sense a rotation of the probe unit (10) about a single axis. The probe unit (10) also includes electronics adapted to apply a pulsed electrical signal to the transducer (13) and to process the electrical output signals of the transducer (13) and of the sensor. From the processed transducer and sensor signals the probe unit electronics produce a plurality of scanlines (15). Each scanline (15) has a series of intensity values and a rotation value attributable to the sensed rotation about the single axis. The system also includes a processor adapted to process the scanlines (15) to produce a raster image, and a hand held display and processing unit (11) including a display (16) adapted to display the resultant raster image.