Compact rotationally steerable ultrasound transducer

摘要

According to the present invention, an ultrasonic probe for use with a remote ultrasonic imaging system is provided, having a multielement transducer with an upper surface and a lower surface. An ultrasonically attenuative backing material adjoins the lower surface of the multielement transducer. The attenuative backing material is disposed within a container. A circular track is mounted to the container, and a flexible assembly and a carrier band are attached to the container. The carrier band may be operable to rotate the multielement transducer about an axis defined by the circular track. Alternatively, the circular track may be operable to rotate the multielement transducer. Additionally, a method of forming near real-time images of an object in a plane that is oblique to the axis of rotation of the multielement transducer is provided.