Claims
- 1. A diagnostic hand held ultrasound system weighing less than three and a half pounds (3.50 lbs), including a battery, display screen and system electronics within a common enclosure and a transducer wherein said common enclosure comprises:
a balance body design having an aperture, said aperture having a design for operating as a handle; a plurality of control elements positioned substantially near said aperture such that a person may carry said system and utilize at least one of said plurality of control elements with the a single hand; a main board having said battery and said system electronics arranged such that said aperture is positioned at least partially between said battery and said system electronics; and a sample data beamformer and at least one digital signal processor (DSP) capable of producing 2D or 3D images, contained within said system electronics.
- 2. The system as described in claim 1, wherein the transducer is connected to the balance body by a cable.
- 3. The system as described in claim 1, wherein said plurality of control elements includes a D-controller and one or more buttons.
- 4. The system as described in claim 1, wherein the display screen is a touch screen.
- 5. The system as described in claim 4, wherein the touch screen responds to a series of on screen commands and is re-programmable to make one or more hot menus.
- 6. The system as described in claim 4, wherein the touch screen further comprises a QWERTY style keypad.
- 7. The system as described in claim 1, wherein said transducer assembly is a pen transducer.
- 8. The system as described in claim 1, further comprising an I/O port for connecting to a docking station.
- 9. The system as described in claim 1, wherein said battery is rechargeable or removable.
- 10. A diagnostic ultrasound system comprising: a balance body ultrasound unit weighing less than three and a half pounds (3.50 lbs); and
a docking station having a data I/O bus for communicating with said balance body unit, and a power relay for recharging the battery of said balance body ultrasound unit.
- 11. The diagnostic ultrasound system as described in claim 10, wherein said docking station further comprises an aperture for receiving and charging a second battery.
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/099,474 (19162-003700US), filed on Mar. 15, 2002, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Serial No. 10/062,179 filed Feb. 1, 2002 (19162-003110US); which was a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/840,002, filed Apr. 19, 2001 (19162-003100US); and is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09/630,165, filed Aug. 1, 2000 (19162-000131US); which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09/167,964, filed Oct. 6, 1998 (19162-000130US) now U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,961; which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08/863,937, filed May 27, 1997 (19162-000120), now U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,024; which was a continuation-in-part of US Ser. No. 08/826,543, filed Apr. 3, 1997 (19162-000110US), now U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,863; which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08/672,782, filed Jun. 28, 1996 (19162-000100US), now U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,412, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Continuation in Parts (8)
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Number |
Date |
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Parent |
10099474 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Child |
10227160 |
Aug 2002 |
US |
Parent |
10062179 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
Child |
10099474 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09840002 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
Child |
10099474 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09630165 |
Aug 2000 |
US |
Child |
10099474 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
09167964 |
Oct 1998 |
US |
Child |
10099474 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
08863937 |
May 1997 |
US |
Child |
10099474 |
Mar 2002 |
US |
Parent |
08826543 |
Apr 1997 |
US |
Child |
08863937 |
May 1997 |
US |
Parent |
08672782 |
Jun 1996 |
US |
Child |
08826543 |
Apr 1997 |
US |