Claims
- 1. A bone assessment apparatus for diagnosing bone by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, comprising:
- at least one transducer assembly comprising an annular ultrasonic transducer of which the vibrating area can be changed and a coupler interposed between this ultrasonic transducer and a body part, said coupler being adapted to be in contact with said body part, said body part including a bone to be diagnosed, and
- means for adjusting the area of the ultrasonic wave beam by changing said vibrating area.
- 2. A bone assessment apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein:
- said ultrasonic transducer comprises a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements which can be independently activated.
- 3. A bone assessment apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein:
- said ultrasonic wave transducer comprises a circular first transducer disposed in the center, and a ring-shaped second transducer surrounding said first transducer,
- both of said first transducer and said second transducer are simultaneously used when forming a large beam cross-sectional area, and
- only said first transducer is used when forming a small beam cross-sectional area.
- 4. A bone assessment apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said ultrasonic transducer comprises:
- a piece of piezoelectric material,
- a plurality of front electrodes formed in front of said piezoelectric material which can be individually or simultaneously selected, and
- a plurality of rear electrodes formed at the rear of said piezoelectric material which can be individually or simultaneously selected.
- 5. A bone assessment apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
- means for determining the size of the body part to be measured, wherein:
- said adjusting means changes said vibrating area according to the size of said body part.
Priority Claims (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
8-012700 |
Jan 1996 |
JPX |
|
8-012995 |
Jan 1996 |
JPX |
|
8-013477 |
Jan 1996 |
JPX |
|
8-017327 |
Feb 1996 |
JPX |
|
Parent Case Info
This is a Divisional of U.S. Application Ser. No. 08/789,631 filed Jan. 27, 1997 entitled BONE ASSESSMENT APPARATUS and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,357.
US Referenced Citations (8)
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
789631 |
Jan 1997 |
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