Disclosed is a system for identifying which one of a plurality of interchangeable transducer heads is connected with an ultrasonic scanner. The system includes a unique impedance mounted on each transducer head and an impedance determining circuit in the scanner for determining the impedance of the interconnected transducer head. The impedance determination circuit is connected to a character generator for producing an alpha-numeric representation of the transducer head designation along the margin of a cathode ray tube on which an ultrasonic image is displayed. Also disclosed is an improved resolver mounting in which a cylindrical axle is used as a pivot pin between two scan arms of the ultrasonic scanner. A potentiometer for resolving the angle between pivotally connected arms is mounted on one arm with its shaft resiliently connected with the axle for rotation with the axle and other scan arm.
An ultrasound imaging system is provided having an articulated arm for holding a transducer. Signals representative of the angular position of the arm joints are scaled up to a voltage range over which the restricted range of movement of each joint is distributed. The scaled signals are combined to produce a plurality of combined angular signals, which then may be digitized and used to compute the X-Y position of the transducer.
An ultrasound transducer is translatable for scanning along a body surface by having the transducer mounted at the free end of an articulated arm which is moved in a single nominally vertical plane during a scan. The arm is pivotally connected at one end to a head which is turnable at least about a vertical axis so the arm can be directed in other single planes. The head is mounted on a horizontally and transversely movable arm which is on a longitudinally movable carriage. Potentiometers produce analog signals which allow a microprocessor to determine the difference between the location of the transducer axis and the vertical axis about which the arm swings into different planes. When isocentric rotation is desired, the user locates the transducer over the isocentric point on the body and provides a command signal which, through a servo motor system, causes the transverse arm and longitudinal carriage to move until the vertical head axis is aligned with the transducer. When the arm is swung again, it will positively move in a plane which crosses the isocenter.
A roller-switch and cam, located at an intermediary joint of a plural arm overhead assembly, delays the unlocking of a brake at a next adjacent joint until the joint at which the cam and switch are located has diverged a predetermined angle from alignment.
A plurality of probes having image pickup elements differing from each other in image pickup system from each other are used to display an image image-picked-up on a monitor, and a connector of the used image pickup probe is connected to an exclusive adaptor, whereby a drive adapted for the image pickup element is applied to subject the image pickup element to preprocess processing suited for an output signal outputted from the image pickup element. The adaptor is mounted on a signal processing apparatus body, whereby substantially common process processing is subjected to a signal after the preprocess processing by the signal processing apparatus body, to generate a standard image signal. Thus, the standard image signal is displayed on a monitor.
A measurement system employs a method and apparatus for uniquely tagging each of a plurality of transducers, automatically recognizing the tag for identifying the transducer and automatically adjusting electronic parameters of the system for enhancing performance with a selected transducer. In a preferred embodiment, a resistor is inserted in a piezoelectric transducer of an ultrasonic thickness gauge, a current source and A to D converter measure the resistor and a microprocessor-based logic system adjusts measurement parameters of the gauge to be automatically optimized for the associated transducer characteristics.
