Method and apparatus for dissipating heat from a transducer element array of an ultrasound probe

Claim 1

An ultrasonic probe comprising: a probe housing having an internal volume and a tip with an aperture formed therein, said aperture being in communication with said internal volume; a plurality of transducer elements made of piezoelectric material and arranged in a planar array, said planar array being located in said internal volume of said probe housing and having a predetermined orientation relative to said aperture formed in said tip of said probe housing, each transducer element having an electrode formed on the piezoelectric material thereof; means for securing said planar array relative to said probe housing, said securing means comprising thermally conductive potting material which fills a portion of said internal volume of said of said probe housing, said potting material having a heat conductivity in a predetermined range; and heat conducting means embedded in said potting material and extending from a first location to a second location, said first location being a first distance away from a closest portion of said planar array and said second location being a second distance away from said closest portion of said planar array, said second distance being greater than said first distance, wherein said heat conducting means are made of a material having a heat conductivity greater than the heat conductivity of said potting material, further comprising a flexible electrical circuit means electrically connected to said electrodes of said transducer elements, and a coaxial cable electrically connected to said flexible electrical circuit means, said coaxial cable incorporating shielding braid, wherein said heat conducting means are thermally coupled to said shielding braid of said coaxial cable.