US-20260123914-A1 - CART-BORNE ULTRASONIC IMAGING SYSTEM WITH IMPROVED LOCKING DEVICE

US20260123914A1US 20260123914 A1US20260123914 A1US 20260123914A1US-20260123914-A1

Abstract

A cart-borne ultrasonic imaging system has a cart housing; a control panel or a support for a portable ultrasound unit; and an articulating arm assembly to which the control panel, or the support is connected. The articulating arm assembly has arms pivotally connected with a first joint rotatably mounted on the cart and a second joint rotatably mounted on the control panel, or the support. At least one of the arms includes a 4-bar linkage, A locking mechanism restricts motion of the articulating arm assembly and comprises electromagnetic elements controllable to exert magnetic force on movable actuating elements. The moveable actuating elements have a friction mass with corresponding braking element to restrict rotation of the first joint and/or of the second joint and/or a locking member kinematically coupled with main damping member to restrict its movement and that of the 4-bar linkage.

Inventors

Daniele Tedesco
Valerio Vigo

Assignees

ESAOTE S.P.A.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251031
Priority Date: 20241105

Claims (15)

1 . A cart-borne ultrasonic imaging system comprising: a cart housing mounted on wheels; a control panel or a support for a portable ultrasound unit; an articulating arm assembly to which the control panel is connected for adjusting the position of the control panel, or the support for a portable ultrasound unit is connected for adjusting the position of the support for a portable ultrasound unit, the articulating arm assembly including an arm pivotally connected with a first joint rotatably mounted on the cart housing and a second joint rotatably mounted on the control panel, or the support for a portable ultrasound unit, wherein the arm includes a 4-bar linkage optionally including a main damping member; and a locking mechanism which acts to restrict motion of the articulating arm assembly, wherein the locking mechanism comprises one or more electromagnetic elements controllable to exert a magnetic force on movable actuating elements comprising: a friction mass coupled with a corresponding braking element acting to restrict rotation of the first joint with respect to the cart and/or of the second joint with respect to the control panel / the support for a portable ultrasound unit; and/or a locking member kinematically coupled with the main damping member acting to restrict the movement of such damping member and thus of the 4-bar linkage, wherein the electromagnetic elements are electrically actuated by a switch so that, upon activating the switch, the electromagnetic elements are energized to move synchronously the actuating elements in an unlocking position.
2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein at least one electromagnetic element is configured to move, when energized, the corresponding friction mass from a locking position, wherein such mass is in contact with a braking element integral with the first joint or the second joint, to an unlocking position, wherein such mass does not interfere with such braking element to restrict rotation of the first joint with respect to the cart and/or of the second joint with respect to the control panel/the support for a portable ultrasound unit.
3 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the locking mechanism is configured to restrict the rotation of the first joint with respect to the cart and/or of the second joint with respect to the control panel/support on a horizontal plane, wherein the braking element is an element having, at least partially, the shape of a disk integral with the first joint and/or the second joint and the electromagnetic element is housed on the cart and/or the control panel/support to exert a magnetic force to move the friction mass in a direction transversal to the disk, particularly perpendicularly to the disk, to realize a magnetic-controllable disk brake.
4 . The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a rotary bearing between the first joint and the cart and/or between the control panel/support and the second joint, wherein the braking element is an element having, at least partially, the shape of a disk integral with the part of the bearing associated with the first joint and/or the second joint.
5 . The system according to claim 1 , comprising: a first electromagnetic element coupled with a corresponding braking element to lock/unlock rotational movement of the first joint with respect to the cart; a second electromagnetic element coupled with a corresponding braking element to lock/unlock rotational movement of the control panel / support with respect to the second joint; a third electromagnetic element coupled with the main damping element to lock/unlock the movement of the 4-bar linkage, wherein the electromagnetic elements are actuated synchronously by the same switch so that, upon activating the switch, the full motion of the articulating arm assembly is allowed.
6 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the switch is selected from the group consisting in: a pedal located on the cart, a button located on a frontal handle of the control panel or of the support for the portable ultrasound device, a button located on the cart, a button located on the frame of a flat panel display electrically coupled to imaging electronics contained in the cart housing and/or in the portable ultrasound unit, a pedal used to brake the wheels of the cart or combination thereof.
7 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein elastic elements are provided to keep the friction masses pushed onto the braking elements when the electromagnetic elements are not actuated by the switch.
8 . The system according to claim 1 , comprising an O-ring, a gasket, a rubber element or the like on the surface of the friction elements facing the braking elements to increase friction.
9 . The system according to claim 1 , comprising one or more damping elements further to the main damping element to balance the forces acting on the 4-bar linkage when in unlocked position.
10 . The system according to claim 9 , wherein at least one of the one or more further damping elements is lockable/unlockable by the same or a different electromagnetic element locking/unlocking the main damping element.
11 . The system according to claim 1 , further comprising an indicator providing information on the status of the locking mechanism, particularly with a luminous indication in green/red or any other suitable colour, for example surrounding the button actuating the electromagnet(s).
12 . The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a mechanical lock to secure the magnetic braking during transportation, such lock comprising a lever moving a slidable pin into a corresponding hole of the rotary bearing(s) when secure locking is to be achieved.
13 . The system of claim 12 wherein the mechanical lock further comprises a pin holder and an elastic element, wherein the pin is installed inside a cavity of the pin holder against the force of the elastic element so that, when the lever is activated, the pin slides consequently inside the pin holder to protrude from the pin holder to engage a hole in a bracket integral with the corresponding bearing, locking its rotation.
14 . The system according to claim 12 , wherein the lever of the mechanical lock is located on the cart and/or on the control panel/support for a portable ultrasound device in a position accessible by a user.
15 . The system according to claim 12 , wherein the lever is located in a position remote from the mechanical lock accessible to a user and connected with the mechanical lock through a wiring cable to transmit motion from the lever to the slidable pin.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the technical field of medical ultrasound imaging systems and, in particular, to lock devices, support arms thereof and ultrasound imaging systems using the same. STATE OF THE ART Cart-borne ultrasound systems are now being designed for being more ergonomically comfortable for the user to operate. Particularly, control panels must be easily positioned (lowered, lifted or rotated) for comfort use during examinations. At the same time, once properly positioned, they must remain solidly in place and not move against the user's will. Various methods have been proposed to optimize panel floating devices and their braking systems. CN107835662 discloses a panel floating device comprising a translation mechanism, a floating device body and a rotation mechanism; the floating device body comprises a supporting seat and a top plate; the rotating mechanism is arranged on the top plate; the top plate is mounted on the support base by the translation mechanism and is translatable relative to the support base. This solution requires a motor to operate, hence is cumbersome, noisy and expensive. Furthermore, the use of a motorized system prevents the positioning of the panel in a single movement as height and rotation regulations are separated. U.S. Pat. No. 9,504,447 discloses a control panel and a display of a cart-borne ultrasound system supported by a lift which can be controlled to allow the control panel and display to be raised, lowered and rotated. A pair of hydraulic struts are mounted to the four-bar linkage to support the weight of the control panel and display. When a control button on the handle of the control panel is depressed, the control panel and display can be freely raised, lowered and rotated. When the control button is released the pivot elbows and four-bar linkages are locked in their current positions. Each base plate has a circular arrangement of teeth which are engaged by a solenoid-controlled pin to lock the mechanism in its current rotated orientation. Hence, the system disclosed in this document has the disadvantage of not allowing the locking in any position but only in one of the allowed intermediate steps. To increase the number of the permitted positions, it is necessary to increase the number of teeth, but this means decreasing their thickness and consequently the mechanical resistance and thus increasing the risk of rupture. Furthermore, the complexity of the system makes the user experience unpleasant. U.S. Pat. No. 8,758,246 discloses an ultrasound system which has a control panel adjustable in height. The system includes a power transmission device adjusting the height of the control panel, a contact detection unit detecting contact and generating a selection signal and a controller controlling the power transmission device according to the selection signal. This is advantageous, but the use of a control unit increases the cost and complexity of the solution. Thus, a need continues to exist to have a system for locking/unlocking the positioning of the control panel of an ultrasound apparatus without obliged intermediate steps that limit the positioning or the use of expensive elements such as motors or control units. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is thus an object of embodiments herein to provide a cart-borne ultrasonic imaging system comprising: a cart housing mounted on wheels;a control panel or a support for a portable ultrasound unit;an articulating arm assembly to which the control panel is connected for adjusting the position of the control panel, or the support for a portable ultrasound unit is connected for adjusting the position of the support for a portable ultrasound unit, the articulating arm assembly including an arm pivotally connected with a first joint rotatably mounted on the cart housing and a second joint rotatably mounted on the control panel, or the support for a portable ultrasound device, wherein the arm includes a 4-bar linkage optionally including a main damping member such as a gas spring; anda locking mechanism which acts to restrict motion of the articulating arm assembly. The locking mechanism comprises one or more electromagnetic elements controllable to exert a magnetic force on movable actuating elements comprising: a friction mass coupled with a corresponding braking element acting to restrict rotation of the first joint with respect to the cart and/or of the second joint with respect to the control panel/the support for a portable ultrasound unit; and/ora locking member kinematically coupled with the main damping member acting to restrict the movement of the damping member and thus of the 4-bar linkage,wherein the electromagnetic elements are electrically actuated by a switch so that, upon activating the switch, the electromagnetic elements are energized to move synchronously the actuating elements in an unlocking position. This allows to realize a structure able to guarantee a wide range of positioning of t