You have probably heard us speak of a matching layer between the acoustic array and the lens of the probe. What is this mysterious layer? The matching layer helps to couple the acoustic impedance of the lens material with the acoustic impedance of the array itself....
What happens when water gets in the TIP of a TEE/TOE probe?
When water enters the tip of a TOE/TEE probe, usually through a hole in the bending rubber it causes short circuits between elements. This causes several strange artifacts and image degradation. It can clearly be seen as an increase in capacitance on the...
More fluid under the lens
Here is another example of fluid under the lens of a probe. This time a GE M3S probe. If you have any doubt as to whether there is a ‘leak’ in your lens. Let us know!...
6T probe with cracks on the insertion tube
This is an interesting problem. Unless you check very closely it is actually quite difficult to see with the naked eye but the probe has a lot of cracking on the insertion tube near the bending bead. This really does highlight the need to do electrical leakage testing...
What does a cracked acoustic array look like under a microscope?
This probe is a Philips L9-3 we had through the lab. Clearly it has been dropped (probably a lot of times!). You can see the fractures within the acoustic...
Philips L9-3 with Strange intererence
This is a really unusual one. A philips L9-3 with really unusual interference. That interference raining down on the left side and the stringy artifact on the right side are not real, there is nothing against the face of the probe. The acoustic test yields these...
A few pictures from around our Perth lab
Here are some pictures from around our Perth based lab. Message us and let us know if you’re interested in seeing more pictures or maybe a video? ...
TEE/TOE probe with an amazing amount of damage
This week we got asked if we could perform a repair on this TOE/TEE probe. This is the worst damage to an insertion tube that we have ever seen in our lab. Due to the age of this probe the repair was not economically viable. However from a technical point of view,...
What happens when you drop a 3D/4D abdominal ultrasound probe?
Dropping an ultrasound probe is never good. 3D/4D probes however have the extra fragility of mechanical moving parts. The GE RAB4-8 is no exception. We recently recieved a probe which had been dropped and had the following damage: Notice the cracking around the...
Results from probe testing
When ProbeLogic test probes in the field, we usually find approximately 40% of probes in use are non diagnostic. Faults include cable breaks, short circuits, weak elements and dead elements but the most common fault is delamination of the acoustic...