METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELEVATION FOCUS CONTROL OF ACOUSTIC WAVES Russian patent published in 2011 - IPC G01N29/06 B06B3/04 

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: acoustic probe (100) includes an acoustic transducer (20) which includes a plurality of acoustic transducer elements assembled into a one-dimensional array; and a variably-refracting acoustic lens (10) connected to the acoustic transducer. The variably-refracting acoustic lens has at least a pair of electrodes (150, 160) configured to adjust the focus of the variably-refracting acoustic lens in response to a selected voltage applied across the electrodes. In one version, the variably-refracting acoustic lens includes a cavity, first and second fluid media (141, 142) placed in the cavity, and a pair of electrodes. The speed of sound of an acoustic wave in the first fluid medium differs from the speed of sound of the acoustic wave in the second fluid medium. The first and second fluid media are immiscible with each other, and the first fluid medium has substantially different electrical conductivity from that of the second fluid medium.

EFFECT: broader functionalities.

20 cl, 4 dwg