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Design of Protective Cover for Intraoperative Ultrasound Transducer Reprocessing

Company: GE HealthCare Medical Technology LLC

Major(s):
Primary: BME
Secondary: ME

Non-Disclosure Agreement: YES

Intellectual Property: YES

BK Medical, a GE Healthcare Company, designs and manufactures Ultrasound transducers for Surgery and Urology. After a transducer is used for a procedure, it is detached from the Ultrasound system and must be reprocessed by cleaning, disinfecting, and/or sterilizing before it is used for another procedure. Current reprocessing methods used on these transducers employ many different mechanisms, such as high vacuum, high temperature, liquid disinfectant solutions and various others. All parts of the transducer must be capable of surviving these different types of reprocessing methods, including the electrical connection to the Ultrasound system. The electrical connector must be protected in a way that allows the transducer to be successfully reprocessed in any of the approved methods without resulting in damage to the connector or to any other part of the transducer.