Ultrasound probe - performance variation with coax parameters

Small coaxial transmission lines (coaxes) comprise most ultrasound probe cables. The geometry and material properties of these coaxes determine electrical parameters, which in turn may affect probe performance. A measure of performance has been determined over approximately the commercially available ranges of geometry and material properties. We find that with certain example ultrasound transducers (small-element, high-resolution) coax design influences probe performance by > 6dB. However, with other example transducers coax design insignificantly affects performance; in such cases design flexibility may be used to satisfy ergonomic, cost or other non-electrical goals