ULTRASOUND PROBE WITH INTEGRATED PULSERS

• US 20110060225A1
• Filed: 09/09/2009
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Steinbacher, Franz, Eggen, Trym Haakon, Haider, Bruno, Cogan, Scott D., Bauer, Lukas, Schoisswohl, Armin
• Application Number:
  US12/556,208
• Publication Number:
  US 20110060225A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/459
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/00 Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves imaging of objects using sonar G01S15/00
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0207 Driving circuits specially adapted for particular applications, see the relevant subclass, e.g. G01; circuits for steering transducer arrays G10K11/34; basic circuits H03
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 1/0607 using multiple elements B06B1/064 and B06B1/0688 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 2201/20 Application to multi-element transducer
• CPC Class Codes: B06B 2201/76 Medical, dental
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8915 using a transducer array
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8927 using simultaneously or sequentially two or more subarrays or subapertures
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/5202 for pulse systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52033 Gain control of receivers for seismic signals G01V1/245
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 42/06 using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves

Abstract

Various embodiments of an ultrasound probe for use with an ultrasound system are provided to enable local waveform generation with respect to the ultrasound probe. The ultrasound probe includes a plurality of transducer elements which are independently configured to transmit distinct waveforms. Certain embodiments include a variety of probes that house one or more waveform generators on application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Claims

1. An ultrasound probe, comprising:

a plurality of transducers; and

one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) configured to generate and transmit waveforms with distinct parameters to each transducer of the plurality of transducers.

2. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein each ASIC is located opposite the patient facing surfaces of the plurality of transducers and wherein each ASIC is dimensioned such that an ASIC surface area is approximately equal to a surface area of a transducer array.

3. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein the distinct parameters comprise one or more of waveform shape or waveform timing delay.

4. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, comprising a plurality of pulsers, wherein each transducer of the plurality of transducers receives a signal from a dedicated pulser of the plurality of pulsers.

5. The ultrasound probe of claim 4, wherein the geometric repetition distance between each adjacent transducer of the plurality of transducers is approximately equal to the repetition distance between each adjacent pulser of the plurality of pulsers.

6. The ultrasound probe of claim 4, comprising a plurality of multiplexers, wherein each pulser of the plurality of pulsers receives a signal from a dedicated multiplexer of the plurality of multiplexers.

7. The ultrasound probe of claim 6, wherein each multiplexer of the plurality of multiplexers is configured to select one waveform from a plurality of waveforms generated by the waveform generator to transmit to its dedicated pulser.

8. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein each waveform generator comprises a digital bulk delay counter configured to determine a start of a digital waveform counter.

9. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein each ASIC comprises a digital waveform counter configured to determine a number of cycles of the waveform.

10. The ultrasound probe of claim 1, wherein each ASIC comprises a fine delay unit configured to generate a plurality of delay versions of the waveform.

11. An ultrasound probe, comprising:

a plurality of transducers; and

a waveform generator coordinated with a system clock and configured to transmit a waveform with distinct parameters to each transducer of the plurality of transducers, the waveform generator comprising;

a digital waveform counter that determines the number of cycles in the waveform;

a bulk delay counter which determines the start of the digital waveform counter; and

a fine delay unit that provides a time delayed waveform to each transducer of the plurality of transducers.

12. The ultrasound probe of claim 11, wherein the bulk delay counter and the waveform counter comprise a run length encoder.

13. The ultrasound probe of claim 11, wherein the waveform counter is configured to generate a digital output that drives pull-up transistors, pull-down transistors, or a combination thereof.

14. The ultrasound probe of claim 11, wherein the waveform generator comprises an application specific integrated circuit.

15. The ultrasound probe of claim 11, comprising a plurality of pulsers, wherein each transducer of the plurality of transducers receives a signal from a dedicated pulser of the plurality of pulsers.

16. The ultrasound probe of claim 15, comprising a controller configured to disable the plurality of pulsers when thermal indicators exceed a preset threshold.

17. A system, comprising:

a probe for use with an ultrasound system, the probe comprising;

a plurality of sub-arrays of transducers;

a respective waveform generator for each sub-array of transducers, wherein each waveform generator is configured to generate a plurality of delay differentiated waveforms;

a plurality of multiplexers associated with each respective waveform generator, is configured such that each multiplexer of the plurality of multiplexers selects one waveform of the plurality of delay-differentiated waveforms generated by the respective waveform generator and to transmit the selected waveform to a dedicated transducer of the sub-array of transducers associated with the respective waveform generator; and

an imaging system communicatively coupled to the probe via a bidirectional conduit.

18. The system of claim 17 comprising, a plurality of pulsers, wherein each pulser is associated with a respective transducer, each pulser configured to transmit the selected waveform to the respective transducer.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the waveform generator comprises a digital bulk delay counter configured to determine the start of a digital waveform counter.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the waveform generator comprises a digital waveform counter configured to determine a number of cycles of a generated waveform.