Ultrasonic array transducer transceiver for a hand held ultrasonic diagnostic instrument
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An ultrasound system comprising:
- an enclosure;
an array transducer located in said enclosure and accessing a patient through an acoustic window;
a transceiver integrated circuit, connected to a plurality of the elements of said array transducer, for exciting said elements to transmit ultrasonic waves and receiving echoes from said elements; and
a beamformer, coupled to said transceiver integrated circuit, for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves by said array transducer and delaying and combining echo signals received by said elements of said array transducer to form an ultrasonic beam.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hand held ultrasonic instrument is provided in a portable unit which performs both B mode and Doppler imaging. The instrument includes a transducer array mounted in a hand-held enclosure, with an integrated circuit transceiver connected to the elements of the array just behind the transducer. The transceiver is controlled by, and provides received echo signals to, a digital beamformer mounted in the hand-held enclosure.
268 Citations
48 Claims
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1. An ultrasound system comprising:
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an enclosure; an array transducer located in said enclosure and accessing a patient through an acoustic window; a transceiver integrated circuit, connected to a plurality of the elements of said array transducer, for exciting said elements to transmit ultrasonic waves and receiving echoes from said elements; and a beamformer, coupled to said transceiver integrated circuit, for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves by said array transducer and delaying and combining echo signals received by said elements of said array transducer to form an ultrasonic beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A handheld ultrasound device comprising:
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an enclosure; an array transducer located in said enclosure and accessing a patient through an acoustic window; a transceiver circuit, mounted in said enclosure and connected to the elements of said array transducer, for exciting said elements to transmit ultrasonic waves and receiving echoes from said elements, wherein said transceiver circuit is fabricated on an integrated circuit; a beamformer, mounted in said enclosure and coupled to said transceiver circuit, for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves by said array transducer and delaying and combining echo signals received by said elements of said array transducer to form an ultrasonic beam, wherein said beamformer is fabricated on an integrated circuit; wherein said transceiver circuit includes transducer element drivers responsive to said beamformer for selectively exciting said transducer elements, and a multiplexer circuit, coupled to said transducer element drivers, said transducer elements, and said beamformer for alternately causing said transducer elements to be excited by said drivers and to receive echo signals for said beamformer. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A handheld ultrasound device comprising:
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an enclosure; an array transducer located in said enclosure and accessing a patient through an acoustic window; a transceiver circuit, mounted in said enclosure and connected to the elements of said array transducer, for exciting said elements to transmit ultrasonic waves and receiving echoes from said elements; and a beamformer, mounted in said enclosure and coupled to said transceiver circuit, for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves by said array transducer and delaying and combining echo signals received by said elements of said array transducer to form an ultrasonic beam, wherein said beamformer is fabricated on an integrated circuit; wherein said beamformer is fabricated on an integrated circuit; and wherein said transceiver circuit includes a high voltage multiplexer circuit, responsive to said beamformer and coupled to said transducer elements, for causing said transducer elements to be excited to transmit ultrasonic waves.
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27. A handheld ultrasound device comprising:
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an enclosure; an array transducer located in said enclosure and accessing a patient through an acoustic window; a transceiver circuit, mounted in said enclosure and connected to the elements of said array transducer, for exciting said elements to transmit ultrasonic waves and receiving echoes from said elements; and a beamformer, mounted in said enclosure and coupled to said transceiver circuit, for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves by said array transducer and delaying and combining echo signals received by said elements of said array transducer to form an ultrasonic beam; wherein said transceiver circuit is fabricated on an integrated circuit; wherein said transceiver circuit further includes a time gain control circuit coupled to receive echo signals for controlling the gain applied to said echo signals during the time of reception of a scanline of echoes; and wherein said time gain control circuit comprises first and second cascaded TGC amplifiers.
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28. A handheld ultrasound device comprising:
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an enclosure; an array transducer located in said enclosure and accessing a patient through an acoustic window; a transceiver circuit, mounted in said enclosure and connected to the elements of said array transducer, for exciting said elements to transmit ultrasonic waves and receiving echoes from said elements; and a beamformer, mounted in said enclosure and coupled to said transceiver circuit, for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves by said array transducer and delaying and combining echo signals received by said elements of said array transducer to form an ultrasonic beam; wherein said transceiver circuit is fabricated on an integrated circuit; further comprising bandpass filter circuitry coupled to said transceiver circuit integrated circuit to filter echo signals received by said elements of said array transducer.
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29. An ultrasound system comprising:
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an enclosure; an array transducer located in said enclosure and accessing a patient through an acoustic window; and a transceiver integrated circuit having a plurality of low voltage inputs, and a plurality of high voltage outputs connected to a plurality of the elements of said array transducer, and including a plurality of transducer drivers and multiplexers, responsive to signals at said low voltage inputs and coupled to said high voltage outputs, for exciting selected ones of said elements to transmit ultrasonic waves. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. An ultrasonic imaging system, including an array transducer, a beamformer, and a transmit/receive integrated circuit coupled to said array transducer and said beamformer for multiplexing excitation signals to elements of said transducer array and echo signals from elements of said transducer array to channels of said beamformer comprising:
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a plurality of transmit multiplexers, located on said integrated circuit, responsive to excitation command signals, and having outputs coupled to individual ones of said transducer elements, for selectively exciting elements of said array transducer; an echo data bus located on said integrated circuit and coupled to channels of said beamformer; and a plurality of receive multiplexers, located on said integrated circuit, coupled to individual ones of said transducer elements, and having outputs coupled to said echo data bus, for selectively steering echo signals received by said transducer elements to channels of said beamformer. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. In an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system, including an ultrasonic array transducer having a plurality of transducer elements, a transmit/receive integrated circuit for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves by said transducer and responding to the reception of echo signals by said transducer comprising:
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a plurality of transducer pulsers, located on said integrated circuit and having outputs coupled to respective ones of said transducer elements, for selectively exciting said transducer elements to transmit a steered or focused ultrasonic wave; and a plurality of receivers, located on said integrated circuit and having inputs coupled to respective ones of said transducer elements, for receiving echo signals from said respective transducer elements. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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Specification