Biasing of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) and related apparatus and methods
First Claim
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1. An ultrasound device, comprising:
- a substrate;
a plurality of ultrasonic transducers integrated with the substrate and including a first group of ultrasonic transducers and a second group of ultrasonic transducers; and
a plurality of individually electrically controllable bias electrodes including;
a first bias electrode corresponding to the first group of ultrasonic transducers and comprising a first common membrane of the first group of ultrasonic transducers; and
a second bias electrode corresponding to the second group of ultrasonic transducers and comprising a second common membrane of the second group of ultrasonic transducers.
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Abstract
Electrical biasing of ultrasonic transducers of an ultrasound device is described. The ultrasonic transducers may be capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). The ultrasonic transducers may be grouped together, with the different groups receiving different bias voltages. The bias voltages for the various groups of ultrasonic transducers may be selected to account for differences between the groups.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. An ultrasound device, comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of ultrasonic transducers integrated with the substrate and including a first group of ultrasonic transducers and a second group of ultrasonic transducers; and a plurality of individually electrically controllable bias electrodes including; a first bias electrode corresponding to the first group of ultrasonic transducers and comprising a first common membrane of the first group of ultrasonic transducers; and a second bias electrode corresponding to the second group of ultrasonic transducers and comprising a second common membrane of the second group of ultrasonic transducers. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of operating an ultrasound device having a substrate and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers integrated with the substrate, the method comprising:
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electrically biasing at a first bias voltage a first bias electrode comprising a first common membrane corresponding to a first group of ultrasonic transducers of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers; and simultaneously with biasing the first bias electrode, electrically biasing at a second bias voltage different than the first bias voltage a second bias electrode comprising a second common membrane corresponding to a second group of ultrasonic transducers of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification