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US 10,187,020 B2Granted
Trans-impedance amplifier for ultrasound device and related apparatus and methods
AssigneeButterfly Network, Inc.
InventorsKailiang Chen, Keith G. Fife, Nevada J. Sanchez, Andrew J. Casper, Tyler S. Ralston
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A variable current trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) for an ultrasound device is described. The TIA may be coupled to an ultrasonic transducer to amplify an output signal of the ultrasonic transducer representing an ultrasound signal received by the ultrasonic transducer. During acquisition of the ultrasound signal by the ultrasonic transducer, one or more current sources in the TIA may be varied.
Claims16
An ultrasound apparatus, comprising:
- an ultrasound sensor;
- and
- a variable current trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) coupled to the ultrasound sensor and configured to receive and amplify an output signal from the ultrasound sensor, the variable current TIA being a two-stage operational amplifier having a first stage and a second stage and including a first variable current source coupled to the first stage and a second variable current source coupled to the second stage;
- wherein the first stage is arranged to receive the output signal from the ultrasound sensor and the second stage is arranged to provide an output signal of the variable current TIA;
- and
- wherein the first variable current source comprises two or more current sources connected in parallel, and at least one of the two or more current sources is coupled to the first stage through a switch.
3 more elements
An ultrasound apparatus, comprising:
- an ultrasound sensor;
- and
- a variable current trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) coupled to the ultrasound sensor and configured to receive and amplify an output signal from the ultrasound sensor, the variable current TIA being a two-stage operational amplifier having a first stage and a second stage and including a first variable current source coupled to the first stage and a second variable current source coupled to the second stage;
- wherein the variable current TIA further comprises a first variable feedback RC circuit coupled between an output terminal of the variable current TIA and a node representing an input to the second stage;
- and
- wherein the ultrasound apparatus further comprises a second variable feedback RC circuit coupled between the output terminal of the variable current TIA and a node representing an input to the first stage.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- acquiring an ultrasound signal with an ultrasound sensor during an acquisition period and outputting, from the ultrasound sensor, an analog electrical signal representing the ultrasound signal;
- and
- amplifying the analog electrical signal with a variable current trans-impedance amplifier (TIA), including varying a current of the variable current TIA during the acquisition period;
- wherein:
- the variable current TIA is a two-stage operational amplifier having a first stage and a second stage;
- varying the current of the variable current TIA during the acquisition period includes independently varying a current of the first stage and a current of the second stage;
- and
- independently varying the current of the first stage and the current of the second stage comprises increasing the current of the first stage in intervals during the acquisition period and decreasing the current of the second stage in intervals during the acquisition period.
5 more elements
A method, comprising:
- acquiring an ultrasound signal with an ultrasound sensor during an acquisition period and outputting, from the ultrasound sensor, an analog electrical signal representing the ultrasound signal;
- amplifying the analog electrical signal with a variable current trans-impedance amplifier (TIA), including varying a current of the variable current TIA during the acquisition period;
- and
- varying a feedback capacitance or feedback resistance of the variable current TIA during the acquisition period;
- wherein varying the feedback capacitance or the feedback resistance of the variable current TIA during the acquisition period comprises using a lookup table to determine the feedback capacitance or the feedback resistance based on a gain setting of the variable current TIA.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.