Analog store digital read ultrasound beamforming system

An Analog Store Digital Read ultrasound beamformer for a portable

• ultrasound imaging system comprising:
• an ultrasonic array formed of individual ultrasonic array elements configured for transmission and receiving, wherein the individual array elements are grouped into individual channels;
• a receiving input signal control circuitry for creating receiving input signals for each channel from inputs received from each array element of the channel;
• a plurality of banks of sample-hold cells associated with the channels, wherein the beamformer is configured for sampling each receiving input signal for each channel at a sampling rate and storing the sampled data in one bank of sample-hold cells, wherein the bank of sample-hold cells form an analog random access memory for the associated sampled receiving input signal;
• a beamforming processor configured for selecting at least one sample-hold cell data from at least one channel for each beamforming instance in accordance with a beamforming algorithm;
• an analog summation element for summing all of the selected sample-hold cell data from each channel for each beamforming instance and forming an analog beamformed received signal sample for the beamforming instance;
• and
• an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the analog beamformed received signal, wherein the system is configured for placement in the handle of an ultrasonic probe.