# US 11,439,364 B2 · Ultrasonic imaging devices, systems and methods > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,439,364 B2 - Document ID: US11439364B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/638,331 - Filed: 2017-06-29 - Published: 2017-10-19 - Granted: 2022-09-13 - Earliest claimed: 2013-03-15 - Assignees: Bfly Operations, Inc. - Applicants: BFLY Operations, Inc. - Inventors: Jonathan M. Rothberg; Keith G. Fife; Tyler S. Ralston; Gregory L. Charvat; Nevada J. Sanchez - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11439364B2 ## CPC - A61B 8/4494: {characterised by the arrangement of the transducer elements} - A61B 8/14: Echotomography - A61B 8/145: {characterised by scanning multiple planes} - A61B 8/4483: {characterised by features of the ultrasound transducer} - A61B 8/4488: {the transducer being a phased array} - A61B 8/54: {Control of the diagnostic device} - A61N 7/00: Ultrasound therapy (lithotripsy A61B17/22, A61B17/225; massage using supersonic vibration A61H23/00 {; using ultrasound for introducing media into the body A61M37/0092}) - A61N 7/02: Localised ultrasound hyperthermia - B06B 1/02: making use of electrical energy (B06B1/18, B06B1/20 take precedence) - B81C 1/00246: {Monolithic integration, i.e. micromechanical structure and electronic processing unit are integrated on the same substrate} - G01S 7/52019: {Details of transmitters} - G01S 7/52034: {Data rate converters} - G01S 7/52047: {for elimination of side lobes or of grating lobes; for increasing resolving power} - G01S 7/5208: {with integration of processing functions inside probe or scanhead} - G01S 15/02: using reflection of acoustic waves (G01S15/66 takes precedence) - G01S 15/8915: {using a transducer array} - G01S 15/8977: {using special techniques for image reconstruction, e.g. FFT, geometrical transformations, spatial deconvolution, time deconvolution} - H04R 1/00: Details of transducers, {loudspeakers or microphones} - A61B 8/485: {involving measuring strain or elastic properties} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61N: ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY (measurement of bioelectric currents A61B; surgical instruments, devices or methods for transferring non-mechanical forms of energy to or from the body A61B18/00; anaesthetic apparatus in general A61M; incandescent lamps H01K; infrared radiators for heating H05B) - B06B: METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR GENERATING OR TRANSMITTING MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS OF INFRASONIC, SONIC, OR ULTRASONIC FREQUENCY, {e.g.} FOR PERFORMING MECHANICAL WORK IN GENERAL (for particular applications, see the relevant subclasses, e.g. B07B1/40, B23Q17/12, B24B31/06; measurement of mechanical vibrations G01H; in direction finding, locating, distance or velocity measuring G01S; {generating seismic energy G01V1/02}; control of mechanical vibrations in general G05D; sound-producing devices, e.g. bells, sirens, whistles G10K, {e.g. methods or devices for transmitting, conducting, or directing sound in general G10K11/00}; generation of electrical oscillations H03B; electromechanical resonators in general H03H; electromechanical transducers {for communication techniques, e.g. microphones, speakers} H04R) - B81C: PROCESSES OR APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS (making microcapsules or microballoons B01J13/02; processes or apparatus specially adapted for the manufacture or treatment of piezoelectric, electrostrictive or magnetostrictive elements per se H10N30/01) - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - H04R: LOUDSPEAKERS, MICROPHONES, GRAMOPHONE PICK-UPS OR LIKE ACOUSTIC ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS; ELECTRIC HEARING AIDS; PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS (producing sounds with frequency not determined by supply frequency G10K) ## Abstract To implement a single-chip ultrasonic imaging solution, on-chip signal processing may be employed in the receive signal path to reduce data bandwidth and a high-speed serial data module may be used to move data for all received channels off-chip as digital data stream. The digitization of received signals on-chip allows advanced digital signal processing to be performed on-chip, and thus permits the full integration of an entire ultrasonic imaging system on a single semiconductor substrate. Various novel waveform generation techniques, transducer configuration and biasing methodologies, etc., are likewise disclosed. HIFU methods may additionally or alternatively be employed as a component of the “ultrasound-on-a-chip” solution disclosed herein. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A hand-held ultrasound device for placement on a subject, the hand-held ultrasound device comprising: a semiconductor substrate having on-chip components including: a plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements comprising at least 1,000 ultrasonic transducers; a plurality of pulsers coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements and each configured to generate a plurality of bias levels; and a plurality of waveform generators configured to drive the plurality of pulsers, wherein each of at least a first waveform generator and a second waveform generator of the plurality of waveform generators comprises a plurality of independently controllable registers configured to store a plurality of different parameters for a waveform; and a housing to support the semiconductor substrate. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements comprise independently controllable ultrasonic transducer elements disposed on the semiconductor substrate. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements comprise capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a hand-held housing in which the semiconductor substrate is disposed. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of waveform generators are configured to independently control the plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein a first independently controllable register of the plurality of independently controllable registers is configured to store a time delay of the waveform. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein a first independently controllable register of the plurality of independently controllable registers is configured to store a phase of the waveform. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein a first independently controllable register of the plurality of independently controllable registers is configured to store a frequency of the waveform. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements comprises a first ultrasonic transducer element having at least one first capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) and a second ultrasonic transducer element having at least one second CMUT; the first waveform generator is coupled to the first ultrasonic transducer element and configured to provide a first ultrasound waveform to the first CMUT; and the second waveform generator is coupled to the second ultrasonic transducer element and configured to provide a second ultrasound waveform to the second CMUT. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 9, further comprising a controller configured to control values stored by the plurality of independently controllable registers of the first waveform generator and the plurality of independently controllable registers of the second waveform generator. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 10, the semiconductor substrate having further on-chip components including: a first analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the first ultrasonic transducer element and configured to convert an analog signal provided by the first ultrasound element into a digital signal; a second ADC coupled to the second ultrasonic transducer element and configured to convert an analog signal provided by the second ultrasonic transducer element into a digital signal; and a serial data output port configured to communicate a digital stream of data that includes the digital signals from the first and second ADCs from the hand-held ultrasound device to an external device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 11, wherein the semiconductor substrate is a first chip, and wherein the hand-held ultrasound device further comprises a second chip disposed within the housing, the second chip comprising digital processing circuitry and electrically coupled to the serial data output port. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 10, wherein a first independently controllable register of the plurality of independently controllable registers of the first and second waveform generators is configured to store a phase. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 10, wherein a first independently controllable register of the plurality of independently controllable registers of the first and second waveform generators is configured to store a frequency. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of ultrasonic transducer elements comprises a first ultrasonic transducer element and a second ultrasonic transducer element; the plurality of pulsers comprises: a first pulser coupled to the first ultrasonic transducer element so that the first ultrasonic transducer element emits an ultrasonic pulse; and a second pulser coupled to the second ultrasonic transducer element so that the second ultrasonic transducer element emits an ultrasonic pulse; the first waveform generator is coupled to the first pulser to provide a first waveform to the first pulser in response to receipt, by a first on-chip transmit control circuit on the semiconductor substrate, of a transmit enable signal; the second waveform generator coupled to the second pulser to provide a second waveform to the second pulser in response to receipt, by a second on-chip transmit control circuit on the semiconductor substrate, of the transmit enable signal; and the semiconductor substrate comprising further on-chip components including: at least one first delay component that impacts a length of a first delay between when the first transmit control circuit receives the transmit enable signal and when the first waveform is applied to the first pulser; and at least one second delay component that impacts a length of a second delay between when the second transmit control circuit receives the transmit enable signal and when the second waveform is applied to the second pulser, wherein the at least one first delay component is configured differently than the at least one second delay component, so that the length of the second delay is different than the length of the first delay. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 15, wherein the first ultrasonic transducer element comprises a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT). ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 15, wherein the first pulse is a tri-level pulser. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The hand-held ultrasound device of claim 15, wherein the first pulse is configured to control the first ultrasonic transducer element to apply a pulse as part of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).