Low-noise power sources for imaging systems
AssigneeEverett Scientific LLC
InventorClinton Siedenburg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Power supplies for electronic devices (e.g. medical imaging devices) are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a switched mode power supply is minimized in size and weight while maintaining efficiency and an artifact-free image using power supply design techniques tailored to increasing the power conversion frequency to be above the desired receive band of an ultrasound imaging system. In another embodiment, a switched mode power supply is minimized in size and weight while maintaining efficiency and an artifact-free image using power supply design techniques tailored to increasing the power conversion frequency to be just below the desired receive band of an ultrasound imaging system causing the third harmonic and possibly the second harmonic to fall just above the desired receive band.
Claims20
An imaging system comprising:
- an ultrasound transducer having a sensitivity band with an upper limit of FXDCR-UPPER;
- a transmit/receive switch coupled to the transducer;
- an analog receive path coupled to the transmit/receive switch, the analog receive path including an amplifier configured to amplify a signal received from the transducer;
- an analog-to-digital converter coupled to the amplifier and configured to digitize the amplified signal;
- and
- a switched mode power supply operating at a switching rate FSMPS providing power to at least one of:
- the amplifier or the transmit/receive switch,
- wherein N*FSMPS is greater than FXDCR-UPPER, and wherein N is 1, 2, or 3.
An imaging system comprising:
- a transducer having a sensitivity band with an upper limit FXDCR-UPPER;
- signal processing circuitry configured to receive output signals from the transducer;
- and
- a switched mode power supply configured to provide power to one or more components of the signal processing circuitry, the switched mode power supply configured to operate at a switching rate FSMPS;
- wherein N*FSMPS is greater than FXDCR-UPPER, and wherein N is 1, 2, or 3.
A controller for a switched mode power supply, the controller comprising:
- a periodic waveform generator configured to output waveforms having a frequency of about 5 MHz or greater;
- and
- a gate driver configured to output gate drive signals having (i) a rise or fall time of less than about 10 nanoseconds, and (ii) a pulse repetition frequency of about 5 MHz or greater, the output gate drive signals configured to be output to one or more discrete power conversion transistors separate from the controller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.