Signal processing pathway for an ultrasonic imaging device

A signal processing pathway for an ultrasonic imaging device, the signal processing pathway comprising:

• a channel board configured to transmit a transmitted signal to an ultrasonic transducer array, and further configured to receive a received signal from the ultrasonic transducer array further comprises:
• a transmit/receive switch for switching between a transmit pathway and a receive pathway;
• a transmit beamformer situated in the transmit pathway for controlling a timing and a shape of the transmitted signal;
• a pulser situated in the transmit pathway between the transmit beamformer and the transmit/receive switch for adjusting a voltage of the transmitted signal;
• a receive beamformer situated in the receive pathway for storing and transferring, at least in part, the received signal;
• an ADC (analog/digital converter) situated in the receive pathway between the transmit/receive switch and the receive beamformer for converting the received signal;
• a VGA (variable gain amplifier) situated in the receive pathway between the transmit/receive switch and the receive beamformer for amplifying selected properties of the received signal;
• an AAF (anti-aliasing filter) situated in the receive pathway between the transmit/receive switch and the receive beamformer for preventing aliasing and for limiting a noise of the received signal;
• and
• a LNA (low noise amplifier) situated in the receive pathway between the transmit/receive switch and the receive beamformer for amplifying the received signal;
• and
• a beamformer control board configured to control the channel board;
• wherein, the channel board and the beamformer control form the receive pathway and the transmit pathway that each have a bandwidth across a frequency range of 1 MHz to 40 MHz inclusive and for voltages within a range of −80V to +80V inclusive, the received signal traverses the receive pathway and the transmitted signal traverses the transmit pathway.