Interconnectable ultrasound transducer probes and related methods and apparatus
AssigneeButterfly Network, Inc.
InventorsJonathan M. Rothberg, Keith G. Fife, Nevada J. Sanchez, Tyler S. Ralston, Gregory L. Charvat, Gregory Corteville
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Abstract
Ultrasound devices and methods are described, including a repeatable ultrasound transducer probe having ultrasonic transducers and corresponding circuitry. The repeatable ultrasound transducer probe may be used individually or coupled with other instances of the repeatable ultrasound transducer probe to create a desired ultrasound device. The ultrasound devices may optionally be connected to various types of external devices to provide additional processing and image rendering functionality.
Claims34
A portable ultrasound imaging probe, comprising:
- a plurality of ultrasonic transducers on a substrate;
- control circuitry coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and configured to control operation of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, wherein the control circuitry comprises biasing circuitry configured to adjust gap distances of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers to alter frequency behavior of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers;
- and
- a housing substantially enclosing the biasing circuitry and the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
An apparatus, comprising:
- an ultrasound-on-a-chip imaging device comprising a plurality of different interface types supporting a plurality of data transfer rates.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a plurality of ultrasonic transducers on the substrate;
- and
- control circuitry, coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and configured to control operation of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, wherein the control circuitry comprises a waveform generator coupled to at least one ultrasonic transducer of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the waveform generator being configurable to generate different waveforms.
A device comprising:
- a plurality of semiconductor ultrasound transducer elements;
- and
- semiconductor control circuitry coupled to the plurality of semiconductor ultrasound transducer elements and configured to control the semiconductor ultrasound transducer elements to support two-dimensional and three-dimensional ultrasound imaging.
An apparatus, comprising,
- a semiconductor substrate;
- a plurality of ultrasonic transducers on the semiconductor substrate;
- and
- a circuit on the semiconductor substrate and coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, wherein the circuit is configured to support a voltage signal that is greater than approximately 20 V.
A method, comprising:
- forming, on a single support, multiple different interface types supporting different data transfer rates;
- forming on the single support, micromachined ultrasonic transducers coupled to the multiple different interface types, the micromachined ultrasonic transducers configured to allow two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging;
- and
- forming control circuitry coupling the multiple different interface types to the micromachined ultrasonic transducers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.