# US 2019/0167235 A1 · Ultrasound system front-end circuit with pulsers and linear amplifiers for an array transducer

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- Number: US 2019/0167235 A1
- Document ID: US20190167235A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/321,201
- Filed: 2017-07-26
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2016-08-04
- Assignees: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
- Applicants: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
- Inventors: Steven Russell Freeman; Truong Huy Nguyen; Manfred Bartz; Jason Thanh Nguyen; Timothy Savord; Scott Owen Schweizer
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190167235A1

## CPC

- A61B 8/5246: {combining images from the same or different imaging techniques, e.g. color Doppler and B-mode}
- A61B 8/5207: {involving processing of raw data to produce diagnostic data, e.g. for generating an image}
- G01S 7/52019: {Details of transmitters}
- G01S 7/52085: {Details related to the ultrasound signal acquisition, e.g. scan sequences (control of medical diagnostic ultrasound devices A61B8/54)}
- G01S 15/8915: {using a transducer array}
- G01S 7/52095: {using multiline receive beamforming}
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- 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

## Abstract

Front-end circuitry for an ultrasound system is described which comprises a beamformer FPGA integrated circuit, transmit ICs with both pulse transmitters and linear waveform transmitters, transmit control and receiver ICs, and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) ICs. Waveform data for both the linear and pulser transmitters is stored in the transmit control and receiver ICs, saving pins on the FPGA, which is the conventional source of this data. The ADCs couple digital echo data to the FPGA for beamforming over serial bus lines, saving additional FPGA pins over a conventional parallel data arrangement. The inclusion of both pulser and linear waveform transmit capabilities in the transmit ICs enables the use of both types of transmitters in the formation of a multi-mode image, such as use of the pulsers for Doppler beams and linear transmitters for B mode beams in the formation of a colorflow image.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An ultrasound system for multi-mode imaging, the system comprising:
an array of transducer elements;
a front-end high voltage transmitter integrated circuit comprising a pulser and a linear transmitter coupled via a common output of the integrated circuit to a common transducer element of the array of transducer elements, the pulser being adapted to generate transmit pulses from the common element during a first imaging mode and the linear transmitter being adapted to transmit a linear waveform from the common element during a second imaging mode;
a beamformer coupled to the array and adapted to beamform echo signals from the array; and
an image processor that is coupled to receive beamformed echo signals from the beamformer and adapted to produce a multi-mode image combining image data from the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The ultrasound system of claim 1, further comprising a TGC preamplifier between the array and the beamformer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The ultrasound system of claim 2, further comprising an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) between the array and the beamformer.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The ultrasound system of claim 1, wherein the first imaging mode comprises a colorflow imaging, and the second imaging mode comprises B-mode imaging.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The ultrasound system of claim 4, wherein the system is adapted to operate the pulser and the linear transmitter in a time-interleaved manner.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The ultrasound system of claim 5, wherein the pulser is further adapted to generate a plurality of ensembles of Doppler echo signals from points in an image field.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The ultrasound system of claim 4, further comprising:
a Doppler processor having an input coupled to the beamformer and an output coupled to the image processor, the Doppler processor being adapted to process Doppler echo signals generated from the pulser; and
a B mode processor having an input coupled to the beamformer and an output coupled to the image processor, the B mode processor being adapted to process B mode echo signals generated from the linear waveform.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The ultrasound system of claim 1, wherein the beamformer comprises an FPGA beamformer.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The ultrasound system of claim 1, further comprising a transmit data memory coupled to the pulser and the linear transmitter;
wherein the transmit data memory contains transmit data bytes for both the pulser and the linear transmitter.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The ultrasound system of claim 9, further comprising a DAC coupled between the transmit data memory and an input of the linear transmitter.

### Claim 11

An ultrasound system for producing multi-mode images, the system comprising:
an array of transducer elements;
a front-end high voltage transmitter integrated circuit comprising a pulser and a linear transmitter coupled via a common output of the integrated circuit to a common element of the array of transducer elements;
a transmit data memory, coupled to inputs of the high voltage transmitter integrated circuits and containing transmit data bytes for both the pulser and the linear transmitter;
a plurality of receive signal paths, each coupled to a separate transducer element of the array;
a plurality of integrated circuit ADCs, each having an input coupled to the plurality of receive signal paths and an output coupled to a serial data output line;
a beamformer FPGA integrated circuit in an integrated circuit package coupled to receive echo signals from one or more serial data output lines of the plurality of integrated circuit ADCs; and an image processor, coupled to receive beamformed echo signals from the beamformer.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The ultrasound system of claim 11, wherein the transmit data memory is located on a different integrated circuit from that of the beamformer FPGA.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The ultrasound system of claim 11, wherein the array comprises a 128-element transducer array; and
wherein the high voltage transmitter integrated circuit comprises 128 pulsers each coupled to a transducer element of the array and 128 linear transmitters each coupled to a transducer element of the array.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The ultrasound system of claim 13, wherein the beamformer FPGA integrated circuit is adapted to receive control data for an image scanning sequence and to supply control data for the image scanning sequence to the transmit data memory and the receive signal paths;
wherein the beamformer FPGA integrated circuit comprises a single FPGA integrated circuit.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The ultrasound system of claim 14, wherein the transmit data memory and a receive signal path are located on one integrated circuit, and
wherein the transmit data memory is located on a different integrated circuit from that of the beamformer FPGA.