# US 2021/0341602 A1 · Ultrasound imaging device

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- Number: US 2021/0341602 A1
- Document ID: US20210341602A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/274,387
- Filed: 2019-09-11
- Published: 2021-11-04
- Earliest claimed: 2018-09-13
- Assignees: Moduleus
- Applicants: Moduleus
- Inventors: Adrien BAILLY
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210341602A1

## CPC

- G01S 15/8927: {using simultaneously or sequentially two or more subarrays or subapertures}
- B06B 1/0215: {for generating pulses, e.g. bursts of oscillations, envelopes}
- B06B 1/0629: {Square array}
- G01S 15/8925: {the array being a two-dimensional transducer configuration, i.e. matrix or orthogonal linear arrays}
- G06T 12/00: Tomographic reconstruction from projections
- B06B 2201/20: Application to multi-element transducer
- B06B 2201/51: Electrostatic transducer
- B06B 2201/55: Piezoelectric transducer
- B06B 2201/76: Medical, dental
- 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
- 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)
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL

## Abstract

An ultrasonic imaging device includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, the array being divided into a plurality of sub-arrays of neighboring transducers, each including a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, the device including, for each sub-array: a single transmit and/or receive circuit; and a combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuit configurable to couple any, alone, of the transducers of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array, or to simultaneously couple a plurality of the transducers of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array. The device further includes a control circuit adapted to individually controlling the combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuits of the different sub-arrays.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An ultrasonic imaging device comprising a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, the array being divided into a plurality of sub-arrays of neighboring transducers, each comprising m rows and n columns, m and n being integers greater than or equal to 2, the device comprising, for each sub-array:
a single transmit and/or receive circuit; and
a combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuit configurable to couple any, alone, of the transducers of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array, or to simultaneously couple a plurality of the transducers of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array,
the device further comprising a control circuit adapted to individually controlling the combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuits of the different sub-arrays,
wherein the control circuit is configured to, during a phase of acquisition of an ultrasonic wave of a first type, successively acquire m*n partial images of the body, and then reconstruct the image from the m*n acquired partial images,
the control circuit being configured to, at each acquisition of a partial image, in each sub-array, coupled to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array a single transducer selected among the m*n transducers of the sub-array, and to modify the transducer selected in each sub-array for each new acquisition of a partial image to involve the m*n transducers of each sub-array.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to, during a phase of acquisition of an ultrasonic wave of a second type, control the combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuits to, simultaneously:
in a first sub-array, couple a single transducer of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array; and
in a second sub-array, couple a plurality of transducers of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to, during a phase of acquisition of an ultrasonic image of a third type, control the combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuits to, in each sub-array, simultaneously couple all the transducers of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is further configured to, during a phase of acquisition of an ultrasonic wave of a fourth type, control the combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuits to, in each sub-array, successively:
simultaneously couple all the transducers of a same column of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array and simultaneously isolate the other transducers of the sub-array from the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array;
simultaneously couple all the transducers of a same row of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array and simultaneously isolate the other transducers of the sub-array from the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array; and
simultaneously couple all the transducers of a same diagonal of the sub-array to the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array and simultaneously isolate the other transducers of the sub-array from the transmit and/or receive circuit of the sub-array.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1, wherein each transmit and/or receive circuit comprises a transmit circuit and a receive circuit.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The device according to claim 5, wherein, for each sub-array, the combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuit comprises a transmit splitter selection from one input terminal to m*n output terminals and a receive combiner selector from m*n input terminals to one output terminal, and wherein:
the input terminal of the transmit splitter selector is coupled to an output terminal of the transmit circuit;
the m*n output terminals of the transmit splitter selector are respectively coupled to the m*n transducers of the sub-array;
the m*n input terminals of the receive combiner selector are respectively coupled to the m*n transducers of the sub-array; and
the output terminal of the receive combiner selector is coupled to an input terminal of the receive circuit.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The device according to claim 6, wherein, in each combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuit, the m*n output terminals of the transmit splitter selector are coupled to the m*n transducers of the sub-array by respectively m*n transmit switches, and wherein the m*n input terminals of the receive combiner selector are coupled to the m*n transducers of the sub-array by respectively m*n receive switches.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The device according to claim 7, wherein, in each combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuit, the m*n input terminals of the receive combiner selector are further coupled to the m*n transducers of the sub-array by respectively m*n preamplifiers.

### Claim 9 (depends on 5)

The device according to claim 5, wherein the control circuit is configured to control the combiner selector and/or splitter selector circuits to, during an ultrasonic image acquisition phase, in each sub-array, during an ultrasonic wave transmission phase, couple a first set of ultrasonic transducers of the sub-array to the transmit circuit of the sub-array, and, during a subsequent phase of reception of an ultrasonic wave, couple a second set of ultrasonic transducers of the sub-array, different from the first set, to the receive circuit of the sub-array.