US 2026/0144526 A1Published application

Ultrasound imaging and therapy using bias apertures and element clusters driven in quadrature

AssigneeDaxsonics Ultrasound Inc.

InventorsJEREMY ALASTAIR BROWN, CHARLES D. EMERY, KATHERINE GWEN LATHAM

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Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for generating and detecting ultrasound energy using an ultrasound array with a reduced set of signal connections. This reduction in signal connections is achieved by employing ultrasound elements that are capable of acoustic transduction under application of a bias, partitioning the array into a set of clusters (subarrays), and delivering time-delayed signals on a per-cluster basis, as opposed to a per-element basis, and employing per-cluster bias apertures, applied in quadrature, to provide the requisite intra-cluster fine phase delays. The signals delivered to the clusters are time-delayed, with each time delay representing an aggregate, cluster-specific coarse delay that can be computed according to a desired transmit phase profile. The per-element fine phase profile, within a given cluster, is generated synthetically or synchronously via the use of two bias apertures that are specific to the cluster and are delivered with respective signals provided in quadrature.

Claims50

Dependent claims

A system for performing ultrasound imaging, the system comprising:

an array of ultrasound transducer elements, each ultrasound element being capable of acoustic transduction when a bias is applied thereto, such that a phase of ultrasound waves emitted therefrom is dependent on a polarity of the bias;
a set of bias conductive paths, each bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of an ultrasound element, thereby enabling each ultrasound element to be individually biased;
a set of signal conductive paths, each signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective subarray of ultrasound elements, thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each ultrasound element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements;
and
control and processing circuitry operatively coupled to said set of signal conductive paths and said set of bias conductive paths, said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor and associated memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processor to perform operations for controlling synthetic transmission of ultrasound energy from said array of ultrasound transducer elements according to a transmit phase aperture, the operations comprising:
performing a first transmit operation comprising:
while applying a first transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths, delivering a first set of time-delayed transmit signals to said set of signal conductive paths, each transmit signal of the first set of time-delayed transmit signals being delivered to a respective subarray with a respective coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the transmit phase aperture;
performing a second transmit operation comprising:
while applying a second transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths, delivering a second set of time-delayed transmit signals to said signal conductive paths, the second set of time-delayed transmit signals being generated in quadrature relative to the first set of time-delayed transmit signals;
wherein the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture are configured such that when the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation are performed, a fine phase delay associated with the transmit phase aperture is synthetically generated for each transducer element, such that a combination of the per-subarray coarse transmit subarray delays and the per-element fine phase delays synthetically generate or approximate the transmit phase aperture.

7 more elements

A method of performing ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:

providing an ultrasound device comprising:
an array of ultrasound transducer elements, each ultrasound element being capable of acoustic transduction when a bias is applied thereto, such that a phase of ultrasound waves emitted therefrom is dependent on a polarity of the bias;
a set of bias conductive paths, each bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of an ultrasound element, thereby enabling each ultrasound element to be individually biased;
and
a set of signal conductive paths, each signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective subarray of ultrasound elements, thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each ultrasound element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements;
and
performing a first transmit operation comprising:
while applying a first transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths, delivering a first set of time-delayed transmit signals to said set of signal conductive paths, each transmit signal of the first set of time-delayed transmit signals being delivered to a respective subarray with a respective coarse transmit subarray delay associated with a transmit phase aperture;
performing a second transmit operation comprising:
while applying a second transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths, delivering a second set of time-delayed transmit signals to said signal conductive paths, the second set of time-delayed transmit signals being generated in quadrature relative to the first set of time-delayed transmit signals;
wherein the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture are configured such that when the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation are performed, a fine phase delay associated with the transmit phase aperture is synthetically generated for each transducer element, such that a combination of the per-subarray coarse transmit subarray delays and the per-element fine phase delays synthetically generate or approximate the transmit phase aperture.

8 more elements

A system for delivering ultrasound energy, the system comprising:

an array of ultrasound transducer elements, each ultrasound element comprising a first sub-element and a second sub-element residing adjacent to one another, each sub-element being capable of acoustic transduction when a bias is applied thereto, such that a phase of ultrasound waves emitted therefrom is dependent on a polarity of the bias;
a first set of bias conductive paths, each first bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of a first sub-element, thereby enabling each first sub-element to be individually biased;
a second set of bias conductive paths, each second bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of a second sub-element, thereby enabling each second sub-element to be individually biased;
a first set of signal conductive paths, each first signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective set of first sub-elements of a subarray of ultrasound elements, thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each first sub-element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements;
a second set of signal conductive paths, each second signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective set of second sub-elements of a subarray of ultrasound elements, thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each second sub-element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements;
and
control and processing circuitry operatively coupled to said set of signal conductive paths, said first set of bias conductive paths and said second set of bias conductive paths, said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor and associated memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processor to perform operations for controlling transmission of ultrasound energy from said array of ultrasound transducer elements according to a transmit phase aperture, the operations comprising:
simultaneously performing a first transmit operation and a second transmit operation;
the first transmit operation comprising:
while applying a first transmit bias aperture to said first set of bias conductive paths, delivering a first set of time-delayed transmit signals to said first set of signal conductive paths, each transmit signal of the first set of time-delayed transmit signals being delivered to a respective subarray with a respective coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the transmit phase aperture;
the second transmit operation comprising:
while applying a second transmit bias aperture to said second bias conductive paths, delivering a second set of time-delayed transmit signals to said second set of signal conductive paths, the second set of time-delayed transmit signals being generated in quadrature relative to the first set of time-delayed transmit signals;
the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture being configured such that when the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation are simultaneously performed, each pair of first and second sub-elements generates a net fine phase delay associated with the transmit phase aperture, such that a combination of the per-subarray coarse transmit subarray delays and the per-sub-element fine phase delays generate or approximate the transmit phase aperture.

10 more elements

A method for delivering ultrasound energy, the system comprising:

providing an ultrasound device comprising:
an array of ultrasound transducer elements, each ultrasound element comprising a first sub-element and a second sub-element residing adjacent to one another, each sub-element being capable of acoustic transduction when a bias is applied thereto, such that a phase of ultrasound waves emitted therefrom is dependent on a polarity of the bias;
a first set of bias conductive paths, each first bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of a first sub-element, thereby enabling each first sub-element to be individually biased;
a second set of bias conductive paths, each second bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of a second sub-element, thereby enabling each second sub-element to be individually biased;
a first set of signal conductive paths, each first signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective set of first sub-elements of a subarray of ultrasound elements, thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each first sub-element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements;
and
a second set of signal conductive paths, each second signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective set of second sub-elements of a subarray of ultrasound elements, thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each second sub-element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements;
and
simultaneously performing a first transmit operation and a second transmit operation;
the first transmit operation comprising:
while applying a first transmit bias aperture to said first set of bias conductive paths, delivering a first set of time-delayed transmit signals to said first set of signal conductive paths, each transmit signal of the first set of time-delayed transmit signals being delivered to a respective subarray with a respective coarse transmit subarray delay associated with a transmit phase aperture;
the second transmit operation comprising:
while applying a second transmit bias aperture to said second bias conductive paths, delivering a second set of time-delayed transmit signals to said second set of signal conductive paths, the second set of time-delayed transmit signals being generated in quadrature relative to the first set of time-delayed transmit signals;
the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture being configured such that when the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation are simultaneously performed, each pair of first and second sub-elements generates a net fine phase delay associated with the transmit phase aperture, such that a combination of the per-subarray coarse transmit subarray delays and the per-sub-element fine phase delays generate or approximate the transmit phase aperture.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.