Integrated active ultrasonic probe
View Patent ↗An ultrasonic probe includes ultrasonic transducers and processing electronics to control emission of ultrasonic energy and to process and digitize returned echo data. Processed echo data can then be transmitted over a digital interface for display.
1. An ultrasonic probe for emitting ultrasonic energy toward a test object and for receiving echo data generated thereby, the ultrasonic probe comprising:
a plurality of ultrasonic transducers;
an integrated circuit connected to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the integrated circuit comprising:
a plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits, the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits each generating electrical signals transmitted to one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers for causing ultrasonic energy to be emitted therefrom, and each receiving the echo data detected by the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers; and
a control circuit connected to the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits for controlling the transmission of the electrical signals to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and for processing the received echo data detected by the plurality of ultrasonic transducers to form processed echo data,
wherein the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits and the control circuit comprise a single integrated circuit and wherein the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits are directly connected to the control circuit at a distance of less than 50 mm;
an analog-to-digital converter connected to the integrated circuit for digitizing the processed echo data;
a control unit connected to the analog-to-digital converter and receiving the digitized processed echo data for processing it into A-scan summation data; and
a digital interface connected to the control unit for transmitting the A-scan summation data.
2. The ultrasonic probe of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits each comprise a pulser for generating the electrical signals transmitted to the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and an amplifier for receiving the echo data detected by the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
3. The ultrasonic probe of claim 1 , wherein the digital interface is connectable to a processing unit comprising a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal computer, or a combination thereof.
4. The ultrasonic probe of claim 1 , wherein the digital interface is a wireless interface for transmitting the A-scan summation data wirelessly.
5. The ultrasonic probe of claim 4 , wherein the digital interface comprises a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interface, a Universal Serial Bus interface, an Ethernet interface, or a wireless local area network interface.
6. The ultrasonic probe of claim 1 , wherein the received echo data comprises reflections of the ultrasonic energy emitted by the plurality of ultrasonic transducers impacting the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
7. The ultrasonic probe of claim 1 , wherein the processed echo data comprises beam forming data.
8. The ultrasonic probe of claim 2 , wherein the entire ultrasonic probe is contained within a single probe housing.
9. A processing system for processing ultrasonic data comprising:
a processing unit comprising a processor, a display, and a digital interface; and
an ultrasonic probe connected to the processing unit via the digital interface, the ultrasonic probe comprising:
a plurality of ultrasonic transducers;
an integrated circuit connected to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the integrated circuit comprising a plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits directly connected to the control circuit at a distance of less than 50 mm, the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits each generating electrical signals transmitted to one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers for causing emission of ultrasonic energy therefrom, and each receiving echo data detected by the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, and a control circuit connected to the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits for controlling the transmission of the electrical signals to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and for processing the received echo data detected by the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, wherein the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits and the control circuit comprise a single integrated circuit;
an analog-to-digital converter connected to the integrated circuit for digitizing the processed echo data; and
a control unit connected to the analog-to-digital converter and receiving the digitized processed echo data for processing it into A-scan summation data and transmitting the A-scan summation data over the digital interface.
10. The processing system of claim 9 , wherein the display displays the A-scan summation data.
11. The processing system of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits each comprise a pulser for generating the electrical signals transmitted to the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and an amplifier for receiving the echo data detected by the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
12. The processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processing unit comprises a laptop computer, a tablet computer, or a workstation.
13. The processing system of claim 9 , wherein the digital interface is a wireless interface for transmitting the A-scan summation data wirelessly.
14. The processing system of claim 13 , wherein the digital interface comprises a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express interface, a Universal Serial Bus interface, an Ethernet interface, or a wireless local area network interface.
15. The processing system of claim 9 , wherein the received echo data comprises reflections of the ultrasonic energy emitted by the plurality of ultrasonic transducers impacting the one of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
16. The processing system of claim 11 , wherein the entire ultrasonic probe is contained within a single probe housing having a size that fits within a test object undergoing an ultrasonic inspection by the processing system.
17. The processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processed echo data comprises beam forming data.
18. A method of processing ultrasonic data generated by an active integrated ultrasonic probe, the processed ultrasonic data to be displayed on a display screen, the method comprising:
receiving output data from the active integrated ultrasonic probe, the integrated ultrasonic probe comprising an integrated circuit comprising a plurality of transmitter and receiver circuits directly connected to the control circuit at a distance of less than 50 mm and a control circuit, the output data comprising beam formation data;
performing a scan conversion of the beam formation data and decimating the beam formation data into a format compatible with the display screen;
combining the scan converted beam formation data into volume data; and
rendering and displaying the volume data on the display screen.
19. The ultrasonic probe of claim 1 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and wherein the ultrasonic probe is integrated in the application specific integrated circuit.
20. The processing system of claim 9 , wherein the integrated circuit comprises an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).