Monolithic ultrasonic imaging devices, systems and methods
To implement a single-chip ultrasonic imaging solution, on-chip signal processing may be employed in the receive signal path to reduce data bandwidth and a high-speed serial data module may be used to move data for all received channels off-chip as digital data stream. The digitization of received signals on-chip allows advanced digital signal processing to be performed on-chip, and thus permits the full integration of an entire ultrasonic imaging system on a single semiconductor substrate. Various novel waveform generation techniques, transducer configuration and biasing methodologies, etc., are likewise disclosed. HIFU methods may additionally or alternatively be employed as a component of the “ultrasound-on-a-chip” solution disclosed herein.
1. An ultrasound device, comprising:
at least first and second ultrasonic transducer elements;
a first transmit control circuit comprising:
a first pulser coupled to the first ultrasonic transducer element so as to drive the first ultrasonic transducer element so that the first ultrasonic transducer element emits an ultrasonic pulse;
a first waveform generator coupled to the first pulser to provide a first waveform to the first pulser in response to receipt, by the first transmit control circuit, of a transmit enable signal generated by a timing and control circuit; and
at least one first component that impacts a length of a first delay between when the first transmit control circuit receives the transmit enable signal and when the first waveform is applied to the first pulser;
a second transmit control circuit comprising:
a second pulser coupled to the second ultrasonic transducer element so as to drive the second ultrasonic transducer element so that the second ultrasonic transducer element emits an ultrasonic pulse;
a second waveform generator coupled to the second pulser to provide a second waveform to the second pulser in response to receipt, by the second transmit control circuit, of the transmit enable signal generated by the timing and control circuit; and
at least one second component that impacts a length of a second delay between when the second transmit control circuit receives the transmit enable signal and when the second waveform is applied to the second pulser;
wherein the at least one first component is configured differently than the at least one second component, so that the length of the second delay is different than the length of the first delay, and wherein the first and second ultrasonic transducer elements, the first transmit control circuit, and the second transmit control circuit are formed on a single solid state semiconductor die.
2. The ultrasound device of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one first component comprises a first shift register that delays the transmit enable signal by a first number of clock cycles before providing the transmit enable signal to the first waveform generator;
the at least one second component comprises a second shift register that delays the transmit enable signal by a second number of clock cycles, which is different than the first number of clock cycles, before providing the transmit enable signal to the second waveform generator.
3. The ultrasound device of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one first component comprises a first register containing a first value that determines a starting frequency of the first waveform generator; and
the at least one second component comprises a second register containing a second value, which is different than the first value, that determines a starting frequency of the second waveform generator.
4. The ultrasound device of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one first component comprises a first register containing a first value that determines a starting phase of the first waveform generator; and
the at least one second component comprises a second register containing a second value, which is different than the first value, that determines a starting phase of the second waveform generator.
5. The ultrasound device of claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one first component comprises a first delay element that delays the first waveform output by the first waveform generator by a first amount of time before it reaches the first pulser; and
the at least one second component comprises a second delay element that delays the second waveform output by the second waveform generator by a second amount of time, which is different than the first amount of time, before it reaches the second pulser.