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:
a solid state semiconductor substrate supporting:
a plurality of ultrasound elements including a first ultrasound element having at least one first capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) and a second ultrasound element having at least one second CMUT;
a first programmable waveform generator coupled to the first ultrasound element and configured to provide a first ultrasound waveform to the first CMUT, the first programmable waveform generator having one or more configurable operating parameters;
a second programmable waveform generator coupled to the second ultrasound element and configured to provide a second ultrasound waveform to the second CMUT, the second programmable waveform generator having one or more configurable operating parameters;
a controller configured to control values of a first configurable operating parameter of the first programmable waveform generator and a second configurable operating parameter of the second programmable waveform generator;
a first analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the first ultrasound element and configured to convert an analog signal provided by the first ultrasound element into a digital signal;
a second ADC coupled to the second ultrasound element and configured to convert an analog signal provided by the second ultrasound element into a digital signal; and
a digital communication module configured to communicate a digital stream of data that includes the digital signals from the first and second ADCs from the ultrasound device to an external device.
2 . The ultrasound device of claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound device further comprises a hand-held housing in which the solid state semiconductor substrate is disposed.
3 . The ultrasound device of claim 2 , wherein the solid state semiconductor substrate is a first chip, and wherein the ultrasound device further comprises a second chip disposed within the housing, comprising digital processing circuitry, and electrically coupled to the digital communication module.
4 . The ultrasound device of claim 1 , wherein the first configurable operating parameter is a phase.
5 . The ultrasound device of claim 1 , wherein the first configurable operating parameter is a frequency.
6 . 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 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; 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 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; 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, an
wherein the first transmit control circuit and the second transmit control circuit are located on a solid state semiconductor die.
7 . The ultrasound device of claim 6 , wherein the solid state semiconductor die is a silicon die.
8 . The ultrasound device of claim 6 , the first ultrasonic transducer element comprises a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT).
9 . The ultrasound device of claim 6 , wherein the first pulser is a tri-level pulser.
10 . The ultrasound device of claim 6 , wherein the first pulser comprises a plurality of registers configured to store independently programmable values defining the first waveform.
11 . The ultrasound device of claim 6 , wherein the first pulser is configured to control the first ultrasonic transducer element to apply a pulse as part of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).