Method and device for the testing of ultrasound probes
There is provided a device for testing ultrasound probes comprising a plurality of transducing elements, said device comprising a plurality of ultrasound transmitter/receiver circuits, a computing device and a control device arranged to control the transmitter/receiver circuits and the computing device arranged to select an interrogation protocol from a plurality of different interrogation protocols, where each interrogation protocol comprises instructions for the order in which the plurality of transmitter/receiver circuits shall send voltage pulses to the transducers of the ultrasound probe.
1. A method of testing an ultrasound probe having a plurality of transducer element/lead pairs, the method comprising:
selecting an interrogation protocol from a plurality of interrogation protocols, each of the plurality of interrogation protocols specifying an order in which voltage pulses are sent from transmitters of a plurality of transmitter/receiver circuits to the plurality of transducer element/lead pairs;
sending voltage pulses according to the selected interrogation protocol; and
registering voltage pulses received by receivers of the plurality of transmitter/receiver circuits according to the selected interrogation protocol,
the selected interrogation protocol detecting crosstalk between any two transducer element/lead pairs of the plurality of transducer element/lead pairs by:
i. selecting an individual transducer element/lead pair of the plurality of transducer element/lead pairs,
ii. sending a voltage pulse to the individual transducer element/lead pair,
iii. registering voltage pulses received by each of the receivers of the plurality of transmitter/receiver circuits,
iv. repeating i)-iii) until a voltage pulse is sent to each individual transducer element/lead pair, and
v. producing a report of detected crosstalk based on results from i) to iv).
2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
determining at least one of the following parameters for each of the plurality of transducer element/lead pairs:
capacitance,
frequency,
bandwidth,
pulse width, and
relative sensitivity.
3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying information on a display to a user about an adapter that is to be connected to a tested ultrasound probe, the displayed information being stored in the selected interrogation protocol.
4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of interrogation protocols corresponds to a different type of ultrasound probe.