Apparatus for two-dimensional transducer used in three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging
US7719166B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 18, 2008 |
| Grant date | May 18, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 18, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01S15/8993
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A single chip transducer apparatus that includes on-chip electronic circuitry which, when connected properly to a two-dimensional matrix of ultrasonic transducer elements, provides enough information to an external imaging system to form three-dimensional images of the subject of interest. In a preferred embodiment, the circuitry provides an amplifier for each transducer element, and then conditions the output of the amplifier in several ways. In one embodiment of the invention, the elements' analog voltages are stored in a sample and hold circuit, and time multiplexed into a high speed line driver that sends many elements data down the interconnect to the system's high speed Analog to Digital converters. In another embodiment, the gain of the amplifiers can be controlled in time to provide aperture translation and time based expansion for translating and focusing image slices in the elevation direction.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.