Delta delay approach for ultrasound beamforming on an ASIC

US9439625B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• General Electric Company · US

Inventors

• Scott D. Cogan · Clifton Park, US
• Lukas Bauer · Fürstenfeldbruck, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 28, 2013
• Grant date: Sep 13, 2016
• Expiry date: Jan 21, 2034

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G10K11/346
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Systems are disclosed for ultrasound beamforming on an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). In certain embodiments, the system includes an ultrasound probe that includes a plurality of transducer elements electrically coupled to an ASIC. The ASIC includes a plurality of waveform generators electrically coupled to a plurality of delay units. Each delay unit receives a waveform from a waveform generator or an adjacent delay unit, applies a delay to the waveform, and outputs the waveform to adjacent delay units, one or more of the plurality of transducer elements, or both. The delays that are provided to waveforms before being output to a transducer element determine the beamforming characteristics of the ultrasonic pulses generated by the ultrasound probe.