IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems · 2016 · 44 citations · 16 references
MedicineBioengineeringBiomedical EngineeringMicroelectromechanical SystemsUltrasonographyUltrasoundDiagnostic UltrasonographyTransducer TechnologyUltrasonicsUltrasound ImagingUltrasound InstrumentationUltrasound PhysicsCharge PumpsPortable Ultrasound SystemsPulse-echo ImagingPulse-echo InstrumentationUltrasonic ImagingUltrasonic Transducer ArraysUltrasonic TransducersUltrasound Imaging Transducers
We present a miniaturized portable ultrasonic imager that uses a custom ASIC and a piezoelectric transducer array to transmit and capture 2-D sonographs. The ASIC, fabricated in 0.18 μm 32 V CMOS process, contains 7 identical channels, each with high-voltage level-shifters, high-voltage DC-DC converters, digital TX beamformer, and RX front-end. The chip is powered by a single 1.8 V supply and generates 5 V and 32 V internally using on-chip charge pumps with an efficiency of 33% to provide 32 V pulses for driving a bulk piezoelectric transducer array. The assembled prototype can operate up to 40 MHz, with beamformer delay resolution of 5 ns, and has a measured sensitivity of 225 nV/Pa , minimum detectable signal of 622 Pa assuming 12 dB SNR ( 4σ larger than the noise level), and data acquisition time of 21.3 ms. The system can image human tissue as deep as 5 cm while consuming less than 16.5 μJ per pulse-echo measurement. The high energy efficiency of the imager can enable a number of consumer applications.
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3D Ultrasonic Rangefinder on a Chip
Richard J. Przybyla, Hao-Yen Tang, Andre F. S. Guedes et al. · IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits · 2014 · 146 citations
Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering +17