Abstract
This article presents a high-voltage (HV) pulse driver based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology for biomedical ultrasound actuators and multi-channel portable imaging systems specifically. The pulse driver, which receives an external low-voltage drive signal and produces high-voltage pulses with a balanced rising and falling edge, is designed by synthesizing high-speed, capacitor-coupled level-shifters with a high-voltage H-bridge output stage. In addition, an on-chip floating power supply has also been developed to simplify powering the entire system and reduce static power consumption. The electrical and acoustic performance of the integrated eight-channel pulse driver has been verified by using medical-grade ultrasound probes to acquire the transmit/echo signals. The driver can produce pulse signals >100 Vpp with rise and fall times within 18.6 and 18.5 ns, respectively. The static power required to support the overall system is less than 3.6 mW, and the power consumption of the system during excitation is less than 50 mW per channel. The second harmonic distortion of the output pulse signal is as low as −40 dBc, indicating that the integrated multi-channel pulse driver can be used in advanced portable ultrasonic imaging systems.
Highlights
Biomedical ultrasound imaging, which is relatively fast, inexpensive, portable and radiation-free compared to computed tomography (CT), X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has become one of the most popular modalities for clinical examinations [1]
Since the linearity and bandwidth requirements of transmitters used in tissue harmonic imaging are different from those in traditional B-mode ultrasonic applications, a bipolar pulse sequence generated by a high-voltage (HV) bipolar pulse driver with low static content and less harmonic distortions is more suitable for driving ultrasound actuators and/or transducers in such applications than a unipolar pulse generator [6,7,8]
The high-voltage pulse driver was fabricated in a 0.5 μm CMOS-SOI technology, which allows mixing different structures such as CMOS for digital circuits and high-voltage MOS structures for power and high-voltage applications on the same wafer with buried isolation layer [26]
Summary
Biomedical ultrasound imaging, which is relatively fast, inexpensive, portable and radiation-free compared to computed tomography (CT), X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has become one of the most popular modalities for clinical examinations [1]. Since the linearity and bandwidth requirements of transmitters used in tissue harmonic imaging are different from those in traditional B-mode ultrasonic applications, a bipolar pulse sequence generated by a high-voltage (HV) bipolar pulse driver with low static content and less harmonic distortions is more suitable for driving ultrasound actuators and/or transducers in such applications than a unipolar pulse generator [6,7,8]. In order to improve the characteristics of transmitted pulse signals for tissue harmonic imaging, additional considerations are required for the ultrasound pulse driver design. We will present the transmit signal characteristics, the low-power high-speed circuit design principles and the procedures of synthesis of the single-chip ultrasound transmitter system.
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