Analog Ultrasound Beamformer Power Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional ultrasound systems have high power requirements due to the need for multiple high-speed analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) running in the digital domain, making them power-intensive and difficult to integrate into ultrasound probes.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of sampled analog technology (SAT) for ultrasound beamforming, which reduces power usage by performing delay-and-sum beamforming in the analog domain using a sampled analog filter with fractional and integer delays, and reduces the number of ADCs, allowing the system to fit within the probe.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional digital beamforming with multiple high-speed ADCs is used, then beamforming accuracy is improved, but power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the digital beamforming system with multiple high-speed ADCs with an analog beamforming system using a single ADC. The core innovation is performing delay-and-sum beamforming operations in the analog domain using continuous-time filters and delay elements, thereby substituting the mechanical/digital conversion infrastructure with an analog signal processing approach that consumes significantly less power while maintaining beamforming accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the beamforming functionality from the digital domain and implements it in the analog domain. By taking out the delay-and-sum operations from the digital processing chain and implementing them using analog components (continuous-time filters, delay lines, and summation circuits), the system eliminates the need for multiple high-speed ADCs, thereby reducing power consumption while preserving beamforming precision.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple high-speed ADCs are used for digital beamforming, then signal processing capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple ADC functions into a single ADC by performing all beamforming operations (delay, filtering, and summation) in the analog domain before the single ADC conversion. This consolidation reduces the number of ADC components from multiple high-speed converters to just one, thereby simplifying the device architecture while maintaining full signal processing capability through analog continuous-time processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The analog beamforming circuit performs multiple functions (delay, filtering, amplification, and summation) using a unified analog processing architecture. The continuous-time filter and delay line serve universal purposes for all input channels, eliminating the need for separate digital processing chains for each channel, thus reducing overall device complexity while preserving versatile signal processing capabilities.
3Adaptability or versatility
If digital beamforming is implemented, then processing flexibility is improved, but integration into ultrasound probe becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the digital beamforming system with an analog implementation that can be integrated directly into the ultrasound probe. By substituting digital processing components (multiple ADCs and digital signal processors) with analog continuous-time processing circuits, the system becomes compact enough for probe integration while maintaining processing flexibility through adjustable analog filter parameters and delay settings.
Data Source
AI summary
A sampled analog beamformer for ultrasound beamforming includes an array of transducers for transmitting analog signals and receiving reflected analog signals, and a sampled analog filter for filtering the received reflected analog. The sampled analog filter includes a delay line for adding a delay to each of the received reflected analog signals. Using a sampled analog filter in an ultrasound beamforming system reduces the power usage of the system and decreases the number of components in the system.