Monolithic ultrasonic imaging devices, systems and methods

Abstract

To implement a single-chip ultrasonic imaging solution, on-chip signal processing may be employed in the receive signal path to reduce data bandwidth and a high-speed serial data module may be used to move data for all received channels off-chip as digital data stream. The digitization of received signals on-chip allows advanced digital signal processing to be performed on-chip, and thus permits the full integration of an entire ultrasonic imaging system on a single semiconductor substrate. Various novel waveform generation techniques, transducer configuration and biasing methodologies, etc., are likewise disclosed. HIFU methods may additionally or alternatively be employed as a component of the “ultrasound-on-a-chip” solution disclosed herein.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A device, comprising:
 at least first and second waveform generators configured to generate waveforms for transmission by at least first and second corresponding ultrasonic transducer elements, the first waveform generator comprising at least one first configurable operational parameter and the second waveform generator comprising at least one second configurable operational parameter; and   a controller configured to control values of the first and second configurable operational parameters.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the controller is configured to output a sequence of transmit event numbers;   the first waveform generator has associated therewith a first event memory that stores values for the first configurable operational parameter associated with respective transmit event numbers, and is configured to receive transmitted event numbers from the controller and to output corresponding stored values for the first configurable operational parameter to the first waveform generator for use thereby; and   the second waveform generator has associated therewith a second event memory that stores values for the second configurable operational parameter associated with respective transmit event numbers, and is configured to receive transmitted event numbers from the controller and to output corresponding stored values for the second configurable operational parameter to the second waveform generator for use thereby.   
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein for at least one event number output by the controller, the first event and second event memories store different associated values for the first and second configurable operational parameters. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to communicate a transmit enable signal to each of the first and second waveform generators. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the first configurable operational parameter can be set to a different value than the second configurable operational parameter. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second waveform generators and the controller are formed on a single solid state semiconductor die.