An Element-Matched Electromechanical ΔΣ ADC for Ultrasound Imaging

An Element-Matched Electromechanical ΔΣ ADC for Ultrasound Imaging

D'Urbino, Michele (SiTime)
Chen, C. (Butterfly Network Inc.)
Chen, Z. (TU Delft Electronic Instrumentation)
Chang, Z.Y. (TU Delft Electronic Instrumentation)
Ponte, Jacco (Oldelft Ultrasound)
Lippe, Boris (Oldelft Ultrasound)
Pertijs, M.A.P. (TU Delft Electronic Instrumentation)

2018

This paper presents a power- and area-efficient approach to digitizing the echo signals received by piezoelectric transducer elements, commonly used for ultrasound imaging. This technique utilizes such elements not only as sensors but also as the loop filter of an element-level δσ analog to digital converter (ADC). The receiver chain is thus greatly simplified, yielding savings in area and power. Every ADC becomes small enough to fit underneath a 150 μm × 150 μm transducer element, enabling simultaneous acquisition and digitization from all the elements in a 2-D array. This is especially valuable for miniature 3-D probes. Experimental results are reported for a prototype receiver chip with an array of 5×4 element-matched ADCs and a transducer array fabricated on top of the chip. Each ADC consumes 800 μW from a 1.8 V supply and achieves a SNR of 47 dB in a 75% bandwidth around a center frequency of 5 MHz.

bandpass ADC
electromechanical filter
piezoelectric transducer
ultrasound imaging
ΔΣ ADC

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:9cd71f0b-94a1-4ef9-ad62-4f3a2589f9e0

https://doi.org/10.1109/JSSC.2018.2859961

0018-9200

IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, 53 (10), 2795-2805

Accepted Author Manuscript

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2018 Michele D'Urbino, C. Chen, Z. Chen, Z.Y. Chang, Jacco Ponte, Boris Lippe, M.A.P. Pertijs