Open Platform for Accelerating Smart Ultrasound Transducer Probe Development

In this paper, we discussed the available architectures used for smart ultrasound transducer probes and implemented the most popular architecture, which is very practical for most researchers or engineers. Field II simulation, hardware and software integration, and imaging acquisition were carried out. The open platform consists of 64 low-noise receiver channels, 128 transmitter channels, FPGA, USB controller and power management circuits to handle signals from uVpp to 160 similar to 200 Vpp. This open platform is powered and accessed via high-speed USB Type-C (TM) port available on most PADs or PCs. RF data data can be available for transducer characterization, power consumption optimization and algorithm development. The open platform is capable of achieving real-time triplex B-mode/color/PW Doppler mode imaging. The hardware resource files can be requested by contacting the authors.