Methods, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for ultrasound imaging comprising Time Delay Spectrometry. A frequency swept signal can be transmitted through a medium, such as human tissue. The signal can be a low-voltage signal (e.g., 0 volts to 5 volts peak-to-peak) transmitted for long duration (e.g., 20 milliseconds) at various frequencies. As the signal propagates through the medium it can be reflected and delayed. A delay associated with the signal the can cause a change in the associated frequencies. The signal can be filtered to retain only frequencies in an audio frequency range. The signal can be beamformed and processed to produce an image.

An ultrasound imaging device includes a substrate, an ultrasound transducer array mounted on the substrate, a pressure sensor mounted on the substrate, and an integrated circuit mounted on the substrate and operatively connected to the ultrasound transducer array and to the pressure sensor. The integrated circuit includes a memory that is programmable to store a transmit-receive sequence and operational codes to optimize a sub-aperture of the ultrasound transducer array to support an ultrasound scanning modality that is selected for the ultrasound imaging device.

Power supplies for electronic devices (e.g. medical imaging devices) are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a switched mode power supply is minimized in size and weight while maintaining efficiency and an artifact-free image using power supply design techniques tailored to increasing the power conversion frequency to be above the desired receive band of an ultrasound imaging system. In another embodiment, a switched mode power supply is minimized in size and weight while maintaining efficiency and an artifact-free image using power supply design techniques tailored to increasing the power conversion frequency to be just below the desired receive band of an ultrasound imaging system causing the third harmonic and possibly the second harmonic to fall just above the desired receive band.

Aspects of the technology described herein relate to prolonging battery life in an electronic device, such as ultrasound devices. A system may include an ultrasound device and a package. The ultrasound device may include magnetic sensing circuitry. The package may include a lid, and the lid may include a magnet. The magnetic sensing circuitry may control power received by communication circuitry in the ultrasound device based on detecting a magnet that is external to the ultrasound device. For example, the magnetic sensing circuitry may disable power rails in the power circuitry that provide power to communication circuitry when the magnetic sensing circuitry detects the magnet. When the magnetic sensing circuitry cannot detect the magnet, the power circuitry may enter a default state in which power rails provide power to the communication circuitry. The ultrasound device may include an indicator that enters a turn-on sequence when the lid is removed from the package.

Portable ultrasound systems and associated devices and methods for managing power in such systems are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method for conserving power in a portable ultrasound system includes disabling one or more first amplifiers and/or at least one or more first analog to digital converters (ADCs) upon initiation of a first pulse repetition interval (PRI). The method further includes, upon initiation of a second PRI, enabling the one or more first amplifiers and/or the one or more of the first ADCs and disabling one or more second amplifiers of and/or one or more second ADCs.

An ultrasound system, probe and method are provided. The ultrasound system includes a transducer with piezoelectric transducer elements polarized in a poling direction. A bipolar transmit circuit is configured to generate a transmit signal having first and second polarity segments. The first and second polarity segments have corresponding first and second peak amplitudes. A bias generator is configured to generate a bias signal in a direction of the poling direction. The bias signal is combined with the transmit signal to form a biased transmit signal that is shifted in the direction of the poling direction and still includes both of positive and negative voltages over a transmit cycle.

In an embodiment, an medical device is disclosed. The medical (imaging) device comprises a housing configured for handheld use, a transducer array, a display coupled to the housing, a plurality of sensors distributed about a periphery of the housing and configured to detect when a hand of an operator is positioned around the housing, and a computing device disposed within the housing, wherein the computing device is in communication with the transducer array, the display, and the sensors. The computing device is operable to: monitor the sensors, determine whether a reading from a first sensor at a first edge of the periphery of the housing exceeds a threshold, set the first edge as a primary edge based at least in part on the reading from the first sensor, and orient the display such that the primary edge is at the bottom of the display.

An GHz ultrasonic transducer pixel, alone or incorporated into imaging system with a CMOS device. The ultrasonic transducer pixel includes an ultrasonic transducer connected to a transmit circuit and a receive circuit. The transmit and receive circuits are chosen by switches. The ultrasonic transducer pixel also includes a mixer of the receive circuit positioned as a first stage in the receive circuit, a pixel select circuit comprising analog components and digital components, and a power supply conditioning circuitry.

Circuitry for ultrasound devices is described. A multi-level pulser is described, which can support time-domain and spatial apodization. The multi-level pulser may be controlled through a software-defined waveform generator. In response to the execution of a computer code, the waveform generator may access master segments from a memory, and generate a stream of packets directed to pulsing circuits. The stream of packets may be serialized. A plurality of decoding circuits may modulate the streams of packets to obtain spatial apodization.

Power supplies for electronic devices (e.g. medical imaging devices) are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a switched mode power supply is minimized in size and weight while maintaining efficiency and an artifact-free image using power supply design techniques tailored to increasing the power conversion frequency to be above the desired receive band of an ultrasound imaging system. In another embodiment, a switched mode power supply is minimized in size and weight while maintaining efficiency and an artifact-free image using power supply design techniques tailored to increasing the power conversion frequency to be just below the desired receive band of an ultrasound imaging system causing the third harmonic and possibly the second harmonic to fall just above the desired receive band.