An apparatus may include an array of piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) and a control system configured to communicate with the array of PMUTs. The control system may be configured to determine a target location within a human body and to control the array of PMUTs to focus ultrasonic waves at the target location.

In one example in accordance with the present disclosure, an imaging device is described. The imaging device includes an array of transducers. Each transducer includes an array of piezoelectric elements. Each piezoelectric element transmits pressure waves towards an object to be imaged and receives reflections of the pressure waves off the object to be imaged. The imaging device also includes a transmit channel per one or more piezoelectric elements to generate the pressure waves and a receive channel per one or more piezoelectric elements to process the reflections of the pressure waves. The number of channels are selectively altered to control parameters such as power consumption and temperature.

The invention is a method for generating ultrasound image, comprising the steps of: determining a plurality of recording locations (L.sub.1, L.sub.2, L.sub.3, L.sub.k, L.sub.n?1, L.sub.n) separated from each other by a recording spacing (?y), recording a first data package (F.sub.1) placing the ultrasound transducer on a first recording location (L.sub.1) being on the investigation surface and assigning the first data package (F.sub.1) to a first image column (I.sub.1) of the ultrasound image corresponding to the first recording location (L.sub.1), repeating the following steps until loading at least one forthcoming image column: recording a subsequent data package (F.sub.2, F.sub.i, F.sub.a, F.sub.a+1, F.sub.b, F.sub.b+1) by moving the ultrasound transducer essentially along an image recording line being in an image recording direction, towards a forthcoming recording location, and evaluating a data package acceptance criterion based on comparing one or more actual image correlation value and corresponding correlation function value, investigating fulfillment of the acceptance criterion; and if the acceptance criterion is fulfilled, assigning, for the forthcoming recording location, the subsequent data package to a forthcoming image column (l.sub.2, l.sub.3, l.sub.k, l.sub.n?1, I.sub.n) of the ultrasound image loading the forthcoming image column (l.sub.2, l.sub.3, I.sub.k, l.sub.n?1, I.sub.n).

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus including an ultrasound probe which outputs transmission ultrasound corresponding to a drive signal, which receives reflected ultrasound from the subject and which outputs a received signal according to the reflected ultrasound; a drive signal outputter which outputs the drive signal to the ultrasound probe; a hardware processor which controls the drive signal outputter to output a first drive signal having a first drive waveform and a second drive signal having a second drive waveform that is different from the first drive waveform; a received signal generator which generates a first received signal based on the reflected ultrasound corresponding to the transmission ultrasound that is output based on the first drive signal and a second received signal based on the reflected ultrasound corresponding to the transmission ultrasound that is output based on the second drive signal; and an extractor which extracts by arithmetic of the first received signal and the second received signal a received signal component which to be used in imaging. Frequency spectrums of the first drive signal and the second drive signal have a first intensity peak on a low frequency side of a center frequency of the transmission frequency, a second intensity peak on a high frequency side of the center frequency and a third intensity peak at a frequency between a frequency corresponding to the first intensity peak and a frequency corresponding to the second intensity peak, in a frequency band included in a transmission frequency band at 20 dB of the ultrasound probe.

An internal probe device for insertion into the body of a patient, comprises an elongate body with a plurality of EAP actuators mounted at the surface of the body. The EAP actuators are made to vibrate so that their position becomes visible in a Doppler ultrasound image. The use of EAP actuators to provide vibrations enables individual locations to be identified. In particular, the movement of the EAP actuator may be largely isolated from the main body of the probe. Furthermore, EAP actuators can be thin, lightweight and have a small form factor suitable for application to or within the surface of a probe, such as a catheter, needle or endoscope.

A measurement device includes: a processing device and multiple sensors that capture tomographic information of a physiological structure. The sensors include a first sensor including a first transducer having a first frequency response with a first resonant frequency, and a second sensor including a second transducer having a second frequency response with a second resonant frequency different from the first resonant frequency. The first frequency response partially overlaps with the second frequency response. The second transducer transmits a signal that is reflected by the physiological structure to create a reflected signal, the first transducer generates a first received signal from the reflected signal, the second transducer generates a second received signal from the reflected signal, and the processing device normalizes the first received signal with the second received signal or the second received signal with the first received signal.

An ultrasound measurement device includes: a processing device and multiple ultrasound sensors that capture tomographic information of a physiological structure. The ultrasound sensors include a first ultrasound sensor including a first transducer having a first frequency response with a first resonant frequency, and a second ultrasound sensor including a second transducer having a second frequency response with a second resonant frequency different from the first resonant frequency. The first frequency response partially overlaps with the second frequency response. The second transducer transmits an ultrasound signal that is reflected by the physiological structure to create a reflected ultrasound signal, the first transducer generates a first received signal from the reflected ultrasound signal, the second transducer generates a second received signal from the reflected ultrasound signal, and the processing device normalizes the first received signal with the second received signal or the second received signal with the first received signal.

An array of CMUT cells has a DC bias voltage coupled to the top electrodes of the cells to bias the electrode to a desired collapsed or partially collapsed state. In the event of a short-circuit failure of a CMUT cell a protection circuit for the cell senses an over-current condition and responds by opening the DC current path through the failed cell. The protection circuit further disables the transmit and receive circuitry of the cell. In another implementation a sense circuit senses an over-current condition of the

DC bias supply and responds by disabling all of the CMUT cells of the array, then sequentially re-enabling them, except that an attempt to re-enable a failed cell results in that cell remaining in a disabled state.

An underwater environmental monitoring system using an amphibious drone is disclosed. In one aspect, the amphibious drone is configured to generate a measurement data by detecting an underwater environment while moving back and forth between air and water. The underwater environmental monitoring system includes a base station located on the ground and configured to receive the measurement data through radio communication with the amphibious drone.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasound probe, a transmitter, a receiver, a signal intensity adjuster and an image data generator. The ultrasound probe transmits transmission ultrasound to an examination object, receives echo from the examination object and generates an echo signal. The transmitter generates a drive signal and outputs the drive signal to the ultrasound probe to cause the ultrasound probe to generate the transmission ultrasound. The receiver receives the echo signal from the ultrasound probe. The signal intensity adjuster adjusts signal intensity of the echo signal to signal intensity having a flat frequency range. The image data generator generates ultrasound image data from the echo signal having the adjusted signal intensity.