Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods to provide transmission signal shaping for transmission signal-based sensor systems, such as radar and/or sonar sensor systems. A low noise signal shaping transmitter includes a digital to analog converter configured to convert a digital shaping control signal to an analog shaping control signal, a signal shaping circuit configured to convert the analog shaping control signal into a shaped voltage, and a power amplifier configured to provide a shaped transmission signal based on the shaped voltage and a digital transmission control signal. Each element of the transmitter may be formed from relatively slow switching analog and/or digital circuitry components. Resulting shaped transmission signals may be used to excite radar antennas, sonar transducers, sound cells, and/or other elements of sensor systems.

This application relates to methods and apparatus for driving a transducer with switching drivers. A driver circuit has first and second switching drivers for driving the transducer in a bridge-tied-load configuration, each of the switching drivers having a respective output stage for controllably switching the respective driver output node between high and low switching voltages with a controlled duty cycle. Each of switching drivers is operable in a plurality of different driver modes, wherein the switching voltages are different in said different driver modes. A controller controls the driver mode of operation and the duty cycle of the switching drivers based on the input signal. The controller is configured to control the duty cycles of the first and second switching drivers within defined minimum and maximum limits of duty cycles; and to transition between driver modes of operation when the duty cycle of one of the switching drivers reaches a duty cycle limit.

A control system for an ultrasonic surgical device has a console operatively connected to a power source and configured for detachable connection to the ultrasonic surgical device. A control circuit of the console is configured to regulate an operating signal to correspond to the operating characteristics of the ultrasonic surgical handpiece in response to a loading signal. An operator input of the console operatively connects to the control circuit to provide a control signal.

A method of controlling an electronic device includes determining whether a vibrator of a cartridge unit is connected to a driving circuit of the electronic device, determining a natural frequency of the vibrator connected to the driving circuit, and controlling a connection method of connecting one or more capacitors each connected in parallel with the vibrator based on the determined natural frequency is disclosed.

Method and device to create energized polymers that can be used for pain relief, comprised of an ultrasound system that ultrasonically energize polymers that can then be used to provide an analgesic effect. Ultrasound waves are delivered to a polymer through direct contact, through a coupling medium, or without contact in order to energize the polymer. Other energies such as such as UV, microwave, laser, electricity, RF, sun, light, magnetic/electromagnetic, et can also be used to energize the polymer. The energized polymer can be immediately placed on a user to provide an analgesic effect, or the energized polymer can be placed storage material and removed at a later time to be placed on a user to provide an analgesic effect.

A row-column ultrasound transducer array is controlled to perform excitation in the azimuth dimension with two sets of excitation signals in quadrature. The two sets of excitation signals are delivered such that adjacent transducer elements are simultaneously provided excitation signals in quadrature, or such that transmit events occur temporally in series for synthetic imaging, with each transmit event being generated using a respective set of excitation signals. Separate bias apertures are applied in the bias (elevation) direction for each set of excitation signals, such that elements driven according to one set of excitation signals are biased, in the elevation direction, according to one bias aperture, and the elements driven with quadrature excitation signals are biased according to another bias aperture. The bias apertures are selected such that their combination results in the generation of a Fresnel aperture with fine and controllable phase resolution beyond that of a conventional row-column transducer.

This vibration actuator comprises a fixed body including a coil, a movable body including a magnet, and an elastic support part that supports the movable body so as to be freely moveable with respect to the fixed body, wherein the coil to which power is supplied and the magnet cooperate to cause the movable body to vibrate with respect to the fixed body. The elastic support part has an outer circumferential part bonded to the fixed body, an annular inner circumferential part disposed inside in the radial direction of the outer circumferential part and bonded to the movable body, and a deforming arm part that couples the outer circumferential part and the inner circumferential part and is elastically deformable. The elastic support part has a sealing part provided in a bonding part between the inner circumferential part and the movable body to seal the bonding part.

A system for an acoustically driven ferromagnetic resonance (ADFMR) based sensor. The system may include a power source, that provides an electrical signal to power the system, at least one circuit comprising a set of ADFMR circuits, sensitive to external electromagnetic fields, a power splitter, a power combiner and a detector circuit. The system functions to detect and measure external electromagnetic (EM) fields by measuring a perturbation of the electrical signal through the ADFMR circuits due to the EM fields.

An ultrasound transducer assembly includes a housing; a wedge-shaped acoustic modal convertor (AMC) in the housing with a first surface exposed by an opening in the housing, and a second surface that meets the first surface at a tip located in the housing, and extends from the tip at an angle into the housing, wherein the second surface has a recessed portion formed therein, wherein the second surface of the AMC is oriented at a specific oblique angle to the first surface of the AMC; and a piezoelectric ultrasound transducer disposed in the recessed portion of the second surface of the AMC, wherein the piezoelectric ultrasound transducer is connected to an electrically tuned circuit that resonates at a specific frequency and has a finite bandwidth.

A method and circuit for driving and supplying power to ultrasonic transducers with synchronous switched capacity, controlled by digital loop. This circuit includes a power interface controlled by a multi-level square or rectangular signal generator. This device includes a tuning circuit which is controlled by a tuning control circuit to have, with the transducer, a determined natural frequency. Typically, this tuning includes at the input an inductor in series, and at the output a controlled connection capacitor mounted in parallel with the transducer. This connection is controlled according to a detected phase difference detected between the input and the output of the inductor. It is advantageously controlled to provide a phase difference equal to /2. Also, an ultrasonic element, an ultrasonic head, and an ultrasonic imaging and/or processing system, especially medical.