U.S. patent application number 15/647222 was filed with the patent office on 2017-10-26 for interconnectable ultrasound transducer probes and related methods and apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to Butterfly Network, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Butterfly Network, Inc.. Invention is credited to Gregory L. Charvat, Gregory Corteville, Keith G. Fife, Tyler S. Ralston, Jonathan M. Rothberg, Nevada J. Sanchez.
Application Number | 20170303897 15/647222 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51266453 |
Filed Date | 2017-10-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170303897 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rothberg; Jonathan M. ; et
al. |
October 26, 2017 |
INTERCONNECTABLE ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER PROBES AND RELATED METHODS
AND APPARATUS
Abstract
Ultrasound devices and methods are described, including a
repeatable ultrasound transducer probe having ultrasonic
transducers and corresponding circuitry. The repeatable ultrasound
transducer probe may be used individually or coupled with other
instances of the repeatable ultrasound transducer probe to create a
desired ultrasound device. The ultrasound devices may optionally be
connected to various types of external devices to provide
additional processing and image rendering functionality.
Inventors: |
Rothberg; Jonathan M.;
(Guilford, CT) ; Fife; Keith G.; (Palo Alto,
CA) ; Sanchez; Nevada J.; (Guilford, CT) ;
Ralston; Tyler S.; (Clinton, CT) ; Charvat; Gregory
L.; (Guilford, CT) ; Corteville; Gregory;
(Madison, CT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Butterfly Network, Inc. |
Guilford |
CT |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Butterfly Network, Inc.
Guilford
CT
|
Family ID: |
51266453 |
Appl. No.: |
15/647222 |
Filed: |
July 11, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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15606131 |
May 26, 2017 |
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15647222 |
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15421854 |
Feb 1, 2017 |
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15606131 |
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14337813 |
Jul 22, 2014 |
9592030 |
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15421854 |
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61857682 |
Jul 23, 2013 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61B 8/5207 20130101;
G01S 7/5208 20130101; A61B 8/4477 20130101; A61B 8/14 20130101;
A61B 8/483 20130101; A61B 8/4411 20130101; A61B 8/56 20130101; G03B
27/423 20130101; A61B 8/4483 20130101; A61B 8/4444 20130101; A61N
7/02 20130101; G03B 27/52 20130101; A61B 8/4488 20130101; A61B
8/4494 20130101; A61B 8/13 20130101; B06B 1/0292 20130101; A61B
8/54 20130101; G01S 7/52084 20130101; A61N 2007/0078 20130101; Y10T
29/49005 20150115; G01S 15/8915 20130101; G01S 7/003 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A61B 8/00 20060101
A61B008/00; A61B 8/08 20060101 A61B008/08; A61B 8/13 20060101
A61B008/13; A61B 8/00 20060101 A61B008/00; A61B 8/00 20060101
A61B008/00; A61B 8/08 20060101 A61B008/08 |
Claims
1. A portable ultrasound imaging probe, comprising: a plurality of
ultrasonic transducers on a substrate; control circuitry coupled to
the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and configured to control
operation of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, wherein the
control circuitry comprises biasing circuitry configured to adjust
gap distances of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers to alter
frequency behavior of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers; and
a housing substantially enclosing the biasing circuitry and the
plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
2. The portable ultrasound imaging probe of claim 1, wherein the
biasing circuitry is configured to operate the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers in collapse mode.
3. The portable ultrasound imaging probe of claim 1, wherein a
first ultrasonic transducer of the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers comprises a membrane and a membrane stop configured to
limit movement of the membrane.
4. The portable ultrasound imaging probe of claim 1, wherein the
control circuitry further comprises a waveform generator coupled to
at least one ultrasonic transducer of the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers, the waveform generator being configurable to generate
a plurality of different waveforms, each of said plurality of
different waveforms comprising a different frequency from other
waveforms of the plurality of different waveforms.
5. The portable ultrasound imaging probe of claim 1, wherein the
housing comprises a dimension less than 80 mm.
6. An apparatus, comprising: an ultrasound-on-a-chip imaging device
comprising a plurality of different interface types supporting a
plurality of data transfer rates.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein at least two different
interface types of the plurality of interface types are configured
to interface with different types of external devices.
8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the ultrasound-on-a-chip
imaging device includes an arrangement of micromachined ultrasonic
transducers and control circuitry coupled to the arrangement of
micromachined ultrasonic transducers.
9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the plurality of different
interface types includes a first interface type and a second
interface type, and wherein the first interface type is configured
to support data transfer rates spanning a first range and the
second interface type is configured to support data transfer rates
spanning a second range at least partially overlapping with the
first range.
10. An apparatus, comprising: a substrate; a plurality of
ultrasonic transducers on the substrate; and control circuitry,
coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and configured
to control operation of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers,
wherein the control circuitry comprises a waveform generator
coupled to at least one ultrasonic transducer of the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers, the waveform generator being configurable
to generate different waveforms.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the waveform generator is
configurable to generate one or more of an impulse, a continuous
wave, a coded excitation, or a chirp waveform.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the chirp waveform is a
linear frequency modulation (LFM) chirp.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control circuitry
comprises a plurality of waveform generators, each waveform
generator of the plurality of waveform generators being coupled to
a respective ultrasonic transducer of the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers.
14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the waveform generator is
coupled to at least two ultrasonic transducers of the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers.
15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the control circuitry
comprises a plurality of waveform generators, each waveform
generator of the plurality of waveform generators being coupled to
at least two ultrasonic transducers of the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers.
16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the waveform generator is
configured to generate a first kind of waveform for a first
ultrasonic transducer of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers
and a second kind of waveform for a second ultrasonic transducer of
the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, the first and second kinds
of waveforms being different.
17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control circuitry
comprises digitization circuitry configured to digitize an analog
signal received from at least one ultrasonic transducer of the
plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the digitization circuitry
is configured to digitize signals received from all ultrasonic
transducers of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the digitization circuitry
is selectively couplable to different combinations of the plurality
of ultrasonic transducers.
20. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control circuitry
comprises a plurality of low noise amplifiers (LNAs), at least two
of which are coupled to a respective ultrasonic transducer of the
plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
21. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control circuitry is
configured to control the plurality of ultrasonic transducers to
provide high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).
22. A device comprising: a plurality of semiconductor ultrasound
transducer elements; and semiconductor control circuitry coupled to
the plurality of semiconductor ultrasound transducer elements and
configured to control the semiconductor ultrasound transducer
elements to support two-dimensional and three-dimensional
ultrasound imaging.
23. The device of claim 22, further including at least one lower
speed output and at least one higher speed output.
24. The device of claim 22, wherein the device is configured to
support universal serial bus (USB) transmission.
25. The device of claim 22, wherein the semiconductor control
circuitry is configured to receive a voltage signal that is greater
than 20V.
26. The device of claim 25, wherein the semiconductor control
circuitry is configured to receive a voltage signal that is between
approximately 20V and approximately 100V.
27. An apparatus, comprising, a semiconductor substrate; a
plurality of ultrasonic transducers on the semiconductor substrate;
and a circuit on the semiconductor substrate and coupled to the
plurality of ultrasonic transducers, wherein the circuit is
configured to support a voltage signal that is greater than
approximately 20 V.
28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the circuit is configured to
include at least one node supporting a voltage that is between
approximately 20 V and approximately 120 V.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the at least one node is a
submicron node.
30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least one node is a
deep submicron node.
31. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the circuit comprises a
pulser circuit configured to produce a voltage signal between
approximately 5 V and approximately 20 V.
32. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the circuit comprises first
and second pulser circuits coupled to an ultrasonic transducer of
the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
33. A method, comprising: forming, on a single support, multiple
different interface types supporting different data transfer rates;
forming on the single support, micromachined ultrasonic transducers
coupled to the multiple different interface types, the
micromachined ultrasonic transducers configured to allow
two-dimensional and three-dimensional imaging; and forming control
circuitry coupling the multiple different interface types to the
micromachined ultrasonic transducers.
34. The method of claim 33, wherein the multiple different
interface types include a universal serial bus (USB) interface.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation claiming the benefit
under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/606,131,
filed on May 26, 2017 under Attorney docket No. B1348.70008US04,
and entitled "INTERCONNECTABLE ULTRASOUND TRANSDUCER PROBES AND
RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS," which is hereby incorporated herein
by reference in its entirety.
[0002] U.S. application Ser. No. 15/606,131 is a continuation
claiming the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120 of U.S. application
Ser. No. 15/421,854, filed on Feb. 1, 2017 under Attorney docket
No. B1348.70008US03, and entitled "INTERCONNECTABLE ULTRASOUND
TRANSDUCER PROBES AND RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS," which is
hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
[0003] U.S. application Ser. No. 15/421,854 is a continuation
claiming the benefit under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120 of U.S. application
Ser. No. 14/337,813, filed on Jul. 22, 2014 under Attorney Docket
No. B1348.70008US01, and entitled "INTERCONNECTABLE ULTRASOUND
TRANSDUCER PROBES AND RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS," which is
hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
[0004] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/337,813 claims priority
under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application
Ser. No. 61/857,682, filed on Jul. 23, 2013 under Attorney Docket
No. B1348.70008US00, and entitled "INTERCONNECTABLE ULTRASOUND
TRANSDUCER PROBES AND RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS," which is
hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
Field
[0005] The technology described herein relates to ultrasound
devices and related methods and apparatus.
Related Art
[0006] Ultrasound imaging probes exist. Conventionally, distinct
probes are required for imaging in two dimensions (2D) or three
dimensions (3D). Separate design and manufacture of such distinct
probes are required, which increases cost and limits versatility of
the probes.
[0007] Also, conventional ultrasound probes are designed for
connection to specialized control systems. The probes themselves
include transducers but typically lack any control circuitry for
controlling operation of the transducers or processing signals
received by the transducers. Rather, control of the transducers and
processing of signals received by the transducers is performed by
the specialized control systems. The specialized control systems
are available to only a select few. Such design further limits the
versatility and accessibility of the ultrasound probes.
SUMMARY
[0008] Aspects of the present application provide a highly
integrated, microfabricated ultrasound transducer probe which may
serve as a stand-alone ultrasound transducer probe and which is
configured to be interconnectable with other such transducer probes
to form ultrasound devices capable of two-dimensional (2D) and
three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging. In some embodiments, the
ultrasound transducer probe includes microfabricated ultrasonic
transducers integrated with integrated circuitry controlling
operation of the ultrasonic transducers and providing multiple
electronic interfaces for connecting the ultrasound transducer
probe to one or more external devices. In some embodiments, the
device is a complete ultrasound-on-a-chip containing all
transducers and electronics to perform collection and processing of
ultrasound signals. Final image processing may be performed on or
off the chip.
[0009] The external devices may perform some processing and/or
image generation with ultrasound data provided by the ultrasound
transducer probe. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic transducers
of the ultrasound transducer probe may be configured suitably to
enable 2D imaging and the transducer probe itself may include a
substrate with a suitable geometry to provide a 1D aperture or 1.5D
aperture in some embodiments. A 1.5D aperture, and thus a 1.5D
device (e.g., a 1.5D ultrasound transducer probe) is one in which
focusing is provided along one dimension of the aperture. The
integrated circuitry may be at least partially programmable to
allow for coordinated operation between multiple such
interconnected ultrasound transducer probes, for example when
providing higher dimensional imaging functionality than that
provided by a single instance of the ultrasound transducer
probe.
[0010] The ultrasound transducer probes may be operated as sensors
and/or sources of ultrasound energy. For example, the ultrasound
transducer probes may be operated as ultrasound imaging probes in
some embodiments, sensing ultrasound energy from a subject. The
ultrasound energy may be emitted by the same ultrasound transducer
probe detecting the ultrasound energy, or may be emitted by a
distinct source. In some embodiments, the ultrasound transducer
probe may be operated as a source, for example a source of high
intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU).
[0011] Further aspects of the present application provide
ultrasound devices making use of the microfabricated ultrasound
transducer probe described above, ultrasound imaging techniques
utilized by such devices, and methods of fabricating, operating,
and/or interconnecting the microfabricated ultrasound transducer
probe.
[0012] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided comprising a substrate, a plurality of ultrasonic
transducers on the substrate, and control circuitry on the
substrate, coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and
configured to control operation of the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers. The apparatus further comprises a first interface, the
first interface being of a first type, and a second interface, the
second interface being of a second type. The first and second
interfaces may be individually configured to transfer electronic
signals between the control circuitry and an external device.
[0013] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided comprising a single substrate ultrasound-on-a-chip imaging
device comprising multiple different interface types supporting
different data transfer rates.
[0014] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided comprising a substrate including a plurality of ultrasound
elements, a first interface of a first type on the substrate, and a
second interface of a second type that is different than the first
type on the substrate.
[0015] According to an aspect of the application, a method is
provided, comprising forming a plurality of ultrasonic transducers
on a substrate, forming control circuitry on the substrate, coupled
to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers, and forming a first
interface of a first type on the substrate and a second interface
of a second type on the substrate. The first and second interfaces
may be individually configured to provide an electrical connection
between the control circuitry and an external device.
[0016] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided, comprising a substrate, a plurality of ultrasonic
transducers on the substrate, and control circuitry on the
substrate, coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and
configured to control operation of the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers. The control circuitry comprises a waveform generator
coupled to at least one ultrasonic transducer of the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers, the waveform generator being configurable
to generate different kinds of waveforms.
[0017] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided, comprising a substrate having a width and height, the
width being at least twice as large as the height, and a plurality
of ultrasonic transducers on the substrate. The apparatus further
comprises control circuitry on the substrate, coupled to the
plurality of ultrasonic transducers and configured to control
operation of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers.
[0018] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided, comprising a plurality of ultrasound transducer probes
tiled and interconnected to form an ultrasound imaging device. Each
ultrasound transducer probe of the plurality of ultrasound
transducer probes includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers
and control circuitry coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers and configured to control, at least in part, operation
of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers. The control circuitry
includes interface circuitry configured to interface the ultrasound
transducer probe to an external device.
[0019] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided, comprising at least one substrate having a first
dimension and a second dimension that is perpendicular to the first
dimension. The first dimension is at least twice as great as the
second dimension. The apparatus further comprises a plurality of
ultrasonic transducers on the substrate, the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers being arranged along the first dimension and
the second dimension of the substrate. The apparatus further
comprises control circuitry coupled to the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers and configured to control operation of the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers.
[0020] According to an aspect of the application, a method of
forming an ultrasound device is provided, comprising dicing at
least first and second ultrasound transducer probes of a plurality
of ultrasound transducer probes on a wafer, and tiling and
interconnecting the at least first and second ultrasound transducer
probes.
[0021] According to an aspect of the application, a device is
provided comprising a plurality of complementary metal oxide
semiconductor (CMOS) ultrasound transducer elements, and CMOS
control circuitry coupled to the plurality of CMOS ultrasound
transducer elements and configured to control the CMOS ultrasound
transducer elements to support one-dimensional (1D),
two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound
imaging.
[0022] According to an aspect of the present application, a
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) integrated circuit
(IC) is provided comprising an array of ultrasound transducer
elements and CMOS control circuitry coupled to the array of
ultrasound transducer elements and configured to control operation
of the array of ultrasound transducer elements to support both
two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound
imaging.
[0023] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided, comprising a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) substrate and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers on the
CMOS substrate. The apparatus further comprises a CMOS integrated
circuit (IC) on the CMOS substrate and coupled to the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers, wherein the CMOS IC is configured to
support a voltage signal that is greater than approximately 20
V.
[0024] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided, comprising a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) substrate having a top metal layer configured to conduct a
power signal. The apparatus further comprises an ultrasonic
transducer disposed above the top metal layer and including an
electrode, wherein the electrode is connected to the top metal
layer by an electrically conductive via.
[0025] According to an aspect of the application an apparatus is
provided comprising a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) substrate having a top metal layer. The top metal layer has
a thickness between approximately 0.5 microns and approximately 10
microns. The apparatus further comprises an ultrasonic transducer
disposed above the top metal layer.
[0026] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided comprising a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) substrate having a metal layer having a thickness between
approximately 0.5 microns and approximately 10 microns. The
apparatus further comprises an ultrasonic transducer having an
electrode. The apparatus further comprises a via connecting the
electrode to the metal layer of the CMOS substrate.
[0027] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided comprising a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) substrate comprising a metallization layer and a wiring
line. The apparatus further comprises an ultrasonic transducer on
the CMOS substrate. The metallization layer is configured to
distribute a power signal and is configured as an electrical shield
between the ultrasonic transducer and the wiring line.
[0028] According to an aspect of the application, an apparatus is
provided, comprising a complementary metal oxide semiconductor
(CMOS) substrate and an ultrasonic transducer on the CMOS
substrate. The ultrasonic transducer comprises a membrane sealing a
cavity in the CMOS substrate and further comprises a thin film
electrode. The cavity is between the thin film electrode and the
membrane.
[0029] According to an aspect of the application, a method of
fabricating an ultrasonic transducer is provided, comprising
forming the ultrasonic transducer above a top metal layer of a
complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) substrate, and
connecting the ultrasonic transducer to the top metal layer with at
least one electrically conductive via.
[0030] According to an aspect of the application a method of
manufacturing an ultrasonic transducer is provided, comprising
forming a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) substrate,
the CMOS substrate including a metal layer, and forming an
electrically conductive via through a portion of the CMOS
substrate. The method further comprises forming the ultrasonic
transducer above the CMOS substrate, wherein at least a portion of
the ultrasonic transducer is electrically coupled to the CMOS
substrate through the electrically conductive via.
[0031] According to an aspect of the application, a method is
provided, comprising printing a photolithography pattern on a
wafer, rotating the wafer by approximately 180 degrees after
printing the photolithography pattern on the wafer, and printing a
copy of the photolithography pattern on the wafer after rotating
the wafer by approximately 180 degrees such that the pattern on the
wafer and the copy of the pattern on the wafer are aligned with
each other.
[0032] According to an aspect of the application, a method is
provided comprising printing a photolithography pattern on a wafer,
rotating the wafer after printing the photolithography pattern on
the wafer, and printing a copy of the photolithography pattern on
the wafer after rotating the wafer such that the pattern on the
wafer and the copy of the pattern on the wafer are aligned with
each other.
[0033] According to an aspect of the application, a method is
provided, comprising illuminating a reticle having a pattern
thereon to print a pattern on a wafer, the pattern on the reticle
having a first side substantially opposite a second side, and the
pattern on the wafer having a first side substantially opposite a
second side. The method further comprises rotating the wafer
approximately 180 degrees, and aligning the second side of the
pattern on the reticle with the second side of the pattern on the
wafer. The method further comprises, subsequent to aligning the
second side of the pattern on the reticle with the second side of
the pattern on the wafer, illuminating the reticle.
[0034] According to an aspect of the application, a method is
provided, comprising scanning a first portion of a reticle with a
photolithographic scanner to print a first pattern on a wafer, the
first portion being less than the entire reticle. The method
further comprises stepping the wafer. The method further comprises,
subsequent to stepping the wafer, scanning a second portion of the
reticle with the photolithographic scanner to print a second
pattern on the wafer in alignment with the first pattern, the
second portion being less than the entire reticle and being
different than the first portion.
[0035] According to an aspect of the application, a method is
provided comprising tiling ultrasound transducer probes on a wafer
by printing different patterns from one or more reticles on the
wafer. Printing different patterns may comprise using a blade to
obstruct at least a portion of at least one reticle during
tiling.
[0036] According to an aspect of the application, a method is
provided comprising scanning a first portion of a pattern mask with
a scanner to print a first pattern on a wafer, the pattern mask
including a first, second, third, and fourth alignment mark
thereon. The first portion includes an area between the first
alignment mark and the third alignment mark. The method further
comprises moving the wafer, and scanning a second portion of the
pattern mask with the scanner to print a second pattern on the
wafer in alignment with the first pattern. The second portion
includes an area between the second alignment mark and the fourth
alignment mark.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0037] Various aspects and embodiments of the application will be
described with reference to the following figures. It should be
appreciated that the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Items appearing in multiple figures are indicated by the same
reference number in all the figures in which they appear.
[0038] FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate differing ultrasound transducer
devices which may be formed from a common repeatable ultrasound
transducer probe, according to non-limiting embodiments of the
present application.
[0039] FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate non-limiting alternative
embodiments of an ultrasound transducer probe which may be
configured to be interconnectable with other such ultrasound
transducer probes, according to non-limiting embodiments of the
present application.
[0040] FIGS. 2C, 2F, and 2G illustrates ultrasound transducer
probes which may be formed by tiling and interconnecting multiple
instances of the ultrasound transducer probe of FIG. 2A, according
to non-limiting embodiments of the present application.
[0041] FIGS. 2D and 2E illustrate ultrasound transducer probes
which may be formed by tiling and interconnecting multiple
instances of the ultrasound transducer probe of FIG. 2B, according
to non-limiting embodiments of the present application.
[0042] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an ultrasound transducer probe
which may be configured to be tiled and interconnected with other
such ultrasound transducer probes, according to a non-limiting
embodiment of the present application.
[0043] FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate packaged ultrasound transducer
probes with ports providing access to different types of physical
interfaces of the ultrasound transducer probe, according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0044] FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a non-limiting example of
ultrasonic transducers (or transducer cells) arranged into
transducer elements to form part of an ultrasound transducer probe,
according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present
application.
[0045] FIG. 5C illustrates different configurations of ultrasound
elements which may be formed from a common arrangement of
ultrasonic transducers.
[0046] FIG. 6 illustrates a cross-sectional view of an ultrasound
transducer probe having integrated circuitry beneath ultrasonic
transducers of the ultrasound transducer probe as well as
integrated circuitry on a peripheral region of the ultrasound
transducer probe, according to a non-limiting embodiment of the
present application.
[0047] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the circuitry
architecture of an ultrasound transducer probe according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0048] FIG. 8 illustrates a configuration of circuitry of an
ultrasound transducer probe in which multiple ultrasound elements
are associated with respective transmit excitation modules and
share a receive module, according to a non-limiting embodiment of
the present application.
[0049] FIG. 9 illustrates a non-limiting detailed implementation of
the ultrasound transducer probe of FIG. 7 in which the
configuration of FIG. 8 is implemented.
[0050] FIG. 10 illustrates the interconnection of transmit
excitation modules and a receive module for a plurality of
ultrasound elements arranged in a column, according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0051] FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a programmable waveform
generator of a type which may be used in an ultrasound transducer
probe of the types described herein, according to a non-limiting
embodiment of the present application.
[0052] FIG. 12 illustrates a pulser of a type which may be used in
an ultrasound transducer probe of the types described herein,
according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present
application.
[0053] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of an ultrasound element
coupled to a pulser and to an amplifier according to a non-limiting
embodiment of the present application.
[0054] FIG. 14 illustrates a clock circuit of a type which may be
used in an ultrasound transducer probe according to a non-limiting
embodiment of the present application.
[0055] FIG. 15 illustrates a mesh which may be used to offload data
from an ultrasound transducer probe according to a non-limiting
embodiment of the present application.
[0056] FIG. 16 is a detailed view of part of the mesh of FIG. 15,
according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present
application.
[0057] FIG. 17 illustrates a node configuration for the mesh of
FIG. 15.
[0058] FIGS. 18A and 18B illustrate flowcharts of alternative
manners of operating the mesh of FIG. 15, according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0059] FIGS. 19-22 illustrate complementary metal oxide
semiconductor (CMOS) transistor layouts for supporting high voltage
operation, according to non-limiting embodiments of the present
application.
[0060] FIGS. 23, 24A, 24B, 25A, and 25B illustrate pulsers which
are configured to support high voltage operation and which may be
used in ultrasound transducer probes of the types described herein,
according to various non-limiting embodiments of the present
application.
[0061] FIG. 26A illustrates an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
configured to support high voltage operation and which may be used
in an ultrasound transducer probe according to a non-limiting
embodiment of the present application.
[0062] FIG. 26B is a timing diagram illustrating various signals
relating to the operation of the ADC of FIG. 26A.
[0063] FIG. 27 illustrates a sample and hold circuit configured to
support high voltage operation and which may be used in an
ultrasound transducer probe according to a non-limiting embodiment
of the present application.
[0064] FIG. 28A illustrates a time-shared ADC which may be used in
an ultrasound transducer probe according to a non-limiting
embodiment of the present application.
[0065] FIG. 28B illustrates a timing diagram of the operation of
the ADC of FIG. 28A.
[0066] FIG. 29A illustrates a circuit configuration including two
pulsers coupled to an ultrasound element, according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0067] FIG. 29B is a timing diagram of the operation of the pulsers
of FIG. 29A.
[0068] FIGS. 30A-30G illustrate a device including an ultrasonic
transducer integrated with a CMOS substrate and formed above a top
metal layer of the CMOS substrate, and a method of fabricating the
device, according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present
application.
[0069] FIGS. 31A-31B illustrate a device including an ultrasonic
transducer integrated with a CMOS substrate, formed above a top
metal layer of the CMOS substrate, and having a piston membrane and
membrane stop, and a method of fabricating the device, according to
a non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0070] FIGS. 32A-32B illustrate another device including an
ultrasonic transducer integrated with a CMOS substrate, formed
above a top metal layer of the CMOS substrate, and having a piston
membrane, and a method of fabricating the device, according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0071] FIG. 33 illustrates another device including an ultrasonic
transducer integrated with a CMOS substrate, formed above a top
metal layer of the CMOS substrate, and having non-conductive cavity
sidewalls, according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present
application.
[0072] FIG. 34 illustrates another device including an ultrasonic
transducer integrated with a CMOS substrate, formed above a top
metal layer of the CMOS substrate, and having a conductive via
passing through a membrane of the ultrasonic transducer, according
to a non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0073] FIG. 35 illustrates another device including an ultrasonic
transducer integrated with a CMOS substrate, formed above a top
metal layer of the CMOS substrate, and having a topside conductive
contact, according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present
application.
[0074] FIG. 36 illustrates a device including the ultrasonic
transducer of FIG. 30A connected to an integrated circuit in the
CMOS substrate, with the integrated circuit disposed beneath the
ultrasonic transducer.
[0075] FIG. 37 illustrates a block diagram of a process for
fabricating an ultrasonic transducer on a CMOS wafer, according to
a non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0076] FIG. 38 illustrates the use of a reticle to perform
horizontal tiling of an ultrasound transducer probe, according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0077] FIG. 39 illustrates a reticle having features at least
partially defining input/output (I/O) circuitry of an ultrasound
transducer probe on opposing sides of the reticle, according to a
non-limiting embodiment of the present application.
[0078] FIGS. 40 and 41 illustrate ultrasound transducer probes that
can be formed by horizontal tiling of a photolithography mask
pattern, according to non-limiting embodiments of the present
application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0079] Overview
[0080] Aspects of the present application provide a microfabricated
ultrasound transducer probe which may represent a universal
building block to construct various types of ultrasound imaging
and/or HIFU devices operable in various modes by mere replication
and suitable connection of multiple copies of the transducer probe.
In some embodiments, the ultrasound transducer probe is suitable to
operate as a standalone ultrasound transducer probe.
One-dimensional (1D), one and a half dimensional (1.5D),
two-dimensional (2D), and three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging
devices capable of implementing highly advanced ultrasound imaging
techniques may be fabricated easily by replication of, suitable
dicing of, and interconnection of the ultrasound transducer probe,
with minimal or no redesign of the ultrasonic transducers and
integrated circuitry of the ultrasound transducer probe. As a
result, the ultrasound transducer probe is highly versatile,
providing flexibility in achieving an ultrasound device of
choice.
[0081] Various features of the microfabricated ultrasound
transducer probe may contribute to its versatility and provide
flexibility to an end user. One such feature is the inclusion of
multiple types of interfaces for electrically connecting to
different types of external devices. In some embodiments, higher
speed and lower speed interfaces may be provided as part of the
ultrasound transducer probe for communicating electrical signals
with external devices at different rates. The higher speed
interface(s) may facilitate connection of the ultrasound transducer
probe to any desired external processing device, such as
specialized field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), graphics
processing units (GPU), or other devices suitable for receiving and
processing ultrasound data, for example to form one or more
ultrasound images. The higher speed interface(s) may be configured
in some embodiments to maximize the output of ultrasound data,
which may be in digital form, from the ultrasound transducer probe.
In some embodiments, then, the higher speed interface(s) may be
used when complex ultrasound applications are to be performed, such
as 3D ultrasound imaging. The lower speed interface(s), by
contrast, may be configured in some embodiments to allow for
connection of the ultrasound transducer probe to a consumer
electronics device with lesser processing capabilities than some
types of devices to which the higher speed interface(s) may be
connected, and thus may be suitable when performing ultrasound
applications not requiring the amount of data provided by the
higher speed interface(s). Such functionality may make the
ultrasound transducer probe usable by a wide range of end users who
lack access to more sophisticated graphics processing systems,
thereby making an important medical diagnostic tool accessible to a
large number of people. Thus, the interface configuration of the
ultrasound transducer probe may enhance the transducer probe's
versatility by allowing for connection to a wide range of external
devices, and may provide a user flexibility in choosing to which
external device(s) to connect.
[0082] Other features of an ultrasound transducer probe which may
be provided according to some aspects of the present application
and which may contribute to the transducer probe's versatility
include the transducer probe's physical form and the architecture
of the transducer probe circuitry. The ultrasound transducer probe
may be microfabricated on a substrate (e.g., a chip, such as a
semiconductor chip) having a geometry that provides for a suitable
aperture. In some embodiments, for example, the substrate may allow
for a suitable one-dimensional (1D) aperture, for instance being
wider than it is tall (e.g., a wide aspect ratio substrate). Such a
form factor may allow the transducer probe to function suitably as
a 1D imaging device for performing 2D imaging while allowing for
multiple replicas of the transducer probe to be tiled horizontally
and/or vertically to provide enhanced 2D or 3D imaging
functionality. As used herein, "tiled" means arranged next to each
other to form, in combination, a larger device. In some
embodiments, the ultrasound transducer probe may be a 1.5D device
capable of tiling to provide enhanced 2D or 3D imaging
functionality.
[0083] Interconnection of multiple tiled replicas of the ultrasound
transducer probe in a manner suitable to form a larger ultrasound
transducer probe may be facilitated by suitable relative physical
positioning of the ultrasonic transducers and integrated processing
or control circuitry on the substrate. As used herein, the term
"control circuitry" may include, but is not limited to, circuitry
that may control operation of the ultrasonic transducers and/or
processing circuitry that processes signals transmitted to and/or
received from the ultrasonic transducers. In some embodiments, a
portion of the control circuitry may be positioned beneath an
arrangement of ultrasonic transducers on the substrate, with other
integrated circuitry including input/output (I/O) circuitry
positioned on one or more peripheral regions (e.g., a tab in some
embodiments) of the substrate. Such physical placement may
facilitate tiling multiple copies of the ultrasound transducer
probe by allowing for creation of a substantially continuous
arrangement of ultrasonic transducers when tiled while providing
suitable external access to the circuitry of the transducer probes,
i.e., not obstructing the I/O circuitry when the transducer probes
are tiled.
[0084] The integrated circuitry (e.g., integrated control
circuitry) of the ultrasound transducer probe may also facilitate
interconnection of the transducer probe with other such transducer
probes, for example when tiled as described above. In some
embodiments, the integrated circuitry may be at least partially
programmable, thus allowing for the ultrasound transducer probe to
be programmed to operate as a standalone transducer probe or in
conjunction with one or more additional such transducer probes. The
programmable circuitry may include programmable timing circuitry
and/or a programmable waveform generator for generating (or
producing) excitation signals to excite the ultrasonic transducers.
The waveform generator may be programmable to generate a desired
kind of waveform from among multiple possible kinds, including
impulses, continuous waves, chirp waveforms (e.g., linear frequency
modulation (LFM)) chirps), and coded excitations. Such flexibility
in the waveform generated may also facilitate the use of highly
advanced ultrasound imaging techniques, non-limiting examples of
which are described further below.
[0085] The ultrasound transducer probe may include micromachined
ultrasonic transducers having features which facilitate creation of
a standalone ultrasound transducer probe, and which also facilitate
formation of ultrasound devices by interconnection of multiple
copies of the ultrasound transducer probe. In some embodiments, the
ultrasound transducer probe may be formed on a complementary metal
oxide semiconductor (CMOS) substrate. In some embodiments, the CMOS
substrate may include a top metal layer, which in some embodiments
may be a thick top metal layer (also referred to in some
embodiments as an ultra-thick redistribution layer), which may be
utilized for power distribution to the ultrasonic transducers. Such
a configuration may facilitate suitable power distribution to all
ultrasonic transducers of the transducer probe over the relatively
large distances which the power signal may travel in some
embodiments. When the thick top metal layer is used for power
distribution, the ultrasonic transducers may be formed above the
thick top metal layer, and may be connected to the thick top metal
layer with a suitable electrically conductive via structure
including one or more electrically conductive vias. In some such
embodiments, one electrically conductive via may connect a bottom
electrode of an ultrasonic transducer to the thick top metal layer
of the CMOS substrate, and a second electrically conductive via may
connect a membrane of the ultrasonic transducer to the thick top
metal layer. Further details of such structures are described
further below, along with methods of fabricating such
structures.
[0086] Some aspects of the present application provide wafer-level
fabrication techniques for fabricating ultrasound transducer probes
of the types described herein. For example, interconnection of
multiple copies of an ultrasound transducer probe may be achieved
in multiple ways according to different embodiments by suitable
positioning of the ultrasound transducer probes on a wafer and
suitable dicing. In some embodiments, multiple copies of the
ultrasound transducer probes may be suitably tiled and
interconnected on a wafer and then diced together to form a
single-substrate ultrasound device, for instance to meet certain
performance specifications for the device. In other embodiments,
individual copies of the ultrasound transducer probe or groups of
multiple instances of the ultrasound transducer probe may be diced
from a wafer and interconnected after dicing. According to aspects
of the present application, scanning and/or stepping technologies
may be used to suitably position multiple instances of an
ultrasound transducer probe on a wafer.
[0087] In some embodiments, multiple instances of an ultrasound
transducer probe may be aligned on a wafer by printing a pattern
from a reticle on the wafer, rotating the wafer, and printing the
pattern again. In some embodiments, an ultrasound transducer probe
may be formed by printing portions of a pattern from a reticle on
the wafer in alignment with each other. Blading techniques may be
used to print desired portions of the reticle pattern, and stepping
and/or scanning may be used to provide proper alignment of the
various portions printed.
[0088] As described previously, some embodiments of the present
application provide an ultrasound transducer probe which may serve
as a building block (also referred to in some embodiments as a
"repeatable unit" or simply a "unit," a "module," or by other
similar terminology) for constructing ultrasound imaging devices
with desired imaging capabilities. In some such embodiments, the
ultrasound transducer probe may be a 1D ultrasound transducer
probe, but not all embodiments are limited in this respect. For
instance, the building block ultrasound transducer probe may be a
1.5D or 2D transducer probe in some embodiments.
[0089] The aspects and embodiments described above, as well as
additional aspects and embodiments, are described further below.
These aspects and/or embodiments may be used individually, all
together, or in any combination of two or more, as the application
is not limited in this respect.
[0090] Standalone and Tiled Ultrasound Transducer Probes
[0091] According to an aspect of the present application, different
types of ultrasound devices with different ultrasound imaging
and/or HIFU capabilities may be created utilizing a common,
repeatable ultrasound transducer probe, which in some embodiments
may be a 1D ultrasound transducer probe or a 1.5D ultrasound
transducer probe. FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate examples of ultrasound
devices that may be created in this manner.
[0092] FIG. 1A illustrates an ultrasound device 100 positioned to
perform ultrasound analysis of a subject 102. The ultrasound device
100 may represent a single repeatable ultrasound transducer probe.
That is, the ultrasound device 100 may be referred to alternatively
as an ultrasound transducer probe. The ultrasound device 100 is
connected to an external device 104, illustrated as a smartphone
(or mobile phone) in this non-limiting example, via a wired
connection 106.
[0093] The ultrasound device 100 may be a 1D ultrasound transducer
probe, configured with a 1D aperture formed by a plurality of
ultrasonic transducers which may be microfabricated on a substrate
(e.g., a semiconductor substrate in some embodiments). The
ultrasound device 100 may further include control circuitry
configured to control, at least in part, the ultrasonic
transducers. Non-limiting examples of suitable 1D ultrasound
transducer probes which may serve as the ultrasound device 100 are
described in further detail below, for example in connection with
FIGS. 2A and 2B.
[0094] The ultrasound device 100 may have any suitable dimensions,
including a width W1 and height H1. In some embodiments, the
ultrasound device 100 may be a 1D ultrasound transducer probe
configured with a 1D aperture, and thus the width W1 may be greater
than the height H1 in some such embodiments. In some embodiments,
the width W1 may be between approximately 20 mm and approximately
40 mm, or any value within that range. In some embodiments, the
height H1 may be between approximately 2 mm and approximately 10
mm, or any value within that range. In some embodiments, a square
ultrasound device 100 may be provided having a width W1 equal to
the height H1.
[0095] The external device 104 may be a device configured to
receive and process ultrasound data provided by the ultrasound
device 100. In some embodiments, the external device 104 may be a
consumer electronics device (e.g., the illustrated smartphone)
having a display 108 for displaying ultrasound data and/or
ultrasound images based on ultrasound data produced by the
ultrasound device 100. However, other types of external devices may
be utilized as the various aspects described herein are not limited
to the particular type of external device to which the ultrasound
transducer probe is connected.
[0096] FIG. 1B illustrates a variation on FIG. 1A in which an
ultrasound device 110 is provided. The ultrasound device 110 may
represent a composite ultrasound transducer probe including
multiple repeatable ultrasound transducer probes, for example of
the type illustrated in FIG. 1A. The ultrasound device 110 may be a
1D ultrasound transducer probe formed by suitable horizontal tiling
and interconnection of two of the ultrasound devices 100 of FIG. 1A
in a side-by-side (or left-to-right) configuration. Thus, the
ultrasound device 110 may have the same height H1 as the ultrasound
device 100, but may have a width W2 that is approximately or
substantially twice as great as the width W1. In this manner, the
ultrasound device 110 may provide a greater linear aperture than
the ultrasound device 100 and may be used to image a greater
area.
[0097] The ultrasound device 110 may be connected to an external
device 112 via the wired connection 106. In the example shown, the
external device 112 is a tablet computer having a display 114 for
displaying ultrasound data and/or ultrasound images based on
ultrasound data produced by the ultrasound device 110. However,
other types of external devices may be used.
[0098] FIG. 1C illustrates a further example of an ultrasound
device which may be formed from a collection of multiple ultrasound
transducer probes, for example of the type of ultrasound device 100
of FIG. 1A. That is, like the ultrasound device 110, the ultrasound
device 116 may represent a composite ultrasound transducer probe
including multiple repeatable ultrasound transducer probes, for
example of the type illustrated in FIG. 1A.
[0099] The ultrasound device 116 may be a 2D ultrasound transducer
probe formed by suitable vertical tiling (also referred to herein
as "stacking") and interconnection of multiple copies of the
ultrasound device 100. Thus, the ultrasound device 116 may have the
same width W1 as ultrasound device 100 and a height H2 greater than
the height H1 of ultrasound device 100. The height H2 may be, for
example, N.times.H1, wherein N represents the number of ultrasound
devices 100 tiled vertically to create the ultrasound device 116.
In some embodiments, N may equal 2, 4, 8, may be between 2 and 10,
or may assume any other suitable integer value.
[0100] The ultrasound device 116 may be connected to an external
device 118 by the wired connection 106. The external device 118 may
be any suitable external device, including any suitable consumer
electronics device. In the non-limiting example illustrated, the
external device 118 is a laptop computer having a display 120 for
displaying ultrasound data and/or ultrasound images based on
ultrasound data produced by the ultrasound device 116.
[0101] Although not shown, it should be appreciated that an
ultrasound device may be constructed from horizontal and vertical
tiling of multiple copies of the ultrasound device 100, thus
effectively representing a combination of ultrasound device 110 and
ultrasound device 116. For example, two of the ultrasound devices
100 may be tiled horizontally, defining a "row" that is two
ultrasound transducer probes wide, and two or more such rows of two
ultrasound transducer probes may be tiled vertically (e.g., 2 such
rows, 4 such rows, 8 such rows, or any other suitable number of
such rows). Thus, an ultrasound transducer probe having a desired
size and aperture may be easily created by suitable tiling of an
ultrasound transducer probe like ultrasound device 100. The
ultrasound device 100 may therefore serve as a (universal) building
block for building an ultrasound device with target size and
aperture characteristics, and therefore specified imaging and/or
HIFU capabilities.
[0102] A further example of an ultrasound device which may be
formed utilizing multiple copies of the ultrasound device 100 of
FIG. 1A is shown in FIG. 1D. As shown, the ultrasound device may
include two copies of the ultrasound device 116 of FIG. 1C, each of
which may include two or more instances of the ultrasound device
100, as previously described. The two ultrasound devices 116 in
FIG. 1D may be configured to operate in combination to perform
transmissive ultrasound imaging, for example being positioned on
opposite sides of the subject 102. For example, the ultrasound
devices 116 may operate together in the configuration of FIG. 1D
according to the transmissive ultrasound operating techniques
described in PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2013/059,358
A2, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety. The configuration of FIG. 1D may be particularly
advantageous for 3D ultrasound imaging purposes, though it need not
be used in this manner.
[0103] The ultrasound devices 116 in FIG. 1D may be connected to an
external device 122 via respective wired connections 124. The
external device 122 may be any suitable external device for
receiving and processing the ultrasound data provided by the
ultrasound devices 116. In some embodiments, the external device
122 may include an FPGA, a GPU, or other suitable processing
circuitry for receiving and handling large amounts of ultrasound
data as may be produced in the configuration of FIG. 1D.
[0104] Also provided in FIG. 1D is a second external device 126
having a display 128 for displaying ultrasound data and/or
ultrasound images based on ultrasound data produced by the
ultrasound devices 116. The external device 126 may be connected to
receive data from the external device 122 in some embodiments,
though alternative configurations are possible. Furthermore, in
some embodiments the external device 122 may itself include a
suitable display, and external device 126 may be omitted.
[0105] Thus, FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate different ultrasound transducer
probes and device configurations for producing ultrasound data
and/or ultrasound images based upon a common underlying ultrasound
device 100. Both reflective (e.g., FIGS. 1A-1C) and transmissive
(e.g., FIG. 1D) ultrasound imaging devices may be created,
operating in two or three dimensions.
[0106] The ultrasound devices illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D and, more
generally, described herein may be placed at various positions
relative to a subject. In some embodiments, the ultrasound devices
may be placed in contact with the subject. In some embodiments, the
ultrasound devices may be placed in proximity to, but not in
contact with, the subject, for example being within several
centimeters of the subject. Thus, the ultrasound devices are not
limited to being used at any particular distance from a subject
unless otherwise stated. Moreover, the ultrasound devices may be
moveable (or positionable), for example by hand. Thus, an operator
(e.g., an ultrasound technician) may move the location of the
ultrasound devices during operation, in some embodiments. The
ultrasound devices may therefore be considered portable in some
embodiments.
[0107] It should be appreciated that the ultrasound transducer
probes shown in FIGS. 1A-1D may be considered ultrasound
peripherals, configured to be connected to (e.g., plugged into) a
suitable external device to provide some control and/or processing
functionality. Thus, aspects of the present application provide
desired ultrasound peripherals based on suitable replication and
interconnection of a common, repeatable ultrasound transducer probe
design.
[0108] FIGS. 1A-1D illustrate ultrasound transducer probes
connected to external devices by wired connections (e.g., wired
connections 106 and 124). However, wireless connections may
alternatively be implemented in some embodiments.
[0109] FIGS. 2A-2G illustrate examples of configurations of
ultrasound transducer probes which may be used to form the devices
of FIGS. 1A-1D. FIG. 2A illustrates a first non-limiting example of
an ultrasound transducer probe 200 representing an implementation
of the ultrasound device 100. The ultrasound transducer probe 200
may be a 1D ultrasound transducer probe having a substrate 202 with
the width W1 and height H1, on which a plurality of ultrasonic
transducers 204 and integrated control circuitry (not explicitly
shown) are formed. As shown, the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers 204 may be positioned over a majority of the substrate
202, including over the center of the substrate 202. A peripheral
region 206 of the substrate 202, which may represent a "tab" of the
substrate 202, may include integrated circuitry including interface
circuitry (e.g., interfaces 208a and 208b, described further
below). The peripheral region 206 may not include any of the
ultrasonic transducers 204.
[0110] FIG. 2B illustrates a variation on the ultrasound transducer
probe 200 of FIG. 2A. The ultrasound transducer probe 210 of FIG.
2B may differ from the ultrasound transducer probe 200 in that
instead of a single peripheral region 206, the ultrasound
transducer probe 210 may include two peripheral regions (or "tabs")
212a and 212b. The peripheral regions 212a and 212b may have a
combined width, in the direction parallel to W1, equal to the width
of peripheral region 206 in the direction parallel to W1, though
not all embodiments are limited in this respect. For example, each
of regions 212a and 212b may have a width in the direction parallel
to W1 equal to approximately half the width of peripheral region
206 in the direction parallel to W1. One or both of the peripheral
regions 212a and 212b may include integrated circuitry including
interface circuitry (not shown). In some embodiments, only one of
the two peripheral regions 212a and 212b may include I/O circuitry
acting as an interface for an external device. Such a configuration
may facilitate horizontal tiling of ultrasound transducer probes so
that access to the integrated circuitry of the horizontally tiled
ultrasound transducer probes need not be provided at a middle point
between the horizontally tiled transducer probes.
[0111] As previously described, the width W1 and height H1 may
assume any suitable values. In some embodiments, the aspect ratio
of the substrate 202, defined as the width relative to the height,
may be greater than or equal to 1.5:1, greater than or equal to
2:1, greater than or equal to 3:1, greater than or equal to 4:1,
greater than or equal to 5:1, between 2:1 and 16:1, between 4:1 and
10:1, or any range or value within such ranges, as non-limiting
examples. The substrate 202 may be said to be a wide aspect ratio
substrate when the aspect ratio is greater than or equal to 3:1. In
some embodiments, the width W1 may be between approximately 20 mm
and approximately 40 mm, or any value within that range. In some
embodiments, the height H1 may be between approximately 2 mm and
approximately 10 mm, or any value within that range. As a
non-limiting example, the width W1 may be approximately 32 mm and
the height H1 may be approximately 4 mm. In FIG. 2A, the width of
the peripheral region 206, parallel to W1, may be approximately 3
mm with the remaining part of the width of the ultrasound
transducer probe 200 being covered by ultrasonic transducers. In
the embodiment of FIG. 2B, each of the peripheral regions 212a and
212b may have a width (parallel to W1) of approximately 1.5 mm.
[0112] It should be appreciated that the ultrasound transducer
probes 200 and 210 may be 1.5D ultrasound transducer probes in some
embodiments. For example, a suitable number of ultrasonic
transducers may be provided along the height H1 to allow for
focusing of ultrasound energy in the height dimension.
[0113] FIG. 2C illustrates an ultrasound transducer probe 220 which
may represent an implementation of ultrasound device 110 of FIG.
1B. As shown, the ultrasound transducer probe 220 may include two
copies of the ultrasound transducer probe 200 horizontally tiled,
with the peripheral regions 206 positioned to be on opposite sides
of the ultrasound transducer probe 220. The configuration of FIG.
2C may be achieved by fabricating the two copies of ultrasound
transducer probe 200 on a single wafer and dicing them together, or
may be achieved by individually dicing the two copies of ultrasound
transducer probe 200 and then positioning and interconnecting them.
In some embodiments, one copy of the ultrasonic transducer probe
may be a mirror image of the other copy (e.g., the copy on the left
side of transducer probe 220 may be a mirror image of the copy on
the right side of transducer probe 220). Thus, aspects of the
present application provide for suitable tiling of multiple
instances of an ultrasound transducer probe in a mirror image
configuration to form a larger ultrasound transducer probe.
[0114] FIG. 2D illustrates an ultrasound transducer probe 230 which
may represent an implementation of ultrasound device 116 of FIG.
1C. As shown, the ultrasound transducer probe 230 may include four
copies of the ultrasound transducer probe 210 of FIG. 2B vertically
tiled (also referred to herein as "stacked"). The configuration of
FIG. 2D may be achieved by fabricating the four copies of
ultrasound transducer probe 210 on a single wafer and dicing them
together, or may be achieved by dicing one or more of the
ultrasound transducer probes 210 individually and then positioning
and interconnecting them.
[0115] FIG. 2E illustrates an alternative ultrasound transducer
probe 240 which may represent an alternative implementation of
ultrasound device 116 of FIG. 1C. As shown, the ultrasound
transducer probe 240 may include eight copies of the ultrasound
transducer probe 210 of FIG. 2B vertically tiled. The configuration
of FIG. 2E may be achieved by fabricating the eight copies of
ultrasound transducer probe 210 on a single wafer and dicing them
together, or may be achieved by dicing one or more of the
ultrasound transducer probes 210 individually and then suitably
positioning and interconnecting them.
[0116] FIG. 2F illustrates an ultrasound transducer probe formed by
suitable horizontal and vertical tiling and interconnection of
multiple instances of the ultrasound transducer probe 200 of FIG.
2A. Namely, the ultrasound transducer probe 250 includes four
vertically tiled (or stacked) instances of the ultrasound
transducer probe 220 of FIG. 2C, and thus includes eight instances
of the ultrasound transducer probe 200 of FIG. 2A. Four instances
of the ultrasound transducer probe 200 may be positioned on the
left half of the ultrasound transducer probe 250, with the other
four instances of the ultrasound transducer probe 200 being
positioned on the right half, as mirror images of the left half, of
ultrasound transducer probe 250.
[0117] FIG. 2G illustrates a further example of an ultrasound
transducer probe which may be formed by suitable horizontal and
vertical tiling and interconnection of multiple instances of the
ultrasound transducer probe 200 of FIG. 2A. The ultrasound
transducer probe 260 includes eight vertically tiled (or stacked)
instances of the ultrasound transducer probe 220 of FIG. 2C, and
thus includes sixteen instances of the ultrasound transducer probe
200.
[0118] It should be appreciated from FIGS. 2A-2G that suitable
horizontal and/or vertical tiling of copies of an ultrasound
transducer probe configured as a repeatable building block
ultrasound transducer probe may be used to produce ultrasound
transducer probes of various dimensions. In this manner, the use of
a common, repeatable ultrasound transducer probe design may
simplify design and manufacture of multiple different ultrasound
transducer probe configurations.
[0119] It should be appreciated that alternative configurations of
a repeatable ultrasound transducer probe to those shown in FIGS. 2A
and 2B are possible, still allowing for constructions of tiled
devices like those illustrated in FIGS. 2C-2G. For example, an
ultrasound transducer probe may include peripheral regions on the
top and bottom sides of the substrate in addition to or as an
alternative to the peripheral regions 206, 212a and 212b. For
example, peripheral regions free of ultrasonic transducers may be
provided parallel to the length W1. Such peripheral regions may
include only contact pads for making electrical connection to the
ultrasonic transducers in some embodiments, although in alternative
embodiments circuitry may also be included. In some embodiments, an
ultrasound transducer probe may include one or more peripheral
regions parallel to the width W1 and one or more peripheral regions
parallel to the height H1. Such transducer probes may still be
tiled to form a contiguous region of ultrasonic transducers using
blading techniques of the type described further below, as an
example.
[0120] FIG. 3 is a block diagram representation of an ultrasound
transducer probe which may serve as a stand-alone ultrasound
transducer probe (e.g., a stand-alone 1D or 1.5D ultrasound
transducer probe) and which may be repeatable so that it may be
tiled and interconnected with other such transducer probes to form
larger ultrasound devices. Thus, the ultrasound transducer probe
300 is a block diagram of a non-limiting example of the ultrasound
device 100 of FIG. 1A and ultrasound transducer probes 200 and 210
of FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively.
[0121] As shown, the ultrasound transducer probe 300 may include a
substrate 302 on which may be a plurality of ultrasonic transducers
304 and integrated circuitry 306, which may perform control and/or
processing functions. Interfaces 308a and 308b may provide
electrical communication between the ultrasound transducer probe
300 and an external device (e.g., any of the external devices
illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1D).
[0122] The ultrasonic transducers 304 may be capacitive
micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs), CMOS ultrasonic
transducers (CUTs), which are monolithically integrated ultrasonic
transducers and CMOS ICs, or other ultrasonic transducers
compatible with a CMOS substrate. In some embodiments, the
ultrasonic transducers 304 may be formed on the substrate 302 using
microfabrication techniques, and in some embodiments may be
monolithically integrated with the substrate 302. For example, the
substrate 302 may be a CMOS substrate and the ultrasonic
transducers 304 may be monolithically integrated with the CMOS
substrate.
[0123] The plurality of ultrasonic transducers 304 may be arranged
to form a 1D (or 1.5D) aperture on the substrate 302, and the
integrated circuitry 306 may operate the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers in a 2D mode. The integrated circuitry may, in such an
example, include transmit and receive circuitry. The ultrasound
transducer probe 300 may be considered an ultrasound
system-on-a-chip in some embodiments.
[0124] Various features of the ultrasound transducer probe 300, as
well as ultrasound transducer probes 200 and 210 are now described
in further detail.
[0125] Interface
[0126] Aspects of the present application provide an ultrasound
transducer probe having multiple types of interfaces for
electrically connecting the transducer probe to external devices
via corresponding wired or wireless links. For example, higher
speed and lower speed interfaces may be provided to allow an end
user flexibility in choosing a type of device to which to connect
the ultrasound transducer probe. FIG. 3 provides a non-limiting
example.
[0127] The interfaces 308a and 308b may represent physical
interfaces and may be considered part of the integrated circuitry
306. They may provide for electrical communication between the
ultrasound transducer probe 300 and an external device. In some
embodiments, the interfaces 308a and 308b may be of different
types, configured to connect to different types of external
devices. For example, the interface 308a may be of a type
configured to connect to external devices capable of receiving and
processing large amounts of ultrasound data, such as a specialized
FPGA, a GPU, or other suitable device. By contrast, the interface
308b may be configured to operate with more widely available
communication protocols used for consumer electronics devices, such
as universal serial bus (USB) connections. Accordingly, the
ultrasound transducer probe 300 may be highly versatile, allowing
for the highest possible performance via connection to an external
device with interface 308a or allowing for use with widely
accessible consumer electronics via interface 308b, thus expanding
the accessibility of ultrasound technology compared to current
devices. The end user may choose between which interface to use in
some embodiments.
[0128] When the interfaces 308a and 308b represent different types
of physical interfaces, they may differ in the communication
protocols supported and/or the speed of data communication
supported (i.e., the data rate supported). For example, interface
308a may be a higher speed interface while interface 308b may be a
lower speed interface. Thus, the interface 308a may be configured
to maximize the amount of data which the ultrasound transducer
probe 300 may provide to an external device, and thus may be used
in situations in which advanced ultrasound imaging techniques are
desirably implemented, high resolution is desired, fast frame rates
are desired, or other imaging characteristics facilitated by high
speed communication are desired. In some embodiments, a high speed
interface may support data rates above approximately 4 gigabits per
second (Gbps), above approximately 5 Gbps, above approximately 9
Gbps, above approximately 10 Gbps, above approximately 12 Gbps,
above approximately 15 Gbps, above 30 Gbps, between approximately 9
Gbps and approximately 100 Gbps, between 15 Gbps and 50 Gbps, any
data rate within those ranges, or any other suitable data rate.
These data rates may represent maximum data rates in some
embodiments.
[0129] By comparison, the interface 308b may be a relatively low
speed interface suitable for supporting communication with consumer
electronics (e.g., a portable device) or other external devices
which may not be capable of performing the same level of ultrasound
data processing as that provided by external devices connectable to
the interface 308a, but which may be more widely available. When
the interface 308b represents a relatively low speed interface, it
may support less sophisticated ultrasound imaging techniques, may
provide lower resolution ultrasound data, may provide lower frame
rates, or otherwise provide a decrease in performance compared to
that provided by interface 308a. In some embodiments, the interface
308b may be configured to support data rates less than
approximately 10 Gbps, less than approximate 5 Gbps, less than
approximately 4 Gbps, less than approximately 3 Gbps, less than
approximately 2 Gbps, any data rate within those ranges, or any
other suitable data rate. These data rates may represent maximum
data rates in some embodiments.
[0130] Non-limiting examples of high speed interfaces, for example
which may serve as interface 308a, include twisted pair interfaces,
low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) interfaces, and optical
fiber interfaces. Such high speed interfaces may implement high
speed protocols such as SerDES, SONET, 10 GB Ethernet, 40 GB
Ethernet, 100 GB Ethernet, PCI Express, HDMI, Infiniband,
Thunderbolt, and JESD-204B, among others. External devices to which
such an interface may connect may include high throughput devices,
such as high throughput FPGAs.
[0131] In some embodiments, a high speed interface of an ultrasound
transducer probe may connect to an FPGA which may perform some type
of processing, such as packetization, compression, or other
processing, before sending such data to a digital signal processor
(DSP), central processing unit (CPU), or GPU. In some embodiments,
the suitability of an external device for connection to a high
speed interface of an ultrasound transducer probe (e.g., interface
308a) may be quantified by considering minimum memory and
processing capacity targets. For example, a suitable external
device may include over approximately 2 GB of random access memory
(RAM) and/or over a particular number of processing cores, for
example greater than 300 processing cores, greater than 400
processing cores, greater than 500 processing cores, between 200
and 600 processing cores, any number within that range, or any
other suitable number. As non-limiting examples, the NVIDIA GTX 680
and NVIDIA Tesla K.sub.20, available from NVIDIA of Santa Clara,
Calif., may be implemented in some embodiments as suitable external
devices to which to connect a high speed interface of an ultrasound
transducer probe of the types described herein.
[0132] Non-limiting examples of lower speed interfaces, for example
which may be used for interface 308b, include USB 3.0, USB 2.0,
firewire, and Gigabit Ethernet. The lower speed interfaces may be
capable of connection to an external device via only a single cable
in some embodiments (e.g., a USB cable).
[0133] In those aspects of the present application in which an
ultrasound transducer probe includes different types of physical
interfaces for interfacing with external devices, more than two
different types of interfaces may be provided and/or more than two
instances of one or more types of interfaces may be provided with
an ultrasound transducer probe. For example, referring to FIG. 3,
more than two interfaces may be provided with the ultrasound
transducer probe 300. Considering FIG. 2A, for instance, four
higher speed interfaces 208a may be provided while only a single
lower speed interface 208b may be provided. The 4:1 ratio
illustrated is non-limiting, however. For example, the ratio of
higher speed interfaces to lower speed interfaces of an ultrasound
transducer probe may be 2:1, 4:1, 8:1, 10:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, any
suitable ratio between those listed (e.g., between 10:1 and 1:4),
or any other suitable ratio. More than one instance of the lower
speed interface may also be provided in some embodiments.
[0134] As previously described, the higher speed interfaces may be
configured to maximize the amount of ultrasound data provided by
the ultrasound transducer probe to an external device. The number
of higher speed interfaces may be selected accordingly in some
embodiments. The number of higher speed interfaces may be selected
based on the number of receive signal channels of the ultrasound
transducer probe, which will be described further below in
connection with an example of the architecture of the ultrasound
transducer probe. For example, the more receive channels included
with the ultrasound transducer probe, the greater the number of
higher speed interfaces which may be included. In some embodiments,
the number of higher speed interfaces provided may scale linearly
and proportionally with the number of receive channels of the
ultrasound transducer probe.
[0135] When multiple interfaces of a single type are included on a
transducer probe of the types described herein, not all such
interfaces need be used in all embodiments. The point may be
illustrated by consideration of the ultrasound transducer probe 200
of FIG. 2A with the four illustrated interfaces 208a. In some
embodiments, all four such interfaces may be utilized, for example
when it is desired to maximize data output from the ultrasound
transducer probe. However, in some embodiments, a reduced number of
the four illustrated interfaces 208a may be used. For instance,
only one, two, or three of the four interfaces 208a may be used in
some embodiments, even though the transducer probe 200 may include
all four. In some such embodiments, the number of interfaces used
in operation may be dependent on a cable connected to the
interfaces, non-limiting examples of which are described below in
connection with FIGS. 4A and 4B. For example, plugging the
transducer probe 200 into an external device using a particular
type of cable may dictate how many of the four interfaces 208a are
used. In an alternative embodiment, the number of available
interfaces of a given type which are used in operation of the
transducer probe may be programmable and thus a user may select the
number via a selection tool (e.g., a menu option on a control
program).
[0136] Although not explicitly shown, the interfaces of ultrasound
transducer probes 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, and 260 may also
generally conform to the configuration of the interfaces of
ultrasound transducer probe 300, including both higher and lower
speed interfaces. The ultrasound transducer probe 210 may include
the same interfaces 208a and 208b of ultrasound transducer probe
200, located on the peripheral region(s) 212a and/or 212b in some
embodiments. For example, in a first embodiment, the peripheral
region 212a may include the interfaces of ultrasound transducer
probe 200 of FIG. 2A (i.e., four higher speed interfaces 208a and
one lower speed interface 208b). In an alternative embodiment, the
higher speed interfaces may be split (equally or not) between the
peripheral region 212a and the peripheral region 212b. Other
configurations are also possible.
[0137] Because the ultrasound transducer probes 220, 230, 240, 250,
and 260 represent multiple instances of the ultrasound transducer
probe 200 or 210, the number of interfaces included may simply
scale with the number of instances of the ultrasound transducer
probe 200 or 210 making up the ultrasound transducer probes 220,
230, 240, 250, and 260.
[0138] The physical interfaces described herein may be suitable for
wired connections (e.g., a cable) or wireless connection in some
embodiments. Thus, the aspects of the present application relating
to an ultrasound transducer probe having two or more different
types of interfaces are not limited to whether the interfaces are
configured for wired or wireless connection unless otherwise
stated.
[0139] When a wired connection is made to the interfaces of an
ultrasound transducer probe of the types described herein, such
connection may be made in any suitable manner. In some embodiments,
the ultrasound transducer probe may be enclosed within a package or
housing, and one or more ports may be provided for connecting a
wire/cable to the ultrasound transducer probe. In some such
embodiments, one port for each type of interface of the ultrasound
transducer probe may be provided, though alternative configurations
are possible. A non-limiting example is illustrated in FIG. 4A.
[0140] The device 400 of FIG. 4A represents a non-limiting example
of an ultrasound transducer probe 400 including a package 402 (also
referred to herein as a "housing"). The package 402 may
substantially enclose an ultrasound transducer probe of the types
illustrated in FIGS. 2A-2G. The ultrasound transducer probe 400
includes two ports, 404a and 404b which may allow for connection of
respective cables to the previously-described interfaces 208a and
208b. For instance, port 404a may be configured to receive a cable
connecting to interface 208a and port 404b may be configured to
receive a cable connecting to interface 208b. The ports 404a and
404b may be any suitable types of ports for accepting cables (or,
more generally, wired connectors such as wired connections 106 and
124) for the types of interfaces implemented on the ultrasound
transducer probe.
[0141] As a non-limiting example, the port 404b may be suitable for
connecting to a USB cable (e.g., wired connection 106 or 124 may be
a USB cable). As previously described, interface 208b may, in some
embodiments, be a suitable interface for connecting the ultrasound
transducer probe to a consumer electronics device. In some such
embodiments, the interface 208b may be compatible with a USB
connection, since many consumer electronics devices are configured
to connect to other devices via USB cables. Thus, the port 404b may
be a USB port. However, it should be appreciated that alternatives
are possible.
[0142] As a non-limiting example, the port 404a may be suitable for
connecting to a direct-attach cable, such as a quad small
form-factor pluggable (QSFP) cable (e.g., wired connection 106 or
124 may be a QSFP cable). As previously described, the ultrasound
transducer probe 200 may include multiple interfaces 208a (or,
stated another way, multiple instances of the interface 208a), yet
in some embodiments only a single cable may be needed to connect
the interfaces to an external device, and thus only a single port
404a may be provided. For example, use of a QSFP cable may allow
for connection of a single cable to four of the interfaces 208a. In
this manner, the number of interfaces of the ultrasound transducer
probe to which any external device is connected may be determined
by the cable used to connect the ultrasound transducer probe 400 to
the external device, which may render transparent the process of
selecting how many interfaces to connect to.
[0143] In some embodiments, a single cable may be used for each
interface of the ultrasound transducer probe to which an external
device is to be connected. In such instances, the ultrasound
transducer probe 400 may include a port corresponding to each of
the physical interfaces 208a and 208b.
[0144] It should be appreciated that in operation the ultrasound
transducer probe 400 may be connected to an external device by a
single cable at a time. That is, the user may select whether to
utilize the interface 208a or the interface 208b, and thus connect
a single cable to the appropriate port 404a or 404b.
[0145] FIG. 4B illustrates an alternative ultrasound transducer
probe 410 to that of FIG. 4A. The ultrasound transducer probe 410
represents a non-limiting example of an ultrasound transducer probe
including a package and may represent a packaged version of
ultrasound transducer probe 220 of FIG. 2C, i.e., including two
instances of the ultrasound transducer probe 200 of FIG. 2A. The
ultrasound transducer probe 410 includes a package (or housing) 412
and four ports 414a-414d. Two of the four ports (e.g., ports 414a
and 414c) may be configured to connect interfaces of the type of
interface 208a to an external device via a suitable cable, while
the other two ports (e.g., ports 414b and 414d) may be configured
to connect interfaces of the type of interface 208b to an external
device via a suitable cable. Thus, it should be appreciated that in
operation the ultrasound transducer probe 410 may be connected to
an external device by two cables at a time, in some
embodiments.
[0146] In some embodiments, the package or housing of an ultrasound
device may limit accessibility to one or more interfaces of the
ultrasound transducer probe. The point may be illustrated by
considering the ultrasound transducer probe 200 of FIG. 2A, having
interfaces 208a and 208b. In some embodiments, the ultrasound
transducer probe 200 may be packaged with a package that has one or
more ports providing access only to the interface 208a, or
alternatively only to the interface 208b. Such a configuration may
allow for production and distribution of ultrasound devices to
target consumers without needing to change the underlying design of
transducer probe 200 (e.g., not all consumers may want or need to
have the option of connecting the ultrasound transducer probe via
the two or more types of interfaces).
[0147] Although some embodiments have been described in which
multiple types of interfaces are provided with an ultrasound
transducer probe, not all embodiments are limited in this respect.
In some embodiments, only a single type of interface may be
provided on the probe. For example, in some embodiments, an
ultrasound transducer probe like that of FIG. 2A may lack the
interface 208a or 208b.
[0148] Architecture
[0149] As previously described, various features of an ultrasound
transducer probe may facilitate use of the transducer probe as a
stand-alone ultrasound transducer probe (e.g., a stand-alone or
self-contained 1D, 1.5D or 2D ultrasound transducer probe) or as a
component of a larger ultrasound device formed by tiling and
interconnection of multiple instances of the transducer probe. One
such feature is the physical architecture of the transducer probe,
including the geometry of the transducer probe and the positioning
of ultrasonic transducers and integrated circuitry of the
transducer probe.
[0150] Form Factor of Ultrasound Transducer Probes
[0151] The geometry of the ultrasound transducer probe may be
selected to provide a desired aperture, which may facilitate tiling
and interconnection of multiple instances of the transducer probe
to form a larger ultrasound device having a desired aperture. In
some embodiments, an ultrasound transducer probe may have a first
side longer than a second side, where the first side is
substantially perpendicular to the second side. The sides may
represent sides of a device surface on which ultrasonic transducers
and/or circuitry are formed. As an example, the ultrasound device
100 of FIG. 1 has a first side representing a width W1 and a second
side representing a height H1. As previously described, W1 may be
greater than H1. FIGS. 2A and 2B also illustrate the point. In some
such embodiments, the transducer probe may be a wide aspect ratio
transducer probe. In some embodiments, the width to height ratio
may be greater than or equal to 3:1, greater than or equal to 4:1,
greater than or equal to 5:1, greater than or equal to 10:1,
between 2:1 and 15:1, between 4:1 and 10:1, any range or value
within such ranges, or any other suitable aspect ratio.
[0152] As has been described, in some embodiments an ultrasound
transducer probe includes a substrate, such as a semiconductor or
CMOS substrate (e.g., substrate 202 of transducer probe 200). In
any of those embodiments in which the transducer probe has one side
longer than another perpendicular side (e.g., when the transducer
probe is a wide aspect ratio transducer probe), the dimensions may
refer to the dimensions of the substrate.
[0153] Referring to FIG. 3, the substrate 302 may be any suitable
substrate and in some embodiments may be a semiconductor substrate
or CMOS substrate, such as a silicon substrate, a
silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, or an engineered substrate.
In some embodiments, the substrate 302 may be a CMOS substrate
suitable for supporting integrated circuitry, such as integrated
circuitry 306. Likewise, the substrate 202 of ultrasound transducer
probe 200 may be any of those types of substrates listed.
[0154] In some embodiments the use of an ultrasound transducer
probe having one side longer than a perpendicular side (e.g., a
wide aspect ratio transducer probe) may provide benefits in terms
of the aperture of the transducer probe. For example, such a
configuration may facilitate creation of a suitable 1D transducer
probe aperture. Thus, in some embodiments, the dimensions of an
ultrasound transducer probe (e.g., ultrasound transducer probes 200
and 210) may be selected to provide a desired aperture (e.g., a
desired 1D aperture or 2D aperture). In some embodiments, a
transducer probe having a width of between approximately 30 mm and
approximately 40 mm and having a height between approximately 2 mm
and approximately 8 mm may provide a suitable 1D aperture, allowing
for suitable focusing of an ultrasound beam in the height
dimension.
[0155] The ultrasonic transducers of an ultrasound transducer probe
may assume a configuration suitable for providing a desired
aperture. For example, referring to FIG. 2A, the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers 204 may assume a configuration in which the
transducers are arranged along a greater distance in the direction
of the width W1 than in the direction of the height H1, and in some
embodiments may be arranged suitably to provide a desired 1D, 1.5D,
or 2D aperture. In some embodiments, the plurality of ultrasonic
transducers (e.g., ultrasonic transducers 204 or 304) may be
arranged in an array, though alternative arrangements are
possible.
[0156] One or more lensing components may be provided with the
ultrasound transducer probe to control the focus of the ultrasound
transducer probe. For example, an acoustic lens may be provided
overlying the ultrasonic transducers to focus transmitted and/or
received acoustic signals. The acoustic lens may assume any
suitable configuration for providing desired lensing functionality
and may be formed of any suitable material. For example, referring
to FIGS. 4A and 4B, reference numbers 416 and 418 may represent
acoustic lenses. The acoustic lenses may have a curved (e.g.,
convex) geometry when viewed in cross-section, in some embodiments.
The curvature may be in the elevation dimension (e.g., in the
direction of the height H1 referring to FIG. 2A, as an example) in
some embodiments, although curvature in other dimensions or a
combination of two dimensions is possible.
[0157] Any suitable number of ultrasonic transducers may be
provided on an ultrasound transducer probe, as the number is not
limiting of the various aspects described herein. In some
embodiments, tens, hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands, or
millions of ultrasonic transducers may be provided on an ultrasound
transducer probe. As a non-limiting example, the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers 204 of ultrasound transducer probe 200 may
include an array of sixteen rows (parallel to the width W1) of
ultrasound elements with each row of ultrasound elements having 128
ultrasound elements. The same may be true for the ultrasound
transducer probe 210 of FIG. 2B. Thus, ultrasound transducer probe
220 of FIG. 2C may include sixteen rows of ultrasound elements with
each row having 256 ultrasound elements. Ultrasound transducer
probe 230 may include an array of 64 rows of ultrasound elements
with each row having 128 ultrasound elements. Ultrasound transducer
probe 240 may include an array of 128 rows of ultrasound elements
with each row having 128 ultrasound elements. Ultrasound transducer
probe 250 may include an array of 64 rows of ultrasound elements
with each row including 256 ultrasound elements. Ultrasound
transducer probe 260 may include 128 rows of ultrasound elements
with each row including 256 ultrasound elements. In any such
embodiment, each ultrasound element may have one or more ultrasonic
transducers. An example is now described in connection with FIGS.
5A and 5B.
[0158] FIG. 5A replicates FIG. 2B with the addition of an enlarged
inset 502. As shown in the inset 502, the ultrasound transducer
probe 210 may include sixteen rows (arranged along the height H1)
of ultrasound elements 504. The ultrasound transducer probe 210 may
include 128 columns of ultrasound elements 504 extending
substantially across the width W1, except not covering the
peripheral regions 212a and 212b. The ultrasound elements 504 are
illustrated as being square, but need not be in all
embodiments.
[0159] In some embodiments, the ultrasound elements (e.g., element
504) may include one or more ultrasonic transducers (also referred
to herein as "transducer cells"). Stated differently, the
ultrasonic transducers may be grouped together to form ultrasound
elements. The concept is illustrated in connection with cluster 506
of ultrasound elements 508a-508d, enlarged in FIG. 5B. Referring to
FIG. 5B, each of the illustrated ultrasound elements 508a-508d
includes a 5.times.5 arrangement of ultrasonic transducers 510,
though other arrangements and other numbers of ultrasonic
transducers may be included in an ultrasound element.
[0160] The ultrasonic transducers 510 may be CMUTs, CUTs, or other
suitable ultrasonic transducers. The ultrasonic transducers 510 are
illustrated as being circular (from a top view) but may have any
suitable geometry. The ultrasonic transducers 510 within an element
504 may be electrically interconnected to operate as a single
element rather than as individually controllable transducers. For
example, the transducers may have one or more common electrodes to
provide unified operation.
[0161] FIG. 5B illustrates a non-limiting example of the spacing of
the ultrasonic transducers 510 and the ultrasound elements
508a-508d. The ultrasonic transducers 510 may have diameters Dl of
approximately 50 microns, between approximately 30 microns and
approximately 70 microns, any value within that range, or any other
suitable diameter. The inset 512, which provides an expanded view
of a portion of ultrasound elements 508b and 508d, shows that the
ultrasound elements may be spaced by a kerf k1 of approximately 10
microns (or any other suitable distance) such that the
center-to-center distance L2 between ultrasonic transducers 510 of
neighboring ultrasound elements 504 may be, for example,
approximately 60 microns. Providing such spacing between ultrasound
elements may allow for running signal lines between the elements
and/or reducing acoustic cross-talk between the ultrasound
elements. However, in some embodiments the ultrasound elements may
not have any additional spacing between them other than the spacing
between individual ultrasonic transducers. As an example, the
spacing between ultrasound transducers 510 within an ultrasound
element may be approximately 2 microns.
[0162] The transducer cell pitch L1 of the ultrasonic transducers
may be approximately 52 microns or any other suitable value. The
length L3 of an ultrasound element of the type illustrated in FIG.
5B may be approximately 258 microns or any other suitable value.
The ultrasound element pitch L4 of neighboring ultrasound elements
may be approximately 268 microns or any other suitable value. It
should be appreciated that the values of the distances shown in
FIG. 5B are non-limiting, and that alternative values for the
element size, transducer size, cell and element pitches, and the
kerf are possible.
[0163] While FIG. 5B illustrates a non-limiting example of a
configuration of an ultrasound element including a 5.times.5
arrangement of ultrasonic transducers, variations are possible. In
some embodiments, the configuration of ultrasonic transducers
defining an ultrasound element may be configurable during
manufacture of the device via choice of a metallization layer. That
is, in some embodiments the ultrasonic transducers may be
microfabricated and selection of a metal layer interconnecting
multiple ultrasonic transducers may be used to define ultrasound
elements of a desired configuration. FIG. 5C illustrates an
example.
[0164] FIG. 5C illustrates a plurality of ultrasonic transducers
514. In this example, the ultrasonic transducers are laid out
substantially in a repeating array of 4.times.4 blocks, which
represents an example of a configuration of ultrasonic transducers
on an ultrasound transducer probe. From this arrangement of
ultrasonic transducers, different ultrasound element configurations
may be created via choice of a metallization layer. Three different
potential ultrasound element configurations are illustrated.
Namely, a 4.times.4 element 516 may be created. Alternatively a
2.times.8 element 518 may be created. As a third option, a
1.times.16 element 520 may be created. Depending on the
configuration chosen, the remaining ultrasonic transducers 514 may
be grouped into similarly configured ultrasound elements. For
example, all the illustrated ultrasonic transducers 514 may be
grouped into 4.times.4 elements, or into 2.times.8 elements, or
into 1.times.16 elements. These differing configurations may be
formed with an underlying arrangement of ultrasonic transducers
(e.g., the arrangement of ultrasonic transducers 514) simply by
patterning a metallization layer appropriately (i.e., in the
illustrated configurations) to serve as a common electrode for the
ultrasonic transducers within each element. Thus, configurability
of ultrasound transducer elements may be provided during the
manufacturing process.
[0165] Such configurability may be utilized to facilitate certain
operating modes. Examples of ultrasound imaging modes which may be
implemented by ultrasound transducer probes according to aspects of
the present application are described further below. A particular
ultrasound element configuration (e.g., one of the configurations
shown in FIG. 5C) may be utilized to facilitate implementation of a
particular imaging mode.
[0166] The physical placement of the circuitry of an ultrasound
transducer probe of the types described herein may also facilitate
the use of the ultrasound transducer probe as a stand-alone
ultrasound transducer probe or as a component of a larger
transducer probe formed by tiling and interconnection of multiple
instances of the transducer probe. As previously described, in some
embodiments the ultrasound transducer probe may include a CMOS
substrate and integrated circuitry. In some embodiments, at least
some circuitry of the ultrasound transducer probe may be positioned
beneath the ultrasonic transducers of the transducer probe. In some
embodiments, some of the integrated circuitry may be positioned on
the peripheral region (or "tab") of the ultrasound transducer
probe. For instance, circuitry which is shared among two or more of
the ultrasonic transducers or ultrasound elements may be positioned
on the peripheral region. Yet, circuitry specific to an ultrasound
element or to a particular ultrasonic transducer may be positioned
beneath that ultrasound element or ultrasonic transducer in some
embodiments. A non-limiting example is shown in FIG. 6.
[0167] Placement of Ultrasonic Transducers and Circuitry
[0168] FIG. 6 illustrates a simplified cross-sectional view of an
ultrasound transducer probe having ultrasonic transducers and
integrated circuitry on a substrate. For instance, FIG. 6 may
represent a cross-section of the ultrasound transducer probe 200 of
FIG. 2A taken into and out of the page of FIG. 2A and along the
width W1. As shown, the substrate 202 may have the plurality of
ultrasonic transducers 204 formed thereon, which may be arranged in
ultrasound elements. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic
transducers 204 may be integrated with (e.g., monolithically
integrated with) the substrate 202. For instance, the substrate 202
may be a CMOS substrate and the ultrasonic transducers 204 may be
CUTs or CMUTs monolithically integrated with the substrate 202.
[0169] As shown, the ultrasound transducer probe of FIG. 6 may
further include integrated circuitry 602 and 604, which may be
considered in some embodiments to form a single integrated circuit.
The integrated circuitry 602 and/or 604 may include circuitry for
controlling operation of the ultrasonic transducers 204 (e.g.,
transmit and receive circuitry) and/or processing of signals
received by the ultrasonic transducers (e.g., decimation and
filtering) and/or for interfacing the ultrasound transducer probe
with an external device (e.g., interfaces 208a and 208b). As shown,
the integrated circuitry 602 may be positioned (or disposed or
placed) beneath the ultrasonic transducers 204. Such a
configuration may conserve chip area, allowing for the ultrasound
transducer probe to be more compact than would be possible if the
integrated circuitry 602 was in-plane with the ultrasonic
transducers 204. The integrated circuitry 602 and the ultrasonic
transducers 204 may be connected in any suitable manner,
non-limiting examples of which are described further below, for
example in connection with FIG. 36. For example, the integrated
circuitry 602 and ultrasonic transducers 204 may be connected by
one or more vias between an ultrasonic transducer and a
metallization layer of the substrate 202.
[0170] In some embodiments, the integrated circuitry 602 may be
arranged into IC cells corresponding to the ultrasonic transducers
or to ultrasound elements of the type described in connection with
FIG. 5A. For example, transmit and/or receive circuitry specific to
a particular ultrasonic transducer 204 or ultrasound element may be
disposed beneath that ultrasonic transducer or element. As a
non-limiting example, the integrated circuitry 602 may include a
low-noise amplifier (LNA) for each ultrasound element of the
ultrasound transducer probe, and each LNA may be positioned beneath
the respective ultrasound element. In some embodiments, a first
transistor of the LNA may be positioned beneath the respective
ultrasound element and the remainder of the LNA positioned
elsewhere (e.g., in a peripheral region). The LNA may be a
transimpedance amplifier (TIA) in some embodiments, and in others
may be a transconductance amplifier, voltage amplifier, or current
amplifier, as non-limiting examples. In some embodiments, a
waveform generator for each ultrasound element may be positioned
beneath the ultrasound element.
[0171] As shown, the integrated circuitry 604 may be positioned on
the peripheral region 206 (indicated as being to the left of the
vertical dashed line). In some embodiments, the integrated
circuitry 604 may include circuitry which is not specific to any
particular transducer of the ultrasound transducer probe. For
example, timing circuitry, I/O circuitry, power conversion
circuitry, or other circuitry which may be shared among multiple
transducers or elements, or shared among all of the transducers may
be positioned on the peripheral region 206 in some embodiments.
Other circuit components may additionally or alternatively be
included on the peripheral region 206. Furthermore, in some
embodiments, all integrated circuitry of the ultrasound transducer
probe may be positioned beneath the ultrasonic transducers, which
may minimize the chip area required for the ultrasound transducer
probe.
[0172] Ultrasound Transducer Probe Circuitry
[0173] The architecture of the ultrasound transducer probe
circuitry may include further features facilitating the use of the
ultrasound transducer probe as a stand-alone probe or as a
component of a larger ultrasound device formed by tiling and
interconnection of multiple instances of the transducer probe. For
example, the circuitry of the transducer probe may include
digitization circuitry (e.g., analog-to-digital converters (ADCs)).
Such digitization circuitry may digitize signals from the
ultrasonic transducers such that the ultrasound transducer probe
may communicate the ultrasound data to an external device in
digital form (e.g., via a USB cable or other interface of the types
described herein). Thus, aspects of the present application provide
digital ultrasound transducer probes. Examples of suitable digital
circuitry are described further below and may include, for example,
analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), multiplexers, re-quantizers,
averaging circuits, and communication interfaces, among others.
[0174] Another feature of the ultrasound transducer probe circuitry
which may facilitate the use of the ultrasound transducer probe as
a stand-alone probe or as a component of a larger ultrasound device
formed by tiling and interconnection of multiple instances of the
transducer probe is the programmable nature of the circuitry. The
use of programmable circuitry may allow the ultrasound transducer
probe to be programmed to work suitably in combination with other
such ultrasound transducer probes (e.g., when two or more
ultrasound transducer probes are tiled to form a larger ultrasound
transducer probe). Also, the use of programmable circuitry may
support various ultrasound imaging modes. In some embodiments, the
programmable circuitry may include a programmable waveform
generator. Non-limiting examples of such waveform generators as
well as other circuitry of an ultrasound transducer probe are
described further below.
[0175] The control circuitry of an ultrasound transducer probe of
the types described herein (e.g., integrated circuitry 306 of
ultrasound transducer probe 300) may include any suitable circuitry
for controlling, at least in part, transmission and/or receiving
functions of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the
transducer probe (e.g., ultrasonic transducers 304). FIG. 7
illustrates a non-limiting example of a suitable configuration for
the circuitry of an ultrasound transducer probe.
[0176] The ultrasound transducer probe 700 includes one or more
transducer arrangements (e.g., arrays) 702, a transmit (TX) control
circuit 704, a receive (RX) circuit 706, a timing and control
circuit 708, a signal conditioning/processing circuit 710, and/or a
power management circuit 718 receiving ground (GND) and voltage
reference (V.sub.IN) signals. Optionally, a HIFU controller (not
shown) may be included if the ultrasound transducer probe is to be
used to provide HIFU. In the embodiment shown, all of the
illustrated elements are formed on a single semiconductor die (or
substrate or chip) 712, though not all embodiments are limited in
this respect. In addition, although the illustrated example shows
both a TX control circuit 704 and an RX circuit 706, in alternative
embodiments only a TX control circuit or only an RX control circuit
may be employed. For example, such embodiments may be employed in a
circumstance in which the ultrasound transducer probe is operated
as a transmission-only device to transmit acoustic signals or a
reception-only device used to receive acoustic signals that have
been transmitted through or reflected by a subject being
ultrasonically imaged, respectively.
[0177] The ultrasound transducer probe 700 further includes a
serial output port 714 which may represent an implementation of an
interface of the types previously described herein (e.g., interface
308a or 308b). While only a single output port 714 is illustrated,
it should be appreciated that multiple output ports may be
provided, consistent with the ultrasound transducer probe 700
having multiple interface types.
[0178] The ultrasound transducer probe 700 may also include a clock
input port 716 to receive and provide a clock signal CLK to the
timing and control circuit 708.
[0179] It should be further appreciated from the components of
ultrasound transducer probe 700 that a complete ultrasound
system-on-a-chip may be provided in accordance with some
embodiments. Not all embodiments are limited to such a
configuration, however.
[0180] In some embodiments, the control circuitry of an ultrasound
transducer probe may be configured to reduce the amount of data to
be sent from the transducer probe to an external device. Reducing
the amount of data may facilitate use of the ultrasound transducer
probe for high end applications, such as high end ultrasound
imaging applications. According to some embodiments, the amount of
data provided externally from the ultrasound transducer probe may
be reduced by including fewer receive signal channels than the
probe contains ultrasound elements, such that multiple ultrasound
elements share a receive signal channel. Thus, the receive circuit
706 and signal conditioning/processing circuit 710 may be shared
among multiple ultrasound elements. A non-limiting example is
illustrated in FIG. 8.
[0181] As shown, the circuitry configuration 800 includes a
plurality of ultrasound elements 802, which may be of the types
previously described herein or any other suitable type. For
example, the ultrasound elements 802 may each be like an ultrasound
element 508a, previously described. A respective transmit
excitation module 804 may be provided for each of the ultrasound
elements 802. However, multiple ultrasound elements 802 share a
single receive module 806. For example, the illustrated ultrasound
elements 802 may each be coupled to the receive module 806 by a
respective switch 808. In this manner, the amount of receive
circuitry implemented on the ultrasound transducer probe may be
reduced and the amount of data provided by the ultrasound
transducer probe to an external device may be more readily reduced
to an amount which can be communicated serially.
[0182] In those embodiments in which multiple ultrasound elements
802 share a single receive module 806, the number of ultrasound
elements 802 sharing the receive module 806 may be any suitable
number to provide a desired reduction in receive circuitry compared
to providing a respective receive module for each ultrasound
element. Referring to FIG. 5A and considering the ultrasound
transducer probe 210 as a non-limiting example, two receive
circuits (e.g., two receive modules 806) may be provided for each
column of ultrasound elements 504, such that eight ultrasound
elements 504 may share a single receive circuit. However, this is a
non-limiting example, as any two or more ultrasound elements may
share a receive circuit in those embodiments in which multiple
ultrasound elements share a receive circuit.
[0183] The switches 808 may be operated in any suitable manner to
provide desired receive functionality. For example, all the
switches 808 may be open, disconnecting the receive module 806 from
the ultrasound elements 802, when the ultrasound elements 802 are
transmitting ultrasound signals. When the ultrasound elements 802
are receiving ultrasound signals, the switches 808 may be
sequentially closed to read signals out of the ultrasound elements
802 sequentially, as a non-limiting example.
[0184] FIG. 9 illustrates a non-limiting example of the control
circuitry of an ultrasound transducer probe of the types described
herein which may be used as a universal building block ultrasound
transducer probe for tiling and interconnection with other such
ultrasound transducer probes. Thus, the ultrasound transducer probe
900 represents a non-limiting detailed implementation of the
circuitry of ultrasound transducer probe 700 of FIG. 7, and
conforms to the configuration of FIG. 8 in that multiple ultrasound
elements share a receive module.
[0185] The ultrasound transducer probe 900 includes a plurality of
ultrasound elements 901 which, for purposes of illustration, are
described as being arranged in columns. For example, the ultrasound
elements 901 may be arranged in columns in the manner previously
described in connection with ultrasound transducer probe 210 as
shown in FIG. 5A. In the non-limiting example of FIG. 9, each
occurrence of "901" represents eight ultrasound elements, such that
each illustrated column includes 16 ultrasound elements.
[0186] Certain circuitry of the ultrasound transducer probe 900 is
associated with respective columns of the ultrasound elements 901
and thus is described as being part of a column module, each of
which is shown as being divided into two half-columns. Other
circuitry is more generally associated with the plurality of
ultrasound elements 901 rather than any particular column of
ultrasound elements and thus may be considered separate from the
column modules.
[0187] The ultrasound transducer probe 900 includes column modules
902a, 902b . . . 902n, where n is the total number of columns of
ultrasound elements. As a non-limiting example, n may be 128, may
be between 50 and 150, any value within that range, or any other
suitable value. The column modules 902a . . . 902n may each include
a subset of the ultrasound elements 901, one or more transmit
circuitry modules 904 and one or more receive circuitry modules
906. In the non-limiting example shown, each column module 902a . .
. 902n may include 16 ultrasound elements 901, two receive
circuitry modules 906 coupled to respective groups of eight
ultrasound elements 901 (i.e., one receive circuitry module per 8
ultrasound elements), and 16 transmit circuitry modules 904 coupled
to respective ultrasound elements 901 (i.e., one transmit circuitry
module 904 per ultrasound element 901). The receive circuitry
modules 906 may be coupled to each ultrasound element 901 of a
respective group of ultrasound elements 901 by a switch in the
manner previously illustrated in FIG. 8, or in any other suitable
manner. The transmit circuitry modules 904 are connected to each
other in a daisy-chain configuration as illustrated by the arrows
962, which may represent a wired connection (e.g., a data line),
and also connected to the excitation parameter loader 914,
described further below.
[0188] The ultrasound transducer probe may operate by loading
transmit parameters defining a sequencing operation into the
transmit circuitry modules of the column circuitry. In some
embodiments, the sequencing information may be pushed to each
ultrasound element of the ultrasound transducer probe by pushing
the sequencing information to the waveform generator associated
with the ultrasound elements. The transmit parameters may be loaded
in a daisy-chain configuration, being passed from one transmit
circuitry module to the next, as indicated by the arrows 962. In
some embodiments, the transmit parameters are loaded into the
transmit circuitry modules when the ultrasound transducer probe is
operating in a receive mode.
[0189] Control of the sequencing of transmit and/or receive
functions performed by the ultrasound transducer probe 900 may be
achieved with the sequence processing unit (SPU) 912, which may be
a microcontroller or other suitable hardware. For example, the SPU
912 may provide a desired sequence of transmission and/or reception
events.
[0190] Various components of the ultrasound transducer probe 900
may operate in conjunction with the SPU 912. For instance, an
excitation parameter loader 914 is included and loads suitable
control parameters into the transmit circuitry modules 904 in
response to a control signal 958 from the SPU 912. A SPU memory 916
is also included to store the sequencing parameters for the SPU
912, including transmit and receive parameters and parameters for
controlling other components (such as data interface components) of
the ultrasound transducer probe. A program management unit (PMU)
917 may handle program loading into the SPU 912, and may be a
dedicated piece of hardware. The PMU 917 and SPU 912 may
communicate data and address information with the SPU memory 916
via control lines 954 and 952, respectively, with the help of a
multiplexer 960. The PMU 917 may also provide a reset signal 956 to
the SPU 912.
[0191] The SPU 912 may run a stored program to configure and
sequence the actions of the ultrasound transducer probe 900. Thus,
the details of an imaging mode of operation may be encoded into a
reconfigurable stored program loaded into the SPU 912. As described
previously, the PMU 917 may control loading of the program into the
SPU 912. The PMU 917 may be directly accessible from the external
device (e.g., a host computer) over the external data links 930 and
932 connected to the interface circuits 926 and 928, respectively.
When commanded by the host computer, the PMU 917 may hold the SPU
912 in reset and take direct control of the SPU memory 916. Program
code from the host computer may then be written directly into the
SPU memory 916. After the program has been transferred, the PMU 917
may return the SPU memory 916 to the SPU 912 and release the SPU
912 from reset. The new program may then begin executing per the
program's reset vector.
[0192] The SPU 912 may be loaded with a suitable program at any
suitable times. In some embodiments, the SPU 912 may be loaded with
a program at power-on and reset of the ultrasound transducer probe
900. In some embodiments, the stored SPU program may also be
replaced during operation of the ultrasound transducer probe 900 as
the host computer or other external device changes imaging modes.
Thus, the SPU 912 may exhibit semi-autonomous operation. That is,
The SPU 912 may operate without a constant stream of configuration
data from the host computer, which may eliminate performance
bottlenecks caused by latency and congestion on the external data
links.
[0193] Various benefits may be realized by operation of the SPU 912
in the manner described. For example, when multiple instances of
the ultrasound transducer probe 900 are tiled and interconnected,
each may run its own unique copy of the SPU program. The programs
may or may not be identical depending on what the host computer is
trying to achieve. In this manner, coordinated operation of the
multiple instances of the repeatable ultrasound building block may
be achieved. Cascaded or common clocks and sync pulses may be used
to coordinate execution between multiple such ultrasound transducer
probes, described further below in connection with FIG. 14.
[0194] The operation of the SPU 912 as described may also provide
flexibility to the ultrasound transducer probe 900. For example,
the ultrasound transducer probe is not restricted to the imaging
modes encoded on the chip during the design phase. Additional
imaging modes can be achieved simply by changing the stored program
for the SPU.
[0195] Moreover, verification of operation of the ultrasound
transducer probe 900 may be relatively simple. That is, accuracy of
operation may be verified by ensuring the SPU 912 can communicate
with any external imaging hardware through the designated
interfaces, without the need to verify the operation of many
hardware state machines.
[0196] The timing of operation of the ultrasound transducer probe
900 may be controlled in any suitable manner. In the example shown,
the ultrasound transducer probe 900 includes a clock and reset
control circuit 910 for controlling the clocking of the circuitry
(e.g., the transmit and receive circuitry modules). For example,
the clock and reset control circuit 910 may receive an input clock
934 (e.g., from an external oscillator), and provide a global clock
936 and/or a global reset signal 938. An external clock 940 may
also be provided as an output.
[0197] The ultrasound transducer probe 900 also includes a
reference voltage/current circuitry module 918 to monitor and
provide reference voltages/currents to the column circuitry. The
reference voltage/current circuitry module 918 may take any
suitable form.
[0198] The ultrasound transducer probe 900 also includes interface
circuitry for communicating electrical signals between the
ultrasound transducer probe and an external device (e.g., a tablet
computer or other host computer). The interface circuitry includes
a first interface circuit 926 and a second interface circuit 928,
which may be any of the types previously described herein or any
other suitable types of interface circuits. An external
communication module 924 may facilitate communication between the
ultrasound transducer probe 900 and any external device, and may be
coupled to the interface circuits 926 and 928. The external
communication module 924 may be hardware and may take any suitable
form.
[0199] The external communication module 924 may also be used in
providing data from the receive circuitry modules 906 to an
external device. As shown by the arrows, each of the receive
circuitry modules 906 may be configured to provide data to the
external communication module 924. Different operating modes for
doing so are possible. In one mode, each of the receive circuitry
modules 906 may provide its data to the external communication
module, i.e., data for each half-column may be separately provided
to the external communication module 924. In another mode, data
from the two half-columns forming a column may be provided to the
external communication module 924 using the adders 942. In
particular, the data from the receive circuitry modules 906 of the
two half-columns of a column may be combined by the adder 942 of
that column and then provided to the external communication module
924. Thus, the adders 942 may optionally be used, and in some
embodiments may be bypassed as shown by the arrows.
[0200] A time gain control (TGC) circuit 922 and TGC RAM 920 may
also be included in the ultrasound transducer probe 900 to provide
TGC functionality. The TGC RAM 920 may store data of a TGC curve to
be implemented by the TGC circuit 922. The TGC circuit 922 may be
coupled to the receive circuitry modules 906 to adjust them
suitably to provide TGC functionality. For instance, a global gain
setting 944 may be provided to all the columns. The slave line 946
may be the slave of the SPU 912. The SPU may send the time gain
control to the TGC circuit 922 which may then send out the TGC
information via the global gain setting 944.
[0201] The TGC circuit 922 and the TGC RAM 920 may exchange data
946 and addresses 948 of the appropriate ultrasound elements 901
may be provided by the TGC circuit 922 to the TGC RAM 920. The TGC
RAM 920 may also receive data from the external communication
module 924 via line 950.
[0202] The transmit circuitry modules and receive circuitry modules
of FIGS. 8 and 9 may take any suitable form and may include
programmable circuitry in some embodiments. Non-limiting examples
of transmit and receive circuitry modules are illustrated in FIG.
10.
[0203] FIG. 10 illustrates a single half column of an ultrasound
transducer probe which may represent an embodiment of a half column
of the ultrasound transducer probe 900. As shown, the half column
1000 includes a plurality (eight in this example) of ultrasound
elements 1002. Each ultrasound element 1002 is coupled to a
respective transmit excitation module including a waveform
generator 1008 and a pulser 1010. The ultrasound elements 1002 are
switchably coupled to a single receive circuitry module via
switches 1014. In some embodiments, each ultrasound element may be
connected to its own receive circuitry module, rather than having
multiple ultrasound elements share a receive circuitry module.
[0204] The waveform generator 1008 may be a programmable waveform
generator. In some embodiments, the waveform generator 1008 may be
configured to produce various kinds of waveforms, including
continuous waves, impulses, coded excitations, and chirp waveforms.
A non-limiting example of a suitable waveform generator is
described further below in connection with FIG. 11. As illustrated,
the waveform generators 1008 may be coupled in a daisy-chain
configuration, such that the transmit parameters (labeled as "TX
Configuration Parameters") controlling operation of the waveform
generators may be passed from one waveform generator to the
next.
[0205] The pulser 1010 may be any suitable type of pulser,
non-limiting examples of which are described further below, for
example in connection with FIG. 12. In some embodiments, the pulser
1010 may be a tri-level pulser. The pulser may be bipolar,
configured to drive positive and negative voltages, although
unipolar pulsers may be used in some embodiments.
[0206] In the example of FIG. 10, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA)
1004 may be coupled to two ultrasound elements 1002 via
transmit/receive switches 1012, which may control whether the
half-column is operating in a transmit mode or a receive mode. The
TIA may be the implemented form of an LNA in some embodiments
because current may be the quantity of interest in the receive
circuitry module. For example, in those embodiments in which the
ultrasound element 1002 is made up of one or more CMUTs or CUTs,
the velocity of the CMUT or CUT membrane may be proportional to the
magnitude of current provided from the CMUT or CUT.
[0207] As illustrated in FIG. 10, the ultrasound elements 1002 may
be coupled to the receive circuitry module by switches 1014. In the
illustrated embodiment, four switches 1014 are provided for the
eight ultrasound elements 1002. However, in some embodiments each
ultrasound element 1002 may be coupled via its own switch to the
receive circuitry module. Any suitable number of ultrasound
elements 1002 may share a switch 1014. In this manner, the
ultrasound elements 1002 may be configured into various
sub-arrays.
[0208] When the ultrasound transducer probe operates in a transmit
mode, the switches 1014 may all be opened, disconnecting the
ultrasound elements 1002 from the receive circuitry module. When
the ultrasound elements 1002 operate in a receive mode, the
switches 1014 may be closed in any suitable sequence to connect the
ultrasound elements 1002 to the receive circuitry module and thus
read a signal out from one or more of the ultrasound elements 1002.
It should be appreciated that switches 1014 provide a degree of
configurability in determining whether the outputs from the
ultrasound elements 1002 are provided by two ultrasound elements at
a time, eight ultrasound elements at a time, or some number in
between.
[0209] The switches 1014 couple the ultrasound elements 1002 to a
multiplexing or summing circuit 1016. The multiplexing or summing
circuit 1016 may couple an ultrasound element 1002 to a variable
gain amplifier (VGA) 1018. In some embodiments, the VGA 1018 may
include a filter, such as a second order low-pass filter. The
output of the VGA 1018 may be coupled to an analog-to-digital
converter (ADC) 1020 to digitize the output signals of the
ultrasound elements 1002.
[0210] The TIAs 1004 and VGA 1018 may be configured in combination
to provide target noise characteristics in view of the configurable
nature of the illustrated circuit. That is, use of the VGA 1018 in
combination with the TIAs 1004 may account for the fact that the
switches 1014 may be operated to alter whether a single ultrasound
element 1002 is providing its output at any given time or whether
all eight ultrasound elements 1002 are providing their outputs
simultaneously. The illustrated configuration of TIAs 1004 and VGA
1018 may also reduce the amount of chip area compared to if a
single TIA or VGA was provided for each ultrasound element. In some
embodiments, the TIAs 1004 (or, more generally, the LNAs) and/or
VGA 1018 may be powered down when not used (e.g., during transmit
modes). By powering down the TIAs 1004 and/or VGAs 1018 during idle
and/or non-transmit modes, overall power consumption of the device
may be reduced.
[0211] The VGA 1018 may function to adjust the gain of the signals
received from the ultrasound elements 1002 to provide a
substantially constant power level over the duration of the receive
time window. For a given excitation event, the signals received by
the ultrasound elements 1002 may generally decrease in magnitude as
time progresses. If the magnitude becomes too low, the signal may
fall below the threshold of the ADC 1020. By providing a time
varying gain, the VGA 1018 may prevent such behavior, thus allowing
for ultrasound analysis of a wider region within a subject. The
time varying gain profile implemented by the VGA 1018 may be
provided by, for example, the TGC circuit 922 of FIG. 9.
[0212] Additional circuitry of the receive circuitry module 1006
may include a low pass filter (LPF) 1022, a multiplexer 1024, a
maximum value detection circuit 1026, an output buffer 1028 and a
re-quantizer 1030. Signals received by the receive circuitry module
from one or more of the ultrasound elements 1002 may be digitized
by the ADC 1020, then filtered by the LPF 1022, and re-quantized by
the re-quantizer 1030. The LPF 1022 may be any suitable low pass
filter for filtering a desired frequency range. In some
embodiments, the LPF 1022 may be a decimating filter, and in some
embodiments a 1/2 band decimating filter. Other types of low pass
filters may alternatively be used.
[0213] The re-quantizer 1030 may reduce the amount of data to be
sent externally from the ultrasound transducer probe. Any suitable
re-quantizer for performing this function may be used. The
re-quantizer may operate to discard data bits not of interest or
not needed to produce ultrasound data of a desired quality. As a
non-limiting example of the operation, the re-quantizer 1030 may
determine a maximum data value from a set of received data. A count
of the number of shifts (e.g., to the left) within the data set to
get to a position at which the two most significant bits differ
from those of the maximum data value may then be made. This
determined count may be provided to an end user of the ultrasound
transducer probe. Then, as the ultrasound data is sent externally
from the ultrasound transducer probe, all the data values may be
shifted (e.g., to the left) by the determined count and the upper N
rounded bits may be sent. N represents an integer and may be set at
a desired level (e.g., the upper five bits, upper seven bits, upper
eight bits, or other suitable value) to achieve sufficient data
reduction. It should be appreciated that this process of
re-quantization is a lossy process, but that by suitable selection
of N the ultrasound data sent externally from the ultrasound
transducer probe may be of sufficiently high quality to enable
desired applications (e.g., imaging applications) of the ultrasound
transducer probe while providing data reduction.
[0214] The output 1032 of the receive circuitry module may
represent the data from the ultrasound elements 1002 and may be
provided, for example, to the external communication module 924 of
FIG. 9. A parallel bus interface 1034 may also be provided and may,
for example, communicate with the TGC circuit 922 of the ultrasound
transducer probe in the manner previously described in connection
with FIG. 9.
[0215] The circuitry of FIG. 10 may sample the signals received by
the ultrasound element 1002 at any suitable frequency. According to
an embodiment, quadrature sampling may be used, which may reduce
the number of samples taken and allow more efficient operation.
[0216] The receive circuitry positioned downstream of the ADC 1020
may also be configured to perform cancellation of signals. For
example, two pulse or three pulse cancellation techniques may be
implemented. Other modes implementing techniques such as addition
or averaging of signals, subtraction of signals, or bit shifting
techniques may be used to facilitate cancellation of signals. Such
cancellation may, for example, facilitate measurement of non-linear
responses and scatterer velocities.
[0217] FIG. 11 illustrates a non-limiting detailed example of the
waveform generator 1008 which, as described, may be programmable in
some embodiments and which may be configured to produce different
kinds of waveforms, including impulses, continuous waves, chirp
waveforms, and coded excitations. As shown, the waveform generator
1008 may include registers 1102, 1104, and 1106. Register 1102 may
store one or more values relating to a desired rate of change of
the frequency of the generated waveform, i.e., the chirp rate, r.
Register 1104 may store one or more values relating to an initial
frequency of the waveform, f.sub.O. Register 1106 may store one or
more values relating to an initial phase of the waveform,
.theta..sub.O. Thus, the waveform generator 1008 may be
programmable, allowing for three degrees of freedom by allowing the
registers 1102, 1104, and 1106 to be set. Additional degrees of
freedom may be provided as described below. Summation circuits 1108
and 1110 may be provided to suitably sum the values from the
registers 1102, 1104, and 1106 as shown. The combination of the
summation block 1108 and register 1104 forms an accumulator, as
does the combination of the summation block 1110 and register 1106.
The values from registers 1104 and 1106 may be loaded into the
respective summation blocks prior to operation. In some
embodiments, the accumulators may also be configured as
decrementers (e.g., to provide a chirp up and a chirp down). In
some embodiments, the accumulated values may be reset with a reset
operation, such as a bit shift or modulo operation.
[0218] The waveform generator 1008 further comprises comparison
circuits 1112 and 1114. The comparison circuit 1112 compares the
phase of the generated waveform to .+-.V.sub.T. Comparison circuit
1114 compares the inverse phase of the generated waveform
(.theta.+180.degree.) to .+-.V.sub.T. The outputs of comparison
circuits 1112 and 1114 are provided to multiplexers 1120 and 1122,
which provide output signals V0 and V1 to the pulser 1010. The
output signals V0 and V1 may be binary signals. V.sub.T represents
the value the sine wave, as represented by the phase, needs to
achieve before triggering the pulser 1010 to transition. V.sub.T
may be tunable, thus representing an additional degree of
freedom.
[0219] The waveform generator 1008 includes multiple components
providing the ability to generate coded excitations (e.g., binary
coded excitations). As shown, a multiplexer 1128, multiplexer 1132
and AND gate 1130 all receive an indication of whether a coded
excitation is to be generated. The multiplexers 1128 and 1132
receive the indication as a control signal and each have one input
configured to receive a zero. The AND gate 1130 receives the
indication as an input.
[0220] A flip bit circuit is also provided, including a flip bit
register 1124 configured to store a flip bit that flips the output
signals V0 and V1, which is provided to an input of a XOR gate 1126
that also receives the output of the multiplexer 1128. Thus, the
flip bit, which may be a static bit, may provide for inversion of
the waveform generator waveform. AND gate 1136 is also provided and
has an inverting input as shown. The output of summation circuit
1110 is provided to one input of the AND gate 1136 and is also
delayed by delay element 1134 and then provided to the inverting
input of the AND gate 1136, the output of which is provided as an
input to the AND gate 1130.
[0221] The illustrated configuration allows for the turning on and
off of various components depending on whether coded excitation is
to be performed. In operation, the registers 1102, 1104, and 1106
are loaded. The waveform generator 1008 receives a clock signal
1116, for example from a clock generation circuit (not shown in
FIG. 11), and a transmit enable signal 1118, for example from a
master timer (not shown in FIG. 11). The transmit enable signal
1118 may be a delayed transmit signal produced by a delay block
1138. The delay block 1138 may provide a coarse and/or fine delay,
and thus may provide an additional degree of freedom. In some
embodiments, the start time of a waveform and the waveform duration
may be set, providing two degrees of freedom.
[0222] If coded excitation is to be performed, values from register
1102 may be fed through the multiplexer 1128 to the XOR gate 1126.
Thus, the register 1102 may serve a dual purpose in providing
values to set a chirp rate when a chirp is generated or to provide
values to generate a binary coded excitation. When a coded
excitation is to be generated, the output of multiplexer 1132 is
the static value zero. The illustrated indication of the 2.sup.nd
most significant bit (MSB) provided to the input of AND gate 1136
indicates the frequency of coding to be performed. Any number of
significant bits may be provided from the output of summation
circuit 1110 to provide a desired frequency of coding, as the
2.sup.nd MSB is an example.
[0223] Whether or not coded excitation is performed, the comparison
circuits 1112 and 1114 may perform the described comparisons to
generate the values of V0 and V1 which may then be provided to the
pulser 1010.
[0224] Thus, it should be appreciated that the waveform generator
1008 is a programmable waveform generator which may be programmed
to produce different kinds of waveforms by setting the registers
1102, 1104, and 1106 and controlling whether coded excitation is to
be provided or not. In this manner, flexibility and versatility of
the ultrasound transducer probe may be provided. High end imaging
modalities may be implemented, taking advantage of the ability to
generate continuous wave excitations, impulse excitations, coded
excitations, and chirp excitations. Moreover, different kinds of
waveforms may be generated for different ultrasound elements of an
ultrasound transducer probe, or at different times of operation. In
some embodiments, the same kind of waveform may be generated by two
different waveform generators of the ultrasound transducer probe,
but with different parameterizations, for example different
amplitudes and/or delays (or any other characteristic of a
waveform).
[0225] The registers of waveform generator 1008 may have any
suitable sizes, as the exact sizes are not limiting of the various
aspects of the present application. In some embodiments, the
register sizes may be between approximately eight and approximately
32 bits, although other sizes may alternatively be implemented.
[0226] In some embodiments, Hadamard coding may be implemented in
connection with waveform generation. Such coding may be used, for
example, to facilitate apodization. The ultrasound transducer probe
may include circuitry to implement the Hadamard coding.
[0227] FIG. 12 illustrates a non-limiting example of the pulser
1010. As previously described, in some embodiments the pulser 1010
may be a tri-level pulser. The pulser 1010 may receive five input
signals, including Vhigh, Vlow, Vm, V0, and V1. As previously
described, V0 and V1 may be provided by the waveform generator
(e.g., waveform generator 1008), and may be binary signals. Vhigh,
Vlow, and Vm may be provided by a voltage source 1202, for example
by the voltage/current circuitry module 918. The pulser may provide
an output signal 1204, which may be a bipolar signal (i.e., having
positive and negative voltages) or a unipolar signal in some
embodiments. FIG. 12 includes a table illustrating the output value
of output signal 1204 as a function of the input values V0 and V1.
The indicated output value "High Z" when V0 and V1 both have a
value of 1 refers to disconnecting the pulser 1010 from the
ultrasound elements (e.g., open-circuiting the connection between
the pulser and the ultrasound element).
[0228] The pulser 1010 may provide any suitable output voltages for
a particular application. In some embodiments, the pulser may
output voltages between approximately 5 V and approximately 20 V
(e.g., 7.5 V), between approximately 20 V and approximately 120 V,
any range or value within such ranges, or any other voltage.
[0229] FIG. 13 illustrates a more detailed example of the
configuration of a subcircuit including a pulser, an ultrasound
element, and an amplifier (e.g., a LNA, such as a TIA) of an
ultrasound transducer probe according to an embodiment of the
present application, as may be used in the configuration of FIG.
10. The subcircuit 1300 includes the pulser 1010, ultrasound
element 1002, and amplifier 1305. The pulser 1010 receives inputs
V0 and V1 as previously described, as well as reference voltages
Vcc and Vss1. The output of the pulser 1010 may be biased by a
signal Vbias1.
[0230] The ultrasound element 1002 includes a first electrode 1302
facing a target subject (e.g., a medical patient). The first
electrode 1302 may be configured to receive a voltage Vbias3. The
ultrasound element 1002 further includes a second electrode 1304
that is distally positioned from the target subject. The second
electrode 1304 may be coupled to the output of the pulser 1010 by
the switch S1. The second electrode 1304 may also be coupled to the
input of the amplifier 1305 by a switch S2. The input of the
amplifier 1305 may also be biased by a bias signal Vbias2. The
amplifier 1305 may receive reference voltages Vdd and Vss2.
[0231] The voltages illustrated in FIG. 13 may take various values
depending on the manner of operation. According to some
embodiments, Vbias1 and Vbias2 may be substantially equal, and have
a value between approximately 30 V and approximately 90 V (e.g., 75
V). Vcc may be equal to Vbias1 plus some positive offset (e.g.,
Vcc=Vbias1+18 V). Vss1 may be equal to Vbias1 minus the offset
(e.g., Vss=Vbias1-18 V). Vdd may be equal to Vbias1 plus a smaller
positive offset than used for Vcc (e.g., Vdd=Vbias1+5 V), while
Vss2 may be equal to Vbias1 minus this smaller offset (e.g.,
Vss2=Vbias1-5 V). Vbias3 may be grounded in this configuration,
which may minimize the risk of electrically shocking the subject.
Voltages other than those described above may be implemented.
[0232] According to some embodiments, Vbias1 and Vbias2 may be
electrically grounded (e.g., set to 0 V). Vbias3 may bias the first
electrode 1302, for example at a value between -30 V and -90 V
(e.g., -75 V). Vcc and Vss1 may be set to approximately 18 V and
-18 V, respectively, and Vdd and Vss2 may be set to approximately 5
V and -5 V, respectively. When Vbias3 is not grounded, the
electrode 1402 may be covered with an insulating material to reduce
the risk of shock. Voltages other than those listed may be
implemented.
[0233] The generation of clock signals within an ultrasound
transducer probe of the types described herein may be performed in
a manner which facilitates tiling and coordinated operation of
multiple instances of the ultrasound transducer probe. When
ultrasound transducer probes are tiled and interconnected for
coordinated operation, one of the ultrasound transducer probes may
serve as a controller or master and the other probe(s) may serve as
controlled probes. For example, considering FIG. 2C as an example,
the ultrasound transducer probe 200 on the left side of the figure
may serve as a master and the ultrasound transducer probe 200 on
the right side of the figure may be controlled, at least with
respect to clocking.
[0234] FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a manner of generating
clock signals within an ultrasound transducer probe, and is generic
to whether the probe is operating as a master probe or a controlled
probe. As shown, the clock generation circuit 1403 may receive an
external clock signal 1404 produced by an oscillator 1401 and
phase-locked loop (PLL) 1402 located external to the ultrasound
transducer probe. The clock signal 1404 may be a high frequency
clock signal (e.g., between approximately 1.5 GHz and approximately
6 GHz, approximately 2.5 GHz, approximately 5 GHz or any other
suitable frequency).
[0235] In the illustrated embodiment, the clock generation circuit
1403 may divide the clock signal 1404 by a desired amount and
distribute the divided signal(s). For example, as shown, the clock
generation circuit 1403 may include a SerDES module 1406, the
output of which may be provided to a first division circuit 1408.
The output of division circuit 1408 may represent a word clock in
some embodiments, such as an internal USB word clock to be used
internally on the ultrasound transducer probe. The clock signal
1404 may also be provided to a second division circuit 1410, the
output of which may be provided to a multiplexer 1412. The
multiplexer 1412 also receives an external digital clock signal
1424, which may represent a digital clock signal provided by
another ultrasound transducer probe, for example when the
illustrated probe is operating as a controlled probe.
[0236] The output of multiplexer 1412 may be used to produce both
an internal digital clock signal 1420 to be used within the
ultrasound probe and an external digital clock signal 1426
representing the output of buffer 1414. The external digital clock
signal 1426 may be provided to another controlled ultrasound
transducer probe as its external digital clock signal 1424.
[0237] The output of multiplexer 1412 may also be provided to a
third division circuit 1427, the output of which may be provided to
a multiplexer 1416. The multiplexer 1416 also receives an external
ADC clock signal 1428 which may be provided by another ultrasound
transducer probe when the illustrated ultrasound transducer probe
is part of a tiled set of ultrasound transducer probes and is
operated as a controlled probe within the set.
[0238] The output of multiplexer 1416 may serve as an internal ADC
clock 1422 for clocking ADCs of the ultrasound transducer probe.
The output of the multiplexer 1416 may also be sent to a buffer
1418 to produce an external ADC clock signal 1430 to be sent to
other controlled ultrasound transducer probes.
[0239] Thus, it should be appreciated that the configuration of
FIG. 14 allows for clocking signals to be sent from one ultrasound
transducer probe to another ultrasound transducer probe in a manner
that allows for coordinated operation. An alternative manner for
providing such coordinate operation is to have a respective PLL on
each ultrasound transducer probe. A lower frequency clock than
clock 1404 may be provided to the PLLs of the ultrasound transducer
probes and each transducer probe may derive its own clock signals
from the distributed lower frequency clock.
[0240] Configurability of ultrasound transducer probes according to
aspects of the present application may also be provided through
configuration of the circuitry for offloading data from the
ultrasound transducer probe to an external device. FIG. 15
illustrates a non-limiting example utilizing a mesh
configuration.
[0241] The mesh 1500 includes receiver channels 1502 and external
links 1504a-1504d. The illustrated embodiment includes 256 receiver
channels, which may be utilized with an ultrasound transducer probe
including 16.times.128 ultrasound elements with the columns of
ultrasound elements being configured such that there are two
receiver channels per column, for example as described in
connection with FIG. 9. The external links 1504a-1504d may
correspond to the previously described interfaces (e.g., interfaces
208a and 208b). In the illustrated example, the external links
1504b-1504d may represent higher speed links, and the external link
1504a may be used as either a higher speed link or a lower speed
link (e.g., a USB link).
[0242] The mesh 1500 is configurable to shift data horizontally
and/or diagonally to send the data external to the ultrasound
transducer probe via one or more of the external links 1504a-1504d.
As shown, the receiver channels 1502 are connected to nodes 1512 by
signal paths 1508, which may include any number of signal lines
(e.g., four as a non-limiting example). Data can be shifted
horizontally from a node 1512 to an external link 1504a-1504d by
signal paths 1506 and/or shifted diagonally to another node 1512 by
signal paths 1510. The signal paths 1506 and 1510 may include any
suitable number of lines. In some embodiments, the signal paths
1506 include four lines and the signal paths 1510 include two
lines. Further detail is illustrated in FIG. 16.
[0243] Two receiver channels 1502 are shown in FIG. 16 as being
connected to respective nodes 1512. Data 1602 may be provided to
shift registers 1604 which output parallel data to sampling RAM
1606, which in turn provides the data to shift registers 1608. The
shift registers 1604 and 1608 may shift the data in the direction
indicated by the arrows in FIG. 16. The signal paths 1508 may
include four signal lines 1610a-1610d, and the data may be output
from the shift registers 1608 to one or more of the signal lines
1610a-1610d to go to the nodes 1512. As previously described in
connection with FIG. 9, in one mode of operation the data from two
half-columns (e.g., the two illustrated receiver channels 1502 in
FIG. 16) may be summed via adders 942. In such operation, the data
may be provided to only one of the two nodes 1512 shown in FIG.
16.
[0244] The signal paths 1510 interconnecting the nodes 1512 to
allow diagonal data shifting may include any suitable number of
lines. In the embodiment illustrated, two lines 1612a and 1612b
make up the signal paths 1510 but alternatives are possible.
[0245] The nodes 1512, which may be shift registers in some
embodiments, may be controllable to offer flexible operation
depending on a desired operating mode. An example is shown in FIG.
17. The data from the receiver channels may be injected to the node
at an input "INJECT." A mode control signal 1702 may be provided to
a MODE input. The nodes 1512 may be controlled by, for example, the
external communication module 924 of FIG. 9, which may provide the
mode control signal 1702. The value of the mode control signal 1702
may dictate whether data is shifted horizontally through the node
1512 via the H IN and H OUT ports or whether the data is shifted
diagonally via the D IN and D OUT ports. Whether horizontal and/or
diagonal shifting is performed may depend on how many of the
external links 1504a-1504d are to be used in operation.
[0246] For example, if all four external links 1504a-1504d are to
be used (e.g., when the amount of data sent externally and frame
rate are to be maximized in some embodiments), diagonal shifting
and the associated data aggregation may be omitted. The data may be
provided by the receiver channels to the respective nodes 1512 and
shifted horizontally along lines 1506 to the respective external
links 1504a-1504d.
[0247] By contrast, if only a single external link 1504a is to be
utilized, whether it be a higher speed link or a lower speed link,
data from the receiver channels coupled to nodes 1512 not on the
horizontal signal path 1506 connected to external link 1504a may be
shifted by the nodes 1512 diagonally to the horizontal signal path
1506 connected to external link 1504a. The data may then be shifted
horizontally to the external link 1504a.
[0248] Two non-limiting examples of modes of operation of the mesh
1500 are shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B. The method 1800 of FIG. 18A
illustrates a manner of operation using only one or two of the
external links 1504a-1504d, rather than all four. At stage 1802,
data is injected from the receiver channels 1502 into the mesh
network. At stage 1804, the data is diagonally shifted and
aggregated by the nodes 1512. At stage 1806 a determination is made
whether the diagonal shifting is complete, or whether diagonal
shifting needs to be repeated to shift the data to the horizontal
signal paths connected to the external links being used. If the
diagonal shifting is not complete, the method returns to stage
1804. If the diagonal shifting is complete, the method proceeds to
stage 1808 to horizontally shift the data down the signal paths
1506 connected to the external links being utilized.
[0249] At stage 1810 a determination is made whether the data has
been offloaded from the ultrasound transducer probe. If not, the
method returns to stage 1808 for further horizontal shifting. If
yes, the method moves to stage 1812 at which a determination is
made whether there is a next frame to be processed. If yes, the
method returns to stage 1802. If not, the method is completed.
[0250] The method 1850 of FIG. 18B may be implemented when all four
external links 1504a-1504d are used. In such an embodiment, no
diagonal shifting from the nodes 1512 may need to be performed. The
method 1850 begins at stage 1852 by injecting data from the
receiver channels into the mesh network. At stage 1854 the data is
horizontally shifted by the nodes 1512. At stage 1856 a
determination is made whether the data has been offloaded from the
ultrasound transducer probe. If not, the method returns to stage
1854. If so, the method proceeds to stage 1858 to determine whether
a next frame needs to be processed. If so, the method returns to
stage 1852. If not, the method is completed.
[0251] Thus, the circuitry configuration for offloading data from
an ultrasound transducer probe may also be configurable. The
described configurability may facilitate the use of the ultrasound
transducer probe in a variety of applications with different
requirements such as data frame rates, amount of data, and speed of
operation.
[0252] Thus, it should be appreciated from the foregoing discussion
that several aspects of the architecture of an ultrasound
transducer probe according to embodiments of the present
application, including probe geometry and circuitry positioning and
programmability, may facilitate use of an ultrasound transducer
probe as either a standalone ultrasound transducer probe or as a
repeatable unit to tile and interconnect with other such ultrasound
transducer probes in a larger ultrasound device. Further features
of the architecture may facilitate operation of the ultrasound
transducer probe(s) for particular applications, as now
described.
[0253] High Voltage Circuitry
[0254] Aspects of the present application provide for integration
of ultrasonic transducers with circuitry on a single substrate,
such as a CMOS substrate or chip. The ultrasonic transducers may be
used for ultrasound imaging applications, HIFU, or both. In some
embodiments, the ultrasonic transducers may operate at voltages
higher than those conventionally used for CMOS integrated
circuitry, e.g., higher than voltages typically supported by deep
and ultra-deep submicron CMOS circuitry. For example, such
ultrasonic transducers may operate at voltages between 20 V and 120
V, between 30 V and 80 V, between 40 V and 60 V, at any voltage
within those ranges, or at any other suitable voltages, depending
on the application. HIFU applications typically utilize higher
voltages than ultrasound imaging applications. In some embodiments,
submicron nodes may refer to nodes that are smaller than
approximately 1 micron. In some embodiments, deep submicron nodes
may refer to nodes that are smaller than approximately 0.3 microns.
In some embodiments, ultra-deep submicron nodes may refer to nodes
that are smaller than approximately 0.1 micron.
[0255] Thus, in those embodiments in which ultrasonic transducers
are integrated with circuitry on a single substrate it may be
desirable for such circuitry to be configured to sustain or
withstand voltages in the ranges listed above, for example by
supporting those higher-than-typical voltages at deep submicron
nodes of the integrated circuitry. The circuitry may be configured
in some embodiments to account for typical limits on the operating
voltage of NMOS and PMOS devices in CMOS circuits arising due to:
(1) gate oxide breakdown, and (2) source and drain (diffusion)
breakdown.
[0256] To increase the diffusion breakdown limit to enable
operation at higher voltages, suitable doping of the source and
drain regions of any field effect transistor (FET) may be
implemented. For example, lowering doping levels in the source and
drain regions may increase the diffusion breakdown voltage. In some
embodiments doping levels below 10.sup.17 dopants/cm.sup.3 may be
implemented.
[0257] With respect to gate oxide breakdown, which can arise as
either gate-to-drain breakdown or gate-to-source breakdown, the
maximum electric field applied across those points should be
reduced. The standard gate-to-drain interface is a Lightly Doped
Drain (LDD). The LDD may, for example, be doped to reduce the
electric field but may be minimized in size to keep device length
large enough to maintain gate control.
[0258] Aspects of the present application provide CMOS circuit
designs suitable for use in ultrasound transducer probes of the
types described herein and which exhibit breakdown voltages greater
than those of conventional CMOS circuits. According to an aspect of
the present application, mask logic operations and device layout
are selected to provide suitable CMOS circuits for sustaining high
voltages at deep submicron nodes.
[0259] CMOS circuitry may, for example, be turned into high-voltage
CMOS circuitry by changing the diffusion scheme. For example, a
mask-aligned source and drain using N-type well and P-type well
regions may be employed. For NMOS implementations, the diffusion
may be changed to an N-type well source/drain configuration with
P-type substrate. For PMOS implementations, the diffusion may be
changed to a P-type well source/drain configuration with N-type
well and deep N-type well features. The sources and drains may be
defined by Shallow Trench Isolation (STI). Alternatively, to
sustain even larger voltages, the source and drain regions may be
defined by gap space and thermal diffusion.
[0260] Examples of CMOS circuit layouts and associated structures
that may be used to implement high-voltage CMOS circuits according
to the various embodiments set forth herein are shown in FIGS.
19-28B. Specifically, FIGS. 19-22 illustrate examples of MOS
transistor configurations which may sustain high voltages. FIGS.
23-28B illustrate examples of circuits which may utilize such
transistors and be employed in ultrasound transducer probes of the
types described herein.
[0261] FIG. 19 shows an example of a high voltage NMOS transistor
and PMOS transistor layout that may be used in some embodiments to
provide high voltages at deep submicron nodes. The illustrated
example includes an epitaxial wafer formed of a P-type substrate
1902 with a P+ doped region 1904, on which the transistors may be
formed. The substrate 1902 may have a low doping (e.g., on the
order of 10.sup.15 dopants/cm.sup.3) while the P+ doped region 1904
may have a higher doping, for example on the order of 10.sup.19
dopants/cm.sup.3. Although an epitaxial wafer is shown, it should
be appreciated that high voltage NMOS and PMOS transistors may be
formed on bulk wafers according to aspects of the present
application, and thus the illustration of an epitaxial wafer is not
limiting. For example, the doped region 1904 may be excluded in
some embodiments.
[0262] The NMOS transistor 1906 includes N+ source and drain
regions 1908 and 1910, respectively. A source contact 1912 contacts
the source region 1908 and a drain contact 1914 contacts the drain
region 1910. An N+ gate 1916 is also included. The source region
1908 is formed in a P-type well (designated "PW") 1918 which has a
P+ contact region 1920 serving as a body contact for the
transistor. The drain region 1910 is formed in an N-type well
(designated "NW") 1922. STI region 1924 is also included in the
N-type well 1922.
[0263] Various features of the illustrated transistor 1906 may
contribute to the ability to sustain high voltages. The
configuration of the N-type well 1922 and the P-type substrate 1902
may contribute to the transistor 1906 having a large junction
breakdown voltage. The N-type well 1922 and the P-type well 1918
may be lightly doped, and thus the region under the gate 1916 may
be a LDD, thereby reducing the electric field between the gate 1916
and the source region 1908 and drain region 1910.
[0264] The PMOS transistor 1926 may also be configured to sustain
high voltages. As shown, the PMOS transistor 1926 includes P+
source and drain regions 1928 and 1930, respectively. A source
contact 1932 contacts the source region 1928 and a drain contact
1934 contacts the drain region 1930. A P+ doped gate 1936 is also
included.
[0265] The source region 1928 is formed in an N-type well 1938
which includes an N+ contact region 1940 serving as a body contact
for the transistor. The drain region 1930 is formed in a P-type
well 1942, in which is also formed STI region 1944. An N-type well
1946 with a N+ contact region 1948 serving as a body contact for
the transistor, as well as a deep N-type well (designated "DNW")
1950, are also included as shown. The deep N-type well 1950
provides isolation from the substrate 1902. A deep well may have a
depth between approximately 1 micron and 8 microns.
[0266] The configuration of P-type well 1942 and N-type well 1938
contribute to the transistor 1926 being able to support high
voltages without experiencing junction breakdown. The N-type well
1938 and the P-type well 1942 may be lightly doped, and thus the
region under the gate 1936 may be a LDD, thereby reducing the
electric field between the gate 1936 and the source region 1928 and
drain region 1930.
[0267] FIG. 20 shows an alternative configuration for an NMOS
transistor and PMOS transistor, both of which can support high
voltages. Compared to the configuration of NMOS transistor 1906,
the NMOS transistor 2002 includes a P-type well 2004 and N-type
well 2006 which do not touch. The P-type well 2004 may be a
thermally diffused well, and likewise the N-type well 2006 may be a
thermally diffused well.
[0268] The spacing indicated by reference number 2010 represents an
example of a mask defining the N+ doping implant region for the
transistor 2002. It should be appreciated that only part of the
gate 2008 is doped N+.
[0269] The PMOS transistor 2012 differs from PMOS transistor 1926
in that the N-type well 2014 and P-type well 2016 do not touch each
other as do the N-type well 1938 and P-type well 1942. Thus, a
portion 2020 of the P-type substrate is disposed between the N-type
well 2014 and the P-type well 2016. The N-type well 2014 may be
thermally diffused. Likewise, the P-type well 2016 may be thermally
diffused.
[0270] The spacing indicated by reference 2022 represents an
example of a mask defining the P+ doping implant region of the
transistor 2012. It should be appreciated that only part of the
gate 2018 is doped P+.
[0271] FIG. 21 shows an example of a high voltage NMOS and PMOS
bidirectional or cascoding layout that may be used in some
embodiments as part of an ultrasound transducer probe. The NMOS
transistor 2102 includes an N-type well 2104 in which is formed STI
region 2106 in addition to the source region 1908. The N-type well
2104 and N-type well 1922 do not touch, but rather are separated by
P-type well 2108. The N-type well 2104 represents a well for the
source region 1908 and also a source gate extension. In this
embodiment, the N-type well 1922 functions as a well for the drain
region 1910 and also as a gate extension. A body contact for the
NMOS transistor 2102 is not explicitly shown but may be included
and may be formed, for example, by a P-type well with a P+
diffusion region.
[0272] The PMOS transistor 2110 includes an N-type well 2114 with a
N+ contact region 2112 adjacent a P-type well 2116 in which is
formed the source region 1928 and STI region 2118. The N+ contact
region 2112 serves as a body contact for the transistor. An N-type
well 2020 separates P-type well 2116 from P-type well 1942. The
P-type well 2116 represents a well for the source region 1928 and
also a gate extension. P-type well 1942 operates as a well for the
drain region 1930 and also as a gate extension.
[0273] The PMOS transistor 2110 also includes an N-type well 2120
and N+ contact region 2122 serving as a body contact for the
transistor.
[0274] FIG. 22 shows an example of an alternative high voltage NMOS
and PMOS bidirectional or cascoding layout that may be used in some
embodiments, and which may sustain higher voltages than those
applicable to the layout of FIG. 21. The NMOS transistor 2202
includes N-type wells 2208 and 2210. An N+ source region 2204 is
formed in the N-type well 2208. An N+ drain region 2206 is formed
in the N-type well 2210. The N-type wells 2208 and 2210 are
separated by a P-type well 2214 and by the P-type substrate 1902.
The P-type well 2214 is optional and may increase the threshold
voltage at which the transistor 2202 breaks down. The N-type wells
2208 and 2210 may be thermally diffused.
[0275] The pattern illustrated by reference 2216 represents an
example of a mask pattern for the N+ implant region. As shown, only
part of the gate 2212 is doped N+.
[0276] A body contact for the NMOS transistor 2202 is not
explicitly shown but may be included and may be formed, for
example, by a P-type well with a P+ diffusion region.
[0277] The PMOS transistor 2218 includes a deep N-type well 2220
formed in the P-type substrate 1902. N-type wells 2222, 2250 and
2238 may be formed in the deep N-type well 2220. An N+ contact
region 2224 serving as a body contact for the transistor may be
formed in the N-type well 2222. Similarly, an N+ contact region
2236 serving as a body contact for the transistor may be formed in
the N-type well 2238. N-type well 2250 represents an optional well
which may increase the threshold voltage at which the transistor
2218 breaks down.
[0278] The transistor 2218 also includes P-type wells 2228 and
2234. A source region 2226 may be formed in the P-type well 2228
and a drain region 2232 may be formed in the P-type well 2234. A
source contact 2230 contacts the source region 2226 and a drain
contact 2240 contacts the drain region 2232. The transistor 2218
also includes P-type wells 2246, 2248, 2252, and 2254.
[0279] The pattern represented by reference 2244 is an example of a
mask pattern for the P+ implant process for forming transistor
2218. As shown, only part of the gate 2242 is doped P+.
[0280] The ultrasound transducer probes described herein may
implement various types of circuit components, at least some of
which may be constructed using the high voltage designs described
in connection with FIGS. 19-22 in those embodiments in which the
ultrasound transducer probes are to operate with high voltages.
Various non-limiting examples are now provided.
[0281] FIG. 23 illustrates an example of a pulser using a high
voltage NMOS and PMOS layout with a high voltage switch that may be
used in some embodiments as an isolation switch. As shown, the
pulser 2300 comprises four transistors 2302, 2304, 2306 and 2308.
Transistors 2302 and 2304 are NMOS transistors and transistors 2306
and 2308 are PMOS transistors, though it should be appreciated that
substantially the same pulser may be constructed by suitably
reversing the polarities. The transistors may have thick gate
oxides as indicated by the heavy black lines representing the
gates, and thus such transistors may be high voltage transistors
capable of withstanding the voltages of the magnitudes previously
described.
[0282] The transistors 2302 and 2306 are connected in series
between a high voltage VH and a reference potential, such as GND.
Likewise, transistors 2304 and 2308 are connected in series between
the voltage VH and the reference potential. Transistors 2302 and
2304 are controlled by respective enable signals Txp and Txn.
[0283] The output Vout of the pulser may be provided to an
electrode of an ultrasound element, for example ultrasound element
1002. A second electrode of the ultrasound element 1002 may be
connected to a reference potential, such as electrical ground. The
ultrasound element 1002 may be connected to a receive circuitry
module 2312 of the types previously described herein via a
transistor switch 2310. The transistor switch 2310 may be a high
voltage transistor switch and may be controlled by an enable signal
rx_en to isolate the receive module 2312 from the high voltage.
[0284] The pulser 2300 may be disabled by setting Txp=0, Txn=1.
Then, the value of Txn may be set to Txn=0. The PMOS transistors
2306 and 2308 will hold state as long as the Vout node stays within
the low voltage rails of the circuit.
[0285] FIGS. 24A and 24B illustrate pulser configurations which may
be used to support voltages two times and four times as great as
the voltage supported by the pulser 2300, respectively. To produce
a pulser which can sustain twice the voltage VH, i.e., to sustain
2VH, the pulser 2402 of FIG. 24A may be used. As shown, the pulser
2402 additionally comprises NMOS transistors 2403 and 2404, as well
as PMOS transistors 2406 and 2408. The gates of transistors 2403
and 2406 are tied together and configured to receive the voltage
VH, as are the gates of transistors 2404 and 2408.
[0286] To produce a pulser which can sustain four times the voltage
VH, i.e., to sustain 4VH, the pulser 2410 shown in FIG. 24B may be
used. The pulser 2410 includes NMOS transistors 2411a and 2411b and
PMOS transistors 2411c and 2411d. In addition, the pulser 2410
comprises NMOS transistors 2412, 2414, 2416, and 2418. None of the
illustrated transistors has a thick gate oxide. Transistors 2412
and 2416 are connected in series with their gates electrically tied
together. Likewise, transistors 2414 and 2418 have their gates
electrically tied together. An ultrasound element 2420 has a first
terminal 2422 connected between transistors 2416 and 2412 and a
second terminal 2424 connected between transistors 2414 and 2418.
The terminals 2422 and 2424 are driven with an H-bridge
circuit.
[0287] FIGS. 25A-25B show examples of pulser circuits that can
sustain high voltages but which do not utilize a receive isolation
switch. The pulser 2502 of FIG. 25A includes an NMOS transistor
2504 having a thick gate oxide and controlled by an input signal
Txn. The drain of the transistor 2504 is coupled to a first
electrode of an ultrasound element 1002 and also to a resistor
2506, which has its other terminal configured to receive the high
voltage VH. The transistor 2504 operates as a high voltage NMOS
pull down device. The resistor 2506 may be defined by an N-type
well in a P-type substrate or by nonsilicided polysilicon on field
oxide (FOX), as non-limiting examples.
[0288] The first electrode of the ultrasound element 1002 in FIG.
25A is connected to the resistor 2506 and may be automatically
biased when the ultrasound element is operated in a receive mode.
The second electrode of the ultrasound element 1002 is directly
connected to receive circuitry module 2312 in FIG. 25A. Such a
configuration may produce lower parasitics than the structures of
FIGS. 24A and 24B. The second electrode of the ultrasound
transducer probe is also connected to ground via an NMOS transistor
2508 actuated with transmit enable signal Tx_en.
[0289] FIG. 25B illustrates another example of a pulser which lacks
a receive isolation switch. The pulser 2510 includes a cascaded
transistor arrangement with transistors 2504 and 2512. The cascaded
arrangement allows the pulser 2510 to sustain twice the voltage
(2VH) sustained by the pulser 2502 of FIG. 25A. Transistor 2512 is
controlled by voltage VH.
[0290] FIG. 26A shows an example of a time-interleaved single slope
ADC that, in some embodiments, may be employed as one or more of
the ADCs of an ultrasound transducer probe referenced herein, for
example as ADC 1020. In the illustrated example, N parallel ADCs
are used for one channel to take alternating samples such that the
sampling frequency of each ADC is much lower than the Nyquist
criterion. Such single slope ADCs may, for example, allow
large-scale sharing of resources, such as bias, ramp, and gray
counter. Such an ADC approach may thus provide a highly scalable,
low power option.
[0291] As shown, the ADC 2600 may include a plurality of sample
& hold circuits 2602a, 2602b, 2602c . . . corresponding to
different receive channels of an ultrasound transducer probe. The
sample and hold circuits may receive a plurality of switching
signals, illustrated collectively as S(*) via a switch signal input
bus. The switching signals may control the sample and hold circuits
to generate multiple (in this case five) samples per receive
channel. The five samples per receive channel may be output from
the sample and hold circuits to a comparator block 2604, which may
also receive a ramp signal from a ramp circuit 2606. The ramp
circuit 2606 is enabled by a signal ramp_en.
[0292] The comparator block 2604 compares the sampled values from
the sample and hold circuits to the ramp signal and generates five
corresponding output values provided in parallel per receive
channel. The outputs of the comparator block 2604 are provided to
latches 2608, which are latched by a counter 2610. The counter 2610
is enabled by a signal count_en. The latches 2608 output digital
signals corresponding to the respective channels, i.e., dout0 for
channel 0, dout1 for channel 1, dout2.sub.2 for channel 2, etc. The
digital signals represent serial digital outputs.
[0293] FIG. 26B illustrates a timing diagram for the signal
ramp_en, count_en, and ramp (the output of the ramp circuit 2606).
As shown, the ramp_en and count_en signals may transition high at
approximately the same time, triggering an increase in the ramp
signal. The count_en signal may then transition low at which time
the ramp signal plateaus. When the ramp_en signal subsequently
transitions low the ramp signal does the same.
[0294] FIG. 27 expands on the sample and hold circuits and
comparators of FIG. 26A. In particular, FIG. 27 illustrates a
portion of a single sample and hold circuit (e.g., sample and hold
circuit 2602a) and the corresponding comparators 2604. The data
from the receive channel (receive channel 0 in this case) is
provided to a set of switches 2702 controlled by respective
switching signals S1-S6. In some embodiments, a total of ten such
switches may be provided to produce the five samples from the
sample and hold circuit 2602a, but only six are shown for
simplicity. The switches 2702 capture samples of the signal from
channel 0 on respective capacitors 2706.
[0295] Switches 2704 may also be provided and are closed in any
specified sequence to provide the values from the capacitors 2706
to an input of the comparators 2708. The comparators 2708 also
receive the ramp signal of FIG. 26A. The outputs of the comparators
2708 correspond to the outputs of comparator block 2604 of FIG.
26A.
[0296] FIG. 28A shows an example of a time shared high speed ADC
that, in some embodiments, may be employed as one or more of the
ADCs referenced herein for use in an ultrasound transducer probe,
for example as ADC 1020. Such an ADC may, for example, employ a
pipelined, successive-approximation-register (SAR), or flash
architecture. Because a single high speed ADC having such an
architecture may be used to sample N channels, such an ADC may
significantly reduce area requirements.
[0297] As shown, the ADC 2802 may be configured to receive data
from a plurality of channels (i.e., receive channels of an
ultrasound transducer probe) including channel 0 and channel 1. A
capacitor C0 may be coupled between a switch SW0, controlled by
signal S5, and ground. Switch SW1, controlled by signal S0, may be
operable to connect the ADC 2802 suitably to receive data from
channel 0.
[0298] Channel 1 may be coupled to the ADC 2802 via switches SW2
and SW3, controlled by signals S5 and S1, respectively. A capacitor
C1 may be coupled between the switch SW2 and a reference voltage,
such as ground. A switch SW4, controlled by signal S3, may also be
provided to connect the input of the ADC 2802 directly to the
reference voltage, e.g., ground.
[0299] FIG. 28B illustrates an exemplary timing diagram for
operation of switches SW0, SW1, SW2, and SW3. A channel period is
defined as having a duration from the beginning of one pulse of the
signal S5 to the beginning of a second pulse. A converter period is
defined as the beginning of one pulse of the signal S0 to the
beginning of the next pulse of signal S1.
[0300] The high voltage CMOS circuitry described herein may be
configured to drive voltages higher than those conventionally
attainable with CMOS circuitry, and to provide high voltages at
deep submicron nodes. In some embodiments, voltages up to
approximately 10 V may be supported or driven, up to approximately
20 V may be supported or driven, up to approximately 30 V may be
supported or driven, up to approximately 40 V may be supported or
driven, up to approximately 50 V may be supported or driven, up to
approximately 60 V may be supported or driven, voltages between 20
V and 120 V may be supported or driven, between 30 V and 80 V,
between 40 V and 60 V, or any other suitable voltage within those
ranges, or other suitable voltages, as non-limiting examples.
[0301] As described previously, embodiments of the present
application provide an ultrasound transducer probe having one or
more pulser circuits. When operating an ultrasound transducer probe
at high voltages, such as those described in connection with FIGS.
19-28B, having a single pulser connected to an ultrasound element
may create difficulties by requiring the pulser to create very
large voltage swings. For instance, the pulser configuration of
FIG. 10 may require the pulser to create very large voltage swings
if the ultrasonic transducers are to be operated at high voltages.
To address this potential drawback of the circuit configuration of
FIG. 10, an alternative configuration utilizing two pulsers per
ultrasound element may be used in some embodiments. FIG. 29A
illustrates an example.
[0302] As shown, the circuit 2900 includes the ultrasound element
1002, the waveform generator 1008 and two pulsers 2902a and 2902b.
Pulser 2902a is coupled to a first electrode of the ultrasound
element 1002 and pulser 2902b is coupled to a second electrode of
the ultrasound element 1002. An inverting amplifier 2906 is coupled
to the input of the pulser 2902b to provide an inverted version of
the waveform from waveform generator 1008. The circuit 2900 also
includes a TIA 2904 and impedances Z1 and Z2. A T/R switch 2908
couples the TIA 2904 to the ultrasound element 1002.
[0303] By utilizing the pulser configuration of FIG. 29A, each of
the two pulsers need only generate half the voltage swing that
would be generated by the pulser in FIG. 10. Such a configuration
may be advantageous in those embodiments in which the ultrasonic
transducers of the ultrasound transducer probe are not electrically
tied together (e.g., do not all share a common electrode). The
configuration of FIG. 29A may be less advantageous in those
embodiments in which the ultrasonic transducers of the ultrasound
transducer probe are electrically tied together and biased together
(e.g., when a common electrode, such as a top electrode, of the
ultrasonic transducers is used to bias the transducers
together).
[0304] The operation of the pulsers 2902a and 2902b can be further
understood by reference to FIG. 29B. FIG. 29B illustrates the
operation of signals Vout1 and Vout2, corresponding to the output
voltages of pulsers 2902a and 2902b, respectively, as a function of
time. As shown, each of the two pulsers need exhibit approximately
half the voltage swing between Vout1 and Vout2 to effectively
create a voltage swing from Vout1 to Vout2. The pulsers 2902a and
2902b may be tri-level pulsers of the types previously described
herein, and thus each may exhibit three voltage levels in the
output signal as shown in FIG. 29B.
[0305] Operating Modes
[0306] According to some aspects of the present application, the
ultrasound transducer probes described herein may be used for
ultrasound imaging, and when so used may be configured to operate
in various imaging modes. Some embodiments provide for 2D and 3D
imaging. When 2D ultrasound imaging is performed, alternative
manners may be utilized. According to one manner of 2D operation,
the ultrasound transducer probe may collect a time domain signal
echo across one dimension of the arrangement of ultrasonic
transducers. An alternative method may involve collecting
ultrasound intensity data across two dimensions of the arrangement
of ultrasonic transducers, but not measuring a time dimension. In
some embodiments, a spectral domain signal may be used. In some
embodiments, tomographic imaging may be utilized. The mode may be
selected by a user in some embodiments. Non-limiting examples of
imaging modes which may be utilized are now described.
[0307] One example of an imaging mode which may be exhibited is
B-mode imaging. Plane wave imaging, virtual source imaging,
all-pairs imaging, and focused beam imaging are all examples of
B-mode imaging which may be implemented according to various
embodiments.
[0308] Another imaging mode which may be used is M-mode imaging.
This includes single line and multi-line M-mode imaging according
to some embodiments.
[0309] Doppler imaging may also be performed with the ultrasound
transducer probes according to various embodiments. Pulsed and
vector flow Doppler imaging are examples of Doppler modes which may
be implemented.
[0310] Shear wave imaging is another example of an imaging mode
which may be implemented.
[0311] Harmonic imaging is another example of an imaging mode which
may be implemented. Pulse inversion, 3-pulse inversion, and coded
excitation operating schemes are enhancements to harmonic imaging
which may also be implemented.
[0312] Verberation flow imaging (V-flow) may also be used in some
embodiments.
[0313] The ability to exhibit such varied imaging modes may be due
at least in part to the configurability of the ultrasound
transducer probes. The transmit operation of an ultrasound
transducer probe of the types described herein may be flexible. For
example, the transmit operation may be controlled by parameters
which are selectable, such as the parameters of a programmable
waveform generator of the types described herein. For instance, the
delay, amplitude, length, initial phase, initial frequency, and/or
ramp rate of a desired excitation may be programmed into a waveform
generator. In some embodiments, the parameterization may be
substantially or fully arbitrary. Control over the start and stop
of transmit operations may be provided in any suitable manner, such
as with an enable signal. The transmit voltages may be
adjustable.
[0314] The receive operation of ultrasound transducer probes of the
types described herein may also be flexible, exhibiting significant
configurability. For example, as described in connection with FIGS.
9 and 10, the manner in which signals are read out from ultrasound
elements may include electrically tying multiple ultrasound
elements to common receive circuitry, or alternatively each
ultrasound element may have its own dedicated receive circuitry.
Thus, the amount of ultrasound data generated by an ultrasound
transducer probe may be selectable.
[0315] The use of external links for communicating between an
ultrasound transducer probe and an external device may be
configurable according to aspects of the present application and
may be selected based on an intended imaging mode. For example, the
maximum number of available links may be utilized in embodiments in
which it is desirable to maximize data output from the ultrasound
transducer probe, and may allow for large quantities of data to be
offloaded from the ultrasound transducer probe without averaging or
other data reduction processing. Alternatively, fewer than the
maximum number of links available may be utilized in embodiments in
which maximum data is not needed. For example, half the links or
only a single link may be utilized. In such embodiments, averaging
of data may be implemented to facilitate offloading of a sufficient
amount of data to support desired end user applications, such as
ultrasound imaging.
[0316] The data format processed by the ultrasound transducer probe
may also be configurable. For example, full waveforms may be
processed in some embodiments. Alternatively, peak values may be
processed, which may allow for a reduction in the data processing
requirements of the ultrasound transducer probe.
[0317] Various additional parameters of the ultrasound transducer
probe operation may be configurable. Such parameters include the
receive window, channel subselection, the TGC configuration, data
reduction parameters such as averaging or data dropping parameters,
pulse repetition intervals, event sequencing intervals, quantizer
configurations, and filter taps, among others.
[0318] Thus, it should be appreciated that the architecture of the
ultrasound transducer probe in terms of the ultrasound transducers
and control circuitry may facilitate use of the ultrasound
transducer probe in a variety of modes of operation for a variety
of applications. Accordingly, ultrasound transducer probes
according to one or more aspects of the present application may
represent sophisticated and versatile ultrasound devices
configurable to create an ultrasound transducer probe geometry of
choice.
[0319] Moreover, as has been described previously, for example in
connection with FIGS. 2A-2G, ultrasound transducer probes serving
as repeatable units that are capable of being tiled are provided.
Such transducer probes may be fabricated, in some embodiments, by
tiling and dicing together multiple instances of an ultrasound
transducer probe to create an ultrasound transducer probe capable
of exhibiting desired imaging functionality. In some embodiments,
individual instances of an ultrasound transducer probe may be diced
and subsequently tiled and interconnected suitably to form an
ultrasound transducer probe with desired imaging functionality.
Therefore, flexibility in the ultrasound device achieved and the
imaging capabilities of that ultrasound device are provided by the
simple and flexible manner of fabricating multiple instances of a
repeatable ultrasound unit.
[0320] Transducer
[0321] The ultrasonic transducers of ultrasound transducer probes
of the types described herein may be any suitable ultrasonic
transducers, and in some embodiments may have features which
facilitate creation of stand-alone ultrasound transducer probes
exhibiting a high degree of integration. In some embodiments, the
ultrasonic transducers may be compatible with a CMOS substrate,
thus allowing them to be monolithically formed on a CMOS substrate
with CMOS ICs. In this manner, an integrated device (e.g., an
ultrasound system-on-a-chip) may be formed.
[0322] In some embodiments, the ultrasonic transducers may be CMOS
ultrasonic transducers (CUTs). A CUT may, for example, include a
cavity formed in a CMOS wafer, with a membrane (or diaphragm)
overlying the cavity, and in some embodiments sealing the cavity.
Electrodes may be provided to create a transducer cell from the
covered cavity structure. The CMOS wafer may include integrated
circuitry to which the transducer cell may be connected. The
transducer cell and CMOS wafer may be monolithically integrated,
thus forming an integrated ultrasonic transducer cell and IC on a
single substrate (the CMOS wafer).
[0323] CUTs are not the only type of ultrasonic transducer which
may allow for integration of the transducer with an IC. In some
embodiments, the ultrasonic transducers may be capacitive
micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs).
[0324] Not all embodiments are limited to employing CUTs or CMUTs
in an ultrasound transducer probe of the types described herein.
Some aspects of the present application apply to ultrasound
transducer probes irrespective of the type of ultrasonic transducer
implemented.
[0325] According to an aspect of the present application,
ultrasonic transducers are formed above a thick top metal layer of
a CMOS substrate. Ultrasound transducer probes according to aspects
of the present application may include an arrangement of ultrasonic
transducers on a CMOS substrate. The arrangement of ultrasonic
transducers may span a distance which is relatively long in terms
of signal transmission properties, which may run a risk of
exhibiting relatively high impedances, and thus performance
degradation. The problem may be enhanced if the ultrasound
transducer probe comprises a CMOS substrate which is wider than it
is tall (e.g., a wide aspect ratio substrate), which, as previously
described, may be used in some embodiments. Use of a thick top
metal layer of the CMOS substrate for power and ground signal
distribution may at least partially mitigate the difficulties
associated with long signal paths on the CMOS substrate. A metal
layer may be "thick" when having a thickness greater than
approximately 0.5 microns, for example having a thickness between
approximately 0.5 microns and approximately 10 microns. A thick top
metal layer may be referred to in some embodiments as an
ultra-thick redistribution layer.
[0326] When a thick top metal layer of the CMOS substrate is
reserved for power and ground signal distribution, an ultrasonic
transducer formed above such a thick top metal layer may be
connected to the thick top metal layer using vias or other suitable
structures. CUTs and CMUTs often employ two or more electrodes.
Connection of the electrode(s) of the ultrasonic transducer to the
thick top metal layer may be made with one or more vias.
[0327] While some aspects of the present application implementing a
metal layer for power and ground signal distribution utilize a
thick top metal layer for such distribution, not all aspects are
limited in this respect. For example, a top metal layer which is
not necessarily thick may be employed in some embodiments.
Moreover, the metal layer need not be the top metal layer in all
embodiments. Various examples of ultrasonic transducers according
to aspects of the present application are now illustrated and
described. Each is described as including a top metal layer, which
may be thick in any of the illustrated embodiments.
[0328] Transducer Example 1
[0329] Several examples of ultrasonic transducers integrated with a
CMOS substrate and formed above a (top) metal layer of the CMOS
substrate are now described. FIG. 30A illustrates a first example.
The device 3000 includes a CMOS substrate 3002 on which is formed
an ultrasonic transducer (e.g., a CUT) 3004.
[0330] The CMOS substrate 3002 represents a non-limiting example of
a suitable CMOS substrate, and it should be appreciated that
alternative CMOS substrates may be utilized. In the example of FIG.
30A, the CMOS substrate 3002 includes a semiconductor substrate
3006, which may be a silicon substrate (e.g., a bulk silicon
wafer), or any other suitable semiconductor substrate. An
insulating layer 3008, for example of SiO.sub.2, is on the
semiconductor substrate 3006. A conductive layer 3010 is on the
insulating layer 3008 and covered by a second insulating layer
3012. The conductive layer 3010 may be a metallization layer in
some embodiments, and may be patterned as shown to form a plurality
of signal lines. For example, the conductive layer 3010 may be
formed of aluminum with bottom and top liner layers. The insulating
layer 3012 may be SiO.sub.2 or any other suitable insulating
material.
[0331] A top metal layer 3014 is included with the CMOS substrate
3002, having a thickness T.sub.m. The top metal layer 3014 may be a
thick metal layer in some embodiments, and in such embodiments the
thickness T.sub.m may be between approximately 0.5 microns and
approximately 10 microns, between approximately 2 microns and
approximately 5 microns, any range or value within such ranges, or
any other suitable value for providing decreased resistivity to
facilitate functioning of the top metal layer 3014 as a signal
distribution layer. The top metal layer 3014 may be patterned to
create an island 3017, described further below. In addition, stress
relieving openings or cuts may optionally be formed in the top
metal layer 3014.
[0332] In some embodiments, the top metal layer 3014 may have liner
layers above and below, such as liners 3013a and 3013b. For
example, the top metal layer 3014 may be formed of aluminum with a
TiN liner above and below. In some embodiments, a liner may be a
multi-layer structure, for example being formed of two or more
metals. As a non-limiting example, liner 3013b may include a first
layer of titanium nitride (TiN) and a second layer of silicon
oxynitride (SiON). SiON may be used in some embodiments as a top
layer of a metallization layer since it may serve as an
anti-reflective coating for photolithography purposes. Any liner
included below and/or above the top metal layer may be a thin
film.
[0333] The CMOS substrate 3002 further comprises an insulating
layer 3016. The insulating layer 3016 may be formed of any suitable
insulating material, a non-limiting example of which is
SiO.sub.2.
[0334] The ultrasonic transducer 3004 includes several components.
A membrane 3018 overlies a cavity 3020 in the CMOS substrate 3002.
In some embodiments, the membrane 3018 seals the cavity 3020, for
instance providing a vacuum. A conductive layer 3030 formed of any
suitable conductive material to provide electrical connection to a
bottom side of the membrane 3018 is also provided. As a
non-limiting example, the conductive layer 3030 may be formed of a
thin film, for example being formed of TiN.
[0335] The cavity 3020 overlies an electrode 3022 which may be
considered a bottom electrode of the ultrasonic transducer 3004.
The electrode 3022 may be formed of any suitable conductive
material. In some embodiments, the electrode 3022 may be formed of
a thin film material, such as TiN. In some embodiments, TiN may be
used as an etch stop for etching the cavity 3020 in the CMOS
substrate 3002. Alternatives are possible.
[0336] The sidewalls of the cavity 3020 are formed by conductive
spacers 3024, which may perform various functions. For example, the
conductive spacers 3024 may at least partially define the depth of
the cavity 3020. The conductive spacers, sometimes in combination
with other structures, may electrically connect the membrane 3018
to the top metal layer 3014. The conductive spacers 3024 may be
formed of any suitable conductive material. In some embodiments,
the conductive spacers 3024 may be formed of TiN, although other
conductive materials may alternatively be used.
[0337] The device 3000 also includes multiple vias, disposed in the
insulating layer 3016. Three such vias 3026a-3026c are illustrated.
The vias 3026a-3026c may be formed of any suitable conductive
material, a non-limiting example of which is tungsten (W). The vias
3026a and 3026c may provide electrical connection between the top
metal layer 3014 and conductive contacts 3028a-3028b, respectively,
on which the conductive spacers 3024 are disposed. The conductive
contacts 3028a-3028b may be formed of any suitable conductive
material, a non-limiting example of which is TiN. The via 3026b
electrically connects the electrode 3022 to the island 3017 of the
top metal layer 3014.
[0338] As shown, additional insulating layers 3032 and 3034 are
included in the device 3000. The insulating layer 3034 may
substantially cover the bottom electrode 3022 and may provide
electrical insulation. Insulating layers 3032 and 3034 may be
formed of any suitable insulating material, a non-limiting example
of which is SiO.sub.2.
[0339] Additional structures of the device 3000 may provide
electrical connection between the substrate 3006 and the electrode
3022. For instance, vias 3007 and 3009 may connect the electrode
3022 to the substrate 3006 by way of the conductive layer 3010. The
vias 3007 and 3009 may be formed of any suitable conductive
materials, a non-limiting example of which is tungsten.
[0340] The device 3000 may have any suitable dimensions. For
example, the cavity 3020 may have a depth DC between approximately
0.05 microns and approximately 10 microns, between approximately
0.1 microns and approximately 5 microns, between approximately 0.5
microns and approximately 1.5 microns, any depth or range of depths
in between, or any other suitable depth.
[0341] The width WC of the cavity 3020 may be between approximately
5 microns and approximately 500 microns, between approximately 20
microns and approximately 100 microns, may be approximately 30
microns, approximately 40 microns, approximately 50 microns, any
width or range of widths in between, or any other suitable width.
In some embodiments, the width may be selected to maximize the void
fraction, i.e., the amount of area consumed by the cavity compared
to the amount of area consumed by surrounding structures. The width
dimension may also be used to identify the aperture size of the
cavity, and thus the cavities may have apertures of any of the
values described above or any other suitable values.
[0342] It can be seen from FIG. 30A that the electrode 3022 may not
be as wide as the cavity 3020. Such a configuration may be
desirable when the sidewalls of the cavity are formed of a
conductive material, to prevent electrical breakdown between the
bottom electrode 3022 of the ultrasonic transducer and the cavity
sidewalls. However, not all embodiments are limited in this
respect, as ultrasonic transducers usable in ultrasound transducer
probes of the present application may have bottom electrodes that
are as wide as, or wider than, the cavity.
[0343] The membrane thickness T1 (e.g., as measured in the
direction generally parallel to the depth DC) may be less than 100
microns, less than 50 microns, less than 40 microns, less than 30
microns, less than 20 microns, less than 10 microns, less than 5
microns, less than 1 micron, less than 0.1 microns, any thickness
or range of thicknesses in between, or any other suitable
thickness. The thickness may be selected in some embodiments based
on a desired acoustic behavior of the membrane, such as a desired
resonance frequency of the membrane.
[0344] In some embodiments, the cavity dimensions and/or the
membrane thickness of any membrane overlying the cavity may impact
the frequency behavior of the membrane, and thus may be selected to
provide a desired frequency behavior (e.g., a desired resonance
frequency of the membrane). For example, it may be desired in some
embodiments to have an ultrasonic transducer with a center
resonance frequency of between approximately 20 kHz and
approximately 200 MHz, between approximately 1 MHz and
approximately 10 MHz, between approximately 2 MHz and approximately
5 MHz, between approximately 50 kHz and approximately 200 kHz, of
approximately 2.5 MHz, approximately 4 MHz, any frequency or range
of frequencies in between, or any other suitable frequency. For
example, it may be desired to use the devices in air, gas, water,
or other environments, for example for medical imaging, materials
analysis, or for other reasons for which various frequencies of
operation may be desired. The dimensions of the cavity and/or
membrane may be selected accordingly.
[0345] Also, it should be appreciated that the cavity 3020, and
more generally the cavities of any embodiments described herein,
may have various shapes, and that when multiple cavities are formed
not all cavities need have the same shape or size. For example,
when considering a top view of the cavity 3020, the cavity may have
a square aperture, a circular aperture (e.g., as in FIG. 5B), a
hexagonal aperture, an octagonal aperture, or any other suitable
shape.
[0346] It should be appreciated from FIG. 30A that an ultrasonic
transducer may be integrated with a CMOS substrate and that
electrical contact may be made between upper and lower electrodes
of the ultrasonic transducer and a top metal layer of the CMOS
substrate with one or more vias. Also, the top metal layer (e.g.,
top metal layer 3014) of the CMOS substrate may be suitably
patterned or segmented as shown to provide electrical isolation
between the bottom electrode 3022 and the conductive layer 3030 of
the ultrasonic transducer. For example, the island 3017 may provide
electrical isolation between the electrode 3022 and the conductive
layer 3030.
[0347] As previously described, the conductive layer 3010 may be
patterned to form a plurality of signal lines. The top metal layer
3014 may, in some embodiments, shield the signals lines from the
ultrasonic transducer 3004. Such a configuration may facilitate
transmission of signals on the CMOS substrate 3002.
[0348] It should be appreciated that device 3000 illustrates an
example of a device including embedded conductive structures in a
CMOS substrate providing electrical connection to the membrane of
an ultrasonic transducer. For example, vias 3026a-3026c are
embedded in the CMOS substrate and form at least part of respective
electrical paths from conductive layers of the CMOS substrate 3002
to electrodes of the ultrasonic transducer 3004.
[0349] Transducer Fabrication Example
[0350] Various processes may be used to form devices including
ultrasonic transducers integrated with a CMOS substrate of the
types described herein. FIG. 37 is a flow chart illustrating an
example. The method 3700 includes stage 3702 at which a CMOS wafer
is processed to form a top metal layer, which optionally may be a
thick top metal layer.
[0351] At stage 3704, the CMOS wafer may be processed to form one
or more vias extending above the top metal layer. Such vias may be
used to provide electrical connection between the top metal layer
and an electrode of a subsequently formed ultrasonic
transducer.
[0352] At stage 3706, the CMOS wafer may be prepared for wafer
bonding with a transfer wafer. Such preparation may involve, for
example, planarization and surface treatment.
[0353] At stage 3708, the CMOS wafer and the transfer wafer may be
bonded using a low temperature bonding process. The transfer wafer
may include one or more layers forming a membrane of an ultrasonic
transducer of the bonded device. In some embodiments, the bonding
may seal one or more cavities in the CMOS wafer.
[0354] At stage 3710, the transfer wafer may be thinned from the
backside to leave the desired membrane.
[0355] It should be appreciated that variations on the method 3700
are possible. For example, stage 3704 may be performed after wafer
bonding in some embodiments.
[0356] A process for fabricating the device 3000 consistent with
the method 3700 is now illustrated and described, beginning with
FIG. 30B. It will be appreciated that various processing steps may
be performed prior to the stage illustrated in FIG. 30B to arrive
at the illustrated structure. For instance, insulating layer 3008
may be formed on the semiconductor substrate 3006 and then
patterned to allow formation of via 3007, for example by deposition
of tungsten. Conductive layer 3010 may then be formed and
patterned. According to an embodiment, the conductive layer 3010
may be formed of aluminum and may include bottom and top liner
layers, for example of TiN, SiON, both, or any other suitable liner
material. According to an embodiment, a layer of TiN and a layer of
SiON may be formed on the top surface of conductive layer 3010. The
conductive layer 3010 may be patterned as shown, for example to
form a plurality of wiring lines.
[0357] Subsequently, insulating layer 3012 may be formed, for
example by suitable deposition and planarization. The insulating
layer 3012 may then be patterned and filled with conductive
material (e.g., tungsten) to form via 3009. An etch back step or
other planarization step may then be performed to provide a
substantially planar upper surface.
[0358] The liner 3013a may then be deposited, followed by
deposition of the top metal layer 3014. The liner 3013b may then be
deposited.
[0359] As shown in FIG. 30B, the top metal layer 3014 may then be
patterned to form a plurality of openings 3015, thus defining the
island or other segment 3017. The patterning may involve any
suitable etch technique for a (thick) metal layer, and as shown may
involve etching through the entire thickness of the top metal layer
3014. The island 3017 may be electrically isolated from other
segments of the top metal layer 3014 so that the island 3017 may be
used to make contact to an electrode of the ultrasonic transducer
3004 as shown in FIG. 30A.
[0360] Referring to FIG. 30C, the insulating layer 3016 may then be
formed by depositing an insulating material to fill the openings
3015, for example using a high density plasma (HDP) deposition
(e.g., HDP deposition of SiO.sub.2). The insulating material may
then be planarized and patterned to form openings which may be
filled with a conductive material to create vias 3026a-3026c. The
conductive material deposited to fill the openings in the
insulating layer 3016 to form the vias 3026a-3026c may be deposited
conformally, for example using chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
[0361] The conductive material may then be etched back to have an
upper surface substantially even with an upper surface of the
insulating layer 3016, thus completing the structure shown in FIG.
30C.
[0362] As shown in FIG. 30D, a conductive layer may be deposited
and patterned to form the bottom electrode 3022 and the conductive
contacts 3028a-3028b. Any suitable deposition or formation
technique may be used to form the conductive layer, and any
suitable etching technique may be used to pattern the conductive
layer to achieve the structure illustrated in FIG. 30D. In some
embodiments, the conductive material used to form electrode 3022
and conductive contacts 3028a-3028b is a material suitable for thin
film deposition, such as TiN. The illustrated manner of forming the
bottom electrode 3022 and conductive contacts 3028a-3028b from a
common conductive layer may represent a valuable process
simplification in some embodiments compared to if separate
depositions were used to form those structures.
[0363] Next, referring to FIG. 30E, insulating layer 3032 may be
formed, for example by depositing an insulating material
conformally on the structure of FIG. 30D, to cover the bottom
electrode 3022 and conductive contacts 3028a-3028b. Then, the
insulating layer 3032 may be etched back using any suitable etch
technique or planarization technique, for example chemical
mechanical polishing (CMP), such that the insulating layer 3032 has
an upper surface below the upper surfaces of the electrode 3022 and
conductive contacts 3028a-3028b, as shown. As previously described,
the insulating layer 3032 may be formed of any suitable insulating
material, a non-limiting example of which is SiO.sub.2.
[0364] Then, insulating layer 3034 may be deposited conformally and
etched back to provide a desired thickness. The insulating layer
3034 may cover the bottom electrode 3022 and conductive contacts
3028a-3028b at this stage of processing. The thickness of
insulating layer 3034 may assume any suitable value for covering
the bottom electrode 3022 to provide electrical insulation between
the bottom electrode 3022 and the conductive layer 3030 of FIG. 30A
in the event that the conductive layer 3030 comes into contact with
the bottom electrode 3022.
[0365] Referring now to FIG. 30F, openings may be formed in the
insulating layer 3034 above the conductive contacts 3028a-3028b
using any suitable patterning technique. The conductive spacers
3024 may then be formed by depositing a conductive material,
planarizing, and patterning the conductive material, as an example.
The conductive spacers 3024 may be formed to have a desired
thickness for the cavity 3020 shown in FIG. 30A.
[0366] Surface treatment may then be performed as appropriate to
prepare the CMOS substrate for bonding to a transfer wafer.
Referring to FIG. 30G, a wafer 3042 may be bonded with the CMOS
substrate 3002 to cover, and in some instances seal, the cavity
3020. The wafer 3042 may be considered a second wafer, in addition
to the CMOS wafer, and may also be referred to as a transfer wafer
or handle wafer in some embodiments since it may, for example,
transfer a membrane to the CMOS substrate. It should be
appreciated, therefore, that fabrication of ultrasonic transducers
may involve wafer level processing, including wafer level bonding,
which may facilitate cost effective fabrication of large numbers of
the ultrasonic transducers.
[0367] The wafer 3042 may include the membrane 3018 and conductive
layer 3030, and thus may function as a transfer wafer to transfer
the membrane 3018 to the CMOS substrate 3002. The wafer 3042 may
additionally include a substrate or other base layer 3044 and an
insulating layer 3046.
[0368] Non-limiting examples of suitable transfer wafers are
described further below. In general, the second wafer may be any
suitable type of wafer, such as a bulk silicon wafer, a
silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer, or an engineered substrate
including a polysilicon or amorphous silicon layer (e.g., membrane
3018) with an insulating layer between a single crystal silicon
layer (e.g., substrate 3044) and the polysilicon or amorphous
silicon layer. For example, the substrate 3044 may be a bulk
silicon substrate and the insulating layer 3046 may be SiO.sub.2.
The insulating layer 3046 may represent a buried oxide (BOX) layer.
The membrane 3018 may be single crystal silicon, polysilicon, or
amorphous silicon, as non-limiting examples, and in some
embodiments may be doped to provide desired conductivity. In some
embodiments, the membrane 3018 may be degeneratively doped, and in
some embodiments may be P+ doped. As previously described, the
conductive layer 3030, when included, may be formed of TiN as a
non-limiting example.
[0369] The bonding process used for bonding the CMOS substrate 3002
and the wafer 3042 may be a low temperature bonding process
suitable to preserve structures such as silicon circuitry on the
CMOS substrate. For example, the bonding may not exceed 450.degree.
C. In some embodiments, the temperature of the bonding process may
be between approximately 200.degree. C. and 450.degree. C., between
approximately 300.degree. C. and approximately 400.degree. C., less
than 250.degree. C., any temperature(s) within those ranges, any
other temperature described herein for low temperature bonding, or
any other suitable temperature. Thus, damage to the metallization
layers on the CMOS substrate, and any ICs on the CMOS substrate,
may be avoided.
[0370] The completed device 3000 of FIG. 30A may be achieved from
the structure of FIG. 30G by removing the substrate 3044 and
insulating layer 3046. For instance, in some embodiments, the wafer
3042 may be thinned from the backside. Such thinning may be
performed in stages. For example, mechanical grinding providing
coarse thickness control (e.g., 10 micron control) may initially be
implemented to remove a relatively large amount of the bulk wafer
(e.g., substrate 3044). In some embodiments, the thickness control
of the mechanical grinding may vary from coarse to fine as the
thinning process progresses. Then, CMP may be performed on the
backside, for example to get to a point close to the membrane 3018.
Next, a selective etch, such as a selective chemical etch, may be
performed to stop on the membrane 3018. In some embodiments, the
membrane 3018 itself may be thinned. Other manners of thinning are
also possible.
[0371] While FIG. 30A illustrates a non-limiting example of an
embodiment of an ultrasonic transducer formed above a top metal
layer of a CMOS substrate and suitable for use in ultrasound
transducer probes according to one or more embodiments of the
present application, it should be appreciated that alternative
configurations are possible. Various alternative devices and the
processes for fabricating such devices are now described.
[0372] Transducer Example 2
[0373] FIG. 31A illustrates a device 3100 including an ultrasonic
transducer 3102 formed above a top metal layer of a CMOS substrate
3104 and including various optional features in addition to those
of the device 3000. For example, the ultrasonic transducer 3102 has
a piston configuration. Namely, the ultrasonic transducer 3102
includes a piston membrane including the membrane 3018 with a thick
center portion 3106. The piston configuration of the ultrasonic
transducer 3102 may be desirable in some embodiments to provide
beneficial operating characteristics of the ultrasonic transducer.
For example, use of a piston configuration as shown may provide
better frequency operation, power characteristics, or other
operating characteristics in at least some embodiments. The
thickness of the center portion 3106 may be any suitable value for
providing such desired operating characteristics. For example, the
thickness of the center portion 3106 (including the thickness of
membrane 3018) may be between 1 micron and approximately 100
microns, between approximately 10 microns and approximately 50
microns, any value within such ranges, or any other suitable
values.
[0374] The center portion 3106 may be formed of any suitable
material. As a non-limiting example, the center portion 3106 may be
formed of TiN. However, other conductive, semiconductor, or
insulating materials may be used. In some embodiments, it may be
desirable for the center portion 3106 to be formed of a different
material than membrane 3018 to allow for the piston membrane to
exhibit target behavior with respect to characteristics such as
flexibility, capacitive operation, and robustness, among other
possible characteristics relevant to operation of the
transducer.
[0375] In addition, the device 3100 includes a membrane stop 3108.
In some embodiments, the membrane stop, which may be formed of any
suitable material, such as an insulating material (e.g.,
SiO.sub.2), may function as an isolation post and may provide
various benefits. Membrane stops may effectively alter the depth of
a cavity such that a membrane may contact the bottom of the cavity
(referred to as collapse) more easily, and may alter the frequency
behavior of an ultrasonic transducer. Namely, when the membrane is
pulled down far enough, it makes contact with the bottom of the
cavity. Such operation may be advantageous since having the
membrane hit or contact the bottom of the cavity can dampen certain
resonant modes, thereby broadening the frequency response of the
transducer. However, there is a "charge trapping" effect, in which
charge may end up deposited on the electrodes of the transducer,
thereby altering the operating characteristics of the transducer
(e.g., increasing the necessary bias voltage), and causing
hysteresis. Membrane stops may provide the benefit of "bottoming
out" the membrane, while substantially reducing the charge trapping
effect and problems with hysteresis. Ultrasonic transducers with
membrane stops may be more reliable after collapse than ultrasonic
devices lacking such membrane stops. Moreover, because the membrane
stop may prevent the membrane from contacting the bottom-most part
of the cavity, insulation need not be formed on the bottom surface
of the cavity in all embodiments, which can therefore reduce
processing steps and time in fabricating an ultrasonic transducer.
However, the insulator on the bottom surface of the cavity may be
used in case of unanticipated contact between the membrane and the
bottom of the cavity (despite any membrane stop) and/or to prevent
electrical discharge across the cavity.
[0376] Membrane stops may be formed in different locations of an
ultrasonic transducer. For example, membrane stops may be formed on
the bottom of a cavity of an ultrasonic transducer. In some
embodiments, membrane stops may be formed on the bottom of a
membrane of the ultrasonic transducer (e.g., on the bottom side of
a membrane transferred from a transfer wafer). In other
embodiments, membrane stops may be formed on both the bottom of a
cavity and the bottom of a membrane of an ultrasonic
transducer.
[0377] The membrane stop 3108 may control how far the membrane 3018
can move relative to the bottom electrode 3022, and may have any
suitable thickness for providing such control. For example, the
membrane stop 3108 may have a thickness between approximately 5%
and 30% of the cavity depth, between approximately 10% and 20% of
the cavity depth, or any value within such ranges. An insulating
layer 3110, for example formed of SiO.sub.2, may substantially
cover the membrane stop 3108 in addition to the bottom electrode
3022.
[0378] The ultrasonic transducer 3102 also differs from the
ultrasonic transducer 3004 in that the conductive spacers 3024 are
replaced by conductive spacers 3112 that are formed by multiple
distinct portions 3114 and 3116. The conductive spacers 3112
provide electrical connection from the membrane 3018 to the top
metal layer 3014 together with the conductive contacts 3028a-3028b
and the vias 3026a and 3026c. The portions 3114 and 3116 may be
formed of TiN or other suitable conductive materials.
[0379] It should be appreciated that the device 3100 therefore
represents another example of a device configuration including
embedded conductive structures in a CMOS substrate providing
electrical connection to the membrane of an ultrasonic
transducer.
[0380] An example of a process for fabricating the device 3100 is
now described. The process may proceed in substantially the same
manner as that previously described in connection with device 3000
up to the formation of insulating layer 3032. Then, an insulating
layer may be conformally deposited and patterned to form membrane
stop 3108. Next, insulating layer 3110 may be deposited and
patterned to form openings above the conductive contacts 3028a and
3028b.
[0381] A conductive material may then be deposited, patterned and
planarized as appropriate to form portion 3116 of the conductive
spacers 3112. Surface treatment may be performed as appropriate to
prepare the CMOS substrate for bonding to a transfer wafer.
[0382] Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 31B, a transfer wafer 3118
may be aligned and bonded with the CMOS substrate 3104. The
transfer wafer 3118 may include the portion 3114 and the center
portion 3106 of the piston membrane. The bonding may be any type
described herein, such as a low temperature bonding.
[0383] Then, the wafer 3118 may be processed in any suitable manner
to remove the substrate 3044 and insulating layer 3046. For
example, any of the techniques described with respect to processing
of such layers of the transfer wafer 3042 may be utilized. In this
manner, the final structure illustrated in FIG. 31A may be
achieved.
[0384] Thus, it should be appreciated from FIG. 31A that an
embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasonic
transducer formed above a top metal layer of a CMOS substrate, in
which embedded conductive structures in the CMOS substrate provide
electrical contact to the membrane of the ultrasonic
transducer.
[0385] Transducer Example 3
[0386] FIG. 32A illustrates an example of another device 3200
having an ultrasonic transducer 3202 formed above the top metal
layer 3014 of the CMOS substrate 3002. As shown, the ultrasonic
transducer 3202 has a piston membrane configuration. The device
3200 is another example of a device including conductive features
embedded in the CMOS substrate to provide electrical connection to
the membrane of an ultrasonic transducer.
[0387] As shown, the piston membrane 3204 includes a center region
3206 and a peripheral region 3208. The center region 3206 may be
thicker than the peripheral region 3208, as illustrated, with the
relative thicknesses of the two regions assuming any suitable value
to provide desired operation of the ultrasonic transducer 3202.
[0388] The piston membrane 3204 may be formed of any suitable
material. As a non-limiting example, the piston membrane 3204 may
be formed of silicon, which may be doped in some embodiments to
provide desired electrical conductivity. For example, in those
embodiments in which the piston membrane 3204 is formed of silicon,
the silicon may be doped with a positive dopant, such as
phosphorus. As also shown, the center region 3206 may have a width
Wp substantially corresponding to the width Wb of the bottom
electrode 3022, which may provide beneficial capacitive behavior of
the ultrasonic transducer. However, alternative configurations are
possible.
[0389] An example of a process for fabricating the device 3200 is
now described. The process may proceed in substantially the same
manner as that previously described in connection with formation of
device 3000 up through the point illustrated in FIG. 30F. Then,
instead of bonding to the transfer wafer 3042 of FIG. 30G, the CMOS
substrate may be aligned and bonded with the transfer wafer 3210.
The transfer wafer 3210 may include the substrate 3044, the
insulating layer 3046, the conductive layer 3030, and an additional
insulating layer 3212. The wafer 3210 may also include the piston
membrane 3204.
[0390] The insulating layer 3212 may be formed of any suitable
material. As a non-limiting example, the insulating layer 3212 may
be formed of SiO.sub.2 or any other suitable dielectric insulating
material. In some embodiments, the insulating layer 3212 may be
formed via tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), though alternative
processes may be used.
[0391] The bonding of CMOS substrate 3002 and transfer wafer 3210
may involve any suitable bonding process. For instance, a low
temperature bonding process of the types described herein may be
utilized.
[0392] Subsequently, substrate 3044, insulating layer 3046, and
insulating layer 3212 may be removed in any suitable manner to
arrive at the structure of FIG. 32A. For example, wafer grinding,
etching techniques, or any other suitable removal techniques may be
used, such as those described previously for thinning of a wafer,
such as wafer 3042.
[0393] Devices 3000-3200 represent non-limiting examples of devices
including ultrasonic transducers having conductive sidewalls.
Several examples of ultrasonic transducers formed on CMOS
substrates and having non-conductive sidewalls are now illustrated
and described.
[0394] Transducer Example 4
[0395] FIG. 33 illustrates a device 3300 including an ultrasonic
transducer 3302 formed above a top metal layer of a CMOS substrate
3304. Non-conductive spacers 3306 define a standoff of the membrane
3018 from the bottom of the cavity 3020. Conductive vias 3308 are
formed in the non-conductive spacer 3306. A suitable liner 3310 is
included to prevent migration of the via material into the
non-conductive spacer 3306. For example, the liner 3310 may be
formed of TiN or any other suitable conductive lining material. The
vias 3308 may be formed of a suitable conductive material, a
non-limiting example of which is tungsten. The ultrasonic
transducer 3302 also includes an insulating layer 3312 covering the
bottom electrode 3022. The non-conductive spacers 3306 and
insulating layer 3312 may both be formed of SiO.sub.2, as a
non-limiting example.
[0396] As shown, the membrane 3018 makes direct contact with an
upper surface of the via 3308. Thus, an electrical path from the
membrane 3018 to the top metal layer 3014 is provided by a
combination of via 3308, conductive contact 3028a, and via
3026a.
[0397] An example of a process for fabricating the device 3300 is
now described. The process may proceed in substantially the same
manner as that previously described in connection with the
formation of device 3000 up through the point illustrated in FIG.
30D.
[0398] Subsequently, an insulating layer may be deposited or
otherwise formed and planarized in preparation of forming
non-conductive spacers 3306. The insulating layer may be
conformally deposited to cover the surface of the CMOS substrate,
and then may be patterned to create trenches or other openings for
the vias 3308. Then, the liner 3310 may be deposited in the
trenches and the trenches filled with conductive material to form
the vias 3308. A planarization or etch back may optionally be
performed. The insulating layer deposited to form the
non-conductive spacers 3306 may then be suitably patterned to form
the non-conductive spacers.
[0399] Then, insulating layer 3312 may be deposited and the
structure may be planarized and treated in preparation for bonding,
to remove the insulating layer 3312 from the upper surfaces of the
non-conductive spacers 3306. Next, a transfer wafer similar to the
transfer wafer 3042, but lacking conductive layer 3030, may be
aligned with and bonded to the CMOS substrate 3304. The substrate
3044 and insulating layer 3046 may then be removed to achieve the
device 3300.
[0400] Transducer Example 5
[0401] Another example of a device including an ultrasonic
transducer above a top metal layer of a CMOS substrate is
illustrated in FIG. 34. As shown, the device 3400 includes an
ultrasonic transducer 3402 integrated with a CMOS substrate 3404.
Vias 3406, which may be formed of tungsten or other suitable
conductive material, pass through the membrane 3018 and the
non-conductive spacers 3306 to make contact with the conductive
contacts 3028a-3028b. A liner 3408 may be provided and may be the
same as previously described liner 3310.
[0402] The device 3400 further includes layers 3410 and 3412 which
may serve multiple functions in the illustrated embodiment. For
instance, the layers 3410 and 3412 may passivate the upper surface
of the via 3406. Additionally, the layers 3410 and 3412 may be
patterned as shown to create a piston membrane in combination with
membrane 3018. The thicknesses of layers 3410 and 3412 may be
selected to provide desired operating characteristics to the
ultrasonic transducer 3402.
[0403] The layers 3410 and 3412 may be formed of any suitable
materials, and in some embodiments are formed of insulating
materials. For example, layer 3410 may be SiO.sub.2 and layer 3412
may be silicon nitride (Si.sub.3N.sub.4) according to a
non-limiting example. However, alternative passivation materials
may be used.
[0404] An example of a process for fabricating the device 3400 is
now described. The process may proceed in substantially the same
manner as that previously described in connection with fabrication
of device 3300 except that formation of the vias 3308 may be
omitted. Thus, the membrane 3018 may be bonded with the CMOS
substrate 3404 without vias in place connecting the membrane 3018
to the conductive contacts 3028a and 3028b. The bonding may be a
low temperature bond, for example of the types described previously
herein.
[0405] Then, after the bonding, the membrane 3018 and
non-conductive spacers 3306 may be etched to form trenches which
may be lined with liner 3408 and filled with conductive material to
form vias 3406. The upper surface of the structure may be
planarized as appropriate and layers 3410 and 3412 may be deposited
and patterned to arrive at the device 3400.
[0406] Transducer Example 6
[0407] FIG. 35 illustrates a further example of an ultrasonic
transducer integrated with a CMOS substrate and formed above a top
metal layer of the CMOS substrate. The device 3500 includes
ultrasonic transducer 3502 integrated with CMOS substrate 3504.
Device 3500 includes electrical access to the topside of membrane
3018. Namely, contacts 3506 are provided on the topside of the
membrane 3018. The contacts may include a metal (e.g., aluminum) or
other conductive material, and may include bottom and top liners
3508a and 3508b, respectively. In some embodiments, the liners
3508a and 3508b may be the same as liners 3013a and 3013b.
[0408] The contacts 3506 may be passivated with layers 3510 and
3512. Layer 3510 may be the same material as previously described
layer 3410 but may be thicker. Layer 3512 may be the same material
as previously described layer 3412 but may be thicker. Layers 3510
and 3512 may be patterned as shown to form a piston membrane
configuration in combination with membrane 3018.
[0409] An example of a process for fabricating the device 3500 is
now described. A transfer wafer including the membrane 3018 may be
aligned with and bonded to the substrate 3504. Then the transfer
wafer may be thinned as desired (e.g., to remove any bulk substrate
and buried oxide layer) and the contacts 3506 formed. Layers 3510
and 3512 may then be deposited and patterned in the manner
previously described in connection with layers 3410 and 3412 to
arrive at the device 3500.
[0410] It should be appreciated from the foregoing discussion of
examples of ultrasonic transducers integrated with CMOS substrates
that the processes used to fabricate such devices may be low
temperature processes. The temperatures of all steps performed
involving the CMOS substrate once circuit structures are formed on
the substrate, including wafer bonding to a transfer wafer,
anneals, or other steps, may be kept below temperatures which would
cause damage to such circuit components.
[0411] Various examples of ultrasonic transducers integrated with a
CMOS substrate have been described. It should be appreciated that
such devices may have any suitable dimensions. Non-limiting
examples of suitable dimensions have been described at least in
connection with FIG. 30A, for example for the dimensions of the
cavity of the ultrasonic transducer and the thickness of the
membrane overlying the cavity. Such dimensions may apply to any of
the examples of ultrasonic transducers described herein.
[0412] Transfer Wafers
[0413] Various examples of transfer wafers have been described
herein for use with various embodiments. In some embodiments,
traditional SOI wafers may be used, having a silicon bulk wafer as
a handle layer, buried oxide layer, and monocrystalline silicon
layer. However, as previously described, some embodiments implement
alternative types of transfer wafers, including transfer wafers
having polysilicon or amorphous silicon layers, for example when
such materials are to be used as the membrane 3018. Applicants have
appreciated that transfer wafers having such materials may be
implemented in some embodiments instead of traditional SOI wafers,
and that such alternative types of transfer wafers may be
fabricated with significantly less effort and cost than required to
form traditional SOI wafers.
[0414] Wafers Including Multiple Ultrasonic Transducers
[0415] The examples of FIGS. 30A, 31A, 32A, 33, 34, and 35
illustrate a single ultrasonic transducer integrated with a CMOS
substrate. It should be appreciated, however, that the ultrasound
transducer probes described herein may include more, and in some
cases many more, ultrasonic transducers integrated with a CMOS
substrate. For example, a single substrate (e.g., a single CMOS
wafer) may have tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands,
hundreds of thousands, or millions of CUTs formed therein.
Formation of such large numbers of ultrasonic transducers on a
single substrate may be facilitated by use of the wafer-level
processes described herein.
[0416] When multiple ultrasonic transducers are formed on a CMOS
substrate, they may optionally be electrically interconnected in
various manners to form a desired device. For example, multiple
ultrasonic transducers may be electrically tied by way of the top
metal layer 3014 previously described. Other manners of providing
electrical interconnection are also possible.
[0417] Forms of Integration of Ultrasonic Transducers with
Substrates and Circuitry
[0418] While various aspects and embodiments have been described as
providing monolithically integrated ultrasonic transducers and CMOS
wafers having ICs formed therein, not all aspects and embodiments
are limited in this respect. For example, some aspects of the
present application may also apply to flip-chip bonded and
multi-chip configurations. For example, making electrical contact
to the bottom side of a membrane may be performed in flip-chip
bonded configurations. Other aspects may also apply to
non-monolithic devices.
[0419] As described previously, an aspect of the present
application provides an ultrasonic transducer cell integrated with
CMOS circuitry where the circuitry is disposed beneath the
transducer. FIG. 36 illustrates a non-limiting example of a such a
device, using the ultrasonic transducer of FIG. 30A.
[0420] As shown, the device 3600 may include the ultrasonic
transducer of FIG. 30A with the addition of an integrated circuit
3602. The integrated circuit may be formed in the substrate 3006 of
the CMOS wafer. For example, the substrate may be a bulk silicon
wafer, and the integrated circuit 3602 may include one or more
active silicon circuit elements (e.g., MOS transistors having doped
source and drain regions in the silicon), capacitors, resistors, or
other circuit components. The integrated circuit 3602 may be
suitable to operate the ultrasonic transducer in transmit and/or
receive modes.
[0421] As shown, both the electrode 3022 and the conductive
contacts 3028a and 3028b may be connected to the integrated circuit
3602, for example by respective vias. For instance, the electrode
3022 may be connected to the integrated circuit 3602 by vias 3007.
3009, and 3026b. The conductive contact 3028b may be connected to
the integrated circuit 3602 by vias 3604, 3606, and 3026c. The via
connecting the electrode 3022 may, for example, directly contact a
doped source/drain terminal of a MOS transistor in the substrate
3006.
[0422] As shown in FIG. 36, in some embodiments local connection
may be made to the membrane of an ultrasonic transducer rather than
global connection. For example, conductive contacts 3028a and 3028b
provide for local connection to the membrane 3018 of the
illustrated ultrasonic transducer.
[0423] In some embodiments, the membrane of the ultrasonic
transducer may be biased. In such situations, the membrane may be
connected to the integrated circuit 3602 via a capacitor (not
shown) for providing or maintaining a desired bias level. Other
biasing configurations are also possible.
[0424] In some embodiments, the electrode 3022 may be driven, and
thus the integrated circuit 3602 may be suitably connected to drive
the electrode 3022. In some embodiments, the electrode 3022 may be
biased, rather than the membrane.
[0425] Transducer Fabrication Technology
[0426] The various non-limiting examples of ultrasonic transducers
fabricated on CMOS substrates described herein may be fabricated
with any suitable feature sizes. According to an embodiment, 0.18
micron technology may be utilized for fabricating such ultrasonic
transducers. In some embodiments, 0.13 micron technology may be
used. In some embodiments, 90 nm fabrication technology may be
used. In some embodiments, 0.35 micron technology may be utilized.
Other feature sizes may be used, as those listed represent
non-limiting examples.
[0427] Various non-limiting examples of ultrasonic transducers
which may be used in an ultrasound transducer probe according to
one or more aspects of the present application have been described.
It should be appreciated, however, that not all aspects of the
present application are limited to using such ultrasonic
transducers.
[0428] The illustrated examples of devices 3000, 3100, 3200, 3300,
3400, and 3500 have been described primarily as utilizing aluminum
metal processing techniques. However, other techniques of forming
ultrasonic transducers integrated with CMOS substrates may
alternatively be used. For example, copper processing techniques,
such as damascene or dual damascene processing may be used in some
embodiments. For such processing, the interlayer dielectrics used
may include SiO.sub.2 or other low-K materials, where K represents
the dielectric constant. Barrier layers used in combination with
copper metallization may include tantalum (Ta), tantalum nitride
(TaN), and TiN. Thus, according to aspects of the present
application an integrated device may include one or more ultrasonic
transducers integrated with a CMOS substrate including CMOS
integrated circuitry having copper metallization, and formed using
damascene or dual damascene processing.
[0429] In some embodiments, a combination of aluminum processing
and copper processing techniques may be implemented. For example,
referring to the device 3000, the underlying CMOS substrate may be
formed using copper-based dual damascene processes. The top metal
layer 3014 may be aluminum or aluminum-copper. Thus, a combination
of copper processing techniques and aluminum processing techniques
may be utilized to fabricate such devices.
[0430] Process
[0431] As described previously, aspects of the present application
provide an ultrasound transducer probe which may be tiled and
interconnected by suitably replicating the ultrasound transducer
probe. According to some aspects, such replication may be performed
using a common photolithography mask or reticle with appropriate
stepping and/or scanning functions. Various examples are now
described.
[0432] According to an aspect of the present application, an
ultrasound transducer probe may be fabricated by suitably rotating
and printing a pattern from a photolithography mask (also referred
to herein as a "pattern mask") to create two side-by-side (or
horizontally tiled) instances of the pattern. Referring to FIG. 38,
a reticle 3800 may have a pattern formed thereon. The pattern may
include features at least partially defining processing circuitry
of an ultrasound transducer probe and ultrasonic transducers of the
ultrasound transducer probe. As an example, the features may at
least partially define I/O circuitry on a side or periphery of the
ultrasound transducer probe, for example consistent with the
configuration of previously described ultrasound transducer probe
200 of FIG. 2A. More specifically, the reticle 3800 may be a
reticle used to fabricate the ultrasound transducer probe 200 in a
non-limiting embodiment. The features 3802 may at least partially
define I/O circuitry of the ultrasound transducer probe. The
pattern on the reticle may also include an alignment mark 3804.
[0433] An ultrasound transducer probe of the type 220 illustrated
in FIG. 2C may be fabricated by printing the pattern from the
reticle 3800 twice. For example, the pattern from the reticle may
be printed on a wafer a first time (by illuminating the reticle),
indicated as RO. The wafer may then be rotated and aligned with the
already-printed pattern, and the pattern from the reticle 3800 may
again be printed on the wafer (by again illuminating the reticle),
indicated as R180. Alternatively, the reticle may be rotated
(rather than the wafer), or both the reticle and wafer may be
rotated. In some embodiments, printing the reticle pattern at the
position of RO may involve printing the odd fields of the pattern
and printing the reticle pattern at the position R180 may involve
printing the even fields of the pattern. However, alternative
manners of operation are possible. By suitably rotating and
printing the reticle pattern, as described, a double-wide
ultrasound transducer probe (e.g., ultrasound transducer probe 220)
may be fabricated from a single reticle.
[0434] Another manner of horizontally tiling ultrasound transducer
probes of the types described herein involves printing portions of
a reticle in alignment with each other, and is described in
connection with FIGS. 39-41. FIG. 39 illustrates a reticle 3900
having features at least partially defining I/O circuitry 3902a and
3902b on opposite sides of the reticle. The reticle pattern may
also include features between positions B and C for defining, at
least in part, ultrasonic transducers of an ultrasound transducer
probe. In some embodiments, the reticle pattern may be
substantially uniform over the distance WS in the width direction.
It should be appreciated that the reticle 3900 may be suitable for
use in fabricating an ultrasound transducer probe of the type 210
of FIG. 2B.
[0435] The reticle 3900 may be considered to have multiple portions
defined by the positions A-D. For example, position A to B
represents a portion, position A to C another portion, position B
to C another portion, position B to D another portion, and so on
for all combinations of positions A-D. Printing appropriate
portions and aligning them may result in creation of an ultrasound
transducer probe. Alignment marks may be provided at the positions
A-D to facilitate printing of the portions and aligning them.
[0436] The double-wide ultrasound transducer probe 4000 of FIG. 40
may be printed by printing and aligning portions of the pattern of
reticle 3900 of FIG. 39. In one photolithography printing step, a
first portion of the pattern of reticle 3900 may be printed from
position A to position C (see FIG. 39) by scanning the reticle 3900
from position A to position C. The result is shown as pattern 4002
in FIG. 40. When scanning the reticle 3900 from position A to
position C, the features to the right of position C in FIG. 39 may
be obstructed, for example using blading techniques.
[0437] Next, the reticle 3900 may be stepped such that position B
on the reticle aligns with position C on the printed pattern. A
second portion of the reticle 3900 may then be scanned from
position B to position D. The result is shown as pattern 4004 in
FIG. 40.
[0438] Thus, it should be appreciated that the ultrasound
transducer probe 4000 may include I/O circuitry on opposing ends
and a central region comprising ultrasonic transducers. Also, such
horizontal tiling may be achieved with a single photolithographic
mask, thus greatly simplifying the process and cost compared to if
multiple masks were used.
[0439] FIG. 41 illustrates an ultrasound transducer probe 4100
which may be formed by horizontally tiling three instances of the
reticle pattern from reticle 3900 of FIG. 39. At a first stage of
processing, a first portion of the reticle 3900 may be scanned from
position A to position C. The result is shown as 4102.
Subsequently, the reticle may be stepped such that position B on
the reticle aligns with position C on the printed pattern. A second
portion of the reticle 3900 may then be scanned from position B to
position C. The result is shown as 4104. The reticle 3900 may then
be stepped again such that position B on the reticle aligns with
position C on the printed pattern 4104. A third portion of the
reticle may then be scanned from position B to position D. The
result is shown as 4106. In this manner, a three-wide ultrasound
transducer probe may be formed from a single reticle. It should be
appreciated that additional instances of the ultrasound transducer
probe layout corresponding to reticle 3900 may be horizontally
tiled by utilizing a similar methodology and adding in additional
scans from position B to position C.
[0440] When scanning only a portion of a reticle (e.g., from
position A to position C of reticle 3900, from position B to
position C of reticle 3900, and from position B to position D of
reticle 3900), blading techniques or other suitable techniques may
be used to obstruct or otherwise avoid printing undesired portions
of the reticle pattern.
[0441] It should be appreciated from the foregoing that multiple
instances of an ultrasound transducer probe may be horizontally
tiled on a wafer to form an ultrasound transducer probe of desired
dimensions using a common reticle. Vertical tiling may be
accomplished by stepping the reticle vertically and suitably
aligning it. Thus, multiple instances of an ultrasound transducer
probe may be tiled horizontally and/or vertically.
[0442] Moreover, it should be appreciated that blading techniques
may be used to facilitate tiling of ultrasound transducer probes
having peripheral regions on the top and/or bottom side of the
transducer probe while still providing a contiguous region of
ultrasonic transducers. For example, peripheral regions of an
ultrasound transducer probe located on the top and bottom sides of
the transducer probe and having only contact pads may be vertically
tiled while still creating a contiguous region of ultrasonic
transducers by blading one or more of such peripheral regions.
CONCLUSION
[0443] The aspects of the present application may provide one or
more benefits, some of which have been previously described. Now
described are some non-limiting examples of such benefits. It
should be appreciated that not all aspects and embodiments
necessarily provide all of the benefits now described. Further, it
should be appreciated that aspects of the present application may
provide additional benefits to those now described.
[0444] Some aspects of the present application provide ultrasound
transducer probes which are configured to be tiled and
interconnected, thus providing an ultrasound probe designer great
flexibility in designing an ultrasound probe of choice by mere
replication and suitable placement of a common building block
ultrasound unit. Some aspects provide ultrasound transducer probes
which are connectable to different types of external devices via
different physical interfaces, thus increasing usability and
accessibility of the devices. Some aspects provide an ultrasound
transducer probe that is configurable to operate in various modes,
including various ultrasound imaging modes. In some aspects, the
ultrasound transducer probes may be highly integrated, including
ultrasound transducers and ICs monolithically integrated on a
common substrate, providing a compact form factor.
[0445] Ultrasound transducer probes according to aspects of the
present application may be worn, and used in-situ. Thus, the
usefulness of such devices may be greater than conventional
ultrasound probes.
[0446] Having thus described several aspects and embodiments of the
technology of this application, it is to be appreciated that
various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily
occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such alterations,
modifications, and improvements are intended to be within the
spirit and scope of the technology described in the application.
For example, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily
envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing
the function and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the
advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or
modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the embodiments
described herein. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be
able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many
equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein. It is,
therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are
presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the
appended claims and equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may
be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. In addition,
any combination of two or more features, systems, articles,
materials, kits, and/or methods described herein, if such features,
systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually
inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present
disclosure.
[0447] The above-described embodiments can be implemented in any of
numerous ways. One or more aspects and embodiments of the present
application involving the performance of processes or methods may
utilize program instructions executable by a device (e.g., a
computer, a processor, or other device) to perform, or control
performance of, the processes or methods. In this respect, various
inventive concepts may be embodied as a computer readable storage
medium (or multiple computer readable storage media) (e.g., a
computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs, optical
discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in
Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or
other tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more
programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other
processors, perform methods that implement one or more of the
various embodiments described above. The computer readable medium
or media can be transportable, such that the program or programs
stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers
or other processors to implement various ones of the aspects
described above. In some embodiments, computer readable media may
be non-transitory media.
[0448] The terms "program" or "software" are used herein in a
generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of
computer-executable instructions that can be employed to program a
computer or other processor to implement various aspects as
described above. Additionally, it should be appreciated that
according to one aspect, one or more computer programs that when
executed perform methods of the present application need not reside
on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a
modular fashion among a number of different computers or processors
to implement various aspects of the present application.
[0449] Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such
as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other
devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,
objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular
tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically the
functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed
as desired in various embodiments.
[0450] Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable
media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data
structures may be shown to have fields that are related through
location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be
achieved by assigning storage for the fields with locations in a
computer-readable medium that convey relationship between the
fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish a
relationship between information in fields of a data structure,
including through the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms
that establish relationship between data elements.
[0451] When implemented in software, the software code can be
executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors,
whether provided in a single computer or distributed among multiple
computers.
[0452] Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be
embodied in any of a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted
computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, or a tablet
computer, as non-limiting examples. Additionally, a computer may be
embedded in a device not generally regarded as a computer but with
suitable processing capabilities, including a Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable or
fixed electronic device.
[0453] Also, a computer may have one or more input and output
devices. These devices can be used, among other things, to present
a user interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to
provide a user interface include printers or display screens for
visual presentation of output and speakers or other sound
generating devices for audible presentation of output. Examples of
input devices that can be used for a user interface include
keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touch pads, and
digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receive
input information through speech recognition or in other audible
formats.
[0454] Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks
in any suitable form, including a local area network or a wide area
network, such as an enterprise network, and intelligent network
(IN) or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable
technology and may operate according to any suitable protocol and
may include wireless networks or wired networks.
[0455] Also, as described, some aspects may be embodied as one or
more methods. The acts performed as part of the method may be
ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be
constructed in which acts are performed in an order different than
illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously,
even though shown as sequential acts in illustrative
embodiments.
[0456] All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be
understood to control over dictionary definitions, definitions in
documents incorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of
the defined terms.
[0457] The indefinite articles "a" and "an," as used herein in the
specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the
contrary, should be understood to mean "at least one."
[0458] The phrase "and/or," as used herein in the specification and
in the claims, should be understood to mean "either or both" of the
elements so conjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively
present in some cases and disjunctively present in other cases.
Multiple elements listed with "and/or" should be construed in the
same fashion, i.e., "one or more" of the elements so conjoined.
Elements other than those specifically identified by the "and/or"
clause may optionally be present, whether related or unrelated to
those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a non-limiting
example, a reference to "A and/or B", when used in conjunction with
open-ended language such as "comprising" can refer, in one
embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other than B);
in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elements
other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B
(optionally including other elements); etc.
[0459] As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the
phrase "at least one," in reference to a list of one or more
elements, should be understood to mean at least one element
selected from any one or more of the elements in the list of
elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each and
every element specifically listed within the list of elements and
not excluding any combinations of elements in the list of elements.
This definition also allows that elements may optionally be present
other than the elements specifically identified within the list of
elements to which the phrase "at least one" refers, whether related
or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as a
non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or, equivalently,
"at least one of A or B," or, equivalently "at least one of A
and/or B") can refer, in one embodiment, to at least one,
optionally including more than one, A, with no B present (and
optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment,
to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, with no A
present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet
another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than
one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B
(and optionally including other elements); etc.
[0460] As used herein, the term "between" is to be inclusive unless
indicated otherwise. For example, "between A and B" includes A and
B unless indicated otherwise.
[0461] Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the
purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The
use of "including," "comprising," or "having," "containing,"
"involving," and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass
the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as
additional items.
[0462] In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all
transitional phrases such as "comprising," "including," "carrying,"
"having," "containing," "involving," "holding," "composed of," and
the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean
including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases
"consisting of" and "consisting essentially of" shall be closed or
semi-closed transitional phrases, respectively.
* * * * *