Title :
A Novel Digital Ultrasound System for Experimental Research Activities
Author :
Bassi, L. ; Boni, E. ; Cellai, A. ; Dallai, A. ; Guidi, F. ; Ricci, S. ; Tortoli, P.
Author_Institution :
Electron. & Telecommun. Dept., Univ. of Florence, Florence
Abstract :
Commercial ultrasound (US) equipment, although widely employed in diagnostic applications, is not suitable for the development and test of new investigation methods. Their typical architecture, designed for clinical use, is often "closed" and does not fit the requirements of flexibility, data access, programmability, which are necessary for the implementation of original approaches. More flexibility is achieved in high-level platforms, but they are typically characterized by high cost and dimensions. In this paper, a novel US system, specifically designed for research purposes, is presented. Its architecture is based on hi-end programmable devices to obtain the maximum flexibility with minimum cost and size. A preliminary example of application involving simultaneous B-mode and an experimental Doppler technique is discussed.
Keywords :
digital signal processing chips; field programmable gate arrays; ultrasonic equipment; commercial ultrasound equipment; data access; digital ultrasound system; experimental Doppler technique; hi-end programmable devices; Costs; Design methodology; Digital signal processing; Digital systems; Electronic equipment testing; Embedded computing; Field programmable gate arrays; Probes; System testing; Ultrasonic imaging; DSP; FPGA; Programmable architecture; Ultrasound research tool;
Conference_Titel :
Digital System Design Architectures, Methods and Tools, 2008. DSD '08. 11th EUROMICRO Conference on
Conference_Location :
Parma
Print_ISBN :
978-0-7695-3277-6
DOI :
10.1109/DSD.2008.40
