Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility Study
Low-complexity ultrasound systems are increasingly desired for both wearable, point-of-care ultrasound and high-end massive-channel ultrasound for 3-D matrix imaging. However, the imaging capabilities, including spatial resolution and contrast, could suffer as low complexity systems are pursued, whi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Bioengineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/11/1/8 |
| _version_ | 1797344634632929280 |
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| author | Heechul Yoon Junseung Kim Kunkyu Lee Tai-Kyong Song |
| author_facet | Heechul Yoon Junseung Kim Kunkyu Lee Tai-Kyong Song |
| author_sort | Heechul Yoon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Low-complexity ultrasound systems are increasingly desired for both wearable, point-of-care ultrasound and high-end massive-channel ultrasound for 3-D matrix imaging. However, the imaging capabilities, including spatial resolution and contrast, could suffer as low complexity systems are pursued, which remains as an unresolved tradeoff. To mitigate this limitation, this study revisits the general structures of analog and digital beamformers and introduces a hybrid approach, referred to as analog-digital hybrid beamforming, to implement efficient ultrasound systems. The suggested hybrid beamforming takes two stages sequentially, where the first analog stage partially beamforms <i>M</i>-channel RF signals to <i>N</i> sum-out data (i.e., <i>M</i>-to-<i>N</i> beamforming), and the second digital stage beamforms <i>N</i> partial sums to single final beamformed data (i.e., <i>N</i>-to-1 beamforming). Our approach was systematically designed and implemented with only four major integrated circuits, which was capable of driving full 64-channel transmission and reception. The developed system was demonstrated with a customized 64-channel 1-D phased array using a commercial tissue mimicking phantom. From the phantom imaging results, signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, and full beam width at half maximum values were quantitatively evaluated. The demonstrated results indicate that the analog-digital hybrid beamforming can be applied to any type of array for sophisticated 3-D imaging and tiny wearable ultrasound applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:05:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a597d9540b7a4039a3a24316faa268da |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2306-5354 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:05:34Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Bioengineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-a597d9540b7a4039a3a24316faa268da2024-01-26T15:06:05ZengMDPI AGBioengineering2306-53542023-12-01111810.3390/bioengineering11010008Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility StudyHeechul Yoon0Junseung Kim1Kunkyu Lee2Tai-Kyong Song3School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Dankook University, Yongin-si 16890, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Electronic Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 04107, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Electronic Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 04107, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Electronic Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul 04107, Republic of KoreaLow-complexity ultrasound systems are increasingly desired for both wearable, point-of-care ultrasound and high-end massive-channel ultrasound for 3-D matrix imaging. However, the imaging capabilities, including spatial resolution and contrast, could suffer as low complexity systems are pursued, which remains as an unresolved tradeoff. To mitigate this limitation, this study revisits the general structures of analog and digital beamformers and introduces a hybrid approach, referred to as analog-digital hybrid beamforming, to implement efficient ultrasound systems. The suggested hybrid beamforming takes two stages sequentially, where the first analog stage partially beamforms <i>M</i>-channel RF signals to <i>N</i> sum-out data (i.e., <i>M</i>-to-<i>N</i> beamforming), and the second digital stage beamforms <i>N</i> partial sums to single final beamformed data (i.e., <i>N</i>-to-1 beamforming). Our approach was systematically designed and implemented with only four major integrated circuits, which was capable of driving full 64-channel transmission and reception. The developed system was demonstrated with a customized 64-channel 1-D phased array using a commercial tissue mimicking phantom. From the phantom imaging results, signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, and full beam width at half maximum values were quantitatively evaluated. The demonstrated results indicate that the analog-digital hybrid beamforming can be applied to any type of array for sophisticated 3-D imaging and tiny wearable ultrasound applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/11/1/8analog beamforminghybrid beamforming systemspoint-of-care ultrasoundwearable ultrasoundmassive-channel systemsultrasound system design |
| spellingShingle | Heechul Yoon Junseung Kim Kunkyu Lee Tai-Kyong Song Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility Study Bioengineering analog beamforming hybrid beamforming systems point-of-care ultrasound wearable ultrasound massive-channel systems ultrasound system design |
| title | Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility Study |
| title_full | Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility Study |
| title_fullStr | Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility Study |
| title_short | Design and Implementation of Analog-Digital Hybrid Beamformers for Low-Complexity Ultrasound Systems: A Feasibility Study |
| title_sort | design and implementation of analog digital hybrid beamformers for low complexity ultrasound systems a feasibility study |
| topic | analog beamforming hybrid beamforming systems point-of-care ultrasound wearable ultrasound massive-channel systems ultrasound system design |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5354/11/1/8 |
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