A new ultrasound transceiver has been released by Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. that is able to improve image quality and reliability of these devices. The MAX2082 octal is described as a highly integrated transceiver that can replace thousands of discrete components in any ultrasound system. The company advises it can save up to 40 percent on board space and consumes 30 percent less power than conventional architecture.
Ultrasound equipment is now becoming much more widely available and as a result is quickly moving from the typical hospital room to smaller clinics, doctor’s offices, and patient’s homes as a low cost, noninvasive diagnostic tool. As a result user are expecting better performance and more affordable solutions. To keep up with demand, ultrasound systems must now shrink in size and provide more clarity in images, so testing and diagnoses become more convenient, more immediate, and more accurate.
In response this new device offers a complete, low-power ultrasound transceiver solution. It integrates 8 channels of 3-level 200V pulsers and T/R switches, an octal ADC, octal LNA, and octal VGA, CW mixers, anti-aliasing filters, and coupling capacitors into a small package requiring less than 10 square inches.
This is 40 percent of the space required for conventional solutions and is especially beneficial for portable systems. Traditional designs include over nine components in the T/R switch alone for each of up to 128 channels, so the new transceiver displaces thousands of discrete parts. Power-supply noise and switching noise are minimised in this device for superior image quality.
Key advantages include, higher image quality and performance as well as improved system sensitivity and image quality. This is achieved through an ultra-low noise figure (2.8 dB at RIN = RS = 200O) and a high-dynamic-range receiver (76 dBFS SNR at fIN = 5 MHz and 2 MHz bandwidth)
Maxim Integrated
