US 12,279,911 B2
Ultrasound transducer and a system
Florian De Roose, Rumst (BE); and Kris Myny, Heusden-Zolder (BE)
Assigned to IMEC VZW, Leuven (BE)
Appl. No. 18/042,243
Filed by IMEC VZW, Leuven (BE)
PCT Filed Jul. 1, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/068231
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 20, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/037833, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 24, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 20192148 (EP), filed on Aug. 21, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0309966 A1, Oct. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. A61B 8/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 8/4494 (2013.01) [A61B 8/4488 (2013.01); A61B 8/4281 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ultrasound transducer for producing an ultrasound signal, the ultrasound transducer comprising:
an array of ultrasound transducing elements; a plurality of transducer drive lines, each transducer drive line being configured to provide an electrical signal capable of driving a subset of the ultrasound transducing elements of the array of ultrasound transducing elements;
an array of control circuits, wherein each individual control circuit of the array of control circuits comprises a drive switch and a memory element, the drive switch being a switch having an on-state and an off-state, the drive switch comprising at least one thin-film transistor, the memory element being configured to store and control the state of the drive switch;
wherein each individual ultrasound transducing element of the array of ultrasound transducing elements has one associated control circuit of the array of control circuits and one associated transducer drive line of the plurality of transducer drive lines, wherein the ultrasound transducer is configured to, for each individual ultrasound transducing element:
drive the individual ultrasound transducing element by the associated transducer drive line when the drive switch of the associated control circuit is in the on-state, such that the individual ultrasound transducing element is activated when the drive switch is in the on-state and the individual ultrasound transducing element is deactivated when the drive switch is in the off-state;
whereby activated ultrasound transducing elements of the array of ultrasound transducing elements function as ultrasound emitters that collectively form the ultrasound signal.