Patent ID: 6890301
Filing Date: 2005-05-10
Classification: G01S

Abstract:
1. A diagnostic ultrasonic imaging system comprising: a scanhead having a plurality of transducer elements, each of the transducer elements having a transducer element terminal; a first multiplexer mounted in the scanhead having at least one first terminal and a plurality of second terminals coupled to respective ones of the transducer element terminals, the number of second terminals being substantially greater than the number of first terminals, the first multiplexer being structured to selectively couple each of the second terminals to a first terminal; a communications link coupled to each first terminal of the first multiplexer; a second multiplexer having a plurality of third terminals and at least one fourth terminal coupled to a first terminal of the first multiplexer through the communications link, the number of third terminals being substantially greater than the number of fourth terminals, the second multiplexer being operable to selectively couple each of the third terminals to a fourth terminal; and an ultrasonic processor containing the second multiplexer, the ultrasonic processor including a plurality of receivers coupled to the third terminals of the second multiplexer so that receive signals output from the transducer elements are coupled to the receivers through the first multiplexer, communications link and second multiplexer, the ultrasonic processor further including a plurality of transmitters coupled to the third terminals of the second multiplexer so that transmit signals output from the transmitters are coupled to the transducer elements through the second multiplexer, communications link and first multiplexer.