Expand the Utility of the Vantage™ Research Ultrasound System by Integrating Custom Transducers

Expand the Utility of the Vantage™ Research Ultrasound System by Integrating Custom Transducers

As fundamental components of all ultrasound devices, transducer and sensor technology development is in a constant evolution. Today, many scientists and engineers create custom transducer designs with new shapes, materials, and performance characteristics to enhance research efforts. In addition, developers are using Vantage Research Ultrasound Systems to rapidly prototype inventions, whether simple or complex. Verasonics offers software and hardware solutions, as well as accessories to accelerate and assist transducer development.

Software Tools

Verasonics provides sophisticated, yet easy-to-use, tools for developers to evaluate custom transducers. In fact, the Verasonics Research Ultrasound Simulator can be used to simulate new transducer designs. For example, a custom transducer with up to 1024 elements operating at a high frequency can be simulated to assess its imaging performance prior to actual construction of the transducer. Different element distributions can be assessed, including sparse aperture arrangements, to determine optimal performance.

Users can rapidly design a new transducer by defining and storing key parameters in a MATLAB® structure, including the center frequency, number of elements and transducer geometry. Vantage software provides the flexibility for users to define each element position in 3D space, along with the elevation and azimuth angle for directivity. The software tool called showTrans allows visualization of the transducer geometry for element position verification. As shown in the figures below, the directivity of a convex array and a focused, concave, or “bowl-shaped” array is taken into account for visualization.

If the transducer is mainly used for pulse-echo experiments, a simple example script with a real-time RF data viewer of each channel is provided. If the objective is image reconstruction, another useful tool is provided to visualize the reconstruction area, i.e., pixel region, relative to the transducer location in 3D space. As shown below, a 2D array is placed at the top of the 3D volume image space displayed in green. The actual pixels for reconstruction are displayed as blue and the grey circles, and represent the custom-defined media points used in simulation mode.

Hardware Accessories

A wide variety of transducers can be integrated with the Vantage System using a suite of adapters and accessories. Verasonics offers multiple Universal Transducer Adapters (UTAs) that enable Vantage users to quickly convert the system to operate transducers with other types of connectors. These UTAs provide the opportunity to connect transducers sold by Verasonics, as well as other commercially available transducers designed for either medical or materials science applications.

The Vantage System’s programmability allows for multiple transducer technologies to be integrated. These include, but are not limited to, traditional PZT and single crystal as well as CMUT, PMUT and other technologies. In addition to transducer arrays in the conventional linear, convex and sector formats, Verasonics customers have integrated concave arrays, ring arrays, 2D or matrix arrays, row-column arrays, random and sparse arrays, catheter-based arrays, and other novel designs. Learn more about UTA adapters for biomedical research and UTA adapters for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) research.

Additional accessories are available to facilitate early transducer development by making it easy to connect research prototypes to the Vantage system, including:

Ribbon Cable Break-Out Board (BOB)

The Ribbon Cable Break-Out Board is an ideal prototyping tool for transducer development.

• A transducer can be physically connected to the BOB in two different ways:
  • IDC ribbon (solder free) cables can be used to connect signals to an alternate board or transducer. The benefit of the IDC cable is that a simple cable can be made without the need for complex soldering.
  • Wires can be soldered directly to the BOB to connect element signals to a transducer.
• Shielding
  • A metal EMI enclosure is included to shield element signals from electromagnetic interference to facilitate early prototyping.
• Signal Access
  • The BOB provides access to the signal paths for 128 elements as well as high voltage multiplexor signals and personality signals.
• Tuning
  • The BOB is populated with zero-ohm resistors, but the populated parts can be replaced with a user-chosen value to match user-defined requirements. To replace resistors, soldering is required.

260-Pin and GE-408-Pin Backshell Kits

Verasonics offers two backshell kits to enable researchers and developers to easily connect custom arrays to their Vantage systems. The 260-pin and GE-408-pin backshell kits include micro-coax termination boards, backshell hardware, ZIF connectors PCB, tuning PCBs and user documentation. Additional termination boards are included with each kit, or can be purchased apart from the Backshell Kit.

Most recently, Verasonics has started utilizing the ITT-Cannon DLP408R ZIF connector for many transducers due to better shielding and grounding, and lower crosstalk between channels. This is especially valuable with higher frequency transducers with more than 128 elements and will become available on other standard imaging probes in the future. Verasonics refers to this connector as the GE-408 because it uses the same pin map as the D-Series ultrasound probes made by General Electric. The associated universal transducer adapter is the UTA 408-GE.

The 260-pin ZIF back shell kit provides for the connection of up to 128 elements, with the 408-GE ZIF back shell kit offering connection of up to 256 elements.

Verasonics Offset Adapter

The 260-pin ZIF offset adapter provides a low-cost option for access to individual element signals. This accessory is valuable to users who wish to connect a single element, observe an element signal on external equipment, inject a signal into the Vantage system, or drive a transducer element with external equipment.

• The Offset Adapter allows a user to configure four separate I/O channels with LEMO connectors in the following states:
  • Pass an externally sourced signal into one element of the array transducer (and isolate the Vantage channel.)
  • Pass an externally sourced signal into one channel of the Vantage system (and isolate the array, e.g., to calibrate the receiver.)
  • Connect a Vantage Transmit/Receive channel to an external single element transducer (and isolate from the transducer array, if connected.)
  • Observe the signal (voltage and/or current) going between the Vantage and one element of an array transducer (to investigate impedance matching, for example.)
• 4 LEMO-to-BNC cables are provided.
• No shielding is used.

Termination Boards for Custom Matrix Arrays

For researchers developing custom matrix arrays, Verasonics offers a Termination Boards Package to which micro-coax wires can be soldered. These boards support up to 128 elements signals each and are compatible with the Verasonics UTA 1024-MUX adapter and the UTA 256 Direct adapter. They are available in packages of 10.

Probes Requiring Bias Voltage

Some transducers, such as CMUT probes, may require a bias voltage to provide sufficient SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio).The 260-pin Transducer Backshell kits makes it possible to utilize the high-voltage rail that is intended for HV-MUX applications for the bias voltage requirement, if this source is not required for multiplexing. Verasonics provides a customer-accessible App Note, available in the Verasonics Community Portal, to guide the user in making these connections.

NOTE: The access to a bias voltage source is not available with the 408-GE Backshell kits.