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Title: Integrated Electronics for Wireless Imaging Microsystems with CMUT Arrays
Committee:
Dr. Degertekin, Advisor
Dr. S. Li, Co-Advisor
Dr. Hasler, Chair
Dr. Inan
Abstract: The objective of the proposed research is to develop building blocks of integrated electronics architecture for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) based wireless ultrasound imaging systems while providinga fundamental study on interfacing CMUT arrays with their associated integrated electronics in terms of electrical power transfer and acoustic reflection which would potentially lead to more efficient and high-performance systems. Integration of transducer arrays with interface electronics in the form of single-chip CMUT-on-CMOS has emerged into the field of medical ultrasound imaging and is transforming the field. This research is a step toward implantable wireless microsystems that utilize ultrasound to image the brain by bypassing the skull. These microsystems offer autonomous scanning of the brain and transferring data out of the brain for further processing and image reconstruction. A wireless architecture is proposed in which on-chip TX beamforming steers the ultrasound beam and on-chip RX digitization before the up-link block minimizes the effect of path loss on the transmitted data out of the brain. A single-chip application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is being designed to realize the wireless architecture and interface with array elements, each of which includes a transceiver front-end with a high-voltage (HV) pulser, a T/R switch, and a low-noise amplifier. Novel design techniques are implemented in the system to enhance the performance of its building blocks.
