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Power Amplifier Linearizer for High Frequency Medical Ultrasound Applications

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Abstract

Power amplifiers (PAs) are used to produce high-voltage excitation signals to drive ultrasonic transducers. A larger dynamic range of linear PAs allows higher contrast resolution, a highly desirable characteristic in ultrasonic imaging. The linearity of PAs can be improved by reducing the nonlinear harmonic distortion components of high-voltage output signals. In this paper, a linearizer circuit is proposed to reduce output signal harmonics when working in conjunction with a PA. The PA performance with and without the linearizer was measured by comparing the output power 1-dB compression point (OP1dB), and the second- and third-order harmonic distortions (HD2 and HD3, respectively). The results show that the PA with the linearizer circuit had higher OP1dB (31.7 dB) and lower HD2 (−61.0 dB) and HD3 (−42.7 dB) compared to those of the PA alone [OP1dB (27.1 dB), HD2 (−38.2 dB), and HD3 (−36.8 dB)] at 140 MHz. A pulse-echo measurement was also performed to further evaluate the capability of the linearizer circuit. The HD2 of the echo signal received by the transducer using a PA with the linearizer (−24.8 dB) was lower than that obtained for the PA alone (−16.6 dB). The linearizer circuit is capable of improving the linearity performance of PA by lowering harmonic distortions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mr. Thomas Cummins for his editing contribution. This project was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant #P41-EB002182.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical IT Convergence Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Daehak-ro 61, Gumi, Gyeongbuk, 730-701, South Korea

    Hojong Choi

  2. NIH Transducer Resource Center and Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Hayong Jung & K. Kirk Shung

Authors
  1. Hojong Choi
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  2. Hayong Jung
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  3. K. Kirk Shung
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Correspondence to Hojong Choi.

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Choi, H., Jung, H. & Shung, K.K. Power Amplifier Linearizer for High Frequency Medical Ultrasound Applications. J. Med. Biol. Eng. 35, 226–235 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-015-0026-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40846-015-0026-7

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