Design of Preamplifier for Ultrasound Transducers

In diagnostic ultrasound imaging applications, preamplifiers are used as first-stage analog front-end amplifiers for ultrasound transducers because they can amplify weak acoustic signals generated directly by ultrasound transducers. For emerging diagnostic ultrasound imaging applications, different types of preamplifiers with specific design parameters and circuit topologies have been developed, depending on the types of the ultrasound transducer. In particular, the design parameters of the preamplifier, such as the gain, bandwidth, input- or output-referred noise components, and power consumption, have a tradeoff relationship. Guidelines on the detailed design concept, design parameters, and specific circuit design techniques of the preamplifier used for ultrasound transducers are outlined in this paper, aiming to help circuit designers and academic researchers optimize the performance of ultrasound transducers used in the diagnostic ultrasound imaging applications for research directions.