An Open Multifunctional FPGA-Based Pulser/Receiver System for Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) Imaging and Therapy.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Cardiovascular Research

Background:

• Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death globally.
• Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is crucial for characterizing vulnerable plaques.
• Existing systems lack the open-platform flexibility needed for novel IVUS device development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, multifunctional FPGA-based pulser/receiver system.
• To provide an open platform for intravascular ultrasound imaging and therapy research.
• To enable the creation of advanced intravascular imaging and therapy devices.

Main Methods:

• Designed an open platform integrating a host PC with Matlab interface, FPGA board, and analog front-end.
• Implemented arbitrary waveform conversion to tristate bipolar pulses using PWM.
• Enabled direct acquisition of raw radiofrequency (RF) echo data.
• Utilized multicycle excitation and high-voltage, short-pulse excitation for transducer testing.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated flexible transmission and reception schemes with state-of-the-art electronics.
• Successfully performed acoustic characterization of a 550 kHz therapy transducer.
• Conducted pulse-echo experiments with a 19.48 MHz transducer.
• Verified system's ability to match frequency and bandwidth for diverse IVUS transducers.

Conclusions:

• The developed FPGA-based system offers a versatile solution for IVUS research.
• The open platform facilitates innovation in intravascular imaging and therapy.
• This system supports a broad range of applications by accommodating various IVUS transducer requirements.