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Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments

Transistor linearizer networks are proposed to increase the transmitted output voltage amplitudes of class-C amplifiers, thus, increasing the sensitivity of the echo signals of piezoelectric transducers, which are the main components in portable ultrasound instruments. For such instruments, class-C...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Choi, Hojong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6412745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30795525
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s19040898
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author Choi, Hojong
author_facet Choi, Hojong
author_sort Choi, Hojong
collection PubMed
description Transistor linearizer networks are proposed to increase the transmitted output voltage amplitudes of class-C amplifiers, thus, increasing the sensitivity of the echo signals of piezoelectric transducers, which are the main components in portable ultrasound instruments. For such instruments, class-C amplifiers could be among the most efficient amplifier schemes because, compared with a linear amplifier such as a class-A amplifier, they could critically reduce direct current (DC) power consumption, thus, increasing the battery life of the instruments. However, the reduced output voltage amplitudes of class-C amplifiers could deteriorate the sensitivity of the echo signals, thereby affecting the instrument performance. Therefore, a class-C linearized amplifier was developed. To verify the capability of the class-C linearized amplifier, typical pulse-echo responses using the focused piezoelectric transducers were tested. The echo signal amplitude generated by the piezoelectric transducers when using the class-C linearized amplifier was improved (1.29 V(p-p)) compared with that when using the class-C amplifier alone (0.56 V(p-p)). Therefore, the class-C linearized amplifier could be a potential candidate to increase the sensitivity of echo signals while reducing the DC power consumption for portable ultrasound instruments.
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spelling pubmed-64127452019-04-03 Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments Choi, Hojong Sensors (Basel) Article Transistor linearizer networks are proposed to increase the transmitted output voltage amplitudes of class-C amplifiers, thus, increasing the sensitivity of the echo signals of piezoelectric transducers, which are the main components in portable ultrasound instruments. For such instruments, class-C amplifiers could be among the most efficient amplifier schemes because, compared with a linear amplifier such as a class-A amplifier, they could critically reduce direct current (DC) power consumption, thus, increasing the battery life of the instruments. However, the reduced output voltage amplitudes of class-C amplifiers could deteriorate the sensitivity of the echo signals, thereby affecting the instrument performance. Therefore, a class-C linearized amplifier was developed. To verify the capability of the class-C linearized amplifier, typical pulse-echo responses using the focused piezoelectric transducers were tested. The echo signal amplitude generated by the piezoelectric transducers when using the class-C linearized amplifier was improved (1.29 V(p-p)) compared with that when using the class-C amplifier alone (0.56 V(p-p)). Therefore, the class-C linearized amplifier could be a potential candidate to increase the sensitivity of echo signals while reducing the DC power consumption for portable ultrasound instruments. MDPI 2019-02-21 /pmc/articles/PMC6412745/ /pubmed/30795525 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s19040898 Text en © 2019 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Choi, Hojong
Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments
title Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments
title_full Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments
title_fullStr Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments
title_full_unstemmed Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments
title_short Class-C Linearized Amplifier for Portable Ultrasound Instruments
title_sort class-c linearized amplifier for portable ultrasound instruments
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6412745/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30795525
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s19040898
work_keys_str_mv AT choihojong classclinearizedamplifierforportableultrasoundinstruments