Acquisition RX Chain for PMUT-Based Highly Integrated Ultrasound Imaging Systems

This paper presents a design solution for a PMUT RX front-end for high performance portable ultrasound medical imaging systems. The PMUT transducer is part of a ID array working in the 1-4 MHz frequency range. Adequate SNR and low power dissipation are ensured in the RX path thanks to a careful design flow focused onto specific imaging requirements, extracted considering the lumped-parameter equivalent circuit model of the transducer. Programmable gain [25dB-35dB] is implemented to comply with a wide range of input acoustic pressure while distortion parameters are designed in order to provide good imaging qualities. Transistor level design and simulations performed in a BCD-SOI 0.16-μm technology are shown as well.