High-Power Gallium Nitride HIFU Transmitter With Integrated Real-Time Current and Voltage Measurement

Abstract

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) therapy provides a non-invasive technique with which to destroy cancerous tissue without using ionizing radiation. To drive large singleelement HIFU transducers, ultrasound transmitters capable of delivering high powers at relevant frequencies are required. The acoustic power delivered to a transducers focal region will determine the treated area, and due to safety concerns and intervening layers of attenuation, control of this output power is critical.A typical setup involves large inefficient linear power amplifiers to drive the transducer. Switched mode transmitters allow for a more compact drive system with higher efficiencies, with multi-level transmitters allowing control over the output power. Real-time monitoring of power delivered can avoid damage to the transducer and injury to patients due to over treatment, and allow for precise control over the output power.This study demonstrates a transformer-less, high power, switched mode transmit transmitter based on Gallium-Nitride (GaN) transistors that is capable of delivering peak powers up to 1.8 kW at up to 600 Vpp, while operating at frequencies from DC to 5 MHz. The design includes a 12 bit 16 MHz floating Current/Voltage (I-V) measurement circuit to allow real-time high-side monitoring of the power delivered to the transducer allowing use with multi-element transducers.

Efficacy and safety of HIFU in combination with TACE in unresectable pediatric HB: A randomized, controlled, single-center clinical trial

“…[9] Currently, it is believed to mainly consist of thermal, cavitation, acoustic-chemical and mechanical effects that destroy the membrane structure of tissue cells, leading to cell disintegration, lysis and necrosis, thus destroying the tissue. [10] Among them, thermal and cavitation effects are the main mechanisms of tissue damage by HIFU, while damage due to excessive cavitation effects is uncontrollable and unpredictable, and is prone to side effects such as bleeding and rupture. [11] HIFU has the following advantages in treatment: noninvasive, conformal treatment, which protects tissues outside the target area from damage.…”

Review of the design of power ultrasonic generator for piezoelectric transducer

“…Especially, ultrasonic-assisted machining technology mainly used in drilling [59] , turning [60] , milling [16] , grinding [16] , and impact treatment [61] , [62] , [63] , [64] has been studied in recent decades, which can effectively solve the problems of excessive cutting force, high cutting temperature, severe tool wear, and poor surface quality, and process high-performance materials with high hardness, high brittleness, high wear resistance, and high-temperature resistance, such as titanium alloys, carbon fiber-reinforced composite materials, cobalt oxide ceramics, silicon carbide semiconductors. In addition, the PUT has continuously extended its application fields to ultrasonic surgical scalpels [14] , ultrasonic vessel sealing [15] , ultrasonic deicing [65] , ultrasonic-assisted producing 2D nanomaterials [66] , non-invasive tissue removal therapy [67] , ultrasonic motors [68] , [69] , and ultrasonic wireless power transmission by crossing metal barriers [70] , [71] , [72] . Compared with the design requirements in fluid media, the rightmost column of Table 1 clearly shows that the frequency range (20 kHz < f < 70 kHz) is more concentrated.…”

“…7 (c) mainly include the shortest development cycle and plentiful waveform types, which brings great superiority to set the ultrasonic waveform for customers, especially scientific researchers. But its limitations (such as bulky body, high costs, and poor electrical efficiency) indicate that it is not suitable for large-scale industrial applications [67] , [111] , [112] . As shown in Fig.…”

“…As one of the most attractive solutions for implementing medium voltage/high voltage high-power converters, the multilevel inverter (MLI) [67] is configured by a unique arrangement of single/multiple dc power supply panels and semiconductor devices to generate low distortion near sinusoidal voltage, high-quality waveforms with low harmonic content and low dv/dt stress, which significantly reduces THD, and the voltage stress on the switch is far lower than the output voltage. There are two types of cascaded-transformer multilevel inverter (CTMLI) including conventional CTMLI ( Fig.…”

Power Efficiency Characterization with Various Gate Oxide Thicknesses in Class DE Amplifiers for HIFU Applications

“…A power amplifier is a key component that determines the performance of a transducer driver [16,17]. In order to have high-power driving and high-power efficiency, research is being conducted on GaN devices in addition to CMOS devices [18]. In the driving topology, there were efforts to lower the high DC voltage bias [19,20] and to simultaneously control a large array [21,22].…”