National Semiconductor Corp. has unveiled an eight-channel ultrasound transmit/receive chipset specifically designed for portable ultrasound systems used in hospitals, clinics, ambulances and remote point-of-care facilities. The PowerWise® chipset's innovative circuit architecture enables the design of both hand-carried and handheld units that deliver longer battery life and imaging performance comparable to larger console systems.

The complete eight-channel transmit/receive chipset includes a receive analog front end (AFE), transmit/receive switch, transmit pulser and configurable transmit beamformer. This high-level of integration allows system designers to build lightweight 128-channel portable ultrasound systems with enhanced image quality and diagnostics in a small footprint. National supports the chipset with comprehensive evaluation kits, reference schematics and tools that help customers make detailed chip performance evaluations and accelerate time-to-market.

"Previously, this level of ultrasound imaging quality was only attainable with large cart-based consoles," said Dr. Norbert Gaus, chief executive officer of the Clinical Products Division of Siemens Healthcare. "National Semiconductor has significantly raised the bar in terms of imaging performance and low-power consumption for portable ultrasound systems."

National's eight-channel chipset includes four integrated circuits (ICs) that work together. For example, the transmit beamformer can be configured to calibrate the board trace delay mismatch and pulser delay mismatch. This significantly improves the distortion performance and enables second harmonic imaging. The transmit/receive switch gives system designers the flexibility to trade-off power versus performance by selecting different bias current settings.

To see a video demonstration of the LM96511 AFE operating in B-mode and CW Doppler-mode, with input signals that emulate a real ultrasound environment, visit http://bit.ly/LM965xxDemoVideo.

Packaging, Pricing and Availability

Available now, the LM96511 AFE is supplied in an 11 mm x 17 mm, 376-pin BGA package and is priced at $55 each in 1,000-unit quantities. The LM96530 transmit/receive switch is packaged in a 9 mm by 9 mm, 60-pin LLP®, the LM96550 pulser in a 12 mm by 12 mm, 80-pin LLP, and the LM96570 beamformer in a 5 mm by 5 mm, 32-pin LLP. The LM96530, LM96550 and LM96570 are priced at $8, $20 and $6, respectively, each in 1,000-unit quantities. All three devices are sampling now, with production volumes available by November 2010.

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