A low-noise, wideband electronic system for pulse-echo ultrasound imaging with CMUT arrays

Design criteria are given for low-noise, wideband front-end electronics suitable for pulse-echo operation of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs). To investigate which configuration of the receiving amplifier assures the best performance, the basic circuits of voltage and transimpedance amplifiers are analyzed, optimized and compared through PSpice simulations. Custom electronics are also realized, based on the reported analysis, and the performances are evaluated using a fabricated 64-element CMUT array.