Vendor-independent Non-intrusive Synchronization Signals Capture from Clinical Ultrasound Machines

Synchronization with clinical ultrasound machines is essential for the accurate operation of vendor-independent ultrasound-enabled interventional tools. However, most commercial ultrasound systems do not provide synchronization signals such as line and frame triggers, making it challenging to integrate these tools. In this paper, we propose a vendor-independent, non-intrusive method to capture synchronization signals from clinical ultrasound machines by detecting the electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated during ultrasound transmission events. Our approach involves attaching a custom-designed H-field antenna to the ultrasound probe or cable and processing it with a detection circuit to recover line and frame triggers. We validated our system across multiple clinical ultrasound platforms and demonstrated reliable detection of transmit events with over 99% accuracy. This method enables the integration of ultrasound-enabled tools into existing clinical workflows, facilitating the clinical translation of advanced interventional technologies without modifying the ultrasound hardware.