Department of Medical IT Convergence Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Gumi, Republic of Korea.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 29;16(3):e0249034. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0249034. eCollection 2021.
This paper presents a novel amplifier that satisfies both low distortion and high efficiency for high-frequency wireless ultrasound systems with limited battery life and size. While increasing the amplifier efficiency helps to address the problems for wireless ultrasound systems, it can cause signal distortion owing to harmonic components. Therefore, a new type of class F amplifier is designed to achieve high efficiency and low distortion. In the amplifier, the resonant circuit at each stage controls the harmonic components to reduce distortion and improve efficiency. Transformers with a large shunt resistor are also helpful to reduce the remaining noise in the input signal. The proposed class F amplifier is tested using simulations, and the voltage and current waveforms are analyzed to achieve correct operation with adequate efficiency and distortion. The measured performance of the class F amplifier has a gain of 23.2 dB and a power added efficiency (PAE) of 88.9% at 25 MHz. The measured DC current is 121 mA with a variance of less than 1% when the PA is operating. We measured the received echo signal through the pulse-echo response using a 25-MHz transducer owing to the compatibility of the designed class F amplifier with high- frequency transducers. The measured total harmonic distortion (THD) of the echo signal was obtained as 4.5% with a slightly low ring-down. The results show that the low THD and high PAE of the new high-efficiency and high-voltage amplifier may increase battery life and reduce the cooling fan size, thus providing a suitable environment for high-frequency wireless ultrasound systems.
本文提出了一种新颖的放大器,可满足具有有限电池寿命和尺寸的高频无线超声系统的低失真和高效率要求。虽然提高放大器效率有助于解决无线超声系统的问题,但它会因谐波分量而导致信号失真。因此,设计了一种新型 F 类放大器以实现高效率和低失真。在放大器中,每个级的谐振电路控制谐波分量以减少失真并提高效率。带有大分流电阻的变压器也有助于减少输入信号中的剩余噪声。使用仿真对所提出的 F 类放大器进行了测试,并对电压和电流波形进行了分析,以实现具有足够效率和失真的正确操作。F 类放大器的测量性能在 25MHz 时具有 23.2dB 的增益和 88.9%的功率附加效率 (PAE)。当 PA 工作时,测量的直流电流为 121mA,其变化小于 1%。我们通过使用 25MHz 换能器进行脉冲回波响应测量来测量接收的回波信号,这是由于设计的 F 类放大器与高频换能器兼容。回波信号的总谐波失真 (THD) 测量结果为 4.5%,略有下降。结果表明,新的高效率和高电压放大器的低 THD 和高 PAE 可以延长电池寿命并减小冷却风扇尺寸,从而为高频无线超声系统提供合适的环境。