STMicroelectronics High Integration High voltage drivers Reduce the size of high performance ultrasonic scanners and simplify the design

     STMicroelectronics STHV200 Ultrasonic IC Monolithic integrated linear drivers, pulse drivers with clamp circuits, switches and diagnostic circuits to simplify medical and industrial scanner design, reduce size, and reduce material costs. Available in a 7mm x 7mm 48-pin QFN package.

     STHV200's linear drive output current 3A and pulse drive output current 2A are primarily used to drive advanced trolley medical ultrasound diagnostics, industrial non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment and piezoelectric transmitters. The linear drive circuit and the pulse drive circuit each have two channels and share a high voltage output node, so that the user can flexibly select the most suitable output according to the application. STHV200 has pulse wave, continuous wave and elastic imaging three modes of operation, pulse wave mode for whole body tissue imaging, continuous wave mode for dynamic measurement of biological indicators, such as blood flow, elastic imaging for determining organ health and tumors.

     Each linear driver is a in-phase op amp with four programmable gains that can boost the output signal up to 180Vpp. Each channel has improved low noise and harmonic performance, operating up to 20 MHz at maximum gain and up to 25 MHz at minimum gain Settings. Both channels benefit from a diode-free output circuit design that minimizes distortion, while a dedicated circuit that minimizes burr injection coupled with fast switching times allows near-field images to be captured.

     The pulse generator channel is a half-bridge driver, the maximum saturation current of the high and low side transistors can be set to 2A, and the controller communicates with the SPI interface. With output voltages up to 200Vpp, users can fine-tune pulse edge conversion to optimize performance and power consumption in pulse, continuous wave, and elastic imaging modes. The chip also integrates a real zero clamp circuit, which can directly force the output node to ground.

     In addition, STHV200 integrates a protective continuous diode that clamps the secondary cycle current in the presence of inductive load and an anti-memory circuit that discharges all internal nodes in the clamp state. The driver also has built-in output short-circuit protection to prevent the danger of short-circuiting the output pin. The chip also provides additional internal global inspection and automatic diagnostic functions to ensure safe and reliable working conditions.