TI speeds ultrasound design

BANGALORE, INDIA: Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) introduced on Tuesday the integrated, eight-channel, transmit/receive (T/R) switch for ultrasound systems, which it said is the first of its kind in the industry.

The TX810 addresses designers’ need to build smaller portable ultrasound systems, while speeding time to market, said a press release.

The TX810 integrates a protection diode bridge and clamp diodes for each of its eight channels to prevent the high-voltage pulses of the transmitter from damaging the receive electronics of the ultrasound system.

The device saves more than 50 per cent board space over discrete solutions in portable to mid-range ultrasound systems, and the component reduction and easier handling brings higher reliability to designs.

TI said it is helping shape technology to improve the quality and accessibility of medical equipment to revolutionize healthcare in the 21st century and beyond.

With its full range of analog and embedded processing products, from building blocks to complete semiconductor solutions, plus systems insight, global support infrastructure, advanced process technology and medical industry involvement, TI is helping make innovative medical electronics more flexible, affordable and accessible.

Texas Instruments also announced 16 new ultra-low power MSP430 microcontrollers (MCU) targeted at electricity and gas metering applications.

These new MSP430F4xx devices are highly integrated solutions that can support standalone analog front-end (AFE) needs and achieve leading accuracy results of better than 0.1 percent, said a press release.