Design and Development of POSIT Arithmetic-Based Digital Beamformer for Ultrasound Imaging System

Abstract

Medical ultrasound scanners are among the most advanced signal-processing machines that are presently being used for individual purposes. Over several decades, the operation of ultrasound for medical opinion has been continuously evolving and perfecting. Medical ultrasound, which is also known as individual sonography or ultrasonography, is a safe and effective system of testing. The beamformer is a critical element of ultrasound scanners, serving as the” brain” that is responsible for the directional transmission and event of the ultrasound signal. Beamforming is a signal processing fashion used in ultrasound imaging to steer and concentrate a ray of sound swells. The project aims to develop a POSIT arithmetic-based digital beamformer for ultrasound imaging systems. The existing ultrasound digital beamformer implementation on hardware is based on either fixed-point arithmetic or IEEE-754 floating-point arithmetic. For fixed-point arithmetic even though the hardware footprint is less it has a problem in achieving a higher dynamic range and in the case of IEEE floating point arithmetic the dynamic range is high but the hardware footprint is larger and more complex. To overcome these drawbacks, it aims to develop a POSIT arithmetic-based digital beamformer for ultrasound imaging systems that have less hardware footprint than and almost the same dynamic range as that of floating-point arithmetic.