ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS DEVICE AND TRANSMITTING SIGNAL GENERATION CIRCUIT

摘要

Provided is an ultrasonic diagnosis device equipped with a transmitting signal generation circuit suitable for IC implementation, which enables the fabrication process to be simplified and to be reduced in cost and enables the power consumption to be reduced. The transmitting signal generation circuit generates an output voltage (Vo) to be applied to an ultrasonic probe (41) and comprises a source-follower type NMOSFETs (11 to 14) connected in cascade, a variable current source (31), and a bias constant current source (32). Controlling the gate voltage (V4) by controlling the output current value of the variable current source (31) makes it possible to generate the output voltage (Vo) with an arbitrary amplitude at the probe (41). In addition, connecting the NMOSFETs (11 to 14) in a multi-stage fashion makes it possible to divide the voltage applied to each of the NMOSFETs, so that the breakdown voltage of the NMOSFETs is not required to be high.