Medical ultrasound imaging systems are using increasingly complex transducer elements to achieve higher quality images and measurements. The most sophisticated medical ultrasound scanners now use linear arrays (N.times.1) containing over one hundred transducer elements and two dimensional arrays (N.times.M) containing upwards of five hundred channels. The two-dimensional arrays with their large number of transducer elements offer several advantages :over the linear arrays for B-scans including; focusing in the elevation dimension, phase aberration corrections in two-dimensions, concurrent orthogonal B-scans, real time volumetric imaging, high speed C-scans and angle independent blood flow imaging.
However, while the increased number of transducer elements have improved the imaging capability of the ultrasound system, the electronic cabling requirements have severely impacted the size, cost and flexibility of the transducer cables. Each transducer element, located in a probe which touches the patient body, requires an independent exciter circuit to supply an electronic shock-excitation or burst pulse input to generate an ultrasonic energy pulse. Currently, coaxial cables carry the electronic pulse from the ultrasound scanner to the independent transducer elements located in the transducer probe. The large number of independent transducer elements typically require a like number of independent coaxial cables. The coaxial cable with insulation and shield typically measures 0.46 mm diameter or greater per channel. The large quantity of channels multiplies the size of the transducer assembly cable which can make it extremely stiff, heavy, and costly.
Pliant fiber optic cables have diameters nearly ten times smaller than the coaxial cables. Fiber optic cables have not been used to transmit high voltage to transducers with a multiplicity of elements but have seen limited use in intra-cavity and intra-blood-vessel ultrasound imaging to electrically isolate the patient.