Sonix RP Basics

Overview
Using the Sonix RP system is quite simple once the functions and basic concepts have been learned.

Operational Modes
There are two general modes of operation that the Sonix RP can run; Clinical Mode and Research Mode. Clinical mode puts the system in standard diagnostic mode without any research capabilities, and Research Mode puts the system in a mode where special parameters and imaging modes can be accessed. To switch between the two modes, press the RESEARCH key, which is located on the upper left part of the console.



When Research Mode is active:
 * The Research key will be lit orange
 * The system software will look like a Microsoft Windows™ application with a title bar and minimize/maximize/close buttons
 * It will be possible to access the Microsoft Windows™ desktop, including the start menu and taskbar

When Clinical Mode is active:
 * The Research key will be lit blue
 * The system software will cover the entire monitor and access to the Microsoft Windows™ desktop will not be possible

RF Collection
One of the most popular uses of the Sonix RP is to collect digital Radio Frequency (RF) data. RF data is the signal before any digital filtering, envelope detection or compression has been applied in the processing chain.

The architecture of the Sonix RP is one where the electronics send a specific data type over to the PC. When the system is in B mode imaging, there is no RF data being sent to the PC, just envelope data. Therefore to acquire RF data, a special mode of operation, called RF Mode, was created so that the RF data could be streamed across. The mode is operational on any Sonix RP system and can be accessed by pressing the B-Mode key when the system is already imaging in B-mode. To return to regular B-mode when in RF mode, the B-MODE key can be pressed again. RF mode is available in both Clinical and Research modes of operation. In Clinical mode, the RF spectrum will not be displayed, and B/RF acquisition mode (see below) is automatically selected.

RF mode has two displays, the top display shows a B-mode image, and the bottom shows an RF trace. The RF trace corresponds to the movable line on the B-mode image. Although the RF trace only shows a single line, the RF data is actually being acquired across the entire transducer (for the specified line-density and sector), and stored in cine memory.

The trace shows a single RF line on the screen.

There are five acquisition types in RF mode:
 * 1) Acquire B
 * 2) Acquire RF
 * 3) Acquire B/RF
 * 4) Acquire ChRF
 * 5) Acquire B/ChRF

The acquisition type is displayed on the main screen and can be toggled by pressing the UPDATE key. When in acquiring B/RF at the same time, the frame rate will be dropped to half from the regular scanning frame rate due to the fact that the B and RF data are acquired separately. The sequence is to acquire one B frame, one RF frame, one B frame, one RF frame, and continues. In RF mode, the decimation is automatically set based on the PCI version on the machine. However, decimation can still be adjusted using the research menu options. The sampling rate is displayed on the right corner of the RF trace box. The maximum sampling rate that the RF data can be acquired is at 40 MHz, and the data is always in 16 bit samples.

B/ modes
In B/RF and B/ChRF modes, the B image is collected first, followed by an RF frame. In this case, the typical frame rate scenario is cut in half. If frame rate is a concern, then RF or ChRF would be the mode of choice, otherwise if a reference B image is desired, the B/ modes are quite useful.

RF Data
RF data has two different formats that can be collected. The first format is beamformed RF data, where an entire frame of RF is collected, using the same number of scanlines used to create the B image. The second format is pre-beamformed RF data, denoted by ChRF from the acquisition type. In this mode, the line on the B image denotes the center of the aperture. The aperture is transmit 32 times, and each of the 32 receives masks all but one channel, so that all 32 channels are collected pre-beamformed. A future improvement could be to receive on 128 channels instead of 32, or have the number of pre-beamformed channels selectable. Note that the Texo SDK offers more flexibility for pre-beamformed collection, however this mode can be useful to obtain some data quickly.