GE Vivid E9 color ultrasound diagnostic instrument troubleshooting and repair

Image Interference

1.1 Malfunction—

1.1.1 Malfunction Phenomenon

The 9L—D probe shows interference in color Doppler mode, while other probes and imaging modes are normal.

1.1.2 Malfunction Analysis and Solution

First, determine whether it is a probe malfunction. Test the probe on another VE9 machine. The display is normal. After ruling out the probe itself, the suspected cause is the usage environment. Move the device to another ultrasound examination room, and power on the machine. The malfunction disappears. This confirms that the malfunction is caused by the device's usage environment, and the interference source needs to be found.

There are no large power-consuming devices around the examination room that could produce interference. The focus is on finding the interference source within the examination room. Turn off all power-consuming devices in the examination room one by one; the malfunction does not disappear. Disconnect the power connections of the power-consuming devices in the examination room one by one. When the power plug of the reporting workstation host is removed from the power strip, the interference is reduced, and the interference source is suspected to be in a certain link of the power connection of the workstation. Continue to disconnect the power strip of the workstation; the interference disappears. Repeated testing confirms that the image interference is caused by the power strip connected to the workstation. Replace the power strip to resolve the malfunction.

The problem of ultrasound image interference is quite complex, and the interference sources can be varied. Interference caused by a power strip is relatively rare. Therefore, when encountering this type of malfunction, all possibilities outside the ultrasound equipment must be considered.

1.2 Malfunction Two

1.2.1 Malfunction Phenomenon

Snow-like interference appears on the screen when using the console keyboard to input information.

1.2.2 Malfunction Analysis and Solution

Interference problems are often related to power supply. Since the interference only occurs when using the keyboard, first check the keyboard's USB input voltage. The measurement results are normal; test the host's +5V output voltage, and the results are normal.

Re-check the keyboard and find that the keyboard pops out unsmoothly and the sliding is hindered; raise the console and find that the protective grounding terminal under the keyboard is detached (Figure 1), and the grounding wire is caught in the slide. Repeatedly pushing and pulling the keyboard reveals that as long as the exposed metal wire of the grounding wire touches the metal object on the chassis, the screen will show interference. After reconnecting and fixing the keyboard grounding wire, the malfunction is eliminated.

Figure 1 Keyboard grounding wire terminal detached

1.3.1 Malfunction Phenomenon

Interference from the near field to the far field appears in the 2D mode; in the color mode, the entire sampling frame is a color patch. This malfunction occurs intermittently, and the frequency of occurrence increases with use, seriously affecting equipment use.

1.3.2 Malfunction Analysis and Solution

Testing the probe, checking the power supply, checking the environmental impact, cleaning, and maintenance, etc., according to the conventional methods of eliminating interference, failed to find the cause of the malfunction. After repeated observation, it was found that when the temperature of the front end of the device increases, the malfunction appears obviously and stably, suspected to be a problem with the internal circuit or components of the device. Refer to the VE9 front-end signal transmission principle diagram (Figure 2) and reception principle diagram (Figure 3) to find the cause of the malfunction from the perspective of ultrasonic signals.

According to the principle diagram, the process of the device generating sound waves is controlled by the front-end motherboard (GFI), which controls the cooperation of various front-end components. Mainly, the transmission board (GTX) and the interface board (RELAY) load the high voltage of the encoding, and notify the receiving board (GRX) to prepare to receive the signal; when receiving the signal, the GFI controls the RELAY, GRX, and DRX to receive and process the signal. In the front-end components, the RELAY, GTX, and GRX transmit or load analog signals. When receiving, the GRX signal is transmitted to the DRX through the XD BUS board, and after the DRX, it is a digital signal. There is one RELAY board, four GTX boards, two GRX boards, and four DRX boards in the host system; the GTX board and the GRX board are connected to the RELAY board through two sets of connection boards (XDBUS); these components form 256 physical transmission and reception channels, respectively controlling the scanning and imaging of different acoustic beam positions.

Understanding the functions and signal nature of the above components, re-check the malfunction: ① The device is only connected to the 9L—D linear array probe with the same number of physical channels as the host. Change the GTX position in order; the interference position does not change, ruling out transmission interference; 2) Remove one XD BUS board and observe the change in the interference position; the interference position does not change, and the missing part of the image still has interference, confirming that the analog signal of the GRX is not problematic; 3) Change the DRX board position and observe the change in the interference position; the interference position changes, confirming that the DRX board causes interference. After replacing and repairing the DRX board causing interference, the malfunction is resolved.

2 Startup Anomaly

2.1 Malfunction—

2.1.1 Malfunction Phenomenon

High-temperature alarm occurs during device operation, and the device automatically shuts down and restarts.

2.1.2 Malfunction Analysis and Solution

According to the alarm prompt, this malfunction is caused by the system's protective restart due to excessive internal temperature of the ultrasound host. First, check the ambient temperature in the examination room. The temperature is slightly high but within the normal range; the suspected cause is poor heat dissipation channels. Clean the air filters located directly below and behind the host, and observe the re-testing; the malfunction disappears.

Overheat protection restart is a common malfunction of VE9, especially in summer and winter (with sufficient heating). For this malfunction, pay attention to the cleanliness of the equipment's usage environment to maintain good heat dissipation and regular maintenance of the equipment. Clean the various filters and regularly clean the inside of the device. If the device still frequently encounters overheating malfunctions under good external and internal cleanliness conditions, consider checking the cooling fan located at the bottom of the host. There have also been cases of overheating restarts caused by the cooling fan stopping.

2.2 Malfunction Two

2.2.1 Malfunction Phenomenon

The device restarts after the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) self-check interface, and cannot Enter the system.

2.2.2 Fault Analysis and Resolution

The ultrasound device failed to start, usually caused by a malfunction in the computer part acting as the device's backend, such as damage or poor contact of components like memory, hard disk, graphics card, or motherboard. This fault occurred after the device was moved to the ward for bedside examination, suspected to be caused by loose back-end boards. After removing the left cover of the host, opening the back-end chassis, and re-plugging the memory, graphics card, and hard disk in turn, the fault was resolved after re-plugging the SATA cable connecting the hard disk.

The ultrasound backend can be regarded as a powerful PC. Its hardware or software abnormalities often lead to the ultrasound device failing to start normally. During use, try to avoid violent vibrations of the device, maintain good internal cleanliness, and reduce the occurrence of hardware faults. For software faults such as system crashes, you need to fully master computer knowledge and learn to use tools such as Ghost and U-disk boot to back up the system, so as to solve such faults promptly and effectively.

2.3 Fault Three

2.3.1 Fault Phenomenon

The device repeatedly reads the progress bar after powering on and cannot enter the operating system, showing HWID = 0.

2.3.2 Fault Analysis and Resolution

The HWID of VE9 is stored in the chip on the front motherboard (GFI) of the host. During the startup process, the backend reads the information on the GFI through the PCIe CABLE. The fault of HWID = 0 is usually caused by abnormal communication between the front and rear ends. A fault on either side of the chain may cause a HWID error. The GFI board was re-plugged, and the PCIe CABLE was tightened to the GFI and BEP connections, but the fault persisted. Due to manufacturer permission settings, without a dedicated Password dog, the fault location cannot be determined through the system backend's Error log. Since the hospital has multiple devices of the same Model, and since the possible causes of the fault have been analyzed and determined, the "replacement method" can be used to replace the corresponding hardware one by one to eliminate the fault.

The first thing that came to mind was to replace the device backend (BEP). Since it uses a modular design, it is not difficult to remove the BEP from the host. After marking and removing all connections, the BEP of a normal device was installed on the faulty device and tested. The fault was not resolved. After replacing the GFI board and testing, the fault persisted. After replacing the PCIe CABLE, the device started normally. After ordering and replacing the same type of cable, the fault was resolved.

The probability of a fault in the internal connecting cables of the device is relatively low. In the subsequent frequent crashes and restarts of the VE9, the problem was also solved by replacing the PCIe CABLE. Therefore, when repairing the VE9 crash and restart fault, if replacing the device components does not solve the fault, do not ignore replacing the related cables.

3 Discussion

Ultrasound has become a very important diagnostic device in hospitals, and its normal operation is crucial. The repair of the VE9 fault fully demonstrates the importance of preventive maintenance. It is necessary to maintain a good operating environment for the equipment and clean it regularly. The equipment should use independent power supply and good grounding as much as possible.

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