Siemens Ultrasound Technology Analysis and Repair

Ultrasound diagnostic equipment, as an important auxiliary device in modern clinical diagnosis, is increasingly indispensable, and its Applications are constantly expanding. However, the working principle and basic design ideas of ultrasound equipment are already very mature, and no major theoretical breakthroughs have yet emerged. Only with the progress in other fields of electronic science and technology, the improvement of the performance and integration of electronic components has made the integration of ultrasound diagnostic equipment higher and higher, the number of modules in the equipment is less and less, especially the rapid development of computer technology has made many signals that previously needed to be processed by hardware circuits changed to be processed by software, and the new functions of various ultrasound products appear to be based on innovative breakthroughs in signal processing software algorithms. This development trend requires hospital equipment engineers to master more computer hardware and software knowledge in order to cope with and maintain ultrasound equipment.

Siemens ultrasound equipment is widely used in various types of hospitals. High-end products such as Sequoia512 and S2000 retain the needle-free probe interface of Acuson products, Hanefy lens probe imaging and chirped coded pulse excitation, and outstanding contrast imaging functions, becoming indispensable auxiliary means for clinical diagnosis. Based on these two machines, this paper discusses the importance of computer knowledge in practical work.

Troubleshooting and Analysis of Sequoia512 Ultrasound Local Area Network Failure

Sequoia512 ultrasound, as a widely recognized ultrasound device in the industry, is not only used in clinical diagnosis but also widely used in scientific research and teaching. Many hospitals undertaking teaching and research tasks have high requirements for its data measurement, acquisition, transmission, and storage functions.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the internal local area network of Sequoia512. The host, Perspective PC post-processing workstation, DVD burner, and PACS are connected through a switch (Harbor) or router (Router) to ensure high-speed real-time transmission of image data. For example, the images measured by the host can be sent to the Perspective PC post-processing workstation for further analysis, or sent to the hospital PACS system or sent to a DVD for storage, and vice versa.

1.1Fault Description

When calling the Perspective post-processing workstation to perform ACQ or VVI analysis on the contrast data saved by the host, the system prompts “This option is not available”, and the function cannot be called and executed.

1.2Fault Analysis and Troubleshooting

After entering the Service UI interface through the Presets/Setup key on the host control panel, select the Administrator option to Enter the Access service level. A prompt appears to Enter the User name and Password. Due to the manufacturer's technological monopoly, the Password of the Sequoia ultrasound changes once a day (24h). If not entered, many important functions cannot be used, including the system's call to the device's hardware self-test function, the search for system work logs, and the setting of basic parameters. After entering the User name and Password obtained from the manufacturer, activate the Enable four-hour service option and exit to the Service interface. Select the Network option to Enter. At this time, compared to not entering the Password, there are more advanced options that were originally hidden. You can edit and modify the Network Configuration file, set the host monitor as an external monitor for the Perspective PC, and display the Perspective PC working status in real time, etc.

This fault is a common fault and occurs frequently. During the maintenance process, engineers have summarized the general process for solving this fault. First, select Ping Perspective’s Address and Ping PACS’s Address for detection. Generally, three results will appear.

(1) Ping Perspective Address is abnormal and Ping PACS Address is abnormal:

Harbor or Router hardware failure. Further inspection and Confirm are required for Harbor or Router.

(2) Ping Perspective Address is normal but Ping PACS Address is abnormal: The hospital's PCAS system is abnormal. Contact the PCAS system maintenance engineer for assistance.

(3) Ping Perspective PC Address is abnormal but Ping PACS Address is normal. This is generally a hardware failure [3] or software failure of the Perspective PC. Further inspection of the Perspective PC is required.

Following the above process, the Perspective PC fault is judged and further tested. By setting the function, the Perspective PC working status is displayed through the host monitor. After booting up and observing, it is found that the Perspective workstation software system is damaged. After reinstalling the system, the Perspective PC works normally. When calling the contrast analysis function again, it still prompts that it cannot run. After Pinging the Perspective PC again through the host, it can be Pinged but with an Echo error, indicating that the communication protocol is abnormal. After rewriting the Network Configuration file, the contrast analysis function call is normal.

Troubleshooting and Analysis of S2000 Ultrasound Real-time Main Control Board Failure

The Siemens S2000 ultrasound was launched by Siemens as a replacement for the Sequoia512 ultrasound, with significant changes made to both the hardware and software architecture [4]. The number and Size of circuit boards have been greatly reduced, and many functions previously implemented through hardware are now implemented through software running in the real-time control board (Real Time Manager CPU board, RM).

The RM board is similar to the motherboard in a computer, with a high-performance CPU that controls the implementation of various functions.

2.1Fault Description

After the first boot-up in the morning, the system frequently experienced automatic restarts or crashes, and the frequency increased. After each automatic restart, the system worked normally throughout the day.

2.2Fault Analysis and Handling

Because the fault occurred at a low frequency at the beginning and the department's diagnostic volume was large, it was impossible to observe and test for a long time. After cleaning and maintenance and software system defragmentation, the observation continued. As the fault frequency increased, the system log was downloaded from the host, and the restart time recorded by the operator's help was analyzed. It was found that on the day the fault occurred, the graphics card part number (Part Number) would be missing in the first boot log (Boot Log), while in the boot log after the restart, the part number was displayed normally. After replugging the graphics card, memory, hard disk, etc. on the RM board and reinstalling the driver, the device could work normally for several days, but the fault reappeared later. It was initially judged that the RM board had failed.

Since the R board provides functions similar to a computer motherboard in the device, including hard disk, CPU, memory, and graphics card, replacing the entire RM board is expensive. Attempts were made to test the RM board separately with external devices such as a monitor and separate power supply. The fault reappeared. Following the approach of repairing desktop computers, the memory, hard disk, and other hardware were replaced one by one for testing. When the graphics card was replaced and tested, the fault disappeared, and the device worked normally. The cost of replacing the graphics card is negligible compared to replacing the entire RM board, saving a lot of repair expenses.

The fault was repaired after replacing the graphics card on the RM board.

Conclusion

The two examples of ultrasound equipment repair above show that the combination of computer technology and modern ultrasound equipment is becoming increasingly close, and the proportion of faults related to computer knowledge is increasing. Biomedical engineering professionals, during their higher education, have received education and training in microcomputer hardware principles and computer languages as compulsory courses. However, in the practical work of engineers, this knowledge is still a rather general basis. It is necessary to combine the problems encountered in practice, integrate theory with practice, strengthen learning, and keep the theoretical knowledge, including the computer hardware architecture and LAN software and hardware knowledge involved in the text, constantly updated. Only then can we help us quickly and clearly judge the hardware or software problems of ultrasound machines in practice and solve the problems efficiently.

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