Philips Feifan M2540A Ultrasound Structure Analysis and Common Malfunctions

The Philips Envisor C (M2540A) ultrasound diagnostic system is based on Philips' unique traditional technology, combined with ATL's HDI and Agilent/Hewlett-Packard's SONOS technology. It offers an optimal combination of performance, ergonomics, and data management, and currently holds a significant share of the mid-range ultrasound market in China. Its superior cost-effectiveness has also been widely praised by customers.

The M2540 is structurally divided into two parts: the internal computer section (Internal PC) on the left and the electronic box section (E-box) on the right. The electronic box mainly includes the TR board, BPAP board, APIO board, Demod board, Connector Modules, and Distribution board, etc.

(1) PC: The M2540A uses a general-purpose PC to replace the specialized control circuit boards previously used in ultrasound systems. The power switch on the front of the PC is the system's power switch; pressing the PC's power switch starts the M2540A ultrasound system. The internal PC includes the following standard configurations: motherboard, hard drive, image acquisition card, acoustic processing board, 3.5-inch floppy drive, CD-RW drive, and CPU temperature monitor, etc. The PC driver supports a physiological module for monitoring ECG, which connects to the PC motherboard via a USB cable. The MOD driver allows image acquisition on removable disks for research and reporting.

(2) TR board: The M2540A contains two transmit and receive boards (TR). Each TR board has two connectors; one plugs into the motherboard, and the other plugs into the distribution board via the motherboard. These two TR boards are responsible for transmitting and receiving ultrasound signals. Each TR board has 64 transmitters and 64 receiver channels. It allows the system's 64 excitation channels to multiplex to a 128-element array. Each receiver channel contains a time-gain amplifier (TGC), a low-pass filter, a 10-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, and an eighth-order digital beamforming circuit. The TR board transmits the sum of 18-bit values on its 32 channels to the output bus, and the other TR board transmits the final RF data to the modulator board. The ultrasound transmission and reception lines are coordinated by the BPAP board. The BPAP board generates time-trigger signals to start and end each working line, sends the transmission signal to the TR board, and through the distribution board and module connectors to the transducer. The analog driver generates the RF data to be sent. The digital timer delays the time of each analog driver; it receives the appropriate delay value for each channel from the BPAP board, and the system power supply controls the amplification of the transmission waveform. The received ultrasound signals undergo pre-amplification, time-gain amplification, low-pass filtering, and then digital processing.

(3) BPAP board: The BPAP board (Beam processor/acoustic processor) contains two processors. One controls beamforming, and the other is responsible for scan conversion/color blood flow and Doppler signal processing. The BPAP board provides an interface for communication between the PC and TR, PC and modulator board, processes the control data from the PC into specific values sent to the TR board, detects the connection status of the ultrasound transducer, and allows arbitrary activation among the four transducers. The BPAP board can also control the high-voltage output of the system power supply.

(4) APIO board: The APIO board (Acoustic processor I/O) is the interface between the system PC and the electronic box. It handles data transmitted from the foot switch's three buttons through the input/output panel and sends it to the PC. The APIO board also generates trigger signals for the standard printer. Additionally, the APIO board handles signals from the PC, such as physiological module signals, power switch signals, BPAP board start-up signals, and ultrasound image display signals.

(5) Modulator board: The modulator board (Demodulator board) processes images and performs Doppler modulation for B-mode, M-mode, PW, CW, and color blood flow modes. It transmits the base data stream to the BPAP board.

(6) Connector Modules: The Connector Modules provide an interface and communication channel for the transducer and transmit and receive trigger signals for the TR board to the transducer.

Several Fault Phenomena and Analysis

(1) Fault phenomenon: Blue screen on startup, displaying "Windows/system32/config/system is lost", system configuration file lost. The M2540 uses Microsoft's Win XP operating platform; this phenomenon indicates an operating system failure. After reinstalling the software, the fault was resolved.

(2) Fault phenomenon: The ultrasound probe detection area shows bright and dark stripes or white spots in the detection area; sometimes it's one probe, sometimes all probes. This phenomenon indicates a failure of the transmit and receive channels on the TR board. The difference in fault phenomena indicates different degrees of channel damage. In severe cases, the system cannot Enter the operating interface after startup, and the screen displays “The
instrument detected an internal error and is collecting information to help diagnose the problem.” Depending on the severity of the fault, replacing one or two TR boards resolves the issue.

(3) Fault phenomenon: About 15 minutes after startup, the screen displays "E-Box temperature exceeds the normal level". First, check if the air filter is clean and if the fan behind the air filter is running. Upon inspection, the power supply fan was not working. Since it was under warranty, the power supply was replaced, and the fault was resolved.

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