A Versatile Active Attenuator for Wide-Band and Narrow-Band Applications in Ultrasound Pulse-Echo Systems

An active calibrated attenuator which can be used with existing medical ultrasound pulse-echo systems is presented. Accurate signal attenuation over a 122-dB range is performed on signals of frequencies of up to 10 MHz. Wide-band or narrow-band operation is achieved with no insertion loss. The attenuator may also function as a preamplifier with up to 14.8-dB gain.