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DESIGN OF PIC-CONTROLLED PULSED ULTRASONIC TRANSMITTER

FOR MEASURING GINGIVA THICKNESS
Eda Akman Aydına; İnan Gülera
a
Faculty of Technology, Department of Electronics and Computer Technology, Gazi University,
Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey

Online publication date: 27 October 2010

To cite this Article Aydın, Eda Akman and Güler, İnan(2010) 'DESIGN OF PIC-CONTROLLED PULSED ULTRASONIC
TRANSMITTER FOR MEASURING GINGIVA THICKNESS', Instrumentation Science & Technology, 38: 6, 411 — 420
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/10739149.2010.509149
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10739149.2010.509149

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 Instrumentation Science and Technology, 38:411–420, 2010
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1073-9149 print/1525-6030 online
DOI: 10.1080/10739149.2010.509149

DESIGN OF PIC-CONTROLLED PULSED ULTRASONIC

TRANSMITTER FOR MEASURING GINGIVA THICKNESS

Eda Akman Aydın and İnan Güler

Faculty of Technology, Department of Electronics and Computer Technology,
Gazi University, Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey
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& The aim of this study is to design and implement a noninvasive ultrasonic thickness measure-
ment device that determines the gingiva thickness, which is quite an important criterion in dentis-
try, by using A-mode ultrasonic method. Operating frequency of the device is selected as 8 MHz,
since gingival thickness is quite slight. The measurements are performed as 192.5 lm precision
by the implemented system. Surface-mounted devices integrated circuits (SMD ICs) and electronic
parts are used in the implementation of the device. Thus, a small-dimension, handheld device has
been design and constructed. The transmitter of the device is tested under simulated object, and
encouraging results were obtained.

Keywords A-mode ultrasound, dentistry, gingiva thickness, pulse-echo, thickness

measurement, ultrasonic transmitter

INTRODUCTION
In dentistry, detailed information on thickness of different parts of the
gingiva may be of considerable interest. Gingival thickness is important
information used to assign the region that is prone to the development
of gingival recession and evaluate the success of treatment for
recession.[1–3] Gingival thickness plays an important role in orthodontic
treatment, wound healing, and flap management during regenerative sur-
gical procedures.[4,5] Palatal mucosa is used as a donor material for root
coverage, increasing the width of attached gingiva and alveolar ridge
augmentation in periodontal plastic surgery.[6]
Noninvasive measurement of gingival thickness is accomplished by
using ultrasonic methods. Ultrasound also provides quantitative evaluation
and higher resolution than traditional methods. In the case of diagnosing

Address correspondence to İnan Güler, Faculty of Technology, Department of Electronics and

Computer Technology, Gazi University, 06500 Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail: iguler@gazi.edu.tr
 412 E. Akman Aydın and I_. Güler

periodontal diseases via ultrasonic method, the most common approach is

using an ultrasound pulse-echo probe that transmits the ultrasonic pulse
aimed at the gingiva tissue. The ultrasound energy that reflects from the
tissues is received by the same probe. Because the speed of sound is con-
stant in the medium, the thickness of the tissue can be calculated.[7,8]
Usability of ultrasonography in dentistry has been investigated for a long
time.[9–11] In the majority of studies, tooth and gingiva tissues have been
investigated by ultrasonic techniques. In these studies, the validity and
reliability of measuring gingival thickness is found to be excellent, and it
is concluded that ultrasound has promise for diagnosis of a variety of dental
diseases. In this research regarding the usability of ultrasound in dentistry,
commercial ultrasonic thickness meters are used to determine the gingiva
thickness. Therefore it has not been used in the practice of dentistry routi-
nely.[1–6,9,12–17] Loker and Hagenbuch[18] constructed a prototype ultra-
sonic periodontal diagnostic instrumentation system, which includes a
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commercial pulser-receiver, signal conditioning, and an oscilloscope.

The aim of this study is to design and construct a noninvasive ultrasonic
thickness measurement device that determines the gingiva thickness, which
is quite important an criterion in dentistry, by using A-mode ultrasonic
method. Operating frequency of the device is selected as 8 MHz.

INSTRUMENTATION
Figure 1 shows the block diagram of the ultrasonic gingiva thickness
measurement system. The properties of the system components are the
following.

Oscillator
Figure 2 shows the oscillator circuit. The oscillator is used to produce
8 MHz frequency signals for excitation of the transducer. An LTC6902

FIGURE 1 Block diagram of the ultrasonic thickness measurement system.

 PIC-Controlled Pulsed Ultrasonic Transmitter 413
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FIGURE 2 Oscillator circuit.

(Linear Technology Corporation, USA) multiphase oscillator is used to

produce 8 MHz square wave signals. The LTC 6902 is a high-precision,
low-power oscillator that provides multiphase outputs in an integrated
circuit.[19] At the designed oscillator system, two square wave signals with
180-degree phase difference are produced. The oscillator frequency is
8 MHz, and the duty cycle of these signals is 50%. Since the oscillator fre-
quency is selected to be 8 MHz, the measurements can be performed as
192.5 mm precision. The stability of the oscillator in the case of heat is quite
high (i.e., there is no damping for long-term operation).

Transmitter
Figure 3 shows the transmitter circuit. In this system, to prevent signal
attenuation and to achieve a good signal-to-noise ratio, the pulse signal
should be amplified to high enough levels.[19–24] This is accomplished by
using a TX734 (Texas Instruments Incorporated, USA) ultrasonic transmit-
ter integrated circuit that produces high-voltage, bipolar signals in order to
drive the ultrasonic transducer. TX734 is a high-voltage ultrasonic pulse
generator. Inside the TX734, there are level converters, Mosfet drivers,
and P-N channel Mosfets.[23] The transmitter is used in pulsed-wave mode
in the designed system. Operation of the transmitter is controlled by a
microcontroller and 30 V high-frequency pulse signal is obtained by using
just an all-in-one integrated circuit.
Control signals and the output waveform of the transmitter unit are
shown in Figure 4. The inputs of the transmitter unit are two complemen-
tary TTL level 8 MHz square-wave signals. Continuous wave (CW) mode
 414 E. Akman Aydın and I_. Güler
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FIGURE 3 Transmitter circuit.

input is kept at low level to operate the system in pulsed wave mode.
Enabled input of TX734 is controlled by a microcontroller to determine
pulse duration. Finally, high-voltage, bipolar pulse train is produced by
appropriate combination of all inputs.

Receiver
Figure 5 shows the receiver circuit. The reflected signals are received by
the receiver part of the system. This is accomplished by VCA 2616, which

FIGURE 4 Control signals and output waveform of the transmitter unit.

 PIC-Controlled Pulsed Ultrasonic Transmitter 415
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FIGURE 5 Receiver circuit.

includes dual, low-noise preamplifiers (LNP) and low-noise variable gain

amplifiers (VGA).[24] Maximum gain select (MGS) allows for the best noise
performance. The LNP has 80 MHz bandwidth and up to 25 dB gain; VCA
has 40 MHz bandwidth and 40 dB gain. Gain control of LNP is carried out
by three terminals (bits) on VCA2616, and the gain control of VGA is
achieved by voltage control. The received and amplified signal is then
applied to the envelop detector and then sent to the microcontroller for
calculation of tissue thickness.

Control Unit
All the subunits must be activated simultaneously to ensure proper
timing by a control unit. Thus, the control unit measures the elapsed
time from generation of the ultrasound pulse to reception of the echoes.
To control the elapsed time, a timer inside the controller is used.
A PIC18F4520 (Microchip Technology Inc., USA) microcontroller is
used for all control and computational operations in the system, as shown
 416 E. Akman Aydın and I_. Güler
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FIGURE 6 Control unit circuit.

in Figure 6. The functions of the control unit at the system are (1) to con-
trol pulse duration and pulse repetition time, (2) to control the operating
mode of transducer (as a transmitter or a receiver), (3) to detect the flight
time of the ultrasonic wave, and (4) to compute the thickness value using
the flight time. The flow chart of the microcontroller software is shown in
Figure 7.

Transmitter/Receiver (T/R) Switch

In A-mode ultrasonic systems, the transducer works both as a transmit-
ter and receiver. When the system is in the transmitting state, the receiver
part of system would be damaged by the high voltage produced in the trans-
mitter. Therefore a T=R switch is used to protect the receiver part of the
system from an overload condition, and the receiver is required to recover
very quickly from such a condition. Such an overload can either be the
result of a transmitted pulse feed-through or a strong echo, which can
cause overload of the LNA, the PGA, or both. Four high-voltage switching
diodes are configured in a bridge configuration and form the transmit=
receive (T=R) switch. During the transmit period, high-voltage pulses from
the pulser are applied to the transducer elements, and the T=R switch
isolates the sensitive LNA input from being damaged by the high-voltage
signal. Figure 8 shows the T=R circuit.
 PIC-Controlled Pulsed Ultrasonic Transmitter 417
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FIGURE 7 Flow chart of the PIC18F4520 microcontroller.

FIGURE 8 T=R switch circuit.

 418 E. Akman Aydın and I_. Güler

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The 8 MHz square-wave signals are measured at the output of the oscil-
lator circuit. These dual-case signals are applied to the input of the trans-
mitter system. Also, a control signal is produced by the control unit to
obtain pulse trains.
The produced signals are monitored with a Kenwood CS-5270
(Kenwood Corporation, Japan) oscilloscope. At the output of the oscillator
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FIGURE 9 The dual case signals.

FIGURE 10 The output signal of the transmitter.

 PIC-Controlled Pulsed Ultrasonic Transmitter 419
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FIGURE 11 The pulse trains at the output of the transmitter.

circuit, a 4 V, 8 MHz square-wave signal has been produced, without distor-

tion. The oscillator output is a dual case (i.e., 180 degrees out of phase)
since the transmitter inputs require dual case waveform. The complemen-
tary oscillator output is shown in Figure 9.
The transmitter part of the system was tested on a simulated object. The
output of the transmitter is shown in Figure 10. As seen from Figure 10, the
waveform of the output is quite smooth, so that the transmitted signal to
the gingiva is noiseless. Since the transmitted signal is without noise, the
thickness of the gingiva may be measured without ambiguity.
The control signal at the enabled input of the transmitter is produced
by the control unit. This signal is used to obtain pulsed wave signals. These
signals are seen at Figure 11. As seen from Figure 11, these signals are also
quite smooth. This will prevent the ambiguity of the control signal.

CONCLUSION
In this study, a gingiva thickness measurement device is designed and
implemented, and the transmitter part of it is tested. The test results
showed that the output of the transmitter is quite useful for driving the
ultrasound probe properly.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study has been supported by the Scientific and Research Projects
Department of Gazi University (BAP, Project no. 07=2009-05).
 420 E. Akman Aydın and I_. Güler

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