Building a Raspberry Pi based ultrasound imaging development platform | Hacker News Reader

Building a Raspberry Pi based ultrasound imaging development platform

kelu124.gitbooks.io

114 pointsdavikr28 comments

I would say, ultrasound is perfect FPGA application. One ultrasound channel can be replicated many times. FPGA size is the limit. Especially now when Raspberry Pis are unobtainium.

Well, not many people know verilog/vhdl

Chisel is a Scala DSL and can be easier to learn for some people.

1. I find Verilog 10x easier than Scala.

2. I have never managed to finish a Chisel project. Every time some language oddity or tool issue makes me switch back to the good old HDLs

This is basically the case for any digitally controlled effector/sensor. Need a serial bus to get data from some ADCs? An FPGA can do N buses in parallel. Need a PWM to control a motor? An FPGA can do N PWMs in parallel.

The problem of course is that the effector/sensor is usually still a physical object that has a cost to replicate, even though the control circuitry in the FPGA is free to replicate. As is the case with ultrasonic transducers.

I've been trying to get a Pi Zero 2 for a while. Can't find it anywhere. I can't seem to make any alternatives for the project work due mostly to a lack of support/docs/libraries and my own lack of expertise. In theory it should work with ESP32 (first preference), Teensy 4.1, and possibly a Banana Pi M2 Zero. I got it to basically work on an old Pi Zero, but it was laggy due to xwindows and only one slow core. Maybe I can figure out how to slim it down more, but I doubt it. I guess I'm waiting an unknown time for a Pi Zero 2...

What are you trying to do? Often, the reason something is difficult is simply due to choosing the wrong platform.

I'm trying to display video from a Flir Lepton. Teensy 4.1 can do it. Pi Zero 2 can do it. ESP32 can do it. People have shown projects that can do it, but they don't have tutorials with step by step guides of how to do it. Often times they are trying to sell a kit of it and just have the link to the GitHub and a blog post. Even help on the Google Group is limited for this type of question.

Kinda why I don't really like the SBC ecosystem. So many choices, so many random things you discover won't work, or tie you to some ancient kernel or binary blob

There are comparison charts but I don't think I have found one that mentions which things will just work out of the box on stock vanilla kernel and which require work.

ESP32's neat and all, but it's severely underpowered and very limited in what it can do. A Banana Pi (while we're waiting for Raspberries) is going to be a much shorter route to success.

The ESP32 should be able to handle 9hz 160x120 video. There are some projects put there using it for this. I just can't get it to work and there are no step by step guides for it.

Having had my first ultrasound ever a couple of weeks ago, I was immediately curious about what it takes to build one. Great to see this today on HN.

Read https://kelu124.gitbooks.io/echomods/content/caution.html and other sources before trying this out on your baby belly, this isn't without risk.

That's mostly CYA. The safety considerations are pretty obvious to anyone that knows how to drive an ultrasound transducer and it takes a lotta power to cause an ultrasound burn. Nothing in this universe is "without risk".

Also worth mentioning that there are practical uses for such high power levels which you'd never use for imaging. Eg therapeutic ultrasound

can this find the gophers? I hate the gophers.

I don't know why your comment isn't at the top. Good point.

What is this magical creature called Raspberry Pi? I’ve been trying to order a few for months. But they appear to be OOS or flippers scalpers have bought up available inventory and are charging outrageous markups.

I was almost able to order one through Adafruit but checkout never completed.

I am envious and relieved others are able to get their hands on them to build their projects. I’ve had to redesign a few of mine to use power hungry NUCs.

I think projects sometimes use the trade name "Raspberry Pi" as a shorter form of SBC with plenty of GPIO. Every week there are multiple semi-clone/specialized/enhanced Banana Pi, Lichee Pi, BigTreeTech, ARM or RISC-V, etc.

https://www.cnx-software.com/news/raspberry-pi/

I wonder if the supply can truly be that limited or am I just lucky enough to keep hearing about it? I haven't ordered a Pi in a while now; but even if they've just become unobtanium there's not yet a community effort to buff the software up for one of the other SBCs?

Armbian seems decent for software and supports multiple SBCs. I'm bot sure what the issue is, but stuff doesn't just work like it does with the Raspberry Pi. I have a Banana Pi M2 Zero since I can't find a Pi Zero 2. It simply won't run the stuff I need it to. The GPIO setup seems to be different or something. I just cannot get a Lepton working with it. Supposedly there is software to work the Lepton with a Teensy, but it seems they want you to buy a kit since I don't see any real instructions on what gpio to use and how to set it up. But I'm probably just dumb.

I have a Pi 3 B you can buy off me if you're interested.

3x compute modules 4, not used plus 2x carrier boards also not used for sale here. Let’s make small Hacker bazar. Wanted to use them for a project. Then I wasn’t able to buy more and went with FPGA. I hope it’s not against forum rules.

I have moved to NanoPi. Raspberry Pi is dead to me after years of indifference toward the hobbyist and small business sectors.

(Ultrasound as in ultrasound medical, not Gravis Ultrasound.)

That one... you can find there: https://github.com/polpo/picogus/

Not just medical. They are also used for inspecting mechanical parts. A boiler has to be inspected by ultrasound to ensure there are no hidden flaws that could cause it to explode. (along with x-rays and visual inspections. Maybe others, while steam engines are cool, the danger means I decided to not own one and I didn't research all the rules)

Actual title: Building a Raspberry Pi based ultrasound imaging development platform

Fixed. Thanks!

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