Hardware Circuits and Software Features for Improving Old Diagnostic Signals

New ultrasonographic instrumentation has the merit to perform exams with high precision and perhaps with best accuracy. In many locations all over the world, old ultrasonic scanners are still used; they need a revamping and reconditioning processes in order to be updated according to current usages. Whether costs may be under control, low-cost improvements can be envisaged by designing a post process unit capable of allowing the “almost” same results than those obtained by revamping and reconditioning processes. In particular, the objective of the current work is to design the improvement of an instrumentation dedicated to acquisition and processing of a diagnostic ultrasound located in Measurement and Instrumentation lab of Salento University. To do that, an amplifier (video intensifier) has been designed and added to one already encompassed in the apparatus in order to amend signal processing via hardware. Furthermore, nonlinear algorithms have been implemented by means of specific filters in Matlab environment.