Which component directs the driving voltages from the pulser and pulse delays to the transducer during transmission and protects the receiver components from the large driving voltages of the pulse?

• A. Transmit and Receiver Switch (T/R Switch)
• B. Pulse Delays
• C. Signal Processing
• D. Receiver

Answer: (A)

The key idea is how the system gates the high-voltage drive to the transducer while protecting the rest of the front end. The Transmit/Receive switch acts as that gate. When transmitting, it routes the high-voltage pulses from the pulser (and the associated pulse-delay timing that shapes the beam) to the transducer elements to generate the ultrasound wave. When switching to receive, it isolates the transducer from those high voltages and directs the echoes from the transducer into the receiver pipeline, shielding the receiver components from the large driving voltages that were used to excite the transducer. Pulse delays are used to time the signals to each element for beam steering and focusing, but they don’t themselves switch between transmit and receive or provide the protective isolation. The receiver handles the faint echoes after they pass through the switch, and signal processing comes later.