Systems and methods of ultrasound simulation
AssigneeThe Governing Council of the University of Toronto
InventorsLuis AGUILAR, David STEINMAN, Richard Southwell Chevallier COBBOLD
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Abstract
Herein described are systems and methods of ultrasound imaging. More particularly, embodiments described herein provide an ultrasound simulator based on the physics of ultrasound, such that it is possible to realistically reproduce most of the common characteristics of ultrasound examinations. Further, methods are described herein which may affect the computational efficiency of ultrasound simulation.
Claims34
A method for simulating ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:
- storing a model of a sham ultrasound transducer held by an operator during a simulated ultrasound procedure as a plurality of point sources for emitting a simulated acoustic wave during the simulated ultrasound procedure;
- storing an ultrasound target model;
- calculating a plurality of radio-frequency signals by repeatedly:
- calculating the emission of a simulated acoustic wave signal from each point source to a subset of the ultrasound target model;
- calculating a transmitted impulse response for the subset of the ultrasound target model;
- calculating an overall transmitted impulse by aggregating the transmitted impulse responses;
- calculating an overall transmit-receive impulse response from the overall transmitted impulse response;
- and
- calculating a radio frequency signal from the overall transmit-receive impulse response;
- and
- generating an ultrasound image for output to a display from the plurality of radio frequency signals.
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A system for simulating ultrasound imaging, the system comprising:
- at least one processor;
- storage storing a model of a sham ultrasound transducer held by an operator during a simulated ultrasound procedure as a plurality of point sources for emitting a simulated acoustic wave during the simulated ultrasound procedure, and an ultrasound target model, and computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the processor to:
- calculate a plurality of radio-frequency signals by repeatedly:
- calculate the emission of a simulated acoustic wave signal from each point source to a subset of the ultrasound target model;
- calculate a transmitted impulse response for the subset of the ultrasound target model;
- calculate an overall transmitted impulse by aggregating the transmitted impulse responses;
- calculate an overall transmit-receive impulse response from the overall transmitted impulse response;
- and
- calculate a radio frequency signal from the overall transmit-receive impulse response;
- and
- generate an ultrasound image for output to a display from the plurality of radio frequency signals.
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A method for simulating ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:
- storing a model of a sham ultrasound transducer held by an operator during a simulated ultrasound procedure as a plurality of point sources for emitting a simulated acoustic wave and as a fixed volume of transducer scatterers, the transducer scatterers being in a fixed spatial relationship from the plurality of point sources;
- storing a model of an ultrasound target as a plurality of model scatterers, wherein each model scatterer has an associated reflection coefficient;
- pre-computing impulse responses for each transducer scatterer in the fixed volume of transducer scatterers to a simulated acoustic wave emitted from the plurality of point sources;
- and
- upon the fixed volume of transducer scatterers at least partly intersecting the plurality of model scatterers during the simulated ultrasound procedure:
- determining, for each transducer scatterer, a nearest neighbor model scatterer;
- assuming, for each transducer scatterer, the associated reflection coefficient of its nearest neighbor scatterer;
- and
- scaling the pre-computed impulse responses with the associated reflection coefficients.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.