SIMULATION OF ULTRASOUND IMAGES 01 BIOLOGICAL TISSUES

Abstract

The simulation of ultrasound imaging using linear acoustics has been extensively used for studying focusing, image formation, and flow estimation, and it has become a standard tool in ultrasound research. It is possible to simulate the whole imaging process with time varying focusing and apodization. This has paved the way for doing realistic simulated imaging with multiple focal zones for transmission and reception and for using dynamic apodization. It is hereby possible to simulate ultrasound imaging for all image types including flow images, and the purpose of this dissertation work is to present some standard simulation phantoms that can be used in designing and evaluating ultrasound transducers, beamformers and systems. Artificial human phantoms of a fetus in the third month of development and an artificial kidney are shown. The simulation of flow and the associated phantoms is also discussed. All the phantoms can be used with any arbitrary transducer configuration like single element, linear, convex, or phased array transducers, with any apodization and focusing scheme. A fast program for the simulation of 'ultrasound imaging has been made. It can realistically simulate all kinds of ultrasound systems including color flow mapping