On the synthesis of sample volumes for real-time spectral Doppler ultrasound simulation

A variety of methods for simulating the ultrasound field produced by transducers are currently used in ultrasound imaging system design. However, simulations can be time-consuming, making them difficult to apply in real-time environments when the observation field changes rapidly with time. This is particularly true for interactive real-time Doppler and B-mode ultrasound simulators designed for use as training tools. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the use of a distribution of monopole sources can be used to simulate the field from a phased linear array and the accuracy should be sufficient for simulating pulsed spectral Doppler. Very good agreement can be achieved in comparison with that obtained by a more exact method and, because of the simplicity of the calculations, real-time simulations of flow in the arterial system becomes possible. Specifically, quantitative measurements were made and compared against an analytic solution for the case of a piston transducer and against Field II for the phased array. The root-mean-square error shows that it is possible to achieve 10% or less error for the latter case. For comparable conditions, the computational speed for the transmit field of phased array using the Field II method as compared with the monopole approach was found to be at least an order of magnitude faster. It is pointed out that the simplicity of the monopole approach provides the opportunity for a further order of magnitude gain. Our findings can have direct application on the simulation of spectral Doppler and other ultrasound techniques for the purpose of teaching and training.