PROTEUS: A Physically Realistic Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Simulator-Part I: Numerical Methods

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Acoustics

Background:

• Ultrasound contrast agents, specifically microbubbles, have been vital for vascular imaging for decades.
• Applications include tissue perfusion detection and microvasculature super-resolution imaging.
• Current research faces challenges due to uncontrolled experimental variables and the need for large datasets for AI.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a physically realistic contrast-enhanced ultrasound simulator (PROTEUS).
• To address the demand for reliable simulation tools for deep learning in computational ultrasound imaging.
• To provide a customizable, open-source platform for advancing contrast-enhanced ultrasound research.

Main Methods:

• Developed PROTEUS with four interconnected modules: blood flow, microbubble trajectory, ultrasound propagation, and nonlinear scattering.
• Employed numerical methods to simulate ultrasound wave interactions with tissues and microbubbles.
• Validated the simulator across diverse vascular architectures and medical ultrasound frequencies.

Main Results:

• PROTEUS successfully generates contrast-enhanced radiofrequency data.
• The simulator accurately models ultrasound physics in various vascular geometries.
• Demonstrated the tool's capability to reproduce complex ultrasound imaging scenarios.

Conclusions:

• PROTEUS provides a physically realistic simulation framework for contrast-enhanced ultrasound.
• The open-source simulator facilitates exploration of novel imaging techniques and AI development.
• This tool overcomes key experimental limitations in the field.