A Technique to Track Scatterers for Continuous High-speed Plane-wave Ultrasound Simulations based on a Fluid Domain...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Ultrasound Technology

Background:

• Ultrasound simulations are crucial for optimizing ultrasound systems and post-processing techniques like vector flow.
• Complex blood flow often requires a flow domain model (FDM) to define velocity fields over time.
• Scatterers representing blood cells are seeded and tracked within the FDM for ultrasound simulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a technique for continuous, temporally stable tracking of scatterers in complex blood flow simulations.
• To enable accurate modeling of intricate flow patterns including reverse, rotational, out-of-plane, and helical movements.
• To validate the developed tracking method against fluid-structure interaction models.

Main Methods:

• Implemented refresh zones at flow ports for continuous scatterer reseeding.
• Utilized a stagnation threshold to remove low-velocity scatterers near boundaries.
• Ensured continuous tracking of particles throughout the entire flow volume.
• Adapted the method for any FDM, ultrasound simulator, transducer, or transmission scheme.
• Generated a high-speed, plane-wave ultrasound simulation using a fluid-structure interaction model of a mouse aorta.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated a continuous ultrasound simulation over 4 cardiac cycles.
• Processed data to produce vector flow, demonstrating consistency with the FSI velocity field.
• Validated the capability to track complex flow features without temporal discontinuities.

Conclusions:

• The described tracking technique provides a robust method for simulating complex blood flow with ultrasound.
• This approach enhances the realism and accuracy of ultrasound simulations for various applications.
• The method is adaptable and validated, offering a valuable tool for ultrasound research and development.