Piotr Karwat

GPU implementation of the STA algorithm on I/Q data

GPU computing is a new paradigm in high performance signal and image processing. Massive parallel processing offered by the GPUs provides high acceleration of computations when they are properly implemented. Ultrasound image reconstruction is one of these highly parallel classes of algorithms. Massive amount of multichannel input data and deterministic order of execution makes US applications good candidates for high performance GPU implementation. Our goal is to design a versatile ultrasound platform with GPU real-time processing. The project is based on a new system architecture allowing for bandwidth and scalability of processing power. We implemented and optimized SAFT image reconstruction algorithms on CUDA. The study shows that a single GTX-580 GPU card is capable of reconstructing the 128-channel I/Q data into 256×256 High Resolution Images (HRI) at a frame-rate of 44.64 fps which is an equivalent of 5700 Low Resolution Images (LRI) per second.

Comparison of different schemes of synthetic transmit aperture using an ultrasound advanced open platform (ULA-OP)

Increasing efforts are currently dedicated to incorporate the Synthetic Transmit Aperture (STA) method in ultrasound imaging systems. The STA technique can provide a pixel-like focusing (dynamic focusing at both transmit and receive) without impairment of the frame rate. This goal can only be achieved by a careful design of the transmission and reception schemes. In this paper, the preliminary results of resolution, Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR) measurements for a specific SA scheme with different transmit apertures are presented. The measurements were made using a novel ultrasound advanced open platform (ULA-OP) developed at the University of Florence. The ULA-OP is fully programmable and enables access to the RF echo-data from each transducer element.

Determining temperature distribution in tissue in the focal plane of the high (>100 W/cm(2)) intensity focused ultrasound beam using phase shift of ultrasound echoes.

In therapeutic applications of High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) the guidance of the HIFU beam and especially its focal plane is of crucial importance. This guidance is needed to appropriately target the focal plane and hence the whole focal volume inside the tumor tissue prior to thermo-ablative treatment and beginning of tissue necrosis. This is currently done using Magnetic Resonance Imaging that is relatively expensive. In this study an ultrasound method, which calculates the variations of speed of sound in the locally heated tissue volume by analyzing the phase shifts of echo-signals received by an ultrasound scanner from this very volume is presented. To improve spatial resolution of B-mode imaging and minimize the uncertainty of temperature estimation the acoustic signals were transmitted and received by 8 MHz linear phased array employing Synthetic Transmit Aperture (STA) technique. Initially, the validity of the algorithm developed was verified experimentally in a tissue-mimicking phantom heated from 20.6 to 48.6 °C. Subsequently, the method was tested using a pork loin sample heated locally by a 2 MHz pulsed HIFU beam with focal intensity ISATA of 129 W/cm(2). The temperature calibration of 2D maps of changes in the sound velocity induced by heating was performed by comparison of the algorithm-determined changes in the sound velocity with the temperatures measured by thermocouples located in the heated tissue volume. The method developed enabled ultrasound temperature imaging of the heated tissue volume from the very inception of heating with the contrast-to-noise ratio of 3.5-12 dB in the temperature range 21-56 °C. Concurrently performed, conventional B-mode imaging revealed CNR close to zero dB until the temperature reached 50 °C causing necrosis. The data presented suggest that the proposed method could offer an alternative to MRI-guided temperature imaging for prediction of the location and extent of the thermal lesion prior to applying the final HIFU treatment.

Imaging quality of the classical beamforming, SAFT and plane wave imaging - Experimental results

The synthetic aperture focusing techniques (SAFT) are well known and widely deployed in radar techniques. Increasing processing power of modern computers allows effective implementation of various SAFT schemes in medical ultrasound systems with multi-element probes. The advance of the SAFT over the classical beamforming (BFR) is dynamic focusing in receive and transmit as well, which brings high resolution on every imaging point. We intend to develop the ultrasound imaging platform with some of the SAFT schemes implemented. The choice of the scheme must be preceded by examination of the imaging quality parameters. The results of the comparison of different SAFT schemes with conventional beamforming are presented in the paper. The results indicate that SAFT schemes can work better than BFR scheme. For example, for some point located near the center of the image the full width at half maximum (FWHM) was equal approximately 0.5, 0.4 and 0.3 mm, while the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was equal 18, 19, and 19 dB for BFR, STA and PWI respectively.

Tissue attenuation imaging - Synthetic Aperture Focusing versus Spatial Compounding

The long term goal of this research is to develop the system enabling the imaging and quantitative measure of ultrasonic attenuation in tissue. It may support the diagnosis by accurate discrimination of the lesions from normal tissue at the early stage of the disease. The attenuation is estimated from the stochastic ultrasonic backscatter and time/spatial averaging is necessary to achieve reasonable accuracy. However the averaging worsens the spatial resolution. Two techniques of ultrasonic imaging, the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) and Spatial Compounding (SC), were applied and compared with respect to the quality of attenuation estimation. The ultrasonic RF data were collected from a tissue mimicking phantom using ultrasonic scanner (Ultrasonix SonixTOUCH). Both acquired echoes-sets were processed in the same way in order to calculate the downshift in a mean frequency fm of the backscatter signal and resulting spatial distribution of attenuation coefficient. Compensation for the diffraction effects was included in the data processing. The RF data obtained with use of the SAFT proved to be more suitable for attenuation estimation.

Quantitative Ultrasound of Tumor Surrounding Tissue for Enhancement of Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death in female patients. The quantitative ultrasound techniques being developed recently provide useful information facilitating the classification of tumors as malignant or benign. Quantitative parameters are typically determined on the basis of signals scattered within the tumor. The present paper demonstrates the utility of quantitative data estimated based on signal backscatter in the tissue surrounding the tumor. Two quantitative parameters, weighted entropy and Nakagami shape parameter were calculated from the backscatter signal envelope. The ROC curves and the AUC parameter values were used to assess their ability to classify neoplastic lesions. Results indicate that data from tissue surrounding the tumor may characterize it better than data from within the tumor. AUC values were on average 18% higher for parameters calculated from data collected from the tissue surrounding the lesion than from the data from the lesion itself.