An analysis of FIELD II simulation

Factors like, (i) noise and (ii) artifacts, that occur depending on acoustical properties of tissues, (iii) wrong selection of system variables, like (a) wrong operation frequency, (b) poor calibration, and (c) improper location of focal points, may cause high amount of image degradation during ultrasound imaging. This, in return, may lead to misdiagnoses, making correct diagnosis of uncommon cases impossible. These misdiagnoses may be avoided by enhanced training of physicians. Commercially available phantoms are limited in content and relatively expensive, which makes the simulation of ultrasound imaging a mandatory component in diagnostic ultrasound training. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of the simulation of ultrasound imaging. Under the scope of this work, ultrasound imaging was simulated by using FIELD II program set developed by J.A. Jensen by for various settings. In order to compare the results a selected cyst phantom was used and the effects of simulation frequency and sampling frequency on visibility and simulation times were observed. The quality of generated images was evaluated by measuring the visibility of the cyst phantom. Identification of cysts was accomplished by detection of the cysts with an algorithm to perform a series of image processing operations. Located objects were classified manually and errors (with respect to size and position of cysts) were calculated. Our observations indicated that to obtain a good image quality, interdependent simulation and sampling frequencies should be selected carefully, which in return requires longer simulation times at higher frequencies.