Research interface for experimental ultrasound imaging - the CFU grabber project.

Purpose The acquisition of ultrasound images using new calculation methods usually requires days of post processing. An ultrasound scanner with a research interface developed in collaboration between DTU and BK medicals has made it possible to process US images faster than the current reaserch system RASMUS. Furthermore precise scanner settings are stored for inter- and intra-observer studies. The resulting images are used for clinical evaluation. Method and materials The ultrasound scanners research interface is connected to a graphical grabber card in a Windows PC (Grabber PC). The grabber PC aquires pre processed data from the scanner in real time. Further post processing is required to create the final images. In house software (CFU Grabber tool) was developed to review and store the pre processed data. Using MatLab image processing with a new post post processing method the final image can be produced within 20-30 minutes depending on the method while RASMUS uses up to 72 hours for post processing. Results With a post processing time of 30 minuts images using a new method (Synthetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming) and a conventional method (Dynamic Receive Focusing) was performed. The resulting 3 seconds of image sequences (video) will be evaluated by experts within medical ultrasound imaging. Conclusion The setup makes the data aquisition fast and the scanner setting reproducible and the first in-vivo studies using the new research system are on-going.