Essentials of Ultrasound Imaging Curriculum
Available August 2024
Introduction
Verasonics, the leader in research ultrasound, will soon offer the Essentials of Ultrasound Imaging Course – a complete solution created for institutions or organizations interested in a comprehensive ultrasound curriculum. This unique, ‘ready-to-teach’ course provides everything needed to offer a graduate-level ultrasound course, including the basic physics and instrumentation needed to understand pulse-echo imaging.
The course allows students and industry professionals lacking knowledge about basic ultrasound concepts to couple education of ultrasound theory with hands-on experiences using the Verasonics Vantage® Research Ultrasound System in a laboratory setting.
The Essentials of Ultrasound Imaging Course is packaged as a full educational solution, designed to be taught by an experienced instructor at an academic institution or commercial organization. This is not a course Verasonics will offer, nor is it designed to be a self-study endeavor in ultrasound science or a Vantage System training course. Vantage training videos are available on the Verasonics Community Portal for Verasonics customers.
Overview
The Essentials of Ultrasound Imaging curriculum is a fast-track introduction to the science, physics, and technology of ultrasound imaging systems. The presentation of the material is unique in two ways:
First, principles introduced in the provided lectures are revealed by interactive software simulators that embody key equations, allowing students to engage with the concepts with minimal mathematical background, gaining understanding that normally requires significant mathematical sophistication to acquire. Knowledge of MATLAB scientific programming language is not required.
Second, the concepts are demonstrated with a Verasonics Vantage Research Ultrasound System through software scripts and laboratory imaging kits designed for this course, as well as supplementary imaging laboratory kits. The use of the Vantage System provides unparalleled insight into each step of ultrasound image creation including signal processing, transducer operation, different types of beamforming, and image formation. Imaging principles are brought to life by hands-on experiments, which produce quantitative results.
A comprehensive overview introduces the major functional blocks of two types of ultrasound imaging systems: a commercial system with delay and sum hardware beamforming tailored to scanline imaging, and the programmable Vantage Research Ultrasound System with a unique and flexible software-based architecture. Signal processing, beamforming, and imaging formation are described and experienced through interactive modules and laboratory exercises. Interactive simulators demonstrate the basics of wave propagation, refraction, reverberation, reflection, scattering, imaging, and Doppler imaging. In addition, an introduction to transducers, diffraction, acoustic fields (both continuous wave and pulsed), focusing, plane wave compounding, power law absorption, and heating is included. The course builds on the principles presented to introduce advanced topics and growth areas in ultrasound research.
Course Audience
This course is ideal for entering graduate students and/or new engineers in industry; however, the material would appeal to a wider circle of students and instructors. The secondary audience are those who are involved in, or starting, ultrasound research and development, but may not have a comprehensive background to fully comprehend the latest developments in this arena.
This could include scientists and engineers from other disciplines, physicians, sonographers, managers of research or engineering groups, as well as those curious about ultrasound science.
Essentials of Ultrasound Imaging Curriculum Package:
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- Curriculum packet: 10 modules, including lecture slides, lab slides, instructor manual
- Essentials of Ultrasound Imaging Simulators: Interactive, near real-time simulation programs in executable form for Windows or macOS, with instruction manual. No extra licenses needed.
- Essentials of Ultrasound Custom Phantom with a set of special targets that reinforce physics concepts through student labs.
- Imaging-resolution phantom
- Essentials of Ultrasound Imaging, by Szabo & Kaczkowski (Elsevier, 1st Edition)
Hardware/Software Prerequisites:
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- Vantage 64, 64LE, 128 or 256 (Standard or High Frequency — no options needed
- UTA 260-S, 260-D, or 260-MUX
- L11-5v Linear Array Transducer
- MATLAB (version 2022a or newer)
Student Prerequisites:
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- General understanding of basic physics
- College level algebra, trigonometry, and calculus
Phantoms included in curriculum
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