Plane Wave – Vol. 3, Issue 8 – Learn What’s New From Verasonics at the 2019 IEEE IUS in Glasgow, Scotland

Welcome to the eighth issue of Volume 3 of PLANE WAVE, Verasonics’ Newsletter through which we share information about new products and technologies, emerging applications, conferences, training opportunities, and collaborations with researchers in ultrasound and ultrasonic technologies.  We hope you find these newsletters informative and interesting, and welcome your suggestions for future topics.

New Products and Applications ▪ Technology Information ▪ Research ▪ Conferences and Training

Volume Imaging

Verasonics continues to pioneer new methods of acquiring volume datasets with high-channel-count techniques (using multiple Vantage 256™ systems) and multiplexed acquisition (using a single Vantage 256 system).  The latter approach, using the UTA 1024-MUX with a single Vantage 256 system, allows researchers to obtain images with identical resolution as compared to multiple Vantage 256™ systems by trading off acquisition speed using multiple apertures. In particular, Verasonics’ MUX switch topology permits using random-sparse-aperture approaches in which each acquisition leads to a useful image. The use of complementary random apertures and synthetic acquisitions allow the user to find a compromise between frame rate and image quality that suites their application.

The left panel shows the beam pattern for a diverging wave with no steering where the virtual source for the beam is on the z axis behind the transducer. The middle panel shows the locations of the virtual sources for a multiangle diverging wave acquisition (2D FlashAngles spiral). The right panel shows a representative random aperture used to create the beam shown in the left panel.

HIFUPlex™ PLUS Turn-key Solutions for Pre-clinical Focused Ultrasound

In collaboration with the Focused Ultrasound Foundation and Sonic Concepts, Verasonics is introducing a number of enhancements to the HIFUPlex portfolio of products.  There are two new Focused Ultrasound Packages in development called HIFUPlex PLUS that will provide turn-key solutions for ultrasound-guided focused ultrasound research.  The HIFUPlex PLUS 1000 is designed for small animal investigations, and the HIFUPlex PLUS 3000 for expanded research capabilities for large animals.  Anticipated availability is in the first quarter of 2020. Key features include:

• Easy-to-use transducer positioning technologies for optimal treatment control
• Rotation of the imaging transducer for capturing multiple 2D slices of the 3D volume
• Enhanced GUI for 3D treatment planning and delivery
• Thermal Strain Imaging for treatment monitoring

 Treatment planning view for the HIFUPlex Plus 1000: The new HIFUPlex PLUS system adds a number of enhancements to the GUI, reflecting the addition of essential 3D guidance, treatment planning and delivery,
and treatment monitoring capabilities in a USgFUS workflow.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Capability

To assist users who want to work with AI techniques, Verasonics has developed a tutorial to guide users through the steps of creating an application that leverages machine learning to detect arbitrary objects in ultrasound image data.

The tutorial provides four easy steps demonstrating how to:

1. extract image data for training using the new process-storage-class feature,
2. interactively select the target objects for training the classifiers,
3. setup training parameters and train common classifier models, and
4. perform real-time classification and object detection in a script using the external function.

This feature takes advantage of the robust tools provided by the MATLAB™ Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox.

Automated feature extraction procedure that is implemented in the tutorial for training and classification

New User-Programmable Image Reconstruction

For Vantage™ users working with materials that have different speed-of-sound characteristics, or different properties of refraction, Verasonics has enhanced its image reconstruction software to include user-programmable image reconstruction.  This new capability provides the following benefits:

• The image reconstruction delays can be programmed by the user on an individual pixel basis
  • Delay tables can be produced that take into account speed-of-sound variations and refractive properties
  • These tables can be dynamically updated
• The number of channels supported was increased to over 10,000
• Maximum depth of reconstruction was increased to 2 meters at 3 MHz
• Support for multiple elements connected to same channel
• Reconstruction accuracy improved by adopting floating point processing
• Dramatic reduction in memory requirements (typically by more than 80%)
• Support for row/column array types
• Faster reconstruction speed (over 40 million pixels/sec for 128 channels

New image reconstruction algorithm allows user to specify delay laws for wedge imaging,
and irregular surfaces with immersion imaging.

Full-page Graphical User Interface (GUI)

To improve the ease with which one can do imaging using the Vantage System, Verasonics is developing a new GUI that provides access to:

• Common ultrasound-imaging controls
• Mode selection for access to certain high-image-quality scripts and some basic imaging modes
• Basic measurements such as distance and area
• A customizable data management system for capturing, storing, annotating and exporting receive-data, images and clips
• No MATLAB-programming experience required

The new Vantage GUI can simplify image acquisition for some applications
and provides measurement and image storage options.

Data File Storage Capability

Verasonics has developed a new process class to define data export and import operations to files stored on disk. The new storage-class feature is incorporated within the sequence-programming framework and provides an efficient method to sequentially import and export receive or image data at any event in the acquisition sequence. Furthermore, the tool offers an optimized on-the-fly data compression procedure for fast streaming and minimal storage.