At Center for Fast Ultrasound, we built a unique multichannel ultrasound system featuring 1024 independent channels in both transmit and receive. It allows researchers to test new imaging techniques for better visualization of the soft tissue structures and better flow estimation in the human body in two and three dimensions.
The data acquisition and processing logic of the system is realized using large Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices. These contain significant amounts of logic resources, which allows implementation of advanced ultrasound data processing algorithms in addition to the original ultrasound system logic.
In cooperation with its industrial partner, BK Medicial, the Center is also evaluating ultrasound imaging and flow estimation algorithms implemented on Graphic Processor Units (GPU), whose performance have been rapidly increasing and whose flexibility, with respect to general-purpose computing, has been steadily improving.
The algorithms being targeted for implementation are in the fields of compound imaging (speckle reduction), blood flow estimation and adaptive imaging.