Ultrasound signals and images simulation of phantoms with contrast agent

The paper introduces a simulator of echo contrast imaging (SECI) which simulates the entire process of echographic imaging with a contrast agent. It gives the possibility, through a GUI (graphical user interface), to choose simulation parameters such as the contrast agent, the probe (especially size, geometry and central frequency), the imaging modality or the echoscanner tuning. The aim of SECI is to simulate the image, considering a particular configuration. The simulator was validated by a set of in-vitro experiments using a tissue mimicking phantom (ATS Lab) and a solution of Sonovue™ (Bracco Research). Concentrations and mechanical index (MI) were the variable parameters. In both the experimental and simulated data, two regions of interest (ROI) at the same depth were selected, one inside the bubbles cloud, the other in the tissue. The agent-to-tissue ratios (ATR) were then calculated in those ROI. The ratio was computed using first the gray level of the image and then the power spectrum over a particular frequency window of the RF signal.