Ultrasound research interface

A typical digital ultrasound processing chain for B-Mode imaging may look as follows: • Multiple analog signals are acquired from the ultrasound transducer (the transmitter/receiver applied to the patient) • Analog signals may pass through one or more analog notch filters and a variable-gain amplifier (VCA) • Multiple analog-to-digital converters convert the analog radio frequency (RF) signal to a digital RF signal sampled at a predetermined rate (typical ranges are from 20MHz to 160MHz) and at a predetermined number of bits (typical ranges are from 10 bits to 16 bits) • Beamforming is applied to individual RF signals by applying time delays and summations as a function of time and transformed into a single RF signal • The RF signal is run through one or more digital FIR or IIR filters to extract the most interesting parts of the signal given the clinical operation • The filtered RF signal runs through an envelope detector and is log compressed into a grayscale format Multiple signals processed in this way are lined up together and interpolated and rasterized into a readable image. ==Data access==

A URI may provide data access at many different stages of the processing chain, these include: • Pre-beamformed digital RF data from individual channels • Beamformed RF data • Envelope detected data • Interpolated image data Where many diagnostic ultrasound devices have Doppler imaging modes for measuring blood flow, the URI may also provide access to Doppler related signal data, which can include: • Demodulated (I/Q) data • FFT spectral data • Autocorrelated velocity color Doppler data ==Tools==

A URI may include many different tools for enabling the researcher to make better use of the device and the data captured, some of these tools include: • Custom MATLAB programs for reading and processing signal and image data • Software Development Kits (SDKs) for communicating with the URI, signal processing and other specialized modes of operation available on the URI ==References==