SIMUS: an open-source simulator for medical ultrasound imaging. Part I: theory & examples

TL;DR

SIMUS is an open-source MATLAB-based ultrasound simulator designed for educational and research purposes, capable of simulating acoustic fields and RF signals for linear and convex probes.

Contribution

This paper introduces SIMUS, a comprehensive, easy-to-use, open-source ultrasound simulation tool with detailed theoretical foundations and pedagogical features.

Findings

SIMUS accurately simulates acoustic pressure fields.

SIMUS provides realistic ultrasound image simulations.

The software is freely available under LGPL license.

Abstract

Background and Objective: Computational ultrasound imaging has become a well-established methodology in the ultrasound community. Simulations of ultrasound sequences and images allow the study of innovative techniques in terms of emission strategy, beamforming, and probe design. There is a wide spectrum of software dedicated to ultrasound imaging, each having its specificities in its applications and the numerical method. Methods: We describe in this two-part paper a new ultrasound simulator (SIMUS) for MATLAB, which belongs to the MATLAB UltraSound Toolbox (MUST). The SIMUS software simulates acoustic pressure fields and radiofrequency RF signals for uniform linear or convex probes. SIMUS is an open-source software whose features are 1) ease of use, 2) time-harmonic analysis, 3) pedagogy. The main goal was to offer a comprehensive turnkey tool, along with a detailed theory for pedagogical and research purposes. Results: This article describes in detail the underlying linear theory of SIMUS and provides examples of simulated acoustic fields and ultrasound images. The accompanying article (part II) is devoted to the comparison of SIMUS with several software: Field II, k-Wave, FOCUS, and the Verasonics simulator. The MATLAB open codes for the simulator SIMUS are distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, and can be downloaded from https://www.biomecardio.com/MUST. Conclusions: The simulations described in the accompanying paper (Part II) show that SIMUS can be used for realistic simulations in medical ultrasound imaging.