Title :
GPU-based real-time small displacement estimation with ultrasound
Author :
Rosenzweig, Stephen ; Palmeri, Mark ; Nightingale, Kathryn
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Biomed. Eng., Duke Univ., Durham, NC, USA
fDate :
2/1/2011 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
General purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPUs) has been previously shown to speed up computationally intensive data processing and image reconstruction algorithms for computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), and ultrasound images. Although some algorithms in ultrasound have been converted to GPU processing, many investigative ultrasound research systems still use serial processing on a single CPU. One such ultrasound modality is acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging, which investigates the mechanical properties of soft tissue. Traditionally, the raw data are processed offline to estimate the displacement of the tissue after the application of radiation force. It is highly advantageous to process the data in real-time to assess their quality and make modifications during a study. In this paper, we present algorithms for efficient GPU parallel processing of two widely used tools in ultrasound: cubic spline interpolation and Loupas´ two-dimensional autocorrelator for displacement estimation. It is shown that a commercially available graphics card can be used for these computations, achieving speed increases up to 40× compared with single CPU processing. Thus, we conclude that the GPU-based data processing approach facilitates real-time (i.e., <;1 second) display of ARFI data and is a promising approach for ultrasonic research systems.
Keywords :
biomedical ultrasonics; computer graphics; displacement measurement; interpolation; medical computing; parallel processing; splines (mathematics); ARPI; GPU; GPU parallel processing; acoustic radiation force impulse imaging; cubic spline interpolation; graphics processing units; image reconstruction; small displacement estimation; two-dimensional autocorrelator; ultrasound images; Acoustics; Graphics processing unit; Instruction sets; Interpolation; Random access memory; Spline; Ultrasonic imaging; Algorithms; Computer Graphics; Elasticity Imaging Techniques; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; Time Factors;
Journal_Title :
Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TUFFC.2011.1817