Patient-Specific Interactive Simulation of Compression Ultrasonography

We are developing an ultrasonography training system that promises to accelerate the broader use of ultrasound imaging in healthcare. Aiming at cheaper, more efficient, and more effective ultrasound training, a key feature of our system is the real-time, interactive simulation of a 3D virtual patient that, unlike conventional, purely geometric models of the human body, includes deformable soft tissues. Since soft-tissue deformation is an important factor in the clinical practice of ultrasound imaging, our objective in this paper is to incorporate real-time interactive soft tissue mechanics simulation into our 3D patient model. To this end, we adapt and evaluate two well-known deformable model simulation methods-mass-spring-damper systems and the finite element method-and we apply these methods to the simulation of ultrasound imaging in soft tissues, obtaining promising results on a multicore laptop computer.