Numerical Modeling of Ultrasonics and Electromagnetics for Therapy and Imaging

描述(由申请人提供)：这项工作的总体目标是创建一套全面的免费软件工具，用于治疗和成像应用中的超声波和电磁模式的计算机模拟。特别是，在这项工作中开发的软件将在不增加数值误差的情况下显著减少大型超声相控阵模拟所需的计算时间。这些快速的超声模拟将使大多数应用程序的计算时间减少四倍或更多，这对于在现代台式计算机上运行数天或数周的参数研究尤其重要。创建的软件还将减少模拟生物医学超声和电磁系统所需的软件开发时间，从而通过建立一个评估治疗和成像策略的通用框架来消除重复的软件开发工作。这项工作的R21阶段的具体目标是：1.开发一套用于快速模拟用于治疗应用的超声设备和阵列的例程；2.创建用于诊断成像的快速模拟超声阵列的模拟包；以及3.构建用于热疗和靶向药物输送的电磁(EM)系统的有限元(FE)和有限差分(FDTD)建模的接口和模拟例程。R33阶段将通过a)推导出用于模拟弯曲条形换能器产生的压力场的快速方法，b)创建新的模拟方法，通过利用大型阵列模拟中的冗余进一步减少计算时间，c)开发用于非线性超声传播的新的模拟软件，以及d)为治疗和成像设计的混合系统的电磁组件构建方便的接口工具和模拟例程，从而扩展R21的结果。在这项工作的每个阶段，将开发、验证和记录模拟例程，提供治疗和成像模拟的例子，然后通过门户网站分发软件。由此产生的综合软件包将包括一个方便的用户界面，将有助于快速评估用于治疗和成像研究的超声波和电磁阵列系统。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall objective of this effort is to create a comprehensive package of free software tools for computer simulations of ultrasonic and electromagnetic modalities for therapy and imaging applications. In particular, the software developed within this effort will significantly reduce the computation time required for large ultrasound phased array simulations without increasing the numerical error. These fast ultrasound simulations will reduce the computation time by a factor of four or more for most applications, which is especially important for parametric studies that run for days or weeks on modern desktop computers. The software created will also reduce the software development time required for simulations of biomedical ultrasonic and electromagnetic systems, thereby eliminating duplicated software development efforts by establishing a common framework for the evaluation of therapy and imaging strategies. The specific aims for the R21 phase of this effort are: 1. develop a suite of routines for fast simulations of ultrasound devices and arrays designed for therapeutic applications; 2. create a simulation package that performs fast simulations of ultrasound arrays for diagnostic imaging; and 3. construct interfaces and simulation routines for finite element (FE) and finite difference time domain (FDTD) modeling of electromagnetic (EM) systems designed for thermal therapy and targeted drug delivery. The R33 phase will extend the results of the R21 by a) deriving fast methods for simulating pressure fields produced by curved strip transducers, b) creating new simulation approaches that further reduce the computation times by exploiting redundancies in large array simulations, c) developing new simulation software for nonlinear ultrasound propagation, and d) constructing convenient interface tools and simulation routines for the electromagnetic component of hybrid systems designed for therapy and imaging. In each phase of this effort, simulation routines will be developed, validated, and documented, examples will be provided for simulations of therapy and imaging, and then the software will be distributed through a web portal. The resulting comprehensive software package, which will include a convenient user interface, will facilitate rapid evaluation of ultrasonic and electromagnetic array systems for therapy and imaging research.