Fast ultrasound image simulation using the Westervelt equation.

The simulation of ultrasound wave propagation is of high interest in fields as ultrasound system development and therapeutic ultrasound. From a computational point of view the requirements for realistic simulations are immense with processing time reaching even an entire day. In this work we present a framework for fast ultrasound image simulation covering the imaging pipeline from the initial pulse transmission to the final image formation. The propagation of ultrasound waves is modeled with the Westervelt equation, which is solved explicitly with a Finite Difference scheme. Solving this scheme in parallel on the Graphics Processing Unit allows us to simulate realistic ultrasound images in a short time.