Adaptation of a protocol of acoustic safety measures

Context and project description: 

CONTEXT :

In recent years, new modes of ultrasound imaging (ultrasound) have been developed and implemented on ultrasound scanners dedicated to research. These systems are called "open" and allow access to settings close to the hardware and raw signals usually not available on clinical ultrasound scanners.

These new imaging modes could be useful for a large number of clinical studies (internal and external to the laboratory), whether for cardiac, vascular, cancer or neurological applications. 

In order to test the new sequences developed on research ultrasound scanners on healthy volunteers and patients, within the framework of Research Protocols Involving the Human Person (RIPH - Jardé law), it is necessary to provide to the ANSM (National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products) and the CPP (Committee for the Protection of Persons) with measurements of acoustic safety indices specific to each sequence and each ultrasound probe to certify the absence of risk in their use by comparing them to the thresholds set by the standards.

The current standards propose protocols for measuring and calculating the safety index well adapted for imaging sequences known as "focused" or the new modes developed by the ULTIM (ULTrasound IMaging) research team of the CREATIS laboratory (Research Center for Image Acquisition and Processing for Health) are of the "unfocused" type as in the diagram below: plane wave 1 angle.

The current strategy is to scan the entire emitted field in 3 dimensions instead of following the standards protocol to make sure to find the maximum value of the field.

Trainees should have skills in the following areas:

Matlab programming, instrumentation.

Skills developped:

In strong interaction with senior engineers and research staffs, this internship will give the trainee the opportunity to improve its skills in ultrasound physics and signal processing.