A PC-Based Ultrasound Color Doppler Performance Improvement Using Intel® IPPs

Ultrasound (US) has emerged as a pivotal non-invasive diagnostic imaging technique for whole-body diagnostics. However, processing time constraints pose challenges to simultaneous mode usage and hinder the development of futuristic imaging techniques, such as 3-D/4-D. This paper presents a multi-faceted approach to address these limitations by implementing Color Doppler performance using both conventional C/C++ and Intel Integrated Performance Primitives (IPPs). The work unfolds in three key phases: simulating a flow phantom with the FIELD-II tool, verifying beamformed RF data in MATLAB, and implementing the Color Doppler mode of the Ultrasound system for the generated beamformed RF data with back-end signal processing in PC using conventional C++ code and with Intel Integrated high-performance primitives (IPPs) using Qt embedded framework and tabulating the results. Performance evaluation conducted on a flow phantom with dimensions of 7.5 cm width and 25 cm depth, encompassing 61 scanlines over 10 ultrasound imaging frames, reveals compelling insights. The usage of Intel IPPs demonstrates a significant enhancement in back-end processing performance compared to conventional C++ code. This augmentation results in a substantial increase in frame rates, paving the way for high-speed imaging in ultrasound color Doppler diagnostics mode.