PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München

Export: TXT Text RIS Endnote (RIS) BIB BibTeX
Duelmer, F. ; Azampour, M.F.* ; Wysocki, M.* ; Navab, N.*

UltraRay: Introducing Full-Path Ray Tracing in Physics-Based Ultrasound Simulation.

In: (28th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2025, 23-27 September 2025, Daejeon). Berlin [u.a.]: Springer, 2026. 653-662 (Lect. Notes Comput. Sc. ; 15961 LNCS)
DOI
Traditional ultrasound simulators solve the wave equation to model pressure distribution fields, achieving physical accuracy but requiring significant computational time and resources. Ray tracing approaches have been introduced to address this limitation, modeling wave propagation as rays interacting with boundaries and scatterers. However, existing models simplify ray propagation, generating echoes at interaction points without considering return paths to the sensor. This can result in undesired artifacts and necessitates careful scene tuning for plausible results. We propose UltraRay, a novel framework that models the full path of acoustic waves reflecting from tissue boundaries. We derive the equations for accurate reflection modeling across multiple interaction points and introduce a sampling strategy for an increased likelihood of a ray returning to the transducer. By incorporating a ray emission scheme for plane wave imaging and a standard signal processing pipeline for beamforming, we are able to simulate the ultrasound image formation process end-to-end. Built on a differentiable modular framework, UltraRay introduces an extendable foundation for differentiable ultrasound simulation based on full-path ray tracing. We demonstrate its advantages compared to the state-of-the-art ray tracing ultrasound simulation, shown both on a synthetic scene and a spine phantom.
Altmetric
Tags
Annotations
Special Publikation
Hide on homepage

Edit extra information
Edit own tags
Private
Edit own annotation
Private
Hide on publication lists
on hompage
Mark as special
publikation
Publication type Article: Conference contribution
Keywords Physics-based Simulation ; Ray Tracing ; Reflection Modeling ; Ultrasound
Language english
Publication Year 2026
HGF-reported in Year 2026
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0302-9743
e-ISSN 1611-3349
Conference Title 28th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2025
Conference Date 23-27 September 2025
Conference Location Daejeon
Journal Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Quellenangaben Volume: 15961 LNCS, Issue: , Pages: 653-662 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher Springer
Publishing Place Berlin [u.a.]
Institute(s) Institute of Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI)
POF-Topic(s) 30205 - Bioengineering and Digital Health
Research field(s) Enabling and Novel Technologies
PSP Element(s) G-505593-001
DOI 10.1007/978-3-032-04937-7_62
Scopus ID 105017848600
Erfassungsdatum 2025-10-23
[➜Report correction]