Abstract
Over the years, medical imaging modalities have evolved drastically. Accordingly, the need for conveying the basic imaging knowledge to future specialists and other trainees becomes even more crucial for devoted educators. Understanding the concepts behind each imaging modality requires a plethora of advanced physics, mathematics, mechanics and medical background. Absorbing all of this background information is a daunting task for any beginner. This thesis focuses on developing an ultrasound imaging education tutorial with the goal of easing the process of learning the principles of ultrasound. This tutorial will utilize three diverse approaches including software and hardware applications. By performing these methodologies from different perspectives, not only will the efficiency of the training be enhanced, but also the trainee?s understanding of crucial concepts will be reinforced through repetitive demonstration. The first goal of this thesis was developing an online medical imaging simulation system and deploying it on the website of the University of Miami. In order to construct an easy, understandable, and interactive environment without deteriorating the important aspects of the ultrasound principles, interactive flash animations (developed by Macromedia Director MX) were used to present concepts via graphic-oriented simulations. The second goal was developing a stand-alone MATLAB program, intended to manipulate the intensity of the pixels in the image in order to simulate how ultrasound images are derived. Additionally, a GUI (graphic user interface) was employed to maximize the accessibility of the program and provide easily adjustable parameters. The GUI window enables trainees to see the changes in outcomes by altering different parameters of the simulation. The third goal of this thesis was to incorporating an actual ultrasound demonstration into the tutorial. This was achieved by using a real ultrasound transducer with a pulse/receiver so that trainees could observe actual ultrasound phenomena, and view the results using an oscilloscope. By manually adjusting the panels on the pulse/ receiver console, basic A-mode ultrasound experiments can be performed with ease. By combining software and hardware simulations, the ultrasound education package presented in this thesis will help trainees more efficiently absorb the various concepts behind ultrasound.