BrainPuzzle: Hybrid Physics and Data-Driven Reconstruction for Transcranial Ultrasound Tomography

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Shengyu, Feng, Shihang, Luo, Yi, Jia, Xiaowei, Lin, Youzuo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Shengyu
Feng, Shihang
Luo, Yi
Jia, Xiaowei
Lin, Youzuo
author_facet Chen, Shengyu
Feng, Shihang
Luo, Yi
Jia, Xiaowei
Lin, Youzuo
contents Ultrasound brain imaging remains challenging due to the large difference in sound speed between the skull and brain tissues and the difficulty of coupling large probes to the skull. This work aims to achieve quantitative transcranial ultrasound by reconstructing an accurate speed-of-sound (SoS) map of the brain. Traditional physics-based full-waveform inversion (FWI) is limited by weak signals caused by skull-induced attenuation, mode conversion, and phase aberration, as well as incomplete spatial coverage since full-aperture arrays are clinically impractical. In contrast, purely data-driven methods that learn directly from raw ultrasound data often fail to model the complex nonlinear and nonlocal wave propagation through bone, leading to anatomically plausible but quantitatively biased SoS maps under low signal-to-noise and sparse-aperture conditions. To address these issues, we propose BrainPuzzle, a hybrid two-stage framework that combines physical modeling with machine learning. In the first stage, reverse time migration (time-reversal acoustics) is applied to multi-angle acquisitions to produce migration fragments that preserve structural details even under low SNR. In the second stage, a transformer-based super-resolution encoder-decoder with a graph-based attention unit (GAU) fuses these fragments into a coherent and quantitatively accurate SoS image. A partial-array acquisition strategy using a movable low-count transducer set improves feasibility and coupling, while the hybrid algorithm compensates for the missing aperture. Experiments on two synthetic datasets show that BrainPuzzle achieves superior SoS reconstruction accuracy and image completeness, demonstrating its potential for advancing quantitative ultrasound brain imaging.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_20029
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle BrainPuzzle: Hybrid Physics and Data-Driven Reconstruction for Transcranial Ultrasound Tomography
Chen, Shengyu
Feng, Shihang
Luo, Yi
Jia, Xiaowei
Lin, Youzuo
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Ultrasound brain imaging remains challenging due to the large difference in sound speed between the skull and brain tissues and the difficulty of coupling large probes to the skull. This work aims to achieve quantitative transcranial ultrasound by reconstructing an accurate speed-of-sound (SoS) map of the brain. Traditional physics-based full-waveform inversion (FWI) is limited by weak signals caused by skull-induced attenuation, mode conversion, and phase aberration, as well as incomplete spatial coverage since full-aperture arrays are clinically impractical. In contrast, purely data-driven methods that learn directly from raw ultrasound data often fail to model the complex nonlinear and nonlocal wave propagation through bone, leading to anatomically plausible but quantitatively biased SoS maps under low signal-to-noise and sparse-aperture conditions. To address these issues, we propose BrainPuzzle, a hybrid two-stage framework that combines physical modeling with machine learning. In the first stage, reverse time migration (time-reversal acoustics) is applied to multi-angle acquisitions to produce migration fragments that preserve structural details even under low SNR. In the second stage, a transformer-based super-resolution encoder-decoder with a graph-based attention unit (GAU) fuses these fragments into a coherent and quantitatively accurate SoS image. A partial-array acquisition strategy using a movable low-count transducer set improves feasibility and coupling, while the hybrid algorithm compensates for the missing aperture. Experiments on two synthetic datasets show that BrainPuzzle achieves superior SoS reconstruction accuracy and image completeness, demonstrating its potential for advancing quantitative ultrasound brain imaging.
title BrainPuzzle: Hybrid Physics and Data-Driven Reconstruction for Transcranial Ultrasound Tomography
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.20029