Imaging Parameters

There is an abundance of imaging parameters that control the system; they will not all be explored here. However, an overview of how the system works will be demonstrated.

Research Menus
In addition to the parameters that can be adjusted from the console and touchscreen, there are many research menus that contain lower-level parameters that play a role in image formation and processing.

A research menu is split into 3 areas:
 * 1) The parameter list
 * 2) The parameter description
 * 3) The current menu title

When a parameter is clicked on, the description will update on the menu. To change a parameter value or the active menu, highlight the parameter or menu title and use one of the following to scroll:
 * Mouse wheel with externally plugged-in mouse
 * Audio knob on the Sonix RP or Sonix MDP systems
 * Menu Param button on the SonixTOUCH touchscreen



Presets
Imaging presets are stored in the C:\Program Files\Ultrasonix\Exam\presets\ folder. Variable IDs are string values. All the variables that are used within the software are stored in the file imaging.lst.xml. This file includes a description of each variable (if available) as well as the research menu where the parameter can be found.

An example of the B frequency parameter in the imaging.lst.xml is shown below. The unit for the b-freq parameter is in MHz, and the menu which it can be found is the B TX research menu in exam.

 Hz Transmit frequency for B imaging  freeze

The file imaging.set.xml contains variable boundaries and default image settings. These default settings are used when a parameter is not found in the Gen-General .xml preset for a probe. An example of the b-freq parameter in the imaging.set.xml file is shown below. Here, the default value is 10MHz while the boundary of the file is specified as a range from 1MHz to 10MHz in increments (steps) of 0.5MHz.

 

For each probe, there is a Gen-General preset that is stored in the C:\Program Files\Ultrasonix\Exam\presets\imaging\ folder. The Gen-General preset file is the master preset which contains the default image settings for a particular probe. When a preset is loaded (eg. MSK-General (L14-5 38mm).xml), the software first loads the settings from the Gen-General preset .xml file to get the default parameters and then loads the additional parameters in the MSK-General (L14-5 38mm).xml file.