Approximation error method for full-wave tomography

Abstract

In ultrasound tomography (UT), the speed of sound (SOS) is reconstructed based on ultrasound measurements made on the surface of the object. As a part of the reconstruction process, which includes the solution of the inverse problem, propagation of acoustic signals in the medium is simulated using a forward model. Consequently, modeling errors can generate artifacts into reconstructed SOS. Accurate full-wave models can be computationally heavy, and thus impractical in many real applications. On the other hand, approximate models typically lead to less accurate reconstructions. In this study, measurement noise and modeling errors of UT are modeled in Bayesian framework, and a numerical method that takes both errors into account is developed. The performance of the method is investigated by numerical simulations in which artifacts generated by a fast but less accurate forward model and approximate boundary conditions are compensated. © 2013 Acoustical Society of America.