Gaussian process regression for ultrasound scanline interpolation

PURPOSE: In ultrasound imaging, interpolation is a key step in converting scanline data to brightness-mode (B-mode) images. Conventional methods, such as bilinear interpolation, do not fully capture the spatial dependence between data points, which leads to deviations from the underlying probability distribution at the interpolation points. APPROACH: We propose Gaussian process ([Formula: see text]) regression as an improved method for ultrasound scanline interpolation. Using ultrasound scanlines acquired from two different ultrasound scanners during in vivo trials, we compare the scanline conversion accuracy of three standard interpolation methods with that of [Formula: see text] regression, measuring the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and mean absolute error (MAE) for each method. RESULTS: The PSNR and MAE scores show that [Formula: see text] regression leads to more accurate scanline conversion compared to the nearest neighbor, bilinear, and cubic spline interpolation methods, for both datasets. Furthermore, limiting the interpolation window size of [Formula: see text] regression to 15 reduces computation time with minimal to no reduction in PSNR. CONCLUSIONS: [Formula: see text] regression quantitatively leads to more accurate scanline conversion and provides uncertainty estimates at each of the interpolation points. Our windowing method reduces the computational cost of using [Formula: see text] regression for scanline conversion.