title: MP3 compression of Doppler ultrasound signals.
abstract: The effect of lossy, MP3 compression on spectral parameters derived from Doppler ultrasound (US) signals was investigated. Compression was tested on signals acquired from two sources: 1. phase quadrature and 2. stereo audio directional output. A total of 11, 10-s acquisitions of Doppler US signal were collected from each source at three sites in a flow phantom. Doppler signals were digitized at 44.1 kHz and compressed using four grades of MP3 compression (in kilobits per second, kbps; compression ratios in brackets): 1400 kbps (uncompressed), 128 kbps (11:1), 64 kbps (22:1) and 32 kbps (44:1). Doppler spectra were characterized by peak velocity, mean velocity, spectral width, integrated power and ratio of spectral power between negative and positive velocities. The results suggest that MP3 compression on digital Doppler US signals is feasible at 128 kbps, with a resulting 11:1 compression ratio, without compromising clinically relevant information. Higher compression ratios led to significant differences for both signal sources when compared with the uncompressed signals.
authors.affiliation: The John P Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Tamie L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Poepping
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fenster
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Holdsworth
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004581:Electronics; D006801:Humans; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012984:Software; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*