The Probe class

The Probe class can be of three kind: either Linear, Convex or Matricial. Each of them have similar parameters inherited from their parent class, including:

  • name: The name of the probe

  • geometry_type: The kind of the probe (linear, convex or matricial)

  • geometry: The position of each elements (of shape (3, nb_elements), 3D coordinates)

  • central_freq: The estimated central frequency of the probe

  • bandwidth: The estimated bandwidth of the emitted signals (in %)

../_images/probes.png

Possible to create multiple ways

There are two ways to build probes:

Load an existing one

The probe can be stored within an .ini file, templates are available within the probes/configs/ directory of the source code. The following sections are expected:

  • [General]: With the name and geometry type of the probe

  • [Geometry]: Contains information about the probe. If linear, the number of elements and the pitch are sufficient. If convex, the radius of the probe is also expected. If matricial, The number of elements has to be 2D ([lateral, elevational]), and same for the pitch. The empty lines can also be provided, defining, in 2D, the empty lines occurence pattern within the matrix.

  • [Transmission] Contains the emission values of the probe (central frequency and bandwidth)

Below is an example of l7-4.ini file, for the 128 linear L7-4 probe:

[General]
name: L7-4
constructor: ATL
type: linear

[Geometry]
nb_elements: 128
pitch: 0.298e-3

[Transmission]
central_freq: 5.208e6
bandwidth: 80

Create a new one

Sometimes, one might need to create his own probe (with fixed physical positions for example, or adjusted bandwidth). In that case, the user must provide a matlab file containing X, Y, and Z, three vectors with the coordinates of each element of the probe. The central frequency must also be provided, and a bandwidth is preferred.