Synthetic Aperture – Vector Flow Imaging Challenge at the IUS 2018
The Synthetic Aperture Vector Flow Imaging challenge (SA-VFI) was presented during a very well attended lunch session on October 24th at the 2018 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium (IUS) in Kobe, Japan. This was the second challenge event after the PICMUS challenge at the IUS 2016 in Tours, France.
A presentation by the main organizers (Jørgen Arendt Jensen, DTU Copenhagen and Hervé Liebgott, University of Lyon) was given on the scope and ideas of the challenge, the available datasets, and rules for the competition. The seven participants then presented their methods in five minute talks. The results were then revealed for the two prize categories; one for the training data set and one for the blinded data set. The top three participants of each of the two categories received a certificate from the IEEE as well as prizes sponsored by Verasonics.
The four winning teams receiving prizes were:
Vincent Perrot from the University of Lyon, France (1st prize training, 1st prize blinded data set)
Stefano Fiorentini from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway (2nd prize training, 2nd prize blinded data set)
Ecatarina Bodnariuc from Heidelberg University, Germany (3rd prize training)
Siyuan Wei from Arizona State University, USA, who unfortunately could not attend the conference (3rd prize blinded data set).
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From left to right: Jørgen Arendt Jensen (DTU Copenhagen, organizer), Ron Daigle (Verasonics, sponsor), Ecatarina Bodnariuc, Stefano Fiorentini, Vincent Perrot and Hervé Liebgott (University of Lyon, co-organizer). Photo credit: Matthias Bo Stuart, DTU.[/caption]
More information about the challenge is provided at https://www.creatis.insa-lyon.fr/Challenge/IEEE_IUS_2018/ where all the data sets can be freely downloaded, and the detailed results of the challenge can be studied. The two challenges have yielded valuable data sets and information for the IUS community. Anyone interested in organizing and supporting similar challenge events for the future IUS are encouraged to contact the conference organizers and the technical program committees.