Ultrasound Image Enhancement challenge 2023

We propose to hold the challenge of enhancement for ultrasound images in conjunction with MICCAI 2023. We will provide various ultrasound data of multiple organs, including the thyroid, carotid artery, abdomen, and breast. The challenging task of reconstructing high-quality ultrasound images from low-quality ones will be conducted. A total of 3000 ultrasound images (1500 pairs of low- and high-quality images) from 109 patients will be provided in the challenge.

Ultrasound imaging is commonly used for aiding disease diagnosis and treatment, with advantages in noninvasive. Lately, medical ultrasound shows prospects revolving from expensive big-size machines in hospitals to economical hand-held devices in wider use. The barrier is that ultrasound examination with a handheld device has the drawback of low imaging quality due to hardware limitations. Toward this, ultrasound image enhancement provides a potential low-cost solution. Restoring high-quality images from low-quality ones using computer algorithms would exempt requirements for hardware improvements and promote ultrasound device revolutions and wider applications.

By releasing the training data for ultrasound imaging enhancement, running the online evaluation server, and holding the challenge talks, the USenhance 2023 is expected to attract much attention from the research community, and advance the research on high-quality ultrasound imaging significantly.