Auto-tuning numerical method for acoustic wave simulation using analytical solution.

Numerical wavefield simulation such as commercial simulation software enables an optimal design of an ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) system for clinical purpose of before prototyping. Such simulator, not developed for optimal design though, can provide rapid implementation for acoustic wave propagation but may lead to unexpected errors during the establishment of numerical model. Here, we propose an auto-tuning numerical method (ATNM), aiming to optimize physical parameters (e.g. grid size, Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) number, perfectly matched layer (PML) absorption coefficient, etc) such that the enumerated wavefield computed on those converges to the corresponding analytical solution derived from acoustic scattering theory. We use genetic algorithm (GA) to automatically calibrate numerical wavefield. Our preliminary test is to investigate the best design of PML absorption coefficient for USCT to minimize mean relative error (MRE) between the k-Wave simulation and the analytic model and show its efficacy. The experimental results verify our hypothesis that this calibrated numerical simulator on a simple physical domain is generalizable to any other domains.