1. A method of jointly optimizing the performance of a probe and imager combination, comprising the steps of: simulating images of a phantom which would be produced by said probe and imager combination in accordance with a statistical design of experiment, a probe geometry specification, and a set of imager parameters, said statistical design of experiment allowing a subset of said imager parameters to vary; and quantifying the diagnostic value of each image simulated based at least in part on an image quality specification to produce simulation-based image quality data.