Stradx: real-time acquisition and visualisation of freehand 3D ultrasound

Abstract

Conventional freehand 3D ultrasound is a multi-stage process. First, the clinician scans the area of interest. Next, the ultrasound data is used to construct a 3D voxel array, which can then be visualised by, for example, any-plane slicing. The strict separation of data acquisition and visualisation disturbs the interactive nature of the ultrasound examination. Furthermore, some systems require the clinician to wait for an unacceptable amount of time while the voxel array is constructed. In this paper, we describe a novel freehand 3D ultrasound system which allows exceptionally accurate acquisition of the raw data and immediate visualisation of arbitrary slices through the data. Minimal processing separates the acquisition and visualisation processes, with the result that fine detail present in the B-scans is preserved in the synthesised slices.