Method and systems for shading and shadowing volume-rendered images based on a viewing direction

A method for ultrasound imaging, comprising:

• generating a volume-rendered image with at least one of a first shading and a first shadowing from a three-dimensional ultrasound dataset, the at least one of the first shading and the first shadowing based on an angle between a probe axis of a transducer probe used to acquire the three-dimensional ultrasound dataset and a viewing direction of the volume-rendered image;
• displaying the generated volume-rendered image;
• and
• in response to a change in the angle, updating the volume-rendered image with at least one of a second shading and a second shadowing, different than the first, the at least one of the second shading and the second shadowing based on the change in the angle, and displaying the updated volume-rendered image.

An ultrasound imaging system having an anisotropic point spread function, comprising:

• a transducer probe adapted to scan a volume of interest;
• a display device;
• a user interface;
• and
• a processor in electronic communication with the transducer probe, display device, and user interface, where the processor is configured to:
• generate a volume-rendered image from three-dimensional ultrasound data acquired with the transducer probe;
• apply one or more shading and shadowing parameters to the volume-rendered image;
• adjust the one or more shading and shadowing parameters based on an angle between a probe axis of the transducer probe and a viewing direction of the volume-rendered image;
• and
• display the volume-rendered image on the display device.