Method and system for tracking an anatomical structure over time based on pulsed-wave doppler signals of a multi-gated doppler signal

A system comprising:

• at least one processor configured to:
• identify a gate corresponding with a selected anatomical structure at an initial time, wherein the gate is one of a plurality of gates, each of the plurality of gates corresponding with one of a plurality of Pulsed-Wave (PW) Doppler signals that together define a Multi-Gated Doppler (MGD) signal;
• receive the MGD signal over an extended period of time;
• and
• analyze the MGD signal to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time by selecting, at a plurality of sample times during the extended period of time and subsequent the initial time, a PW Doppler signal from the plurality of PW Doppler signals, each of the PW Doppler signal corresponding to one of the plurality of gates and the selected anatomical structure, wherein the analyzing the MGD signal is weighted with at least one other cue to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time, and wherein the at least one other cue is selected from the group consisting of:
• an appearance of a patch in a 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure,
• temporal consistency and the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure, and
• a periodicity of blood flow in a blood vessel;
• and
• a display system configured to present a continuous PW Doppler signal generated from each of the PW Doppler signal selected at each of the plurality of sample times during the extended period of time.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section, the at least one code section being executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform steps comprising:

• identifying a gate corresponding with a selected anatomical structure at an initial time, wherein the gate is one of a plurality of gates, each of the plurality of gates corresponding with one of a plurality of Pulsed-Wave (PW) Doppler signals that together define a Multi-Gated Doppler (MGD) signal;
• receiving the MGD signal over an extended period of time;
• analyzing the MGD signal to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time by selecting, at a plurality of sample times during the extended period of time and subsequent the initial time, a PW Doppler signal from the plurality of PW Doppler signals, each of the PW Doppler signal corresponding to one of the plurality of gates and the selected anatomical structure, wherein the analyzing the MGD signal is weighted with at least one other cue to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time, and wherein the at least one other cue is selected from the group consisting of:
• an appearance of a patch in a 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure,
• the temporal consistency and the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure, and
• a periodicity of blood flow in a blood vessel;
• and
• presenting a continuous PW Doppler signal generated from each of the PW Doppler signal selected at each of the plurality of sample times during the extended period of time at a display system.