3D ultrasound imaging with FOV adaptation

An apparatus comprising:

• an input/output for two-way communication with an ultrasound imaging apparatus;
• and
• one or more processors, adapted to:
• obtain at the input/output reference 3D ultrasound data of an anatomical region for a first 3D field of view, FOV, wherein the reference ultrasound data comprises data for a series of scan lines, each scan line having a scan angle along a first ($) and second (θ) angular scan direction, and maximum scan depth (d) along a direction of the scan line;
• apply segmentation to the reference 3D ultrasound data to detect boundaries of an anatomical object-of-interest in the reference 3D ultrasound data;
• define a volumetric region within the anatomical region, the volumetric region having one or more boundaries, wherein the volumetric region is defined in dependence upon the detected boundaries of the anatomical object-of-interest, and wherein the volumetric region is defined so as to fully contain the detected boundaries of the anatomical object-of-interest;
• adjust one or more scanning parameters to acquire new 3D ultrasound data with an adjusted 3D FOV, wherein adjusting the scanning parameters is performed in dependence upon the boundaries of the volumetric region, and wherein the adjusted 3D FOV fully encompasses the volumetric region, and wherein adjusting the scanning parameters comprises adjusting the maximum scan depth (d) of each individual scan line, and
• communicate the adjusted scanning parameters to the ultrasound imaging apparatus to cause the apparatus to acquire new 3D ultrasound data for the adjusted 3D FOV using the adjusted scanning parameters.

An ultrasound system apparatus comprising:

• an ultrasound imaging apparatus and
• an input/output for two-way communication with the ultrasound imaging apparatus;
• and
• one or more processors, adapted to:
• obtain at the input/output reference 3D ultrasound data of an anatomical region for a first 3D field of view, FOV, wherein the reference ultrasound data comprises data for a series of scan lines, each scan line having a scan angle along a first (θ) and second (θ) angular scan direction, and maximum scan depth (d) along a direction of the scan line;
• apply segmentation to the reference 3D ultrasound data to detect boundaries of an anatomical object-of-interest in the reference 3D ultrasound data;
• define a volumetric region within the anatomical region, the volumetric region having one or more boundaries, wherein the volumetric region is defined in dependence upon the detected boundaries of the anatomical object-of-interest, and wherein the volumetric region is defined so as to fully contain the detected boundaries of the anatomical object-of-interest;
• adjust one or more scanning parameters to acquire new 3D ultrasound data with an adjusted 3D FOV, wherein adjusting the scanning parameters is performed in dependence upon the boundaries of the volumetric region, and wherein the adjusted 3D FOV fully encompasses the volumetric region, and wherein adjusting the scanning parameters comprises adjusting the maximum scan depth (d) of each individual scan line, and
• communicate the adjusted scanning parameters to the ultrasound imaging apparatus to cause the apparatus to acquire new 3D ultrasound data for the adjusted 3D FOV using the adjusted scanning parameters.