# US 12,758,194 B2 · Ultrasound volume data forming apparatus and ultrasound volume data forming program > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,758,194 B2 - Document ID: US12758194B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 19/298,136 - Filed: 2025-08-12 - Published: 2026-02-19 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2024-08-15 - Assignees: FUJIFILM Corporation - Applicants: FUJIFILM Corporation - Inventors: Koji Waki; Yuko Sato - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12758194B2 ## CPC - A61B 8/5215: {involving processing of medical diagnostic data} - A61B 8/4245: {involving determining the position of the probe, e.g. with respect to an external reference frame or to the patient} - G06T 15/08: Volume rendering - G06V 10/44: Local feature extraction by analysis of parts of the pattern, e.g. by detecting edges, contours, loops, corners, strokes or intersections; Connectivity analysis, e.g. of connected components - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING ## Abstract A probe position and posture information acquisition unit acquires position and posture information indicating a position and a posture of the ultrasound probe when each of the pieces of frame data for forming ultrasound volume data is acquired, and associates the position and posture information with each of the pieces of frame data. A volume data forming unit forms the ultrasound volume data by changing at least one of a perpendicular plane position, which is a position in a plane perpendicular to an arrangement direction of the pieces of frame data in a data space, or a posture of each of the pieces of frame data in accordance with the position and posture information associated with a corresponding piece of the frame data, and then arranging the pieces of frame data in the arrangement direction. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An ultrasound volume data forming apparatus comprising a processor configured to: acquire a frame data sequence acquired by sweeping an ultrasound probe that scans an ultrasound beam on a subject, in a direction perpendicular to a scanning plane of the ultrasound beam, the frame data sequence including each piece of frame data having a data element sequence, two-dimensionally arranged in accordance with the scanning plane, indicating a signal intensity of a reflected wave from the subject, in which position and posture information indicating a perpendicular plane position, which is a position of the ultrasound probe when a piece of the frame data in a plane perpendicular to a sweep direction is acquired, and a posture of the ultrasound probe when the piece of the frame data is acquired is associated with each piece of the frame data included in the frame data sequence; and form ultrasound volume data by arranging the frame data sequence in an arrangement direction that is a direction perpendicular to a two-dimensional array direction of the data element sequence in a data space, wherein the ultrasound volume data is formed by changing at least one of a perpendicular plane position, which is a position in a plane perpendicular to the arrangement direction, or a posture of each piece of the frame data included in the frame data sequence in accordance with the position and posture information associated with the piece of frame data without changing the position and the posture of the ultrasound probe, and then arranging the pieces of the frame data in the arrangement direction. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The ultrasound volume data forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to extract a first feature point in one piece of the frame data among adjacent pieces of the frame data in the frame data sequence and a second feature point corresponding to the first feature point in the other piece of the frame data, and change at least one of the perpendicular plane position or the posture of each piece of the frame data such that the first feature point and the second feature point are arranged in the arrangement direction. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The ultrasound volume data forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to form the ultrasound volume data by excluding frame data in which at least one of the perpendicular plane position or the posture has an outlier compared to a plurality of the other pieces of the frame data, based on the position and posture information associated with each piece of the frame data. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The ultrasound volume data forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to generate, based on both pieces of the frame data adjacent to each other in the frame data sequence, intermediate frame data to be disposed between both pieces of the frame data, and form the ultrasound volume data by using the intermediate frame data. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The ultrasound volume data forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position and posture information indicates a perpendicular plane position and a posture of the ultrasound probe relative to a body surface of the subject, based on a captured image acquired by imaging a probe detection marker attached to the ultrasound probe and on a body surface detection marker attached to the body surface of the subject, via a camera. ### Claim 6 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing an ultrasound volume data forming program causing a computer to: acquire a frame data sequence acquired by sweeping an ultrasound probe that scans an ultrasound beam on a subject, in a direction perpendicular to a scanning plane of the ultrasound beam, the frame data sequence including each piece of frame data having a data element sequence, two-dimensionally arranged in accordance with the scanning plane, indicating a signal intensity of a reflected wave from the subject, in which position and posture information indicating a perpendicular plane position, which is a position of the ultrasound probe when a piece of the frame data in a plane perpendicular to a sweep direction is acquired, and a posture of the ultrasound probe when the piece of the frame data is acquired is associated with each piece of the frame data included in the frame data sequence; and form ultrasound volume data by arranging the frame data sequence in an arrangement direction that is a direction perpendicular to a two-dimensional array direction of the data element sequence in a data space, wherein the ultrasound volume data is formed by changing at least one of a perpendicular plane position, which is a position in a plane perpendicular to the arrangement direction, or a posture of each piece of the frame data included in the frame data sequence in accordance with the position and posture information associated with the piece of frame data without changing the position and the posture of the ultrasound probe, and then arranging the pieces of the frame data in the arrangement direction.