High frame rate extended field of view ultrasound imaging system and method

A method of displaying a 3-D extended field of view image, comprising:

• acquiring data corresponding to substantially the entire portion of each image volume in a first set of spatially overlapping ultrasound image volumes;
• acquiring data corresponding to a relatively small part of each image volume in a second set of spatially overlapping ultrasound image volumes, the acquisition of the data corresponding to each image volume in the first set being interspersed with the acquisition of the data corresponding to each image volume in the second set;
• using speckle in each of the image volumes in the second set to determine the displacement of each of the image volumes in the first set;
• registering the image volumes in the first set based upon the determination of the displacement of each of the image volumes in the first set;
• and
• displaying a plurality of the registered image volumes in the first set, thereby displaying the extended field of view ultrasound image.

A method of registering at least two partially overlapping, substantially complete image frames of ultrasound data, comprising:

• acquiring at least two partially overlapping, partial image frames of ultrasound data obtained at locations intermediate the locations from which the substantially complete image frames of ultrasound data were obtained;
• processing ultrasound data corresponding to speckle in the partial image frames of ultrasound data to determine the displacement between the locations from which the partial image frames of ultrasound data were obtained;
• and
• based on the determined displacement, combining the ultrasound data from the substantially complete image frames in a manner that causes the combined data to correspond to the substantially complete image frames spatially registered with each other.

A method of producing an extended field of view image, comprising:

• acquiring data corresponding to at least two partially overlapping, substantially complete, spatially displaced ultrasound image frames;
• acquiring data corresponding to at least two partially overlapping, partially complete, ultrasound image frames that are spatially displaced and at locations intermediate the locations of the substantially complete ultrasound image frames;
• identifying speckle in the partially complete ultrasound image frames;
• determining the spatial displacement of the partially complete ultrasound image frames based on the location of the identified speckle in each of the partially complete ultrasound image frames;
• determining the spatial displacement of the substantially complete ultrasound image frames based on the determined spatial displacement of the partially complete ultrasound image frames;
• and
• displaying as the extended field of view image the substantially complete ultrasound image frames registered with each other responsive to the determined spatial displacement of the substantially complete ultrasound image frames.

An ultrasound imaging system for generating a three-dimensional extended field of view image, the system comprising:

• an ultrasound scanhead structured to generate an electrical signal corresponding to ultrasound echoes;
• a beamformer coupled to the scanhead to generate electrical signals corresponding to ultrasound echoes from beneath the scanhead;
• a scan converter coupled to the beamformer to generate data from the electrical signals corresponding to a plurality of partially overlapping, substantially complete image data sets and a plurality of partially overlapping, partially complete image data sets as the scanhead is scanned across a field of interest, the substantially complete image data sets being interspersed with the partially complete image data sets;
• an image processor coupled to the scan converter, the image processor storing data corresponding to each of the image data sets, the image processor identifying data corresponding to speckle in the partially complete image data sets and using the identified speckle data to track the movement of the ultrasound scanhead, the image processor further processing the data corresponding to the substantially complete image data sets to create image data that corresponds to the substantially complete image data sets registered with each other to form an extended field of view image based upon the tracked movement of the scanhead;
• an image memory coupled to the image processor, the image memory storing the image data corresponding to the substantially complete image data sets registered with each other to form an extended field of view image;
• and
• a display coupled to the image memory for displaying the extended field of view image.