Methods and apparatuses for creating orientation markers and 3d ultrasound imaging systems using the same

A three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging system comprising a probe, a signal processing module, and a 3D imaging module, wherein the 3D imaging module includes a system for creating an orientation marker, the system comprising:

• a first geometric model modeling unit configured to obtain scanning parameters and build a first geometric model representing an ultrasound imaging space based on the scanning parameters;
• a 3D viewing direction determining unit configured to determine a 3D viewing direction of a 3D view;
• a section geometric model modeling unit configured to obtain section parameters of a section window in which a section view is displayed and build a section geometric model based on the section parameters;
• a section viewing direction determining unit configured to determine a section viewing direction of the section view;
• an orientation marker creating unit configured to draw the first geometric model according to the 3D viewing direction and draw the section geometric model according to the section viewing direction while making a spatial position relationship between the first geometric model and the section geometric the same as the spatial position relationships between the 3D view and the section view to obtain the orientation marker.

A method for three-dimensional (3D) imaging in 3D ultrasound imaging system, the method comprising:

• scanning an ultrasound imaging space using scanning parameters to obtain original volume data;
• reconstructing the original volume data and rendering reconstructed volume data to obtain 3D images and section images;
• displaying the 3D images in 3D views;
• displaying the section images in section views;
• building a first geometric model representing the ultrasound imaging space based on the scanning parameters;
• determining a 3D viewing direction of the 3D view;
• obtaining section parameters of a section window in which the section view is displayed;
• determining a section viewing direction of the section view;
• building a section geometric model based on the section parameters;
• and
• displaying an orientation marker by drawing the first geometric model according to the 3D viewing direction and drawing the section geometric model according to the section viewing direction while making one or more spatial position relationships between the first geometric model and the section geometric the same as the spatial position relationships between the 3D view and the section view.