Transponder tracking and ultrasound image enhancement

A system comprising:

• an optical sensor coupled with a needle and configured to receive a plurality of acoustic signals from a surrounding insonified region;
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium;
• and
• a processor communicatively coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the processor configured to execute processor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium to:
• generate an image of at least a portion of the surrounding insonified region adjacent the needle based on at least some of the plurality of acoustic signals from the surrounding insonified region received by the optical sensor.

A method comprising:

• providing a tracking and imaging system comprising (i) an optical sensor coupled to a medical device, (ii) an ultrasound transducer array, and (iii) a processor;
• receiving, by the optical sensor, a plurality of acoustic beamforming signals, each acoustic beamforming signal corresponding to one of a plurality of acoustic beamforming pulses emitted from the ultrasound transducer array;
• receiving, by the optical sensor coupled with the medical device, a plurality of acoustic signals from a surrounding insonified region;
• determining, by a processor, a location of the optical sensor based on one or more of the plurality of acoustic beamforming signals received by the optical sensor;
• and
• creating, by the processor, an ultrasound image of at least a portion of the surrounding insonified region adjacent the medical device based on at least some of the plurality of acoustic signals from the surrounding insonified region received by the optical sensor.