Method and apparatus for three-dimensional flow lumen imaging
AssigneeDiasonics Ultrasound, Inc.
InventorsGregory Sharat Lin, Ray Steven Spratt, Dennis Paul
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for generating three-dimensional (3D) images of flow structures and their flow lumen using ultrasound techniques. According to one aspect of the invention, a border between a flow region and a non-flow region is used to render a three-dimensional image of the flow lumen of the flow structure. The images may be viewed in real-time and/or stored on a machine-readable medium. In one embodiment, the three-dimensional images may be manipulated in a number of viewing directions/angles/distances/positions/styles. In one embodiment, a flow lumen may be displayed using a virtual angioscopic view.
Claims24
A method for generating an ultrasound-based image of a flow lumen, said method comprising:
- based on a set of Doppler signals, determining that a first set of pixels represents an area of flow;
- based on said set of Doppler signals, determining that a second set of pixels represents an area of non-flow;
- isolating edge pixels substantially representing a border between said area of flow and said area of non-flow;
- and
- deriving said image from said edge pixels.
An apparatus for use in a Doppler-based ultrasound imaging system, said apparatus comprising:
- a probe to exchange Doppler signals with a body;
- a processing unit, coupled to said probe, to identify, based on flow information provided by said Doppler signals, a region of flow and a region of non-flow, and to determine a boundary therebetween to generate image data of a flow lumen derived from said boundary between said area of flow and said area of non-flow.
A method for generating an image of a flow lumen, said method comprising:
- receiving a first set of Doppler echo signals from a body;
- determining that said first set of Doppler echo signals indicate a region of non-flow;
- receiving a second set of Doppler echo signals from a body;
- determining that said second set of Doppler echo signals indicate a region of flow;
- mapping said first and second regions into a plurality of pixels, wherein pixels of a first type correspond to said region of flow and pixels of a second type correspond to said region of non-flow;
- isolating a set of pixels from said plurality of pixels, wherein said set of pixels represents an edge between said first and second types of pixels;
- and
- generating said image from said set of pixels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.