Multiple ultrasound image registration system, method and transducer

A method for detecting an erroneous motion estimate comprising the following steps:

• (a) providing an ultrasonic transducer comprising an imaging transducer array and at least three tracking transducer arrays, each tracking transducer array comprising at least one transducer element;
• (b) collecting tracking data from each of the tracking transducer arrays;
• (c) developing at least three motion estimates from the tracking data, each motion estimate associated with a respective tracking transducer array;
• and
• (d) detecting an unreliable one of the motion estimates based on a comparison of the motion estimates.

A method for registering ultrasonic image information acquired from a target, said method comprising the following steps:

• (a) acquiring a plurality of sets of ultrasonic image information with a single ultrasonic transducer array or with at least two ultrasonic transducer arrays in a substanially fixed relationship with each other, said array, or arrays moved between at least some of the sets of image information, said plurality of sets of ultrasonic image information comprising a plurality of image data sets and a plurality of tracking sets, both the image data sets and the tracking sets representative of respective portions of tissue in the target;
• (b) automatically determining a component of motion based on a comparison of at least a portion of the tracking sets representing tissue acquired at different times in step (a);
• and
• (c) automatically using the component of motion determined in step (b) to register selected ones of the image data sets acquired in step (a) with respect to one another;
• wherein step (a) comprises the step of transmitting ultrasonic energy concentrated near a fundamental frequency into a target;
• and
• wherein at least one of the image data sets and the tracking data sets comprises a selectively received harmonic component of received ultrasonic echo information, said harmonic component concentrated near a harmonic of the fundamental frequency.