Phase selection for cardiac contrast assessment

A method for motion correcting a set of ultrasound images associated with a phase of a heart cycle, the method comprising:

• performing each of the following with a medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging system:
• (a) storing a plurality of sets of ultrasound images, each of the plurality of sets comprising a plurality of ultrasound images, each of the plurality of ultrasound images associated with a different phase of a heart cycle;
• (b) selecting a first ultrasound image associated with a first phase of the heart cycle from a first set of ultrasound images;
• (c) automatically selecting an ultrasound image associated with the first phase of the heart cycle from each of the other sets of ultrasound images by comparing at least one visual characteristic of the first ultrasound image with at least one visual characteristic of the ultrasound images in each of the other sets;
• and
• (d) performing motion correction on the automatically-selected ultrasound images.