Piur Imaging Gmbh

Imfusion Gmbh

Robert Bauer

Wolfgang Wein

Raphael Prevost

Julian Sprung

Frederik Bender

Mina Hany Hanna Sedra

A method and an apparatus for generating a combined three-dimensional ultrasound image of a body portion are described. Therein, two ultrasound scans are preformed, using a relative tracking system, specifically an inertial tracking, and two partial volume images are generated therefrom. The first and second volumes have an overlapping volume containing a predetermined anatomical structure. Then, respective anatomical structure position data indicative of the position of the predetermined anatomical structure in the respective partial volume image are identified by image segmentation. Then, an initial spatial relationship between the first and second partial volume images is established, based on the identified first and second anatomical structure position data. Then a fine registration algorithm using the initial spatial relationship as an initial input is carried out; and the partial volume images are combined in the common volume using the fine-registered spatial relationship.

Method and apparatus for generating a combined three-dimensional ultrasound image

A method and an apparatus for determining a three-dimensional directedness-determined motion are provided, including a forward-backward directedness, characterizing the motion of a movable ultrasound probe () during acquisition of an ultrasound image of a volume portion () by the ultrasound probe. The method comprises determining, by a machine-learning module (), a motion indicator () indicating a three-dimensional motion between the ultrasound image frames (); and determining, by a directedness-determining system (), a directedness indicator () of the three-dimensional motion between the ultrasound image frames (). The method further comprises determining a directedness-determined motion indicator () indicating the three-dimensional directedness-determined motion, including a determined the forward-backward directedness of the motion, between the ultrasound image frames () from the motion indicator () and the directedness indicator ().

Apparatus and method for determining motion of an ultrasound probe including a forward-backward directedness

A method of determining a three-dimensional motion of a movable ultrasound probe () is described. The method is carried out during acquisition of an ultrasound image of a volume portion () by the ultrasound probe. The method comprises receiving a stream of ultrasound image data () from the ultrasound probe () while the ultrasound probe is moved along the volume portion (); inputting at least a sub-set of the ultrasound image data () representing a plurality of ultrasound image frames () into a machine-learning module (), wherein the machine learning module () has been trained to determine the relative three-dimensional motion between ultrasound image frames (); and determining, by the machine-learning module (), a three-dimensional motion indicator () indicating the relative three-dimensional motion between the ultrasound image frames.

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Unterhaching, Germany

Robert Bauer