CN-122005086-A - Fusion of ultrasound images and preoperative structured 3D image data for ultrasound image guided surgery

Abstract

An ultrasound imaging system (102) includes a single transducer array (110) having a long axis and configured to transmit and receive in a first mode to acquire real-time ultrasound images of a sagittal plane during a procedure, or in a second mode to acquire 3D ultrasound data containing multiple sagittal planes by rotating the single transducer array about an axis parallel to the long axis of the transducer array, a resampler (202) configured to resample the 3D ultrasound data and generate a set of resampled ultrasound planes approximately orthogonal to a tissue surface of interest, a segmenter (204) configured to segment a first contour of the tissue of interest in the set of resampled ultrasound planes, and a registration engine (206) configured to register the first contour with a second contour of the tissue of interest in pre-operative 3D MR image data and generate a fused 3D image.

Inventors

• B. MARTINS
• F Gran

Assignees

• 通用电气精准医疗有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20251021

Priority Date

20241108

Claims (15)

1. 1. An ultrasound imaging system (102), the ultrasound imaging system comprising: A single transducer array (110) having a long axis and configured to transmit and receive in a first mode to acquire real-time ultrasound images of a sagittal plane during a procedure, or in a second mode to acquire 3D volumetric ultrasound data containing multiple sagittal planes by rotating the single transducer array about an axis parallel to the long axis of the transducer array; A resampler (202) configured to resample the 3D volume ultrasound data and to generate a set of resampled ultrasound planes approximately orthogonal to a tissue surface of interest; A segmenter (204) configured to segment a first contour of the tissue of interest at the set of resampled ultrasound planes; a registration engine (206) configured to register the first contour with a second contour of the tissue of interest in preoperative three-dimensional (3D) Magnetic Resonance (MR) image data and generate a fused 3D image, and A rendering engine (130) configured to superimpose the real-time ultrasound image with feature contours segmented from the preoperative 3D MR image data.
2. 2. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1, wherein the set of resampled ultrasound planes comprises only three to twelve planes.
3. 3. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1, further comprising: A primary point determiner (702) configured to determine a primary target point of the procedure based on the 3D MR image data.
4. 4. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 3, wherein the rendering engine is configured to superimpose a marker representing a location of the primary target of the procedure on the fused 3D image.
5. 5. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 3, wherein the resampler is configured to beamform real-time cross-sectional ultrasound images through the primary target based on additional 3D volumetric ultrasound data obtained during the procedure.
6. 6. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 5, wherein the rendering engine is configured to display the real-time ultrasound image of the sagittal plane on a sagittal view of the fused 3D image in a first display port and to display the beamformed real-time cross-sectional ultrasound image on a cross-sectional view of the fused 3D image in a second display port.
7. 7. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 6, wherein the rendering engine is configured to superimpose the marker representing the location of the primary target of the procedure on the beamformed real-time cross-sectional ultrasound image.
8. 8. A computer-implemented method, the computer-implemented method comprising: Acquiring real-time ultrasound images of the sagittal plane during surgery using a single transducer array having a long axis, or acquiring 3D volumetric ultrasound data as the single transducer array rotates about an axis parallel to the long axis of the transducer array; Resampling the 3D volumetric ultrasound data to generate a set of resampled ultrasound planes approximately orthogonal to the tissue surface of interest; segmenting a first contour of the tissue of interest in the set of resampled ultrasound planes; Registering the first contour with a second contour of the tissue of interest in preoperative 3D MR image data to generate a fused 3D image, and The real-time ultrasound image is superimposed with feature contours segmented from the preoperative 3D MR image data on a display monitor.
9. 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the set of sagittal ultrasound planes includes three to twelve sagittal planes.
10. 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, the computer-implemented method further comprising: The primary points of the procedure are identified based on the MR data.
11. 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, the computer-implemented method further comprising: a marker representing the location of the principal point on the fused 3D image is displayed on the display monitor.
12. 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, the computer-implemented method further comprising: A real-time cross-section through the principal point is beamformed based on additional 3D volumetric ultrasound data obtained during the procedure.
13. 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, the computer-implemented method further comprising: Displaying the real-time ultrasound image of the sagittal plane on a sagittal view of the fused 3D image in a first display port, and Displaying the beamformed real-time cross-sectional ultrasound image on a cross-sectional view of the fused 3D image in a second display port.
14. 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, the computer-implemented method further comprising: Acquiring a sagittal plane image; acquiring a cross-sectional image; segmenting a first contour of the tissue of interest in the sagittal image; segmenting a second contour of the tissue of interest in the cross-sectional image; Displaying the first profile and the second profile; user input is received to accept or reject the sagittal and transverse images for registration with the preoperative 3D MR image data.
15. 15. A computer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: Acquiring real-time ultrasound images of the sagittal plane during surgery using a single transducer array having a long axis, or acquiring 3D volumetric ultrasound data as the single transducer array rotates about an axis parallel to the long axis of the transducer array; Resampling the 3D volumetric ultrasound data to generate a set of resampled ultrasound planes approximately orthogonal to the tissue surface of interest; Segmenting a first contour of the tissue of interest in the set of sagittal ultrasound planes; Registering the first contour with a second contour of the tissue of interest in the 3D pre-operative MR image data to generate a fused 3D image, and The real-time ultrasound image is superimposed with feature contours segmented from the preoperative 3D MR image data on a display monitor.

Description

Fusion of ultrasound images and preoperative structured 3D image data for ultrasound image guided surgery Technical Field The following relates generally to ultrasound imaging and, more particularly, to fusion of ultrasound images and preoperative structured 3D image data for ultrasound image guided surgery. Background An ultrasound imaging system includes a transducer array that emits an ultrasound beam into an examination field of view. As the beam passes through a structure in the field of view (e.g., a structure of a sub-portion of the object or subject), a portion of the beam is attenuated, scattered, and/or reflected by the structure, some of which (echoes) return to the transducer array. The transducer array receives the echoes and processes the echoes to generate an ultrasound image of the portion of the object or subject. The ultrasound image is visually displayed. Ultrasound imaging is used in a wide range of medical applications. One example of a medical application is ultrasound guided biopsy or therapy. Generally, a biopsy is a surgical procedure in which a small sample of tissue of interest (e.g., prostate, lung, breast, etc.) is taken to subsequently check for the presence of abnormalities such as cancer cells. In performing a biopsy, a needle is inserted through the skin and advanced to the target tissue where a sample is to be taken. Ultrasound is used to assist a clinician in locating and/or navigating an instrument to a tissue of interest when performing ultrasound guided biopsy or therapy. One approach is to combine real-time ultrasound images with preoperative structured (e.g., magnetic Resonance (MR)) 3D image data during surgery to provide an anatomical frame of reference for tracking instrument advancement. To achieve this, first, a sagittal image of the tissue of interest and a transverse image of the tissue of interest are acquired using a transducer array. The contours of the tissue of interest segmented in the two orthogonal planes are then co-registered with the tissue contours obtained from the 3D MR image data segmentation. Segmentation may include various features, including lesions. Then, during surgery, the real-time ultrasound image is superimposed with the feature contours in the corresponding planes of the 3D MR image. Unfortunately, two orthogonal ultrasound image planes often cannot simultaneously display a particular point of interest without moving the transducer array to a different location that would narrow the tissue overview. Thus, the registration of the contours in the two orthogonal ultrasound image planes with the 3D MR image data may be inaccurate, and the current position of the instrument in the real-time ultrasound image relative to the anatomical frame of reference provided by the 3D MR image data may not accurately represent the actual position of the instrument relative to the tissue of interest. Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved method to alleviate the above and/or other drawbacks of existing methods in fusing ultrasound images and structured 3D image data for ultrasound image guided surgery. Disclosure of Invention Aspects of the present application address the above matters, and others. This summary introduces concepts that are described in more detail in the detailed description. It should not be used to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor should it be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. In one aspect, an ultrasound imaging system includes a single transducer array having a long axis and configured to transmit and receive in a first mode to acquire real-time ultrasound images of a sagittal plane during a procedure, or in a second mode to acquire 3D volumetric ultrasound data containing multiple sagittal planes by rotating the single transducer array about an axis parallel to the long axis of the transducer array. The ultrasound imaging system also includes a resampler configured to resample the 3D volumetric ultrasound data and generate a set of resampled ultrasound planes approximately orthogonal to the tissue surface of interest. The ultrasound imaging system also includes a segmenter configured to segment the first contour of the tissue of interest in the set of resampled ultrasound planes. The ultrasound imaging system also includes a registration engine configured to register the first contour with a second contour of the tissue of interest in preoperative three-dimensional (3D) Magnetic Resonance (MR) image data and generate a fused 3D image. The ultrasound imaging system also includes a rendering engine configured to superimpose the real-time ultrasound image with feature contours segmented from preoperative 3D MR image data. In another aspect, a computer-implemented method includes acquiring real-time ultrasound images of a sagittal plane during a procedure using a single transducer array having a long axis, or acquiring 3D volumetric ultrasound data as the single transducer arr