Computer-generated 3D ultrasound images of the carotid artery

A method is under development to measure carotid artery lesions from a computer-generated 3-D ultrasound image. 3-D images are generated from multiple B-mode ultrasound images with known spatial coordinates derived from a magnetic spatial locating device attached to the ultrasound transducer. For each image, the position of the transducer in six coordinates (x, y, z, azimuth elevation, and roll) is recorded and used to position each B-mode picture element in its proper spatial position in a 3-D memory array. After all B-mode images have been assembled in the memory, the 3-D image is filtered and resampled to produce a new series of parallel-plane 2-D images, from which arterial boundaries can be determined using edge-tracking methods. The method is described, and sample 3-D images are shown