A robust multi-view freehand three-dimensional ultrasound imaging system using volumetric registration

In this paper, we describe a freehand, three-dimensional ultrasound imaging system. The system uses an electromagnetic position and orientation measurement device to capture two-dimensional ultrasound images at arbitrary planar orientations in space. For robust performance, we use a novel electromagnetic interference detection algorithm that can be used to estimate the probability density function of position and orientation measurement errors. Another important contribution of the proposed system is its ability to reconstruct from multiple standard views. The multi-view reconstruction procedure results in significant reduction in reconstruction error. The system uses object-based 3D volume registration, allowing for arbitrary rigid object movements in inter-view acquisition. The proposed system has been validated on simulated data and a physical, 3D ultrasound calibration phantom. Quantitative experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the 3D registration system, and a significant reduction in the mean-squared error via the use of the proposed multi-view reconstruction method.