Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 11, Issue 5 225-232, Copyright © 1992 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
3-dimensional sonographic analysis based on color flow Doppler and gray scale image data: a preliminary report
D. H. Pretorius, T. R. Nelson and J. S. Jaffe
Division of Ultrasound, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093.
This paper presents preliminary results of a technique that permits
acquisition and display of three-dimensional (3D) anatomy using data
collected from color flow Doppler and gray scale image sonography. 3D
sonographic image data were acquired as two-dimensional planar images with
commercially available equipment. A translational stage permitted the
transducer position and orientation to be determined. Color flow
sonographic video image data were digitized into a PC-AT computer along
with transducer position and orientation information. Color flow velocity
and gray scale data were separated, 3D filtered, and thresholded. A surface
rendering program was used to define the vessel blood-lumen interface.
Planar slices of arbitrary orientation and volume rendered images were
displayed interactively on a graphics workstation. The technique was
demonstrated in a lamb kidney in vitro and for the carotid artery at the
bifurcation in vivo. Our results demonstrate the potential of 3D sonography
as a technique for visualization of anatomy. Color flow data offer direct
access to the vascular system, facilitating 3D analysis and display. 3D
sonography offers potential advantages over existing diagnostic studies in
that it is noninvasive, requires no intravenous contrast material, offers
arbitrary plane extraction and review after the patient has completed the
examination, and permits vascular anatomy to be visualized clearly via
rendered images.
