LabVIEW Based 3D Ultrasound Imaging Method

Comparing with the traditional B-mode ultrasonograph, 2D array based real-time 3D ultrasound imaging system can provide more comprehensive and exhaustive human body information, and has been gradually applied to the clinic examination and diagnosis. Most of the foreign high-end companies engaged on medical imaging have implemented the technology of real-time 3D ultrasound imaging based on 2D array probe. But no domestic enterprises and research institutes have mastered this technology due to several difficulties, including: the large amount of array elements, the complexity of 2D array probe fabrication, and the large amount of raw data. Under the support of national five-year major projects, the technology of real-time 3D ultrasound imaging based on 2D array is studied in the Medical Ultrasound Lab.By using the self-developed 2D array transducer, the research on real-time 3D ultrasound imaging is accomplished based on Lab VIEW. The main work of this paper includes: design the ultrasound echo acquisition program for the NI PXIe system; reconstruct the 3D ultrasound image through beamforming, envelope detection, adjustment of dynamic range and gray-level transformation; then display it by orthogonal multi-planar method. To verify the feasibility and performance of the ultrasound system and compare various image reconstruction methods, a series of experiments were performed. The result indicated that the frame rate of ultrasound system is more than 30 fps, and the axial resolution of ultrasound image can reach up to 0.27 mm while lateral resolution reach up to 1.5mm for the strong reflection imaging objects.