Estimation of motion vectors in 3D ultrasound images using ant colony optimization

Motion estimation is an essential part of ultrasound image sequence analysis. It can be used for speckle suppression, 3D image reconstruction, motion based image segmentation and elastography. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is inspired by a colony of ants that search for a common source of food. ACO algorithms have the ability to integrate knowledge sources about the problem into the construction of a new solution. In order to find robust motion vectors in Ultrasound image sequence, multiple knowledge sources can be used, for example, motion vector constraints along sequence (temporal constraints), local similarity of motion vectors (spatial constraints). This paper aims to integrate these knowledge sources into a new solution by ACO.