3-D visualisation for the study of arterial disease and tissue characterisation

A novel approach to arterial imaging using ultrasonic data is presented. A catheter-mounted ultrasound probe is used to acquire data from within the arterial lumen. Signals reflected from the vessel wall are manipulated by specially created software in order to recreate a three dimensional model of the arterial segment. Of the available reconstruction strategies, the use of volume elements (voxels) has been selected to create detailed and realistic images. A 2-D image is first formed from a matrix of picture elements (pixels), derived from coordinates obtained from the received ultrasound signal. The 3-D image is then recreated in full voxel space from a series of these 2-D pixel images, using linear interpolation between the 2-D slices. The system has been used to recreate accurate 3-D images of arterial models and post-mortem human arterial specimens