Three-Dimensional Ultrasound: From Acquisition to Visualization and From Algorithms to Systems

One of the key additions to clinical ultrasound (US) systems during the last decade was the incorporation of three-dimensional (3-D) imaging as a native mode. Compared to previous-generation 3-D US imaging systems, today´s systems offer easier volume acquisition and deliver superior image quality with various visualization options. This has come as a result of many technological advances and innovations in transducer design, electronics, computer architecture, and algorithms. While freehand 3-D US techniques continue to be used, mechanically scanned and/or two-dimensional (2-D) matrix-array transducers are increasingly adopted, enabling higher volume rates and easier acquisition. More powerful computing engines with instruction-level and data-level parallelism and high-speed memory access support new and improved 3-D visualization capabilities. Many clinical US systems today have a 3-D option that offers interactive acquisition and display. In this paper, we cover the innovations of the last decade that have enabled the current 3-D US systems from acquisition to visualization, with emphasis on transducers, algorithms, and computation.