Multiview Ultrasound Fusion for Cardiac and Non-cardiac Imaging

3D超声心动图是一种快速、有效的心脏扫描技术，但由于目前3D超声心动图扫描仪的局限性（空间分辨率、信噪比、视野），只能对少数患者进行经胸超声心动图的心脏结构和左室功能的3D评估。该项目的目标是：1）开发一种在标准临床环境中实时融合3D超声心动图的新方法，适用于更广泛的受试者; 2）纳入由于呼吸引起的心脏位置变化和患者的任何位置变化;和3）使用先进的图像处理技术提高扫描的超声图像质量。我们建议开发3D融合超声心动图，并评估其在临床上需要准确评估心脏功能的患者中的临床实用性，但标准（传统）3D超声心动图由于图像质量不足而无法应用，因此进行对比心动图或心脏MRI。我们的研究对多视图融合方法的技术改进将建立一个多视图3D融合超声心动图记录/处理的原型，这将允许进行多中心试验，并最终将多视图融合成像引入更广泛的临床实践。

For many years 3D echocardiography has been available and offers a very fast and efficient way to scan the heart.However, because of the limitations of current 3D echocardiographic scanners (spatial resolution, signal to noise ratio, fieldof view), 3D assessment of the heart structures and left ventricular function has been performed only in a minority of patientsundergoing transthoracic echocardiography. The goal of this project is to: 1) develop a new method for a real-time fusion of3D echocardiography in standard clinical settings applicable to a wider range of subjects; 2) incorporate changes in theposition of the heart due to respiration and any positional changes of the patients; and 3) improve the ultrasound imagequality of the scan using advanced image processing techniques. We propose to develop 3D fusion echocardiography andto evaluate its clinical utility in patients in whom an accurate assessment of the cardiac function is clinically needed, butstandard (conventional) 3D echocardiography cannot be applied because of insufficient image quality and therefore contrastechocardiography or cardiac MRI are performed instead. The technical refinements of the multiview fusion method whichcan be made from our research will establish a prototype for recording/processing of multiview 3D fusion echocardiography.This will allow to perform a multicentre trial and finally to introduce multiview fusion imaging into wider clinical practice.