Development and clinical trial of a system for three-dimensional ultrasound

一种利用图形计算机进行三维超声成像的系统已经被开发出来，用于宫内胎儿。通过将其应用于以下临床情况，研究了三维超声图像相对于传统断层图像的优势：1)胎儿；新系统可以清楚地描绘微小的形态异常，如胎儿面部和多趾；2)胎盘血流；彩色多普勒超声用于获取连续的胎盘血流图像。这些图像由计算机以与胎儿3D成像相同的方式进行处理。三维血流成像显示了胎盘的血流分布，这被认为有可能提供关于胎盘循环的良好信息，并有助于预测胎盘功能障碍引起的胎儿生长异常。3)乳房；三个实时图像处理器用于乳房肿瘤图像的预处理。与羊水中的胎儿不同，乳腺肿瘤很难与周围的乳腺组织区分开来。实时图像处理器由微型计算机控制，可以降低周围组织产生的噪声。乳腺癌、乳腺囊肿、纤维腺瘤的三维图像显示清晰。三维图像有利于乳腺良恶性病变的鉴别。计算机生成的三维超声图像可以进一步补充连续的层析图像。这项技术在胎儿成像方面有很大的前景，可能会在胎儿血流和乳房筛查的研究中找到用处。

A system for 3-D ultrasonic imaging using a graphic computer has been developed for the fetus in utero. The advantages of 3-D ultrasonic images over the conventional tomographic images have been investigated by applying it to the following clinical situations.1) Fetus; The new system could clearly depict subtle morphological abnormalities, such as fetal face, as well as polydactyly.2) Placental Blood Flow; A color Doppler ultrasound was used to acquire contiguous blood flow images of the placenta. These images were processed by the computer in the same manner as fetal 3- D imaging. The3-D blood flow imaging demonstrated placental blood flow distribution, which was thought to have the potential to provide good information on placental circulation and to be helpful in predicting fetal growth abnormalities caused by placenta dysfunction.3) Breast; Three real time image processors were applied for the preprocessing of breast tumor images. Unlike the fetus in amniotic fluid, breast tumors are difficult to distinguish from the surrounding breast tissue. The real time image processors were controlled by a microcomputer and could reduce the noise generated by the surrounding tissue. 3-D images of breast cancers, cysts and fibroadenomas were displayed distinctly. The 3-D images were favorable for differentiating between benign or malignant breast lesions. Computer generated 3-D ultrasonic images can further supplement the contiguous tomographic images. The technique has great promise in fetal imaging and might find usefulness in investigations concerning fetal blood flow and breast screening.