Multiview Ultrasound Fusion for Cardiac and Non-cardiac Imaging

多年来，三维超声心动图已经出现，并提供了一种非常快速有效的心脏扫描方法。然而，由于目前三维超声心动图扫描仪的局限性(空间分辨率、信噪比、视野)，仅在少数接受经胸超声心动图检查的患者中进行了心脏结构和左心功能的三维评估。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)合并由于呼吸和患者任何位置变化而导致的心脏位置的变化；以及3)使用先进的图像处理技术提高扫描的超声图像均衡性。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功能的患者的临床应用价值，但标准(常规)3D超声心动图因图像质量不足而无法应用，因此需要进行对比超声心动图或心脏MRI检查。我们的研究对多视角融合方法的技术改进将建立一个记录/处理多视角三维融合超声心动图的原型，这将允许进行多中心试验，最终将多视角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.