System and method for selective blending of 2D x-ray images and 3D ultrasound images

1. A method for imaging a structure, the method comprising:

obtaining two dimensional (2D) x-ray image data;

obtaining three dimensional (3D) ultrasound image volume data;

creating a 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data with respect to an area of interest corresponding to the 2D x-ray image data, including:

selecting a slice volume of thickness “d” from the volume data corresponding to a plane representative of the 2D x-ray image data;

performing a volume rendering operation on the sliced volume;

blending the 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data with the 2D x-ray image data rendering a 2D blended image of the structure, wherein the blending including alpha blending, the alpha blending including an alpha value (α), between 0 and 1, giving a ratio in which two overlapping pixels contribute to a color of a screen pixel by the following equation:

C out,RGB ( x,y )=α C xray,RGB ( x,y )+(1−α) C us,RGB ( x,y ); and

displaying the 2D blended image of the structure.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the volume rendering includes a maximum intensity projection that casts through the sliced volume and produces a cumulative intensity at a corresponding output pixel.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the alpha value (α) is a constant or a function of (x,y) and a space dependence is set to zero.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the alpha value (α) depends on corresponding colors (C) of the x-ray image data and the sliced volume ultrasound image data according to the following equation: α(x,y,C xray,RGB ,C us,RGB )=kα(x,y)α(C xray,RGB )α(C us,RGB ) where α i ε[0,1].

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein α(x,y) increases to allow the x-ray image data to prevail locally over the ultrasound image data of the blended image.

6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the value k is used as a blend factor bias allowing the ultrasound image data of the blended image to be faded in and out with respect to underlying x-ray image data.

7. The method according to claim 4 , wherein a 2D representation of the structure as the blended image is displayed in real-time.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the two dimensional (2D) x-ray image data and three dimensional (3D) ultrasound image volume data are simultaneously obtained.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the blending occurs in a computer, which is part of one of a x-ray system, ultrasound system, and a standalone unit with a display device.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium conveying software which controls a processor to perform the method according to claim 1 .

11. A method for imaging a structure, the method comprising:

obtaining two dimensional (2D) x-ray image data;

obtaining three dimensional (3D) ultrasound image volume data;

creating a 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data with respect to an area of interest corresponding to the 2D x-ray image data;

blending the 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data with the 2D x-ray image data rendering a 2D blended image of the structure wherein the blending of overlapping pixels is dependent on a pixel brightness (b) of the 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data that is determined by the amount of light reflected by each voxel, wherein α(C xray ) and α(C us ) are functions of the pixel brightness (b); and

displaying the 2D blended image of the structure.

12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the creating a 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound volume image data further comprises: selecting a sliced volume of thickness “d” from the volume data corresponding to a plane representative of the 2D x-ray image data; and performing a volume render operation on the sliced volume.

13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein the pixel brightness (b) is determined by the amount of light reflected by each voxel and computed using Phong's lighting model.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium conveying software which controls a processor to perform the method according to claim 11 .

15. A system for blending features of interest of a structure from three dimensional (3D) ultrasound image data with two dimensional (2D) image data, the system comprising:

a x-ray imaging system configured to provide two dimensional (2D) x-ray image data;

an ultrasound imaging system configured to provide three dimensional (3D) ultrasound image volume data;

a computer in operable communication with the x-ray system and the ultrasound system, the computer is programmed to:

create a 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data with respect to the area of interest corresponding to the 2D x-ray image data;

blend the 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data with the 2D x-ray image data rendering a 2D blended image of the structure, the blending of overlapping pixels being dependent on a pixel brightness (b) of the 2D representation of the 3D ultrasound image volume data that is determined by the amount of light reflected by each voxel; and

a display device in operable communication with the computer, the display device displaying the 2D blended image of the structure.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the computer is further programmed to:

select a sliced volume of thickness “d” from the volume data corresponding to a plane representing the 2D x-ray image data; and

perform a volume render operation on the sliced volume.

17. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the blending including alpha blending, wherein the alpha blending including an alpha value (α), between 0 and 1, giving a ratio in which two overlapping pixels contribute to a color of a screen pixel by the following equation:

C out,RGB ( x,y )=α C xray,RGB ( x,y )+(1−α) C us,RGB ( x,y ).

18. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the 2D x-ray image data and 3D ultrasound image volume data are simultaneously obtained.

19. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the structure is imaged by both the x-ray and ultrasound imaging modalities simultaneously and the 2D representation of the structure is displayed in real-time.

20. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the computer is one of part of the x-ray system, part of the ultrasound system, and a standalone unit with a display device.