ULTRASOUND SYSTEM GENERATING AN IMAGE BASED ON BRIGHTNESS VALUE OF DATA

1 . An ultrasound system, comprising:

an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to form ultrasound data of a target object; and

a processing unit connected to the ultrasound data acquisition unit, the processing unit being configured to form volume data including a plurality of voxels based on the ultrasound data, and extract label regions having lower brightness values than a reference value from the volume data to thereby form an ultrasound image by rendering the extracted label regions.

2 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

calculate the reference value for detecting the label regions from the volume data;

extract voxels having lower value than the reference value by comparing the brightness value of each voxel with the reference value;

label the extracted voxels to thereby set the label regions; and

set boundaries of the label regions.

3 . The ultrasound system of claim 2 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

extract a middle point of the boundary set at each label region;

set the extracted middle point as a seed volume; and

enlarge the seed volume radially to thereby set the boundary of the label region.

4 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

set a plurality of slice planes including a plurality of pixels on the volume data;

calculate a reference value for detecting the label regions from each slice plane;

extract pixels having a lower value than the reference value by comparing the brightness value of each pixel with the reference value;

label the extracted pixels to thereby set the label regions; and

synthesize the plurality of slice planes having the label regions to thereby form the volume data.

5 . The ultrasound system of claim 4 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to:

extract middle points of the label regions on each slice plane;

set the extracted middle points as seed points; and

enlarge the seed points radially to thereby set the boundary of each slice plane.

6 . A method of extracting an object of interest based on brightness value, the method comprising:

forming ultrasound data of a target object;

forming volume data comprising a plurality of voxels based on the ultrasound data;

extracting label regions having lower brightness values than a reference value from the volume data; and

forming an ultrasound image by rendering the extracted label regions.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein extracting label regions comprises:

calculating the reference value for detecting the label regions from the volume data;

extracting voxels having a lower value than the reference value by comparing the brightness value of each voxel with the reference value;

labeling the extracted voxels to thereby set the label regions; and

setting boundaries of the label regions.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein setting boundaries comprises:

extracting a middle point of the boundary set at each label region;

setting the extracted middle point as a seed volume; and

enlarging the seed volume radially to thereby set the boundary of the label region.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein extracting label regions comprises:

setting a plurality of slice planes comprising a plurality of pixels on the volume data;

calculating a reference value for detecting the label regions from each slice plane;

extracting pixels having a lower value than the reference value by comparing the brightness value of each pixel with the reference value;

labeling the extracted pixels to thereby set the label regions; and

synthesizing the plurality of slice planes having the label regions to thereby form the volume data.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein labeling the extracted pixels comprises:

extracting middle points of the label regions on each slice plane;

setting the extracted middle points as seed points; and

enlarging the seed points radially to thereby set the boundary of each slice plane.