Systems and methods for ultrasound image rendering

1. An ultrasound imaging system comprising:

a user interface having a display configured to display ultrasound images for a volume data set;

a content detection module configured to detect an object within the volume data set, wherein the detected object is a medical device; and

an image-processing module configured to receive ultrasound signals from a diagnostic probe and process the signals to generate the ultrasound images of the volume data set, the image-processing module further configured to locally change an opacity function of the displayed ultrasound image based on the detected object to change an opacity of a subset of voxels in the volume data set that are within a defined distance from the detected object.

2. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the defined distance of the detected object is based on an edge of the detected object, wherein the local change causes the voxels to appear more transparent on the display.

3. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the image-processing module is further configured to change a displayed appearance of the detected object by overlaying a mesh or model representation of the detected object to the detected object displayed in the ultrasound image.

4. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the image-processing module is further configured to locally change an opacity function of voxels within the detected object to cause the detected object to appear less transparent on the display.

5. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the image-processing module is further configured to locally change an opacity function of voxels within the detected object to cause the detected object to appear more transparent on the display.

6. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the content detection module is further configured to detect the object using a received user input defining a property, dimension or characteristic of the object.

7. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the image-processing module is further configured to locally change an opacity function of the displayed ultrasound image based on the detected object to change an opacity of a plurality of subsets of voxels in the volume data set that are within a defined distance from the detected object, wherein the opacity change to at least two of the subsets of voxels is different based on a distance from the detected object.

8. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the image-processing module is further configured to locally change an opacity function of the displayed ultrasound image, the local change less than a global change of the opacity of all of the voxels in the volume data set.

9. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 1 , wherein the image-processing module is further configured to change a displayed appearance of the detected object by changing locally at least one volume rendering parameter, including at least one of shading, reflectivity or smoothness.

10. A method of imaging a subject using an ultrasound imaging system, the method comprising:

processing ultrasound data within a volume data set to generate ultrasound images, the ultrasound images including an acquired image, the acquired image including an object of interest;

identifying the object of interest in the volume data set, wherein the detected object is a medical device; and

locally changing an opacity function of the displayed ultrasound image based on the detected object to change an opacity of a subset of voxels in the volume data set that are within a defined distance from the detected object to generate an image having an enhanced visualization of the object of interest.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the identifying is performed automatically.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the identifying is performed semi-automatically using a received user input defining at least one of a shape or dimension of the object of interest.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the defined distance of the detected object is based on an edge of the detected object, wherein the local change causes the voxels to appear more transparent on the display.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising changing a displayed appearance of the detected object by overlaying a mesh or model representation of the detected object to the detected object displayed in the ultrasound image.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein locally changing the opacity function comprises locally changing an opacity function of voxels within the detected object to cause the detected object to appear less transparent on the display.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein locally changing the opacity function comprises locally changing an opacity function of voxels within the detected object to cause the detected object to appear more transparent on the display.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein locally changing the opacity function comprises locally changing an opacity function of the displayed ultrasound image, the local change less than a global change of the opacity of all of the voxels in the volume data set.

18. A tangible non-transitory computer readable medium programmed to instruct a computing system to:

process ultrasound data within a volume data set to generate ultrasound images, the ultrasound images including an acquired image, the acquired image including an object of interest, wherein the object of interest is a medical device;

identify the object of interest in the volume data set; and

locally change an opacity function of the displayed ultrasound image based on the detected object to change an opacity of a subset of voxels in the volume data set that are within a defined distance from the detected object to generate an image having an enhanced visualization of the object of interest.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the defined distance of the detected object is based on an edge of the detected object, wherein the local change causes the voxels to appear more transparent on the display.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the computing system is instructed to change a displayed appearance of the detected object by overlaying a mesh or model representation of the detected object to the detected object.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the computing system is instructed to locally change an opacity function of voxels within the detected object to cause the detected object to appear less transparent on the display.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the computing system is instructed to locally change an opacity function of voxels within the detected object to cause the detected object to appear more transparent on the display.