Methods and system for compound ultrasound image generation

1. A method for generating a compound ultrasound image, the method comprising:

acquiring channel data;

beamforming the channel data;

in parallel:

obtaining a plurality of images from the beamformed channel data, each image comprising a plurality of pixels, of a region of interest; and

assessing an image information metric of the beamformed channel data, wherein the image information metric corresponds to each pixel of the plurality of images; and

for each image of the plurality of images:

determining a per-pixel weighting for each pixel of the plurality of pixels based on the assessment of the image information metric; and

applying the per-pixel weighting to each pixel of the plurality of pixels; and

generating a compound ultrasound image based on the plurality of weighted pixels of the plurality of images.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pixels are volumetric pixels.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each image of the plurality of images comprises a viewing angle of the region of interest, wherein the viewing angle of each image is different.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the image information metric comprises at least one of a feature and an orientation.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the assessing of the image information metric comprises assessing a coherence metric of the beamformed channel data.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the coherence metric comprises at least one of: a coherence factor; a dominance of an eigenvalue of a covariance matrix; and a Wiener factor.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the generation of the compound ultrasound image comprises performing at least one of: spatial; temporal; or frequency compounding on the plurality of weighted pixels.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the generation of the compound ultrasound image comprises at least one of retrospective dynamic transmit (RDT) focusing and incoherent RDT focusing.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the generation of the compound ultrasound image is performed in a multi-scale fashion.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises assigning brightness values to the plurality of pixels of each image based on the assessment of the image information metric.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the determining of the weighting for each pixel is based on at least one of a maximum brightness value; a mean brightness value; and

a minimum brightness value of the plurality of pixels across the plurality of images.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:

generating a mean brightness value image based on the mean brightness value of the plurality of pixels across the plurality of images;

subtracting the mean brightness value image from the compound ultrasound image, thereby generating a difference image;

applying a low pass filter to the difference image; and

summing the mean brightness value image and the difference image, thereby generating a speckle filtered compound ultrasound image.

13. A computer program stored on a non-transitory medium, the computer program comprising computer program code means which is adapted, when said computer program is run on a computer, to implement the method of claim 1 .

14. A system for generating a compound ultrasound image, the system comprising:

ultrasound probe, adapted to acquire channel data;

beamformer, adapted to apply beamforming to the channel data;

a controller adapted to:

in parallel:

obtain a plurality of images from the beamformed channel data, each image comprising a plurality of pixels, of a region of interest; and

assess an image information metric of the beamformed channel data, wherein the image information metric corresponds to each pixel of the plurality of images; and

for each image of the plurality of images:

determine a per-pixel weighting for each pixel of the plurality of pixels based on the assessment of the image information metric; and

apply the per-pixel weighting to each pixel of the plurality of pixels; and

a pixel compounder, adapted to generate a compound ultrasound image based on the plurality of weighted pixels of the plurality of images.

15. A system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the ultrasound probe comprises an electronic steering unit adapted to alter a viewing angle of the ultrasound probe.

16. A system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein, to obtain the plurality of images, the controller is adapted to:

perform at least one of envelope detection, log compression, scan conversion, or spatial registration using the beamformed channel data in parallel with the assessment of the image information metric.

17. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, the obtaining the plurality of images comprises:

performing at least one of envelope detection, log compression, scan conversion, or spatial registration using the beamformed channel data in parallel with the assessment of the image information metric.

18. A system as claimed in claim 14 , wherein:

the controller comprises a first processing pathway and a different, second processing pathway in parallel with the first processing pathway, and

to obtain the plurality of images and assess the image information metric in parallel, the controller is adapted to:

obtain the plurality of images using the first processing pathway; and

assess the image information metric using the second processing pathway.