Method and system for tracking an anatomical structure over time based on pulsed-wave doppler signals of a multi-gated doppler signal

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by at least one processor, a gate corresponding with a selected anatomical structure at an initial time, wherein the gate is one of a plurality of gates, each of the plurality of gates corresponding with one of a plurality of Pulsed-Wave (PW) Doppler signals that together define a Multi-Gated Doppler (MGD) signal;

receiving, by the at least one processor, the MGD signal over an extended period of time;

analyzing, by the at least one processor, the MGD signal to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time by selecting, at a plurality of sample times during the extended period of time and subsequent the initial time, a PW Doppler signal from the plurality of PW Doppler signals, each of the PW Doppler signal corresponding to one of the plurality of gates and the selected anatomical structure, wherein the analyzing the MGD signal is weighted with at least one other cue to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time, and wherein the at least one other cue is selected from the group consisting of:

an appearance of a patch in a two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure,

temporal consistency and the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure, and

a periodicity of blood flow in a blood vessel; and

presenting, at a display system, a continuous PW Doppler signal generated from each of the PW Doppler signal selected at each of the plurality of sample times during the extended period of time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the extended period of time includes one or both of at least one breathing cycle and at least one heart cycle.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected anatomical structure is at least one of the blood vessel or a tissue segment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gate is identified based on a selection of the selected anatomical structure in the 2D ultrasound image.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the selection is one of:

an automatic selection, by the at least one processor, based on image detection techniques, or

a manual selection in response to a user directive received via a user input module.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MGD signal is received from one or both of an ultrasound probe or a data storage medium.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other cue is the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other cue is the temporal consistency and the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one other cue is the periodicity of blood flow in the blood vessel.

10. A system comprising:

at least one processor configured to:

identify a gate corresponding with a selected anatomical structure at an initial time, wherein the gate is one of a plurality of gates, each of the plurality of gates corresponding with one of a plurality of Pulsed-Wave (PW) Doppler signals that together define a Multi-Gated Doppler (MGD) signal;

receive the MGD signal over an extended period of time; and

analyze the MGD signal to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time by selecting, at a plurality of sample times during the extended period of time and subsequent the initial time, a PW Doppler signal from the plurality of PW Doppler signals, each of the PW Doppler signal corresponding to one of the plurality of gates and the selected anatomical structure, wherein the analyzing the MGD signal is weighted with at least one other cue to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time, and wherein the at least one other cue is selected from the group consisting of:

an appearance of a patch in a 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure,

temporal consistency and the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure, and

a periodicity of blood flow in a blood vessel; and

a display system configured to present a continuous PW Doppler signal generated from each of the PW Doppler signal selected at each of the plurality of sample times during the extended period of time.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the extended period of time includes one or both of at least one breathing cycle and at least one heart cycle.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the selected anatomical structure is at least one of the blood vessel or a tissue segment.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the gate is identified based on a selection of the selected anatomical structure in the 2D ultrasound image, and wherein the selection is one of: an automatic selection, by the at least one processor, based on image detection techniques, or a manual selection in response to a user directive received via a user input module.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the MGD signal is received from one or both of an ultrasound probe or a data storage medium.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one other cue is the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one other cue is the temporal consistency and the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one other cue is the periodicity of blood flow in the blood vessel.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section, the at least one code section being executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform steps comprising:

identifying a gate corresponding with a selected anatomical structure at an initial time, wherein the gate is one of a plurality of gates, each of the plurality of gates corresponding with one of a plurality of Pulsed-Wave (PW) Doppler signals that together define a Multi-Gated Doppler (MGD) signal;

receiving the MGD signal over an extended period of time;

analyzing the MGD signal to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time by selecting, at a plurality of sample times during the extended period of time and subsequent the initial time, a PW Doppler signal from the plurality of PW Doppler signals, each of the PW Doppler signal corresponding to one of the plurality of gates and the selected anatomical structure, wherein the analyzing the MGD signal is weighted with at least one other cue to track the selected anatomical structure over the extended period of time, and wherein the at least one other cue is selected from the group consisting of:

an appearance of a patch in a 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure,

the temporal consistency and the appearance of the patch in the 2D ultrasound image surrounding the selected anatomical structure, and

a periodicity of blood flow in a blood vessel; and

presenting a continuous PW Doppler signal generated from each of the PW Doppler signal selected at each of the plurality of sample times during the extended period of time at a display system.