Ultrasound imaging system and method for detecting position and orientation of a coherent reflector

1. A method for detecting a coherent reflector with an ultrasound imaging system including a processor, the method comprising:

acquiring ultrasound channel data from a volume with a probe including a 2D aperture;

calculating, with the processor, a transform function based on the ultrasound channel data;

identifying, with the processor, a first angle of a projection of the coherent reflector in a plane parallel to the 2D aperture based on the transform function;

detecting, with the processor, a line-shaped echo pattern in the ultrasound channel data, wherein the ultrasound channel data has not been beamformed during the process of said identifying the first angle of the projection of the coherent reflector;

determining, with the processor, a second angle of the coherent reflector with respect to the 2D aperture based on the position of the line-shaped echo pattern;

determining, with the processor, a position and an orientation of the coherent reflector based on the first angle and the second angle;

enhancing a representation of the coherent reflector in an image generated based on the ultrasound channel data; and

displaying the image on a display device after enhancing the representation of the coherent reflector.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein enhancing the representation of the coherent reflector comprises generating a graphical indicator representing the coherent reflector and displaying the graphical indicator on the image.

3. The method of claim 2 , where the graphical indicator comprises a line, an arrow, or a cylinder.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein enhancing the representation of the coherent reflector comprises using the transform function to generate the image.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein using the transform function to generate the image comprises using a delay-and-Modified Radon Transform (delay-and-MRT) beamforming.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein enhancing the representation comprises generating a fused image, where the fused image comprises a b-mode image combined with an image generated using a delay-and-Modified Radon Transform (delay-and-MRT) beamforming.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising acquiring additional ultrasound channel data including the coherent reflector based on the position and the orientation of the coherent reflector.

8. The method of claim 7 , where the additional ultrasound channel data comprises 2D ultrasound data of a plane including the coherent reflector.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the additional ultrasound channel data comprises 3D ultrasound data of a second volume including the coherent reflector, where the second volume is smaller than the volume.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising tracking the coherent reflector in real-time based on the position and the orientation of the coherent reflector.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising adjusting a position of the plane in real-time to track the coherent reflector based on the position and the orientation of the coherent reflector.

12. An ultrasound imaging system comprising:

a probe including a 2D aperture;

a display device; and

a processor in electronic communication with the probe and the display device, wherein

the processor is configured to:

control the probe to acquire ultrasound channel data from a volume;

calculate a transform function based on the ultrasound channel data;

identify a first angle of a projection of a coherent reflector in a plane parallel to the 2D aperture based on the transform function;

detect a line-shaped echo pattern in the ultrasound channel data, wherein the ultrasound channel data has not been beamformed during the process of identifying the first angle of the projection of the coherent reflector;

determine a second angle of the coherent reflector with respect to the 2D aperture based on the position of the line-shaped echo pattern;

determine a position and an orientation of the coherent reflector based on the first angle and the second angle;

enhance a representation of the coherent reflector in an image generated based on the ultrasound channel data; and

display the image on the display device after enhancing the representation of the coherent reflector.

13. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to enhance the representation of the coherent reflector by generating a graphical indicator representing the coherent reflector and displaying the graphical indicator on the image.

14. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to enhance the representation of the coherent reflector by using the transform function to generate the image.

15. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 14 , wherein the processor is configured to use a delay-and-Modified Radon Transform (delay-and-MRT) beamforming to generate the image.

16. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to enhance the representation of the coherent reflector by generated a fused image comprising a b-mode image combined with an image generated using a delay-and-Modified Radon Transform (delay-and-MRT) beamforming.

17. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to acquire additional ultrasound channel data including the coherent reflector based on the position and the orientation of the coherent reflector.

18. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 17 , wherein the processor is further configured to track the position and the orientation of the coherent reflector in real-time.

19. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 18 , where the additional ultrasound channel data comprises 2D ultrasound data of a plane including the coherent reflector, and wherein the processor is further configured to adjust a position of the 2D plane in real-time to track the coherent reflector based on the position and the orientation of the coherent reflector.

20. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 18 , where the additional ultrasound channel data comprises 3D ultrasound data of a second volume that is smaller than the volume, where the second volume includes the coherent reflector, and wherein the processor is further configured to adjust a position of the second volume in real-time to track the coherent reflector based on the position and orientation of the coherent reflector.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein said calculating, with the processor, the transform function comprises calculating a coherence at a plurality of discrete angles.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein said identifying, with the processor, the first angle of a projection of the coherent reflector in a plane parallel to the 2D aperture based on the transform function comprises one of identifying an angle where the coherence is at a maximum or identifying a range of angles where the coherence is above a predetermined threshold.

23. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the transform function based on the ultrasound channel data by calculating a coherence at a plurality of discrete angles.