Three-dimensional morphometry in ultrasound

The clinical use of three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound has rapidly spread to many specialities over the last ten years. The reason is easy to see, name ly that single two-dimensional (2D) scans are often difficult to interpret and the mental correlation of multiple 2D scans to form a 3D image of anato mical morphology is taxing and uncertain. The rapid development of techniqu es for the realtime tracking of the spatial position and orientation of ult rasound probes and the development of computer graphics techniques for the presentation of anatomical images have made 3D ultrasound a realistic diagn ostic tool. The authors describe the range of methods of data acquisition a nd display and provide illustrations of some current clinical applications.