An interactive tool to visualize three-dimensional ultrasound data

Three-dimensional ultrasound can provide images that are easily understood by people who are not specialists in ultrasonography, However, current visu alization methods do not perform very well on 3-D ultrasound data. Apart fr om some specific cases (obstetrics, cardiology), 3-D ultrasound images have not yet demonstrated major benefits from a clinical point of view, In this article, we introduce an interactive method that allows the user easily to produce 3-D images for each ultrasound examination. It is a two-step metho d. First, the user roughly segments the data by drawing three boundary: cur ves in perpendicular planes. A ray-casting algorithm then automatically ret rieves the details of the objects, Because it can be used routinely, this t ool should help to evaluate the potential of 3-D ultrasonography. (C) 2000 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.