Illustrative Flow Visualization from 3D Doppler Ultrasound

Åsmund Birkeland1, Linn Heljesen1,2, Kim Nylund2, Dag Magne Ulvang3, Odd Helge Gilja1,2 and Ivan Viola1,3

University of Bergen (1) Haukeland University Hospital (2) Christian Michelsen Research (3)

MotivationBlood flow imagingWhat we want:

3D Blood flow measurementsLiveInexpensiveNon-invasive

What we have:4D MRI – expensive, not liveB-flow – only in 2DCEUS – invasive Doppler – ...

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MotivationPros:

InexpensiveLiveNon-invasive

Cons:NoisySingle component of the blood flowDifficult to interpret for laymen

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Methodology

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Geometry ExtractionSegmentation

Extract vessel segments during an ultrasound scanImage based registration for fusing segments together

Vessel geometryExtract center-line of segmented vesselsGenerate a vessel-direction map based on nearest center-line point

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3D Flow ReconstructionProbe position tracked using image based registrationReconstruction:Flux through a cross-section: Error dependent on

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Visual Mapping

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Animated particles depicting flow direction and velocity magnitudeVelocity legends for identifying velocity magnitudeColor according to flux through cross section

ResultsVerification based on 4D MRI data Accuracy: 69% for angles below 55 degrees

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Future DirectionsIn vivo evaluationImprove visual representationMore advanced flow model

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Thank you for listening!Questions?

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