Patent ID: 11944488
Assignee: VERATHON INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A  G

Claim 10:
11. A method performed by a system including a track structure, an ultrasound probe, and a base unit that controls the track structure and the ultrasound probe, the method comprising:
receiving, on the track structure, one of multiple interchangeable application-based track stands to support the track structure and the ultrasound probe over an area of interest on a patient;
holding the ultrasound probe, positioned in contact with a patient, in a probe holder of the track structure;
communicating with the ultrasound probe to obtain an installed rotational orientation of the ultrasound probe with respect to the track structure and confirm that a gyroscopic reading of the ultrasound probe is consistent with the installed rotational orientation;
detecting movement of the probe holder at increments along the track structure;
causing the ultrasound probe to transmit ultrasound signals at each of the increments;
recording a linear position of the probe holder at each of the increments;
receiving echo information associated with the transmitted ultrasound signals; and
processing the received echo information to generate a three-dimensional ultrasound image of the extended target based on the received echo information and the linear positions of the probe holder,
wherein processing the received echo information includes:
obtaining a three-dimensional model corresponding to the extended target, wherein the three-dimensional model includes a statistical shape model that infers a statistical distribution and is derived from human samples, and
identifying a best-fit of the three-dimensional model for the three-dimensional ultrasound image by minimizing an energy function.