Patent ID: 9642592
Date: 2017-05-09
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A method for enhancing a needle in a medical diagnostic ultrasound image, the method comprising: acquiring first and second ultrasound frames of data with first and second different steering, respectively, such that locations within a scan region common to both the first and second ultrasound frames have intersecting scan lines from different angles, the first and second ultrasound frames of data representing a patient and a needle within the patient; detecting, by a processor, needle candidates from the first ultrasound frame of data; detecting, by the processor and separate from the detecting from the first frame of ultrasound data, needle candidates from the second ultrasound frame of data; pairing the needle candidates from the first ultrasound frame of data with the needle candidates from the second ultrasound frame of data, the pairing being of the needle candidates from the first and second ultrasound frames of data after the separate detecting from the first and second ultrasound frames of data; displaying an image of the patient, the image having the enhanced needle based on the pairing of the needle candidates in the first ultrasound frame of data with the needle candidates in the second ultrasound frame of data; and adapting an ultrasound scanning parameter for subsequent acquisition, the adapting based on the enhanced needle from the detecting and pairing, the ultrasound scanning parameter being a beam steering angle, a focus, or a frequency.