Patent ID: 6610013
Filing Date: 2003-08-26
Classification: A61B,A61N

Abstract:
A 3D ultrasound guided intraoperative method for the diagnosis and treatment of diseased tissues, said method comprising the steps of:a pre-implant planning phase for producing a 3D tissue image comprising shape and volume of said tissue and surrounding structures and determining optimal distribution of a selected therapy; a needle implantation phase for needle segmentation and positioning for delivery of the selected therapy to said tissue; a post-plan monitoring phase to verify the therapy implantation and for allowing error correction; wherein said needle implantation phase comprises: enhancing needle contrast by applying a variance filter to the 3D image; applying a threshold operation to create a binary image composed of a cluster of voxels from the needle and other specular reflectors; and utilizing principle component analysis to classify each cluster of voxels according to voxel slope and intercept.