Patent ID: 8715184

Claim:
A method for visualizing a path in medical diagnostic ultrasound, the method comprising: scanning, with a transducer, an internal region with ultrasound; generating an ultrasound image from data acquired by or registered with the scanning, the ultrasound image representing the internal region; locating a plurality of different paths to a location in the internal region, each of the different paths to the location having different origins from a surface positioned adjacent the transducer, wherein the internal region includes a plurality of anatomical locations including the location; ranking each of the different paths as a function of at least first and second parameters characterizing the internal region along the different paths, both of the first and second parameters acquired from the scanning of the internal region with different ultrasound detection techniques, wherein ranking comprises determining a cost for each of the paths, the cost being a function of the first and second parameters, the first and second parameters comprise Doppler flow of fluid in the internal region and tissue stiffness of tissue in the internal region, the tissue stiffness indicating an ease of insertion through the tissue such that soft tissue has a lesser cost than stiff tissue, the determining of the cost comprising determining the ease of insertion through the tissue and avoidance of vascular structure where a net cost is assigned to each of the anatomical locations, the net cost being a first combination of the first and second parameters both acquired from the scanning of the internal region at the respective anatomical locations and where a path cost is calculated as a second combination of the net costs of the anatomical locations along each of the different paths; and indicating different rankings of the paths.