Patent Document ID: 9934579
Application ID: 14424087
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An ultrasound imaging system for inspecting an object in a volume, the ultrasound imaging system comprising: an image processor configured to receive image data and to provide display data, wherein the image processor is configured to receive three-dimensional ultrasound image data and contrast-enhanced three-dimensional ultrasound image data, and to conduct a segmentation of the object simultaneously out of the three-dimensional ultrasound image data and contrast-enhanced three-dimensional ultrasound image data; wherein the image processor is configured to conduct the segmentation by minimizing an energy term so that a deformed initial geometric shape substantially corresponds to the object's boundary; and wherein the energy term comprises a first term representing the three-dimensional ultrasound image data and a second term representing the contrast-enhanced three-dimensional ultrasound image data, wherein the deformed initial geometric shape is the same in both the first and the second term, and wherein one of the first and second terms comprises a registering transformation registering the three-dimensional ultrasound image data and the contrast-enhanced three-dimensional ultrasound image data.