Patent Document ID: 8574157
Application ID: 11674854
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for producing a three-dimensional image of an object, comprising: insonifying one or more regions of the object from source transducers external to the object using ultrasound energy; receiving return echoes from the object at receiving transducers external to the object; determining an error between image information that corresponds to at least the insonified regions of the object and is determined from the return echoes, and further image information that corresponds to the same regions and is derived from a deformable model echoes representative of the object; updating at least a portion of the model corresponding to the insonified regions of the object based on the return echoes and one or more other portions of the model based on a determined dynamics of the model responsive to the return echoes; wherein the dynamics of the deformable model provide an instantaneous condition of one or more mass elements and connectors between the mass elements in the deformable model based on the updates from the insonified regions; determining a beam steering direction using feedback from the updated model so as to identify and insonify one or more of the regions of the object where the determined error is higher than in other regions of the object and receiving further return echoes; generating a hybrid image of the object comprising object regions responsive to the updated model of the object and object regions responsive to the further return echoes.