CROSS-PLANE ULTRASOUND IMAGING SYSTEM FOR COMBINED IN-PLANE AND OUT-OF-PLANE INSTRUMENT GUIDANCE

摘要

The present invention relates to an ultrasound imaging system (12) that simultaneously creates and displays images from two or more intersecting planes in real time. The system includes an ultrasound probe head (1) and a console (2). The probe head (1) has a transducer field or a combination of at least two transducer arrays to generate two or more imaging planes. The console can address the electronic signal (to emit ultrasound waves) to different transducer arrays or to combinations of transducers in the same probe and thus generate corresponding images from different imaging planes which the console can display simultaneously. The invention as well relates to a method that combines in-plane and out-of- plane instrument guidance.