Three-dimensional ultrasound imaging of the prostate

Ultrasonography, a widely used imaging modality for the diagnosis and staging of many diseases, is an important cost-effective technique, however, technical improvements are necessary to realize its full potential. 2D viewing of 3D anatomy, using conventional ultrasonography, limits our ability to quantify and visualize most diseases, causing, in part, the reported variability in diagnosis and ultrasound guided therapy and surgery: This occurs because conventional ultrasound images are 2D, yet the anatomy is 3D; hence, the diagnostician must integrate multiple images in his mind. This practice is inefficient, and may lead to operator variability and incorrect diagnoses. In addition, the 2D ultrasound image represents a single thin plane at some arbitrary angle in the body. It is difficult to localize and reproduce the image plane subsequently, making conventional ultrasonography unsatisfactory for follow-up studies and for monitoring therapy. Our efforts have focused on overcoming these deficiencies by developing 3D ultrasound imaging techniques that can acquire B-mode, colour Doppler and power Doppler images. An inexpensive desktop computer is used to reconstruct the information in 3D, and then is also used for interactive viewing of the 3D images. We have used 3D ultrasound images for the diagnosis of prostate cancer, carotid disease, breast cancer and liver disease and for applications in obstetrics and gynaecology. In addition, we have also used 3D ultrasonography for image-guided minimally invasive therapeutic applications of the prostate such as cryotherapy and brachytherapy.