Maximum likelihood motion estimation in ultrasound image sequences

Maximum likelihood (ML) techniques are defined for optimum block matching to enable motion estimation sequences of ultrasound B-mode images. Such motion estimation is needed as a diagnostic tool in medical use of ultrasound imagery. It is also needed for the efficient compression of sequences of ultrasound images. The novel ML block matching techniques correspond to accurate statistical descriptions of ultrasound images, and are evaluated experimentally using sequences of transesophageal ultrasound images of the heart.