Development and evaluation of a 3D ultrasound imaging system

The use of a 3D ultrasound imaging to perform a prostate examination will overcome the limitations of conventional 2D transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) and permit the estimation of prostate and tumor volumes with greater accuracy and and consistency. In this way, the diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer can be made more accurate and less operator dependent. With a 3D ultrasound imaging system, the patient's prostate can be scanned in only a few seconds and the resulting 3D image can be later manipulated and viewed interactively on a computer, after the patient has departed, and prostate and tumor volumes can be measured with better accuracy and reproducibility. The authors developed a 3D TRUS system to image the prostate.