Accuracy Report on a Handheld 3D Ultrasound Scanner Prototype Based on a Standard Ultrasound Machine and a Spatial Pose Reading Sensor

Sensors (Basel). 2022 Apr 27;22(9):3358. doi: 10.3390/s22093358.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a 3D ultrasound scanning method. The main requirements were the freehand architecture of the scanner and high accuracy of the reconstructions. A quantitative evaluation of a freehand 3D ultrasound scanner prototype was performed, comparing the ultrasonographic reconstructions with the CAD (computer-aided design) model of the scanned object, to determine the accuracy of the result. For six consecutive scans, the 3D ultrasonographic reconstructions were scaled and aligned with the model. The mean distance between the 3D objects ranged between 0.019 and 0.05 mm and the standard deviation between 0.287 mm and 0.565 mm. Despite some inherent limitations of our study, the quantitative evaluation of the 3D ultrasonographic reconstructions showed comparable results to other studies performed on smaller areas of the scanned objects, demonstrating the future potential of the developed prototype.

Keywords: 2D image segmentation; 3D ultrasonography; coordinate measuring machine; freehand 3D ultrasound scanner prototype; pose sensor; quantitative 3D reconstruction evaluation.

MeSH terms

  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional* / methods
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Ultrasonography

Grants and funding

This study was partially realized with the material, equipment, technology, and logistic support of Chifor Research SRL, through the project Periodontal ultrasonography in diagnosing and monitoring the periodontal disease (Chifor Research SRL, Operational Program Competitivity, Ministry of European Funds from Romania, P_38_930\12.10.2017, Project ID 113124.) This paper was partially funded by the European Social Fund, Human Capital Operational Program 2014-2020, project no. POCU/380/6/13/125171, EIT Health-RIS Innovation Program 2020, project ID 2020 RIS-1001-8253 and “3DentArVis” project no. 70/2018 (research project conducted by the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca and funded by Chifor Research SRL through P_38_930\12.10.2017).