Diffuse hepatic diseases affect on three-dimensional ultrasound single-modality automatic images fusion

Abstract

Objective To explore how diffuse hepatic diseases affect on the success rate and registration accuracy of three-dimensional ultrasound (3DUS) automatic images fusion technology. Methods 3DUS volumetric images of right hepatic anterior segment were acquired from 30 volunteers including healthy (10 cases), fatty liver (10 cases) and cirrhosis (10 cases). 3DUS automatic registrations were performed based on hepatic vessel in each pair of images.Meanwhile, the picture qualities were scored in all 3DUS volumetric images. How diffuse hepatic disease and picture quality affect on 3DUS single-modality automatic images fusion technology were analyzed. Results Twenty-nine pairs of 3DUS volumetric images were performed automatic registrations, the success rate was about 89.7%(26/29) and registration error distance was 1.31 mm(1.10~1.99 mm). Comparison to healthy controls, the success rate and accuracy of 3DUS image fusion decreased in fatty liver and cirrhosis, but there were no statistical differences (P=0.507, P=0.167). Picture quality could affect the success rate, and there was positive correlation between them (r=0.536, P=0.022). Conclusions 3DUS single-modality automatic images fusion technology has a good applicability in diffuse hepatic diseases, but picture quality can affect the success rate of this new technology. Key words: Ultrasonography, three-dimensional; Fatty liver; Liver cirrhosis; Image fusion