Reconstructing human cerebral vasculature in 3D with high frame rate, freehand 2D Doppler ultrasound using optical tracking

Accurate and real-time assessment of brain vascu-lature during neurosurgery is possible using 2D μDoppler ultrasound imaging. In order to view the complete vascular anatomy in its full 3D makeup these 2D images need to be mapped to a common 3D space. Here we describe how an accurate 3D reconstruction of the brain vasculature can be realized using a freehand μDoppler ultrasound scan in conjunction with an optical tracking system. We specifically focus on how the Doppler signal can be extracted best in cases where dynamic probe motion hampers the effectiveness of common eigen-based clutter filters. We discuss the processing steps of our method and show its strength on in-vivo obtained during neurosurgical interventions.