Ultrasound

Working with ultrasound image data has a long tradition at Fraunhofer IGD. As early as 1994, the first applications of 3D ultrasound imaging were developed here by Prof. Dr. Georgios Sakas. In 1997, Professor Sakas founded MedCom, a Fraunhofer spin-off which has since been successfully engaged in the processing and analysis of ultrasound image data. In the meantime, research work and application-related projects with ultrasound image data at Fraunhofer IGD have continued apace.

Automatic analysis and processing of 2D and 3D ultrasound image data

Today, the Visual Healthcare Technologies department has numerous algorithms and methods at its disposal for the automatic analysis and processing of 2D and 3D ultrasound image data.

Recent research includes the following areas:

• Intraoperative registration of liver ultrasound and CT image data
• Automatic recognition and segmentation of organ structures such as liver and kidney
• Facial features of a fetus
• Ultrasound shadows (for example, of the ribs)
• Free intra-abdominal fluids in the event of blunt trauma

Differentiation between benign and malignant lymph nodes

Currently, further research topics are being investigated within the scope of the ECHOMICS  project. The aim is to develop omics-type image-based biomarkers for lymph nodes in ultrasound image data, which should then facilitate characterization of the tissue and thus differentiation between benign and malignant lymph nodes.