A method for three-dimensional prostate imaging using transrectal ultrasound.

This paper describes a method for forming three-dimensional images of the prostate using transrectal ultrasound. This method extracts three-dimensional images of the prostate from sets of two-dimensional ultrasound images obtained via a special-purpose transrectal ultrasound probe. Each two-dimensional image is segmented and the results used to form a three-dimensional image of the prostate. A method for segmenting two-dimensional images of the prostate based on the Laplacian-of-Gaussian edge operator is described. The three-dimensional imaging method described provides a new, noninvasive method for monitoring gland pathology during radiation therapy.

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