Performance Evaluation of a 3D Ultrasound Imaging and Needle Tip Tracking System: A Comparative Study on Tone-Burst...

Ultrasound is widely used in minimally invasive procedures to visualize anatomy and guide needle placement, which is critical for patient safety and surgical success. However, accurately visualizing the needle, particularly its tip, remains challenging. In this work, we present a novel system that combines interleaved 3D needle tip tracking and volumetric imaging using a fiber-optic hydrophone integrated within the needle cannula and a sparse spiral 2D array. The array probe was programmed to transmit a plane wave sequence for imaging and a subsequent sequence for single-element transmission for tracking, with the tracking data collected via the fiber-optic hydrophone. With each tracking sequence, an image of the needle tip was reconstructed using the hydrophone data. To enhance tracking performance, chirp excitation and pulse-compression were employed. Performance of the system was evaluated with a water phantom and chicken tissue ex-vivo experiments. The results demonstrate a spatial average tracking accuracy of 1.35 ± 0.38 (mean ± standard deviation) in water with chirp excitation. In chicken tissue insertion at a steep insertion angle, chirp excitation-based tracking reconstructed images achieved Contrast-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) of 18.98 ± 3.15 dB, outperforming tone-burst excitation (9.26 ± 3.40 dB). This paper presents a performance study of an advanced approach that integrates 3D volumetric ultrasound imaging with needle tip tracking. This combined embodiment holds promise for enabling real-time 3D visualization of patient anatomy and precise needle tip localization, potentially enhancing minimally invasive procedures.