[The advantages of spatial, three-dimensional ultrasound imaging in clinical application]

Following the first three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging of organs using 3D ringstructures, which we developed in 1986, the method had to be improved and refined because of sources of error resulting from the ring structure. The newly developed 3D method enades its application in clinical routine. By rotating the sectional plane around a horizontal axis using an especially constructed 3D probe, in 5 s 60 ultrasound sections of the examined tissue are registered. These 60 sections are calculated transparently and than compiled into a transparent spatially reconstructed image. In spite of the enormous information, the 3D picture is projected on the screen after a very short time. There is no loss in information. The spatially reconstructed body can be cut along any imaginable plane so that planes can be demonstrated which normally are inaccessible to conventional sonography. This new method presents possibilities which were formerly confined to CT and MRI. We tested this method mainly in prenatal and tumor diagnoses. It has been shown that the dignity of tumors can be differentiated in many cases already by means of the 3D-image. An indistinct image is characteristic for a malign tumor, and a sharply defined image represents a benign lesion. The diagnosis of fetal malformations can profit from this new method. Exact localizations and volume determinations are now sonographically possible. New diagnostic possibilities by means of ultrasound are forthcoming. But this needs further technical investigations. Both the presentation with a closed surface and the transparent presentation will have indications in the future. Our goal is a free applicability of the probe.