[A three-dimensional transrectal ultrasound imaging system].

A three-dimensional (3D) transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging system is presented in this paper. The 3D imaging system is used for diagnosing diseases of prostate. The 3D image is reconstructed by a series of two-dimensional image data which is obtained through rectum. It can be a guide to prostate needle biopsies. The system is built by two parts: hardware and software. In the hardware, the mechanical device, stepper motor, control circuit, B Mode TRUS and personal computer (PC) workshop are presented. The software includes the firmware of micro control unit and software of the PC workshop. In order to evaluate the performance of the 3D imaging system, we did experiments with water and agar phantoms, and the results demonstrated the system's ability of 3D imaging with high-precision.