SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME FUSION OF ACOUSTIC IMAGE WITH REFERENCE IMAGE

A system and method for registering two dimensional (2D) acoustic images to a three dimensional (3D) reference image. The method comprises steps to access a 3D reference image of a region of interest (ROI) in a subject, segment the ROI to define a reference 3D coordinate system, acquire 2D acoustic images of the ROI without absolute spatial tracking, generate a standardized predicted pose for the 2D acoustic images with respect to a standardized 3D coordinate system which was defined for a plurality of previously-obtained 3D images of corresponding ROIs other subjects which were obtained using the 3D imaging modality, convert the standardized predicted poses for the 2D acoustic images from the standardized 3D coordinate system to reference predicted poses in the reference 3D coordinate system, and use the reference predicted poses for the 2D acoustic images to register the 2D acoustic images to the 3D reference image.