PROCÉDÉ ET APPAREIL DE DÉTERMINATION D'EMPLACEMENT D'INSTRUMENT MÉDICAL PAR RAPPORT À UNE IMAGERIE ULTRASONORE ET INSTRUMENT MÉDICAL POUR FACILITER UNE TELLE DÉTERMINATION
An ultrasound system comprises an ultrasound unit including: an ultrasound probe (20) for acquiring an anatomical image of a human body and for locating a medical instrument (5) with respect to said image, the ultrasound probe (20) including a first set of imaging transducer elements (550) and a second set of localisation transducer elements (551A, 551B), wherein the first set of imaging transducer elements are distinct and disjoint from the second set of localisation transducer elements, wherein: the first set of imaging transducer elements are configured to: produce ultrasound imaging transmissions into the human body, wherein the ultrasound imaging transmissions are focussed into an image scan plane (25), and receive reflections of the ultrasound imaging transmissions for generating a two-dimensional anatomical image corresponding to the image scan plane； and wherein the second set of localisation transducer elements are configured to produce ultrasound localisation transmissions into the human body for locating the medical instrument (5) with respect to the anatomical image, wherein the ultrasound localisation transmissions extend outside the image scan plane, and wherein at least two transducer elements from said second set are spaced from one other in a direction perpendicular to the image scan plane； and a sensor console (65) for receiving the signals from said transducer that correspond to the localisation transmissions； wherein the ultrasound system is configured to process the received signals to determine the location of the medical instrument (5) within the human body relative to the ultrasound probe based on the received signals.Selon la présente invention, un système ultrasonore comprend une unité ultrasonore comprenant : une sonde ultrasonore destinée à acquérir une image anatomique d'un corps humain et destinée à positionner un instrument médical par rapport à ladite image, la sonde ultrasonore comprenant un premier ensemble d'éléments de transducteu
