An ultrasound system has been extensively used for acquiring internal information of a target object due to its non-invasive and non-destructive nature. Since the ultrasound system may provide a high resolution image without any surgical treatment, it has proven to be very helpful in the medical profession.
Generally, the ultrasound system may provide 3-dimensional ultrasound images including clinical information such as spatial information and anatomical information, which 2-dimensional ultrasound images do not include. The ultrasound system may operate to transmit an ultrasound signal to a target object, receive the ultrasound signal reflected from the target object (i.e., ultrasound echo signal) and acquire ultrasound data. The ultrasound system may form volume data by using the acquired ultrasound data and provide a 3-dimensional image through rendering of the formed volume data.
Also, the ultrasound system may perform segmentation on the 3-dimensional ultrasound image and extract an object of interest from the 3-dimensional ultrasound image. However, if a structure of vessel is complicated after performing segmentation, then it is difficult to recognize a specific vessel among many vessels as well as to locate vessel connection points (or junctions).