KR20160117110A - Method and diagnosis apparatus for removing a artifact - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a medical imaging apparatus comprises: an ultrasound transceiving unit to transmit an ultrasound signal to a target body and receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the target body based on a beam focusing parameter of an ultrasound imaging apparatus; an image processing unit to generate a plurality of scanning lines forming a frame based on the received ultrasound echo signal, generate at least one sub-frame by dividing the scanning lines into at least one group based on the beam focusing parameter, perform image-processing for the generated sub-frame, and recombine the scanning lines in the image-processed sub-frame to generate an ultrasound image corresponding to the frame; and a display unit to display the generated ultrasound image.

Description

[0001] METHOD AND DIAGNOSIS APPARATUS FOR REMOVING A ARTIFACT [0002]

The present invention relates to a method for removing artifacts in a medical image and an apparatus therefor.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus irradiates an ultrasound signal generated from a transducer of a probe to a target object, receives information of an echo signal reflected from the target object, and transmits the echo signal to a site (e.g., soft tissue or blood stream) To obtain at least one image. In particular, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is used for medical purposes such as observation of an object, foreign object detection, and injury measurement. Such an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is more stable than a diagnostic apparatus using X-ray, has an advantage that it can display images in real time, and is safe because there is no radiation exposure. Accordingly, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is widely used with other imaging apparatuses including a computed tomography (CT) apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, and the like.

On the other hand, a general ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus generates one scanning line from one ultrasonic transmission / reception signal, and the scanning line characteristics are the same for each scanning line.

However, a recent ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus generates a plurality of scanning lines from a single ultrasonic transmission / reception signal, so that the scanning line characteristics may be different between adjacent scanning lines. As scanning line characteristics differ between adjacent scan lines within a frame, artifacts such as streak artifacts may occur when image processing is applied to the frame.

The present invention provides various embodiments for preventing artifacts from occurring on an ultrasound image, based on beam focusing parameters.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from a target object, Generating a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals and generating at least one subframe by dividing the plurality of scanning lines into at least one group based on the beam focusing parameters, An image processing unit that performs image processing on the generated at least one subframe and generates an ultrasound image corresponding to the frame by recombining the scan lines in the at least one subframe subjected to the image processing and a display unit Medical video station, including department Can be provided.

Further, the beam focusing parameters may include at least one of a beam focusing method, a beam direction, a depth of a focusing point, a frequency, and a transmitting / receiving aperture.

The ultrasound signal includes a first ultrasound signal and a second ultrasound signal having focal points at different positions, and the image processing unit generates a first scan line based on a first ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the first ultrasound signal Generating a second scan line based on a second ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the second ultrasonic signal and interpolating the first scan line and the second scan line to generate at least one additional third scan line, Can be generated.

Further, the image processing section can generate a plurality of scanning lines corresponding to the ultrasonic signals based on the received ultrasonic echo signals.

Also, the image processing unit may acquire the type of the beam focusing method in which a plurality of scanning lines are generated based on the beam focusing parameters, and generate scan lines similar in scanning line characteristics into one group based on the obtained type of the beam focusing method At least one sub-frame can be generated by dividing the plurality of scanning lines into at least one group.

In addition, the image processing unit may generate an ultrasound image by rearranging scan lines in at least one sub-frame subjected to image processing according to the order of the plurality of scan lines before being divided into at least one group.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of controlling an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the method comprising: receiving an ultrasonic echo signal reflected from a target object, the ultrasonic signal being transmitted to the object, based on a beam focusing parameter set in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus; Generating at least one sub-frame by dividing a plurality of scanning lines into at least one group based on a beam focusing parameter, generating at least one sub-frame for the generated at least one sub-frame, Generating a ultrasound image corresponding to a frame by recombining scan lines in at least one sub-frame imaged with the image, and displaying the generated ultrasound image, can do.

Further, the beam focusing parameters may include at least one of a beam focusing method, a beam direction, a depth of a focusing point, a frequency, and a transmitting / receiving aperture.

The step of generating a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals may include the steps of generating a plurality of scanning lines based on the first ultrasonic signal and the second ultrasonic signal, Generating a first scanning line based on a first ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to an ultrasonic signal, generating a second scanning line based on a second ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the second ultrasonic signal, And generating a plurality of scan lines by interpolating the two scan lines to generate at least one additional third scan line.

The step of generating the plurality of scanning lines constituting the frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals may include generating a plurality of scanning lines corresponding to the ultrasonic signals based on the received ultrasonic echo signals .

The step of generating at least one sub-frame by dividing the plurality of scanning lines into at least one group based on the beam focusing parameters may include a step of calculating, based on the beam focusing parameters, the type of the beam focusing method in which a plurality of scanning lines are generated And generating at least one sub-frame by dividing the plurality of scan lines into at least one group so that scan lines similar in scanning line characteristics are generated in one group, based on the kind of the obtained beam focusing method have.

The step of reconstructing the ultrasound image corresponding to the frame by recombining the scan lines in the at least one sub-frame subjected to the image processing may include a step of reconstructing the ultrasound image corresponding to the at least one image processed sub- And rearranging the scan lines within the subframe to produce an ultrasound image.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating an ultrasound image so that the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus does not generate a streak artifact according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating a method of generating an ultrasonic image by generating scan lines that are larger than the number of times of transmission and reception of an ultrasonic signal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining the occurrence of streak artifacts on an ultrasound image when image processing for a scan line is applied when scan line characteristics are different between adjacent scan lines, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining that a streak artifact occurs on an ultrasound image when image processing for a scan line is applied when scan line characteristics are different between adjacent scan lines, according to another embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram for explaining a method of performing image processing such that a streak artifact is not generated by performing image processing on a scanning line based on scanning line characteristics, according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an ultrasonic image in which a streak artifact is not generated even after image processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for comparing an ultrasonic image generated with a streak artifact and an ultrasonic image not generated according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Also, in certain cases, there may be a term selected arbitrarily by the applicant, in which case the meaning thereof will be described in detail in the description of the corresponding invention. Therefore, the term used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the term, not on the name of a simple term, but on the entire contents of the present invention.

When an element is referred to as " including " an element throughout the specification, it is to be understood that the element may include other elements as well, without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In addition, the term " "... Module " or the like means a unit for processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

The term "ultrasound image " in the entire specification refers to an image of an object obtained using ultrasound. In addition, the subject may comprise a person or an animal, or a part of a person or an animal. For example, the subject may comprise at least one of the following: liver, heart, uterus, brain, breast, organs such as the abdomen, and blood vessels. Also, the object may be a phantom, and the phantom may refer to a material that is very close to the density and the effective atomic number of the organism and very close to the volume of the organism. For example, the phantom may be a spherical phantom having characteristics similar to the human body.

Also, throughout the specification, the term "user" may be a medical professional such as a doctor, a nurse, a clinical pathologist, a medical imaging specialist, or the like, but is not limited thereto.

In addition, throughout the specification, the beam pattern means a characteristic in which an ultrasound beam serving as a basis of a scanning line has an influence on a space at a specific position, and generally has a shape similar to a Sinc function. Since the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses perform the same focusing operation when the conditions for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals are the same, the beam pattern may be the same if the beam focusing parameters are the same, and the beam pattern may be different as the beam focusing parameters are different. The beam focusing parameters may include, but are not limited to, a beam focusing method, a beam direction, a depth of a focal point, a frequency, and a transmitting / receiving aperture.

Further, throughout the specification, the scanning line characteristic may mean a method in which a scanning line is generated, and may be referred to as a beam pattern.

For example, the scan line characteristics may be different depending on whether the scan line is generated directly from the ultrasonic echo signal or generated by interpolating the generated scan lines. In addition, although the scanning lines are directly generated from the ultrasonic echo signals, the scanning line characteristics may be different depending on whether one scanning line is generated based on one transmission beam or a plurality of scanning lines are generated. Further, when a plurality of scanning lines are generated based on one transmission beam, the scanning line characteristics between the generated plurality of scanning lines may be different.

Further, even if one scanning line is generated based on one transmission beam, the scanning line characteristics between the scanning lines may be different if the beam focusing parameters are different for each transmission beam.

Further, throughout the specification, a frame may mean a plurality of scanning lines constituting one ultrasonic image.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 may include an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 1100, an image processing unit 1200, and a display unit 1400.

The ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 1100 can transmit an ultrasonic signal to a target object and receive an ultrasonic echo signal reflected from the target object.

And may include a transmitter 1110 and a receiver 1120. In addition, the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 1100 may include a probe.

The transmitting unit 1110 may supply a driving signal to the probe so that the probe can transmit the ultrasonic signal to the object. The receiving unit 1120 can receive the ultrasonic echo signal reflected back from the object from the probe and generate the ultrasonic wave data. In this case, the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 1100 can transmit the ultrasonic signal to the object and receive the ultrasonic echo signal from the object, based on the beam focusing parameters set in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000. [

The image processing unit 1200 may generate an ultrasound image through a scan conversion process on the ultrasound data generated by the ultrasound transmission / reception unit 1100. The image processing unit 1200 may include a data processing unit 1210 and the data processing unit 1210 may include a frame generation unit 1213 and an image generation unit 1217.

The frame generation unit 1213 can generate a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals. For example, the frame generation unit 1213 may generate one scanning line from one transmission / reception ultrasonic data, and may generate a plurality of scanning lines from one transmission / reception ultrasonic data. When a plurality of scanning lines are generated from one transmission / reception ultrasonic data, the scanning line characteristics of a plurality of scanning lines may not be the same.

In the case of constructing a frame by generating one scanning line from one transmission / reception ultrasonic wave data, the scanning line characteristics of the scanning lines may be substantially similar, but a new scanning line may be generated by interpolating the generated scanning lines, or ultrasonic transmission may be performed from one transmission / When a plurality of scanning lines are generated at positions different from the positions of the beams, the scanning line characteristics of the scanning lines may not be the same. In addition, when a newly generated scanning line is generated by interpolating a pre-generated scanning line, the scanning line characteristics may be different according to the interpolation parameter. The difference in scanning line characteristics depending on the positions of the scanning lines in the frame can be expressed as a nonuniform beam pattern of the scanning lines.

When image processing is performed on a frame in which the beam pattern of the scanning line is non-uniform, a streak artifact may occur. In the case of an adaptive filter (e.g., Wiener filter, Kalman filter, Blind Deconvolution, LMS, and RLS algorithm) for extracting filter parameters from an image among the filters for image processing and performing filtering on the ultrasound image, And particularly in the case of an image operation or an image filter that affects the direction perpendicular to the scanning line direction, the probability of streak artifacts occurring may be large.

The frame generation unit 1213 may generate scan lines similar to the scan line characteristics among a plurality of scan lines into one sub-frame in order to uniformize the beam pattern of the scan lines. For example, the frame generator 1213 may generate at least one sub-frame by dividing a plurality of scan lines into at least one group of scan lines having similar scan line characteristics.

In this case, the frame generation unit 1213 can determine the beam pattern of the scanning lines based on the beam focusing method set in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000. [ For example, when the beam focusing method is the RF interpolation method, the frame generating unit 1213 can analyze that the scan line characteristics of the scan line generated by interpolating the previously generated scan line are different. Further, according to the embodiment, it may be analyzed that the scanning line characteristics between the scanning lines generated by interpolation are different.

The image generating unit 1217 may generate an ultrasound image corresponding to the frame by performing image processing on the generated at least one subframe and recombining the scan lines in at least one subframe subjected to the image processing. In this case, since the beam pattern of the scanning lines in the subframe is uniform, that is, the scanning line characteristics of the scanning lines in the subframe are similar, even if the image processing is performed on the subframe, the streak artifacts do not occur, It is possible to generate an ultrasonic image that does not generate a streak artifact.

The display unit 1400 can display the generated ultrasound image.

Accordingly, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate the ultrasonic image in which the streak artifacts are not generated, by reflecting the characteristic that the beam pattern of the scanning line becomes nonuniform by the RF interpolation method or the multi-beam forming method. Further, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can improve the performance of image processing. For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may improve the accuracy of the filter kernel estimation.

In addition to the case where the filter for image processing is a 2D filter as well as the 3D filter, a streak artifact may not occur.

In addition, the technique of the present invention can be applied not only to ultrasound images, but also to medical images such as X-ray images, CT images, and MR images where streak artifacts occur.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating an ultrasound image so that the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 does not generate a streak artifact according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S210, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can transmit an ultrasound signal to a target object and receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the target object, based on the beam focusing parameters set in the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000. [

The beam focusing parameters may include, but are not limited to, a beam focusing scheme, beam steering direction, depth of focus point, frequency and aperture of the ultrasound signal. Also, the beam focusing scheme may include analog beamforming, digital beamforming, page rotation beamforming, multi-beamforming, and RF interpolation schemes.

In step S220, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate a plurality of scanning lines from one transmission / reception ultrasonic wave data.

For example, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate a plurality of scanning lines constituting one frame based on the RF interpolation method. For example, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 generates a first scan line based on a first ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to a first ultrasonic signal, and generates a second scan line based on a second ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the second ultrasonic signal A plurality of scanning lines can be generated by generating two scanning lines, interpolating the first scanning line and the second scanning line, and generating at least one additional third scanning line.

Further, for example, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate a plurality of scanning lines constituting one frame based on the multi-beam forming method. For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can transmit an ultrasound signal to a target object, and generate a plurality of scan lines based on ultrasound echo signals reflected upon transmission of the ultrasound signal.

The RF interpolation method and the multi-beam forming method are beam focusing methods that generate more scanning lines than the number of times of transmission and reception of ultrasonic signals, and can increase the density of scanning lines in an ultrasonic image.

In addition, the scanning lines generated by the RF interpolation method and the multi-beam forming method may have different scanning line characteristics between adjacent scanning lines. In addition, the scanning line characteristics of the scanning lines generated by the RF interpolation method and the multi-beam forming method can be represented by a pattern. For example, the characteristics of the scanning lines of the odd-numbered scanning lines in one frame are the same, the characteristics of the scanning lines of the even-numbered scanning lines are the same, and the scanning lines of the odd-numbered scanning lines and the even- Also, for example, in one frame, the first, fifth, ninth, thirteenth, sixth, seventh, eighth, 4, 8, 12, 16 th scanning lines may have similar scanning line characteristics.

In step S230, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate at least one sub-frame by dividing the plurality of scanning lines into at least one group based on the beam focusing parameters.

For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may acquire the type of the beam focusing method in which a plurality of scanning lines are generated based on the beam focusing parameters, and determine, based on the obtained type of the beam focusing method, At least one subframe can be generated by dividing the plurality of scan lines into at least one group so as to be formed into one group.

For example, when the beam focusing method is the RF interpolation method, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can determine that the scanning line characteristics of the scanning line generated by interpolation with the pre-generated scanning line are different. Accordingly, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate a first sub-frame composed of pre-generated scan lines and a second sub-frame composed of interpolation-generated scan lines.

For example, when the beam focusing method is a 4-multi-beamforming method, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may include 1, 5, 9, 13th scanning lines, 2, 6, 10, 14 (N = 0, 1, 1, 2, ...) and the scan lines of the 4th, 8th, 2) th scan lines, a second sub-frame composed of 2 + 4n th scan lines, a third sub-frame composed of 3 + 4n th scan lines, and a fourth sub- And a fourth sub-frame composed of + 4n th scan lines.

In step S240, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can perform image processing on the generated at least one subframe.

The image processing may include, but is not limited to, for example, sharpening, resolution adjustment filtering, and brightness adjustment filtering. The image processing can be performed on the scanning line data in the subframe.

The scan line data may be IQ data (complex data) having image information and may be pixel data (real data) in an ultrasonic image.

In step S250, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate an ultrasound image corresponding to the frame by recombining the scan lines in at least one sub-frame subjected to image processing.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may generate an ultrasound image by rearranging scan lines in at least one sub-frame subjected to image processing according to the order of a plurality of scan lines before divided into at least one group.

In step S260, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can display the generated ultrasound image.

The generated ultrasound image may not include a streak artifact. On the other hand, a streak artifact may be generated in the ultrasound image directly processed with respect to the original scan lines.

In addition, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may display an indicator indicating that the streak artifacts of the ultrasound image have been removed together with the ultrasound image.

In addition, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may be configured to display an ultrasound image directly processed with respect to original scan lines, receive a user input for selecting a button for removing a streak artifact, The ultrasound image may also be displayed.

3 is a diagram illustrating a method of generating an ultrasonic image by generating scan lines that are larger than the number of times of transmission and reception of an ultrasonic signal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 (a), the RF interpolation scheme may include a method of interpolating the scan lines to generate a new scan line. For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may generate at least one additional third scan line 310 by interpolating the first scan line 300 and the second scan line 320. For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may interpolate a first point 301 of a first scan line 300 and a first point 303 of a second scan line 320 to form at least one additional third scan line The first point 302 of the display 310 may be created. In this case, the first point 301 of the first scan line 300, the first point 303 of the second scan line 320, and the first point 302 of the interpolated third scan line 310 May be the same as the distance from the vertex Apex.

In this case, the first scan line 300 and the second scan line 320 may be scan lines generated based on the ultrasonic echo signals. At least one additional third scan line 310 may be a scan line generated by interpolating pre-generated scan lines rather than a scan line directly generated from an ultrasonic echo signal. Accordingly, the third scan line 310 generated by interpolation may have different scan line characteristics from the first scan line 300 and the second scan line 320, and the scan lines (FIG. 3 (odd-numbered scan lines in FIG. 3 (a)) are the same and the scanning line characteristics between interpolated and generated scan lines (even-numbered scan lines in FIG. 3 (b)) can be the same. Further, according to the embodiment, the scanning line characteristics between the scanning lines generated by interpolation may be different.

Referring to FIG. 3 (b), the multi-beamforming scheme may include a method of generating a plurality of scanning lines based on one transmission beam 340.

For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate scan lines in two multi-beam-forming systems. For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may focus an ultrasound signal generated from the transducer 330 to transmit a beam 340 to a target object, and may detect an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the target object, 350 and 360). In this case, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate the first scanning line 350 on the right side of the ultrasonic transmission beam 340 and the second scanning line 360 on the left side of the ultrasonic transmission beam 340. In this case, the first scan line 350 and the second scan line 360 may have different scan line characteristics, and the characteristics of the scan lines between the odd-numbered scan lines in one frame are the same, and the characteristics of the scan lines between the even- .

Further, for example, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate scan lines in three multi-beamforming methods. For example, the ultrasonic signal generated from the transducer 330 may be focused to transmit one beam 340 to the object, and three scanning lines may be generated based on the ultrasonic echo signals reflected from the object. For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may generate one scan line to the right of the ultrasound transmit beam 340, generate one scan line to the left of the ultrasound transmit beam 340, One scanning line can be generated at the position of " 0 " In this case, the scanning line characteristics of each of the three scanning lines may be different, and the scanning line characteristics between 1 + 3n (n = 0, 1, 2 ..) And the scanning line characteristics between the (3 + 3) th scanning lines can be the same.

Further, for example, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate scan lines by the 4 multi-beamforming method. For example, it is possible to focus the ultrasonic signal generated from the transducer 330 and transmit one beam 340 to the object, and generate four scanning lines based on the ultrasonic echo signals reflected from the object. For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may generate two scan lines on the right side of the ultrasound transmission beam 340 and two scan lines on the left side of the ultrasound transmission beam 340. In this case, the scanning line characteristics of each of the four scanning lines may be different, and the scanning line characteristics between 1 + 4n (n = 0, 1, 2 ..) Scanning line characteristics between the (4 + 4n) th scanning lines are the same, and the scanning line characteristics between the (4 + 4n) th scanning lines are the same.

4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining that a streak artifact occurs on an ultrasound image when image processing for a scanning line is applied when scanning line characteristics are different between adjacent scanning lines according to an embodiment of the present invention .

4A is a diagram showing an original ultrasound image 410 before image processing. The beam focusing method of the original ultrasound image 410 may be a multi-beam forming method or an RF interpolation method. When the beam focusing system is a multi-beam forming system or an RF interpolation system, scanning line characteristics may be different between adjacent scanning lines.

4B is a diagram showing an ultrasound image 420 after image processing. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may perform image processing on the original ultrasound image 410. [ The image processing may include, but is not limited to, for example, sharpening, resolution adjustment filtering, and brightness adjustment filtering.

As the image processing is performed on the original ultrasound image 410 having the scanning line characteristics different from each other between the adjacent scanning lines, the ultrasound image 420 may have a streak artifact 422 as a whole. The streak artifact 422 may be an elongated stripe created in the scan line direction.

When the original ultrasound image 410 before the image processing in FIG. 4A is compared with the ultrasound image 420 after the image processing in FIG. 4B, the ultrasound image 420 after the image processing becomes clearer than the original ultrasound image 410, On the other hand, it can be seen that the streak artifact 422 not included in the original ultrasound image 410 is generated in the ultrasound image 420 after the image processing. It can be seen that there is no streak artifact in the area 412 in the original ultrasound image 410 corresponding to the area where the streak artifact 422 is generated.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining that a streak artifact occurs on an ultrasound image when image processing for a scan line is applied when scan line characteristics are different between adjacent scan lines, according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the differential ultrasound image 510 may be an image representing the difference between the ultrasound image 420 after the image processing and the original ultrasound image 410. The narrow ultrasound image 510 may include narrow stripes 520 in the direction of the scanning line due to the streak artifacts present in the ultrasound image 420 after the image processing.

6 is a diagram for explaining a method of performing image processing so that the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 performs image processing on a scanning line based on the scanning line characteristic so that a streak artifact is not generated.

6, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 generates at least one sub-frame 620 and 630 by dividing a plurality of scan lines in the frame 610 into at least one group based on a beam focusing parameter, The ultrasound image 660 can be generated by processing the image processing for at least one subframe that has been subjected to image processing and recombining the scan lines in at least one subframe 640 and 650 .

The beam focusing parameters may include, but are not limited to, beam focusing method, beam steering direction, depth of focus point, frequency and aperture of the ultrasound signal. Also, the beam focusing scheme may include analog beamforming, digital beamforming, page rotation beamforming, multi-beamforming, and RF interpolation schemes.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate a plurality of scanning lines constituting one frame 610 based on the beam focusing method. When the beam focusing method is a multi-beam forming or an RF interpolation method, a plurality of scanning lines may have different scanning line characteristics between adjacent scanning lines. For example, in the case of the RF interpolation method in which the beam focusing method is additionally generated by interpolating one scanning line, the first scanning line 612 and the third scanning line 616 are directly decoded from the ultrasonic echo signal, And the second scan line 614 may be a scan line generated by interpolating the first scan line 612 and the third scan line 616. Accordingly, the characteristics of the scanning lines of the first scanning line 612 and the third scanning line 616 are similar, and the characteristics of the scanning lines of the second scanning line 614 and the fourth scanning line 618 may be similar.

The first scanning line 612 and the second scanning line 614 are connected to the first scanning line 612 and the second scanning line 614 by one ultrasonic transmission method in which the focussing point is located between the first scanning line 612 and the second scanning line 614, And may be two scanning lines generated based on the ultrasonic echo signals received from the object after the beam is transmitted to the object. Accordingly, the characteristics of the scanning lines of the first scanning line 612 and the third scanning line 616 are similar, and the characteristics of the scanning lines of the second scanning line 614 and the fourth scanning line 618 may be similar.

In this case, the scanning line characteristics of the first scanning line and the scanning line of the fifth scanning line are similar, and the second scanning line is similar to the second scanning line. The scanning line characteristics of the scanning line and the sixth scanning line may be similar.

Accordingly, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can group scan lines similar in scanning line characteristics into one group based on the beam focusing parameters set in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000.

For example, in the case of the RF interpolation method or the two multi-beamforming method in which the beam focusing method is additionally generated by interpolating one scanning line, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000, based on the order of the scanning lines, The first scanning line 612 and the third scanning line 616 may be divided into a first group and the second scanning line 614 and the fourth scanning line 618 may be divided into a second group.

As the plurality of scanning lines in the frame are divided into the first group and the second group, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 generates the first sub-frame 620 based on the first group of scanning lines, The second sub-frame 630 can be generated.

After the first sub-frame 620 and the second sub-frame 630 are generated by grouping a plurality of scan lines in the frame 610, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 performs image processing on the frame 610 The image processing can be performed on the first sub-frame 620 and the second sub-frame 630, respectively. The image processing may include any filtering applied to the image to improve the quality of the image and may include, but is not limited to, sharpening filtering, resolution adjustment filtering and brightness adjustment filtering.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may recombine scan lines in the first and second sub-frames 640 and 650 to generate an ultrasound image 660 corresponding to the frame 610.

For example, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may be configured to scan the scan lines in at least one sub-frame 640 and 650 that have undergone image processing, in accordance with the order of the plurality of scan lines in the frame 610 before being divided into at least one group The ultrasound image 660 corresponding to the frame 610 can be generated.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an ultrasonic image in which a streak artifact is not generated even after image processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 is configured to group a plurality of scanning lines in the original ultrasound image 410 of FIG. 4A based on the beam focusing method set in the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000, A subframe is generated, and an image processing is performed on the generated subframe, thereby generating an ultrasonic image 710 in which a streak artifact is not generated.

The ultrasonic image 710 shown in Fig. 7 becomes sharp and has a high resolution as the ultrasonic image 420 after the image processing of Fig. 4 (b), whereas the ultrasonic image 420 shown in Fig. In the region 712 in the ultrasonic image 710 of Fig. 7 corresponding to the region where the occurrence of the streak artifact has occurred.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for comparing an ultrasonic image generated with a streak artifact and an ultrasonic image not generated according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 can generate a plurality of scan lines based on a multi-beam forming method or an RF interpolation method, and generate an original ultrasound image 810 based on the generated scan lines.

The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may perform image processing on the original ultrasound image 810. [ In the case of the scanning lines generated according to the multi-beam forming method or the RF interpolation method, the scanning line characteristics may be different between adjacent scanning lines. Accordingly, a streak artifact can be generated in the ultrasonic image 820 after the image processing is performed. For example, the right lower region 812 of the original ultrasound image does not have a streak artifact, but it can be seen that the right lower region 822 of the ultrasound image 820 after the image processing has been performed has generated a streak artifact .

When the beam focusing method is set to the multi beamforming method or the RF interpolation method, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 groups the plurality of scanning lines in the original ultrasound image 810 into at least one subframe based on the set beam focusing method And processing the image processing for at least one subframe to generate an ultrasonic image 830 that does not include a streak artifact.

It can be seen that the streak artifact is not included in the lower right area 832 of the image 830 in which the image processing is performed on the subframe.

9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment includes a probe 20, an ultrasonic transmission and reception unit 1100, an image processing unit 1200, a communication unit 1300, a display 1400, a memory 1500, an input device 1600, And a control unit 1700, and the various configurations described above may be connected to each other via a bus 1800. [

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 can be implemented not only as a cart type but also as a portable type. Examples of the portable ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 include, but are not limited to, a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System Viewer), a smartphone, a laptop computer, a PDA, and a tablet PC.

The probe 20 transmits an ultrasonic signal to the object 10 in response to a driving signal applied from the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving unit 1100 and receives an echo signal reflected from the object 10. The probe 20 includes a plurality of transducers, and the plurality of transducers generate ultrasonic waves that are vibrated according to an electrical signal to be transmitted and are acoustical energy. The probe 20 may be connected to the main body of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 in a wired or wireless manner. The ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may include a plurality of probes 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The transmission unit 1110 supplies a driving signal to the probe 20 and includes a pulse generation unit 1112, a transmission delay unit 1114, and a pulsar 1116. The pulse generator 1112 generates a pulse for forming a transmission ultrasonic wave according to a predetermined pulse repetition frequency (PRF), and the transmission delay unit 1114 determines a transmission directionality And applies the delay time to the pulse. Each of the pulses to which the delay time is applied corresponds to a plurality of piezoelectric vibrators included in the probe 20, respectively. The pulser 1116 applies a driving signal (or a driving pulse) to the probe 20 at a timing corresponding to each pulse to which the delay time is applied.

The receiving unit 1120 processes the echo signal received from the probe 20 to generate ultrasonic data and includes an amplifier 1122, an ADC (Analog Digital Converter) 1124, a receiving delay unit 1126, And a summing unit 1128. [ The amplifier 1122 amplifies the echo signal for each channel, and the ADC 1124 converts the amplified echo signal analog-to-digital. The reception delay unit 1126 applies the delay time for determining the reception directionality to the digitally converted echo signal and the summation unit 1128 sums the echo signals processed by the reception delay unit 1166 And generates ultrasonic data. Meanwhile, the receiving unit 1120 may not include the amplifier 1122 according to the embodiment. That is, when the sensitivity of the probe 20 is improved or the processing bit number of the ADC 1124 is improved, the amplifier 1122 may be omitted.

The image processing unit 1200 generates an ultrasound image through a scan conversion process on the ultrasound data generated by the ultrasound transmitting / receiving unit 1100. On the other hand, the ultrasound image has a Doppler effect as well as an image of a gray scale obtained by scanning an object in an A mode (amplitude mode), a B mode (brightness mode) and an M mode And may be a Doppler image expressing a moving object by using it. The Doppler image may be a blood flow Doppler image (also referred to as a color Doppler image) representing blood flow, a tissue Doppler image representing tissue movement, or a spectral Doppler image representing a moving velocity of a subject by a waveform.

The B mode processing unit 1212 included in the data processing unit 1210 extracts and processes the B mode component from the ultrasonic data. The image generating unit 1220 can generate an ultrasound image in which the intensity of the signal is expressed by the brightness based on the B mode component extracted by the B mode processing unit 1212. [

Similarly, the Doppler processing unit 1214 included in the data processing unit 1210 extracts a Doppler component from the ultrasound data, and the image generating unit 1220 expresses the motion of the target object in color or waveform based on the extracted Doppler component Doppler images can be generated.

The image generating unit 1220 may generate a 3-dimensional ultrasound image through a volume rendering process on volume data, and may generate an elastic image that imaged the degree of deformation of the object 10 according to the pressure It is possible. Further, the image generating unit 1220 may display various kinds of additional information on the ultrasound image in text and graphics. Meanwhile, the generated ultrasound image may be stored in the memory 1500.

The display unit 1400 displays and outputs the generated ultrasound image. The display unit 1400 may display various information processed by the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 on the screen through a GUI (Graphical User Interface) as well as the ultrasound image. Meanwhile, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may include two or more display units 1400 according to an embodiment.

The communication unit 1300 is connected to the network 30 by wire or wireless, and communicates with an external device or a server. The communication unit 1300 can exchange data with other medical devices in a hospital server or a hospital connected through a medical image information system (PACS). In addition, the communication unit 1300 can communicate data according to the DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) standard.

The communication unit 1300 can transmit and receive data related to diagnosis of a target object such as an ultrasound image, ultrasound data, and Doppler data of the target body 10 via the network 30, Medical images taken by the device can also be transmitted and received. Further, the communication unit 1300 may receive information on the diagnosis history of the patient, the treatment schedule, and the like from the server and may use the diagnosis information for diagnosis of the target body 10. Further, the communication unit 1300 may perform data communication with not only a server or a medical device in a hospital, but also a doctor or a portable terminal of a patient.

The communication unit 1300 may be connected to the network 30 by wire or wireless and may exchange data with the server 32, the medical device 34, or the portable terminal 36. The communication unit 1300 may include one or more components that enable communication with an external device and may include, for example, a local communication module 1310, a wired communication module 1320, and a mobile communication module 1330 .

The short-range communication module 1310 refers to a module for short-range communication within a predetermined distance. The local area communication technology according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a wireless LAN, a Wi-Fi, a Bluetooth, a ZigBee, a WFD, an ultra wideband (UWB) IrDA, Infrared Data Association), BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), NFC (Near Field Communication), and the like.

The wired communication module 1320 refers to a module for communication using an electrical signal or an optical signal. In the wired communication technology according to an embodiment, a twisted pair cable, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, an ethernet, Cable and so on.

The mobile communication module 1330 transmits and receives radio signals to at least one of a base station, an external terminal, and a server on a mobile communication network. Here, the wireless signal may be various types of data according to a voice call signal, a video call signal, or a text / multimedia message transmission / reception.

The memory 1500 stores various pieces of information to be processed in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000. For example, the memory 1500 may store medical data related to diagnosis of a target object such as input / output ultrasound data and ultrasound images, and may store an algorithm or a program executed in the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000.

The memory 1500 may be implemented by various types of storage media such as a flash memory, a hard disk, and an EEPROM. In addition, the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus 1000 may operate a web storage or a cloud server that performs a storage function of the memory 1500 on the web.

The input device 1600 means a means for receiving data for controlling the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 from a user. Examples of the input device 1600 may include a hardware configuration such as a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a trackball, a jog switch, etc., but the present invention is not limited thereto. And may further include various input means such as a recognition sensor, a fingerprint recognition sensor, an iris recognition sensor, a depth sensor, and a distance sensor.

The controller 1700 controls the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1000 as a whole. That is, the control unit 1700 includes the probe 20, the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 1100, the image processing unit 1200, the communication unit 1300, the display unit 1400, the memory 1500, and the input device 1600) can be controlled.

Some or all of the probe 20, the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 1100, the image processing unit 1200, the communication unit 1300, the display unit 1400, the memory 1500, the input device 1600, But is not limited thereto, and some of the above-described configurations may be operated by hardware. At least some of the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 1100, the image processing unit 1200, and the communication unit 1300 may be included in the control unit 1600, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, the disclosed methods should be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. It is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (14)

An ultrasound transceiver for transmitting an ultrasound signal to a target object and receiving an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the target object based on a beam focusing parameter set in the ultrasound imaging device; And
Generating a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals and generating at least one subframe by dividing the plurality of scanning lines into at least one group based on the beam focusing parameters, An image processing unit for performing image processing on the generated at least one subframe and generating an ultrasound image corresponding to the frame by recombining scan lines in the at least one subframe subjected to image processing; The medical imaging device. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the medical imaging device comprises:
And a display unit for displaying the generated ultrasound image. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the beam focusing parameters comprise at least one of a beam focusing mode, a beam direction, a depth of focus point, a frequency, and a transmitting and receiving aperture. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ultrasonic signal includes a first ultrasonic signal and a second ultrasonic signal having focal points at different positions,
Wherein the image processing unit comprises:
Generates a first scanning line based on a first ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the first ultrasonic signal and generates a second scanning line based on a second ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the second ultrasonic signal, And interpolating the second scan line to generate at least one additional third scan line to generate the plurality of scan lines. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the image processing unit comprises:
And generates a plurality of scanning lines corresponding to the ultrasonic signals based on the received ultrasonic echo signals. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the image processing unit comprises:
A plurality of scanning lines are generated based on the beam focusing parameters to obtain a type of the beam focusing method in which the plurality of scanning lines are generated, And dividing the scan lines into at least one group to generate at least one sub-frame. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the image processing unit comprises:
And rearranges scan lines in at least one of the image processed subframes according to the order of the plurality of scan lines before being divided into the at least one group to generate the ultrasound image. Transmitting an ultrasound signal to a target object and receiving an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the target object based on a beam focusing parameter set in the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus;
Generating a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals;
Generating at least one subframe by dividing the plurality of scan lines into at least one group based on the beam focusing parameters;
Performing image processing on the generated at least one subframe; And
Generating an ultrasound image corresponding to the frame by recombining scan lines in at least one sub-frame subjected to the image processing;
And displaying the medical image. 9. The method of claim 8,
The medical image display method includes:
And displaying the generated ultrasound image. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the beam focusing parameters comprise at least one of a beam focusing method, a beam direction, a depth of a focusing point, a frequency, and a transmitting and receiving aperture. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the ultrasonic signal includes a first ultrasonic signal and a second ultrasonic signal having focal points at different positions,
Generating a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals,
Generating a first scan line based on a first ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the first ultrasonic signal;
Generating a second scan line based on a second ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the second ultrasonic signal; And
Interpolating the first scan line and the second scan line to generate at least one additional third scan line to generate the plurality of scan lines. 9. The method of claim 8,
Generating a plurality of scanning lines constituting a frame based on the received ultrasonic echo signals,
Generating a plurality of scanning lines corresponding to the ultrasonic signal based on the received ultrasonic echo signals. 10. The method of claim 9,
Generating at least one sub-frame by dividing the plurality of scan lines into at least one group based on the beam focusing parameters,
A plurality of scanning lines are generated based on the beam focusing parameters to obtain a type of the beam focusing method in which the plurality of scanning lines are generated, Generating at least one sub-frame by dividing the scan lines into at least one group. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the generating of the ultrasound image corresponding to the frame by recombining the scan lines in the at least one sub-
Generating the ultrasound image by rearranging the scan lines in the image processed at least one subframe according to the order of the plurality of scan lines before being divided into the at least one group.

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