CN106993109B - Method for improving quality of ultrasonic image - Google Patents
Method for improving quality of ultrasonic image Download PDFInfo
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- CN106993109B CN106993109B CN201710211114.4A CN201710211114A CN106993109B CN 106993109 B CN106993109 B CN 106993109B CN 201710211114 A CN201710211114 A CN 201710211114A CN 106993109 B CN106993109 B CN 106993109B
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Abstract
The invention provides a method for improving the quality of an ultrasonic image, which comprises the following steps: obtaining an ultrasonic sampling signal, and corresponding the ultrasonic sampling signal to a plurality of signal sampling blocks, wherein the plurality of signal sampling blocks comprise a plurality of strong signal sampling blocks and a plurality of weak signal sampling blocks; determining the edge length of each straight line of a strong signal sampling area formed by a plurality of strong signal sampling blocks in the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image; dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges; determining a first midpoint of a first edge and a second midpoint of a second edge of each L-shaped edge according to the length of each edge; determining a triangular area corresponding to each L-shaped edge according to the turning point, the first midpoint and the second midpoint of each L-shaped edge; determining the triangular region as a strong signal triangular region or a weak signal triangular region; the corrected strong signal sampling area is generated according to the strong signal sampling area, each strong signal triangular area and each weak signal triangular area.
Description
Technical Field
The present invention discloses a method for improving quality of ultrasonic image, and more particularly, to a method for improving quality of ultrasonic image by smoothing jagged edges using triangular regions.
Background
With the development of medical technology, the detection technology of ultrasonic waves is becoming more mature. Generally, the ultrasound detection method uses a probe that emits ultrasound signals to emit ultrasound signals to the skin below. In addition, the probe of ultrasonic signal can also use the reflected ultrasonic signal to judge the shape and position of the object invisible to naked eyes under the skin for various medical purposes.
The conventional ultrasonic probe emits ultrasonic signals by using a plurality of piezoelectric devices to emit a plurality of ultrasonic signals, each ultrasonic signal corresponding to one scanning line. And, the ultrasonic probe receives the ultrasonic reflection signal corresponding to the scanning line for image recognition and object detection. The ultrasonic reflection signal of each scanning line has at least one sampling point. However, the transverse (longitudinal) scan line density of a typical ultrasonic probe is much less than the axial (axial) sample point density. This results in the ultrasonic image having an edge of the object image with a distinct jaggy.
The conventional solution to this ultrasonic image with jagged edges is to use additional hardware to perform image post-processing, such as using a complex signal detector to process the image. Therefore, the detection of ultrasonic waves requires additional hardware cost and additional hardware space to generate a better quality ultrasonic image.
Disclosure of Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for improving the quality of an ultrasonic image to solve the above-mentioned problems.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for improving quality of an ultrasonic image, comprising:
obtaining an ultrasonic sampling signal, wherein the ultrasonic sampling signal corresponds to an ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, and the ultrasonic sampling signal corresponds to a plurality of signal sampling blocks, and the signal sampling blocks comprise a plurality of strong signal sampling blocks with signal intensity larger than a threshold value and a plurality of weak signal sampling blocks with signal intensity smaller than or equal to the threshold value;
determining the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling area formed by the strong signal sampling blocks in the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image;
dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges, wherein each L-shaped edge corresponds to a turning point of the edge of the strong signal sampling area, a first edge of each L-shaped edge comprises at least one edge of a strong signal sampling block, a second edge of each L-shaped edge comprises at least one edge of a strong signal sampling block, and the first edge is vertical to the second edge;
determining a first midpoint of the first edge of each L-shaped edge and a second midpoint of the second edge of each L-shaped edge according to the length of each edge;
determining a triangular area corresponding to each L-shaped edge according to the turning point of each L-shaped edge, the first midpoint of the first edge of each L-shaped edge and the second midpoint of the second edge, wherein the triangular area is formed by the first midpoint, the second midpoint and the turning point;
determining the triangular region as a strong signal triangular region or a weak signal triangular region; and
generating a corrected strong signal sampling region according to the strong signal sampling region, each strong signal triangular region and each weak signal triangular region.
Preferably, the step of determining the triangular region as the strong signal triangular region or the weak signal triangular region comprises:
if the triangular area corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block, setting the triangular area as the strong signal triangular area; and
if the triangular region corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block, the triangular region is set as the weak signal triangular region.
Preferably, the step of generating the corrected strong signal sampling region according to the strong signal sampling region, each strong signal triangular region and each weak signal triangular region comprises:
and bringing each strong signal triangular region into the strong signal sampling region, and not bringing each weak signal triangular region into the strong signal sampling region, so as to generate the corrected strong signal sampling region.
Preferably, the method further comprises: the ultrasonic sampling signal is converted into an ultrasonic image presented in a grid pixel mode, the display attribute of the pixel of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the corrected strong signal sampling area is set to be displayed during conversion, and the display attribute of the pixel of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the area except the corrected strong signal sampling area is set to be not displayed.
Preferably, the method further comprises: and performing Gaussian filtering on the converted ultrasonic image.
Preferably, when the two L-shaped edges correspond to the same turning point, the region sandwiched by the first edge and the second edge of the two L-shaped edges respectively corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block, and the two L-shaped edges are not adjacent to each other.
Preferably, when the two L-shaped edges correspond to the same turning point, the area between the first edge and the second edge of the two L-shaped edges corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block, and the two L-shaped edges are not adjacent to each other.
Preferably, before the step of determining the edge length of each of the strong signal sampling areas formed by the plurality of strong signal sampling blocks in the ultrasonic image, the method further comprises: the strong signal sampling block corresponding to the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image is copied and extended to update the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image.
Preferably, the method further comprises: when the strong signal sampling block of the strong signal sampling area is located at the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, the edge length of the straight line corresponding to the strong signal sampling block is increased.
Preferably, the method further comprises: interpolating the plurality of signal sampling blocks in at least one of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image to expand the sampling data amount of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image in at least one of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.
Compared with the prior art, the quality improvement method of the ultrasonic image provided by the invention can smooth the jagged edge of the object in the ultrasonic image without adding additional hardware equipment, thereby improving the image quality.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound scan line sampled image of the ultrasound imaging system of FIG. 1.
Fig. 3A is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound scan line sampling image of the ultrasound imaging system of fig. 1, performing a first mode of image extension method.
FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound scan line sampling image of the ultrasound imaging system of FIG. 1, performing a second mode of image extension.
FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1, performing a third mode of image extension.
FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a first aspect of the ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1, dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges.
FIG. 4B is a diagram of a second aspect of the ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1, dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges.
FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of the ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1, dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges.
FIG. 4D is a diagram of a fourth embodiment of the ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1, dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a triangular region determined by midpoints between two sides of each L-shaped edge and a turning point thereof in an ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1, a strong signal sampling region after being processed according to the embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of Scan conversion (Scan conversion) of an ultrasonic sampling signal of the ultrasonic imaging system of FIG. 1.
FIG. 8 is an ultrasound image without the image processing of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is an ultrasonic image after image processing according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for improving the quality of an ultrasonic image according to the present invention.
Detailed Description
In order to further understand the objects, structures, features and functions of the present invention, the following embodiments are described in detail.
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic imaging system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasonic imaging system 100 includes a processing apparatus 10 and an ultrasonic probe 11. The processing device 10 may be any type of processing device, such as an ultrasonic inspection machine, a computer, an ultrasonic workstation, etc. The type of the ultrasonic probe 11 is not limited to a Curved Line Array (CLA) probe, and may be a Linear Array (LA) probe or a Phased Array (PA) probe …. The ultrasonic probe 11 can be connected to the processing device 10 by wire or wirelessly. The processing device 10 is used for processing the signals received by the ultrasonic probe 11 and outputting ultrasonic images. The ultrasonic probe 11 is used to probe an object below the surface 12. For example, the surface 12 may be a skin surface, and the ultrasound probe 11 may be used to detect the location and morphology of bones, blood vessels, or any biological tissue or organ beneath the skin surface. The ultrasonic probe 11 has the capability of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals. In the present embodiment, the ultrasonic probe 11 may sequentially emit an ultrasonic signal corresponding to the scanning line S1, an ultrasonic signal corresponding to the scanning line S2, an ultrasonic signal corresponding to the scanning line S3, and … to an ultrasonic signal corresponding to the scanning line SN. Where N may be a positive integer. Each scanning line has a plurality of ultrasonic signal sampling points. For example, there are M ultrasonic signal sampling points corresponding to the scanning line S1, M ultrasonic signal sampling points corresponding to the scanning line S2, and so on, and M ultrasonic signal sampling points corresponding to the scanning line SN. Where M may be a positive integer. Therefore, for the ultrasound imaging system 100, the ultrasound probe 11 can provide (M × N) sampling points in total. However, in the ultrasound image having (M × N) sampling points, when M is much larger than N, or when the size of the ultrasound image needs to be increased (scale up), the object image in the ultrasound image may have jagged edges due to insufficient resolution. Therefore, in order to improve the ultrasonic image with jagged edges, the present invention discloses an image processing mechanism that can smooth the jagged edges without adding additional hardware, and the method thereof is described below.
Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of an ultrasound scan line sampled image of the ultrasound imaging system 100. As described above, the ultrasonic probe 11 can provide (M × N) sampling points in total. Therefore, for simplicity of description, these sampling points are described in a trellis (Grid) format. In fig. 2, the number of scanning lines is 8(N is 8), which are indicated by scanning lines S1 to S8. Since each scan line has 8 sampling points, the number of the sampling lines is 8(M is 8) in consideration of the sampling image of the grid scan line, which is indicated by the sampling lines SP1 to SP 8. However, it should be understood that the present invention is described by way of example, the ultrasonic scan line sampling image of the present invention is not limited to the use of 8 scan lines, and the characteristics of 8 sampling points on each scan line, and any dimension of the ultrasonic scan line sampling image is within the scope of the present invention. The ultrasonic imaging system 100 will determine whether each sampling point belongs to a strong signal sampling point or a weak signal sampling point according to the signal intensity of each sampling point. In one embodiment, the ultrasonic imaging system 100 determines that the sampling point is a strong signal sampling point according to a threshold value when the signal intensity of the sampling point is greater than the threshold value, and marks the strong signal sampling point with a grid-shaped strong signal sampling block (in this embodiment, a sampling block in a non-transparent region) in the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. When the signal intensity of the sampling point is less than or equal to the threshold value, the sampling point is determined to be a weak signal sampling point and marked with a grid-shaped weak signal sampling block (in the embodiment, a sampling block of a transparent area) in the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. Thus, in the embodiment of fig. 2, sampling block a11, sampling block a22, sampling block a27, sampling block a36, sampling block a44, sampling block a45, sampling block a51, sampling block a52, sampling block a53, sampling block a54, sampling block a55, sampling block a61, sampling block a62, sampling block a63, sampling block a64, sampling block a65, sampling block a66, sampling block a71, sampling block a72, sampling block a76, and sampling block a84 are strong signal sampling blocks. And the transparent sampling blocks of the sampling block a12, the sampling block a13, the sampling block a14, etc. represent weak signal sampling blocks. However, the strong signal sampling block and the weak signal sampling block are separated by different colors for convenience of description in the embodiment, and in practical applications, the processing device 10 may use any electromagnetic features to separate the strong signal sampling block and the weak signal sampling block. The plurality of strong signal sampling blocks form a strong signal sampling region HB.
Then, the processing device 10 will copy and extend the strong signal sampling region HB at the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image to update the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. The manner in which it is replicated and extended may be extended by any algorithm. For convenience of description, three modes for extending the strong signal sampling region HB will be described below.
FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of the image extension method in the first mode performed by the strong signal sampling region HB. In fig. 3A, the area enclosed by the bold lines is the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image area, and the area enclosed between the bold lines and the virtual lines is the extended image area. Here, the row sample block and the column sample block at the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sample image are extended simultaneously. For example, the row sampling blocks corresponding to the sampling line SP1 at the left boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, including the sampling block a11, the sampling block a51, the sampling block a61, and the sampling block a71 corresponding to the strong signal sampling block and the rest of the weak signal sampling blocks, are copied and extended to generate the dimension of the left boundary plus one ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. Thus, the strong signal extended sample block a11R is generated by duplicating the sample block a11, the strong signal extended sample block a51R is generated by duplicating the sample block a51, the strong signal extended sample block a61R is generated by duplicating the sample block a61, and the strong signal extended sample block a71R is generated by duplicating the sample block a 71. Similarly, the column sampling block corresponding to the scan line S1 at the upper boundary of the ultrasonic scan line sample image, including the sampling block a11 corresponding to the strong signal sampling block and the remaining weak signal sampling blocks (a12, a13, a14, etc.), is copied and extended to generate the dimension of the upper boundary plus one ultrasonic scan line sample image. Therefore, the strong signal extended sample block A11C is generated by equivalently copying the sample block A11. Similarly, the row sample block corresponding to the sample line SP8 at the right boundary of the ultrasound scan line sample image, including all weak signal sample blocks, is replicated and extended, resulting in an ultrasound scan line sample image with the dimension of the right boundary plus one. Similarly, the column sample block corresponding to the scan line S8 at the lower boundary of the ultrasonic scan line sample image, including the sample block a84 corresponding to the strong signal sample block and the remaining weak signal sample blocks, are duplicated and extended to generate the dimension of the lower boundary plus one ultrasonic scan line sample image. Thus, the strong signal extended sample block a84C is generated equivalently by copying sample block a 84. Then, the processing device 10 determines the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling region HB formed by the strong signal sampling blocks in the extended ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. The "edge length of straight line" defined in this embodiment is the edge length of the sampling blocks arranged continuously in the same direction of the boundary in the strong signal sampling region. For example, the edge length of the upper side formed by the sampling block a51R, the sampling block a51, the sampling block a52 and the sampling block a53 is 4. The edge length on the left side of sample block a44 is 1. The edge length of the upper side of the sampling block a44 and the sampling block a45 is 2, and so on, the processing device 10 generates the edge lengths of all the straight lines in the strong signal sampling region HB, as shown in fig. 3A.
FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating the image stretching method in the second mode performed by the strong signal sampling region HB. In fig. 3B, the area enclosed by the bold lines is the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image area, and the area enclosed between the bold lines and the virtual lines is the extended image area. Here, the row sample block and the column sample block at the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sample image are sequentially extended. For example, the row sampling block of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image boundary is extended first, and then the column sampling block of the extended ultrasonic scanning line sampling image boundary is extended. Or the column sampling block of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image boundary is extended first, and then the row sampling block of the extended ultrasonic scanning line sampling image boundary is extended. For example, the row sampling blocks corresponding to the sampling line SP1 at the left boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, including the sampling block a11, the sampling block a51, the sampling block a61, and the sampling block a71 corresponding to the strong signal sampling block and the rest of the weak signal sampling blocks, are copied and extended to generate the dimension of the left boundary plus one ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. Thus, the strong signal extended sample block a11R is generated by duplicating the sample block a11, the strong signal extended sample block a51R is generated by duplicating the sample block a51, the strong signal extended sample block a61R is generated by duplicating the sample block a61, and the strong signal extended sample block a71R is generated by duplicating the sample block a 71. The row sample block corresponding to the sample line SP8 at the right boundary of the ultrasonic scan line sample image, including all weak signal sample blocks, is replicated and extended, resulting in a dimension of the right boundary plus one ultrasonic scan line sample image. When the line extension of the left and right boundaries is completed, the dimension of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image becomes (8 × 10). Then, the column sampling blocks corresponding to the scan line S1 at the upper boundary, including the sampling blocks a11R and a11 corresponding to the strong signal sampling blocks and the remaining weak signal sampling blocks, are duplicated and extended (the row dimension at the upper boundary of the ultrasonic scan line sampling image plus one). Therefore, the strong signal extended sample block ARC is generated by duplicating the strong signal extended sample block a 11R. The strong signal extended sample block a11C is generated by equivalently copying sample block a 11. The column sample blocks corresponding to the scan line S8 at the lower boundary, including the sample block a84 corresponding to the strong signal sample block and the remaining weak signal sample blocks, are copied and extended to generate a dimension plus one ultrasound scan line sample image at the lower boundary. Thus, the strong signal extended sample block a84C is generated equivalently by copying sample block a 84. Then, the processing device 10 determines the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling region HB formed by the strong signal sampling blocks in the extended ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. The definition of the "edge length of straight line" and the calculation example are described above, and will not be described herein. The edge length of each line of the strong signal sampling region HB is shown in FIG. 3B.
FIG. 3C is a diagram illustrating the image stretching method in the third mode performed by the strong signal sampling region HB. In fig. 3C, the area enclosed by the bold lines is the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image area, and the area enclosed between the bold lines and the virtual lines is the extended image area. Here, the corresponding strong signal sample block at the boundary of the ultrasound scan line sample image is duplicated and extended. For example, in the row sample block corresponding to the sampling line SP1 at the left boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sample image, the sample block a11, the sample block a51, the sample block a61, and the sample block a71 corresponding to the strong signal sample block are duplicated to extend. Thus, the strong signal extended sample block a11R is generated by duplicating the sample block a11, the strong signal extended sample block a51R is generated by duplicating the sample block a51, the strong signal extended sample block a61R is generated by duplicating the sample block a61, and the strong signal extended sample block a71R is generated by duplicating the sample block a 71. Similarly, of the column sampling blocks corresponding to the scan line S1 at the upper boundary of the ultrasonic scan line sampling image, the sampling block a11 corresponding to the strong signal sampling block is duplicated to extend. Therefore, the strong signal extended sample block A11C is generated by equivalently copying the sample block A11. Although the upper side of the strong signal extended sample block a11R and the left side of the strong signal extended sample block a11C form an L-shaped edge, the L-shaped edge is entirely located in the extended region, so the length of the edge and the corresponding triangular region are not required to be determined. The row sample block corresponding to the sample line SP8 at the right boundary of the ultrasonic scan line sample image is not extended because there is no strong signal sample block. Among the column sampling blocks corresponding to the scanning line S8 at the lower boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, the sampling block a84 corresponding to the strong signal sampling block is duplicated to extend. Thus, the strong signal extended sample block a84C is generated equivalently by copying sample block a 84. Then, the processing device 10 determines the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling region HB formed by the strong signal sampling blocks in the extended ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. The definition of the "edge length of straight line" and the calculation example are described above, and will not be described herein. The edge length of each line of the strong signal sampling region HB is shown in FIG. 3C.
The above-mentioned image extension method corresponding to fig. 3A to 3C is to extend the strong signal sampling region corresponding to the image boundary of the original ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, so that when calculating the edge length of the strong signal sampling region, the edge length of the corresponding ultrasonic scanning line sampling image is added by one, thereby achieving the effect of further optimizing the image processing method mentioned later. The image extension method shown in fig. 3A to 3C can be executed by the processing device 10, and actually generates the extended ultrasound scanning line sampling image. However, the present invention is not limited to the image extension method of fig. 3A to 3C. For example, when the strong signal sampling block of the strong signal sampling region HB is located at the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, the processing device 10 can directly increase the edge length of the straight line corresponding to the strong signal sampling block. In other words, the processing device 10 can directly update the edge length of each line by using the virtualized digital signal, and the step of actually generating the extended ultrasound scanning line sampling image is omitted.
After the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling region HB is determined, the processing device 10 divides the edge of the strong signal sampling region into a plurality of L-shaped edges, wherein each L-shaped edge corresponds to a transition point of the edge of the strong signal sampling region. The first side of each L-shaped edge comprises at least one edge of the strong signal sampling block. The second side of each L-shaped edge also comprises at least one edge of the strong signal sampling block, and the first side is substantially perpendicular to the second side. For clarity, the selection of the L-shaped edge will be described below by taking the strong signal sampling region HB as an example.
FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating a first aspect of dividing an edge of a strong signal sampling region HB into a plurality of L-shaped edges. For convenience of description, in the strong signal sampling region HB, only the upper edges of the sampling block a51R, the sampling block a51, the sampling block a52, the sampling block a53, the sampling block a54, the sampling block a55, the sampling block a44, and the sampling block a45 are described. In fig. 4A, the upper edge formed by the sampling block a51R, the sampling block a51, the sampling block a52 and the sampling block a53 corresponds to a turning point R1 corresponding to the left edge of the sampling block a 44. Therefore, the upper edge of the sampling block a51R, the sampling block a51, the sampling block a52, and the sampling block a53 can be defined as the first side of the L-shaped edge L1. The left edge of the sampling block a44 can be defined as the second side of the L-shaped edge L1. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L1 is 4, the length of the second side is 1, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R1. Similarly, the left edge of the sampling block a44 corresponds to a turning point R2 of the upper edge formed by the sampling block a44 and the sampling block a 45. Therefore, the left edge of the sampling block a44 can be defined as the first edge of the L-shaped edge L2. The upper edge formed by sampling block a44 and sampling block a45 can be defined as the second side of L-shaped edge L2. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L2 is 1, the length of the second side is 2, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R2.
FIG. 4B is a diagram of a second aspect of dividing the edge of a strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges. For convenience of description, in the strong signal sampling region HB, only the lower edges of the sampling block a61R, the sampling block a61, the sampling block a62, the sampling block a63, the sampling block a64, the sampling block a65, the sampling block a71R, the sampling block a71, and the sampling block a72 are used for description. In fig. 4B, the lower edge of the sampling block a63, the sampling block a64, and the sampling block a65 corresponds to a turning point R3 at the right edge of the sampling block a 72. Therefore, the lower edge of the sampling block a63, the sampling block a64, and the sampling block a65 can be defined as the first side of the L-shaped edge L3. The right edge of the sampling block a72 can be defined as the second edge of the L-shaped edge L3. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L3 is 3, the length of the second side is 1, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R3. Similarly, the lower edge of the sampling block a71R, the sampling block a71, and the sampling block a72 corresponds to a turning point R4 on the right edge of the sampling block a 72. Therefore, the lower edge of the sampling block a71R, the sampling block a71, and the sampling block a72 can be defined as the first side of the L-shaped edge L4. The right edge of the sampling block a72 can be defined as the second edge of the L-shaped edge L4. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L4 is 3, the length of the second side is 1, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R4.
FIG. 4C is a diagram of a third embodiment of dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling region HB into a plurality of L-shaped edges. For convenience of description, in the strong signal sampling region HB, only the sampling block a36 and the sampling block a27 are used for description. Unlike the arrangement of fig. 4A and 4B, the sampling block a36 and the sampling block a27 are not adjacent to each other, but are arranged in a left-bottom/right-top staggered manner. In fig. 4C, the sampling block a36 and the sampling block a27 correspond to the same turning point R5. The upper side edge of the sampling block a36 may be defined as the first side of the L-shaped edge L5. The left edge of the sampling block a27 can be defined as the second side of the L-shaped edge L5. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L5 is 1, the length of the second side is 1, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R5. The area between the two edges of the L-shaped edge L5 corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block. Similarly, the right edge of the sampling block a36 can be defined as the first edge of the L-shaped edge L6. The lower edge of the sampling block a27 may be defined as the second side of the L-shaped edge L6. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L6 is 1, the length of the second side is 1, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R5. The area between the two edges of the L-shaped edge L6 corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block. Therefore, in fig. 4C, the area between the first side and the second side of the two L-shaped edges L5 and L6 corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block, and the two L-shaped edges L5 and L6 are not adjacent to each other.
FIG. 4D is a diagram illustrating a fourth embodiment of dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling region HB into a plurality of L-shaped edges. For convenience of description, in the strong signal sampling region HB, only the sampling block a36 and the sampling block a27 are used for description, similar to fig. 4C. In fig. 4D, the sampling block a36 and the sampling block a27 correspond to a turning point R5. The upper side edge of the sampling block a36 may be defined as the first side of the L-shaped edge L7. The right edge of the sampling block a36 can be defined as the second edge of the L-shaped edge L7. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L7 is 1, the length of the second side is 1, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R5. The area between the two sides of the L-shaped edge L7 corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block (e.g., sampling block A36). Similarly, the left edge of the sampling block a27 can be defined as the first side of the L-shaped edge L8. The lower edge of the sampling block a27 may be defined as the second side of the L-shaped edge L8. In other words, the length of the first side of the L-shaped edge L8 is 1, the length of the second side is 1, and the intersection point of the first side and the second side is the turning point R5. The area between the two sides of the L-shaped edge L8 corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block (e.g., sampling block A27). Therefore, in fig. 4D, the region sandwiched by the first side and the second side of the two L-shaped edges L7 and L8 corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block, and the two L-shaped edges L7 and L8 are not adjacent to each other.
In the above L-shaped edge selection methods described in fig. 4C and 4D, there are two types of L-shaped edge selection methods for the relative positions of the sampling block a36 and the sampling block a 27. However, both of the two types of L-shaped edge selection methods can be applied to the image processing procedure of the present invention. In addition, for the preferred embodiment, the L-shaped edge described in fig. 4C is preferably selected, that is, when the sampling block a36 and the sampling block a27 are not adjacent and are arranged in a staggered manner from bottom to top, two L-shaped edges L5 and L6 can be selected, and the area between the first edge and the second edge of the two L-shaped edges L5 and L6 respectively corresponds to the weak signal sampling block. Furthermore, various rotations or extensions of the relative positions of the sampling blocks can select the appropriate L-shaped edge according to the selection rule of the L-shaped edge described in fig. 4A to 4D, but the invention is not limited to the relative positions of the sampling blocks described in fig. 4A to 4D.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of determining a triangular region according to the midpoints of two sides of each L-shaped edge in an ultrasonic scanning line sampling image. As described above, the processing device 10 determines the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling region HB in the ultrasonic scan line sampling image and determines a plurality of L-shaped edges corresponding to the edges of the strong signal sampling region HB. Then, the processing device 10 determines a triangle area corresponding to each L-shaped edge according to the strong signal sampling area HB, a first midpoint of the first edge of each L-shaped edge, and a second midpoint of the second edge. The triangle area is formed by the first middle point, the second middle point and the turning point. For example, in fig. 4A, the upper side edge formed by the sampling block a51R, the sampling block a51, the sampling block a52, and the sampling block a53 is the first side (length is 4) of the L-shaped edge L1, and the left side edge of the sampling block a44 is the second side (length is 1) of the L-shaped edge L1. The midpoint of the first side of the L-shaped edge L1 (the first midpoint), the midpoint of the second side of the L1 (the second midpoint) and the turning point R1 may enclose a triangular area TA, as shown in fig. 5. In other words, the triangular area TA of fig. 5 is an area of a right triangle, one leg having a length of 0.5 and the other leg having a length of 2. Similarly, in fig. 4A, the left edge of the sampling block a44 is the first side (length is 1) of the L-shaped edge L2, and the upper edge formed by the sampling block a44 and the sampling block a45 is the second side (length is 2) of the L-shaped edge L2. The midpoint of the first side of the L-shaped edge L2 (the first midpoint), the midpoint of the second side of the L2 (the second midpoint) and the turning point R2 may enclose a triangular region TB, as shown in fig. 5. In other words, the triangular area TB of fig. 5 is an area of a right triangle, one leg having a length of 0.5 and the other leg having a length of 1. By analogy, in fig. 5, all the triangular regions corresponding to the L-shaped edges are identified.
FIG. 6 is a diagram of a strong signal sampling region after image processing. As described above, when all the triangular regions corresponding to the L-shaped edges are identified, the processing device 10 determines each triangular region to be a strong signal triangular region or a weak signal triangular region. The judgment is based on the following. If the triangular region corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block, the triangular region is set as a strong signal triangular region. If the triangular region corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block, the triangular region is set as a weak signal triangular region. For example, in fig. 6, the triangular area TA corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block, so the triangular area TA is set as a strong signal triangular area. The triangular region TB corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block, so that the triangular region TB is set as a weak signal triangular region. And so on. Since each triangle area is set as a strong signal triangle area or a weak signal triangle area, the strong signal sampling area HB is updated to the strong signal sampling area HBU. The updating method can be to include each strong signal triangular region in the strong signal sampling region HB and not include each weak signal triangular region in the strong signal sampling region HB to generate the corrected strong signal sampling region HBU. It should be understood that the edge of the original strong signal sampling region HB has many vertical transitions, so the edge has a jagged image effect. However, the image is corrected according to the triangle area corresponding to each turning point, which is equivalent to correcting the vertical turning part by the connection line of the hypotenuses of the triangle, so that the effect of smoothing is achieved. Therefore, compared to the original strong signal sampling region HB, the edge of the modified strong signal sampling region HBU of fig. 6 is smoother, and the jagged edge is reduced.
Then, the processing device 10 may convert the ultrasonic sampling signal into an ultrasonic image (scan conversion) in a grid-like pixel manner by interpolation processing, and may set the display attributes of the pixels of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the corrected strong-signal sampling region HBU to be displayed and set the display attributes of the pixels of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the region other than the corrected strong-signal sampling region HBU to be not displayed. The pixels of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the triangular area containing the strong signal sampling area can be generated by interpolation processing by using the ultrasonic sampling signals corresponding to the strong signal sampling blocks around the triangular area. Next, the processing device 10 may set the display attributes to display the plurality of pixels in color, for example: the pixels with a value of 20 are displayed in red, the pixels with a value of 0 are displayed in black, and the pixels with a value of-5 are displayed in blue. Finally, the processing device 10 outputs the ultrasonic image as shown in fig. 7. Therefore, the ultrasonic image shown in FIG. 7 finally seen by the user will have the jagged features of the object edge smoothed. For example, FIG. 8 is an ultrasound image without the image processing of the present invention. If the ultrasonic image is not processed according to the present invention, it can be observed that the edge of the object Obj1 (for example, blood flow) appears jagged in the ultrasonic image of fig. 8. While fig. 9 is the ultrasonic image after the image processing according to the present invention, it can be observed that the jagging phenomenon of the edge of the object Obj1 has been alleviated to be the object Obj2 in the ultrasonic image of fig. 9.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a method for improving the quality of an ultrasonic image according to the present invention. The method for improving the quality of the ultrasonic image includes steps S801 to S810 as follows.
Step S801: obtaining an ultrasonic sampling signal, wherein the ultrasonic sampling signal corresponds to the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image.
Step S802: the ultrasonic sampling signals are mapped to a plurality of signal sampling blocks, and the signal sampling blocks comprise a plurality of strong signal sampling blocks with signal intensity larger than a threshold value and a plurality of weak signal sampling blocks with signal intensity smaller than or equal to the threshold value.
Step S803: the strong signal sampling block of the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image is copied and extended to update the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image.
Step S804: determining the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling area formed by a plurality of strong signal sampling blocks in the updated ultrasonic scanning line sampling image.
Step S805: the edge of the strong signal sampling area is divided into a plurality of L-shaped edges, wherein each L-shaped edge corresponds to a transition point of the edge of the strong signal sampling area, a first edge of each L-shaped edge comprises at least one edge of the strong signal sampling block, a second edge of each L-shaped edge comprises at least one edge of the strong signal sampling block, and the first edge and the second edge are substantially vertical.
Step S806: a first midpoint of the first side of each L-shaped edge and a second midpoint of the second side of each L-shaped edge are determined according to the length of each edge.
Step S807: and determining a triangular area corresponding to each L-shaped edge according to the turning point of each L-shaped edge, the first midpoint of the first edge of each L-shaped edge and the second midpoint of the second edge of each L-shaped edge, wherein the triangular area is formed by the first midpoint, the second midpoint and the turning point.
Step S808: determining the triangle area as a strong signal triangle area or a weak signal triangle area.
Step S809: and generating a corrected strong signal sampling area according to the strong signal sampling area, each strong signal triangular area and each weak signal triangular area.
Step S810: the ultrasonic sampling signal is converted into an ultrasonic image (scan conversion) presented in a grid-like pixel manner, the display attribute of the pixel of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the corrected strong signal sampling area is set to be displayed during the conversion, and the display attribute of the pixel of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the area other than the corrected strong signal sampling area is set to be not displayed.
The detailed descriptions of steps S801 to S810 are already described above, and will not be repeated herein. Moreover, the method for improving the quality of the ultrasonic image is not limited to the steps S801 to S810, and any reasonable variations and technical changes of the steps are within the scope of the disclosure. For example, after step S802, the processing device 10 may perform interpolation processing on a plurality of signal sampling blocks in at least one of the horizontal and vertical directions of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image to expand the scanning line sampling data amount of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image in at least one of the horizontal and vertical directions. In other words, the processing device 10 can expand the dimension of the scan line to N1 scan lines (including N scan lines and (N1-N) virtual scan lines) according to the sampling signals of the sampling points on the N scan lines by the interpolation algorithm. Since the sampling signal amount of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image is expanded, there will be better image quality. After step S810, the processing device 10 may also perform a Gaussian filtering (Gaussian Filter) process on the converted ultrasonic image to further modify the gradient smoothness of the displayed and undisplayed image edges.
In summary, the present invention describes a method for improving the quality of an ultrasonic image, which can smooth the jagged edge of an object in the ultrasonic image to increase the image quality. The method for improving the quality of an ultrasonic Image according to the present invention is not limited to Doppler Color Flow Image (Doppler Color Flow Image). Any image having a spatial distribution with color representation characteristics that is superimposed on the original image (e.g., B-mode ultrasound image) layer can be optimized using the image processing methods described herein. For example, ultrasonic color Flow images (ultrasonic Power images), ultrasonic Tissue Doppler images (ultrasonic Tissue Doppler images), and ultrasonic Elastography images (ultrasonic Elastography) can be optimized by the Image processing method of the present invention. Moreover, the method for improving the quality of the ultrasonic image is not limited to be applied to the condition that the transverse scanning line density is much smaller than the axial sampling line density, and any distortion problem (Aliasing) caused when the image of the image-stacking program is required and the Scale of the image layer is enlarged (scaling up) can be used for reducing the image distortion phenomenon by using the method of the present invention. Therefore, the method for improving the quality of the ultrasonic image can output the high-quality ultrasonic image without adding additional hardware equipment.
The present invention has been described in relation to the above embodiments, which are only exemplary of the implementation of the present invention. It should be noted that the disclosed embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention. Rather, it is intended that all such modifications and variations be included within the spirit and scope of this invention.
Claims (8)
1. A method for improving the quality of an ultrasonic image, comprising:
obtaining an ultrasonic sampling signal, wherein the ultrasonic sampling signal corresponds to an ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, and the ultrasonic sampling signal corresponds to a plurality of signal sampling blocks, and the signal sampling blocks comprise a plurality of strong signal sampling blocks with signal intensity larger than a threshold value and a plurality of weak signal sampling blocks with signal intensity smaller than or equal to the threshold value;
determining the edge length of each straight line of the strong signal sampling area formed by the strong signal sampling blocks in the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image;
dividing the edge of the strong signal sampling area into a plurality of L-shaped edges, wherein each L-shaped edge corresponds to a turning point of the edge of the strong signal sampling area, a first edge of each L-shaped edge comprises at least one edge of a strong signal sampling block, a second edge of each L-shaped edge comprises at least one edge of a strong signal sampling block, and the first edge is vertical to the second edge;
determining a first midpoint of the first edge of each L-shaped edge and a second midpoint of the second edge of each L-shaped edge according to the length of each edge;
determining a triangular area corresponding to each L-shaped edge according to the turning point of each L-shaped edge, the first midpoint of the first edge of each L-shaped edge and the second midpoint of the second edge, wherein the triangular area is formed by the first midpoint, the second midpoint and the turning point;
determining the triangular region as a strong signal triangular region or a weak signal triangular region: if the triangular area corresponds to at least one weak signal sampling block, setting the triangular area as the strong signal triangular area; if the triangular area corresponds to at least one strong signal sampling block, setting the triangular area as the weak signal triangular area; and
generating a corrected strong signal sampling region according to the strong signal sampling region, each strong signal triangular region and each weak signal triangular region: and bringing each strong signal triangular region into the strong signal sampling region, and not bringing each weak signal triangular region into the strong signal sampling region, so as to generate the corrected strong signal sampling region.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
the ultrasonic sampling signal is converted into an ultrasonic image presented in a grid pixel mode, the display attribute of the pixel of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the corrected strong signal sampling area is set to be displayed during conversion, and the display attribute of the pixel of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the area except the corrected strong signal sampling area is set to be not displayed.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:
and performing Gaussian filtering on the converted ultrasonic image.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein when two L-shaped edges of the plurality of L-shaped edges correspond to the same turning point, regions between the first side and the second side of the two L-shaped edges each correspond to at least one strong signal sampling block, and the two L-shaped edges are not adjacent to each other.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein when two L-shaped edges of the plurality of L-shaped edges correspond to the same turning point, regions between the first side and the second side of the two L-shaped edges each correspond to at least one weak signal sampling block, and the two L-shaped edges are not adjacent to each other.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein before the step of determining the edge length of each of the strong signal sampling regions formed by the plurality of strong signal sampling blocks in the ultrasound image, the method further comprises:
the strong signal sampling block corresponding to the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image is copied and extended to update the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
when the strong signal sampling block of the strong signal sampling area formed by the plurality of strong signal sampling blocks is positioned at the boundary of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image, the edge length of the straight line corresponding to the strong signal sampling block is increased.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
interpolating the plurality of signal sampling blocks in at least one of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image to expand the sampling data amount of the ultrasonic scanning line sampling image in at least one of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.
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