CN112773403A

CN112773403A - Ultrasonic imaging method and system

Info

Publication number: CN112773403A
Application number: CN202011228713.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李双双; 周建桥
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd; Ruinjin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd; Ruinjin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-11-05
Filing date: 2020-11-05
Publication date: 2021-05-11

Abstract

An ultrasonic imaging method comprises the steps of adopting a contrast imaging mode to emit ultrasonic waves to interested target tissues, receiving echo signals and obtaining contrast images of the interested target tissues within a period of time; determining a reference section in the contrast image, and simultaneously acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section; transmitting ultrasonic waves to an interested target tissue to acquire a current tissue structure image; matching the current tissue structure image with the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section, and determining the section to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image meeting the preset conditions; transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue according to an elastography mode to obtain an elastic image of the interested target tissue on a section to be detected; and simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image on the section to be detected at least. The same section is subjected to contrast imaging and elastography and is displayed at the same time, so that the operation process of a user is simplified, and the examination result is more accurate and reliable.

Description

Ultrasonic imaging method and system

Technical Field

The present application relates to ultrasound imaging technology, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for synchronously displaying ultrasound images in at least two imaging modes.

Background

Ultrasound elastography is one of hot techniques concerned in clinical research in recent years, and is mainly used for detecting elasticity or hardness of biological tissues by using ultrasound, outputting elasticity detection results, and is increasingly applied to aspects of auxiliary detection of tissue cancer lesions, judgment of benign and malignant diseases, prognosis recovery evaluation and the like.

Ultrasonic contrast imaging is an important examination means in ultrasonic diagnosis, and is mainly used for better observing the blood flow perfusion condition of tissues by injecting a contrast agent into a blood vessel of a human body to enhance a blood flow Doppler signal, so that the ultrasonic contrast imaging has important significance in the detection and auxiliary diagnosis of clinical tumors.

In the existing commercial ultrasonic products on the market, few products can simultaneously support the examination of two ultrasonic imaging technologies. Even if a few models can simultaneously support two ultrasonic imaging technologies, the two ultrasonic imaging technologies are only used as mutually independent examination means, and doctors usually need to sequentially and independently operate. On one hand, the examination section of the target tissue is difficult to keep the same during sequential operation, and on the other hand, the elastic image and the contrast image are difficult to simultaneously display and compare, and the same target region is difficult to simultaneously perform quantitative analysis.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly provides an ultrasonic imaging method and system, which simplify the operation of a doctor on one hand and can carry out quantitative analysis on the other hand, thereby improving the accuracy of a measurement result.

In one embodiment, a method of ultrasound imaging is provided, comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to an interested target tissue in a contrast imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a contrast image of the interested target tissue within a period of time according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the contrast imaging mode;

determining a reference section in the contrast image, and acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section according to the determined reference section;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to an interested target tissue, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a current tissue structure image of the interested target tissue according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves;

calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference tangent plane;

obtaining a current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meets a preset condition according to the calculated matching degree;

determining a section to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meets the preset condition;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue based on the section to be inspected according to an elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining an elastic image of the interested target tissue on the section to be inspected according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode;

and simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image on the section to be detected at least.

In one embodiment, prior to the step of acquiring a contrast image comprises:

acquiring a target tissue image, and identifying an interested target tissue according to the target tissue image.

In one embodiment, the target tissue image is obtained using ultrasound imaging or CT imaging or MRI imaging.

In one embodiment, determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises: and determining a reference section according to the image characteristics in the contrast image.

In one embodiment, determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises:

and generating a graph of contrast intensity varying with different moments in the period of time according to the contrast image, and determining the reference section according to the graph.

In one embodiment, determining the reference cut from the graph comprises: and determining a section of the contrast image corresponding to the moment of maximum contrast intensity on the graph as the reference section.

In one embodiment, determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises: and determining the section of the contrast image corresponding to the preset moment in the period of time as the reference section.

In one embodiment, the predetermined condition is: the matching degree is not less than a preset first threshold value.

In one embodiment, a contrast image of the reference slice, a tissue structure image of the reference slice and an elasticity image of the slice to be examined are displayed simultaneously.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound imaging method further comprises:

determining a first region to be detected in the contrast image of the reference section;

calculating a contrast quantitative measurement result in the first region to be measured;

according to the determined first region to be detected, obtaining a second region to be detected corresponding to the first region to be detected in the elastic image of the section to be detected;

calculating the elastic quantitative measurement result in the second region to be measured;

and simultaneously displaying the contrast quantitative measurement result and the elasticity quantitative measurement result.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound imaging method further comprises:

determining a second region to be detected in the elastic image of the section to be detected;

according to the determined second region to be detected, a first region to be detected corresponding to the second region to be detected is obtained in the contrast image of the reference section;

In one embodiment, the ultrasound imaging method further comprises:

determining a third region to be detected on the tissue structure image of the reference section;

according to the determined third region to be detected, obtaining a first region to be detected corresponding to the third region to be detected on the contrast image of the reference section and/or obtaining a second region to be detected corresponding to the third region to be detected on the elastic image of the section to be detected;

calculating a contrast quantitative measurement result in the first region to be measured and/or calculating an elasticity quantitative measurement result in the second region to be measured;

In one embodiment, the ultrasound imaging method further comprises: and displaying the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference tangent plane.

In one embodiment, a method of ultrasound imaging is provided, comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissues, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a tissue structure image of the interested target according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves;

determining a reference section according to the tissue structure image of the interested target;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the region of interest by adopting an angiography imaging mode based on the determined reference tangent plane, receiving echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the angiography imaging mode, and obtaining an angiography image of the target tissue of interest on the reference tangent plane according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the angiography imaging mode;

and transmitting ultrasonic waves to the region of interest by adopting an elastography mode based on the determined reference tangent plane, receiving echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the elastography mode, and obtaining an elastic image of the target tissue of interest on the reference tangent plane according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the elastography mode.

And a display step of simultaneously displaying at least the contrast image and the elasticity image of the reference section.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising:

determining a reference body in the contrast image, and acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference body according to the determined reference body;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a current tissue structure image of the interested target tissue according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves;

calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference body;

obtaining a current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference body meets a preset condition according to the calculated matching degree;

determining a body to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image which meets the preset condition with the matching degree of the tissue structure image of the reference body;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue based on the body to be detected according to an elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining an elastic image of the interested target tissue on the body to be detected according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode;

displaying at least the contrast image of the reference volume and the elasticity image on the volume to be examined simultaneously.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to an interested target tissue by adopting a first imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and acquiring a first ultrasonic image according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the first imaging mode;

determining a reference tangent plane in the first ultrasonic image, and acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference tangent plane according to the determined reference tangent plane;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to interested target tissues based on the to-be-inspected cutting plane according to a second imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and transmitting the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves according to the second imaging mode to obtain a second ultrasonic image, wherein the second ultrasonic image and the first ultrasonic image adopt different imaging modes;

and a display step, namely simultaneously displaying at least the first ultrasonic image of the reference section and the second ultrasonic image on the section to be checked.

In one embodiment, the first imaging modality is an elastography imaging modality and the second imaging modality is a contrast imaging modality.

In one embodiment, the first imaging mode is a color flow imaging mode and the second imaging mode is an elastography mode.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising:

matching the current tissue structure image with the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section, and determining the current tissue structure image meeting preset conditions as a section to be inspected;

transmitting ultrasonic waves according to an elastography mode based on a tissue structure image of the section to be inspected to the interested target tissue, receiving echo signals, and acquiring an elastic image of the interested target tissue on the section to be inspected according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode;

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to an interested target tissue according to an elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and acquiring a current tissue elasticity image and a current tissue structure image of the interested target tissue according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode;

and at least simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image corresponding to the section to be detected.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising:

and simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section, the current tissue elasticity image and the matching degree.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to a first interested target tissue by adopting a first imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and transmitting the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves according to the first imaging mode to obtain a first ultrasonic image;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to a second interested target tissue by adopting a second imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and transmitting the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves according to the second imaging mode to obtain a second ultrasonic image;

acquiring tissue section information in the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image, wherein the tissue section information comprises at least one of tissue structure information, position information and form information;

determining the matching degree between the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image according to the tissue section information;

displaying a matching degree between the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image.

In an embodiment, the first target tissue of interest and the second target tissue of interest are respectively the same tissue of the same target object, or the first target tissue of interest and the second target tissue of interest are respectively the same type of tissue of different target objects.

In one embodiment, the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode use different imaging modes, or the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode use the same imaging mode.

In one embodiment, the first ultrasound image comprises an ultrasound image acquired according to a first target region of the first target tissue of interest, and the second ultrasound image comprises an ultrasound image acquired according to a second target region of the second target tissue of interest.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising:

determining a section to be inspected of the interested target tissue;

the ultrasonic examination device comprises a first ultrasonic image and a second ultrasonic image of a section to be examined, wherein one of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image is an elastic image, and the other one of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image comprises at least one of a contrast image, an optical image and a vector blood flow image;

simultaneously displaying the first and second ultrasound images.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound imaging method further comprises:

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit are used for exciting the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to interested target tissues in a contrast imaging mode and receiving echo signals;

the processor is used for acquiring a contrast image of target tissues in a region of interest within a period of time according to the echo signal of the ultrasonic wave transmitted in the contrast imaging mode;

the processor is further configured to determine a reference section in the contrast image, and acquire a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section according to the determined reference section;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit are further used for exciting the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue of interest and receiving echo signals;

the processor is further used for obtaining a current tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest according to the echo signal of the transmitted ultrasonic wave;

the processor is also used for determining a section to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meets a preset condition;

wherein the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit are further used for transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue based on the section to be inspected according to an elastography mode and receiving echo signals;

the processor is further used for acquiring an elastic image of the target tissue of interest on the section to be inspected according to an echo signal of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the elastic imaging mode;

and the display is used for simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image on the section to be inspected.

In one embodiment, the processor for determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises: a processor determines a reference slice in the contrast image based on image characteristics.

In one embodiment, the processor for determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises: the processor generates a graph of contrast intensity varying with different time within the period of time according to the contrast image, and determines the reference section according to the graph.

In one embodiment, the display simultaneously displays a contrast image of the reference section, a tissue structure image of the reference section and an elasticity image on the section to be examined.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit are used for exciting the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to interested target tissues and receiving echo signals;

the processor is used for obtaining a tissue structure image of a target in a region of interest according to the echo signal of the ultrasonic wave;

determining a reference section in the tissue structure image;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit transmit ultrasonic waves to a region of interest in an angiography imaging mode based on the determined reference tangent plane, and receive echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the angiography imaging mode;

the processor obtains a contrast image of the target tissue of interest on the reference section according to an echo signal of the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the contrast imaging mode;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit transmit ultrasonic waves to the region of interest in an elastography mode based on the determined reference tangent plane, and receive echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode;

the processor obtains an elasticity image of the interested target tissue on the reference tangent plane according to the echo signal of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the elasticity imaging mode;

and the display is used for simultaneously displaying the contrast image and the elastic image of the reference section at least.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

the processor is used for obtaining a contrast image of target tissues in a region of interest within a period of time according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the contrast imaging mode;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit transmit ultrasonic waves to target tissues in the region of interest and receive echo signals;

the processor obtains a current tissue structure image of target tissue in a region of interest according to the echo signal of the transmitted ultrasonic wave;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the region of interest according to an elastography mode on the basis of the body to be detected, and receive echo signals;

the processor obtains an elastic image of target tissues in a region of interest on the examination body according to echo signals of the ultrasonic waves emitted by the elastography mode;

the processor is also used for transmitting an echo signal of ultrasonic waves according to the elastic imaging mode to obtain an elastic image of the body to be detected;

a display for simultaneously displaying at least a contrast image of the reference volume and an elasticity image on the volume to be examined.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit are used for exciting the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to interested target tissues in a first imaging mode and receiving echo signals;

the processor is used for obtaining a first ultrasonic image of target tissues in the region of interest according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves emitted by the first imaging mode;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit transmit ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissues and receive echo signals;

the processor obtains a current tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest according to the echo signal of the transmitted ultrasonic wave;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit transmit ultrasonic waves to interested target tissues based on the to-be-inspected section according to a second imaging mode and receive echo signals;

the processor obtains a second ultrasonic image according to an echo signal of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the second imaging mode, wherein the second imaging mode is different from the first imaging mode;

the processor is also used for transmitting an echo signal of ultrasonic waves according to the second imaging mode to obtain a second imaging mode image of a section to be inspected;

and the display is used for simultaneously displaying at least the first imaging mode image of the reference section and the second imaging mode image on the section to be inspected.

In one embodiment, the first imaging modality image is an elastography imaging modality and the second imaging modality image is a contrast imaging modality.

In one embodiment, the first imaging mode image is a color flow imaging mode and the second imaging mode image is an elastography mode.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

the processor is further used for matching the current tissue structure image with the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section, and determining that the current tissue structure image meeting preset conditions is a section to be inspected;

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit are also used for transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue based on the section to be inspected according to an elastography mode and receiving echo signals;

the processor transmits an echo signal of ultrasonic waves according to the elastography mode to obtain an elastic image of the interested target tissue on the section to be inspected;

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

the transmitting circuit and the receiving circuit are further used for exciting the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue according to an elastography mode and receiving echo signals;

the processor is further used for obtaining a current tissue elasticity image and a current tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest according to the echo signal of the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the elasticity imaging mode;

and the display is used for simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image corresponding to the section to be inspected.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

the processor is further used for calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section;

and the display is used for simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section, the current tissue elasticity image and the matching degree.

In one embodiment, an ultrasound imaging system is provided, comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

a processor for performing the super imaging method described in any one of the above method embodiments based on an echo signal of a transmitted ultrasonic wave;

a display for displaying a result of the execution by the processor.

The embodiment provides an ultrasonic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging system, wherein a target tissue of interest is subjected to contrast imaging, a processor stores a contrast image and a tissue structure image of a reference section, and an elastic imaging is generated on a section to be examined, the reference section and the section to be examined are approximately regarded as the same section, so that blood flow microcirculation perfusion and hardness information of the target tissue is obtained, therefore, the embodiment can perform contrast imaging and elastic imaging on the same section and simultaneously display the same section, the traditional operation mode needs independent operation of a user, the examination section of the target tissue is difficult to keep the same during the operation, the ultrasonic imaging method and the system of the embodiment can ensure that the examination sections of different imaging modes are kept the same and synchronously display the examination sections, the operation of a doctor is simplified, and the same examination section can be quantitatively analyzed, the accuracy of the measurement result is provided.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of a method of ultrasound imaging in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a method of ultrasound imaging in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of a method of ultrasound imaging in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart of a method of ultrasound imaging in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. Wherein like elements in different embodiments are numbered with like associated elements. In the following description, numerous details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that some of the features may be omitted or replaced with other elements, materials, methods in different instances. In some instances, certain operations related to the present application have not been shown or described in detail in order to avoid obscuring the core of the present application from excessive description, and it is not necessary for those skilled in the art to describe these operations in detail, so that they may be fully understood from the description in the specification and the general knowledge in the art.

Furthermore, the features, operations, or characteristics described in the specification may be combined in any suitable manner to form various embodiments. Also, the various steps or actions in the method descriptions may be transposed or transposed in order, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the various sequences in the specification and drawings are for the purpose of describing certain embodiments only and are not intended to imply a required sequence unless otherwise indicated where such sequence must be followed.

The numbering of the components as such, e.g., "first", "second", etc., is used herein only to distinguish the objects as described, and does not have any sequential or technical meaning. The term "connected" and "coupled" when used in this application, unless otherwise indicated, includes both direct and indirect connections (couplings).

In one embodiment, an ultrasound imaging system is provided, as shown in FIG. 1, including an ultrasound probe 110, transmit and receive circuitry 120, a processor 130, and a display 140.

The ultrasonic probe 110 includes a transducer (not shown) composed of a plurality of array elements arranged in an array, the plurality of array elements are arranged in a row to form a linear array, or arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form an area array, and the plurality of array elements may also form a convex array. The array elements are used for emitting ultrasonic beams according to the excitation electric signals or converting the received ultrasonic beams into electric signals. Each array element can be used for realizing the mutual conversion of the electric pulse signal and the ultrasonic beam, thereby realizing the emission of the ultrasonic beam to the detected target tissue (such as organs, tissues, blood vessels, fetuses and the like in a human body or an animal body) and also being used for receiving the echo of the ultrasonic beam reflected back by the tissue. In the ultrasonic detection, which array elements are used for transmitting ultrasonic beams and which array elements are used for receiving ultrasonic beams can be controlled by a transmitting sequence and a receiving sequence, or the array elements are controlled to be divided into time slots for transmitting the ultrasonic beams or receiving echoes of the ultrasonic beams. The array elements participating in the ultrasonic beam transmission can be simultaneously excited by the electric signals, so that the ultrasonic waves are transmitted simultaneously; or the array elements participating in the transmission of the ultrasound beam may be excited by several electrical signals with certain time intervals so as to continuously transmit the ultrasound waves with certain time intervals.

The transmitting circuit/receiving circuit 120 is configured to generate a transmitting sequence/receiving sequence, the transmitting sequence is configured to control some or all of the plurality of array elements to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue, and the transmitting sequence parameters include the position of the array element for transmission, the number of array elements, and ultrasonic beam transmitting parameters (such as amplitude, frequency, number of transmissions, transmitting interval, transmitting angle, wave pattern, focusing position, etc.). The receiving sequence is used for controlling echoes of part or all of the received ultrasonic beams after being reflected by tissues in the plurality of array elements, and the parameters of the receiving sequence comprise the positions of the array elements for receiving, the number of the array elements and the receiving parameters (such as receiving angles, receiving depths and the like) of the echoes. When the usage of the ultrasonic beam echo differs or the image and/or the detection type generated from the ultrasonic beam echo differs, the ultrasonic beam parameter in the transmission sequence and the echo parameter in the reception sequence also differ.

In this embodiment, the transmit/receive circuit 120 is configured to output a transmit/receive sequence of an ultrasound contrast imaging mode to the ultrasound probe 110, and control the ultrasound probe 110 to transmit an ultrasound beam to a region of interest of a tissue to be tested and to receive an echo of the ultrasound beam returned from the region of interest. In a preferred embodiment, the transmit sequence sends a set of differently delayed pulse signals to the individual transmit elements of the ultrasound probe 110 to control the transmit elements to transmit respective ultrasound beams along respective two-dimensional scan planes to the region of interest. The receiving array element for receiving echo in the ultrasound probe 110 receives echo signals reflected by the region of interest and outputs the echo signals converted into electrical signals to the processor. In this embodiment, the transmitting/receiving circuit 120 is configured to output a transmitting/receiving sequence to the ultrasound probe 110 for a plurality of times within a period of time, so that the ultrasound probe transmits an ultrasound beam to the region of interest for a plurality of times, each time of transmission forms a frame of ultrasound image after subsequent processing, and the continuous ultrasound image frame data forms ultrasound video data.

In the ultrasonic contrast imaging technology, the ultrasonic contrast agent microbubbles can enhance the intensity of reflected echoes, have small diameter similar to the size of blood cells, and can be diffused to various organs of a human body along with the blood of the human body. Because blood vessels inside tumors are active, the perfusion of microbubbles of a contrast agent in a contrast image is rich, and the motion of the microbubbles has remarkable nonlinear characteristics, the clinical ultrasonic contrast has been widely applied to the identification, diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant tumors. The focus is observed by ultrasonic contrast imaging, the perfusion condition of the contrast agent in the tumor is recorded, and the position and the size of the tumor are judged, and usually, a user pays attention to a section with fuller blood flow perfusion for observation.

In this embodiment, conventional ultrasound contrast imaging of a target tissue of interest generally requires injecting a contrast agent into a human body, starting an ultrasound contrast imaging scan sequence, and observing and recording a stored contrast image for a period of time. The contrast image may be a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image. The whole contrast imaging process lasts for several minutes, the probe is difficult to keep absolutely stationary, so that the section corresponding to the contrast image in the time period is difficult to keep absolutely the same section, and the sections are different due to the movement of the probe.

The processor 130 is configured to obtain a contrast image of the target tissue of interest during a period of time according to the contrast imaging mode, i.e., the echo signals of the emitted ultrasound waves during the period of time. The tissue structure images corresponding to the contrast images at different times can be displayed simultaneously, as shown in fig. 3-5, the contrast images and the corresponding tissue structure images at different times can be seen, the contrast intensity can be seen to change along with the change of time through the contrast images, the intensity of the contrast intensity is the intensity of the displayed blood perfusion, and meanwhile, the anatomical structure information can be observed through the tissue structure images; or only the contrast image within the time interval may be displayed without displaying the corresponding tissue structure image.

The processor 130 is further configured to determine a reference slice in the contrast image, and acquire a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference slice according to the determined reference slice. The contrast imaging mode obtains contrast image frames within a period of time, and a user considers that one image feature can meet the clinical observation requirement in the film selection process, so that a section corresponding to the frame image can be determined as a reference section, and the image feature can be blood flow perfusion related information. The determination of the reference slice may also be based on certain preset conditions, such as generating a graph of contrast intensity varying with different moments in time within a time period included in the aforementioned time period for acquiring the contrast image according to the selected lesion region, and selecting the reference slice on the contrast intensity-time graph according to the preset conditions. Preferably, the section corresponding to the time point with the maximum contrast intensity is selected as the reference section, as shown in fig. 6, the time point with the maximum contrast intensity indicates that the blood perfusion of the lesion area reaches the peak value at that time, and the microcirculation state of the lesion area can be better reflected. The obtaining of the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section may be determining the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section from the tissue structure image obtained when the contrast image is obtained, or may be obtaining by re-executing an imaging process after the reference section is obtained, that is, re-transmitting the ultrasonic wave and receiving the ultrasonic echo to obtain an echo signal, and obtaining the tissue structure image of the reference section according to the echo signal.

The transmitting circuit/receiving circuit 120 is used for exciting the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of interest, controlling the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic beams to the region of interest of the tested tissue and receiving echo signals of the ultrasonic beams returned by the region of interest.

The processor 130 is also configured to obtain a current tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest from the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasound waves.

The processor 130 is further configured to calculate a matching degree between the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section, obtain the current tissue structure image with the matching degree of the tissue structure image of the reference section satisfying a predetermined condition according to the calculated matching degree, and determine the section to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image with the matching degree of the tissue structure image of the reference section satisfying the predetermined condition. The processor may also calculate the degree of coincidence between the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section through a matching algorithm, and give a prompt to a doctor, such as a prompt for matching degree, as shown in fig. 7 to 9. When the matching degree meets the requirements of a user, the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section and the current tissue structure image can be approximately considered to be the same section, so that the current tissue structure image meeting the requirements can be determined to be the section to be inspected.

The transmit and receive circuitry 120 is also configured to transmit ultrasound waves in accordance with an elastography transmit mode to a target tissue of interest based on a section to be examined, and receive echo signals.

The processor 130 is further configured to obtain an elasticity image of the target tissue of interest on the section to be examined according to the echo signal of the transmitted ultrasound wave in the elasticity imaging mode. As shown in fig. 10, the processor will store an elastic image of the slice to be examined.

The processor 130 may also obtain the current tissue structure image and the current tissue elasticity image according to the echo signal obtained by the ultrasound wave emitted in the elastography mode, instead of separately performing the current tissue structure image first and then obtaining the elasticity image.

The processor 130 may further obtain a current tissue structure image and a current tissue elasticity image simultaneously according to an echo signal obtained by the ultrasound wave emitted in the elastography mode, calculate a matching degree between the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference slice, and display at least the contrast image of the reference slice, the current tissue elasticity image, and the matching degree simultaneously. The processor 130 may not determine whether the matching degree meets the requirement of the operation, and finally, the information of the contrast image of the reference section, the elastic image of the current tissue, and the matching degree between the image of the current tissue structure and the image of the tissue structure corresponding to the reference section is displayed by the display and provided to the operator for reference.

Elastography measures elasticity or stiffness of tissue within the body, and its images can show elasticity distribution information of the tissue.

The elastography in the present embodiment may be a stress elastography, and may also be a shear wave elastography. When the stress elastography elastic image firmly supports the ultrasonic probe on a body, the compression degree of the lower soft tissue is larger than that of the lower hard tissue, so that the hardness degree of the body tissue can be displayed on the elastic image through different compression degrees. Shear wave elastography, when released after compression of a point on the body, the underlying tissue undergoes downward compression and then rebounds upward upon release of the compressive force. However, since the tissue under the compressive force is treated to be continuously combined with the surrounding tissue, the uncompressed tissue in the lateral direction of the force vector will also generate shear waves in response to the up-and-down movement of the compressed tissue, the shear waves will pass through the soft tissue at a certain speed and the hard tissue at another higher speed, and the speed of the shear waves passing through the soft and hard tissue is detected, so that the softness and hardness of the tissue can be obtained.

In the embodiment, the elastic image is in a continuous imaging mode, multiple frames of elastic images are continuously acquired, and a user selects a satisfactory certain frame of image as a result; or in a single frame imaging mode, in which only one elastic image is acquired at a time.

The display 140 is used to simultaneously display at least the contrast image of the reference slice and the elasticity image of the slice to be examined. The display 140 may simultaneously display the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image of the section to be inspected, and may also simultaneously display the contrast image of the reference section, the tissue structure image and the elastic image of the section to be inspected, as shown in fig. 11.

The embodiment provides an ultrasonic imaging system, which performs contrast imaging on an interested target tissue, a processor stores a contrast image and a tissue structure image of a reference section, determines a section to be examined in the reference section, and performs elastic imaging on the section to be examined, wherein the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section and the section to be examined calculate the matching degree, and when the matching degree meets a preset condition, the tissue structure image approximately approximating the reference section and the section to be examined are the same section, so that blood flow microcirculation perfusion and hardness distribution information of the same section are obtained. The ultrasonic imaging system provided by the embodiment can simplify the operation process of a user and enable the examination result to be more accurate and reliable.

In one embodiment, based on the above ultrasound imaging system, the procedure of the ultrasound imaging method is as follows:

and 11, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue in a contrast imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a contrast image of the interested target tissue within a period of time according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the contrast imaging mode. In this embodiment, the ultrasound contrast imaging of the target tissue of interest generally requires injecting a contrast agent into the human body, starting an ultrasound contrast imaging scan sequence, and observing and recording the stored contrast image for a period of time. The contrast image may be a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional image. The whole contrast imaging process lasts for several minutes, the probe is difficult to keep absolutely stationary, so that the section corresponding to the contrast image in the time period is difficult to keep absolutely the same section, and the section is different due to the movement of the probe. As shown in fig. 3-5, the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves are transmitted according to the contrast imaging mode, i.e., the echo signals in a period of time, and contrast images of the target tissue of interest in the period of time are obtained.

In one embodiment, the step 11 of acquiring a contrast image further comprises:

step 1101, when obtaining the contrast image, displays the tissue structure image corresponding to the contrast image. As shown with reference to fig. 3-5. The tissue structure image can be tissue structure imaging by extracting echo signal components according to the echo signal of the ultrasonic wave transmitted by the contrast imaging mode; the tissue structure image may also be a single transmission of ultrasound waves, the acquisition of echo data and then generation of the tissue structure image, wherein the ultrasound waves transmitted to acquire the tissue structure image may be interleaved with the ultrasound waves transmitted in the contrast imaging mode so that simultaneous imaging may be maintained. The tissue structure image is displayed while the contrast imaging is carried out, the blood flow perfusion information is observed, the anatomical structure information of the corresponding tissue can be observed, and more reference information can be provided for a user.

In one embodiment, only the contrast image may be displayed.

In one embodiment, before acquiring the contrast image in step 11, step 10 is further included, as shown in fig. 13:

step 10, acquiring a target tissue image, and identifying an interested target tissue according to the target tissue image, as shown in fig. 2.

And step 12, determining a reference section in the contrast image, and acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section according to the determined reference section. In the contrast imaging process, the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section may be determined from the tissue structure image obtained when the contrast image is obtained previously, or after the reference section is obtained, the imaging process is executed again, that is, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted again and the ultrasonic echo is received to obtain the echo signal, and the tissue structure image of the reference section is obtained according to the echo signal.

In one embodiment, determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises the steps of:

in step 1201, determining a reference slice in the contrast image may determine the reference slice based on image features in the contrast image. In the process of selecting a slice, a user considers that the characteristics of one frame of image can meet the clinical observation requirements through observation, generally speaking, the user observes by paying attention to a section with richer blood flow perfusion, and the determined reference section can be a section with richer blood flow information in the acquired contrast image, or the section with richer blood flow information is not necessarily the section with richer blood flow information, as long as the clinical observation requirements of the user are met. The image features may be brightness, morphology, and perfusion velocity information.

and step 1202, generating a graph of the contrast intensity changing with different moments in the period of time according to the contrast image, and determining a reference section according to the graph. The time interval is included in the time interval for acquiring the contrast image, and because the probe cannot be absolutely kept still and can move in the whole time interval, contrast imaging is difficult to be carried out on the same section in the time interval, each time corresponds to a different section, and a reference section is determined on the contrast intensity-time curve graph.

In an embodiment, the reference section is selected according to a preset condition on the contrast intensity-time graph, and the section corresponding to the contrast image at the time when the contrast intensity is the maximum may be selected as the reference section, as shown in fig. 6, the time when the contrast intensity is the maximum indicates that the blood perfusion of the current lesion area reaches the peak value, which may better reflect the microcirculation state of the lesion area, and the section corresponding to the time when the blood perfusion reaches the peak value is determined as the reference section.

step 1203, determining a section of the contrast image corresponding to a predetermined time in a period of time as a reference section. Wherein the predetermined time may be a specific time, such as 30 seconds from the start of the contrast; or a time 10 seconds before or after the peak time is selected.

And step 13, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a current tissue structure image of the interested target tissue according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves.

And 14, calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section. The processor may also calculate the degree of coincidence between the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section through a matching algorithm, and give a doctor prompt, such as a prompt matching degree, as shown in fig. 7 to 9.

And step 15, obtaining the current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meets the preset condition according to the calculated matching degree.

And step 16, determining the section to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meets the preset condition.

In one embodiment, the predetermined condition is: the matching degree is not less than a predetermined first threshold value. And obtaining the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section through a matching algorithm, and determining the current tissue structure image as the section to be detected when the matching degree is not less than a preset first threshold value. The processor calculates the degree of conformity between the current examination section and the reference section, and gives a doctor prompt on the interface, as shown in fig. 7-9, wherein the prompt of the matching degree can be a real-time prompt or a prompt only when the first threshold condition is met. Wherein the first threshold value can be set, for example 99%, that is, the slice consistency is considered acceptable. The matching algorithm may select a similarity algorithm, such as a perceptual hash algorithm, a correlation coefficient algorithm, or the like.

In one embodiment, step 16 further comprises:

and matching the current tissue structure image with the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section through the characteristic structure image information, and determining that the current tissue structure image is the section to be inspected. The feature structure information includes position information of the feature structures in the reference tangent plane, and may also include relative position information between the feature structures, and the like. When the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section and the current tissue structure image are the same section, the same section is not absolutely the same section, but is approximately regarded as the same section, and the relative position relationship of the same feature structure in the two section images in the section should be consistent. Therefore, when the relative positions of the same feature structure in the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section and the current tissue structure image are consistent, the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section and the current tissue structure image can be considered to be the same section, and if the relative positions are not consistent, guidance can be performed until a preset condition is reached, and the relative positions can be considered to be consistent.

Step 17, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the region of interest based on the section to be inspected according to the elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining an elastic image of the target tissue of the region of interest on the section to be inspected according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode, as shown in fig. 10. Wherein the elastography can be pressure elastography, and can also be shear wave elastography. The elastic image can be in a continuous imaging mode, multiple frames of elastic images are continuously acquired, and a user selects a satisfactory certain frame of image as a result; or in a single frame imaging mode, in which only one elastic image is acquired at a time. The elasticity image may display elasticity distribution information of the tissue.

And step 18, at least simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image on the section to be inspected.

In one embodiment, step 18 further comprises:

and simultaneously displaying the contrast image, the tissue structure image and the elastic image of the reference section on the section to be inspected. As shown in fig. 11, the tissue structure image, the contrast image and the elasticity image are simultaneously displayed on the same section, so as to simultaneously obtain the anatomical structure information, the blood flow microcirculation perfusion information and the elasticity distribution information of the tissue, thereby providing more comprehensive clinical information for the user and providing better guidance for the user operation.

In one embodiment, after step 18, the method further comprises:

and step 19, determining a first region to be measured in the contrast image of the reference section, calculating a contrast quantitative measurement result in the first region to be measured, obtaining a second region to be measured corresponding to the first region to be measured in the elastic image of the section to be measured according to the determined first region to be measured, calculating an elastic quantitative measurement result in the second region to be measured, and displaying the contrast quantitative measurement result and the elastic quantitative measurement result. A first region to be measured is selected from the contrast image of the reference section, wherein the first region to be measured can be determined by receiving input of a user or can be automatically determined by processing the image. According to the spatial position mapping, the first region to be detected will be automatically mapped onto the elastic image of the section to be inspected, as shown in fig. 12. The first region to be detected may be a region inside a lesion boundary on the image, or may be an annular shell region with a certain thickness, such as 2mm, which is expanded inward or outward from the lesion boundary, as shown in fig. 12, or may be a total region inside the lesion boundary after being expanded outward or inward by a certain thickness.

In an embodiment, a second region to be measured may be determined in the elastic image of the section to be inspected, an elastic quantitative measurement result in the second region to be measured may be calculated, a first region to be measured corresponding to the second region to be measured is obtained in the contrast image of the reference section according to the determined second region to be measured, an contrast quantitative measurement result in the first region to be measured is calculated, and the contrast quantitative measurement result and the elastic quantitative measurement result are displayed at the same time.

In one embodiment, a third region to be measured is determined on the tissue structure image of the reference section, a first region to be measured corresponding to the third region to be measured is obtained on the contrast image of the reference section and/or a second region to be measured corresponding to the third region to be measured is obtained on the elastic image of the section to be measured according to the determined third region to be measured, the contrast quantitative measurement result in the first region to be measured and/or the elastic quantitative measurement result in the second region to be measured is calculated, and the contrast quantitative measurement result and the elastic quantitative measurement result are displayed at the same time.

In one embodiment, a region to be detected is determined on any one of the tissue structure image or the contrast image or the elasticity image corresponding to the section to be examined, and the region to be detected is automatically mapped to the other one or two of the three imaging mode images.

In one embodiment, on the basis of the above embodiment, the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section is displayed.

In one embodiment, the quantitative contrast measurement comprises: blood flow perfusion information related parameters such as perfusion intensity and perfusion speed.

In one embodiment, the elasticity quantitative measurement comprises: elasticity-related parameters such as young's modulus, shear wave propagation velocity or statistics of elasticity-related parameters.

The embodiment provides an ultrasonic imaging method, firstly carrying out contrast imaging on target tissues of interest,

the processor stores the contrast image and the tissue structure image of the reference section, and generates elastic imaging for the section to be inspected, and the reference section and the section to be inspected are approximately regarded as the same section, so that the blood flow microcirculation perfusion and hardness information of the target tissue can be acquired.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method, as shown in fig. 14, comprising the steps of:

step 21, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of interest in a contrast imaging mode, receiving echo signals, transmitting the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves according to the contrast imaging mode, obtaining a contrast image of the target tissue of interest within a period of time, and obtaining a tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the contrast imaging mode, as shown in fig. 3 to 5. The tissue structure image is generated while the contrast imaging is carried out, the blood flow perfusion information is observed, the anatomical structure information of the corresponding tissue can be observed, and more reference information can be provided for a user.

And step 22, determining a reference section in the contrast image, and acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section according to the determined reference section.

And 23, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a current tissue structure image of the interested target tissue according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves. And 24, calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section. The processor may also calculate the degree of coincidence between the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section through a matching algorithm, and give a doctor prompt, such as a prompt matching degree, as shown in fig. 7 to 9.

And 25, obtaining the current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meets the preset condition according to the calculated matching degree.

And 26, determining the section to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image with the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meeting the preset condition.

Step 27, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the region of interest based on the section to be inspected in the elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining an elastic image of the target tissue of the region of interest on the section to be inspected according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode, as shown in fig. 10.

And step 28, at least simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section and the elastic image on the section to be inspected.

The embodiment provides an ultrasonic imaging method, which comprises the steps of firstly carrying out contrast imaging and tissue structure imaging on an interested target tissue, determining a reference section through a contrast image, matching a current tissue structure image with the reference section to determine a section to be inspected, carrying out elastic imaging on the section to be inspected, so as to obtain blood flow microcirculation perfusion and hardness information of the target tissue, carrying out contrast imaging and elastic imaging on the same section and simultaneously displaying the blood flow perfusion information and the anatomical structure information of the interested target tissue when the reference section is determined, wherein the provided information is more comprehensive and visual, so that the inspection result is more accurate and reliable.

In one embodiment, there is provided a method of ultrasound imaging, as shown in fig. 15, comprising the steps of;

step 31, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of interest, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves.

A reference slice is determined 32 from the image of the tissue structure of the object of interest.

And 33, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the region of interest in a contrast imaging mode based on the determined reference section, receiving echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the contrast imaging mode, and obtaining a contrast image of the target tissue of interest in the reference section according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the contrast imaging mode.

And step 34, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the region of interest in an elastography mode based on the determined reference section, receiving echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode, and obtaining an elasticity image of the target tissue of interest on the reference section according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode.

And respectively obtaining the contrast image and the elastic image of the section to be inspected on the reference section according to the echo signal of the ultrasonic wave transmitted in the contrast imaging mode and the echo signal of the ultrasonic wave transmitted in the elastic imaging mode. The contrast image and the elasticity image are both carried out based on the same reference section, and the contrast imaging and the elasticity imaging processes can be carried out synchronously or asynchronously. Contrast agent is injected firstly in the process of acquiring the contrast image, if the elastic imaging is shear wave used, the microbubbles of the contrast agent can be destroyed because the energy of the shear wave is strong, and the requirement of not destroying the microbubbles can be met by pressing the elastic imaging. In one embodiment, during the simultaneous acquisition of contrast imaging and elastography, it may be preferable to press elastography.

And step 35, at least simultaneously displaying the contrast image and the elastic image of the reference section. The contrast image, the tissue structure image and the elastic image of the reference section can be displayed simultaneously, so that the anatomical structure information, the blood flow microcirculation perfusion information and the elastic distribution information of the tissue can be obtained simultaneously, more comprehensive clinical information can be provided for a user, and better guidance can be provided for the user operation.

The embodiment provides an ultrasonic imaging method, which comprises the steps of firstly carrying out tissue structure imaging on an interested target tissue, determining a reference section through a tissue structure image, carrying out contrast imaging and elastic imaging according to the reference section and displaying the reference section, so as to obtain blood flow microcirculation perfusion and hardness information of the target tissue in a period of time, wherein the provided information is more comprehensive and visual, and the examination result is more accurate and reliable.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method, as shown in fig. 16, comprising the steps of:

step 41, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of interest in an angiography imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining an angiography image of the target tissue of interest within a period of time according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the angiography imaging mode.

And 42, determining a reference body in the contrast image, and acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference body according to the determined reference body. During the contrast imaging process, corresponding tissue structure images can be synchronously generated, when the reference body is determined, the tissue structure images corresponding to the reference body can also be synchronously generated, and at the moment, the processor can store the contrast images and the tissue structure images corresponding to the reference body; during the contrast imaging, only a contrast image may be generated, and only after the reference volume is determined, the corresponding tissue structure image is generated according to the reference volume, at this time, the processor may store the contrast image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference volume.

Step 43, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of interest, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a current tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves;

step 44, calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference body;

step 45, obtaining a current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference body meets a preset condition according to the calculated matching degree;

step 46, determining a body to be detected according to the current tissue structure image which meets the preset condition with the matching degree of the tissue structure image of the reference body;

and 47, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue based on the body to be detected according to an elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining an elastic image of the interested target tissue on the body to be detected according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode. The elastic image can be in a continuous imaging mode, multiple frames of elastic images are continuously acquired, and a user selects a satisfactory certain frame of image as a result; or in a single frame imaging mode, in which only one elastic image is acquired at a time. The elasticity image may display elasticity distribution information of the tissue.

And 48, at least simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference body and the elastic image on the body to be detected.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method, as shown in fig. 17, comprising the steps of:

step 51, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of interest in a first imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and transmitting the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves according to the first imaging mode to obtain a first ultrasonic image. The first ultrasound image may be an image of various imaging modes, such as a contrast image, an elasticity image, a color blood flow image, and the like.

And step 52, determining a reference tangent plane in the first ultrasonic image, and acquiring a tissue structure image corresponding to the reference tangent plane according to the determined reference tangent plane.

And 53, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of interest, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a current tissue structure image of the target tissue of interest according to the echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves.

Step 54, calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference tangent plane;

step 55, obtaining a current tissue structure image with the matching degree of the tissue structure image of the reference section meeting the preset conditions according to the calculated matching degree;

step 56, determining a section to be inspected according to the current tissue structure image of which the matching degree with the tissue structure image of the reference section meets the preset condition;

and matching the current tissue structure image with the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section to determine the section to be detected. And matching the current tissue structure image with the reference tangent plane to determine the tangent plane to be detected. Whether the section is consistent or not can be judged by considering of a user, the processor can also calculate the consistency degree of the current check section and the reference section through a matching algorithm, and doctor prompts such as prompt matching degree and the like are given on an interface.

And 57, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the interested target tissue based on the to-be-inspected cutting plane according to a second imaging mode, receiving echo signals, and obtaining a second ultrasonic image according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the second imaging mode, wherein the second ultrasonic image and the first ultrasonic image adopt different imaging modes. The second ultrasound image can be an image of various imaging modes, such as a contrast image, an elasticity image, a color blood flow image, and the like, but the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image cannot be in the same imaging mode.

And step 58, at least simultaneously displaying the first ultrasonic image of the reference section and the second ultrasonic image on the section to be checked.

In one embodiment, there is provided an ultrasound imaging method comprising the steps of:

matching the current tissue structure image with the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section, and determining the current tissue structure image meeting preset conditions as a section to be inspected; the process of matching the current tissue structure image with the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section can provide a predicted matching degree by subjectively judging whether the sections are consistent; or the processor calculates the degree of consistency between the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section through a matching algorithm, and gives a doctor prompt, such as prompt matching degree.

Transmitting ultrasonic waves to interested target tissues based on the section to be inspected according to an elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and acquiring an elastic image of the interested target tissues on the section to be inspected according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to an interested target tissue according to an elastography mode, receiving echo signals, and acquiring a current tissue elasticity image and a current tissue structure image of the interested target tissue according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted in the elastography mode; the current tissue structure image and the current tissue elasticity image are simultaneously obtained according to the echo signal obtained by the ultrasonic wave emitted by the elasticity imaging mode, and the current tissue structure image and the elasticity image are not needed to be separately obtained firstly.

calculating the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference tangent plane; the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section can be calculated for the operator to refer to instead of judging whether the matching degree meets the requirement of operation.

And simultaneously displaying the contrast image of the reference section, the current tissue elasticity image and the matching degree. And finally, displaying the information of at least the contrast image of the reference section, the elastic image of the current tissue and the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference section by a display for providing the information for an operator for reference.

In this embodiment, the first target tissue of interest and the second target tissue of interest are respectively the same tissue of the same target object, or the first target tissue of interest and the second target tissue of interest are respectively the same type of tissue of different target objects.

In this embodiment, the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode use different imaging modes, or the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode use the same imaging mode. The first imaging mode and the second imaging mode can be at least one of B, photoacoustic, elastic, color blood flow and contrast imaging modes respectively. Correspondingly, the first and second ultrasound images may be any one of B-images, elastic images, photoacoustic images, color blood flow images, and contrast images, and the elastic images may be any one of shear wave elastic images, transient elastic images, and strain elastic images based on acoustic radiation force.

For example, the first ultrasound image is an elastic image and the second ultrasound image is a contrast image, and as another example, the first ultrasound image is a strain elastic image, the second elastic image is a shear wave elastic image, and so on.

In this embodiment, the first ultrasound image comprises an ultrasound image acquired according to a first target region of a first target tissue of interest, and the second ultrasound image comprises an ultrasound image acquired according to a second target region of a second target tissue of interest. That is, the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may be ultrasound images of the whole tissue, or may be ultrasound images of a certain region in the target, and the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may be two-dimensional images, or may be other multi-dimensional images, which is not limited specifically herein.

As can be appreciated, acquiring tissue section information in the first and second ultrasound images; there are many specific ways to determine the matching degree between the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image according to the tissue section information, for example, the tissue section information may be obtained through system intelligent identification, and of course, there are many system intelligent identification methods, which may be an image identification algorithm, or a deep learning algorithm, etc. After determining the tissue section information of the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image, the matching degree between the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may be obtained by combining some matching algorithms, wherein the matching algorithms may be perceptual hash algorithms, correlation coefficient algorithms, and other similarity algorithms, so that the matching degree between the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may be automatically calculated. For example, an elastic image of a certain liver region of a patient is acquired, a contrast image of the liver region of the patient is acquired, and the matching degree between the elastic image and the contrast image is calculated, and in a specific implementation process, the matching degree between the elastic image and the contrast image can be calculated according to tissue section information (for example, tissue structure information, position information, morphological information, and the like) in the elastic image and the contrast image in combination with some matching degree algorithms and displayed. For another example, if the elastic image of the liver of the patient a is acquired, and the elastic image of the liver of the patient B is also acquired, the corresponding matching degree is acquired. For another example, an elastic image of the patient a at a certain time is acquired, and an elastic image of the patient a at another time is also acquired, so that the corresponding matching degrees of the elastic images at different times are calculated.

It is understood that the matching degree between the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image can be a comparison of the same tissue of the same person at different times or a comparison of the same type of tissue of different persons. The matching degree of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image is displayed, so that further auxiliary diagnosis of the tissue can be facilitated, for example, when the matching degree meets the preset requirement, the tissue characteristics of the section in different imaging modes or the tissue characteristics of the section in different times in the same imaging mode can be obtained through the comparative analysis of the elastic image and the contrast image of the same section.

It is understood that the matching degree between the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may be displayed by a numerical value, a graph, a color, and the like, for example, the numerical value of the matching degree is directly displayed on the first ultrasound image and/or the second ultrasound image, and the size of the matching degree may also be represented by a graph and/or a color, for example, red indicates that the matching degree does not satisfy a preset requirement, green indicates that the matching degree satisfies the preset requirement, circular indicates that the matching degree does not satisfy the preset requirement, and triangular indicates that the matching degree satisfies the preset requirement. Certainly, in practical applications, the first imaging mode and the second imaging mode may be performed in real time, the matching degree between the first ultrasound image in the first imaging mode and the second ultrasound image in the second imaging mode is displayed in real time, and the matching degree is represented by a graph which changes along with time, so that which time instants the matching degree is higher and which time instants the matching degree is lower can be clearly seen. Of course, in the real-time imaging process, the data source corresponding to the first ultrasound image and the data source corresponding to the second ultrasound image may be the same data source or different data sources, that is, the transmitting/receiving sequence may be the same or different, and is not specifically limited herein.

determining a section to be inspected of the interested target tissue;

the ultrasonic examination device comprises a first ultrasonic image and a second ultrasonic image of a section to be examined, wherein one of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image is an elastic image, and the other one of the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image comprises at least one of a color blood flow image, an elastic image, a contrast image, an optical image and a vector blood flow image;

simultaneously displaying the first and second ultrasound images.

It is understood that one of the first and second ultrasound images is an elastic image, and the other one of the first and second ultrasound images is one of a color blood flow image, an elastic image, a contrast image, an optical image, and a vector blood flow image. Of course, the first and second ultrasound images may also be ultrasound images of other modalities, such as PW, CW, etc.

It is to be understood that the first ultrasound image is a color flow image and the second ultrasound image is an elasticity image, as another example, the first ultrasound image is a contrast image or a photoacoustic image and the second ultrasound image is an elasticity image. The elastic image may be any one of strain elasticity, shear wave elasticity based on acoustic radiation force, transient elasticity, and viscoelasticity. Of course, the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may be the same ultrasound image, for example, the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image are elastic images acquired at different times, and the like, which is not limited herein.

It can be understood that by comparing different types of ultrasound images of the same section to be examined, or ultrasound images of the same type at different times, the tissue characteristics of the section in different imaging modes, or tissue characteristics of the section in the same imaging mode at different times, can be clearly known. For example, an elastic image of a certain liver section of a patient is acquired, a contrast image of the liver section is also acquired, and the elastic image and the contrast image of the liver section are subjected to comparative analysis, so that the auxiliary diagnosis is facilitated. Of course, the elastic image and the contrast image of the liver section may be acquired simultaneously or at different times, and the same transmit-receive sequence may be used for acquiring the images, or different transmit-receive sequences may be used for acquiring the images. For another example, a certain liver section of a patient is detected at one time, and after a period of time, the liver section of the patient is detected at another time, so as to obtain the ultrasound images of the liver section at different times, thereby further performing comparative analysis, and further tracking a treatment condition of the liver section.

By comparing the ultrasonic images in the duplex mode, more diversified tissue characteristic information can be acquired. Or by comparing the ultrasonic images of different times in the same mode, the tissue characteristic information of the tissue changing along with the time can be obtained, thereby being helpful for assisting diagnosis.

On the basis of displaying the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image simultaneously, the matching degree between the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may be further displayed, and the manner of calculating the matching degree between the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image may refer to the description of the above embodiment, and is not repeated herein.

The embodiment provides an ultrasonic imaging method, which includes firstly performing a first imaging mode imaging on a target tissue of interest to obtain a first ultrasonic image, determining a reference section according to the first ultrasonic image, matching a current tissue structure image with the reference section to determine a section to be inspected, performing a second imaging mode imaging on the section to be inspected to obtain a second ultrasonic image, and determining that the reference section and the section to be inspected are approximately regarded as a same section, thereby obtaining and displaying two different imaging mode images of the target tissue, so that the embodiment can perform two different imaging modes and simultaneously display the same section for the same section, while the conventional operation mode requires a user to perform independent operations in sequence, and the inspection section of the target tissue is difficult to keep the same during the independent operations in sequence, the ultrasonic imaging system provided by the embodiment can simplify the operation process of the user, and the inspection result is more accurate and reliable.

The present invention has been described in terms of specific examples, which are provided to aid understanding of the invention and are not intended to be limiting. For a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, several simple deductions, modifications or substitutions may be made according to the idea of the invention.

Claims

1. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

2. The ultrasound imaging method of claim 1, comprising, prior to said acquiring a contrast image:

3. An ultrasound imaging method according to claim 2, wherein the target tissue image is obtained using ultrasound imaging or CT imaging or MRI imaging.

4. The ultrasound imaging method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises: and determining a reference section according to the image characteristics in the contrast image.

5. The ultrasound imaging method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises:

6. The ultrasound imaging method of claim 5, wherein determining the reference cut plane from the graph comprises: and determining a section of the contrast image corresponding to the moment of maximum contrast intensity on the graph as the reference section.

7. The ultrasound imaging method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein determining a reference slice in the contrast image comprises: and determining the section of the contrast image corresponding to the preset moment in the period of time as the reference section.

8. The ultrasound imaging method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the predetermined condition is: the matching degree is not less than a preset first threshold value.

9. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that a contrast image of the reference section, a tissue structure image of the reference section, and an elasticity image on the section to be examined are simultaneously displayed.

10. The ultrasound imaging method according to any of claims 1 to 9, further comprising:

11. The ultrasound imaging method according to any of claims 1 to 9, further comprising:

12. The ultrasound imaging method according to any of claims 1 to 9, further comprising:

13. The ultrasound imaging method according to any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising: and displaying the matching degree of the current tissue structure image and the tissue structure image corresponding to the reference tangent plane.

14. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the region of interest by adopting an elastography mode based on the determined reference tangent plane, receiving echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the elastography mode, and obtaining an elastic image of the target tissue of interest on the reference tangent plane according to the echo signals of the ultrasonic waves transmitted by the elastography mode;

15. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

16. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

17. The ultrasound imaging method of claim 16, wherein the first imaging mode is an elastography imaging mode and the second imaging mode is a contrast imaging mode.

18. The method of ultrasonic imaging according to claim 16, wherein the first imaging mode is a color flow imaging mode and the second imaging mode is an elastography mode.

19. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

20. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

21. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

22. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

23. A method of ultrasound imaging according to claim 22, wherein the first target tissue of interest and the second target tissue of interest are respectively the same tissue of the same target object, or the first target tissue of interest and the second target tissue of interest are respectively different target object of the same type of tissue.

24. The ultrasound imaging method of claim 22, wherein the first imaging modality and the second imaging modality employ different imaging modalities or the first imaging modality and the second imaging modality employ the same imaging modality.

25. The method of ultrasound imaging according to claim 22, wherein the first ultrasound image comprises an ultrasound image acquired according to a first target region of the first target tissue of interest, and the second ultrasound image comprises an ultrasound image acquired according to a second target region of the second target tissue of interest.

26. An ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

determining a section to be inspected of the interested target tissue;

simultaneously displaying the first and second ultrasound images.

27. The ultrasound imaging method of claim 26, further comprising:

28. An ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

an ultrasonic probe is arranged on the ultrasonic probe,

a processor for performing the super imaging method of any one of the above claims 1 to 27 on the basis of echo signals of the transmitted ultrasonic waves;

a display for displaying a result of the execution by the processor.