CN114072065A

CN114072065A - Ultrasonic imaging equipment and pulse wave imaging method

Info

Publication number: CN114072065A
Application number: CN201980097841.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李双双; 郭跃新
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-10
Filing date: 2019-12-10
Publication date: 2022-02-18
Also published as: WO2021114106A1; CN112932540A

Abstract

The ultrasonic imaging equipment and the pulse wave imaging method provided by the invention have the advantages that the ultrasonic data of a preset time period are obtained, and an ultrasonic image containing a blood vessel axial sectioning structure is generated according to the ultrasonic data; obtaining a vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by a pulse wave which is propagated on a vessel wall along the axial direction of the vessel according to the ultrasonic data; and visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram. Through carrying out visual expression to the vascular wall hardness token along blood vessel axial direction to generate and show the pulse wave propagation state diagram, so that the propagation of pulse wave is directly perceived to present.

Description

Ultrasonic imaging equipment andpulse wave imaging method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of medical instruments, in particular to an ultrasonic imaging device and a pulse wave imaging method.

Background

The blood vessel pulse wave detection technology is an important means for clinical blood vessel detection. The pulse wave is a pulsed mechanical wave that is generated by pumping blood from the heart and propagates in the axial direction while beating in the radial direction. The pulse wave is embodied as two vessel dilations respectively generated when the left ventricle starts pumping blood (mitral valve open) and when the pumping of blood ends (mitral valve closed). The two dilations correspond to the pulse waves in the early (BS) and late (ES) systoles, respectively, which propagate along the artery from the proximal End to the distal End. In the conventional blood vessel pulse wave detection technique, a propagation velocity (PWV) of a pulse wave is detected and then displayed on a display. However, the medical staff can only obtain a value reflecting the propagation speed of the pulse wave and the ultrasound B diagram, and cannot effectively express the dynamic process of the pulse wave propagation. Therefore, the existing expression mode is not intuitive enough, and the medical staff is easy to be confused.

Technical problem

The invention mainly provides an ultrasonic imaging device and a pulse wave imaging method, so as to visually present the propagation of pulse waves.

Technical solution

According to a first aspect, there is provided in an embodiment a pulse wave imaging method comprising:

acquiring ultrasonic data of a preset time period, wherein the ultrasonic data is data obtained by performing beam forming on an ultrasonic echo signal obtained by using a blood vessel of a target object as a detection object;

generating an ultrasound image containing a blood vessel according to the ultrasound data;

obtaining a blood vessel wall hardness characteristic quantity reflected by a pulse wave axially propagating on a blood vessel wall according to the ultrasonic data, wherein the blood vessel wall hardness characteristic quantity is a propagation speed of the pulse wave axially propagating on the blood vessel wall; and

and dynamically displaying the propagation speed according to the sequence of the propagation time in a graphical visualization mode along the axial direction of the blood vessel on a display interface.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment provides a pulse wave imaging method, including:

acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic data, wherein the ultrasonic data is data obtained by performing beam forming on an ultrasonic echo signal obtained by using a blood vessel of a target object as a detection object;

generating an ultrasonic image containing a blood vessel axial sectioning structure according to at least part of the ultrasonic data of the plurality of frames;

obtaining a blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by a pulse wave propagating on a blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel according to at least part of the ultrasonic data; and

and visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram.

According to a third aspect, there is provided in an embodiment an ultrasound imaging apparatus comprising:

the ultrasonic probe is used for transmitting ultrasonic waves to the detected blood vessel and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain echo signals;

the human-computer interaction device is used for acquiring the input of a user and carrying out visual output;

the processor is used for acquiring echo signals from the ultrasonic probe and processing the echo signals into ultrasonic data; generating an ultrasonic image containing blood vessels which are axially arranged according to the ultrasonic data; obtaining a vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by a pulse wave axially propagating on a vessel wall according to the ultrasonic data; and visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel, so as to generate a pulse wave propagation state diagram, and displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram through the human-computer interaction device.

According to a fourth aspect, there is provided in an embodiment an ultrasound imaging apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing a program;

a processor for executing the program stored by the memory to implement the method as described above.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium, characterized by a program, which is executable by a processor to implement the method as described above.

Advantageous effects

According to the ultrasonic imaging device and the pulse wave imaging method of the embodiment, the blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity is visually expressed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, so that the pulse wave propagation state diagram is generated and displayed, and the propagation of the pulse wave is visually presented.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of pulse wave propagation;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a pulse wave imaging method according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a pulse wave imaging method according to an embodiment;

fig. 5a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus provided in an embodiment, in which an ultrasonic probe scans in a plane wave mode;

FIG. 5b is a schematic view of a reconstructed image of beam-forming after scanning in the manner shown in FIG. 5 a;

fig. 6a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus provided in an embodiment, in which an ultrasonic probe scans in a conventional focused wave mode;

FIG. 6b is a schematic diagram of a reconstructed image obtained by conventional beamforming after scanning in the manner shown in FIG. 6 a;

fig. 7a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment, in which an ultrasound probe scans in a sparse focused wave mode;

FIG. 7b is a schematic view of a reconstructed image of beam forming after scanning in the manner shown in FIG. 7 a;

fig. 8a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment, in which an ultrasound probe scans in a wide focused wave mode;

FIG. 8b is a schematic view of a reconstructed image of beam forming after scanning in the manner shown in FIG. 8 a;

FIG. 9 is an ultrasound image of a blood vessel in one embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a detailed flowchart of step 3' in FIG. 4;

fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of ultrasound images of two adjacent frames of blood vessels in an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a space-first time fit curve of each detection point in an ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a graph showing the change of the vessel diameter with time in an ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment;

fig. 14 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram displayed in a first visualization manner and displayed adjacent to an ultrasound image in an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment;

fig. 15 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment, in which a pulse wave propagation state diagram presented in the second visualization manner and the eighth visualization manner is displayed in an overlapping manner with an ultrasound image;

fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment, in which a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image are displayed in an overlapping manner in a third visualization manner;

fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment, in which a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image are displayed in an overlapping manner in a fourth visualization manner;

fig. 18 is a schematic diagram illustrating a fifth visualization manner of displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image in an overlapping manner in the ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the embodiment;

fig. 19 is a schematic diagram illustrating a pulse wave propagation state diagram displayed in a sixth visualization manner and an ultrasound image in an overlay manner in the ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the embodiment;

fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment, in which a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image are displayed in an overlapping manner in a seventh visualization manner;

fig. 21 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram showing a propagation velocity by using a waveform diagram and an ultrasound image displayed adjacent to each other in the ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the embodiment;

fig. 22 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram showing propagation velocity by using a histogram and an ultrasound image displayed adjacent to each other in the ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the embodiment.

Modes for carrying out the invention

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).

Vascular pulse wave imaging is an important means for clinical angiosclerosis detection. As shown in fig. 1, the pulse wave is a pulsed mechanical wave that is generated by pumping blood from the heart and propagates in the axial direction while beating in the radial direction. The pulse wave is embodied as two vessel dilations respectively generated when the left ventricle starts pumping blood (mitral valve open) and when the pumping of blood ends (mitral valve closed). The two expansions correspond to pulse waves in an early contraction (BS) and a late contraction (ES), respectively, the pulse waves propagate along the artery from the proximal End to the distal End, and the propagation velocity (PWV) is related to the stiffness of the vessel wall.

The invention can effectively relate the structure of the vessel wall and the pulsation condition by generating a pulse wave propagation state diagram and assisting the ultrasonic B diagram of the vessel, and can intuitively express the pulse wave propagation condition through dynamic display of the pulse wave propagation state. The following examples are given to illustrate details.

As shown in fig. 2, the ultrasound imaging apparatus provided by the present invention includes an ultrasound probe 30, a transmitting/receiving circuit 40 (i.e., a transmitting circuit 410 and a receiving circuit 420), a beam forming module 50, an IQ demodulation module 60, a processor 20, a human-computer interaction device 70, and a memory 80.

The ultrasonic probe 30 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 are 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 transmitting ultrasonic waves according to the excitation electric signals or converting the received ultrasonic waves into electric signals. Each array element can thus be used to perform a conversion between electrical pulse signals and ultrasound waves, so as to transmit ultrasound waves to the object to be imaged (for example, an arterial blood vessel in this embodiment) and also to receive echoes of ultrasound waves reflected back through tissue. In the ultrasonic detection, it can be controlled by the transmitting circuit 410 and the receiving circuit 420 which array elements are used for transmitting ultrasonic waves and which array elements are used for receiving ultrasonic waves, or the time slots of the array elements are controlled for transmitting ultrasonic waves or receiving echoes of ultrasonic waves. The array elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission can be simultaneously excited by the electric signals, so that the ultrasonic waves are transmitted simultaneously; or the array elements participating in the ultrasonic wave transmission can be excited by a plurality of electric signals with certain time intervals, so that the ultrasonic waves with certain time intervals are continuously transmitted.

The array elements, for example, using piezoelectric crystals, convert the electrical signals into ultrasound signals according to the transmit sequence transmitted by transmit circuitry 410, which may include one or more scan pulses, one or more reference pulses, one or more push pulses, and/or one or more doppler pulses, depending on the application. The ultrasonic signal includes a focused wave, a plane wave, and a divergent wave according to the morphology of the wave.

The user selects a suitable position and angle by moving the ultrasonic probe 30 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the object 10 to be imaged and receive echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the object 10 to be imaged, and outputs ultrasonic echo signals, wherein the ultrasonic echo signals are channel analog electric signals formed by taking the receiving array elements as channels and carry amplitude information, frequency information and time information.

The transmitting circuit 410 is configured to generate a transmitting sequence according to the control of the processor 20, where the transmitting sequence is configured to control some or all of the plurality of array elements to transmit ultrasonic waves to the object to be imaged, and the transmitting sequence parameters include the position of the array element for transmission, the number of array elements, and ultrasonic beam transmitting parameters (e.g., amplitude, frequency, number of transmissions, transmitting interval, transmitting angle, wave pattern, focusing position, etc.). In some cases, the transmit circuitry 410 is further configured to phase delay the transmitted beams to cause different transmit elements to transmit ultrasound at different times so that each transmitted ultrasound beam can be focused at a predetermined region of interest. In different operation modes, such as a B image mode, a C image mode, and a D image mode (doppler mode), the parameters of the transmit sequence may be different, and the echo signals received by the receiving circuit 420 and processed by the subsequent modules and corresponding algorithms may generate a B image reflecting the anatomical structure of the tissue, a C image reflecting the blood flow information, and a D image reflecting the doppler spectrum image.

The receiving circuit 420 is configured to receive the ultrasonic echo signal from the ultrasonic probe 30 and process the ultrasonic echo signal. The receive circuit 420 may include one or more amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), and the like. The amplifier is used for amplifying the received echo signal after proper gain compensation, and the amplifier is used for sampling the analog echo signal according to a preset time interval so as to convert the analog echo signal into a digitized echo signal, wherein amplitude information, frequency information and phase information are still reserved in the digitized echo signal. The data output by the receiving circuit 420 may be output to the beamforming module 50 for processing or to the memory 80 for storage.

The beam forming module 50 is connected to the receiving circuit 420 for performing beam forming processing such as corresponding delay and weighted summation on the echo signal, because distances from the ultrasonic receiving point in the measured tissue to the receiving array elements are different, channel data of the same receiving point output by different receiving array elements have delay difference, delay processing is required, phases are aligned, and weighted summation is performed on different channel data of the same receiving point to obtain ultrasonic image data after beam forming, and the ultrasonic image data output by the beam forming module 50 is also referred to as radio frequency data (RF data). The beam synthesis module 50 outputs the radio frequency data to the IQ demodulation module 60. In some embodiments, the beam forming module 50 may also output the rf data to the memory 80 for buffering or saving, or directly output the rf data to the processor 20 for image processing.

Beamforming module 50 may perform the above functions in hardware, firmware, or software, for example, beamforming module 50 may include a central controller Circuit (CPU), one or more microprocessor chips, or any other electronic components capable of processing input data according to specific logic instructions, which when implemented in software, may execute instructions stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer readable medium (e.g., memory) to perform beamforming calculations using any suitable beamforming method. The beam forming module 50 may be integrated into the processor 20 or may be separately disposed, and the invention is not limited thereto.

The IQ demodulation module 60 removes the signal carrier by IQ demodulation, extracts the tissue structure information included in the signal, and performs filtering to remove noise, and the signal obtained at this time is referred to as a baseband signal (IQ data pair). The IQ demodulation module 60 outputs the IQ data pair to the processor 20 for image processing.

In some embodiments, the IQ demodulation module 60 further buffers or saves the IQ data pair output to the memory 80, so that the processor 20 reads the data from the memory 80 for subsequent image processing.

The IQ demodulation module 60 may also perform the above functions in hardware, firmware or software, and in some embodiments, the IQ demodulation module 60 may also be integrated with the beam synthesis module 50 in a single chip.

The processor 20 is used for a central controller Circuit (CPU), one or more microprocessors, a graphics controller circuit (GPU) or any other electronic components configured to process input data according to specific logic instructions, and may control peripheral electronic components according to the input instructions or predetermined instructions, or perform data reading and/or saving on the memory 80, or may process input data by executing programs in the memory 80, such as performing one or more processing operations on acquired ultrasound data according to one or more working modes, the processing operations including, but not limited to, adjusting or defining the form of ultrasound waves emitted by the ultrasound probe 30, generating various image frames for display by a display of the subsequent human-computer interaction device 70, or adjusting or defining the content and form of display on the display, or adjusting one or more image display settings (e.g., ultrasound images, graphics processing data, etc.) displayed on the display, Interface components, locating regions of interest).

The acquired ultrasound data may be processed by the processor 20 in real time during the scan as the echo signals are received, or may be temporarily stored on the memory 80 and processed in near real time in an online or offline operation.

In this embodiment, the processor 20 controls the operations of the transmitting circuit 410 and the receiving circuit 420, for example, controls the transmitting circuit 410 and the receiving circuit 420 to operate alternately or simultaneously. The processor 20 may also determine an appropriate operation mode according to the selection of the user or the setting of the program, form a transmission sequence corresponding to the current operation mode, and send the transmission sequence to the transmitting circuit 410, so that the transmitting circuit 410 controls the ultrasound probe 30 to transmit the ultrasound wave using the appropriate transmission sequence.

The processor 20 is also operative to process the ultrasound data to generate a gray scale image of the signal intensity variations over the scan range, which reflects the anatomical structure inside the tissue, referred to as a B-image. The processor 20 may output the B image to a display of the human-computer interaction device 70 for display.

The human-computer interaction device 70 is used for human-computer interaction, namely receiving input and output visual information of a user; the input of the user can be received by a keyboard, an operating button, a mouse, a track ball and the like, and a touch screen integrated with a display can also be adopted; the display can be used for outputting visual information.

Based on the ultrasound imaging apparatus shown in fig. 2, the basic process of pulse wave imaging is shown in

steps

1, 3 and 4 in fig. 3: acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic data, wherein the ultrasonic data is data obtained by beam-forming an ultrasonic echo signal obtained by using a blood vessel of a target object as a detection object; obtaining a vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by a pulse wave which is propagated on a vessel wall along the axial direction of the vessel according to the ultrasonic data; and visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram. Therefore, doctors can visually observe the propagation of the pulse wave along the blood vessel wall through the pulse wave propagation state diagram.

When acquiring multiple frames of ultrasound data, ultrasound data may be acquired for a certain period of time, which may be greater than or equal to one cardiac cycle, may be a predetermined period of time set by default by the system, or may be a predetermined period of time that can be freely adjusted and set by the user. When the ultrasound data of a certain time period is acquired, the ultrasound data of the certain time period may be continuously acquired, or may be acquired in segments and accumulated for a certain time period. For example, when the pulse wave propagation state diagram is acquired and obtained in real time, the ultrasonic imaging device acquires ultrasonic data in real time according to an echo signal obtained by the ultrasonic probe, and the time of the real-time acquisition is the certain time period. For example, when acquiring and obtaining the pulse wave propagation state diagram in real time, the ultrasound imaging apparatus may acquire ultrasound data in real time according to an echo signal obtained by the ultrasound probe within a predetermined time period. For example, when acquiring and obtaining the pulse wave propagation state diagram in real time, the ultrasound imaging apparatus may acquire ultrasound data for a predetermined period of time from the ultrasound data acquired in real time.

Of course, the present invention is not satisfied with this, and a more detailed embodiment is provided below, as shown in fig. 4, the pulse wave imaging method of the ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes the following steps:

step 1', the processor 20 acquires ultrasound data of a predetermined time period, wherein the ultrasound data is data obtained by beam-forming an ultrasound echo signal obtained by using a blood vessel of a target object as a detection object. Specifically, the processor 20 controls the ultrasound probe 30 through the transmitting/receiving circuit 40, so that the ultrasound probe 30 excites the ultrasound probe to transmit an ultrasonic wave to a target object and receive an echo of the ultrasonic wave during a scanning time, and an echo signal is obtained. For example, the ultrasound probe 30 transmits ultrasound waves to a target object at a preset scan frame rate under scan control, and receives echoes of the ultrasound waves to obtain an ultrasound echo signal. The ideal scanning frame rate should reach 1000Hz or exceed 1000Hz, and below this frame rate, the upper limit of the pulse wave propagation speed that can be detected by pulse wave imaging is limited, and the accuracy may be affected. The scan time is not less than one cardiac cycle (about 0.6 seconds to about 1 second) to facilitate the processor 20 obtaining ultrasound data for at least one cardiac cycle, less than one cardiac cycle not warranting the acquisition of the detected pulse wave. The usual scan time lasts for multiple cardiac cycles for subsequent sonographers to observe; a typical target object is the neck or abdomen and the target object's blood vessels are the carotid artery or abdominal aorta.

The processor 20 then performs at least beamforming on the ultrasound echo signals to obtain ultrasound data of a blood vessel of the target object for a predetermined period of time. The signal processing of the ultrasonic echo signal in the ultrasonic imaging process may include signal processing links such as analog signal gain compensation, beam synthesis, IQ demodulation, digital signal gain compensation, and amplitude calculation. Specifically, the echo signal is front-end filtered and amplified (i.e., gain compensated) by an analog circuit, then converted into a digital signal by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and the channel data after analog-to-digital conversion is further processed by beam-forming to form scan line data. The data obtained after this stage is completed, i.e. the ultrasound echo signal output by the beamforming module 50, may be referred to as radio frequency signal data, i.e. RF data. After the RF data is acquired, the signal carrier is removed by IQ demodulation, the tissue structure information included in the signal is extracted, and filtering is performed to remove noise, and the signal acquired at this time is a baseband signal (IQ data). And finally, obtaining the intensity of the baseband signal and obtaining the ultrasonic image by carrying out logarithmic compression and gray scale conversion on the gray scale level of the baseband signal.

The ultrasonic data of the invention is data after beam forming processing is carried out on the basis of ultrasonic echo signals, namely the ultrasonic data can be data generated by any link after the beam forming link in the signal processing link. For example, the ultrasound data may be data after beam synthesis, such as an ultrasound echo signal output by the beam synthesis module 50, data after IQ demodulation, such as an ultrasound echo signal output by the IQ demodulation module 60, or ultrasound image data obtained by further processing based on the data after beam synthesis or the data after IQ demodulation.

The ultrasound data obtained by real-time scanning is sent to the memory 80 for storage, and the processor 20 can directly obtain the ultrasound data from the memory 80 for subsequent pulse wave propagation state processing.

Further, in order to increase the scanning frame rate of the ultrasonic probe 30 in the above steps, any one of the following methods may be used.

The first method is as follows: the ultrasound probe 30 emits unfocused ultrasound waves to a target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and a scanning region of the unfocused ultrasound waves emitted at one time covers a designated examination region (illustrated target region a) of a blood vessel. Unfocused ultrasound waves include planar ultrasound waves or divergent ultrasound waves. Taking the plane ultrasonic wave as an example, the ultrasonic probe 30 performs scanning in a plane wave mode, as shown in fig. 5a, arrows indicate ultrasonic echoes, and the ultrasonic probe 30 transmits plane waves covering the entire target region a (i.e., a blood vessel region of the target object) and receives echo data. As shown in fig. 5b, the beamforming module 50 performs beamforming to reconstruct an image b of the entire target region. In the first mode, at the cost of reducing the image quality, the scanning of the whole area can be completed by one time of transmitting and receiving, so that the scanning frame rate is improved.

The second method comprises the following steps: as shown in fig. 6a, the ultrasound probe 30 transmits focused ultrasound waves of a preset number of transmissions in a focused imaging mode to a target object in a conventional focused wave mode, for example, densely transmitting focused waves (100-200 beams) covering the entire designated examination region (the illustrated target region b) and receiving echo signals. The entire target region is then reconstructed by beamforming, see fig. 6 b. The conventional focused wave mode can perform imaging with high image quality, but the scanning frame rate is lower than that of the conventional mode because the scanning times of the densely emitted focused waves are more.

The present invention further improves such a conventional focused wave method to increase the scanning frame rate, and the ultrasound probe 30 of the present invention emits multi-focused ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, wherein the emission times of the multi-focused ultrasound waves are lower than the preset emission times of the focused imaging, and the scanning area of the multi-focused ultrasound waves covers a specified examination area of the blood vessel. See specifically mode three and mode four below.

The third method comprises the following steps: the ultrasonic probe 30 performs scanning in a sparse focused wave mode, as shown in fig. 7a, an arrow indicates an ultrasonic echo, and the ultrasonic probe 30 performs focused imaging based on the focused wave scanning mode, so as to reduce the emission density and further reduce the emission times (for example, 10 to 20 times), thereby improving the scanning frame rate. Since the echo data is mainly derived from the focused wave coverage area, beamforming only reconstructs the image information within this area. In fig. 7b, there are only two focused beams in the target area a, so that only the area covered by the two focused beams is reconstructed in the target area a after beam forming.

The method is as follows: the ultrasound probe 30 performs scanning in a wide focused wave mode, and emits at least one time of wide focused ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and a scanning area of the at least one time of the wide focused ultrasound waves covers a specified examination area of the blood vessel. As shown in fig. 8a, arrows indicate ultrasonic echoes, the ultrasonic probe 30 performs focus imaging based on a focused wave scanning mode, emits a wide focused wave covering the entire target region a and receives an echo signal, and increases the scanning frame rate by reducing the number of times of emission. And the whole target area a is reconstructed by beam synthesis to obtain an image b.

Step 2', the processor 20 generates an ultrasound image containing blood vessels from the ultrasound data. Wherein the vessels are oriented in an axial arrangement in the ultrasound image, i.e. the physician can see the vessels in a "one" or "I" arrangement. For example, as shown in fig. 5a and 5b, the processor 20 reconstructs an image b of the target region a from the echo signals of the respective target position points by a plurality of composite lines, i.e., obtains an ultrasound image frame. Since the time corresponding to the ultrasound data exceeds one cardiac cycle, the ultrasound image generated by the processor 20 according to the ultrasound data may be an ultrasound image video or an ultrasound image frame in the ultrasound image video. In addition, the ultrasound image may be a three-dimensional ultrasound image, or may be two-dimensional, such as an ultrasound B image, an ultrasound C image, or the like. The ultrasound image generated by the processor 20 is a three-dimensional ultrasound image, which may be a single image (non-cross-sectional view) that shows the length of the vessel, or may contain an axially cut structure of the vessel wall (axial cross-sectional view), both of which reflect the axial direction of the vessel. The ultrasound image generated by the processor 20 is a two-dimensional ultrasound image, and includes an axial dissection structure of a blood vessel wall, as shown in fig. 9, the two-dimensional ultrasound B image is taken as an example for the description of the present embodiment, but the pulse wave propagation state diagram described in connection with the two-dimensional ultrasound B image can also be applied to a three-dimensional ultrasound B image, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional ultrasound C image, and the like.

Step 3', the processor 20 obtains a blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel according to the ultrasonic data. The blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity may be a propagation velocity (PWV) of a pulse wave propagating on a blood vessel wall along a blood vessel axial direction, or may be a pulsation parameter (radial displacement, radial movement velocity, or the like) of the blood vessel wall pulsating along a blood vessel radial direction. The present embodiment will be described by taking the propagation velocity as an example. The pulse wave propagation velocity (PWV) refers to the propagation velocity of a pulse wave between two predetermined points of the arterial system, including the systolic start (BS) and the systolic End (ES) of the anterior wall of the artery. Only one or both of the BS and the ES may be calculated and displayed. Fig. 13 shows the change in caliber over two cardiac cycles, one with two peaks, the highest peak being formed at the beginning of the systolic phase of the anterior wall of the artery and the lower peak being formed at the end of the systolic phase.

As shown in fig. 10, step 3' specifically includes:

step 31, the processor 20 detects the pulsation parameters of the detection points arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall at different time points in the ultrasonic image according to the ultrasonic data of the preset time period. The pulsation parameter is a parameter reflecting pulsation of a blood vessel wall in a radial direction. The vessel wall is mainly pulsating in the radial direction of the vessel under the action of the heart pulsation, so the pulsation parameter of the present invention is referred to as the radial direction. The beating parameters include: at least one of a displacement of the unilateral blood vessel wall, a radial movement velocity of the unilateral blood vessel wall, a radial movement acceleration of the unilateral blood vessel wall, a change in blood vessel diameter, a change velocity of the blood vessel diameter, or a change acceleration of the blood vessel diameter. If the user does not select the ROI (region of interest) through the human-computer interaction device, the processor 20 calculates the pulse parameters of the blood vessel wall in the whole target region (acoustic window); if the user has circled the ROI, processor 20 calculates only the beat parameters within the ROI.

Further, the detecting, by the processor 20, the pulsation parameters at different time points at respective detection points arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image according to the ultrasound data of the predetermined time period includes: detecting a position of a blood vessel wall in a frame of image data from the ultrasound data; calculating the radial displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall, which is distributed along the blood vessel axial direction, at different time points according to the positions of the blood vessel wall in different frames; and obtaining the pulsation parameters of the detection points at different time points according to the radial displacement of the detection points on the vessel wall. The detection points can be uniformly distributed along the axial direction of the vessel wall, which is equivalent to sampling points, so as to save the calculation amount. In some examples, the spacing between the detection points may also be unequal, i.e., the detection points are arranged non-uniformly. Specifically, based on the ultrasound data, the processor 20 first extracts spatial position information (e.g., coordinates) of the blood vessel wall from a frame of beam-forming data obtained in the beam-forming data section, or extracts spatial position information of the blood vessel wall from an ultrasound image obtained in the image-forming section. Since the acoustic characteristics of the blood vessel wall are significantly different from those of blood in the lumen and soft tissue wrapped at the periphery, the image shows a high-brightness strip-shaped structure with front and back strips closely attached to the non-echo region of the lumen, as shown in fig. 9. The specific position of the vessel wall can be obtained by setting a proper threshold value in the Y-axis direction (the radial direction of the blood vessel) to screen the signals. The processor 20 takes a piece of one-dimensional data (a solid line segment passing through the point M in the left image of fig. 11) with a fixed size in the Y-axis direction of the first frame of beamforming data or the first frame of ultrasound image as feature information of the tube wall at the current position, with each detection point on the tube wall as a central point (point M in the left image of fig. 11). And searching a data segment (a dotted line segment in the right image of fig. 11) which is most matched with the characteristic information in a one-dimensional search area (a solid line segment in the right image of fig. 11) in the Y-axis direction by taking the same position as a central point (an M point in the right image of fig. 11) on the beam-formed data of the second frame or the ultrasonic image of the second frame, and taking the position of the central point (an N point in the right image of fig. 11) of the data segment as a new position of the blood vessel wall at the current horizontal position of the frame. The change of the position of each detection point between two frames is the radial change of the blood vessel wall in the corresponding time period. This is repeated until the radial variation of the vessel wall between every two adjacent frames or between several frames is calculated over the predetermined period of time. And accumulating the change results to obtain the displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall at different time points in a preset time period. The pulsatility parameter is radial displacement, radial velocity, radial acceleration, change in vessel diameter, change velocity in vessel diameter, or change acceleration in vessel diameter. And subtracting the radial displacement of the corresponding rear wall detection point from the radial displacement of the front wall detection point to obtain the variation of the diameter of the blood vessel corresponding to the front wall detection point or the rear wall detection point (figure 13). The first derivative and the second derivative of the radial displacement and the variation of the vessel diameter are respectively solved in the time dimension, and the radial velocity, the radial acceleration, the variation velocity of the vessel diameter, the variation acceleration and the like can be obtained. The displacement of the unilateral vascular wall, the radial motion speed of the unilateral vascular wall, the radial motion acceleration of the unilateral vascular wall, the variation of the diameter of the blood vessel, the variation speed of the diameter of the blood vessel or the variation acceleration of the diameter of the blood vessel at different time points can be obtained by integrating the pulsation parameters of all the detection points on the vascular wall at different time points. If the user does not select a ROI (region of interest), processor 20 calculates the pulsatility parameters of the vessel wall in the entire target region; if the user has circled the ROI, processor 20 calculates only the beat parameters within the ROI. When calculating the pulsation parameter of the blood vessel wall, after determining the central point, two-dimensional data with a fixed size can be obtained from the first frame of beam-forming data or the first frame of ultrasound image, the data block with the most matched characteristic information in the two-dimensional search area is calculated from the two-dimensional image block by using the same position as the central point on the second frame of beam-forming data or the second frame of ultrasound image through template matching and the like, and the position of the central point of the data block is used as the new position of the blood vessel wall at the current horizontal position of the frame.

The processor 20 is further configured to obtain a propagation speed of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction according to the pulsation parameter at each detection point. The specific process is shown in step 32 and step 33.

At step 32, processor 20 detects a first time at which the beat parameter at each detection point reaches a first predetermined threshold.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 12, the points in the figure are detection points, the abscissa of the point is the position of the detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel wall, the ordinate of the point is the first time corresponding to the detection point, the first predetermined threshold may be set according to the user's requirement, for example, for the pulse wave in the early contraction period, the pulse parameter may be selected as the radial displacement, and the first predetermined threshold may be the minimum value among empirical values of the maximum radial displacement (corresponding to the peak), or may be 50% or more of the empirical value of the maximum radial displacement. For the pulse wave of late systole, the first time when the pulse parameter of each detection point is in the first preset threshold interval and is the maximum value is detected, the peak of the early systole can be excluded by setting the maximum value of the first preset threshold interval, the maximum value of the late systole (the lower peak in the cardiac cycle) can be covered by setting the minimum value of the first preset threshold interval, and the first time when the peak of the pulse wave of the late systole comes can be reflected by the judgment of the maximum value (the conventional mathematical method). This embodiment will be described with respect to the pulse wave in the early contraction stage as an example.

The user can conveniently observe the pulse parameter of interest by taking the minimum value of the empirical values of the pulse parameter of interest as the first predetermined threshold value. In other words, the pulse parameters at the respective detection points are connected in series to reflect the propagation process of the pulse wave, which is usually the propagation process of the wave crest that the user is interested in, and this embodiment is explained in this way.

Step 33, the processor 20 obtains the propagation speed of the pulse wave on the vessel wall in the ultrasound image according to the position of each detection point in the vessel axial direction and the first time corresponding to each detection point. Specifically, the average propagation speed of the pulse wave on a partial section or the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image is obtained according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point; and obtaining the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point according to the position of the two adjacent detection points in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the difference value of the first time corresponding to the two adjacent detection points. Here, the two adjacent detection points are not limited to two adjacent detection points in the spatial position relationship, and may be two detection points on the inner boundary of the blood vessel range corresponding to one acoustic window. For example, the processor 20 selects at least two detection points and extracts a first time of the detection points; and obtaining the propagation velocity of the pulse wave according to the axial distance between the detection points and the difference value of the first time. In order to improve the accuracy, a plurality of detection points are selected, the more the detection points are in the range of the processing capability, the better the detection point is, the corresponding relation between the time and the space of each detection point is obtained, as shown in fig. 12, each point is subjected to linear fitting to obtain an oblique line, and the slope of the oblique line is the average propagation speed of the pulse wave in the current cardiac cycle. Of course, the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point can be obtained according to the position of the two adjacent detection points in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the difference value of the first time corresponding to the two adjacent detection points, so that the user can obtain the hardness difference of the blood vessel wall at different positions.

Since the positions of the detection points and the corresponding first time are known, the pulse wave propagation speed at the systolic phase start (BS) and the systolic phase End (ES) of the anterior wall of the artery, the propagation speed of any detection point on the blood vessel wall, the average propagation speed of any segment, and the like can be calculated by the method.

On the basis of the method for calculating the propagation velocity, in an optional embodiment, the method for calculating the propagation velocity is optimized, and specifically, the processor 20 detects a time point at which the pulsation parameter of a specified detection point reaches a predetermined specific value, and respectively extends forward and/or backward for a preset time by taking the time point as a starting point to obtain an effective time period; acquiring the pulse parameters of different time points of each detection point in an effective time period; and obtaining the propagation speed of the pulse wave on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the vessel and the corresponding first time of each detection point. The designated detection point may be a detection point at a peak position in order to identify the designated detection point being picked up. The preset time can be set according to actual conditions, and the obtained effective time period is not shorter than the time required for the pulse wave to pass through each detection point, and the effective time period is set to reduce the calculation amount of the processor 20. This is because the scanning range of the ultrasonic probe is small (0.03 to 0.05 m), the propagation time of the pulse wave (0.003 to 0.02 sec) is short (0.003 to 0.02 sec) within one cardiac cycle (0.6 to 1 sec), the time of the pulse wave passing through each detection point is short (0.003 to 0.02 sec), the change of the pulse parameter at each detection point is small for a relatively long time (0.597 to 0.98 sec), and if the data with small change of the pulse parameter is also calculated, the calculation amount is increased, so that the calculation amount of the propagation speed calculated by the processor 20 can be saved by the limitation of the effective time period.

In some examples, the ultrasound imaging device may also perform M imaging and doppler imaging of the vessels of the target image, in addition to B imaging (two-dimensional or three-dimensional Tissue grayscale imaging) of the vessels of the target object, which may include Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) and Tissue Velocity Imaging (TVI), for example. The propagation velocity of the pulse wave in each ultrasonic imaging mode can be obtained according to the following steps.

When the ultrasonic imaging device performs M imaging, ultrasonic data in the form of M data can be obtained. The M data comprises gray scale data on a plurality of scanning lines arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and each detection point is a point at the position of the blood vessel wall on each scanning line. When a pulse wave propagates through a certain detection point, the blood vessel wall at the detection point has a certain displacement change in the depth direction (i.e. the radial direction of the blood vessel) due to the action of the pulse wave, and the corresponding M data can reflect the change of the radial displacement. The processor 20 may obtain a gray value of a detection point on the vascular wall along with time change on each scan line according to the M data of the scan line, and may calculate a radial displacement of the detection point on the vascular wall along with time change according to the gray value.

The processor 20 may then detect a first time at which the radial displacement of the detection points reaches a second predetermined threshold. The second predetermined threshold may be set according to user requirements. For example, the second predetermined threshold may be the minimum value of the empirical values of maximum radial displacement, or may be 50% or more of the empirical values of maximum radial displacement, or the like. After detecting the first time of each detection point, the processor 20 may obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall according to the position of each detection point in the blood vessel axial direction and the first time corresponding to each detection point. The positions of the detection points on the vessel wall are known, and the propagation velocity of the pulse wave can be obtained after the time difference between the detection points is determined.

When the ultrasound imaging apparatus performs B imaging, ultrasound data in the form of M data may be obtained based on the ultrasound data in the form of B data (tissue gray), and then the processor 20 may calculate the propagation velocity of the pulse wave based on the method in the M imaging mode described above.

When the ultrasonic imaging device performs TVI imaging or TDI imaging, ultrasonic data with Doppler information can be obtained. The processor 20 may analyze the doppler information of the ultrasound data, and calculate the velocity information of each detection point on the blood vessel wall at different time points along the blood vessel axial direction. For example, when TVI imaging is performed, velocity variance energy solution may be performed on the ultrasound data with doppler information, so as to obtain velocity information of each detection point changing with time. For example, in TDI imaging, a spectral image of each detected point on a blood vessel wall is obtained, frequency information of each detected point with time is recorded in the spectral image, and velocity information of each detected point at different time points is obtained by simple conversion based on the frequency information.

The processor 20 may then detect a first time at which the speed information at each detection point reaches a third predetermined threshold. The third predetermined threshold may be set according to user requirements. For example, the third predetermined threshold may be 50% or more of the detected maximum speed information, or the like. After detecting the first time of each detection point, the processor 20 may obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall according to the position of each detection point in the blood vessel axial direction and the first time corresponding to each detection point. The positions of the detection points on the vessel wall are known, and the propagation velocity of the pulse wave can be obtained after the time difference between the detection points is determined.

And 4', the processor 20 visually expresses the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel, so as to generate and display a pulse wave propagation state diagram through the human-computer interaction device 70. For example, at the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point is visually expressed by using a preset image element. The pulse wave propagation state diagram may be static or dynamic, taking dynamic as an example, the processor 20 dynamically displays the pulse wave propagation speed according to the sequence of the propagation time in a graphical visualization manner along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the display interface of the human-computer interaction device, for example, at the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, when the first time corresponding to each detection point arrives, the pulse wave propagation speed corresponding to each detection point is visually expressed by using a preset image element, so that the pulse wave propagation speed is periodically updated at each detection point. The picture elements may be a combination of one or more of color, pattern, texture and pattern density. The pulse wave propagation state diagram shows the propagation velocity, and since a doctor may be interested in the propagation velocity of the entire blood vessel wall, may also be interested in the propagation velocity of a certain blood vessel wall, or is interested in the propagation velocity of a position corresponding to each detection point, there are various ways for the pulse wave propagation state diagram to visually express the blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity, which will be specifically exemplified below.

Before a plurality of visual representations are illustrated, a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasonic image are displayed on a display interface together. In order to combine the pulse wave propagation state diagram with the actual ultrasound image, there are two specific types of adjacent display and superimposed display. Displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram a1 near the ultrasound image C by the processor 20, as shown in fig. 14, which is an adjacent display, in such a way that when the blood vessel is in the horizontal direction, the pulse wave propagation state diagram a1 and the ultrasound image C share the abscissa, that is, the two diagrams are arranged in the up-down correspondence, as shown in fig. 14; when the blood vessel is in the vertical direction, the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the ultrasonic image share the vertical coordinate, namely the two diagrams are correspondingly arranged left and right. Of course, the processor 20 may also display the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 and the axial dissected structure of the blood vessel in the ultrasound image C in an overlaid manner according to a predetermined weight, as shown in fig. 15, which is an overlaid manner, and the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 and the ultrasound image C share a coordinate system after being overlaid. Further, the processor 20 is further configured to detect, through the human-computer interaction device 70, a modification of the weight by the user; and updating the superposition display of the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2-A8 and the axial sectioning structure of the blood vessel in the ultrasonic image C according to the modified weight. When the weight of one graph is 0, only the other graph is displayed, if the weights of the two graphs are not 0, the structure of the blood vessel wall can be embodied, the propagation speed can be reflected visually, and a doctor can adjust the display effect to highlight the structure or the propagation speed of the blood vessel wall by setting the weights. The ultrasound image C generated by the ultrasound data displayed on the display interface may be an ultrasound image frame or an ultrasound video, and this embodiment is described by taking the ultrasound image as an ultrasound video and displaying the ultrasound image in an overlapping manner as an example.

Of course, whether displayed adjacently or in an overlapping manner, the processor 20 also synchronously displays the quantity bar B indicating the corresponding relation between the size of the blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity and the color, texture, pattern or pattern density through the display interface of the human-computer interaction device.

In one example, the blood vessel wall hardness characterization is visualized as shown in fig. 14, where the blood vessel wall hardness characterization is an average propagation speed of the pulse wave propagating along the blood vessel axial direction on the whole blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image, for example, an average of the propagation speeds of all the detection points. The processor 20 visually expresses the average propagation velocity by using preset image elements at a position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram a1 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. Taking the density of the pattern of the picture elements as an example, in the pulse wave propagation state diagram a1 shown in fig. 14, the oblique lines (pattern) cover the entire blood vessel wall, and need to cover in the axial direction of the blood vessel, but need only have a certain length in the radial direction, and need not cover the entire length in the radial direction as in fig. 14. The doctor can know the approximate range of the average propagation speed at a glance according to the density of the oblique lines, and can know the accurate average propagation speed by contrasting the value strip B. For the convenience of the doctor, specific numerical values of the average propagation velocity and the time of the current time with respect to the entire time of the ultrasound data are also displayed on the display interface. Of course, it is more intuitive to use different colors to indicate different average propagation speeds, for example, a region with a color covers the whole blood vessel wall, the faster the color is, the slower the color is, and the like, and actually it is equivalent to replace the diagonal region in fig. 14 with the corresponding color. Of course, the average propagation velocity may be an average propagation velocity of the pulse wave in one cardiac cycle or an average value of the average propagation velocities of the pulse waves in the respective cardiac cycles, and in any case, since the variation of the propagation velocity of the pulse wave between cycles is small, the pulse wave propagation state diagram a1 shown in fig. 14 is basically static, and does not change much even if updated with the cardiac cycle.

In another example, the vessel wall stiffness characteristic is an average propagation speed of the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the vessel on a target segment of the vessel wall of the ultrasound image, which includes a segment of the vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image. As shown in fig. 15, the processor 20 visually expresses the average propagation velocity at a position corresponding to the vessel wall of the target segment along the vessel axial direction by using preset image elements, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 distributed along the vessel axial direction. For example, the processor 20 obtains the average propagation speed of the vessel wall section through which the pulse wave has passed when the pulse wave propagates on the vessel wall in the ultrasound image to each detection point along the vessel axial direction; and (2) representing the average propagation speed by adopting colors, patterns or pattern density at the corresponding positions of the vessel wall sections which have passed by the pulse wave along the axial direction of the vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 distributed along the axial direction of the vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 according to the time of the pulse wave propagation to the detection point during display (namely, dynamic display). Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 represents the average propagation velocity of a section of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image, the average propagation velocity represented by the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 changes dynamically over time. As shown in fig. 15, the average propagation velocity in the time period is calculated once when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall for 0.03s (second), and the average propagation velocity is displayed in a range from the proximal end of the blood vessel (the start end of the ultrasound image) to the current propagation position as a preset image element, for example, a pattern density, as shown in the hatched area of the left diagram of fig. 15; when the pulse wave continues to travel over the blood vessel to 0.033s, the average propagation velocity is calculated once more within 0.033s, and the propagation velocity is also displayed as a preset image element in the range from the proximal end of the blood vessel to the current propagation position, as indicated by the hatched area in the right diagram of fig. 15. By analogy, the length of the slant line region covered in the axial direction is determined by the current propagation range, the density of the slant line region is determined by the average propagation velocity of the current propagation range, and the slant line region becomes longer in the axial direction of the blood vessel as the density of the slant line changes with the progress of propagation. Similarly, different colors can be used to represent different average propagation velocities, for example, a region with a color covers the entire blood vessel wall, the faster the color is red, the slower the color is blue, and the like, which actually corresponds to replacing the diagonal region in fig. 15 with the corresponding color.

Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 is dynamically changed, the superposition result of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 and the ultrasound image C is equivalent to being dynamically played in a movie form according to a time sequence, that is, the pulse wave propagation is represented in real time. The propagation of the pulse wave is reflected in: the image element area of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 or the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 advances from the proximal end to the distal end along the blood vessel axial direction according to the pulse wave propagation time, for example, as shown in fig. 15, advances along the horizontal direction according to the pulse wave propagation time, the left diagram of fig. 15 is a superimposed display of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 and the ultrasound video at a moment, and the diagram after the superimposed display is a right diagram after a period of time, which shows the process of the pulse wave propagating from the left side to the right side of the diagram. The pulse wave propagation state diagram a2 is dynamic (image elements change with time) when displayed on the display interface of the human-computer interaction device, and may also be referred to as a pulse wave propagation state video or a pulse wave propagation state map.

In another example, the vessel wall stiffness characteristic is an average propagation speed of the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the vessel on a target segment of the vessel wall of the ultrasound image, which includes a segment of the vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image. As shown in fig. 16, the processor 20 visually expresses the average propagation velocity of the target segment of the blood vessel wall by using preset image elements at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the blood vessel axial direction, and indicates a position corresponding to the target segment of the blood vessel wall on the entire blood vessel wall of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a3 (as shown by a triangular arrow in the figure, so that the doctor can know the peak position). In other words, the processor 20 obtains the average propagation speed of the vessel wall section through which the pulse wave passes when the pulse wave propagates to each detection point along the vessel axial direction on the vessel wall in the ultrasound image; and representing the average propagation speed by adopting colors, patterns or pattern density at a position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time of the pulse wave propagation to the detection point during display. That is, the average propagation velocity is the same as that shown in fig. 15, but the presentation is different, and fig. 15 displays the image elements only in the target segment of the blood vessel, and fig. 16 displays the image elements over the entire segment of the blood vessel. For example, when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall for 0.03s, calculating an average propagation velocity of the pulse wave in the blood vessel wall section that has already propagated in the time period, and displaying the average propagation velocity in a preset image element at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall, as shown by a diagonal line region in fig. 16; when the pulse wave continues to propagate over the blood vessel to 0.033s, the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave over the vessel wall segment that has already propagated within 0.033s is calculated once more and the image elements are updated.

In another example, the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity is a propagation speed of a pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the vessel to each detection point. As shown in fig. 17, the processor 20 visually expresses the propagation velocity of each detection point by using preset image elements at the position corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram a4 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. For example, if the total propagation time of the pulse wave in a blood vessel in the acoustic window (visual field) is 0.04s, the propagation speed of each detection point when the pulse wave propagates through the blood vessel is obtained through processing calculation, and the propagation speed of each detection point is displayed in a preset image element, for example, a color mapping manner, so that the propagation speed of which detection point position is slow and the propagation speed of which detection point position is fast is clear at a glance. Since the detection points are similar to the sampling points and it is not possible to calculate the propagation velocity at all points in the axial direction of the vessel wall from the calculation amount, the image element represents the propagation velocity of the detection points, and a small section of area, such as the small rectangular frame area in fig. 17, is shown instead of the narrowly defined points, so that the propagation velocity is presented more intuitively as an image element. Since the propagation velocities at the detection points are also not greatly different from cardiac cycle to cardiac cycle, the color display range and the color in the pulse wave propagation state diagram a4 are not dynamically changed substantially with the cardiac cycle. Similar to the first one, the pulse wave propagation state diagram a4 belongs to "static". The dynamic display propagation speed is more intuitive, and the invention mainly introduces the dynamic display condition. Of course, the processor 20 is also configured to determine the standard deviation of the propagation velocity at each detection point; and synchronously displaying the standard deviation when displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram A4 so that a doctor can more intuitively see the uniformity of the pulse wave propagation speed.

In another example, the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity is a propagation speed of a pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the vessel to each detection point. As shown in fig. 18, the processor 20 visually expresses the pulse wave propagation speed corresponding to each detection point by using a preset image element at a position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel when the pulse wave propagates to each detection point (for example, the first time). For example, the processor 20 acquires the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; and (2) representing the propagation speed corresponding to each detection point at the position corresponding to each detection point of the vessel wall section which has passed the pulse wave along the axial direction of the vessel by adopting the density of colors, patterns or patterns, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 distributed along the axial direction of the vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 according to the time of the pulse wave propagating to the detection point during displaying (namely, dynamically displaying). Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram a5 shows the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along the blood vessel axial direction on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image to each detection point, the areas of the image elements in the pulse wave propagation state diagram a5 or the pulse wave propagation state diagram a5 are dynamically changed as the propagation advances. As shown in the left diagram of fig. 18, the propagation speed of the current pulse wave at the detection point is calculated when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall for 0.03s, and the propagation speed is displayed as a preset image element at the position corresponding to the detection point, and the image element at the position corresponding to the detection point through which the pulse wave has passed remains. Diagonal regions as in the left diagram of fig. 18; when the pulse wave continues to propagate to 0.033s on the blood vessel, calculating the propagation speed of the detection point to which the current pulse wave propagates, displaying the propagation speed at the position corresponding to the detection point by using a preset image element, and continuously retaining the image element at the position corresponding to the detection point through which the pulse wave has passed, as shown by the oblique line area in the right diagram of fig. 18. By analogy, the length of the whole oblique line region is determined by the current propagation range, the oblique line density of the corresponding position of the detection point is determined by the propagation speed of the detection point, and the whole oblique line region is lengthened along the axial direction of the blood vessel along with the propagation. Similarly, different propagation velocities can be expressed by different colors, which is actually equivalent to replacing the diagonal lines in fig. 18 with corresponding colors.

Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram a5 is dynamically changed, the superposition result of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a5 and the ultrasound image C is equivalent to being dynamically played in a movie form according to a time sequence, that is, the pulse wave propagation is represented in real time. The propagation of the pulse wave is reflected in: the image element regions of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a5 or the pulse wave propagation state diagram a5 are advanced from the proximal end to the distal end in the blood vessel axial direction in accordance with the pulse wave propagation time, for example, advanced in the horizontal direction in accordance with the pulse wave propagation time as shown in fig. 18. Therefore, the propagation process of the pulse wave is intuitively reflected, and the difference of the propagation speed of each detection point can be observed.

In another example, the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity is a propagation speed of a pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the vessel to each detection point. As shown in fig. 19, the processor 20 visually expresses the propagation velocity of each detection point by using preset image elements at the position corresponding to each detection point of the target segment of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the blood vessel axial direction. Wherein the target segment of the blood vessel wall comprises a segment of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image. For example, the processor 20 obtains the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image (the speed of the pulse wave passing through the detection point is the instantaneous speed or the average speed of the detection point corresponding to a small section of the blood vessel wall); and (3) representing the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point by adopting colors, patterns or pattern density at the position corresponding to the current detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram A6 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram A6 according to the time of the pulse wave propagating to the detection point during display. Compared with fig. 18, in this scheme, only the image elements outside the target blood vessel wall are not retained, and the rest are the same, so the description is omitted. Of course, the target segment of the blood vessel wall may also be a segment of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave has propagated, which extends from the detection point to which the pulse wave currently propagates by a preset length, that is, on the basis of fig. 19, the extension length of the image element area in the blood vessel axial direction is adjusted as needed.

In another example, the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity is a propagation speed of a pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the vessel to each detection point. As shown in fig. 20, the processor 20 visually expresses the propagation speed of the detection point to which the pulse wave currently propagates with preset image elements at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image in the blood vessel axial direction, and indicates the position to which the pulse wave currently propagates on the entire blood vessel wall of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a 7. For example, the processor 20 acquires the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; and adopting the density of colors, patterns or patterns to represent the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point at the position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram A7 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram A7 according to the time of the pulse wave propagation to the detection point during display. Compared with the scheme shown in fig. 19, the scheme shows the propagation velocity corresponding to the current detection point or the propagation velocity corresponding to a small segment of blood vessel at the current detection point, but the difference is that in this way, the image element area covers the whole segment of blood vessel wall, and the current propagation position of the pulse wave is indicated by the mark (a triangular arrow in the figure), and the rest is the same, so the details are not repeated.

In another example, the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity is a propagation speed of a pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the vessel to each detection point. The processor 20 adopts preset image elements to visually express the propagation speed of the currently propagated detection point of the pulse wave at the position corresponding to the target section of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, wherein the target section of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasonic image comprises a section of the blood vessel wall of the pulse wave currently propagated in the ultrasonic image. For example, the processor 20 acquires the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; and adopting the color, pattern or pattern density to represent the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point at the position corresponding to each detection point of the vessel wall section through which the pulse wave passes along the axial direction of the vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram A distributed along the axial direction of the vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram A according to the time of the pulse wave propagation to the detection point during display. The display effect of this method is similar to that shown in fig. 15, except that fig. 15 shows the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the target blood vessel wall in the position corresponding to the target blood vessel wall by using the image element, and shows the propagation velocity of the detected point currently propagated in the position corresponding to the target blood vessel wall by using the image element in this example. Of course, the target segment of the blood vessel wall may also be a segment of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave has propagated, which extends from the detection point to which the pulse wave currently propagates by a preset length, that is, on the basis of fig. 20, the extension length of the image element area in the blood vessel axial direction is adjusted as needed.

In the above illustrated visualization display manner, the processor 20 further obtains a second time when the detection points arranged along the blood vessel axial direction on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image reach the peak position according to the ultrasound data, and identifies the detection point where the current peak is located on the pulse wave propagation state diagram by using an icon (such as a triangular arrow in fig. 15, 16, and 18-20) to prompt the doctor where the current pulse wave propagates, which is very intuitive. If the first predetermined threshold is a threshold for determining the peak, the detection point where the current peak is located is marked with an icon on the pulse wave propagation state diagram at the first time when each detection point reaches the peak position, without repeatedly calculating the second time.

In the above-illustrated visual display manner, the processor 20 further suspends the updating of the pulse wave propagation state diagram a1-a7 according to a suspension instruction input by the user through the human-computer interaction device 70; according to the position of a cursor (a mouse cursor, a track ball cursor, a touch point or the like) of the human-computer interaction device, the propagation speed of a detection point nearest to the cursor position is displayed on the paused pulse wave propagation state diagram A1-A7. Therefore, no matter what visualization mode is adopted, the doctor can obtain the desired propagation speed of the detection point position in a manual selection mode.

In the above illustrated visualization display manner, when the pulse wave propagates through the entire section of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, the processor 20 further presents the propagation speed corresponding to each detection point in the form of a picture through the display interface of the human-computer interaction device, so as to facilitate the observation, recording and printing of the result by the doctor.

In an alternative embodiment, the mode of fig. 14-20 may use color as the image element to represent the propagation velocity, and in addition to such dynamic display of the propagation velocity in the form of a color map, the propagation velocity may also be dynamically displayed in the form of a two-dimensional vector map, for example, the propagation velocity may be represented in the form of a waveform map, a histogram, or an area map, and pulse wave propagation state maps A8 and a9 are generated, as shown in fig. 21 and 22.

The visual optimal dynamic display of the invention displays the propagation speed of the pulse wave in a graphical mode on the display interface and changes along with the time, so that an ultrasonic doctor can see the propagation speed at a glance, and the display is very convenient and visual.

Similarly, on the display interface, if the user does not select the ROI, the whole blood vessel wall is the blood vessel wall section of the ultrasound image in the whole target region, and the ultrasound B image video and the pulse wave propagation state diagram a1-a7 in the whole target region are superimposed; if the user selects the ROI, the whole blood vessel wall is the blood vessel wall section of the ultrasonic image in the ROI area, and the ultrasonic B image video and the pulse wave propagation state diagram A1-A7 in the ROI area can be only overlapped. Of course, the specific numerical value of the propagation speed can also be displayed on the display interface in real time, so that the user can conveniently and accurately master the specific numerical value.

Therefore, by adopting the technical scheme of the invention, if in the real-time imaging mode, a user only needs to horizontally place the probe on the body surface, so that the visual angle is positioned on the long axis of the blood vessel. Keeping the probe position still, starting scanning, and selecting ROI (region of interest), wherein the ultrasonic imaging equipment can generate a blood vessel B diagram and a pulse wave propagation state diagram A, and the blood vessel B diagram and the pulse wave propagation state diagram A are displayed in an overlapping manner, so that the propagation speed can be displayed at a corresponding position, and the blood vessel structure and the propagation speed are better related; if the ultrasonic imaging device acquires the data stored in the memory in the non-real-time imaging mode, the blood vessel B image and the pulse wave propagation state image A are generated after processing, and the propagation speed displayed by the propagation state image can be displayed on the corresponding position. Meanwhile, the propagation condition of the pulse wave is dynamically displayed in a movie mode and matched with the indication of the wave crest, so that the propagation process of the pulse wave can be visually and accurately represented. In the embodiment of the invention, the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the blood vessel B diagram can be synchronously and dynamically displayed, or only the pulse wave propagation state diagram can be dynamically displayed, and one frame B diagram in the propagation state process is statically displayed.

Reference is made herein to various exemplary embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope hereof. For example, the various operational steps, as well as the components used to perform the operational steps, may be implemented in differing ways depending upon the particular application or consideration of any number of cost functions associated with operation of the system (e.g., one or more steps may be deleted, modified or incorporated into other steps).

Additionally, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the principles herein may be reflected in a computer program product on a computer readable storage medium, which is pre-loaded with computer readable program code. Any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be used, including magnetic storage devices (hard disks, floppy disks, etc.), optical storage devices (CD-ROMs, DVDs, Blu Ray disks, etc.), flash memory, and/or the like. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including means for implementing the function specified. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified.

While the principles herein have been illustrated in various embodiments, many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions, elements, materials, and components particularly adapted to specific environments and operative requirements may be employed without departing from the principles and scope of the present disclosure. The above modifications and other changes or modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this document.

The foregoing detailed description has been described with reference to various embodiments. However, one skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure is to be considered in an illustrative and not a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope thereof. Also, advantages, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to various embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any element(s) to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential feature or element of any or all the claims. As used herein, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, system, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the term "coupled," and any other variation thereof, as used herein, refers to a physical connection, an electrical connection, a magnetic connection, an optical connection, a communicative connection, a functional connection, and/or any other connection.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined from the following claims.

Claims

A pulse wave imaging method characterized by comprising:

acquiring ultrasonic data of a preset time period, wherein the ultrasonic data is data obtained by performing beam forming on an ultrasonic echo signal obtained by using a blood vessel of a target object as a detection object;

generating an ultrasound image containing a blood vessel according to the ultrasound data;

obtaining a blood vessel wall hardness characteristic quantity reflected by a pulse wave axially propagating on a blood vessel wall according to the ultrasonic data, wherein the blood vessel wall hardness characteristic quantity is a propagation speed of the pulse wave axially propagating on the blood vessel wall; and

and dynamically displaying the propagation speed according to the sequence of the propagation time in a graphical visualization mode along the axial direction of the blood vessel on a display interface.
A pulse wave imaging method characterized by comprising:

acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic data, wherein the ultrasonic data is data obtained by performing beam forming on an ultrasonic echo signal obtained by using a blood vessel of a target object as a detection object;

generating an ultrasonic image containing a blood vessel axial sectioning structure according to at least part of the ultrasonic data of the plurality of frames;

obtaining a blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by a pulse wave propagating on a blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel according to at least part of the ultrasonic data; and

and visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram.
A pulse wave imaging method, comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to blood vessels of a target object for ultrasonic imaging;

receiving an ultrasonic echo returned by a blood vessel of the target object to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

performing signal processing on the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain ultrasonic data;

obtaining a vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by a pulse wave propagating on a vessel wall along the axial direction of the vessel according to the ultrasonic data; and

and visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel to generate a pulse wave propagation state diagram displayed in real time.
The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the vessel wall stiffness characteristic is a propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall along an axial direction of the vessel.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein acquiring ultrasound data comprises:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to a target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

and at least performing beam synthesis processing on the ultrasonic echo signals to obtain the ultrasonic data of the blood vessel of the target object.
The method of claim 3, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves into a blood vessel of a target object comprises: and transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate.
The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein the scanning frame rate is at least 1000Hz or higher.
The method of any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scan frame rate comprises:

emitting unfocused ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, wherein a scanning area of the unfocused ultrasonic waves emitted at one time covers a specified inspection area of a blood vessel.
The method of claim 8, wherein the unfocused ultrasound waves comprise planar ultrasound waves or divergent ultrasound waves.
The method of any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scan frame rate comprises:

and transmitting multi-time focusing ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, wherein the transmitting times of the multi-time focusing ultrasonic waves are lower than the preset transmitting times of focusing imaging, and the scanning area of the multi-time focusing ultrasonic waves covers the appointed examination area of the blood vessel.
The method of any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scan frame rate comprises:

and transmitting at least one time of wide focusing ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, wherein the scanning area of the at least one time of wide focusing ultrasonic waves covers the appointed examination area of the blood vessel.
The method of claim 1 or 4, wherein obtaining from the ultrasound data a vessel wall stiffness characteristic reflected by a pulse wave propagating axially along the vessel wall on the vessel wall comprises:

detecting the pulsation parameters of detection points which are arranged on the blood vessel wall along the blood vessel axial direction in the ultrasonic image at different time points according to the ultrasonic data;

detecting a first time at which the beat parameter at each detection point reaches a first predetermined threshold;

and obtaining the propagation speed of the pulse wave on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point.
The method of claim 12, wherein the detecting the pulsation parameters of the blood vessel wall at different time points along the axial direction of the blood vessel from the ultrasonic data comprises:

detecting a time point when the pulse parameter of a designated detection point reaches a preset specific value, and respectively extending forward and/or backward for preset time by taking the time point as a starting point to obtain an effective time period;

and acquiring the pulse parameters of different time points of each detection point in the effective time period.
The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein detecting the pulsation parameters of the blood vessel wall at different time points along the axial direction of the blood vessel from the ultrasound data comprises:

detecting a position of a blood vessel wall in a frame of image data from the ultrasound data;

calculating the radial displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall, which is distributed along the blood vessel axial direction, at different time points according to the positions of the blood vessel wall in different frames;

and obtaining the pulsation parameters of the detection points at different time points according to the radial displacement of the detection points on the vessel wall.
The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein the pulsatile parameter is displacement of a unilateral vessel wall, radial velocity of motion of a unilateral vessel wall, radial acceleration of motion of a unilateral vessel wall, change in vessel diameter, velocity of change in vessel diameter, or acceleration of change in vessel diameter.
The method of claim 4, wherein the ultrasound imaging by transmitting ultrasound waves into a blood vessel of a target object comprises B imaging or M imaging, the ultrasound data comprising M data; the obtaining of the blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by the pulse wave axially propagating on the blood vessel wall according to the ultrasonic data comprises:

detecting the radial displacement of each detection point which is arranged on the blood vessel wall along the blood vessel axial direction at different time points according to the M data;

detecting a first time when the radial displacement of each detection point reaches a second preset threshold;

and obtaining the propagation speed of the pulse wave on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point.
The method of claim 4, wherein the ultrasound imaging by transmitting ultrasound waves into a blood vessel of a target object comprises Doppler imaging; the obtaining of the blood vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by the pulse wave axially propagating on the blood vessel wall according to the ultrasonic data comprises:

analyzing Doppler information of the ultrasonic data to obtain speed information of detection points which are arranged on a blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel at different time points;

detecting first time when the speed information of each detection point reaches a third preset threshold;

and obtaining the propagation speed of the pulse wave on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point.
The method of claim 4, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves into a blood vessel of a target object for ultrasound imaging comprises: and emitting ultrasonic waves to the blood vessels of the target object for B imaging, M imaging, TDI imaging or TVI imaging.
The method of any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein obtaining the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image according to the position of each detection point in the blood vessel axial direction and the first time corresponding to each detection point comprises:

obtaining the average propagation speed of the pulse wave on the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point; or

And obtaining the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point according to the position of the two adjacent detection points in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the difference value of the first time corresponding to the two adjacent detection points.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the visually expressing the blood vessel wall hardness characterization along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises visually expressing the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point by using preset image elements at the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the visually expressing the blood vessel wall hardness characterization along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises visually expressing the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point by using preset image elements at the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel when the first time corresponding to each detection point arrives.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vessel wall stiffness characteristic is an average propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along a vessel axial direction on a target segment of a vessel wall of the ultrasound image, the target segment of the vessel wall of the ultrasound image including a segment of the vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image.
The method of claim 22, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction comprises:

and carrying out visual expression on the average propagation speed by adopting preset image elements at the position corresponding to the vascular wall of the target section along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The method of claim 22, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction comprises:

and the average propagation speed is visually expressed by adopting preset image elements at the position corresponding to the whole section of the vascular wall of the ultrasonic image in the axial direction of the blood vessel, and the position corresponding to the target section of the vascular wall is indicated on the whole section of the vascular wall of the pulse wave propagation state diagram.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the vessel wall stiffness characteristic is a propagation speed of the pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall of the ultrasonic image along a vessel axial direction to each detection point.
The method of claim 19 or 25, wherein the method further comprises:

determining the standard deviation of the propagation speed of each detection point; and

and synchronously displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the standard deviation.
The method of claim 25, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction comprises:

and respectively carrying out visual expression on the propagation speed of each detection point by adopting a preset image element at the position corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The method of claim 25, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization along the axial direction of the vessel comprises visually expressing the propagation velocity of the pulse wave corresponding to each detection point by using a preset image element at the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the vessel when the pulse wave propagates to each detection point.
The method of claim 25, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction comprises:

the edge the blood vessel axial direction is in with the position that each detection point of the target section vascular wall of ultrasonic image corresponds, adopts and predetermines picture element pair the propagation velocity of each detection point carries out visual expression, target section vascular wall includes the pulse wave is in one section vascular wall that current propagation passed through in the ultrasonic image, perhaps target section vascular wall includes certainly the detection point that pulse wave current propagation arrived extends one section vascular wall that preset length, pulse wave had propagated the process.
The method of claim 25, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction comprises:

the method comprises the following steps that the blood vessel axial direction is in a position corresponding to a target section blood vessel wall of an ultrasonic image, the propagation speed of a detection point which is currently propagated by the pulse wave is visually expressed by adopting a preset image element, and the target section blood vessel wall of the ultrasonic image comprises the pulse wave which is currently propagated by one section of blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image.
The method of claim 25, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction comprises:

and the propagation speed of a detection point currently propagated by the pulse wave is visually expressed by adopting a preset image element at a position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasonic image in the axial direction of the blood vessel, and the whole section of the blood vessel wall of the pulse wave propagation state diagram indicates the position currently propagated by the pulse wave.
A method according to any of claims 20 to 31, wherein the picture elements comprise a colour, a pattern or a density of patterns.
A method according to any one of claims 20 to 32, wherein visually representing the vessel wall stiffness characteristic in the axial direction of the vessel further comprises synchronously displaying a magnitude bar indicating a correspondence of a magnitude of the vessel wall stiffness characteristic to a color, pattern, or density of the pattern.
The method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 4 to 33, wherein the visualizing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction further comprises displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the ultrasound image in an overlapping manner according to a preset weight; or displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram in the vicinity of the ultrasonic image.
The method of claim 34, further comprising,

detecting a user modification to the weights;

and updating the superposition display of the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the ultrasonic image according to the modified weight.
The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the pulse wave propagation state diagram is advanced from proximal to distal along the vessel axis according to the pulse wave propagation time.
The method of claim 36, wherein the pulse wave propagation state diagram advances in a horizontal direction according to the time of the pulse wave propagation.
The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterizing quantity in the vessel axial direction comprises:

obtaining the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity of each detection point on the vessel wall along the axial direction of the vessel;

different vessel wall hardnesses are expressed by different colors, patterns or pattern densities, or different vessel wall hardnesses are expressed by means of oscillograms, histograms or area graphs, and a pulse wave propagation state graph distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel is generated.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity is an average value of detection points arranged along the axial direction of the vessel on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image or a value corresponding to the position of each detection point.
The method of claim 4, wherein the visualizing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction to generate and display the pulse wave propagation state diagram comprises:

acquiring the average propagation speed of the pulse wave axially propagating along the blood vessel on the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image; representing the average propagation speed by adopting colors, patterns or pattern densities at positions corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

acquiring the average propagation speed of the pulse wave on the wall section of the blood vessel through which the pulse wave passes when the pulse wave propagates to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the wall of the blood vessel in the ultrasonic image; adopting colors, patterns or pattern density to represent the average propagation speed at the corresponding position of the vessel wall section where the pulse wave passes along the axial direction of the vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time of the pulse wave propagation to the detection point during display; wherein, the detection points are arranged on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the vessel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

acquiring the average propagation speed of the pulse wave on the wall section of the blood vessel through which the pulse wave passes when the pulse wave propagates to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the wall of the blood vessel in the ultrasonic image; representing the average propagation speed by adopting colors, patterns or pattern density at a position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time of the pulse wave propagation to a detection point during display; wherein, the detection points are arranged on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the vessel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

acquiring the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image; representing the propagation speed corresponding to each detection point by adopting colors, patterns or the density of the patterns at the positions corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel; wherein, the detection points are arranged on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the vessel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

acquiring the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image; adopting color, pattern or pattern density to represent the propagation speed corresponding to each detection point at the position corresponding to each detection point of the vessel wall section where the pulse wave passes along the axial direction of the vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time of the pulse wave propagating to the detection point during displaying; wherein, the detection points are arranged on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the vessel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

acquiring the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image; adopting color, pattern or pattern density to represent the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point at the position corresponding to the pulse wave passing through the current detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time of the pulse wave propagating to the detection point during displaying; wherein, the detection points are arranged on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the vessel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

acquiring the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image; representing the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point by adopting the density of colors, patterns or patterns at the position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time of the pulse wave propagation to the detection point during display; wherein, the detection points are arranged on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the vessel; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

acquiring the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point on the vessel wall in the ultrasonic image; adopting the density of colors, patterns or patterns at the positions corresponding to all detection points of the vessel wall section where the pulse waves pass along the axial direction of the vessel to represent the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point, generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the vessel, and updating the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time of the pulse waves propagating to the detection points during displaying; wherein the detection points are arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image.
The method of claim 40, further comprising: and obtaining second time when all detection points axially arranged along the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image reach the peak position according to the ultrasonic data, and marking the detection points where the current peak is located on the pulse wave propagation state diagram by using icons.
The method of claim 41,

obtaining, from the ultrasound data, a vessel wall stiffness characteristic reflected by a pulse wave propagating axially along a vessel wall, including: obtaining the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point arranged on the blood vessel wall along the blood vessel axial direction in the ultrasonic image according to the ultrasonic data;

the visualized expression of the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel further comprises the following steps: according to a pause instruction input by a user, pausing the updating of the pulse wave propagation state diagram; and displaying the propagation speed of a detection point nearest to the cursor position on the paused pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the position of a cursor of the human-computer interaction device.
The method of any of claims 12 to 18, wherein visually expressing the vessel wall stiffness characterization along the vessel axial direction further comprises:

and after the pulse wave is transmitted through the whole section of the vascular wall of the ultrasonic image, the transmission speed corresponding to each detection point is presented in the form of a picture.
The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined period of time is greater than or equal to one cardiac cycle.
An ultrasound imaging apparatus, comprising:

the ultrasonic probe is used for transmitting ultrasonic waves to the detected blood vessel and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain echo signals;

the transmitting circuit is used for exciting the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the detected blood vessel;

the receiving circuit is used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave returned from the detected blood vessel so as to obtain an echo signal;

the human-computer interaction device is used for acquiring the input of a user and carrying out visual output;

the processor is used for acquiring echo signals from the ultrasonic probe and processing the echo signals into ultrasonic data; generating an ultrasonic image containing blood vessels which are axially arranged according to the ultrasonic data; obtaining a vessel wall hardness characterization quantity reflected by a pulse wave axially propagating on a vessel wall according to the ultrasonic data; and visually expressing the vessel wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the vessel, so as to generate a pulse wave propagation state diagram, and displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram through the human-computer interaction device.
The ultrasonic imaging device of claim 45, wherein the vessel wall stiffness characteristic is a propagation velocity of a pulse wave propagating on a vessel wall along an axial direction of the vessel.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 45, wherein the processor acquires echo signals from an ultrasound probe and processes them into ultrasound data comprises:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to a target object through an ultrasonic probe at a preset scanning frame rate, and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

and at least performing beam synthesis processing on the ultrasonic echo signals to obtain the ultrasonic data of the blood vessel of the target object.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 47, wherein the scan frame rate is at least 1000Hz or greater.
The ultrasound imaging apparatus according to claim 47 or 48, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves to the target object by the ultrasound probe at a preset scan frame rate comprises:

emitting non-focused ultrasonic waves to the target object through an ultrasonic probe at a preset scanning frame rate, wherein the scanning area of the non-focused ultrasonic waves emitted at one time covers the appointed examination area of the blood vessel.
The ultrasonic imaging device of claim 49, wherein the unfocused ultrasonic waves comprise planar ultrasonic waves or divergent ultrasonic waves.
The ultrasound imaging apparatus according to claim 47 or 48, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves to the target object by the ultrasound probe at a preset scan frame rate comprises:

and transmitting multi-time focusing ultrasonic waves to the target object through an ultrasonic probe at a preset scanning frame rate, wherein the transmitting times of the multi-time focusing ultrasonic waves are lower than the preset transmitting times of focusing imaging, and the scanning area of the multi-time focusing ultrasonic waves covers the part of the blood vessel to designate an examination area.
The ultrasound imaging apparatus according to claim 47 or 48, wherein said transmitting ultrasound waves to the target object by the ultrasound probe at a preset scan frame rate comprises:

transmitting at least one time of wide focusing ultrasonic wave to the target object by an ultrasonic probe at a preset scanning frame rate, wherein the scanning area of the at least one time of wide focusing ultrasonic wave covers the appointed examination area of the blood vessel.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 45, wherein the vessel wall stiffness characteristic is an average propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along a vessel axial direction on a target segment of a vessel wall of the ultrasound image, the target segment of the vessel wall of the ultrasound image including a segment of the vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image.
The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 53, wherein the processor visually expresses the vessel wall stiffness characterization along a vessel axial direction, comprising:

and carrying out visual expression on the average propagation speed by adopting preset image elements at the position corresponding to the vascular wall of the target section along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 53, wherein the processor visually expresses the vessel wall stiffness characterization along a vessel axial direction, comprising:

and the average propagation speed is visually expressed by adopting preset image elements at the position corresponding to the whole section of the vascular wall of the ultrasonic image in the axial direction of the blood vessel, and the position corresponding to the target section of the vascular wall is indicated on the whole section of the vascular wall of the pulse wave propagation state diagram.
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus of claim 45, wherein the vessel wall hardness characterization is a propagation speed of the pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall of the ultrasonic image along a vessel axial direction to each detection point.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 56, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a standard deviation of the propagation velocity at the detection points; and synchronously displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the standard deviation through the human-computer interaction device.
The ultrasound imaging apparatus of claim 56, wherein the processor visually expresses the vessel wall stiffness characterization along a vessel axial direction, comprising:

and respectively carrying out visual expression on the propagation speed of each detection point by adopting a preset image element at the position corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasonic image along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 56, wherein the processor visually expresses the vessel wall stiffness characterization along a vessel axial direction comprises:

and visually expressing the propagation speed of the pulse wave corresponding to each detection point by adopting a preset image element when the pulse wave propagates to each detection point at the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 56, wherein the processor visually expresses the vessel wall stiffness characterization along a vessel axial direction comprises:

the edge the blood vessel axial direction is in with the position that each detection point of the target section vascular wall of ultrasonic image corresponds, adopts and predetermines picture element pair the propagation velocity of each detection point carries out visual expression, target section vascular wall includes the pulse wave is in one section vascular wall that current propagation passed through in the ultrasonic image, perhaps target section vascular wall includes certainly the detection point that pulse wave current propagation arrived extends one section vascular wall that preset length, pulse wave had propagated the process.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 56, wherein the processor visually expresses the vessel wall stiffness characterization along a vessel axial direction comprises:

the method comprises the following steps that the blood vessel axial direction is in a position corresponding to a target section blood vessel wall of an ultrasonic image, the propagation speed of a detection point which is currently propagated by the pulse wave is visually expressed by adopting a preset image element, and the target section blood vessel wall of the ultrasonic image comprises the pulse wave which is currently propagated by one section of blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 56, wherein the processor visually expresses the vessel wall stiffness characterization along a vessel axial direction comprises:

and the propagation speed of a detection point currently propagated by the pulse wave is visually expressed by adopting a preset image element at a position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasonic image in the axial direction of the blood vessel, and the whole section of the blood vessel wall of the pulse wave propagation state diagram indicates the position currently propagated by the pulse wave.
The ultrasound imaging device of any one of claims 46 to 62, wherein the processor visually represents the vessel wall stiffness characterizing quantity in the vessel axial direction further comprises:

superposing and displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the blood vessels axially arranged in the ultrasonic image according to a preset weight; or displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram in the vicinity of the ultrasonic image.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 63, wherein the processor is further configured to:

detecting, by a human-computer interaction device, a modification of the weight by a user;

and updating the superposition display of the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the axially arranged blood vessels in the ultrasonic image according to the modified weight.
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus characterized by comprising:

a memory for storing a program;

a processor for executing the memory-stored program to implement the method of any one of claims 1-44.
A computer-readable storage medium, comprising a program executable by a processor to implement the method of any one of claims 1-44.