CN116421218A

CN116421218A - Ultrasonic wave transmitting method and system

Info

Publication number: CN116421218A
Application number: CN202310329356.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 何成; 奥利弗·海德
Original assignee: Wuhan United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Current assignee: Wuhan United Imaging Healthcare Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-10-22
Filing date: 2021-10-22
Publication date: 2023-07-14
Also published as: CN114052786B; CN114052786A

Abstract

The specification discloses an ultrasonic emission method, which is based on trigger conditions, and obtains at least one group of ultrasonic imaging historical data; acquiring historical imaging time based on at least one set of ultrasound imaging historical data; judging whether the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time meet preset conditions, wherein the inter-frame time is the interval time of transmitting ultrasound corresponding to two adjacent frames of images; if yes, updating the inter-frame time into the historical imaging time; if not, the inter-frame time is not updated.

Description

Ultrasonic wave transmitting method and system

Description of the division

The present application is a divisional application of chinese patent application CN202111232861.9 entitled "a method and system for ultrasonic emission" filed on day 22 of 10 of 2021.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of ultrasonic technology, and in particular, to a method and a system for transmitting ultrasonic waves.

Background

Ultrasound images are internal tissue images acquired by receiving and processing scan data by scanning a target object with ultrasound for medical or medical research. Each frame of ultrasound image may be acquired based on scan data corresponding to a plurality of ultrasound transmissions. The inter-frame time is the interval time of the emitted ultrasound corresponding to the adjacent two frames of ultrasonic images. However, as the operating time of the ultrasound transmission system increases, its performance changes accordingly, resulting in a mismatch between the current inter-frame time and the ultrasound system. Specifically, when the inter-frame time is too long, after one frame of ultrasonic image is generated, a longer pause time exists before the ultrasonic corresponding to the next frame of ultrasonic image is transmitted, so that the ultrasonic image is blocked, and meanwhile, the generation efficiency of the ultrasonic image is reduced; when the inter-frame time is too short, the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the ultrasonic wave image of the next frame are transmitted before the ultrasonic wave image of the previous frame is acquired, so that the information of the ultrasonic wave image of the previous frame is lost, and the ultrasonic wave image is blocked.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an ultrasound transmission method that can improve the adaptability of the inter-frame time, thereby improving the quality of ultrasound images.

Disclosure of Invention

One aspect of the present specification provides an ultrasonic wave transmitting method, the method comprising: acquiring at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data based on the trigger condition; acquiring historical imaging time based on at least one set of ultrasound imaging historical data; judging whether the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time meet preset conditions, wherein the inter-frame time is the interval time of transmitting ultrasound corresponding to two adjacent frames of images; if yes, updating the inter-frame time into the historical imaging time; if not, the inter-frame time is not updated.

Another aspect of the present specification provides an ultrasound transmission system, wherein the system includes an inter-frame time determination module for: acquiring at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data based on the trigger condition; acquiring historical imaging time based on at least one set of ultrasound imaging historical data; judging whether the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time meet preset conditions, wherein the inter-frame time is the interval time of transmitting ultrasound corresponding to two adjacent frames of images; if yes, updating the inter-frame time into the historical imaging time; if not, the inter-frame time is not updated.

Another aspect of the present specification provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that, when read by a computer in the storage medium, the computer performs an ultrasonic wave transmission method.

Other embodiments of the present description dynamically adjust the inter-frame spacing based on ultrasound imaging history data so that the inter-frame time can be dynamically varied as system performance changes to obtain high quality ultrasound images.

Drawings

The present specification will be further described by way of exemplary embodiments, which will be described in detail by way of the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are not limiting, in which like numerals represent like structures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an application scenario of an ultrasound transmission system according to some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram of an ultrasound transmission system shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flow chart of an ultrasound transmission method according to some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 4a is an exemplary schematic diagram of a linear array ultrasound probe transducer shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 4b is an exemplary schematic diagram of a convex array ultrasonic probe transducer according to some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 5a is an exemplary schematic diagram of a focal track of ultrasonic emissions of a linear array ultrasonic probe shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5b is an exemplary schematic diagram of a focal track of ultrasonic emissions of a convex array ultrasonic probe shown in accordance with some embodiments of the present description;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of determining inter-frame time according to some embodiments of the present description;

fig. 7 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of ultrasonic pulse data transmission according to some embodiments of the present description.

Detailed Description

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present specification, the drawings that are required to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only some examples or embodiments of the present specification, and it is possible for those of ordinary skill in the art to apply the present specification to other similar situations according to the drawings without inventive effort. Unless otherwise apparent from the context of the language or otherwise specified, like reference numerals in the figures refer to like structures or operations.

It should be appreciated that "system," "apparatus," "unit," and/or "module" as used in this specification is a method for distinguishing between different components, elements, parts, portions, or assemblies at different levels. However, if other words can achieve the same purpose, the words can be replaced by other expressions.

As used in this specification and the claims, the terms "a," "an," "the," and/or "the" are not specific to a singular, but may include a plurality, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In general, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" merely indicate that the steps and elements are explicitly identified, and they do not constitute an exclusive list, as other steps or elements may be included in a method or apparatus.

A flowchart is used in this specification to describe the operations performed by the system according to embodiments of the present specification. It should be appreciated that the preceding or following operations are not necessarily performed in order precisely. Rather, the steps may be processed in reverse order or simultaneously. Also, other operations may be added to or removed from these processes.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an application scenario of an ultrasonic transmission system according to some embodiments of the present description.

The ultrasound transmission system 100 may determine the focal track of the ultrasound transmission by implementing the methods and/or processes disclosed herein, thereby compensating for energy loss on both sides of the ultrasound probe and improving the resolution of the ultrasound image edges.

As shown in fig. 1, the ultrasonic wave transmitting system 100 may include: an ultrasound probe 110, a processing device 120, a terminal device 130, a network 140, and a storage device 150.

The components of the ultrasound transmission system 100 may be connected in one or more of a variety of ways. By way of example only, as shown in fig. 1, the ultrasound probe 110 may be connected to the processing device 120 through a network 140. For another example, the ultrasound probe 110 may be directly connected to the processing device 120 (as indicated by the dashed double-headed arrow connecting the ultrasound probe 110 and the processing device 120). As a further example, the storage device 150 may be connected to the processing device 120 directly or through the network 140. As a further example, terminal device 130 may be coupled to processing device 120 directly (as indicated by the dashed double-headed arrow connecting terminal device 130 and processing device 120) and/or via network 140.

The ultrasonic probe 110 can acquire scan data. Specifically, the ultrasonic probe 110 may transmit ultrasonic waves to a target object or a part thereof, and receive reflected ultrasonic waves of the target object or a part thereof. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic probe 110 may include, but is not limited to, a convex array probe, a linear array probe, a phased array probe, a high frequency probe, and the like.

The processing device 120 may process data and/or information obtained from the ultrasound probe 110, the terminal device 130, and/or the storage device 150. For example, the processing device 120 may determine a focus position corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the number of transmissions and/or the order of transmissions of the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted. For another example, the processing device 120 may update the inter-frame time based on at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data. As another example, the processing device 120 may compress at least a portion of the pulses of the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted into one octet of data. In some embodiments, processing device 120 may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a system on a chip (SoC), a microcontroller unit (MCU), etc., and/or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, processing device 120 may comprise a computer, a user console, a single server or group of servers, or the like. The server farm may be centralized or distributed. In some embodiments, the processing device 120 may be local or remote. For example, the processing device 120 may access information and/or data stored in the ultrasound probe 110, the terminal device 130, and/or the storage device 150 via the network 140. As another example, the processing device 120 may directly connect to the ultrasound probe 110, the terminal device 130, and/or the storage device 150 to access stored information and/or data. In some embodiments, the processing device 120 may be implemented on a cloud platform. For example only, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the processing device 120 or a portion of the processing device 120 may be integrated into the ultrasound probe 110.

The terminal device 130 may receive an instruction (e.g., an ultrasonic inspection mode) from the user and may also display an ultrasonic image to the user. Terminal device 130 may include a mobile device 131, a tablet computer 132, a notebook computer 133, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the terminal device 130 may be part of the processing device 120.

The network 140 may include any suitable network that facilitates the exchange of information and/or data by the ultrasound transmission system 100. In some embodiments, one or more components of the ultrasound transmission system 100 (e.g., the ultrasound probe 110, the processing device 120, the storage device 150, the terminal device 130) may communicate information and/or data with one or more other components of the ultrasound transmission system 100 over the network 140. For example, the processing device 120 may receive user instructions from a terminal device via a network. For another example, the ultrasound probe 110 may obtain ultrasound transmission parameters from the processing device 120 via the network 140. Network 140 may be and/or include a public network (e.g., the internet), a private network (e.g., a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN)), a wired network (e.g., an ethernet network), a wireless network (e.g., an 802.11 network, a Wi-Fi network), a cellular network (e.g., a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a frame relay network, a virtual private network ("VPN"), a satellite network, a telephone network, a router, a hub, a switch, a server computer, and/or any combination thereof. By way of example only, network 140 may include a cable network, a wired network Optical network, telecommunication network, intranet, wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), metropolitan Area Network (MAN), public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), bluetooth ^TM Network, zigbee ^TM A network, a Near Field Communication (NFC) network, etc., or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, network 140 may include one or more network access points. For example, network 140 may include wired and/or wireless network access points, such as base stations and/or internet switching points, through which one or more components of imaging system 110 may connect to network 140 to exchange data and/or information.

Storage device 150 may store data, instructions, and/or any other information. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may store data obtained from the ultrasound probe 110, the terminal device 130, and/or the processing device 120. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may store data and/or instructions that the processing device 120 may execute or use to perform the exemplary methods/systems described in this specification. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may include mass storage, removable storage, volatile read-write memory, read-only memory (ROM), and the like, or any combination thereof. Exemplary mass storage devices may include magnetic disks, optical disks, solid state disks, and the like. Exemplary removable storage may include flash drives, floppy disks, optical disks, memory cards, compact disks, tape, and the like. Exemplary volatile read-write memory can include Random Access Memory (RAM). Exemplary RAM may include Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), static Random Access Memory (SRAM), thyristor random access memory (T-RAM), zero capacitance random access memory (Z-RAM), and the like. Exemplary ROMs may include mask read-only memory (MROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk read-only memory, and the like. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may execute on a cloud platform. For example only, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an internal cloud, a multi-layer cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be connected to the network 140 to communicate with one or more other components of the ultrasound transmission system 100 (e.g., the ultrasound probe 110, the processing device 120, the storage device 150, the terminal device 130). One or more components of the ultrasound transmission system 100 may access data or instructions stored in the storage device 150 through the network 140. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be directly connected to or in communication with one or more other components of the ultrasound transmission system 100 (e.g., the ultrasound probe 110, the processing device 120, the storage device 150, the terminal device 130). In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be part of the processing device 120.

Fig. 2 is an exemplary block diagram of an ultrasound transmission system according to some embodiments of the present description.

In some embodiments, a first relative position determination module 210, a second relative position determination module 220, a focus radius determination module 230, and a focus position determination module 240 may be included in the system 100.

The first relative position determining module 210 may be configured to determine, based on the number of times and/or the order of transmission of the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted, a first relative position corresponding to each ultrasonic wave transmission, so as to obtain a plurality of first relative positions corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic wave transmissions. A detailed description of the first relative position determining module may refer to step 310, and will not be repeated herein.

The second relative position determination module 220 may be configured to map the plurality of equally spaced first relative positions to a plurality of non-equally spaced second relative positions corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic emissions. In some embodiments, the second relative position determination module may be configured to map the plurality of equally spaced first relative positions to the plurality of non-equally spaced second relative positions corresponding to the plurality of ultrasound transmissions by a non-linear curve. A detailed description of the second relative position determining module may refer to step 320, and will not be repeated here.

The focal radius determination module 230 may be configured to determine a transmission distance and a focal radius corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the ultrasonic transmission parameter and the second relative position corresponding to the each ultrasonic transmission. In some embodiments, the ultrasound transmission parameters include a transducer channel number, an array element width, and a transducer curvature of the transducer. In some embodiments, the focal radius determination module may be configured to determine a transmission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the number of transducer channels, the array element width, and a second relative position corresponding to the each ultrasonic transmission; and determining a focal radius corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission based on the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission, the second relative position corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission and the curvature of the transducer. The focal radius determining module may determine a focal curvature corresponding to each ultrasonic emission based on the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic emission, a second relative position corresponding to each ultrasonic emission, and the transducer curvature; judging whether the absolute value of the curvature of the focus corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission is smaller than a curvature threshold value: if yes, taking the reciprocal of the curvature threshold value as the value of the focal radius, and determining the direction of the focal radius based on the focal curvature; and if not, taking the reciprocal of the curvature of the focus as the radius of the focus. A detailed description of the focus radius determination module may refer to step 330, and will not be repeated herein.

The focal position determination module 240 may determine a focal position corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the transmission distance and the focal radius corresponding to the each ultrasonic transmission. In some embodiments, the focal position determining module 240 may obtain an arc corresponding to the transmission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the transmission distance and the transducer curvature corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission; based on the radian corresponding to the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic emission, acquiring the projection distance of the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic emission on a transverse axis and a longitudinal axis; acquiring an abscissa of a focus corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission based on a projection distance of the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission on a transverse axis, the focus radius and the transducer curvature; and acquiring the ordinate of the focus corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission based on the projection distance of the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission on a longitudinal axis, the focal radius and the curvature of the transducer. A detailed description of the focus position determining module may refer to step 340, and will not be repeated here.

Fig. 3 is an exemplary flow chart of an ultrasound transmission method according to some embodiments of the present description.

Ultrasound images are internal tissue images acquired by receiving and processing scan data by scanning a target object with ultrasound for medical or medical research.

In some embodiments, the target object may be a human body, organ, body, object, lesion site, tumor, or the like. For example, the target object may be one or more diseased tissues of a heart of a user.

The scan data is a reflected ultrasonic signal received from a target object or a part thereof by transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object or the part thereof through an ultrasonic probe.

In some embodiments, the format of the ultrasound image may include Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) image format, tagged Image File Format (TIFF) image format, graphics Interchange Format (GIF) image format, kodak Flash PiX (FPX) image format, digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) image format, and the like.

In some embodiments, each frame of ultrasound image may be acquired based on a corresponding scan data of a plurality of ultrasound transmissions. Each of the plurality of ultrasonic wave transmissions corresponds to a focal point at the time of transmission, the focal point being an intersection point of beam extension lines of the corresponding ultrasonic wave transmission on the target object or a part thereof. It will be appreciated that the greater the number of corresponding focal points of the target object or portion thereof, i.e., the greater the number of ultrasonic beams transmitted onto the target object or portion thereof, the greater the resolution of the ultrasonic image of the target object or portion thereof.

Therefore, in order to compensate for the lower resolution of the ultrasonic image edge caused by the energy loss on both sides of the ultrasonic probe, in transmitting the ultrasonic waves to the target object, the focal track of the transmitted ultrasonic waves with dense focuses on both sides can be designed. In addition, for an ultrasonic probe that scans a target object located deep, for example, a convex ultrasonic probe, a focal track of emitted ultrasonic waves whose intermediate focal points are dense may be designed to improve the ultrasonic image resolution of the target object located deep.

As shown in fig. 3, the ultrasonic wave transmitting method 300 may include:

step 310, determining a first relative position corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission based on the number of times and/or the emission sequence of the ultrasonic wave to be emitted, so as to obtain a plurality of first relative positions corresponding to the ultrasonic wave emissions.

Specifically, step 310 may be performed by the first relative position determination module 210.

The plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted are ultrasonic waves corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic image. In some embodiments, the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted may be in a non-focused transmission mode. The unfocused emission mode refers to an emission mode in which the corresponding focus of ultrasonic waves is not in an imaging region during emission. Such as plane wave transmission mode, divergent wave transmission mode, wide beam transmission mode, etc.

The number of times of transmission of the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted is the number of times of transmission of ultrasonic waves corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic image. For example, the number of transmissions is 10, and each frame of ultrasonic image is generated based on scan data of ultrasonic reflections transmitted 10 times to the target object or a part thereof. In some embodiments, the first relative position determination module 210 may determine the number of transmissions based on a user-entered ultrasound examination mode (e.g., abdominal examination mode, vascular examination mode, thyroid examination mode, etc.). For example, the first relative position determination module 210 may determine that the number of transmissions is 10 based on the ultrasound examination mode "abdominal examination mode" entered by the user. In some embodiments, the first relative position determination module 210 may also directly obtain the number of transmissions entered by the user.

The transmission sequence of the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted is composed of the sequence of each ultrasonic wave transmission of the plurality of ultrasonic waves. The order of emission of each ultrasonic wave may be represented by a number. For example, the transmission order of 10 ultrasonic waves to be transmitted may be 0, 1, 2 …, 9, which respectively represent the first transmitted ultrasonic wave, the second transmitted ultrasonic wave, the third transmitted ultrasonic wave …, the ninth transmitted ultrasonic wave, and the tenth transmitted ultrasonic wave.

The first relative position is the relative position of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the focus when the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the transmitting order are transmitted, and the array element centers on the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the focus are distributed at equal intervals. The relative position refers to the position distribution that the distance from the array element center corresponding to the transmitting sequence to the ultrasonic probe center (namely the transmitting distance) is mapped to a certain range. A detailed description of the transmission distance may be referred to step 330, and will not be described herein.

In some embodiments, the first relative position may represent a position distribution with values between [ -1,1 ]. As shown in fig. 4a, when the ultrasonic probe is a linear array, the focal points corresponding to the ultrasonic wave transmission for multiple times include a focal point a corresponding to the ultrasonic wave transmission for the 1 st time and a focal point B corresponding to the ultrasonic wave transmission for the 2 nd time, and then the first relative position corresponding to the ultrasonic wave transmission for the 1 st time, that is, the distance a 'O between the array element center a' corresponding to the focal point a and the ultrasonic probe center O is mapped to a value between [ -1,1], and then the first relative position corresponding to the ultrasonic wave transmission for the 2 nd time, that is, the distance B 'O between the array element center B' corresponding to the focal point B and the ultrasonic probe center O is mapped to a value between [ -1,1 ]. Illustratively, when the first relative position is less than 0, it means that the ultrasonic wave corresponding to the transmission order is being transmitted, the focal point is on the left side of the center of the ultrasonic probe, and when the first relative position is greater than 0, it means that the ultrasonic wave corresponding to the transmission order is being transmitted, the focal point is on the right side of the center of the ultrasonic probe. Further, the closer the first relative position is to-1 or 1, the closer the focus is to the edge of the ultrasonic probe when the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the transmitting sequence are transmitted; the closer the first relative position is to 0, the closer the focus is to the center of the ultrasonic probe when the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the transmission order are transmitted.

The first relative position may also reflect the relative position of the corresponding energy distribution of the ultrasound waves of each transmission order in the ultrasound image frame. For example, the closer the first relative position is to-1 or 1, the closer the corresponding energy distribution of the ultrasound waves of the corresponding emission order in the ultrasound image frame is to the image edge; the closer the first relative position is to 0, the closer the corresponding energy distribution of the ultrasound waves of the corresponding emission order in the ultrasound image frame is to the middle of the image.

In some embodiments, the first relative position may be determined by equation (1):

wherein n represents the number of times of transmission of a plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted, i represents the order of transmission of each ultrasonic wave, i is more than or equal to 0, alpha _i Representing the first relative position, alpha, corresponding to the ith transmitted ultrasonic wave _i ∈[-1,1]。

As can be seen from the formula (1), a plurality of first relative positions corresponding to a plurality of ultrasonic waves are obtained

The ultrasonic wave focusing lens is distributed at equal intervals, and a plurality of focuses corresponding to the ultrasonic waves are distributed at equal intervals.

For example, if the number of times n of the ultrasonic wave to be transmitted is 10, the first (i=0), the second (i=1), the third (i=2), the ninth (i=8) and the tenth (i=9) ultrasonic wave transmission correspond to the first relative positions of-1, -7/9, -5/9 … 7/9, and 1, respectively, and are equally spaced apart by a distance of 2/9.

It can be understood that, based on the first relative position and the parameters of the ultrasonic probe, the corresponding transmitting distance of the array element center of the corresponding equidistant distribution can be calculated, so that the focal position of the equidistant distribution is further calculated. However, the ultrasonic waves emitted based on the focal positions distributed at equal intervals cannot solve the problem of uneven resolution distribution of the ultrasonic image caused by scattering at both sides of the ultrasonic probe, and therefore, it is necessary to further acquire the emission distances corresponding to the array element centers distributed at unequal intervals, thereby further calculating the focal positions distributed at unequal intervals.

Step 320, mapping the plurality of first relative positions of the equidistant distribution to a plurality of second relative positions of the unequal equidistant distribution corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic emissions.

In particular, step 320 may be performed by the second relative position determination module 220.

The second relative position is the relative position of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the focus when the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the transmitting order are transmitted and the array element centers on the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the focus are distributed at unequal intervals.

It will be appreciated that when the plurality of focal points corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic waves are equally spaced, the corresponding plurality of ultrasonic waves are emitted uniformly from the ultrasonic probe, however, the resolution of the corresponding ultrasonic waves in the corresponding position in the ultrasonic image frame (i.e., the ultrasonic image frame edge position) is lower as the loss of ultrasonic energy on the ultrasonic probe is greater nearer to the edge.

To compensate for the uneven energy loss in multiple ultrasonic transmissions, the second relative position determination module 220 may map equally spaced focus relative positions to non-equally spaced distributions. Specifically, the second relative position determination module 220 may set more focal points at locations where the loss of ultrasonic energy is greater, i.e., the relative position spacing of the plurality of focal points is smaller.

In some embodiments, the second relative position determination module 220 may map the equally spaced plurality of first relative positions to the non-equally spaced plurality of second relative positions corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic emissions via a non-linear curve.

In some embodiments, the nonlinear curve may be represented by equation (2):

wherein i represents the order of each ultrasonic emission, alpha _i Represents the first relative position, W, of the ith transmitted ultrasonic wave _i And represents the second relative position corresponding to the ith transmitted ultrasonic wave.

Continuing with the above example, the second relative position determination module 220 may map the first relative positions-1, -7/9, -5/9, …/9, 7/9, 1 corresponding to the 0 th, 1 st, 2 nd, … … th, 8 th, 9 th ultrasonic transmissions to the second relative positions 1, -679/729, -545/729, … 545/729, 679/729, 1, respectively, with the intervals 50/729, 134/729, …, 134/729, 50/729 in sequence, by curve (2).

As can be seen from the formula (2), the closer the second relative position is to-1 or 1 (i.e. the closer the focus is to the edge of the ultrasonic probe when the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the transmitting order are transmitted), the smaller the interval between the corresponding second relative positions, and the larger the corresponding focus distribution density; the closer the second relative positions are to 0 (i.e., the closer the focus is to the center of the ultrasonic probe when the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the transmission order are transmitted), the larger the interval between the corresponding second relative positions, and the smaller the corresponding focus distribution density.

Similar to the first relative position, the second relative position may also reflect the relative position of the corresponding energy distribution of the ultrasound waves of each transmission order in the ultrasound image frame. For example, the closer the second relative position is to-1 or 1, the closer the corresponding energy distribution of the ultrasound waves of the corresponding emission order in the ultrasound image frame is to the image edge; the closer the second relative position is to 0, the closer the corresponding energy distribution of the ultrasound waves of the corresponding emission order in the ultrasound image frame is to the middle of the image.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure map a plurality of equally spaced first relative positions corresponding to a plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted into a plurality of non-equally spaced second relative positions through a curve, so that the relative positions between a plurality of focuses corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic waves are distributed more densely on two sides, thereby compensating for a lower resolution of an ultrasonic image edge caused by energy loss on two sides of an ultrasonic probe.

Step 330, determining a transmission distance and a focal radius corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the ultrasonic transmission parameters and the second relative position corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission.

Specifically, step 330 may be performed by the focal radius determination module 230.

The ultrasonic wave emission parameter is a parameter for controlling ultrasonic wave emission. In some embodiments, the ultrasound transmission parameters may include the transducer channel number, array element width, and transducer curvature of the transducer.

The transducer is an integral part of an ultrasonic probe, and can convert an electrical signal into an ultrasonic signal for transmission to a target object or a part thereof through an array element, and can also convert an ultrasonic signal reflected by the target object or a part thereof into an electrical signal (i.e., scan data) so as to generate an ultrasonic image. The array elements may be piezoelectric materials such as barium titanate, lead zirconate titanate, and the like. In some embodiments, multiple frequencies of array elements and transducer channels (i.e., control circuitry) corresponding to each array element may be included on the transducer. The transducer can excite array elements at different positions through the transducer channel by the electric signal to generate ultrasonic waves with different frequencies. In particular, the transducer may transmit each pulse signal to a corresponding transducer channel, each transducer channel exciting a corresponding element based on the pulse signal, thereby transmitting ultrasound waves of different or the same frequency at different or the same time. For more description of the pulse signal, refer to fig. 7 and the related description thereof, and are not repeated here.

The number of transducer channels is the number of transducer channels (control circuits). In some embodiments, each transducer channel may excite one array element. For example, a 20 channel number of transducers may excite 20 array elements.

The array element width is the cross-sectional width of the array element. As shown in fig. 4a, the array element (shown by a black short line segment in the figure) of the transducer of the linear array ultrasonic probe has a width d1 (e.g., 0.00003 m). As shown in fig. 4b, the array element (shown by a black short line in the figure) of the transducer of the convex array ultrasonic probe has a width d2 (for example, 0.000452 meters).

The curvature of a transducer is the inverse of the radius of the transducer and can be a parameter that characterizes the degree of bending of the array element arrangement on the transducer. The greater the curvature of the transducer, the greater the degree of bending of the array of transducer elements (i.e., the more convex the transducer) and the smaller the radius of the transducer; the smaller the curvature of the transducer, the smaller the degree of bending of the array of transducer elements (i.e., the flatter the transducer), and the larger the radius of the transducer. As shown in fig. 4a, the transducer array elements of the linear array ultrasonic probe are arranged in a straight line, and the transducer curvature of the linear array ultrasonic probe is 0. As shown in fig. 4b, when the transducer array elements of the convex array ultrasonic probe are arranged in a curve, the curvature of the transducer of the linear array ultrasonic probe is greater than 0 (e.g., curvature k=20).

The transmission distance is the distance between the array element center corresponding to the focus of the ultrasonic wave corresponding to the transmission sequence and the ultrasonic probe center.

As shown in fig. 4a, when the ultrasonic probe is a linear array, the plurality of transmission distances corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic transmissions include line segments a 'O and B' O, where a 'O represents a distance between an array element center a' of the ultrasonic corresponding to the transmission focus a and an ultrasonic probe center O, and B 'O represents a distance between an array element center B' of the ultrasonic corresponding to the transmission focus B and the ultrasonic probe center O. As shown in fig. 4b, when the ultrasonic probe is a convex array, a plurality of transmission distances corresponding to a plurality of ultrasonic transmissions include arc lengths

And->

Wherein (1)>

Represents the distance between the array element center C' of the ultrasonic wave corresponding to the transmitting focus C and the ultrasonic probe center O, < ->

The distance between the array element center D' of the ultrasonic wave corresponding to the transmission focus D and the ultrasonic probe center O is shown.

In some embodiments, the focal radius determination module 230 may determine the transmission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the number of transducer channels, the array element width, and the second relative position corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission.

In some embodiments, the focal radius determination module 230 may determine the corresponding transmission distance for each ultrasonic transmission based on equation (3):

Wherein N represents the number of transducer channels, D _s Representing array element width, phy _i Indicating the transmission distance corresponding to the ultrasonic wave of the ith transmission.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure obtain non-equally spaced transmission distances on an ultrasound probe corresponding to a plurality of array element centers corresponding to a plurality of focal points based on a plurality of non-equally spaced second relative positions.

The focal radius is the radius of the focal spot on the focal track, and can reflect the bending degree of the focal track. The larger the focal radius, the smaller the degree of curvature of the corresponding focal spot at the focal track.

In some embodiments, the focal radius determination module 230 may determine the focal radius for each ultrasonic transmission based on the transmission distance for each ultrasonic transmission, the second relative position for each ultrasonic transmission, and the transducer curvature.

Specifically, the focal radius determination module 230 may determine the focal curvature corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission based on the transmission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission, the second relative position corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission, and the transducer curvature.

The focal curvature is the inverse of the focal radius. In some embodiments, the focal radius determination module 230 may determine the corresponding focal curvature for each ultrasonic transmission based on equation (4):

Wherein i represents the order of each ultrasonic emission, FK _i Represents the focal curvature corresponding to the ith transmitted ultrasonic wave, k represents the transducer curvature, constK represents the superelevationThe acoustic emission constant, the ConstK may be adjusted based on empirical values, e.g., constK may be-0.04.

Further, the focal radius determination module 230 may determine whether the focal curvature corresponding to each ultrasonic transmission is less than a curvature threshold.

It will be appreciated that the transducer curvature k=0 of the linear array ultrasonic probe, the absolute value of the focal curvature for each ultrasonic emission determined based on equation (4) may be small, and the value of the corresponding focal radius may be large, resulting in the corresponding focal position being out of range of the linear array ultrasonic probe. The curvature threshold may be a minimum of the curvature of the focal point for each ultrasonic transmission. Illustratively, the curvature threshold may be 1.

And if the absolute value of the curvature of the focus corresponding to the ultrasonic wave emission in the current order is smaller than the curvature threshold value, taking the reciprocal of the curvature threshold value as the value of the radius of the focus, and determining the direction of the radius of the focus based on the curvature of the focus. For example, the 1 st ultrasonic emission corresponds to the focal curvature FK ₁ At-0.5, the curvature threshold value 1 is taken as the value of the corresponding focal curvature, the inverse 1 of the curvature threshold value 1 is taken as the value of the focal radius, and the curvature is based on the corresponding focal curvature FK ₁ (e.g., -0.5), the direction of the focal radius is determined to be negative, i.e., focal radius FR ₁ Is-1.

And if the absolute value of the focal curvature corresponding to the ultrasonic wave emission in the current order is larger than the curvature threshold value, taking the reciprocal of the focal curvature as the focal radius. For example, the 2 nd ultrasonic emission corresponds to the focal curvature FK ₂ 2 has an absolute value of 2, which is greater than the curvature threshold value 1, the inverse of the focal curvature-2, 0.5, is taken as the focal radius FR ₂ 。

In some embodiments, the focal radius determination module 230 may determine the corresponding focal radius for each ultrasonic transmission based on equation (5):

wherein i represents the order of each ultrasonic emission, FR _i Represents the ith timeThe focal radius corresponding to the emitted ultrasonic wave, a denotes the curvature threshold, sgn (FK _i ) Representing acquisition of FK _i Is a symbol of (c).

Some embodiments of the present description acquire the focal radius based on the second relative position such that the larger the value of the second relative position, i.e., the farther the second relative position is from the ultrasound probe intermediate position, the larger the absolute value of the focal curvature; further, when the absolute value of the focal curvature is greater than the curvature threshold, the smaller the value of the corresponding focal radius and the smaller the value interval of the corresponding focal radius, such that the abscissa of the focal position determined in step 340 based on the focal radius and the emission distance is further related to the second relative position; meanwhile, when the absolute value of the focal point curvature is less than the curvature threshold (i.e., the transducer is a linear array transducer), the value of the focal point radius is unchanged, such that the focal point position determined based on the transmission distance in step 340 is further related to only the abscissa and the second relative position.

Step 340, determining a focal position corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission based on the emission distance and the focal radius corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission.

Specifically, step 340 may be performed by focal position determination module 240.

It will be appreciated that the focal track of the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted may be determined by determining the focal position corresponding to each ultrasonic wave transmission.

In some embodiments, the focal position determination module 240 may obtain the radian corresponding to the transmission distance for each ultrasonic transmission based on the transmission distance and the transducer curvature for each ultrasonic transmission. Specifically, the radian corresponding to the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic emission is the emission distance Phy corresponding to each ultrasonic emission _i And the ratio of the radius of curvature of the transducer, i.e. the corresponding transmission distance Phy for each ultrasonic transmission _i And the product of the curvature k of the transducer, namely Phy _i *k。

Further, the focal position determining module 240 may obtain each of the radians based on the corresponding transmission distance of each of the ultrasonic transmissionsThe projection distance of the corresponding emission distance of the secondary ultrasonic wave on the horizontal axis and the vertical axis. Specifically, the focal position determining module 240 may respectively obtain the projection distances sinPhy of the corresponding transmission distances of each ultrasonic wave transmission on the horizontal axis and the vertical axis _i * k) And cos (Phy) _i *k)。

Further, the focal position determining module 240 may obtain an abscissa of the focal point corresponding to each ultrasonic emission based on the projection distance of the emission distance on the horizontal axis, the focal radius, and the curvature of the transducer corresponding to each ultrasonic emission; and acquiring the ordinate of the focus corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission based on the projection distance of the emission distance corresponding to each ultrasonic wave emission on a longitudinal axis, the focal radius and the curvature of the transducer.

In some embodiments, the focus position determination module 240 may determine the abscissa and ordinate of the focus corresponding to each ultrasound transmission based on equation (6):

wherein i represents the order of each ultrasonic emission, and fx _i And fz _i Respectively representing the abscissa and the ordinate of the focus corresponding to the ultrasonic wave emitted by the ith time, FR _i Representing the focal radius corresponding to the ith ultrasonic wave emission.

When the ultrasonic probe is a linear array ultrasonic probe and the curvature k=0 of the corresponding transducer, the focal track of the multiple ultrasonic waves to be transmitted is

From the foregoing, the larger the absolute value of the second relative position corresponding to the ultrasonic order (i.e., the farther the distance from the middle position of the ultrasonic probe), the larger the absolute value of the corresponding non-equally spaced transmission distance, and the smaller the spacing, i.e., the larger the absolute value of the abscissa, the smaller the spacing; when the absolute value of the curvature of the focus is smaller than the curvature threshold value (namely, the transducer is a linear array transducer), the value of the radius of the focus is unchanged and is the curvature threshold value Is determined based on the direction of the focal curvature, i.e. the ordinate is sgn (FK _i ) 1/a. As shown in fig. 5a, the focal points on the horizontal axis (X-axis) are denser the farther from the origin, thereby compensating for the larger energy loss of the ultrasonic probe as it gets closer to both sides, while the absolute value of the focal points on the vertical axis (Z-axis) is a value close to 0.

When the ultrasonic probe is a convex array ultrasonic probe and corresponds to the curvature k of the transducer with the curvature not equal to 0, the focal track of the ultrasonic waves to be transmitted for multiple times is further related to the transmission distance and the curvature of the transducer corresponding to each ultrasonic wave transmission.

As shown in fig. 5b, the focal points on the horizontal axis (X-axis) are denser as they are farther and nearer from the origin, thereby compensating for the larger energy loss of the ultrasonic probe as it is closer to both sides, while improving the ultrasonic image resolution of the target object of the convex array ultrasonic probe in depth; in addition, the focal point on the horizontal axis (X-axis) is smaller in absolute value on the vertical axis (Z-axis) as it is closer to the origin (i.e., the second relative position is smaller).

Fig. 6 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of determining inter-frame time according to some embodiments of the present description. In particular, fig. 6 may be performed by an inter-frame time determination module.

As previously described, each frame of ultrasound image may be acquired based on scan data corresponding to a plurality of ultrasound transmissions. In some embodiments, the process of acquiring each frame of ultrasound image may include: generating a transmission instruction, transmitting an ultrasonic wave to a target object based on the transmission instruction, receiving a reflected ultrasonic wave (i.e., scan data) from the target object, generating an initial ultrasonic image based on the reflected ultrasonic wave, and processing the initial ultrasonic image to generate a final ultrasonic image. Wherein the intra-frame time is a time of transmitting ultrasound corresponding to each frame image, and the inter-frame time is an interval time of transmitting ultrasound corresponding to two adjacent frame images, including a time of receiving reflected ultrasound (i.e., scan data) from a target object, a time of generating an initial ultrasound image based on the reflected ultrasound, and a time of processing the initial ultrasound image to generate a final ultrasound image, and a time of generating a transmission instruction of a next frame image.

When the inter-frame time is too long, after one frame of ultrasonic image is generated, a longer pause time exists before the ultrasonic corresponding to the next frame of ultrasonic image is transmitted, so that the ultrasonic image is blocked, and meanwhile, the generation efficiency of the ultrasonic image is reduced; when the inter-frame time is too short, the ultrasonic waves corresponding to the ultrasonic wave image of the next frame are transmitted before the ultrasonic wave image of the previous frame is acquired, so that the information of the ultrasonic wave image of the previous frame is lost, and the ultrasonic wave image is blocked. Therefore, it is necessary to determine an inter-frame time that matches the efficiency of generating an ultrasound image.

As shown in fig. 6, a method 600 of determining an inter-frame time may include:

at step 610, at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data is acquired based on the trigger condition.

Ultrasound imaging history data is data acquired during the generation of ultrasound image imaging. A set of ultrasound imaging history data may be acquired per frame of ultrasound image generated. In some embodiments, the at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data includes at least one of ultrasound travel time, imaging time, and image processing time.

The ultrasonic propagation time includes a time at which an ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the target object and a time at which a reflected ultrasonic wave is received from the target object. The time of transmitting the ultrasonic wave to the target object includes the time of generating a transmission instruction and the time of reaching the target object after the ultrasonic wave is transmitted. In some embodiments, the transmit instructions may include parameters such as pulses, focal track, and gain of the ultrasound transmissions. In some embodiments, the time at which the transmit instruction is generated may be obtained from the processing device. For example, the time consumed by the CPU of the processing device to execute the "generate issue instruction" is counted via an interface (e.g., the associated API in the Cuda time base). In some embodiments, the time to reach the target object after the ultrasonic wave is transmitted and the time to receive the reflected ultrasonic wave from the target object may be acquired based on the ultrasonic probe.

The imaging time is the time at which the initial ultrasound image is generated based on the reflected ultrasound waves. In some embodiments, the imaging time may include a beam forming time and an image compounding time. The beam synthesis time is the time of synthesizing the reflected ultrasonic waves received by a plurality of array elements. The image compounding time is the time for synthesizing an initial ultrasonic image based on a multi-part image (such as a plurality of scan lines) corresponding to the multi-reflection ultrasonic. In some embodiments, the imaging time may be obtained from the processing device. For example, the time consumed by the GPU of the processing device to perform "image compositing" is counted via an interface (e.g., a related API in a C language time library).

The image processing time is a time for processing the initial ultrasonic image and generating the processed ultrasonic image. In some embodiments, the image processing time may include spatial filtering time, image compression time, and scan conversion time. The spatial filtering time is the time that the filtering is employed to enhance the initial ultrasound image quality. In some embodiments, the filtering may include, but is not limited to, at least one of low pass filtering (smoothing), high pass filtering (sharpening), and band pass filtering, or a combination thereof. The image compression time is a time to reduce the amount of initial ultrasound image data. In some embodiments, the manner of image compression may include, but is not limited to, a combination of at least one or more of differential pulse code modulation methods, hierarchical interpolation methods, differential pyramid methods, multiple autoregressive methods, discrete cosine transforms, and the like. The scan conversion time is a time for converting an initial ultrasound image into an ultrasound image in a target coordinate system. For example, an initial ultrasound image of polar coordinates is converted to rectangular coordinates. In some embodiments, the image processing time may be obtained from the processing device. For example, the time spent by the processing device performing "spatial filtering" is counted through an interface (e.g., calling the OpenGL-related API).

In some embodiments, the storage device may obtain ultrasound history data from the processing device and the ultrasound probe, and further, the inter-frame time determination module may obtain at least one set of ultrasound history data from the storage device based on the trigger condition.

The trigger condition is a condition for acquiring ultrasound imaging history data. In some embodiments, the triggering conditions may include turning on the ultrasound transmission system, a system parameter change, a time interval reaching a preset value, and so forth.

Starting the ultrasonic wave transmitting system means that after the ultrasonic wave transmitting system is closed last time, the ultrasonic wave transmitting system is started for the first time. In some embodiments, the at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data may be ultrasound imaging history data from last time the ultrasound transmission system was turned on to last time the ultrasound transmission system was turned off. For example, during the period from the last time the ultrasound transmission system was turned on to the last time the ultrasound transmission system was turned off, 5 ultrasound scans were performed, each scan generated 50 frames of ultrasound images, and the inter-frame time determination module may acquire 50 sets of ultrasound imaging history data from the storage device based on the trigger condition "turn on the ultrasound transmission system".

System parameter changes refer to changes in the value of a particular parameter meeting preset requirements. Illustratively, the system parameter change may be an ultrasonography mode change. For example, from the abdominal examination mode to the vascular examination mode. Still another example, a system parameter change may be a change in the value of a particular parameter exceeding a threshold. For example, the number of ultrasonic transmissions corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic image varies by more than 10%. Still another example, a system parameter change may be that the number of feature parameters that changed reaches a threshold. For example, when the number of feature parameters that are changed exceeds 10. In some embodiments, the at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data may be ultrasound imaging history data during a last system parameter change to a current system parameter change. For example, the ultrasound examination mode is changed from an abdominal examination mode to a vascular examination mode, and the at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data may include ultrasound imaging history data stored during the abdominal examination mode.

The time interval reaching the preset value means that the time interval from the current time to the time when the at least one group of ultrasonic historical data is acquired last time is equal to the preset duration. For example, the preset time period is 24 hours, the last time of acquiring at least one set of ultrasonic historical data is 2021, 1 month, 1 day, 8:00, the current time is 2021, 1 month, 2 days, 8:00, and the time interval is 24 hours, that is, the triggering condition is satisfied. In some embodiments, the at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data may be ultrasound imaging history data over the time interval. Continuing with the above example, the inter-frame time determination module may obtain ultrasound imaging history data from the storage device over a time interval from 2021, 1, 2, 8, 00, and 2021, 1, 2, 8, 00 based on "current time is 2021, 1, 2, 8, 00".

Step 620, acquiring a historical imaging time based on the at least one set of ultrasound imaging historical data.

The historical imaging time is the time required to generate a frame of historical ultrasound image.

Specifically, the inter-frame time determination module may obtain an imaging time corresponding to each frame of the historical ultrasound image based on each set of ultrasound imaging historical data.

In some embodiments, the corresponding imaging time for each frame of the historical ultrasound image may be a sum of the time spent by each step in generating each frame of the historical ultrasound image, e.g., a sum of the ultrasound propagation time, imaging time, and image processing time in generating each frame of the historical ultrasound image. Illustratively, the at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data includes 50 sets of ultrasound imaging history data acquired during generation of 50 frames of ultrasound images, wherein the imaging time corresponding to the 1 st frame of history ultrasound image includes a sum of 0.1s of ultrasound propagation time, 10s of imaging time, and 20s of image processing time during generation of the 1 st frame of history ultrasound image of 30.1s.

In some embodiments, the corresponding imaging time for each frame of the historical ultrasound image may also be a weighted sum of the time spent in each step in generating each frame of the historical ultrasound image. Wherein the time-corresponding weight for each step may be determined based on the predicted rate of increase of the time consumed by that step. For example, the weights corresponding to the ultrasonic propagation time, the imaging time, and the image processing time may be 1, 1.1, and 1.2, respectively, and then the imaging time corresponding to the 1 st frame history ultrasonic image is 0.1×1+10×1.1+20×1.2=35.1 s.

Further, the inter-frame time determination module may obtain a historical imaging time based on an imaging time corresponding to each frame of the historical ultrasound image.

In some embodiments, the historical imaging time may be an average of imaging times of at least one frame of historical ultrasound images corresponding to at least one set of ultrasound imaging historical data. Continuing with the above example, the imaging times for the 1 st frame history ultrasonic image, the 2 nd frame history ultrasonic image, the 3 rd frame history ultrasonic image, and the … … 50 th frame history ultrasonic image are 35.1s, 34.9s, 35s, and … … s, respectively, and then the history imaging times may be (35.1+34.9+35+ … … 34)/50=35 s.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure directly use an average value of imaging times of a plurality of frames of historical ultrasonic images as a historical imaging time, which can improve the operation efficiency. The use of "50 frames" in this specification is merely for describing particular exemplary embodiments and does not limit the scope of this specification.

In some embodiments, the inter-frame time determination module may also set weights for imaging times of at least one frame of the historical ultrasound images further based on time. For example, the inter-frame time determination module may set a linear growth weight of 1 for 50 frames of ultrasound images, respectively, in chronological order: 0. 0.0008, 0.0016, … … 0.0384, 0.0392, 0.04, then the historical imaging time may be 35.1×0+34.9×0.0008+35×0.0016+ … … 34 ×0.04=35 s.

Some embodiments of the present description set weights for corresponding imaging times based on the generation order of each frame of the historical ultrasound images, and the imaging time weights corresponding to the historical ultrasound images closer to the current time are higher, so that the value of the historical imaging time is closer to the time required for currently generating one frame of the ultrasound images.

Step 630, determining whether the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time meet a preset condition.

As described above, the inter-frame time is an interval time of transmitting ultrasound corresponding to two adjacent frame images, and includes a time of receiving reflected ultrasound (i.e., scan data) corresponding to a previous frame image from a target object, a time of generating a previous frame initial ultrasound image based on the reflected ultrasound, and a time of processing the initial ultrasound image to generate a final previous frame ultrasound image, and a time of generating a transmission instruction of a next frame image.

The preset condition is a condition for updating the inter-frame time. In some embodiments, the preset condition may be that a difference between the historical imaging time and the inter-frame time exceeds a time threshold. For example, the difference between the historical imaging time and the inter-frame time exceeds the time threshold of 1s. In some embodiments, the preset condition may also be that a difference ratio of the historical imaging time and the inter-frame time exceeds a percentage threshold. For example, the difference ratio of the historical imaging time and the inter-frame time exceeds a percentage threshold of 20%.

Further, if the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time meet the preset conditions, the inter-frame time is updated to the historical imaging time. Illustratively, the current inter-frame time is 3s, the historical imaging time is 2s, the difference ratio of the historical imaging time and the inter-frame time (3-2)/3×100% = 33.3%, exceeding the percentage threshold 20%, the inter-frame time is updated to 2s. If the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time do not meet the preset conditions, the inter-frame time is not updated. Illustratively, the current inter-frame time is 3s, the historical imaging time is 2.5s, and the difference ratio of the historical imaging time to the inter-frame time (3-2.5)/3×100% = 16.7%, less than the percentage threshold of 20%, the inter-frame time is not updated, i.e., the inter-frame time is still 3s.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure adjust the inter-frame time by comparing the inter-frame time with the historical imaging time, specifically, when the difference between the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time is large, that is, when the current inter-frame time and the current system are poorly adaptive, the inter-frame time is not adjusted, so that the inter-frame time can dynamically change along with the change of the system performance, thereby obtaining a high-quality ultrasound image.

Fig. 7 is an exemplary flow chart of a method of ultrasonic pulse data transmission according to some embodiments of the present description. In particular, fig. 7 may be performed by a transmission module.

As previously described, the transducers of an ultrasonic probe may excite array elements at different locations with electrical signals through the transducer channels, thereby generating ultrasonic waves at different frequencies. The magnitude and direction of the electrical signal may determine the corresponding ultrasonic frequency and magnitude. Each set of electrical signals may be composed of a plurality of pulses. In some embodiments, the plurality of pulses corresponding to the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted may be determined by the processing device 120 based on user instructions obtained from the terminal device 130. Illustratively, the user inputs an ultrasonic inspection mode "abdominal inspection mode" through the terminal device 130, and the processing device 120 may determine a plurality of pulses corresponding to a plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted based on the "abdominal inspection mode".

Further, the processing device 120 transmits the corresponding pulse to the ultrasonic probe 110 so that the ultrasonic probe 110 generates ultrasonic waves based on the pulse. It will be appreciated that the efficiency of the transmission of pulses from the processing device 120 to the ultrasound probe 110 can affect the efficiency of ultrasound imaging, and thus, an efficient manner of ultrasound pulse transmission is desired.

As shown in fig. 7, the method 700 may include:

at step 710, dividing at least a portion of the pulses of the plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted into a transmission set.

The plurality of ultrasonic waves to be transmitted may be transmitted based on an electrical signal composed of a plurality of pulses. Each pulse may represent at least one of a "positive value", "negative value" and "zero value" of the electrical signal per unit time, respectively representing "excite the element with positive pressure", "excite the element with negative pressure" and "not excite the element" so that the element generates different vibrations, thereby generating ultrasonic waves of different frequencies and magnitudes. In some embodiments, the numbers "positive", "negative" and "zero" may be represented by the numbers "0", "1" and "2", respectively. Illustratively, the plurality of pulses may include: 1. 100 pulses of 0, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1 …, etc.

The transmission group is a basic transmission form of transmitting pulses to the ultrasonic probe.

In some embodiments, each transmission group (or pulse group) may include a fixed number of pulses, i.e., each pulse group may include the same number of pulses. For example, the transmission module may divide each N pulses of the plurality of pulses into one transmission group, i.e., each transmission group may include N pulses, where N+.1.

In some embodiments, the transmission module may determine the number of pulses contained in each pulse group based on the total number of pulses. For example, if the total number of pulses is 99, N may be 3, and the transmission module may divide 99 pulses into 33 transmission groups. For another example, if the total number of pulses is 100, N may be 5, and the transmission module may divide the 100 pulses into 20 transmission groups; or N may be 4 and the transmission module may divide 100 pulses into 25 transmission groups.

In some embodiments, the transmission module may also determine the number of pulses each pulse group contains based on the transmission efficiency. A detailed description of determining the number of pulses included in each pulse group based on the transmission efficiency may refer to step 720, and will not be repeated herein.

In some embodiments, each transmission group (or pulse group) may also include a different number of pulses. For example, the transmission module may determine that each transmission group contains N pulses based on transmission efficiency, i.e., divide each N pulses of the plurality of pulses into one transmission group and divide the remaining pulses into one or more transmission groups. For example, the total number of pulses is 98, the transmission module determines that N is 4 based on the transmission efficiency, and the transmission module may divide 98 pulses into 24 transmission groups including 4 pulses and 1 transmission group including 2 pulses, or 23 transmission groups including 4 pulses and 2 transmission groups including 3 pulses.

Step 720, compressing the transmission set into compressed data, and transmitting the compressed data.

Compression is a mechanism to reduce the amount of data by a specific algorithm. The compressed data is a compressed transmission group. The amount of compressed data is less than the amount of data of the transmission group.

In some embodiments, the transmission module may compress a transmission group to a value (i.e., compressed data). As previously described, each pulse in each transmission set may correspond to at least one of a "positive value", "negative value" and "zero value", i.e., each pulse may be one of 3 states, then N pulses may be 3 ^N One of the states (i.e., each transmission group may be one of the states).

In some embodiments, the transmission module may use 3 ^N The value represents 3 corresponding to each transmission group ^N Any one of the states. Illustratively, n=4,then can use 3 ⁴ The value (e.g., 1-81) represents one of the 81 states corresponding to each transmission group. For example, 1 may correspond to a transmission group pulse of (0, 0), 2 may correspond to a transmission group pulse of (0, 1), 3 may correspond to transmission group pulses of (0, 1, 0), … …,81 may correspond to transmission group pulses of (2, 2).

In some embodiments, each pulse group may also include C state values, and accordingly, the transmission module may use 3 ^N The +C values represent 3 corresponding to each transmission group ^N Any of +c states. In some embodiments, each state value may represent parameters such as transducer T/R switching, control gain variation, and recording system errors.

In some embodiments, the compressed data corresponding to each transmission group may be determined by equation (7):

x＝3 ^N-1 s ₀ +3 ^N-2 s ₁ +…3 ¹ s _N-2 +3 ⁰ s _N-1 +c (7)

wherein s is ₀ 、s ₁ 、…s _N-2 、s _N-1 Each representing one of 3 states corresponding to N pulses in the transmission set, which may be represented by a value of {0,1,2 }; c represents one of the C state values; x represents compressed data corresponding to a transmission group.

Illustratively, n=4, c=2, c takes a value of 0 or 1, indicating that the transducer is switched to T mode and R mode, respectively, 100 pulses can be divided into: (1, 0, 2), (1, 2, 0), (0, 1 …), each pulse group can be compressed to 3 ⁴ One of +2 compressed data, compressed data obtained by compressing the first transmission group (1, 0, 2) is: x is x ₁ ＝3 ³ s ₀ +3 ² s ₁ +3 ¹ s ₂ +3 ⁰ s ₃ +c=27×1+9×0+3×2+1×2+0=35; compressing the compressed data obtained from the second transmission group (1, 2, 0) into: x is x ₂ ＝3 ³ s ₀ +3 ² s ₁ +3 ¹ s ₂ +3 ⁰ s ₃ +c＝27×1+9×1+3×2+1×0+1＝43；…。

Yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is a method,n=5, c=4, c takes

values

1,2, 3, 4, respectively, indicating (transducer switched to T mode, system no error), and (transducer switched to R mode, system no error), 100 pulses can be divided into: (1, 0, 2, 1), (1, 2, 0, 1) …, each pulse group can be compressed to 3 ⁵ One of +4 compressed data, compressed data acquired by compressing the first transmission group (1, 0, 2, 1) is: x is x ₁ ＝3 ⁴ s ₀ +3 ³ s ₁ +3 ² s ₂ +3 ¹ s ₃ +3 ⁰ s ₄ +c=81×1+27×0+9×2+3×2+1×1+4=110; compressing the compressed data obtained by the second transmission group (1, 2, 0, 1) into: x is x ₂ ＝3 ⁴ s ₀ +3 ³ s ₁ +3 ² s ₂ +3 ¹ s ₃ +3 ⁰ s ₄ +c＝81×1+27×2+9×0+3×0+1×1+3＝119；…。

In some embodiments, the transmission module may be based on 3 corresponding to each transmission group ^N +C states, determining the size of the compressed data. Specifically, each byte may represent 2 states, and the transmission module is based on log ₂ (3 ^N +C) rounding up, 3 can be obtained ^N Size of compressed data corresponding to +c states.

For example, n=4 and c=2, the size of the compressed data corresponding to each transmission group is log ₂ (3 ⁴ +2) rounding up, i.e. 7 bits. For another example, n=5 and c=4, the size of the compressed data corresponding to each transmission group is log ₂ (3 ⁵ +4) rounding up, i.e. 8 bits.

As previously described, the transmission module may also determine the number of pulses each pulse group contains based on the transmission efficiency. For example, the transmission module may determine that the number of pulses included in each pulse group is 5 based on that the transmission efficiency is highest when the compressed data size is 8 bits.

Further, the transmission module may transmit compressed data corresponding to the plurality of transmission groups to the ultrasonic probe 110 through the network 140. For example, the transmission module may transmit compressed data 110, 119, … corresponding to the transmission groups (1, 0, 2, 1), (1, 2, 0, 1), … to the ultrasound probe 110.

Step 730 decodes based on the received compressed data to obtain the at least partial pulse.

Decoding is a process of restoring compressed data received by an ultrasonic probe to a corresponding transmission group. In particular, the transmission module may decode the received compressed data based on the received compressed data and the manner of compression. In some embodiments, the transmission group for each compressed data may be determined by equation (8):

s _k ＝[(x-C)/3 ^(N-1-k) ]％3(8)

wherein s is _k Representing the corresponding values of the pulse states in the transmission group, s _k Take the value {0,1,2}, k takes [0, N-1 ]]N is the number of pulses in each transmission group.

Illustratively, the data x is compressed ₁ Based on n=5 and c=4, =110, the corresponding value of the pulse state in the transmission group can be obtained as

I.e. the corresponding transmission group (1, 0, 2, 1) is acquired.

Further, the transmission module may acquire the at least partial pulse based on a plurality of transmission groups.

Possible benefits of embodiments of the present description include, but are not limited to: (1) Mapping a plurality of first relative positions which are distributed at equal intervals and correspond to a plurality of ultrasonic wave emissions into a plurality of second relative positions which are distributed at unequal intervals based on a curve, designing focus tracks of the emitted ultrasonic waves with dense focuses on two sides based on the plurality of second relative positions which are distributed at unequal intervals and the curvature of a transducer, compensating lower resolution of ultrasonic image edges caused by energy loss on two sides of an ultrasonic probe, and simultaneously designing focus tracks of the emitted ultrasonic waves with dense focuses in the middle for a convex array ultrasonic probe so as to improve ultrasonic image resolution of a target object in depth; (2) The inter-frame interval is dynamically adjusted based on ultrasonic imaging historical data, so that the inter-frame time can be dynamically changed along with the change of system performance, and a high-quality ultrasonic image is obtained; (3) The pulse is divided into transmission groups based on the transmission efficiency to be compressed and then transmitted, and the transmission efficiency can be improved based on different bandwidths, so that the ultrasonic imaging efficiency is improved. It should be noted that, the advantages that may be generated by different embodiments may be different, and in different embodiments, the advantages that may be generated may be any one or a combination of several of the above, or any other possible advantages that may be obtained.

While the basic concepts have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing detailed disclosure is by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting. Although not explicitly described herein, various modifications, improvements, and adaptations to the present disclosure may occur to one skilled in the art. Such modifications, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested within this specification, and therefore, such modifications, improvements, and modifications are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Meanwhile, the specification uses specific words to describe the embodiments of the specification. Reference to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," and/or "some embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is associated with at least one embodiment of the present description. Thus, it should be emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to "an embodiment" or "one embodiment" or "an alternative embodiment" in various positions in this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, certain features, structures, or characteristics of one or more embodiments of the present description may be combined as suitable.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various aspects of the specification can be illustrated and described in terms of several patentable categories or circumstances, including any novel and useful procedures, machines, products, or materials, or any novel and useful modifications thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present description may be performed entirely by hardware, entirely by software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.), or by a combination of hardware and software. The above hardware or software may be referred to as a "data block," module, "" engine, "" unit, "" component, "or" system. Furthermore, aspects of the specification may take the form of a computer product, comprising computer-readable program code, embodied in one or more computer-readable media.

The computer storage medium may contain a propagated data signal with the computer program code embodied therein, for example, on a baseband or as part of a carrier wave. The propagated signal may take on a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, etc., or any suitable combination thereof. A computer storage medium may be any computer readable medium that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code located on a computer storage medium may be propagated through any suitable medium, including radio, cable, fiber optic cable, RF, or the like, or a combination of any of the foregoing.

The computer program code necessary for operation of portions of the present description may be written in any one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, scala, smalltalk, eiffel, JADE, emerald, C ++, c#, vb net, python and the like, a conventional programming language such as C language, visual Basic, fortran2003, perl, COBOL2002, PHP, ABAP, a dynamic programming language such as Python, ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages and the like. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer or as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or processing device. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any form of network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet), or the use of services such as software as a service (SaaS) in a cloud computing environment.

Furthermore, the order in which the elements and sequences are processed, the use of numerical letters, or other designations in the description are not intended to limit the order in which the processes and methods of the description are performed unless explicitly recited in the claims. While certain presently useful inventive embodiments have been discussed in the foregoing disclosure, by way of various examples, it is to be understood that such details are merely illustrative and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover all modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, while the system components described above may be implemented by hardware devices, they may also be implemented solely by software solutions, such as installing the described system on an existing processing device or mobile device.

Likewise, it should be noted that in order to simplify the presentation disclosed in this specification and thereby aid in understanding one or more inventive embodiments, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. This method of disclosure, however, is not intended to imply that more features than are presented in the claims are required for the present description. Indeed, less than all of the features of a single embodiment disclosed above.

In some embodiments, numbers describing the components, number of attributes are used, it being understood that such numbers being used in the description of embodiments are modified in some examples by the modifier "about," approximately, "or" substantially. Unless otherwise indicated, "about," "approximately," or "substantially" indicate that the number allows for a 20% variation. Accordingly, in some embodiments, numerical parameters set forth in the specification and claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the individual embodiments. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should take into account the specified significant digits and employ a method for preserving the general number of digits. Although the numerical ranges and parameters set forth herein are approximations that may be employed in some embodiments to confirm the breadth of the range, in particular embodiments, the setting of such numerical values is as precise as possible.

Each patent, patent application publication, and other material, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, etc., referred to in this specification is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Except for application history documents that are inconsistent or conflicting with the content of this specification, documents that are currently or later attached to this specification in which the broadest scope of the claims to this specification is limited are also. It is noted that, if the description, definition, and/or use of a term in an attached material in this specification does not conform to or conflict with what is described in this specification, the description, definition, and/or use of the term in this specification controls.

Finally, it should be understood that the embodiments described in this specification are merely illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of this specification. Other variations are possible within the scope of this description. Thus, by way of example, and not limitation, alternative configurations of embodiments of the present specification may be considered as consistent with the teachings of the present specification. Accordingly, the embodiments of the present specification are not limited to only the embodiments explicitly described and depicted in the present specification.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting ultrasound waves, the method comprising:

acquiring at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data based on the trigger condition;

acquiring historical imaging time based on the at least one set of ultrasound imaging historical data;

judging whether the inter-frame time and the historical imaging time meet preset conditions or not, wherein the inter-frame time is the interval time of transmitting ultrasound corresponding to two adjacent frames of images;

if yes, updating the inter-frame time to the historical imaging time;

if not, the inter-frame time is not updated.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the triggering condition includes at least one of turning on an ultrasound transmission system, a system parameter change, and a time interval reaching a preset value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the system parameter change is a change in a value of a particular parameter meeting a preset requirement; the preset requirements include at least one of: the ultrasound examination mode changes, the change in the value of the specific parameter exceeds a threshold value and the number of changed characteristic parameters reaches the threshold value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one set of ultrasound imaging history data includes at least one of ultrasound travel time, imaging time, and image processing time.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the ultrasound propagation time comprises a time at which an emission instruction is generated, the emission instruction comprising at least a focal track of the ultrasound emission.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the acquiring historical imaging times based on the at least one set of ultrasound imaging historical data comprises:

acquiring imaging time corresponding to each frame of historical ultrasonic image based on each set of ultrasonic imaging historical data in the at least one set of ultrasonic imaging historical data;

and acquiring the historical imaging time based on the imaging time corresponding to each frame of the historical ultrasonic image.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is:

the difference between the historical imaging time and the inter-frame time exceeds a time threshold; or alternatively

The difference ratio of the historical imaging time and the inter-frame time exceeds a percentage threshold.

8. An ultrasound transmission system, the system comprising an inter-frame time determination module for:

if yes, updating the inter-frame time to the historical imaging time;

if not, the inter-frame time is not updated.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the inter-frame time determination module is further to:

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that, when read by a computer, perform the ultrasound transmission method of any one of claims 1-7.