CN116530935A

CN116530935A - Multi-mode imaging system

Info

Publication number: CN116530935A
Application number: CN202310498075.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 马腾; 宋宇霆; 陈焯权; 孔瑞明; 陈韦岑; 郑海荣
Original assignee: Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of CAS
Current assignee: Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of CAS
Priority date: 2023-05-05
Filing date: 2023-05-05
Publication date: 2023-08-04

Abstract

The present application provides a multi-modality imaging system, the imaging system comprising: the system comprises an imaging probe, an OCT imaging module, an ultrasonic imaging module, an elastic ultrasonic module and a driving module for driving the imaging probe to move, wherein the imaging probe comprises an OCT optical module and an ultrasonic excitation module. The imaging system can perform OCT imaging, ultrasonic imaging and acquisition of vascular elasticity information, and perform multi-mode imaging. The OCT image is matched with the elastic information, so that the mechanical information of all parts of the blood vessel can be known, and the type of the plaque in the blood vessel can be judged according to the elastic information while the plaque in the blood vessel is checked by using an imaging means, and the accuracy of identifying the plaque in the blood vessel is improved. In addition, according to the imaging depth difference of ultrasonic imaging and OCT imaging, the position and the size of the vascular plaque can be accurately judged, and then the size of a focus can be accurately estimated, so that a more accurate basis is provided for a subsequent treatment scheme.

Description

Multi-mode imaging system

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of medical instruments, in particular to a multi-mode imaging system.

Background

Atherosclerosis is an arterial vascular disease caused by atherosclerosis plaque, and when severe, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are caused, so that the atherosclerosis is of great significance to the accurate diagnosis of atherosclerosis.

At present, doctors usually judge the positions and types of blood vessel plaques according to intravascular ultrasonic images and OCT images, but the positions and types of the blood vessel plaques cannot be accurately judged only by the intravascular ultrasonic images and the OCT images, and the blood vessel plaques need to be analyzed by clinical experience of the doctors, so that diagnosis results are subjective and a certain difficulty is brought to subsequent treatment work. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop an imaging system that can accurately determine the location and type of vascular plaque.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of this, the present application provides a multi-modality imaging system, the scheme is as follows:

a multi-modality imaging system for endoscopic imaging of blood vessels, comprising: the system comprises an imaging probe, an OCT imaging module, an ultrasonic imaging module, an elastic ultrasonic module and a driving module, wherein the driving module is used for driving the imaging probe to move;

the imaging probe comprises an OCT optical module and an ultrasonic excitation module;

the elastic ultrasonic module is used for transmitting a first electric signal to the ultrasonic excitation module, and the ultrasonic excitation module generates first ultrasonic waves based on the first electric signal and radiates the first ultrasonic waves to a region to be imaged of a blood vessel so as to promote the region to be imaged to elastically deform;

The OCT imaging module is used for generating a first optical signal, the OCT optical module is used for receiving the first optical signal, transmitting the first optical signal to the region to be imaged, reflecting the first optical signal to the region to be imaged to form a second optical signal which is fed back to the OCT optical module, and feeding the second optical signal back to the OCT imaging module, wherein the OCT imaging module forms an OCT image of the region to be imaged based on the second optical signal, and the second optical signal comprises image information when the imaging region is elastically deformed and image information when the imaging region is not elastically deformed;

the ultrasonic imaging module is used for generating a second electric signal and transmitting the second electric signal to the ultrasonic excitation module, the ultrasonic excitation module generates a second ultrasonic wave based on the second electric signal and irradiates the region to be imaged, the second ultrasonic wave is reflected by the region to be imaged to form a third ultrasonic wave which is fed back to the ultrasonic excitation module, the ultrasonic excitation module generates a third electric signal based on the third ultrasonic signal and transmits the third electric signal to the ultrasonic imaging module, and the ultrasonic imaging module forms an ultrasonic image of the region to be imaged based on the third electric signal.

Optionally, the imaging system further comprises a function generator and a controller, and the elastic ultrasound module comprises a power amplifier;

the controller is connected with the function generator and is used for sending a first driving signal to the function generator, and the function generator generates a first ultrasonic excitation signal and an image acquisition signal based on the first driving signal;

the controller is further configured to receive the first ultrasonic excitation signal and the image acquisition signal, and send the first ultrasonic excitation signal to the power amplifier, where the power amplifier is configured to amplify the first ultrasonic excitation signal to form the first electrical signal, and send the first electrical signal to the ultrasonic excitation module;

the controller is further configured to send the image acquisition signal to the OCT imaging module such that the OCT imaging module generates the first optical signal based on the image acquisition signal.

Optionally, the ultrasonic imaging module comprises a pulse generator and an ultrasonic image acquisition card;

the controller is connected with the pulse controller and is used for sending a second driving signal to the pulse controller, and the pulse generator generates the second electric signal based on the second driving signal and transmits the second electric signal to the ultrasonic excitation module;

The ultrasonic image acquisition card receives the third electric signal and forms an ultrasonic image of the region to be imaged based on the third electric signal.

Optionally, the controller is further connected with the driving module, and is configured to send a third driving signal to the driving module, and the driving module drives the imaging probe to move based on the third driving signal.

Optionally, the ultrasonic excitation signal includes a plurality of first periodic signals, the first periodic signals include a first signal and a second signal, wherein the first signal is a sine wave signal, the voltage of the second signal is 0, and the ultrasonic excitation module generates the first ultrasonic wave based on a portion of the first electrical signal corresponding to the first signal;

the image acquisition signal comprises a plurality of second periodic signals, the second periodic signals comprise a third signal and a fourth signal, the third signal is a square wave signal, the voltage of the fourth signal is 0, and the OCT imaging module generates the first optical signal based on the third signal;

the third driving signals comprise a plurality of third periodic signals, the third periodic signals comprise a fifth signal and a sixth signal, the fifth signal is a square wave signal, the voltage of the sixth signal is 0, and the driving module drives the imaging probe to rotate and retract according to the fifth signal;

Wherein the duration of the first signal corresponds to the duration of at least one of the second periodic signals, the duration of the second signal corresponds to the duration of at least one of the second periodic signals, the second periodic signal is not generated within the duration of the fifth electrical signal, the sixth signal is generated simultaneously with the second periodic signal, and the duration of the sixth signal corresponds to the duration of at least one of the first periodic signals.

Optionally, the OCT optical module includes an optical fiber and a lens;

the signal receiving end of the optical fiber receives the first optical signal, the signal output end of the optical fiber is connected with the light incident surface of the lens, and the lens receives the first optical signal and transmits the first optical signal to the region to be imaged;

wherein, the optic fibre is single mode optical fiber, the lens is ball lens.

Optionally, the imaging probe further comprises a first protective tube, the lens is positioned in the cavity of the first protective tube, the first protective tube is a light-transmitting protective tube,

optionally, the ultrasonic excitation module includes an ultrasonic array element, a first cable and a second cable;

One end of the first cable is connected with the ultrasonic array element, and the other end of the first cable is connected with the elastic ultrasonic module so as to transmit the first electric signal to the ultrasonic array element, and the ultrasonic array element generates the first ultrasonic wave based on the first electric signal;

one end of the second cable is connected with the ultrasonic array element, the other end of the second cable is connected with the ultrasonic imaging module, so that the second electric signal is transmitted to the ultrasonic array element, and the ultrasonic array element generates the second ultrasonic wave based on the second electric signal.

Optionally, the imaging probe further includes a second protection tube, the ultrasound array element and the first protection tube are located in the second protection lumen, and the second protection tube has an opening, and the opening is located on the transmission paths of the first optical signal and the second optical signal, and is located on the transmission paths of the first ultrasound, the second ultrasound, and the third ultrasound.

Optionally, the imaging system further comprises: and the torque spring is in butt joint with one side of the second protection tube and is used for maintaining the stability of the imaging probe when the imaging probe moves.

Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of the technical scheme of the application is:

The imaging system provided by the application comprises: the device comprises an imaging probe, an OCT imaging module, an ultrasonic imaging module, an elastic ultrasonic module and a driving module for driving the imaging probe to move. The imaging probe comprises an OCT optical module and an ultrasonic excitation module, wherein the ultrasonic excitation module receives a first electric signal to form a first ultrasonic wave radiated to a region to be imaged, so that the region to be imaged is elastically deformed, the OCT optical module receives a first optical signal and feeds back a second optical signal formed by reflecting the first optical signal through the region to be imaged to the OCT imaging module, and the OCT imaging module obtains image information of the region to be imaged based on the second optical signal and forms an OCT image. The second optical signal comprises image information when the region to be imaged is elastically deformed and image information when the region to be imaged is not elastically deformed, so that the OCT image also comprises a deformed OCT image and an undeformed OCT image of the region to be imaged, and the elastic information of the region to be imaged can be obtained on the basis of obtaining the OCT image of the region to be imaged by comparing and analyzing the two images.

In addition, the ultrasonic excitation module in the imaging probe also receives a second electric signal generated by the ultrasonic imaging module to form second ultrasonic waves, and third ultrasonic waves formed by reflecting the second ultrasonic waves through the region to be imaged are fed back to the ultrasonic imaging module, so that the ultrasonic imaging module can obtain image information of the region to be imaged and form an ultrasonic image.

Therefore, the imaging system provided by the application can perform OCT imaging, ultrasonic imaging and acquisition of blood vessel elasticity information so as to perform multi-mode imaging on the blood vessel, wherein the OCT image of the blood vessel is matched with the blood vessel elasticity information, the OCE image of the blood vessel can be obtained, and the mechanical information of each part of the blood vessel is further known, so that when the plaque exists in the blood vessel by using an imaging means, the type of the plaque in the blood vessel can be judged according to the elastic information of each part of the blood vessel, more visual and accurate plaque identification compared with the conventional intravascular imaging is realized, and the accuracy of plaque identification in the blood vessel is improved.

In addition, the known ultrasonic imaging has large imaging depth, the OCT imaging has relatively small imaging depth, and the OCT image and the ultrasonic image are both used for imaging the same position, so that the ultrasonic image and the OCT image are combined, the position of a region to be imaged in a blood vessel is analyzed, the type of the blood vessel plaque can be accurately judged, the position and the size of the blood vessel plaque can be accurately judged, the size of a focus can be accurately estimated, and an accurate basis is provided for a subsequent treatment scheme.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the related art, the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is apparent that the drawings in the following description are only embodiments of the present application, and other drawings may be obtained according to the provided drawings without inventive effort to those skilled in the art.

The structures, proportions, sizes, etc. shown in the drawings are shown only in connection with the present disclosure, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, since any modification, variation in proportions, or adjustment of the size, which would otherwise be used by those skilled in the art, would not have the essential significance of the present disclosure, would not affect the efficacy or otherwise be achieved, and would still fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a multi-modality imaging system provided herein;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of OCT imaging;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of ultrasound imaging;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of OCE imaging;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another multi-modality imaging system provided herein;

FIG. 6 is a timing diagram of a first ultrasonic excitation signal, an image acquisition signal, and a third drive signal;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an imaging probe in a multi-modality imaging system provided herein.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is shown, and in which it is evident that the embodiments described are exemplary only of one area of the application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without undue burden from the present disclosure, are within the scope of the present disclosure.

In order that the above-recited objects, features and advantages of the present application will become more readily apparent, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings.

Atherosclerosis may trigger a variety of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and diagnosis and treatment of which are of great concern to the public. Currently, assessment of the morphology and severity of atherosclerosis is often judged using medical imaging, such as angiography, CT angiography (CTA) and enhanced resonance angiography, intravascular ultrasound Imaging (IVUS) and OCT imaging. Angiography and CTA are invasive techniques based on x-rays, however, requiring the injection of contrast agents in the blood vessels, which can lead to severe allergic reactions, which are detrimental to renal patients. In contrast, CE-MRA is safer because it is free of ionizing radiation and the contrast agent is less toxic. However, the main disadvantage of CE-MRA is the high cost and long processing time. One of the drawbacks of IVUS is the limited resolution, OCT imaging has a low imaging depth, although it has a higher resolution, and the imaging effect is susceptible to blood interference.

To overcome the above problems, IVUS and OCT imaging are combined for multimodal imaging, allowing a physician to obtain detailed, accurate lesion vessel images from inside an artery, and simultaneously assess lesion size. However, the multi-mode imaging combining the IVUS and the OCT imaging is vascular structure imaging, and only whether the vascular structure is changed or not can be observed, so that the identification of different types of vascular plaques in clinic is mainly judged by experience of doctors or operators and is easily influenced by subjective factors. From the above, it is difficult to accurately quantitatively evaluate the vulnerability of coronary atherosclerotic plaque by means of structural imaging alone, and the structural change is already a late stage form of vascular calcification, so that early diagnosis and early treatment cannot be achieved only by morphological study.

Based on this, the present application provides a multi-modality imaging system for endoscopic imaging of blood vessels, as shown in fig. 1, the imaging system comprising: an imaging probe 100, an OCT imaging module 200, an elastic ultrasound module 300, an ultrasound imaging module 400, and a drive module 500. The driving module 500 is configured to drive the imaging probe 100 to move, specifically to drive the imaging probe 100 to rotate and retract, where the driving module 500 includes a retracting motor and a rotating motor, the retracting motor drives the imaging probe 100 to retract in a blood vessel, and the rotating motor drives the imaging probe 100 to rotate in the blood vessel to scan the inner wall of the blood vessel.

The imaging probe 100 includes an optical module 110 and an ultrasound excitation module 120.

The elastic ultrasonic module 300 is configured to transmit a first electrical signal to the ultrasonic excitation module 120, and the ultrasonic excitation module generates a first ultrasonic wave based on the first electrical signal and radiates the first ultrasonic wave to a region to be imaged of a blood vessel to cause the region to be imaged to elastically deform.

The OCT imaging module 200 is configured to generate a first optical signal, the OCT imaging module 110 receives the first optical signal and transmits the first optical signal to the region to be imaged, so that the region to be imaged emits the first optical signal to form a second optical signal that is fed back to the OCT imaging module 110, the OCT imaging module 110 is further configured to feed back the second optical signal to the OCT imaging module 200, and the OCT imaging module 200 forms an image of the region to be imaged based on the second optical signal. The second optical signal comprises image information when the region to be imaged is elastically deformed and image information when the region to be imaged is not elastically deformed.

The ultrasonic imaging module 400 is configured to generate a second electrical signal and transmit the second electrical signal to the ultrasonic excitation module 120, the ultrasonic excitation module 120 generates a second ultrasonic wave based on the second electrical signal and irradiates the region to be imaged, the third ultrasonic wave is reflected by the region to be imaged to form a third ultrasonic wave which is fed back to the ultrasonic excitation module 120, the third ultrasonic wave includes image information of the region to be imaged, the ultrasonic excitation module 120 generates a third electrical signal based on the third ultrasonic wave and transmits the third electrical signal to the ultrasonic imaging module 400, and the ultrasonic imaging module 400 forms an ultrasonic image of the region to be imaged based on the third electrical signal.

As can be seen from the above description, the imaging probe 100 of the imaging system provided in the present application includes an OCT optical module 110 and an ultrasonic excitation module 120, wherein the ultrasonic excitation module 120 receives a first electrical signal to form a first ultrasonic wave radiated to a region to be imaged, so that the region to be imaged is elastically deformed. The OCT optical module 110 receives the first optical signal and feeds back the second optical signal to the OCT imaging module 200, so that the OCT imaging module 200 can obtain image information of a region to be imaged and form an OCT image, as shown in fig. 2, where a solid line in fig. 2 represents a depth that can be reached by OCT imaging and a dotted line is a depth that cannot be reached by OCT imaging. Knowing that the second optical signal includes the image information when the region to be imaged is elastically deformed and the image information when the region to be imaged is not elastically deformed, the OCT image formed by the OCT imaging module 200 naturally also includes the deformed OCT image and the undeformed OCT image of the region to be imaged, and comparing and analyzing the deformed OCT image and the deformed OCT image to obtain the OCT image of the region to be imaged.

In addition, the ultrasonic excitation module 120 in the imaging probe 100 also receives the second electrical signal generated by the ultrasonic imaging module 400 to form a second ultrasonic wave, and also feeds back the third ultrasonic wave to the ultrasonic imaging module 400, so that the ultrasonic imaging module can obtain the image information of the region to be imaged and form an ultrasonic image, as shown in fig. 3.

Therefore, the imaging system provided by the application can perform OCT imaging, ultrasonic imaging and acquisition of blood vessel elasticity information so as to perform multi-mode imaging on the blood vessel, and the OCT image of the blood vessel is matched with the blood vessel elasticity information, so that an OCE image of the blood vessel can be obtained, as shown in fig. 4, and further the mechanical information of each part of the blood vessel is known, so that when the plaque in the blood vessel is checked by using an imaging means, the type of the plaque in the blood vessel can be judged according to the elastic information of each part of the blood vessel, and more visual and accurate plaque identification is realized compared with the conventional intravascular imaging, and the accuracy of plaque identification in the blood vessel is improved. For example, as shown in fig. 4, the OCT image, the ultrasound image and the elastic information are combined to obtain an OCE image, so that the type of the vascular plaque can be accurately determined, for example, the vascular plaque is determined to be a soft plaque-lipid plaque.

Moreover, as can be seen from fig. 3 and fig. 4, the imaging depth of the ultrasonic imaging is large, the imaging depth of the OCT imaging is relatively small, and the OCT image and the ultrasonic image are both imaged at the same position, so that the ultrasonic image and the OCT image are combined, the position of the region to be imaged in the blood vessel is analyzed, the type of the blood vessel plaque can be accurately determined, the position and the size of the blood vessel plaque can be accurately determined, the size of the focus can be accurately estimated, and an accurate basis is provided for the subsequent treatment scheme.

Based on the above embodiments, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, the imaging system further includes a function generator 600 and a controller 700, and the elastic ultrasound module 300 includes a power amplifier 310. The controller 700 is connected to the function generator 600 for sending a first driving signal to the function generator 600, and the function generator 600 generates a first ultrasound excitation signal and an image acquisition signal based on the first driving signal. The controller 700 is further configured to receive the first ultrasonic excitation signal and the image acquisition signal, and send the first ultrasonic excitation signal to the power amplifier 310, where the power amplifier 310 is configured to boost and amplify the first ultrasonic excitation signal to form a first electrical signal. The controller 700 is further configured to send the image acquisition signal to the OCT imaging module 200 such that the OCT imaging module 200 generates the first light signal based on the image acquisition signal.

It should be noted that, the function generator 600 does not have the capability of generating a high voltage signal, and in order to ensure that the first ultrasonic wave causes the elastic deformation of the blood vessel, the first ultrasonic wave needs to be formed under a higher voltage signal. Thus, in this embodiment, the elastic ultrasound module 310 includes a power amplifier 310 to amplify the first ultrasound excitation signal to form a first electrical signal having a higher voltage, ensuring that the first ultrasound energy induces elastic deformation of the blood vessel.

In addition, in this embodiment, the controller 700 sends a first driving signal to the function generator 600, and the function generator 600 generates a first ultrasonic excitation signal and an image acquisition signal based on the first driving signal, so that the first ultrasonic excitation signal and the image acquisition signal are triggered simultaneously, and thus the generation of the function generator signal can be controlled by the first driving signal provided by the controller 700, the OCT image and the elastic information of the blood vessel are completely matched, and high-quality elastic information of the blood vessel wall is obtained.

Based on the above embodiments, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, the ultrasound imaging module 400 includes a pulse generator 410 and an ultrasound image acquisition card 420. The controller 700 is connected to the pulse generator 410, sends a second driving signal to the pulse generator 410, the pulse generator 410 generates the second electrical signal based on the second driving signal, and transmits the second electrical signal to the ultrasound excitation module 120, and the ultrasound image acquisition card 420 receives the third electrical signal and forms an ultrasound image of the region to be imaged based on the third electrical signal.

Specifically, in the present embodiment, the pulse generator 410 generates a second electrical signal based on the second driving signal sent by the controller 700, and transmits the second electrical signal to the ultrasonic excitation module 120, so that the ultrasonic excitation module 120 generates a second ultrasonic wave based on the second electrical signal, and transmits the second ultrasonic wave to the region to be imaged, and the second ultrasonic wave is reflected by the region to be imaged to form a third ultrasonic wave that is fed back to the ultrasonic excitation module 120, so as to form a third electrical signal. The ultrasound image acquisition card 420 receives the third electrical signal and forms an ultrasound image of the region to be imaged based on the third electrical signal. Therefore, the generation, transmission and reception of the signals of the ultrasonic imaging module 400 are controlled by the controller 700, so that the ultrasonic imaging of the ultrasonic imaging module 400 is also controlled by the controller 700, and the first ultrasonic wave and the second ultrasonic wave are both generated by the ultrasonic excitation module 120, so that the time sequence of the first driving signal and the second driving signal can be controlled by the controller 700, so that the first driving signal and the second driving signal are sequentially generated according to the preset sequence and are respectively transmitted to the function generator 600 and the pulse generator 410, so that the elastic information of the blood vessel and the vascular structure obtained by the OCT image can be completely matched, the ultrasonic image and the OCT image can be completely matched, and the mechanical information of each point of the blood vessel wall and the internal structure of the blood vessel are comprehensively reflected, so that more visual and accurate plaque identification can be realized compared with the previous intravascular imaging.

Based on the above embodiments, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, the controller 700 is further connected to the driving module 500, and is configured to send a third driving signal to the driving module 500, where the driving module 500 drives the imaging probe 100 to move, specifically drives the imaging probe 100 to retract and rotate, based on the third driving signal. As can be seen from the above description, the driving module 500 is also controlled by the controller 700, so that after the imaging probe 100 completes the optical acquisition of the region to be imaged, the driving module 500 drives the imaging probe 100 to rotate or retract for a small angle under the control of the controller 700, and then the subsequent optical acquisition is performed on the inner wall of the blood vessel. Meanwhile, in order to prevent the imaging probe 100 from performing optical acquisition in the process of driving the imaging probe 100 by the driving module 500, a delay is given before the imaging probe 100 is driven to rotate by the rotating motor in the driving module 500 according to the reaction speed of the rotating motor in the driving module 500, so as to give the rotating motor a very small reaction time, and avoid the imaging probe 100 from performing optical acquisition in the rotating process.

On the basis of the above embodiments, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 6, the first ultrasonic excitation signal includes a plurality of first periodic signals, the first periodic signals include a first signal and a second signal, where the first signal is a sine wave signal, and the voltage of the second signal is 0, and the ultrasonic excitation module generates the first ultrasonic wave based on a portion of the first electrical signal corresponding to the first signal. Therefore, in one period of the ultrasonic excitation signal, that is, in a period of a first period signal, since the first signal is a sine wave signal and the second signal voltage is 0, the ultrasonic excitation module 120 generates the first ultrasonic wave in the duration of the first signal, does not generate the ultrasonic wave in the duration of the second signal, and further, in the period of the first signal, the region to be imaged is elastically deformed due to the acoustic radiation force, and in the period of the second signal, the region to be imaged is not elastically deformed due to the acoustic radiation force. It should be noted that, the first electrical signal is formed after the first ultrasonic excitation signal is amplified in a boosting manner, and the difference between the first electrical signal and the first ultrasonic excitation signal is that the voltage is increased, and the time sequence in the period is unchanged, so that the duration of the portion of the first electrical signal corresponding to the first signal is the same as the duration of the first signal, and thus the ultrasonic excitation module 120 generates the first ultrasonic wave in the duration period of the first signal.

The image acquisition signal generated by the function generator 600 includes a plurality of second periodic signals, the second periodic signals include a third signal and a fourth signal, the third signal is a square wave signal, the voltage of the fourth signal is 0, and the OCT imaging module 200 generates the first optical signal based on the third signal. Thus, in one cycle of the image acquisition signal, i.e. in the period of one second cycle signal, the OCT imaging module 200 generates the first optical signal for the duration of the third signal, enabling OCT imaging of the region to be imaged, and does not generate the first optical signal for the duration of the fourth signal, and does not OCT image the region to be imaged.

The third driving signal includes a plurality of third periodic signals, the third periodic signals include a fifth signal and a sixth signal, the fifth signal is a square wave signal, the voltage of the sixth signal is 0, and the driving module drives the imaging probe 100 to rotate and/or retract according to the fifth signal. Specifically, the driving module 500 drives the imaging probe to rotate and/or retract during the duration of the fifth signal, and does not drive the imaging probe 100 to rotate and/or retract during the duration of the sixth signal, so that the imaging probe is not moved.

It is noted that the duration of the first signal corresponds to the time of at least one of the second periodic signals, the duration of the second signal corresponds to the time of at least one of the second periodic signals, and the duration of the sixth signal corresponds to the time of at least one of the first periodic signals. It is known that the imaging system performs OCT imaging of the region to be imaged, i.e. the inner wall of the blood vessel, during the time period of each second periodic signal, so that the imaging system performs OCT imaging of the inner wall of the blood vessel at least once during the duration of the first signal, the OCT image being an OCT image of the elastically deformed blood vessel, and performs OCT imaging of the inner wall of the blood vessel at least once during the duration of the second signal, the OCT image being an OCT image of the non-elastically deformed blood vessel, so that during each period of the ultrasound excitation signal, both a deformed image and an undeformed image of the region to be imaged of the inner wall of the blood vessel are acquired.

Further, as known from the above, the sixth signal voltage in the third periodic signal is 0, and the imaging probe 100 is not moved, neither rotated nor retracted for the duration of the sixth signal. And the sixth signal is generated simultaneously with the second periodic signal for a duration corresponding to the time of at least one of said first periodic signals, the second periodic signal being not generated during the fifth signal duration, i.e. during imaging the imaging probe 100 is in a stationary state. Therefore, when the imaging system scans the inner wall of the blood vessel and acquires the OCT image of the inner wall of the blood vessel, the imaging probe 100 is in a stationary state, and after the imaging system acquires the OCT image, the driving module 500 drives the imaging probe to perform a small-angle rotation or retraction based on the fifth signal within the duration of the fifth signal. It should be noted that, after the imaging probe 100 has completed the rotational scan at a certain position, the driving module 500 will drive the imaging probe 100 to retract once.

It should be noted that, in the present application, the first ultrasonic excitation signal is specifically a shear wave excitation signal, so that the first ultrasonic energy excites the tissue to generate a shear wave, so that the tissue is deformed. Because the transmission speed of the shear wave is faster, in order to observe the propagation process of the shear wave conveniently, a certain delay is set for the shear wave excitation signal, namely the first ultrasonic excitation signal, namely the second signal is sent out within a short period of time in each period of the first periodic signal, then the first signal is generated, and finally the second signal is generated again, namely the first signal is not generated at the beginning of the period in each period, but is generated after a short period of time. Through the time delay, a small section of second optical signal before the shear wave passes through, namely before the deformation of the blood vessel, can be obtained from the collected second optical signals, can be used as a cross-correlation signal for carrying out elastic deformation calculation, can also push the OCT image of the deformation of the blood vessel by the shear wave backwards in the time axis direction, is convenient for observing the deformation size and the deformation peak time of the blood vessel, and enables the image to be more attractive.

It should be further noted that, because the propagation speed of the shear wave is fast, the use of a lower optical acquisition frequency results in a shorter identifiable time interval for the deformation of the blood vessel, and thus, an inaccurate time for determining the maximum value of the deformation of the tissue. Thus, in the present embodiment, the image acquisition signal is a high frequency image acquisition signal that is frequency matched to the first ultrasonic excitation signal.

In addition, the ultrasonic excitation signal is specifically a low-voltage sine wave signal with a high cycle number, and the high cycle number can ensure the energy of the first ultrasonic wave, so that the first ultrasonic wave can promote the elastic deformation of the blood vessel. And the image acquisition signal is a square wave signal, so that the high-level triggering condition of the OCT imaging module can be met, and OCT imaging can be performed.

In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the OCT optical module 110 includes an optical fiber 111 and a lens 112, where a signal receiving end of the optical fiber 111 receives the first optical signal, a signal output end of the optical fiber 111 corresponds to an incident surface of the lens 112, and the lens 112 receives the first optical signal, converges the first optical signal to a certain extent, and transmits the first optical signal to the region to be imaged, so that the first optical signal can be transmitted to the region to be imaged more, and a high-quality scan is performed on the region to be imaged. The optical fiber 111 is a single-mode optical fiber, the size is smaller, the lens 112 is a ball lens, and the first optical signal can still be transmitted to the region to be imaged when the imaging probe 100 rotates, and the same size is smaller, so that the OCT optical module 110 is smaller in size, which is beneficial to miniaturization of the imaging probe 100, and provides possibility for the imaging probe 100 to enter a narrower space for imaging.

On the basis of the above embodiment, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the imaging probe 100 further includes a first protection tube 130, and the lens 112 is located in the first protection tube 130 to protect the lens 112. And the first protection tube 130 is a light-transmitting protection tube, so as to protect the lens 112 and not to affect the transmission of the first optical signal and the second optical signal. It should be noted that, the first protection tube 130 is a closed cavity having an aperture through which the optical fiber 111 is abutted with the lens 112, and the diameter size of the optical fiber 111 is matched with the diameter size of the aperture so as not to break the tightness of the first protection tube 130.

In one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the ultrasound excitation module 120 includes an ultrasound array element 121, a first cable 122, and a second cable 123. One end of the first cable 122 is connected to the ultrasonic array element 121, and the other end is connected to the elastic ultrasonic module 300, so as to transmit the first electrical signal to the ultrasonic array element 121, and the ultrasonic array element 121 generates the first ultrasonic wave based on the first electrical signal, so as to promote the elastic deformation of the blood vessel. One end of the second cable 123 is connected to the ultrasonic array element 121, and the other end is connected to the ultrasonic imaging module 400, so as to transmit the second electrical signal to the ultrasonic array element 121, and the ultrasonic array element generates the second ultrasonic wave based on the second electrical signal, so as to obtain an ultrasonic image of a blood vessel.

On the basis of any of the above embodiments, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the imaging probe 100 further includes a second protection tube 140, where the ultrasound array element 121 and the first protection tube 130 are located in the cavity of the second protection tube 140, and the second protection tube 140 has an opening, where the opening corresponds to the lens 112 and the light emitting surface and the signal emitting surface of the ultrasound array element 121, is located on the transmission paths of the first optical signal and the second optical signal, and is located on the transmission paths of the first ultrasonic wave and the second ultrasonic wave, so that the first optical signal, the second optical signal, the first ultrasonic wave, the second ultrasonic wave, and the third ultrasonic wave may pass through the above opening of the second protection tube 140 to avoid being blocked by the second protection tube 140. Optionally, the second protection tube 140 is a metal protection tube.

Based on any of the above embodiments, in one embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 7, the imaging probe 100 further includes a torsion spring 150, where the torsion spring 150 is abutted with one side of the second protection tube 140, specifically, one side of the second protection tube 140 near the signal receiving end of the optical fiber, so as to maintain stability of the imaging probe 100 when the imaging probe 100 moves, so as to ensure stability of the blood vessel image acquired by the imaging system.

In summary, the present application provides a multi-modality imaging system, comprising: the device comprises an imaging probe, an OCT imaging module, an ultrasonic imaging module, an elastic ultrasonic module and a driving module for driving an imaging greedy figure cloud top. The imaging probe comprises an OCT optical module and an ultrasonic excitation module, wherein the ultrasonic excitation module receives a first electric signal to form a first ultrasonic wave radiated to a region to be imaged, so that the region to be imaged is elastically deformed, the OCT optical module receives a first optical signal and feeds back a second optical signal formed by reflecting the first optical signal through the region to be imaged to the OCT imaging module, and the OCT imaging module obtains image information of the region to be imaged based on the second optical signal and forms an OCT image. The second optical signal comprises image information when the region to be imaged is elastically deformed and image information when the region to be imaged is not elastically deformed, so that the OCT image also comprises a deformed OCT image and an undeformed OCT image of the region to be imaged, and the OCT image and the undeformed OCT image are compared and analyzed, so that the elastic information of the region to be imaged can be obtained on the basis of obtaining the OCT image of the region to be imaged.

Therefore, the imaging system provided by the application can perform OCT imaging, ultrasonic imaging and acquisition of blood vessel elasticity information so as to perform multi-mode imaging on the blood vessel, the OCT image of the blood vessel is matched with the blood vessel elasticity information, the OCE image of the blood vessel can be obtained, and the mechanical information of each part of the blood vessel is further obtained, so that when the plaque exists in the blood vessel by using an imaging means, the type of the plaque in the blood vessel can be judged according to the elastic information of each part of the blood vessel, more visual and accurate plaque identification compared with the conventional intravascular imaging is realized, and the accuracy of plaque identification in the blood vessel is improved.

In addition, the known ultrasonic imaging has large imaging depth, the OCT imaging has relatively small imaging depth, and the OCT image and the ultrasonic image are both imaged at the same position, so that the ultrasonic image and the OCT image are compared, the type of the vascular plaque can be accurately judged, the position and the size of the vascular plaque can be accurately judged, the size of a focus can be accurately estimated, and an accurate basis is provided for a subsequent treatment scheme.

In the present specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, or a parallel manner, or a combination of progressive and parallel manners, and each embodiment is mainly described as different from other embodiments, and the same similar areas between the embodiments are referred to each other. For the device disclosed in the embodiment, since the device corresponds to the method disclosed in the embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant points refer to the description of the method area.

It should be noted that, in the description of the present application, it should be understood that the directions or positional relationships indicated by the terms "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the drawings, are merely for convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the apparatus or element to be referred to must have a specific direction, be configured and operated in the specific direction, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present application. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present.

It is further noted that relational terms such as first and second, and the like are used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that an 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 article or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in an article or apparatus that comprises such element.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the application. Thus, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A multi-modality imaging system for endoscopic imaging of a blood vessel, comprising: the system comprises an imaging probe, an OCT imaging module, an ultrasonic imaging module, an elastic ultrasonic module and a driving module, wherein the driving module is used for driving the imaging probe to move;

2. The imaging system of claim 1, further comprising a function generator and a controller, the elastic ultrasound module comprising a power amplifier;

3. The imaging system of claim 2, wherein the ultrasound imaging module comprises a pulse generator and an ultrasound image acquisition card;

4. The imaging system of claim 3, wherein the controller is further coupled to the drive module for transmitting a third drive signal to the drive module, the drive module moving the imaging probe based on the third drive signal.

5. The imaging system of claim 4, wherein the ultrasound excitation signal comprises a plurality of first periodic signals, the first periodic signals comprising a first signal and a second signal, wherein the first signal is a sine wave signal and the second signal has a voltage of 0, the ultrasound excitation module generating the first ultrasound wave based on a portion of the first electrical signal corresponding to the first signal;

6. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein the OCT optical module comprises an optical fiber and a lens;

Wherein, the optic fibre is single mode optical fiber, the lens is ball lens.

7. The imaging system of claim 6, wherein the imaging probe further comprises a first protective tube, the lens is located within a cavity of the first protective tube, and the first protective tube is a light transmissive protective tube.

8. The imaging system of claim 1, wherein the ultrasound excitation module comprises an ultrasound array element, a first cable, and a second cable;

9. The imaging system of claim 7 or 8, wherein the imaging probe further comprises a second protective tube, the ultrasound array element and the first protective tube being located within the second protective lumen, and the second protective tube having an opening located on the transmission path of the first optical signal and the second optical signal and on the transmission path of the first ultrasound wave, the second ultrasound wave, and the third ultrasound wave.

10. The imaging system of claim 9, wherein the imaging system further comprises: and the torque spring is in butt joint with one side of the second protection tube and is used for maintaining the stability of the imaging probe when the imaging probe moves.