CN117814839A

CN117814839A - Ultrasound contrast data display method and ultrasound contrast equipment

Info

Publication number: CN117814839A
Application number: CN202211191703.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 欧阳亚丽; 桑茂栋
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-09-28
Filing date: 2022-09-28
Publication date: 2024-04-05

Abstract

The method comprises the steps of acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic image data under ultrasonic contrast imaging, calculating the difference value between the current frame ultrasonic image data and the initial frame ultrasonic data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, and obtaining the current frame difference value image data; comparing each value in the current frame difference image with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result; coloring an image area of data associated with the contrast microbubbles based on the relative time of the current frame and the start frame to obtain a current frame arrival time map; and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the arrival time chart of the current frame. And the difference value is carried out between each frame and the initial frame, the contrast area and the non-contrast area are determined based on the difference value, the influence of highlight tissues and noise on arrival time imaging is reduced, and the accuracy of microbubble signal positioning is improved.

Description

Ultrasound contrast data display method and ultrasound contrast equipment

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of ultrasonic contrast imaging, in particular to a display method of ultrasonic contrast data and ultrasonic contrast equipment.

Background

In recent years, ultrasound imaging has played an increasingly important role in the diagnosis of malignant diseases such as liver cancer, thyroid cancer, and breast cancer. The ultrasonic contrast imaging can observe focus state and adjacent tissue blood flow perfusion condition in real time by intravenous injection of contrast microbubbles, and reflect the blood flow perfusion state of viscera or tumor from microcirculation level. Because the impedance of blood is small, tiny blood vessels cannot be seen under the conventional and Doppler conditions, and after the contrast microbubbles are injected, the back scattering and nonlinear effects of the contrast microbubbles can be utilized to enhance the reflection, so that the amplitude of echo signals is enhanced, and the contrast resolution of ultrasonic images is improved. The ultrasonic contrast has the advantages of no wound, convenience, good repeatability, real-time dynamic observation and the like, and compared with CT (Computed Tomography and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)), the ultrasonic contrast microbubbles are safer, so that the ultrasonic contrast imaging is gradually popularized and is praised as a third revolution following gray scale and color Doppler ultrasound by the fields of home and abroad.

The difference of arrival time between suspicious lesions and normal tissues is a key factor for doctors to diagnose benign and malignant diseases, but the inflow process of contrast microbubbles is often fast, and the normal tissues start to perfuse after a malignant lesion inflow starts to subside, and the whole process is usually observed and stored in real time, and then the lesion properties can be obtained through repeated browsing.

In the process of time parameter imaging, a threshold value is set for the signal of the region of interest by calculating the brightness change time intensity curve of the contrast image, if the signal intensity is greater than the threshold value, the position is indicated to belong to the microbubble signal, and if the signal intensity is less than the threshold value, the position is indicated to belong to the non-microbubble signal. The contrast data has some highlighted tissue residues, noise and the like, and the arrival time parameter imaging is directly carried out through the judgment of the threshold value, and the noise and the tissue residues can influence the accuracy of the arrival time parameter imaging.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides a display method of ultrasound contrast data and an ultrasound contrast apparatus, which are specifically described below.

According to a first aspect, an embodiment provides a method for displaying ultrasound contrast data, including:

controlling a probe to emit ultrasonic waves to tissues containing contrast microbubbles, receiving ultrasonic echo signals returned by the tissues, and obtaining multi-frame ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signals;

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain current frame of difference image data;

Comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result; the current frame difference image data corresponds to a current frame difference image, and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles corresponds to a contrast area in the current frame difference image;

coloring a contrast area of the difference image of the current frame based on the relative time of the current frame and the initial frame to obtain a current frame arrival time diagram;

and displaying the current frame ultrasonic image corresponding to the current frame ultrasonic image data and the current frame arrival time chart.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment provides a method for displaying ultrasound contrast data, including:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

determining a dwell time corresponding to each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image based on the contrast area determined in the difference image data before the current frame difference image data and the contrast area of the current frame difference image;

coloring the current frame difference image based on the stay time corresponding to each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image to obtain a current frame stay time diagram;

and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the stay time diagram of the current frame.

According to a third aspect, an embodiment provides a method for displaying ultrasound contrast data, including:

acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic image data, wherein the multi-frame ultrasonic image data are acquired in an ultrasonic contrast imaging mode;

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment provides a method for displaying ultrasound contrast data, including:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

determining the stay time corresponding to each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image;

coloring the current frame difference image based on the stay time of each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image to obtain a current frame stay time diagram;

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound contrast device comprising:

the probe is used for the detection of the position of the probe,

a transmitting circuit for controlling the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to tissue containing contrast microbubbles;

the receiving circuit is used for controlling the probe to receive an ultrasonic echo signal returned by the tissue;

the echo processing module is used for obtaining multi-frame ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signals;

a processor for performing the steps of:

Determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain a current frame of difference image;

and the display is used for displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the stay time diagram of the current frame.

According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound contrast device comprising:

the probe is used for the detection of the position of the probe,

a processor for performing the steps of:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment provides a method for displaying ultrasound contrast data, including:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result;

determining a contrast region in a preset image based on the data associated with the contrast microbubbles, wherein the preset image is an ultrasonic image corresponding to the current frame ultrasonic image data, a current frame difference image corresponding to the current frame difference image data, a tissue image or a template image corresponding to the ultrasonic image of the current frame ultrasonic image data;

coloring a contrast area of the preset image based on the relative time of the current frame and the initial frame to obtain a current frame arrival time diagram;

According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment provides a method for displaying ultrasound contrast data, including:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

determining the stay time corresponding to each position in a contrast area of the preset image;

Coloring the preset image based on the stay time of each position in the contrast area of the preset image to obtain a current frame stay time diagram;

According to a ninth aspect, an embodiment provides an image data processing apparatus including:

the memory device is used for storing the data,

a processor for performing the method of any one of claims 1-19, 28-32;

and the display is used for displaying the ultrasonic image, the arrival time chart and/or the stay time chart corresponding to the ultrasonic image data.

According to the display method, the ultrasonic contrast device and the processing device of the ultrasonic contrast data, the positions of the ultrasonic contrast microbubbles are determined based on the difference result by making the difference between each frame of the multi-frame ultrasonic image data and the initial frame, so that the influence caused by highlight tissues, noise and the like is reduced, and the positioning accuracy of the ultrasonic contrast microbubbles is improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound contrast device according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound contrast device according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data according to one embodiment;

fig. 11 is a block diagram showing the structure of an image data processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

Detailed Description

The invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the drawings by means of specific embodiments. Wherein like elements in different embodiments are numbered alike in association. In the following embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. However, one skilled in the art will readily recognize that some of the features may be omitted, or replaced by other elements, materials, or methods in different situations. In some instances, some operations associated with the present application have not been shown or described in the specification to avoid obscuring the core portions of the present application, and may not be necessary for a person skilled in the art to describe in detail the relevant operations based on the description herein and the general knowledge of one skilled in the art.

Furthermore, the described features, operations, or characteristics of the description may be combined in any suitable manner in various embodiments. Also, various steps or acts in the method descriptions may be interchanged or modified in a manner apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the various orders in the description and drawings are for clarity of description of only certain embodiments, and are not meant to be required orders unless otherwise indicated.

The numbering of the components itself, e.g. "first", "second", etc., is used herein merely to distinguish between the described objects and does not have any sequential or technical meaning. The terms "coupled" and "connected," as used herein, are intended to encompass both direct and indirect coupling (coupling), unless otherwise indicated.

As described above, in the ultrasound imaging process, the determination of the microbubble signal is directly performed based on whether the signal intensity is greater than the threshold value, but some highlighted tissue residues are often unavoidable in the contrast data, and the signal with the signal intensity greater than the threshold value is directly used as the microbubble signal, which easily results in inaccurate determination.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a method for determining a microbubble signal based on a difference between a contrast signal and a preset signal, thereby reducing the effects of highlight tissue residues and noise.

The present invention may be applied to an ultrasound contrast apparatus, referring to fig. 1, the ultrasound contrast apparatus of some embodiments includes an ultrasound probe 10, a transmission and reception control circuit 20 (the transmission and reception control circuit 20 may be two separate circuits, such as a transmission circuit and a reception circuit, or may be a combination circuit formed by the transmission circuit and the reception circuit), an echo processing module 30, and a processor 40; the ultrasound contrast device of some embodiments may also include a display 50, the components of which are described below.

The ultrasonic probe 10 is used for transmitting ultrasonic waves to a region of interest and receiving corresponding ultrasonic echo signals to obtain ultrasonic data. In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 includes a plurality of array elements for performing interconversion of the electrical pulse signal and the ultrasound wave, thereby performing transmission of the ultrasound wave to the detected biological tissue 60 (biological tissue in the human or animal body) and receiving of the ultrasound wave echo reflected back by the tissue to acquire an ultrasound wave echo signal. In some embodiments, the plurality of array elements included in the ultrasound probe 10 may be arranged in a row to form a linear array. In some embodiments, the plurality of array elements included in the ultrasound probe 10 are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form an area array. The array elements may emit ultrasonic waves according to an excitation electrical signal or may convert received ultrasonic waves into an electrical signal. Each array element may thus be used to transmit ultrasound waves to biological tissue in the region of interest, as well as to receive ultrasound echoes returned through the tissue. In the ultrasonic detection, the transmitting sequence and the receiving sequence can control which array elements are used for transmitting ultrasonic waves and which array elements are used for receiving ultrasonic waves, or control the time slots of the array elements to be used for transmitting ultrasonic waves or receiving ultrasonic echoes. All array elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission can be excited by the electric signals at the same time, so that ultrasonic waves are transmitted at the same time; or the array elements participating in the ultrasonic wave transmission can be excited by a plurality of electric signals with a certain time interval, so that the ultrasonic wave with a certain time interval can be continuously transmitted.

In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 may be a one-dimensional ultrasound probe provided with a robotic arm for driving spatial movement of the one-dimensional ultrasound probe. In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 may be a volumetric probe. In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 may be an area array probe.

The above are some illustrations of the ultrasound probe 10.

In some examples, the region of interest may be selected by a user, for example, when a conventional ultrasound image is displayed on the display 50, the user may select the region of interest on the conventional ultrasound image. In some examples, the location of the region of interest may also be automatically determined by processor 40 on the base ultrasound image based on an associated machine identification algorithm. In some examples, the region of interest may also be acquired by semi-automatic detection, for example, the processor 40 may first automatically detect the location of the region of interest on the base ultrasound image based on a machine identification algorithm, and then be further modified or corrected by the user to acquire a more accurate location of the region of interest.

The transmission and reception control circuit 20 is used to control the ultrasonic probe 10 to transmit ultrasonic waves and to receive ultrasonic echo signals. For example, the transmit and receive control circuit 20 is arranged to control the ultrasound probe 10 on the one hand to transmit ultrasound waves to biological tissue 60, for example a region of interest, and on the other hand to control the ultrasound probe 10 to receive ultrasound echoes of ultrasound waves reflected by the tissue. In some embodiments, the transmit and receive control circuit 20 is configured to generate a transmit sequence and a receive sequence and output the transmit sequence to the ultrasound probe 10. The transmit sequence is used to control the transmission of ultrasound waves to biological tissue 60 by some or all of the plurality of elements in ultrasound probe 10, and the parameters of the transmit sequence include the number of elements used for transmission and the ultrasound wave transmission parameters (e.g., amplitude, frequency, number of waves transmitted, transmission interval, transmission angle, wave pattern, and/or focus position, etc.). The receiving sequence is used for controlling part or all of the plurality of array elements to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave after being organized, and the parameters of the receiving sequence comprise the number of array elements for receiving and the receiving parameters (such as receiving angle, depth and the like) of the echo. The ultrasound echo is used differently or the image generated from the ultrasound echo is different, so are the ultrasound parameters in the transmit sequence and the echo parameters in the receive sequence.

The echo processing module 30 is configured to process the ultrasonic echo signal received by the ultrasonic probe 10, for example, perform filtering, amplifying, beam forming, and the like on the ultrasonic echo signal, so as to obtain ultrasonic echo data. In a specific embodiment, the echo processing module 30 may output the ultrasonic echo data to the processor 40, or may store the ultrasonic echo data in a memory, and when an operation based on the ultrasonic echo data is required, the processor 40 reads the ultrasonic echo data from the memory. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, the echo processing module 30 may be omitted when filtering, amplifying, beam forming, etc., of the ultrasound echo signals is not required.

The processor 40 is configured to acquire ultrasound echo data or signals and to use correlation algorithms to obtain desired parameters or images. The processor 40 in some embodiments of the invention includes, but is not limited to, a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), a micro control unit (Micro Controller Unit, MCU), a Field programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA), and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to interpret computer instructions and process data in computer software. In some embodiments, the processor 40 is configured to execute each computer application in the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, thereby causing the sample analysis device to perform a corresponding detection procedure.

The display 50 may be used to display information such as parameters and images calculated by the processor 40. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, the ultrasound contrast device itself may not incorporate a display module, but rather be connected to a computer device (e.g., a computer) through which information is displayed via the display module (e.g., a display screen) of the computer device.

The above is some illustration of an ultrasound contrast device.

In some embodiments, an ultrasound contrast device is provided for performing the following method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, referring to fig. 2, comprising the steps of:

201: and controlling the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the tissue containing the contrast microbubbles, receiving ultrasonic echo signals returned by the tissue, and obtaining multi-frame ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signals.

The multi-frame ultrasonic image data refers to a series of ultrasonic image data generated by ultrasonic echoes returned after ultrasonic equipment transmits ultrasonic waves to tissues, and the multi-frame ultrasonic image data comprises a plurality of data frames, and each data frame corresponds to one moment. The multi-frame ultrasound image data may be all or part of the ultrasound image data corresponding to the ultrasound echo returned after the transmission of the ultrasound waves. The partial ultrasonic image data may be determined automatically or determined by user-definition, for example, the user selects all ultrasonic image data corresponding to the received ultrasonic echo to obtain multi-frame ultrasonic image data, or ultrasonic image data with a predefined time length, for example, ultrasonic image data between the starting time and the time corresponding to the predefined time length is determined from all ultrasonic data corresponding to the received ultrasonic echo, or ultrasonic image data between the time corresponding to the predefined time length before the ending time is used as multi-frame ultrasonic image data. The multi-frame ultrasonic image data can form data of any processing link after the data frame in the ultrasonic data imaging processing process.

202: determining one frame in the multi-frames as a starting frame;

203: and calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain the current frame of difference image data.

The initial frame may be determined after the user selects according to the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, or may be a first acquisition frame, a second acquisition frame, etc. in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, or may be determined after data analysis is performed on the multi-frame ultrasonic image data. The current frame of ultrasound image data may be any frame of multi-frame ultrasound image data, or may be any frame other than the start frame. The current frame difference image data refers to image data obtained by differencing the current frame ultrasound image data and the start frame ultrasound image data.

Specifically, the difference between the current frame ultrasound image data and the initial frame ultrasound image data may be the direct difference between the data at the same position or the difference between the processed regions, wherein the processing of the regions may include region averaging, selecting a region maximum value, selecting a region minimum value, and the like. The data in the current frame difference image data may be the obtained difference directly or may be obtained by processing the difference. Processing the difference values includes normalizing the difference values, averaging the difference values by region, selecting a region maximum value, selecting a region minimum value, calculating an absolute value of the difference values, and the like.

204: and comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data related to the contrast microbubbles of the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result.

In this specific embodiment, the current frame difference image data corresponds to a current frame difference image, and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles corresponds to a contrast region in the current frame difference image.

The preset threshold value can be customized by a user according to experience, or can be default of the device. Different scenes may set different thresholds, or the same threshold may be set. Different scenarios may correspond to different thresholds, which may be determined by a single factor, e.g., different organizations correspond to different thresholds, different examination modes correspond to different thresholds, and different devices correspond to different thresholds. The threshold may also be determined based on multiple factors, such as tissue from examination, examination patterns, equipment, etc., two or more of which together determine the threshold. The above factors are merely examples, and actual reference factors may be determined according to actual situations, and are not limited herein.

Wherein the contrast region is determined by comparing the magnitude between each value in the current frame difference image data and a preset threshold, for example, data with a value greater than or equal to the preset threshold is taken as data associated with the contrast microbubbles, whereas a value less than the preset threshold is taken as data not associated with the contrast microbubbles.

205: and coloring a contrast area of the difference image of the current frame based on the relative time of the current frame and the initial frame to obtain a current frame arrival time chart.

The relative time between the current frame and the start frame refers to the time difference between the two frames, and if the current time is t1 and the start time is t0, the time difference is t1-t0. When the contrast region is colored based on the time difference, different time differences correspond to different coloring. Wherein the time difference may be a segmentation process, different time periods corresponding to different coloring information. The specific number of segments and the specific segmentation duration of the time difference can be customized according to requirements, taking three segments as an example, the time difference comprises a d1 time segment, a d2 time segment and a d3 time segment, coloring information corresponding to the d1 time segment is a1, coloring information corresponding to the d2 time segment is a2, and coloring information corresponding to the d3 time segment is a3. The coloring information may be gray information, color information, or other identification information, etc.

The contrast region is colored based on predefined coloring information. Taking colors as examples, for example, a1, a2 and a3 correspond to green, yellow and blue, respectively, if the time difference is in the d1 time zone, the color of the coloring of the contrast region is green, if the time difference is in the d2 time zone, the color of the coloring of the contrast region is yellow, and if the time difference is in the d3 time zone, the color of the coloring of the contrast region is blue.

In a specific embodiment, each frame of ultrasound image data is calculated to obtain an arrival time map, the arrival time map corresponds to the real-time contrast image (the ultrasound image corresponding to the ultrasound image data) one by one, and the arrival time map and the contrast image are displayed on the screen at the same time. Since the arrival time of each position is prior and then the calculated arrival time value is large or small, the size is directly displayed in gray scale or mapped to a proper range for display, so that the coordinates of the arrival time diagram represent the positions where the contrast microbubbles appear and the size represents the sequence of the arrival time of the contrast microbubbles.

In another specific embodiment, in order to make the user more clearly see the arrival time, the time size value is mapped to a fixed color map for display, the color map ensures that microbubbles entering in the same time period are of one color, microbubbles entering in different time periods are of another color, that is, the maximum and minimum values are fixed in color, and the intermediate values are displayed in the color map in a difference map. And (3) performing color coding according to the time variable of the arrival time of the contrast micro-bubbles at the tissue, and superposing color mapping images representing the significance of the arrival time of the contrast micro-bubbles on the contrast image or the tissue image to directly observe the perfusion time of the contrast micro-bubbles at different positions in the contrast image or the tissue image so as to analyze the blood flow change condition of different pathological change positions. The method can more intuitively observe the sequence of the contrast microbubbles reaching the tissue, can characterize the vascular distribution range and the density of the tissue, can quantitatively analyze according to different colors so as to obtain the perfusion characteristics of the tissue contrast microbubbles, and has important auxiliary diagnostic value for judging the tissue properties.

In one embodiment, determining a contrast region associated with a contrast microbubble in the current frame difference image data based on the comparison result comprises: and determining the first occurrence data of the contrast microbubbles from the current frame difference image data based on the comparison result, and determining the coloring area according to the first occurrence data of the contrast microbubbles. Coloring the contrast area of the difference image of the current frame based on the relative time of the current frame and the initial frame to obtain a current frame arrival time chart, wherein the coloring comprises the following steps: and coloring the coloring area of the difference image of the current frame based on the relative time of the current frame and the starting frame to obtain a current frame arrival time chart.

Specifically, the first occurrence data of the contrast microbubbles may be data in which the first occurrence of the data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data is greater than or equal to a preset threshold. The first occurrence of the contrast microbubble signal may be data that is continuously preset for a number of times greater than or equal to a preset threshold based on the value of the same location. Taking three consecutive times as an example, if the current frame difference image data is the ith frame image data, processing the corresponding values at the positions (x 1, y 1) of the (i-2) th frame image data to be larger than or equal to a preset threshold value, and when the corresponding values at the positions (x 1, y 1) of the (i-1) th frame image data and the ith frame image data are both larger than or equal to the preset threshold value, and when the corresponding values at the positions (x 1, y 1) of the (i-3) th frame image data are smaller than the preset threshold value, taking the data corresponding to the positions (x 1, y 1) as the first occurrence data of the contrast microbubbles. Coloring the coloring area corresponding to the data of the first occurrence of the contrast microbubbles, namely coloring the coloring area according to the relative time between the current frame and the initial frame.

In one embodiment, the data associated with the contrast microbubbles is determined by comparing each value of the current frame difference image data to a preset threshold, e.g., data less than the preset threshold is taken as data not associated with a contrast microbubble, and data greater than or equal to the preset threshold is taken as data associated with a contrast microbubble.

In one embodiment, the contrast and non-contrast regions are colored using different coloring schemes. Distinguishing between contrast and non-contrast regions.

In one embodiment, non-contrast regions are colored, all with the same coloring information. Such as coloring with black or transparentizing non-contrast areas. The non-contrast area is subjected to unified coloring or transparentizing treatment, so that the influence of gray-scale small signals on the contrast of the imaging of the arrival time parameter can be eliminated, and the imaging of the contrast arrival time parameter without residual influence is output and displayed.

206: and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the arrival time chart of the current frame.

Specifically, an ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame ultrasound image data and a current frame arrival time map are simultaneously displayed. The ultrasound image and the current frame arrival time map may be displayed superimposed or tiled.

According to the method for displaying the ultrasonic contrast data, each data frame and the template frame (the initial frame) are subjected to difference operation, the result of the difference operation is compared with the threshold value to determine the contrast area associated with the contrast microbubbles and the non-contrast area not associated with the contrast microbubbles, highlight tissue residual signals and noise floor are removed, the possibility that the highlight tissue residues are misjudged as the microbubble signals is eliminated, noise influence is reduced, and the accuracy of positioning the contrast microbubbles is improved.

In one embodiment, the method for displaying ultrasound contrast data further includes: and acquiring the starting time of the starting frame and acquiring the current time corresponding to the current frame.

In this embodiment, step 205 includes: calculating the time difference between the current time and the starting time, and determining a coloring area in a contrast area of the current frame difference image, wherein the coloring area is determined according to the data of the first occurrence of the contrast microbubbles; and coloring a coloring area in a shading area of the current frame difference image based on the time difference value, and generating the reaching time chart.

The starting time refers to the time corresponding to the ultrasound image data of the starting frame. The current time refers to the time corresponding to the ultrasound image data of the current frame. The relative time refers to the time difference between the current time and the starting time. An arrival time image is generated for a colored region in the contrast region based on a time difference between the current time and the start time. The data and the coloring area where the contrast microbubbles first appear are the same as those defined in the above embodiments, and will not be described here again.

In one embodiment, the first time that a contrast microbubble appears is the time that the contrast microbubble arrives at the tissue, abbreviated as the arrival time. And judging that the pixel point position of the contrast microbubble records the relative time of the moment relative to the starting moment, wherein the relative time is the relative time of the moment relative to the starting moment divided by the frame rate. The relative time value of the current frame is compared with the relative time of the previous frame, and the value with smaller relative time is reserved, so that the earliest moment of occurrence of the contrast microbubbles is recorded at the same position where the contrast microbubbles occur.

In one embodiment, the coloring area in the shading area of the current frame difference image based on the time difference value, generating the current frame arrival time map includes: determining coding information of the current frame arrival time map based on the magnitude of the time difference value; and encoding the coloring area of the current frame arrival time chart based on the encoding information of the current frame arrival time chart.

Specifically, the magnitude of the time difference value corresponds to different encoding information, and the arrival time map is encoded based on the different encoding information. The encoded information includes at least one of: gray value coding information and color map coding information. For example, the time difference value is in a linear relation with the gray value, or the time difference value corresponds to different colors. Medical staff can judge the health condition of the tissue based on the time length of arrival of the contrast microbubbles, so the time length of arrival of the contrast microbubbles can be coded to more intuitively reflect the health condition of the tissue to the medical staff.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound image and the arrival time map are displayed simultaneously on the same screen, see FIG. 3.

In one embodiment, displaying the ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame ultrasound image data and the current frame arrival time map includes: and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame in a first display area, and displaying the arrival time chart of the current frame in a second display area, wherein the first display area and the second display area are different display areas.

The first display area and the second display area are two different areas, and the sizes and the shapes of the two areas can be the same or different. Displaying two different images through the first display area and the second display area is convenient for a user to watch.

In a specific embodiment, the signal of the non-contrast region is set to zero, the influence of the gray-scale small signal on the imaging contrast of the arrival time parameter is eliminated, and the arrival time map without residual influence is output.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound image is stored with the time of arrival map. Simultaneously storing the ultrasound images and the arrival time map facilitates subsequent healthcare personnel review, analysis, report writing, and the like.

In one embodiment, the determining a frame from the plurality of frames as a start frame includes: taking a first frame acquired in the multi-frame as the initial frame; or determining the initial frame based on the operation performed by the user on the operation interface; or analyzing the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, and determining the initial frame based on the analysis result.

Specifically, the start frame may be the first frame of the acquired data, or may be determined by the user based on the requirements. When determining based on the user demand, the user can operate the image file formed by the multi-frame ultrasonic image data on the interface, or can determine the initial frame at the selected time on the acquisition time display diagram. The analysis of the multi-frame ultrasonic image data can be the analysis of tissue structures, the analysis of image gray scale and the like, and the initial frame is determined according to the analysis result.

In one embodiment, the start frame is obtained from a weighted average of a plurality of frames of ultrasound image data.

In one embodiment, after displaying the current frame arrival time map, further comprising: calculating the difference value between the next frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain a next frame of difference image; comparing each value in the next frame of difference image with the preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the next frame of difference image data based on a comparison result; the next frame of difference image data corresponds to a next frame of difference image, and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles corresponds to a contrast area in the next frame of difference image; coloring the current frame arrival time map based on the contrast area of the current frame arrival time map, the contrast area of the difference image of the next frame and the relative time between the next frame and the starting frame to obtain the next frame arrival time map; and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the next frame and the arrival time chart of the next frame.

Specifically, the next frame of ultrasonic image data belongs to the next data of the current frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, if the current frame of ultrasonic image data is the ith frame of ultrasonic, the next frame of ultrasonic image data is the (i+m) th frame, wherein m can be preset or automatically calculated according to the data quantity of the acquired multi-frame ultrasonic image data, and can be user-defined, for example, m can be 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. The next frame of difference image data is determined according to the difference value obtained by calculating the next frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic data. And comparing the value of each position in the difference image data of the next frame with a preset threshold value, wherein the data which is larger than or equal to the preset threshold value is the data associated with the contrast microbubbles, and otherwise, the data which is not associated with the contrast microbubbles. Determining a region to be colored based on the next difference image data and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles determined from the current frame difference image data, and coloring the region to be colored in the current frame arrival time map based on the region to be colored and the relative time. And determining the data associated with the contrast microbubbles from the next frame difference image data, updating the current frame arrival time map, and obtaining the next frame arrival time map. By comparing the difference between the current frame difference image data and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the next frame difference image data, the first occurrence data of the contrast microbubbles in the next frame can be effectively determined, the disappearance data of the contrast microbubbles in the next frame can be also determined, and the calculation mode is simple and convenient.

In a specific embodiment, referring to fig. 4, an ultrasound contrast device includes a probe 10, an internal processing module 12, a control module 13, a contrast image module 14, a contrast time calculation module 15, and a display/storage module 16.

Wherein, the contrast image module 14 includes a start time determining unit and a contrast microbubble detecting and judging unit; the contrast time calculation module 15 includes an arrival time calculation unit, and the display/storage module 16 includes an arrival time map display unit and an arrival time map storage unit.

And the starting time determining unit is used for determining the starting time, and the starting time refers to the time when the arrival time calculating unit starts to perform time parameter imaging calculation. The user opens the function of displaying the arrival time map through the control module 13, the opening time is the starting time, and when browsing the stored contrast images (the ultrasonic images corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of a plurality of frames), the user selects the starting time of the imaging calculation of the arrival time parameter through the control module 13, and opens the function of displaying the arrival time map. The starting moment may be selected by the user via the control module 13, whether during real-time contrast imaging or browsing of the contrast images for which an examination has been completed. In order to more clearly and fully visualize the arrival time differences at various locations on the contrast image, the starting moment is generally chosen before the contrast microbubble microbubbles enter the whole image. To more accurately express the time of arrival, the user does not select the start time, and the system defaults to starting the contrast microbubble injection time as the start time.

The contrast microbubble detection judging unit is used for sequentially detecting each frame of contrast image after the starting moment from the starting moment and judging whether the difference value between each frame of contrast image and the contrast image corresponding to the starting moment is larger than a preset threshold value, wherein if the difference value is larger than or equal to the preset threshold value, the contrast microbubble detection judging unit is used for judging that the data related to the contrast microbubble is generated, and if the difference value is smaller than the preset threshold value, the contrast microbubble detection judging unit is used for judging that the contrast microbubble is generated. The contrast image corresponding to the starting moment is taken as a template frame, the difference value between the contrast image of each frame and the template frame is calculated, and the highlight tissue residual signal and the background noise are removed, so that the possibility that the highlight tissue residual is misjudged as a microbubble signal is eliminated, and the influence of the background noise is reduced; and judging pixel points which are contrast micro-bubble signals in the image by adopting a threshold method, and uniformly processing (such as black coloring or transparentizing processing and the like) the signals smaller than a preset threshold value, so that the influence of the gray-scale small signals on the contrast of the imaging contrast of the arrival time parameter is eliminated, and the imaging of the contrast arrival time parameter without residual influence is output and displayed.

The contrast time calculation module 14 is operative to record the time at which the contrast microbubbles first appear at each position on the contrast image from the start time, i.e., the arrival time of each position, and to generate an arrival time map. The position of the pixel point determined as the contrast micro bubble in the contrast micro bubble determination detection unit records the relative time of the time relative to the starting time, and the relative time is the relative frame number of the time relative to the starting time divided by the frame rate. The relative time value of the current frame is compared with the relative time of the previous frame, and the value with smaller relative time is reserved, so that the earliest moment of occurrence of the contrast microbubbles is recorded at the same position where the contrast microbubbles occur. The relative time of earliest appearance of the contrast microbubbles from the starting moment at each position of the contrast image is realized by the method.

The arrival time chart display unit displays the arrival time chart obtained by the contrast time calculation module on a screen. The contrast time calculation module calculates the earliest time of occurrence of contrast microbubbles at each position of the image, namely the arrival time, and each frame of contrast image can calculate an arrival time diagram, the arrival time diagrams correspond to the real-time contrast images one by one, and the arrival time diagrams and the contrast images can be displayed on a screen at the same time. The arrival time of each position is before, the calculated arrival time value is large or small, the arrival time value is directly displayed in gray scale or mapped to a proper range for display, the coordinates of the arrival time diagram represent the positions where the contrast microbubbles appear, and the size represents the sequence of the arrival time of the contrast microbubbles. In order to make the user more clearly see the arrival time, the time value can be mapped to a fixed color map for display, the color map mapping ensures that the microbubbles which enter first always have a fixed color, the contrast microbubbles which enter last are another fixed color, namely, the maximum and minimum values are ensured to be fixed, and the intermediate values are displayed in the color map in a difference value mapping way.

The imaging result of the contrast arrival time parameter is that the arrival time value of the contrast micro-bubble which enters firstly is small, and the arrival time value of the contrast micro-bubble which enters later is large.

The stored arrival time map is that the user stores the generated arrival time map or the arrival time of mixed display and the contrast map at the same moment in a single frame or multi-frame form in the storage module through the control module, so that the subsequent report and analysis can be written conveniently.

In one embodiment, where the ultrasound image and the arrival time map corresponding to each frame of ultrasound image data are displayed simultaneously, one or more of the images obtained in other imaging modes, including but not limited to ultrasound images obtained in imaging modes such as B-mode imaging and color doppler imaging modes, may also be displayed. Referring to fig. 5, a B-mode image, a contrast image, and an arrival time chart are displayed in alignment on an interface.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound image and the arrival time map of the ultrasound image data are displayed superimposed and the resulting images of the other imaging modes are displayed in other areas.

In one embodiment, the tissue image and the time of arrival map are displayed superimposed and the ultrasound image of the ultrasound image data is displayed in other areas.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 6, there is provided a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, comprising:

301: and controlling the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the tissue containing the contrast microbubbles, receiving ultrasonic echo signals returned by the tissue, and obtaining multi-frame ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signals.

302: a frame is determined from the plurality of frames as a start frame.

303: and calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain current frame of difference image data.

304: and comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result.

305: and determining the stay time corresponding to each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image based on the contrast area determined in the difference image data before the current frame difference image data and the contrast area of the current frame difference image.

306: coloring the current frame difference image based on the stay time corresponding to each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image, and obtaining a current frame stay time diagram.

307: and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the stay time diagram of the current frame.

Step 301, step 302, and step 303 correspond to step 201, step 202, and step 203 described above, and are not described herein.

The stay time period refers to a time period from the appearance of the contrast microbubbles to a time corresponding to the current frame or a time period from the appearance time to a time when the contrast is ended. The time of the contrast end may be a time length corresponding to an end frame of the multi-frame ultrasound image, or may be a predetermined time length, for example, when or before starting data acquisition and determining a time length of data acquisition, for example, when determining that the acquisition time length of data is 1 minute, the stay time length is 1 minute minus the current time (the time corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data is the current time). The principle of coloring the current frame difference image based on the stay time length is the same as that of coloring the current frame difference image based on the arrival time length, namely the current frame difference image can be colored according to the stay time length, different stay time lengths correspond to different coloring information, and the coloring information can comprise gray information, color map information and the like. The display modes of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the current stay time chart can refer to the display modes of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the current arrival time chart.

According to the method for displaying the ultrasonic contrast data, each data frame and the template frame (initial frame) are subjected to difference operation, the result of the difference operation is compared with the threshold value to determine the sum data associated with the contrast microbubbles and the data which are not associated with the contrast microbubbles, influence caused by high-brightness tissues is reduced, residual signals of the high-brightness tissues and noise floor are removed, the possibility that the residual of the high-brightness tissues is misjudged as a microbubble signal is eliminated, noise influence is reduced, the accurate direction of microbubble positioning is improved, and further the stay time of the contrast microbubbles is better presented.

In a specific embodiment, each frame of ultrasound image data is calculated to obtain a frame of dwell time map, the dwell time map is in one-to-one correspondence with the real-time contrast image (the ultrasound image corresponding to the ultrasound image data), and the dwell time map and the contrast image are displayed on the screen at the same time. Since the arrival time of the contrast microbubbles at each location is prior to the arrival time of the microbubbles, the calculated value of the residence time is of a magnitude, and the magnitude is displayed in gray scale directly or mapped to a suitable range for display, so that the coordinates of the residence time map represent the location where the microbubbles appear and the magnitude represents the residence time of the microbubbles. The order of contrast microbubbles may be reflected based on the length of the dwell period.

In another specific embodiment, to allow the user to more clearly see the dwell time, the magnitude of the dwell time is mapped to a fixed color map display. The contrast microbubbles which enter the device firstly have larger residence time values, and the contrast microbubbles which enter the device later have smaller residence time values, and the residence time is 0 at the position where the microbubbles never appear.

In one embodiment, in the case that the ultrasound image and the dwell time chart corresponding to each frame of ultrasound image data are displayed simultaneously, images obtained in other imaging modes, including but not limited to ultrasound images obtained in imaging modes such as B-mode imaging and color doppler imaging modes, may also be displayed.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound image and dwell time plot of the ultrasound image data are displayed superimposed and the resulting images of the other imaging modes are displayed in other areas.

In one embodiment, the tissue image and dwell time plot are displayed superimposed and the ultrasound image of the ultrasound image data is displayed in other areas.

In one embodiment, the determining the dwell time corresponding to each position in the contrast region of the current frame difference image includes: determining the arrival time of each position in the contrast area based on the contrast area determined in the difference image data before the current frame difference image data and the contrast area of the current frame difference image; determining the current moment corresponding to the current frame of ultrasonic image data; and calculating the time difference between the current time and the arrival time of each position in the contrast area to obtain the corresponding stay time of each position in the contrast area.

The arrival time refers to the time when the contrast microbubbles first appear, and the time when the contrast microbubbles first appear is the time corresponding to the data when the contrast microbubbles first appear. Comparing the corresponding contrast areas at different times can determine the first occurrence data of the corresponding contrast microbubbles in the contrast areas at each time, thereby determining the arrival time of each position in the contrast areas. Based on the time difference between the current time and the arrival time at each location, the residence time of the contrast microbubbles at each location can be determined.

In one embodiment, determining a dwell time corresponding to each position in a contrast region of the current frame difference image includes: determining the end time corresponding to the end frame in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data; determining the current moment corresponding to the current frame of ultrasonic image data; and calculating the time difference between the end time and the current time to obtain the corresponding stay time of each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image.

The end time may be a time corresponding to the last frame of the multi-frame ultrasound image data, or may be a time determined by the user from time information corresponding to the multi-frame ultrasound image data. The time difference between the appearance time of the contrast micro-bubble at each position and the end time of the multi-frame ultrasonic image data is the stay time of the contrast micro-bubble. Under the condition that the contrast imaging process is short, the contrast microbubbles enter the tissues or organs until the data acquisition is finished, and the tissues or organs still hold the contrast microbubbles, so that the stay time of the contrast microbubbles can be calculated according to the finishing moment of the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, and the calculation method is simplified.

In one embodiment, the coloring the current frame difference image based on the determined dwell time length to obtain a current dwell time chart includes: determining the coding information of the current residence time diagram based on the size of the residence time length; and encoding the current frame difference image based on the encoding information of the current dwell time chart.

In one embodiment, the coloring the current frame difference image based on the stay time of each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image to obtain a current frame stay time chart includes: determining the coding information of the current frame residence time diagram based on the residence time length; and encoding the current frame difference image based on the encoding information of the current frame stay time diagram.

In one embodiment, the encoded information includes at least one of: gray value coding information and color map coding information.

The corresponding mode between the size of the stay time and the coded information can refer to the corresponding mode between the size of the reaching time and the coded information.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound image, the time of arrival map and the dwell time map are displayed simultaneously on the interface. After multi-frame ultrasonic image data are obtained, respectively calculating the arrival time and the stay time, and coloring the difference image based on the arrival time and the stay time respectively to obtain an arrival time chart and a stay time chart. The arrival time diagram and the residence time diagram are displayed simultaneously, so that a user can simultaneously see the time required by the contrast agent to reach the tissue and the residence time of the contrast agent on the tissue, and more information is provided for medical staff to better judge the pathological change condition of the tissue.

In one embodiment, where the ultrasound image, the time of arrival map, and the dwell time map are displayed simultaneously on the interface, ultrasound images of other imaging modes are also displayed, including but not limited to ultrasound images obtained in imaging modes such as B-mode imaging and color Doppler imaging modes.

In one embodiment, after displaying the current dwell time map, further comprising: calculating the difference value between the next frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain next frame of difference value image data; comparing each value in the next frame of difference image data with a preset threshold value, determining data related to contrast microbubbles in the next frame of difference image data based on a comparison result, and determining a contrast area in the next frame of difference image according to the data related to the contrast microbubbles, wherein the next frame of difference image and the next frame of difference image data; determining the stay time of the contrast microbubbles in the contrast area of the difference image of the next frame, and coloring the difference image of the next frame based on the determined stay time to obtain a stay time diagram of the next frame; and displaying an ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic data of the next frame and the residence time diagram of the next frame.

Specifically, the next frame of ultrasonic image data belongs to the next data frame of the ultrasonic data of the current frame in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, if the ultrasonic image data of the current frame is the ith ultrasonic frame, the ultrasonic data of the next frame is the (i+m) th frame, wherein m can be customized according to the data quantity or the requirement of a user, and if m can be 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. The next frame of difference image is determined according to the difference value obtained by calculating the next frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic data. And comparing the value of each position in the difference image data of the next frame with a preset threshold value, wherein if the value is larger than or equal to the preset threshold value, the value is data associated with the contrast microbubbles, otherwise, the value is data which is not associated with the contrast microbubbles. Determining a region to be colored in the current frame arrival time map based on the next frame difference image data and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles of the current frame difference image data, and coloring the region to be colored in the current frame dwell time map based on the region to be colored and the dwell time length to obtain the next frame dwell time map. And updating the current frame residence time diagram according to the data of the contrast microbubbles determined by the difference image data of the next frame to obtain the residence time diagram of the next frame. By comparing the difference between the contrast areas of the current frame and the next frame, the area where the contrast microbubbles appear for the first time in the next frame can be effectively determined, and the area where the contrast microbubbles disappear in the next frame can also be determined. If the current frame residence time diagram is updated based on the region where the contrast microbubbles first appear and the region where the contrast microbubbles disappear, the next frame residence time diagram is obtained, and the updating strategy is simple and convenient.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 7, there is provided a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, comprising:

401: and acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic image data, wherein the multi-frame ultrasonic image data are acquired in an ultrasonic contrast imaging mode.

The image processing device acquires multi-frame ultrasonic image data, and the image processing device can be ultrasonic data acquisition equipment or non-ultrasonic data acquisition equipment.

402: a frame is determined from the plurality of frames as a start frame.

403: and calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain current frame of difference image data.

404: and comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result.

405: and coloring a contrast area of the difference image of the current frame based on the relative time of the current frame and the initial frame to obtain a current frame arrival time chart.

406: and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the arrival time chart of the current frame.

Step 402, step 403, step 404, step 405 and step 406 are the same as step 202, step 203, step 204, step 205 and step 206 described above, and are not described here again.

According to the method for displaying the ultrasonic contrast data, each data frame and the template frame (initial frame) are subjected to difference operation, the contrast area and the non-contrast area are determined by comparing the result of the difference operation with the threshold value, the influence caused by the highlight tissue is reduced, the highlight tissue residual signal and the background noise are removed, the possibility that the highlight tissue residual is misjudged as a microbubble signal is eliminated, the noise influence is reduced, the accuracy of contrast microbubble positioning is improved, and therefore the time to reach the tissue of the contrast microbubble is better presented.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 8, there is provided a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, comprising:

501: and acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic image data, wherein the multi-frame ultrasonic image data are acquired in an ultrasonic contrast imaging mode.

The image processing device acquires multi-frame ultrasonic image data, and the image processing device can be ultrasonic data acquisition equipment or non-ultrasonic data acquisition equipment. Non-ultrasound data acquisition devices may include, but are not limited to, computer devices and mobile terminals. When the image processing device is a non-ultrasonic data acquisition device, the multi-frame ultrasonic image data can be actively transmitted to the image processing device after the ultrasonic data acquisition device acquires the data, or can be uploaded by the ultrasonic data acquisition device according to a data acquisition instruction of the image processing device.

502: a frame is determined from the plurality of frames as a start frame.

503: and calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain the current frame of difference image data.

504: and comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result.

In this specific embodiment, the current frame difference image data corresponds to a current frame difference image, and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles corresponds to a contrast region in the current frame difference image;

505: and determining the stay time corresponding to each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image.

506: coloring the current frame difference image based on the stay time of each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image to obtain a current frame stay time diagram.

507: and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the stay time diagram of the current frame.

Step 502, step 503, step 505 and step 506 are the same as step 302, step 303, step 305 and step 306, respectively, and are not described herein.

The dwell time in step 504 may be the time from the appearance of the contrast microbubbles to the time corresponding to the current frame, or the time from the time of appearance to the time of contrast end. The time of the contrast end may be a time length corresponding to an end frame of the multi-frame ultrasound image, or may be a predetermined time length, for example, when or before starting data acquisition and determining a time length of data acquisition, for example, when determining that the acquisition time length of data is 1 minute, the stay time length is 1 minute minus the current time (the time corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data is the current time).

According to the method for displaying the ultrasonic contrast data, the difference value operation is carried out on each data frame and the template frame (the initial frame), the contrast area and the non-contrast area are determined by comparing the result of the difference value operation with the threshold value, the influence caused by the highlight tissue is reduced, the highlight tissue residual signal and the background noise are removed, the possibility that the highlight tissue residual is misjudged as the microbubble signal is eliminated, the noise influence is reduced, the accuracy of contrast microbubble positioning is improved, and therefore the stay time of the contrast microbubbles is better presented.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 9, there is provided a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, comprising:

601: and acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic image data, wherein the multi-frame ultrasonic image data are acquired in an ultrasonic contrast imaging mode.

602: a frame is determined from the plurality of frames as a start frame.

603: and calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain current frame of difference image data.

604: and comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result.

605: and determining a contrast area in a preset image based on the data related to the contrast microbubbles.

In this specific embodiment, the preset image is an ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame ultrasound image data, a current frame difference image corresponding to the current frame difference image data, a tissue image or a template image corresponding to the ultrasound image of the current frame ultrasound image data.

606: and coloring the contrast area of the preset image based on the relative time of the current frame and the initial frame to obtain a current frame arrival time chart.

607: and displaying the current frame ultrasonic image corresponding to the current frame ultrasonic image data and the current frame arrival time chart.

The steps 601, 602, 603, 604 have the same content as the steps 201, 202, 203, 204 in the above embodiment, and are not described here again.

The template image in step S605 may be a predefined or an image template of the same size is generated according to the size of the ultrasound image data. The contrast region may be determined in a contrast image (i.e., an ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data), may be determined in an ultrasound image (e.g., a tissue image) corresponding to image data (e.g., tissue image data) representing the same time in image data of other imaging modes corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data, may be determined in a current frame of difference image generated from the current difference frame of image data, or may be determined in a template image. The coloring of the contrast area and the display after the arrival time map are all referred to in the manner of the above embodiment.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 10, there is provided a method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, comprising:

701: and acquiring multi-frame ultrasonic image data, wherein the multi-frame ultrasonic image data are acquired in an ultrasonic contrast imaging mode.

702: a frame is determined from the plurality of frames as a start frame.

703: and calculating the difference value between the current frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain current frame of difference image data.

704: and comparing each value in the current frame difference image data with a preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data based on a comparison result.

705: and determining a contrast region in a preset image based on the data associated with the contrast microbubbles, wherein the preset image is an ultrasonic image corresponding to the current frame ultrasonic image data, a current frame difference image corresponding to the current frame difference image data, a tissue image or a template image corresponding to the ultrasonic image of the current frame ultrasonic image data.

706: and determining the stay time corresponding to each position in the contrast area of the preset image.

707: coloring the preset image based on the stay time of each position in the contrast area of the preset image to obtain a current frame stay time diagram.

708: and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the stay time diagram of the current frame.

The steps 701, 702, 703 and 704 have the same content as the steps 301, 302, 303 and 304 in the above embodiment, and are not described herein.

The template image in step S605 may be a predefined or an image template of the same size is generated according to the size of the ultrasound image data. The contrast region may be determined in a contrast image (i.e., an ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data), may be determined in an ultrasound image (e.g., a tissue image) corresponding to image data (e.g., tissue image data) representing the same time in image data of other imaging modes corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data, may be determined in a current frame of difference image generated from the current difference frame of image data, or may be determined in a template image. The coloring of the contrast area and the display after the acquisition of the dwell time map can be referred to in the manner of the above-described embodiments.

In one embodiment, acquiring multiple frames of ultrasound image data includes: and controlling the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the tissue containing the contrast microbubbles, receiving ultrasonic echo signals returned by the tissue, and obtaining multi-frame ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signals.

In one embodiment, determining that there is no associated data with the contrast microbubbles based on the comparison, the non-associated data of the contrast microbubbles corresponding to a non-contrast region in the preset image; coloring a non-contrast area of the preset image so as to display the non-contrast area and the contrast area in a distinguishing way.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 11, there is provided an image data processing apparatus including a memory 1000, a processor 1100 and a display 1200, the processor 1100 being configured to perform the method of displaying ultrasound contrast data in any of the above embodiments.

In one embodiment, referring to fig. 1, there is provided an ultrasound contrast device comprising:

the probe head 10 is adapted to be positioned in a spaced apart relationship,

a transmit circuit in the transmit and receive control circuit 20 for controlling the probe to transmit ultrasound waves to tissue containing contrast microbubbles;

a receiving circuit in the transmitting and receiving control circuit 20 for controlling the probe to receive the ultrasonic echo signals returned by the tissue;

an echo processing module 30, configured to obtain multiple frames of ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signal;

a processor 40 for performing the steps of:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

and a display 50 for displaying the current frame ultrasonic image corresponding to the current frame ultrasonic image data and the current frame arrival time map.

In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to perform the steps of:

determining one frame in the multi-frames as a starting frame;

the display 50 is also used for the current frame dwell time map.

the probe head 10 is adapted to be positioned in a spaced apart relationship,

a processor 40 for performing the steps of:

determining one frame in the multi-frames as a starting frame;

and a display 50 for displaying the ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame ultrasound image data and the current frame dwell time map.

In one embodiment, the processor 40 is further configured to perform the steps of:

determining that data which is not associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data corresponds to a non-contrast area in the current frame difference image based on the comparison result; and coloring a non-contrast area of the current frame difference image so as to display the non-contrast area and the contrast area in a distinguishing way.

In an embodiment, the processor 40 is further configured to perform black coloring of the non-contrast region of the current frame difference image.

In one embodiment, the processor 40 is further configured to perform a transparency process on a non-contrast region of the current frame difference image.

In one embodiment, the processor 20 is further configured to perform the steps of: acquiring a starting moment corresponding to the starting frame; acquiring a current moment corresponding to the current frame; calculating the time difference between the current time and the starting time, and determining a coloring area in a contrast area of the current frame difference image, wherein the coloring area corresponds to the data of the first occurrence of the contrast microbubbles; and coloring a coloring area in a shading area of the current frame difference image based on the time difference value, and generating the current frame arrival time map.

In one embodiment, the display 50 is configured to display an ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data in a first display area; and displaying the current frame arrival time diagram in a second display area, wherein the first display area and the second display area are different display areas.

In one embodiment, the display 50 is configured to superimpose and display the ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data and the current frame arrival time map.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound contrast device further comprises: and a user input interface responsive to an operation of determining a start frame and/or an end frame of the multi-frame ultrasound image data.

In one embodiment, the display 50 is configured to display an ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data in a first display area, and display the current frame dwell time map in a second display area, where the first display area and the second display area are different display areas;

in one embodiment, the display 50 is configured to superimpose and display the ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame of ultrasound image data and the current frame dwell time map.

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

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. Additionally, as will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the principles herein may be reflected in a computer program product on a computer readable storage medium preloaded with computer readable program code. Any tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage medium may be used, including magnetic storage devices (hard disks, floppy disks, etc.), optical storage devices (CD-to-ROM, DVD, blu-Ray disks, etc.), flash memory, and/or the like. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including means which implement the function specified. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified.

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

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

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

Claims

1. A method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, comprising:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

2. A method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, comprising:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

3. A method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, the method comprising:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

4. A method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, the method comprising:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:

determining that data which is not associated with the contrast microbubbles in the current frame difference image data corresponds to a non-contrast area in the current frame difference image based on the comparison result;

and coloring a non-contrast area of the current frame difference image so as to display the non-contrast area and the contrast area in a distinguishing way.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the coloring the non-contrast region of the current frame difference image comprises any one of:

black coloring is carried out on the non-contrast area of the current frame difference image;

and carrying out transparency processing on the non-contrast area of the current frame difference image.

7. A method according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the method further comprises:

acquiring a starting moment corresponding to the starting frame;

acquiring a current moment corresponding to the current frame;

coloring the contrast area of the difference image of the current frame based on the relative time of the current frame and the initial frame to obtain a current frame arrival time diagram, wherein the coloring comprises the following steps:

Calculating a time difference between the current time and the start time,

determining a coloring area in a contrast area of the current frame difference image, wherein the coloring area corresponds to data of the first occurrence of the contrast microbubbles;

and coloring a coloring area in a shading area of the current frame difference image based on the time difference value, and generating the current frame arrival time map.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the coloring regions in the created region of the current frame difference image based on the time difference value, generating the current frame arrival time map, comprises:

determining coding information of the current frame arrival time map based on the magnitude of the time difference value;

and encoding the coloring area of the current frame arrival time chart based on the encoding information of the current frame arrival time chart.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said determining the encoding information of the current frame arrival time map based on the magnitude of the time difference value comprises:

determining coding intervals in which the time difference value is located, wherein different coding intervals correspond to different coding information;

And determining the coding information of the current frame arrival time map based on the coding interval.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the encoded information comprises at least one of: gray value coding information and color map coding information.

11. The method of any one of claims 1, 3, 5-8, wherein the displaying the ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame ultrasound image data and the current frame arrival time map comprises any one of:

displaying an ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame in a first display area, and displaying the arrival time chart of the current frame in a second display area, wherein the first display area and the second display area are different display areas;

and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the arrival time chart of the current frame in a superposition way.

12. The method of any of claims 1, 3, 5-8, wherein said determining a frame from the plurality of frames as a starting frame comprises:

taking a first frame acquired in the multi-frame as the initial frame;

determining the initial frame based on an operation performed by a user on an operation interface;

And analyzing the multi-frame ultrasonic image data, and determining the initial frame based on an analysis result.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1, 3, 5-8, wherein the coloring the contrast region of the current frame difference image based on the relative time of the current frame and the start frame, before obtaining a current frame arrival time map, further comprises:

calculating the difference value between the next frame of ultrasonic image data and the initial frame of ultrasonic image data in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data to obtain a next frame of difference image;

comparing each value in the next frame of difference image with the preset threshold value, and determining data associated with the contrast microbubbles in the next frame of difference image data based on a comparison result; the next frame of difference image data corresponds to a next frame of difference image, and the data associated with the contrast microbubbles corresponds to a contrast area in the next frame of difference image;

coloring the current frame arrival time map based on the contrast area of the current frame arrival time map, the contrast area of the difference image of the next frame and the relative time between the next frame and the starting frame to obtain the next frame arrival time map;

And displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the next frame and the arrival time chart of the next frame.

14. The method according to claim 2 or 4, wherein determining a dwell time corresponding to each position in a contrast region of the current frame difference image comprises:

determining the arrival time of each position in the contrast area based on the contrast area determined in the difference image data before the current frame difference image data and the contrast area of the current frame difference image;

determining the current moment corresponding to the current frame of ultrasonic image data;

and calculating the time difference between the current time and the arrival time of each position in the contrast area to obtain the corresponding stay time of each position in the contrast area.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein determining a dwell time for each location in a contrast region of the current frame difference image comprises:

determining the end time corresponding to the end frame in the multi-frame ultrasonic image data;

and calculating the time difference between the end time and the current time to obtain the corresponding stay time of each position in the contrast area of the current frame difference image.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the coloring the current frame difference image based on the dwell time of each position in the contrast region of the current frame difference image to obtain a current frame dwell time map includes:

determining the coding information of the current frame residence time diagram based on the residence time length;

and encoding the current frame difference image based on the encoding information of the current frame stay time diagram.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the determining the encoding information for the current frame dwell time map based on the size of the dwell time period comprises:

determining the coding interval of the stay time, wherein different coding intervals correspond to different coding information;

and determining the coding information of the current frame residence time diagram based on the coding interval.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the encoded information comprises at least one of: gray value coding information and color map coding information.

19. The method of any one of claims 2, 4, 14-18, wherein the displaying the ultrasound image corresponding to the current frame ultrasound image data and the current frame dwell time map comprises any one of:

Displaying an ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame in a first display area, and displaying the residence time chart of the current frame in a second display area, wherein the first display area and the second display area are different display areas;

and displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the stay time diagram of the current frame in a superposition way.

20. An ultrasound contrast device, the ultrasound device comprising:

the probe is used for the detection of the position of the probe,

a processor for performing the steps of:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

and the display is used for displaying the current frame ultrasonic image corresponding to the current frame ultrasonic image data and the current frame arrival time chart.

21. An ultrasound contrast device, the device comprising:

the probe is used for the detection of the position of the probe,

a processor for performing the steps of:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

22. The apparatus of claim 20 or 21, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps of:

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processor is further configured to perform any one of the following steps:

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the steps of:

acquiring a starting moment corresponding to the starting frame;

acquiring a current moment corresponding to the current frame;

calculating a time difference between the current time and the start time,

and coloring the region where the contrast microbubbles appear for the first time in the contrast region of the difference image of the current frame based on the time difference value, and generating the current frame arrival time chart.

25. The apparatus of any one of claims 20, 22-24 wherein,

the display is used for displaying an ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame in a first display area; displaying the current frame arrival time map in a second display area, wherein the first display area and the second display area are different display areas;

And the display is used for displaying the ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic image data of the current frame and the arrival time chart of the current frame in a superposition way.

26. The apparatus according to any one of claims 20-25, further comprising:

and a user input interface responsive to an operation of determining a start frame and/or an end frame of the multi-frame ultrasound image data.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein the display displays any one of:

28. A method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, the method comprising:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

29. A method of displaying ultrasound contrast data, the method comprising:

determining a frame from the multiple frames as a starting frame;

30. The method of claim 28 or 29, wherein the acquiring a plurality of frames of ultrasound image data comprises:

and controlling the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the tissue containing the contrast microbubbles, receiving ultrasonic echo signals returned by the tissue, and obtaining multi-frame ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signals.

31. The method according to any one of claims 28-31, further comprising:

determining that data which is not associated with the contrast microbubbles exists based on the comparison result, wherein the data which is not associated with the contrast microbubbles corresponds to a non-contrast area in the preset image;

coloring a non-contrast area of the preset image so as to display the non-contrast area and the contrast area in a distinguishing way.

32. An apparatus for processing ultrasound contrast data, the apparatus comprising:

the memory device is used for storing the data,

a processor for performing the method of any one of claims 1-19, 28-32;

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the apparatus further comprises:

the probe is used for the detection of the position of the probe,

and the echo processing module is used for obtaining multi-frame ultrasonic image data based on the ultrasonic echo signals.