KR100350025B1 - Apparatus and method for expanding ultrasound images using synthetic write zoom technique - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ultrasound image magnification apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an ultrasound image magnification apparatus and method using a synthetic write zoom technique. An ultrasound image magnification apparatus according to the present invention for enlarging a specific area in an ultrasound image of an object at a predetermined magnification includes: means for transmitting a plurality of ultrasound signals to each of a plurality of locations within the object, wherein the plurality of ultrasound signals are respectively generated. Focusing at a location to form one transmission scan line for each location-receiving and processing a plurality of ultrasound signals forming each transmission scan line reflected from the object and receiving a plurality of reception signals Means for forming each received data group consisting of data, means for processing the respective received data groups to form respective receive scan lines focused at a focal position of each transmit scan line, and corresponding to each transmit scan line Storage means for storing each received data group, In response to the large request, among the respective received data groups stored in the storage means, each of the first and second transmission lines for each of the first and second transmission scan lines of at least adjacent pairs of transmission scan lines included in the specific area; 2 reading means for reading a received data group, and receiving and focusing the read first received data group at a predetermined position between first and second positions corresponding to the first and second transmission scan lines. Means for forming a reception scan line and focusing the second group of received data at the predetermined position to form a second additional reception scan line, the number and positions of the predetermined positions being determined according to the predetermined magnification; Synthesizing means for synthesizing the first and second additional reception scan lines with respect to a final additional reception scan line, and the existing corresponding to the specific region. Receiving scanning line and using the at least one final portion receiving scan line, and a display means for displaying an enlarged ultrasound image of the particular area.

Description

Ultrasonic image magnification apparatus and method using synthetic light zoom technique {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR EXPANDING ULTRASOUND IMAGES USING SYNTHETIC WRITE ZOOM TECHNIQUE}

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic image magnification apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an ultrasonic image magnification apparatus and method using a synthetic light zoom (hereinafter referred to as "SWZ") technique.

The ultrasound imaging apparatus transmits ultrasound to an object to be observed, receives a signal reflected from a medium in the object, and returns a signal, and processes the reflected signal to provide plane images of the object in real time. It is widely used in the back.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional ultrasound imaging apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional ultrasound imaging apparatus includes an ultrasound transmitter 100, an array transducer 110, a transmit / receive switch 120, an analog receiver 130, and an A / D converter. 140, a reception beam forming unit 150, an echo processing unit 160, and a scanning conversion unit 170.

The ultrasonic transmitter 100 applies a voltage pulse to the array transducer 110 so that the ultrasonic pulse is output from each transducer of the array transducer 110. More specifically, the ultrasonic transmitter 100 applies, for example, a voltage pulse having a size of 80 V to each transducer at a predetermined time point according to a predetermined delay pattern. As a method of determining the ultrasonic transmission delay pattern for each transducer, a fixed focusing technique for focusing the energy of the ultrasonic pulse to a predetermined point in the object has been mainly used. In recent years, a synthetic aperture method has been proposed as one of various efforts to overcome the limitation of resolution caused by the use of a fixed focusing technique.

The transmission / reception switch 120 serves to prevent the high voltage power emitted from the ultrasonic transmitter 100 from affecting the receiver. That is, when the transducer alternately transmits and receives, the transducer switches the ultrasonic transmitter 100 and the analog receiver 130 appropriately.

The array transducer 110 is composed of a plurality of (for example, 128) transducers, and outputs ultrasonic pulses in response to application of voltage from the ultrasonic transmitter 100. As described above, a fixed focusing technique, a synthetic aperture technique, or the like may be used as the transmission method. At this time, only some of the transformers are used in one transmission. For example, in the fixed focusing technique, even in an image forming apparatus including 128 transducers, only 64 transducers may transmit ultrasonic waves to form one transmission scan line in one transmission.

The analog receiver 130 receives the reflected signal from which the ultrasonic pulses output from each transducer of the array transducer 110 are reflected from the object, and amplifies, aliases, and amplifies the received reflected signal. The processed signal is transmitted to the A / D converter 140 after the removal of the component and the correction of the attenuation generated while the ultrasound passes through the body.

The A / D converter 140 converts the analog signal received from the analog receiver 130 into a digital signal and provides the converted signal to the receive beam forming unit 150.

The reception beam forming unit 150 applies different amounts of delay (determined according to a position to receive focusing) to the signals received from the A / D converter 140 and synthesizes the delayed signals. Thereby performing dynamic reception focusing.

The echo processor 160 converts the RF signals of the reception scan lines focused by the reception beam forming unit 150 into baseband signals and detects an envelope by using a quadrature demodulator. Get the data for the scan line.

The scan conversion unit 170 stores the data obtained by the echo processing unit 160 in the memory, matches the scanning direction of the data with the pixel direction of the monitor, and maps the data to the pixel position of the monitor.

Image zooming techniques generally used in the ultrasonic imaging apparatus configured as described above include a read zoom technique and a light zoom technique.

The lead zoom technique is a technique of enlarging a specific region of a still image after freezing the image, and the data corresponding to the specific region from one frame of image data stored in the memory of the scanning converter is displayed on the entire screen. Refill provides an enlarged image. In this case, the values of the empty pixels corresponding to the portion where the data before the enlargement and the monitor pixels are not mapped are generally obtained by using linear interpolation. As described above, in the read zoom technique, since the empty space generated by enlarging the image is not filled with the actual focused data, the resolution of the enlarged image is reduced. Therefore, the contrast characteristics of the enlarged final image are different from the original image, streaking defects appear due to the difference in noise characteristics between the actual data and the calculated data, and a blocking effect occurs in the enlarged image, thereby causing the image of a specific region to be displayed. There is a flaw that it does not provide the details.

On the other hand, the general light zoom technique applied to some high-end systems currently design array transducers and other parts to form a transmission / reception scan line that is twice as dense as the transmission / reception scan line used in a normal image when designing an ultrasound imaging apparatus. When the image is not enlarged, the image is composed of only some scan lines (for example, even-numbered scan lines), and the image is enlarged by using the entire dense transmit / receive scan lines when the image is to be enlarged. As described above, since the light zoom technique is a method of enlarging an image by forming a scan line in which actual data is focused among existing scan lines, detailed image information may be obtained unlike the read zoom technique. However, since the existing light zoom technique needs to continuously scan the object in real time, it is impossible to enlarge the still image. In addition, for example, when a specific area is enlarged 4 times, since the number of scanning lines transmitted and received in one array cannot be increased correspondingly, the empty space on the monitor cannot be filled using the actual scanning line data. Therefore, in the case of magnification of 4 times or more, since the empty space on the monitor must be filled using the scan line value calculated as in the read zoom method, there is a problem in that the defect of the read zoom method is displayed as it is.

The present invention has been devised to solve this problem, and can provide a high resolution image even when magnified more than 4 times, and an ultrasound image using a composite light zoom (SWZ) technique capable of real-time and stationary image magnification. It is an object of the present invention to provide an enlargement apparatus and method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for enlarging a specific area in an ultrasound image of an object at a predetermined magnification, the apparatus comprising: means for transmitting a plurality of ultrasound signals to each of a plurality of locations within the object, wherein the plurality of ultrasound signals Focusing at each location to form one transmission scan line at each location-receiving and processing a plurality of ultrasound signals forming each transmission scan line reflected from the object and returning Means for forming each received data group consisting of received data of; means for processing the respective received data groups to form respective receive scan lines focused at a focal position of the respective transmit scan lines, respectively; Storage means for storing each received data group corresponding to the specific area; In response to the enlargement request, of the respective received data groups stored in the storage means, each of the first and second transmission lines for each of the first and second transmission scan lines of at least adjacent pairs of transmission scan lines included in the specific area; 2 reading means for reading a received data group, and receiving and focusing the read first received data group at a predetermined position between first and second positions corresponding to the first and second transmission scan lines. Means for forming a reception scan line, and focusing the second group of received data at the predetermined position to form a second additional reception scan line, the number and positions of the predetermined positions being determined according to the predetermined magnification; Synthesizing means for synthesizing the first and second additional reception scan lines with respect to a final additional reception scan line, and the corresponding region Using the received scanning line zone and the at least one final portion of the receive scan lines, the ultrasound image expanding device including a display means for displaying an enlarged ultrasound image of the particular region.

Each of the received data groups stored in the storage means includes at least one frame of received data, and when the specific area is enlarged while the ultrasound image is stopped, the reception of the at least one frame stored in the storage means is received. By using the data, a high resolution magnified image can be provided.

The additional receiving scan line forming means may include multi-beam forming means for simultaneously forming a plurality of scanning lines that are focused at a plurality of locations within the object using the respective received data groups, and the scanning lines to be synthesized in the combining means. Preferably, the number includes decimation means for controlling the data sampling rate of each of the received data groups.

Preferably, the combining means includes multiplication means for multiplying each of the data representing the first and second additional reception scan lines by a predetermined weight, and adding means for adding the results output from the multiplication means.

Preferably, the weight is set in consideration of the distance difference between each focusing position of the first and second transmission scan lines and the predetermined position where the final additional reception scan line is to be formed.

According to another aspect of the invention, in the method for enlarging a specific area of the ultrasound image of the object at a predetermined magnification, transmitting a plurality of ultrasound signals to each of a plurality of locations in the object-the plurality of ultrasound signals are the Focusing at each location to form one transmission scan line at each location-receiving and processing a plurality of ultrasound signals forming each transmission scan line reflected from the object and returning a plurality of received data Forming each received data group consisting of: processing each received data group to form a respective received scan line focused at a focused position of each of the transmitted scan lines, corresponding to each of the transmitted scan lines Storing each received data group, the enlargement of the specific area In response to each of the stored received data groups, respectively, the first and second received data groups for each of the first and second transmitted scan lines of at least adjacent pairs of transmit scan lines included in the specific region. Reading, focusing the read first received data group at a predetermined position between first and second positions corresponding to the first and second transmission scan lines to form a first additional reception scan line, Receiving and focusing the second group of received data at the predetermined position to form a second additional receiving scan line, wherein the number and positions of the predetermined positions are determined according to the predetermined magnification; Synthesizing a second additional reception scan line to form a final additional reception scan line; and the existing reception scan line and the one corresponding to the specific area; Using the final scan lines on the receiving portion, the ultrasound image zoom method comprising the step of displaying the enlarged ultrasound image of the particular region.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional ultrasound imaging apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a position of a transmission / reception scan line when an image is enlarged using a composite light zoom (SWZ) technique according to the present invention. FIG. 2 (a) illustrates a case where an image is enlarged twice. 2B is a diagram illustrating a case where an image is enlarged 4 times.

3 is a view for explaining a method of adding a new reception scan line between existing reception scan lines when the image is enlarged twice by the SWZ method according to the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a method of adding a new reception scan line between existing reception scan lines when the image is enlarged 4 times according to the SWZ method according to the present invention.

5 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus using a SWZ technique according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a view showing in more detail the configuration of the receiving beam forming unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a reception beam combining unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an ultrasound image of a human carotid artery, in which FIG. 8A is a general ultrasound image, and FIG. 8B is a lead zoom technique for region A of FIG. 8A. Fig. 8C is a diagram showing an ultrasound image obtained by doubling the area A by the SWZ technique.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an ultrasound image of a human carotid artery, in which FIG. 9A illustrates a general ultrasound image, and FIG. 9B shows a lead zoom technique for region A of FIG. 9A. Fig. 9 (c) is a diagram showing an ultrasound image enlarged by 4 times by the SWZ method, in which the ultrasound image is enlarged 4 times by.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: ultrasonic transmission unit

110: array converter

120: transmit / receive switch

130: analog receiver

140: analog-to-digital (A / D) converter

145: RF memory

147: control unit

149: receiving beam synthesis unit

150, 150 ': receiving beam forming unit

160: echo processing unit

170: scan converter

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention;

First, a method of enlarging an image using the SWZ method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a position of a transmission / reception scan line when an image is enlarged by using the SWZ method according to the present invention, and FIG. 2A illustrates a case where an image is enlarged twice, and FIG. b) shows a case where the image is enlarged 4 times. Here, T _k (n) represents the position of the nth transmission scan line, and R _k (m) represents the position of the mth reception scan line. k represents an enlargement magnification. For example, when the image is enlarged by 2 or 4 times, one or three new reception scan lines are formed between the reception scan line R _k (m) and the reception scan line R _k (m + 1). Equations 1 and 2 below show positions of the transmission scan line and the reception scan line at 2 times and 4 times magnification, respectively.

Since the reception scan lines R _k (m) are configured at intervals of d / 4 at 2 times image magnification and at intervals of d / 8 at 4 times image magnification, there are 2N _s and 4N _s scan lines per frame as a whole. Thus, two or four times more scan lines can be obtained laterally than the normal image before magnification.

At this time, the newly added receiving scan lines are newly focused using ultrasonic reflection signals corresponding to the transmission scan lines T _k (n) and T _k (n + 1), and the data D _k (m on the newly received receiving scan lines are thus focused. ) Is expressed by Equation 3 below.

Where 0≤n≤ (N _s -1), 0≤m≤k (N _s -1) m = n l (1 ≦ L ≦ k−1). That is, in order to obtain the data value of the reception scan line R _k (m) at a predetermined position between two adjacent transmission scan lines, the predetermined position is first used by using a reflected signal for one transmission scan line T _k (n). Receive focus line data f (T _k (n); R _k (m)), and use the reflected signal to the other transmission scan line T _k (n + 1) again to the predetermined position. After reception focusing is performed to obtain reception scan line data f (T _k (n + 1); R _k (m)), the sum is obtained after applying weights to these two reception scan line data.

In Equation 3, l / k and (kl) / k represent weights in consideration of a distance difference between a reception scan line and adjacent transmission scan lines on the same frame adjacent thereto, and 1/2 in case of 2x image magnification. In the case of 4x image magnification, multiply by 3/4, 2/4, and 1/4 in order from the adjacent transmission scan line, and then add them to adjust the overall image intensity. In addition, when the image is enlarged n times, such as 6 times or 8 times, a certain number of scan lines are synthesized according to the enlargement ratio between two transmission scan lines T _k (n) and T _k (n + 1), and only the weight values are changed. Therefore, a high resolution image can be obtained regardless of the magnification factor.

3 and 4 are diagrams for explaining a method of synthesizing additional reception scan lines by applying the SWZ method according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows a 2x magnification and FIG. 4 shows a 4x magnification. Shows.

First, as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, two adjacent receiving scan lines among the receiving scan lines SLO, SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4 corresponding to the respective transmission scan lines ST0, ST1, ST2, ST3, ST4, respectively. The number of reception scan lines to be newly added between SL0 and SL1 depends on the magnification. That is, in the case of 2 times magnification shown in FIG. 3, one reception scan line NSL1 is added, and in the case of 4 times magnification shown in FIG. 4, three reception scan lines NSL1 to NSL3 are added. The reception scan lines NSL1 to NSL3 thus synthesized are obtained using data on the reflected signals of the ultrasonic signals corresponding to the transmission scan lines ST0 and ST1. More specifically, the RF data of the reflected signals of the ultrasonic signals corresponding to the transmission scan line ST0 are received and focused at the position of the reception scan line NSL1 to be added to obtain a first additional reception scan line S1, and the ultrasonic wave corresponding to the transmission scan line ST1. The RF data for the reflected signals of the signals are received and focused at the position of the reception scan line NSL1 described above to obtain a second additional reception scan line S2. To this end, a delay amount corresponding to the scan lines to be newly synthesized is applied to the RF data of the reflected signals of the ultrasonic signals corresponding to the transmission scan lines ST0 and ST1. The delay amount can be calculated in various ways depending on the shape of the ultrasonic wave or the energy distribution. In the present embodiment, the ultrasonic wave transmission and reception delay amount is calculated in a straight line by the array transducer in consideration of the shape in which the ultrasonic wave proceeds concentrically. When the image is enlarged, the distance between the two transmission scan lines ST0 and ST1 and the N reception scan lines formed therebetween is tight, so that even if the amount of ultrasonic transmission / reception delay is calculated in a straight line, there is almost no difference in image quality. However, in the case of generating one receiving scan line with three or more transmitting scan lines, as in the known Bidirectional Pixel Based Focusing (BiPBF) technique, the energy is higher in terms of the energy of the wave than the shape of the wave. It is good to calculate the amount of delay.

The final additional reception scan line NSL1 is obtained by multiplying each of the data of the first and second additional scanning lines S1 and S2 thus obtained by appropriate weights and then adding them together. In this case, the weight may be determined in consideration of the position where the additional reception scan line is to be formed. For example, in the case where the additional reception scan line is NSL1, in the case of 2 times magnification of FIG. In the case of 4 times magnification, the data of the first additional reception scan line S1 generated from the data closer to the additional reception scan line NSL1 is multiplied by 3/4, and the data of the second additional scan line S2 generated from the data farther away is 1. Multiply by / 4.

As described above, the SWZ method according to the present invention stores all the RF data corresponding to one frame of an image, and when the specific area is enlarged, scan lines to fill the gaps between the existing scan lines are stored using the RF data. Re-injection. That is, as in the conventional light zoom technique, the image is enlarged using the stored RF data without transmitting and receiving the ultrasound to form additional scanning lines, and thus it is possible to enlarge a specific area in the still image. In addition, as in the lead zoom method, the surrounding scanning line is first obtained and the interpolated image is focused directly on the received reception line instead of using the interpolated data to obtain a high resolution magnified image.

In the present specification, a case of synthesizing a new scan line by using RF data corresponding to two existing scan lines adjacent to each other and applying different weights according to the distance has been described. However, new scan lines are synthesized using three or more scan lines. You may. Using three or more scan lines results in a synthetic aperture effect, resulting in higher signal to noise ratio (SNR), contrast to noise ratio (CNR), and better resolution. However, in general, since the image is enlarged in the normal mode, only two scan lines may obtain satisfactory results except when the distance is closely viewed.

Next, an embodiment of an ultrasound imaging apparatus using the SWZ technique according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, components having the same or similar functions as the respective components shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1, and description thereof will be omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an ultrasound transmitter 100, an array transducer 110, a transmit / receive switch 120, an analog receiver 130, and an A / D converter ( In addition to the 140, the reception beam forming unit 150 ′, the echo processing unit 160, and the scanning conversion unit 170, the RF memory 145, the control unit 147, and the reception beam combiner 149 are further included.

The RF memory 145 stores RF data corresponding to one (or a plurality of) frames, which are normally received from the A / D converter 140, and controls the controller 147 to be described later when the image is enlarged. The RF data selected below is provided to the reception beamformer 150 ′. As the RF memory 145, various memories such as static random access memory (SRAM) and SDRAM may be used. However, it is preferable to use an SDRAM capable of significantly reducing data access time by performing data read / write in synchronization with a clock. .

The controller 147 may be configured to configure RF data necessary for expanding a specific area (for example, to enlarge 4 times, RF data for configuring existing scan lines and three new scan lines added between the existing scan lines. RF data) is provided from the RF memory 145 to the reception beam forming unit 150 '.

The reception beam forming unit 150 'receives and focuses the data using the data received from the A / D converter 140 when observing a general image, and the RF beam 145 when zooming in and viewing a specific area. Receive focusing using data related to a specific area among stored RF data. More specifically, when the user wants to enlarge the specific area by N times, under the control of the controller 147, data related to the specific area to be enlarged from the RF memory 145, that is, the transmission scan lines transmitted to the specific area The corresponding existing receive scan lines and RF data for forming a new receive scan line to be added between these existing receive scan lines are selected and provided to the receive beam forming unit 150, which receives the receiving beam forming unit 150. The RF data is used to form existing reception scan lines and new reception scan lines.

In this case, according to the SWZ method according to the present invention, since a plurality of scan lines should be synthesized with information on one scan line, the reception beam forming unit 150 should have a multi-beam forming function. In other words, when the image is enlarged by N times, N scan lines must be generated at the same time. In addition, even with the multi-beam forming function, since the received scan lines added by using the SWZ method according to the present invention are made by combining two existing receive scan lines, the frame rate is reduced to 1/2 of the normal mode. To compensate for this, a decimation function may be added to the reception beamformer 150. Using this decimation function, the data sampling rate can be reduced by half and the decimated data can be read at the original sampling rate when reading data, thereby compensating for the dropped frame rate in the technique.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating in more detail the configuration of the reception beam forming unit 150 ′ having the multi-beam forming function and the decimation function as described above. As shown, the reception beam forming unit 150, the decimator 151 for compensating the frame rate, the memory controller 152 for controlling data transmission and reception with the RF memory 145, the transmission of the decimated data And a multi-beam forming unit (BF # 0 to BF # 3) for receiving and converging data flowing under the control of the local controller 153 and the memory controller 152 to form a receiving scan line. The reception beam combiner 149 combines the reception scan lines focused on the reception beam forming unit 150 'to form one new reception scan line. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of the reception beam combiner 149. As shown in the drawing, the reception beam combiner 149 receives a reception scan line data to be synthesized from the reception beam forming unit 150 'and multiplies the weight thereof, first of the output data of the multiplier 40. A memory 42 for storing the data to be output, an adder 43 for adding new data stored in the memory 42 with data output later from the multiplier 40 to form new received scan line data, and a multiplier 40 And a switch 41 which causes the output data of the &lt; RTI ID = 0.0 &gt;) &lt; / RTI &gt; The reception scan line data synthesized by the reception beam forming unit 150 ′ forms an enlarged image through the echo processing unit 160 and the scan conversion unit 170.

Next, an operation of enlarging the ultrasound image in the ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

The ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the present invention may magnify an ultrasound image in real time (real time mode), or may enlarge (freeze mode) in a state in which the ultrasound image is stopped.

First, as described in the real-time mode, as shown in Figure 5, the ultrasonic signal received from the array transducer 110 undergoes a process such as noise removal, gain compensation, signal amplification, etc. while going through the analog receiver 130 It is input to the decimator 151 of the reception beam forming unit 150 'via the A / D converter 140. As shown in Table 1 below, when the data rate of the reception beam forming unit 150 'is 60 MHz, four reception scan lines can be focused at the same time. Therefore, the same when the data rate is 30 MHz. Eight receive scan lines can be focused during the time interval. The decimator 151 takes data while skipping one by one from the 60 MHz data, and converts 60 MHz data into 30 MHz data.

Data rate 60 MHz 30 MHz Number of scan lines generated at the same time 4 pcs 8pcs

The signals output from the decimator 151 are stored in the RF memory 145, while the reception beam focuses in the multi-beam forming units BF # 0 to BF # 3.

Thereafter, the reception beam-focused reception scan line data is synthesized by the reception beam combiner 149 to form new reception scan line data. That is, the scan line data first entering the reception beam combiner 149 is multiplied by the weight in the multiplier 40 and then stored in the memory 42, and the next scan line data is multiplied by another weight in the multiplier 40 and then memory. By adding all the data stored in 42 to the adder 43, a new scan line is synthesized.

In such a real time mode, RF data corresponding to one frame is usually used, but fewer RF data may be used than one frame corresponding to a specific area to be enlarged.

Next, referring to the still mode, when observing an ultrasound image in a general mode or any other mode and stopping the image and enlarging a specific region, data corresponding to the specific region to be enlarged is extracted from the RF memory 145. It is input to the decimator 151 of the reception beam forming unit 150 '. At this time, only one beam forming unit may be operated among the multi-beam forming units BF # 0 to BF # 3, and the results can be obtained more quickly when the four beam forming units operate simultaneously. The generated data is input to the reception beam combiner 149, and the subsequent process is the same as the real time mode.

8 and 9 illustrate ultrasound images of the human carotid artery, and FIGS. 8A and 9A illustrate general ultrasound images, and FIGS. 8B and 9 illustrate a general ultrasound image. (b) is a diagram showing an ultrasound image in which the area A of FIGS. 8A and 9A are enlarged by 2 times and 4 times by the read zoom technique, respectively. 9 (c) is a diagram showing an ultrasound image in which region A is enlarged 2 times and 4 times by SWZ technique, respectively. In the ultrasound images of FIGS. 8B and 9B using the read zoom technique, as the image is enlarged, a blockage phenomenon occurs, the texture becomes rough, and the original image information disappears, and as the magnification increases, It can be seen that the worse. In contrast, the ultrasound images of FIGS. 9 (c) and 9 (c) to which the SWZ method according to the present invention is applied, are enlarged images of a high resolution in which the shape of the live tissue is maintained while the information of the original image is maintained. You can see that it provides.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the image is enlarged, image points which are not mapped to the monitor and the pixels are newly focused by using RF data stored in the RF memory to form a beam. As a result, a larger number of scan lines can be provided in the lateral direction of the area to be enlarged, and image points can be arranged at more detailed intervals in the axial direction to provide a high resolution magnified image. In addition, since the video points of the magnified image are configured using the actual received data, a clear magnified image can be obtained without losing information of the original image. In addition, it is possible to satisfy the effects of the high resolution image, which is the advantage of the stop function and the light zoom technique, which is an advantage of the read zoom technique. Therefore, when the ultrasound imaging apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a medical device, clinical efficiency can be significantly increased.

Claims (10)

An apparatus for enlarging a specific area of an ultrasound image of an object at a predetermined magnification, Means for transmitting a plurality of ultrasound signals to each of a plurality of locations within the object, wherein the plurality of ultrasound signals are focused at the respective locations to form one transmission scan line for each location; Means for receiving and processing signals returned by the plurality of ultrasonic signals forming the respective transmission scan lines and reflected from the object to form respective received data groups consisting of a plurality of received data; Means for processing the respective groups of received data to form respective receive scan lines focused at a focal position of each transmit scan line; Storage means for storing respective received data groups corresponding to the respective transmission scan lines, In response to the enlargement request of the specific area, of each of the received data groups stored in the storage means, for each of the first and second transmission scan lines of at least adjacent pairs of transmission scan lines included in the specific area; Reading means for reading the first and second received data groups, The read first received data group is focused at a predetermined position between first and second positions corresponding to the first and second transmission scan lines to form a first additional reception scan line, and the second reception. Means for focusing a group of data at the predetermined position to form a second additional receiving scan line, wherein the number and position of the predetermined positions are determined according to the predetermined magnification; Synthesizing means for synthesizing the first and second additional reception scan lines for the predetermined position to form a final additional reception scan line, and Display means for displaying an enlarged ultrasound image of the specific area by using the existing reception scan line corresponding to the specific area and the at least one additional additional reception scan line Ultrasonic image magnifying apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the received data groups stored in the storage means comprises at least one frame of received data, And an enlarged image having a high resolution by using the received data of the at least one frame stored in the storage means when the specific region is enlarged while the ultrasonic image is stopped. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the additional receiving scan line forming means is Multi-beam forming means for simultaneously forming a plurality of scanning lines that are focused at a plurality of locations within the object using the respective received data groups, and Decimation means for controlling the data sampling rate of each received data group according to the number of scan lines to be synthesized in the combining means Ultrasonic image magnifying apparatus comprising a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the synthesizing means, Multiplication means for multiplying each of the data representing said first and second additional reception scan lines by a predetermined weight, and Adding means for adding results output from the multiplication means Ultrasonic image magnifying apparatus comprising a. The ultrasound image magnifying apparatus of claim 4, wherein the weight is set in consideration of a distance difference between respective focusing positions of the first and second transmission scan lines and the predetermined position where the final additional reception scan line is to be formed. In the method of enlarging a specific area of the ultrasound image of the object at a predetermined magnification, Transmitting a plurality of ultrasound signals to each of a plurality of locations within the object, wherein the plurality of ultrasound signals are focused at the respective locations to form one transmission scan line for each location; Receiving and processing a plurality of ultrasonic signals forming the respective transmission scan lines and reflected from the object to form a respective received data group consisting of a plurality of received data; Processing the respective received data groups to form respective received scan lines focused at a focal position of the respective transmit scan lines, Storing each received data group corresponding to each of the transmission scan lines; In response to the enlargement request of the specific region, among the stored respective received data groups, first and second respective first and second transmission scan lines of at least adjacent pairs of transmission scan lines included in the specific region; Reading a second group of received data, The read first received data group is focused at a predetermined position between first and second positions corresponding to the first and second transmission scan lines to form a first additional reception scan line, and the second reception. Receiving and focusing a data group at the predetermined position to form a second additional receiving scan line, wherein the number and positions of the predetermined positions are determined according to the predetermined magnification; Synthesizing the first and second additional reception scan lines for the predetermined position to form a final additional reception scan line, and Displaying an enlarged ultrasound image of the specific area by using the existing reception scan line corresponding to the specific area and the at least one additional additional reception scan line. Ultrasonic image magnifying method comprising a. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein each of the received data groups is at least one frame of received data. And enlarging the specific region while stopping the ultrasound image, thereby providing a magnified image having a high resolution by using the stored reception data of the at least one frame. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the additional receiving scan line forming step, Simultaneously forming a plurality of scan lines focused at a plurality of locations within the object using the respective received data groups, and Controlling a data sampling rate of each received data group according to the number of scan lines to be synthesized Ultrasonic image magnifying method comprising a. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the synthesis step, Multiplying each of the data representing the first and second additional reception scan lines by a predetermined weight, and Adding results output from the multiplication means Ultrasonic image magnifying method comprising a. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the weight is set in consideration of a distance difference between respective focusing positions of the first and second transmission scan lines and the predetermined position where the final additional reception scan line is to be formed.