KR101055528B1 - Ultrasound system and method for providing OH - Google Patents

Abstract

An ultrasound system and method is disclosed that provides orientation help (OH). The system and method transmit an ultrasound signal to an object through an ultrasound probe, receive an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object, obtain ultrasound data, form volume data of the object using ultrasound data, and reference the volume data. A user instruction including selection of a reference section for selecting a section and setting a region of interest is input, and an ultrasound image using volume data according to the user instruction-an ultrasound image is an image of a reference section corresponding to a user instruction and OH-OH is a three-dimensional ultrasound image, an orientation marker to provide an orientation of the ultrasonic probe, a clip plane for displaying an image of a reference cross section, according to a user instruction. Contains region of interest and OH directional marker- do.

Ultrasound, OH, reference section, orientation, clip plane

Description

ULTRASOUND SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PROVIDING ORIENTATION HELP}

The present invention relates to an ultrasound system, and in particular, to an ultrasound system and method for providing an orientation help (OH).

Ultrasound systems have non-invasive and non-destructive properties and are widely used in the medical field for obtaining information inside an object. Ultrasound systems are very important in the medical field because they can provide a doctor with a high-resolution image of the internal tissue of a subject in real time without the need for a surgical operation to directly incise and observe the subject.

In general, an ultrasound system provides a 3D ultrasound image including clinical information such as spatial information and anatomical shape, which cannot be provided in a 2D ultrasound image. That is, the ultrasound system transmits an ultrasound signal to an object, an ultrasound probe that operates to receive an ultrasound signal (that is, an ultrasound echo signal) reflected from the object to form a received signal, and operates to form volume data using the received signal. A volume data forming unit, an ultrasonic image forming unit operable to render volume data to form a 3D ultrasound image, and a display unit operable to display the 3D ultrasound image.

On the other hand, the ultrasound system provides an OH (orientation help) to provide a spatial position (ie, three-dimensional position) of the three-dimensional ultrasound image. The OH represents the entire contour of the ultrasound data acquired through the ultrasound probe in three dimensions and three-dimensionally indicates which position in the three-dimensional space the reference plane selected by the user corresponds to.

Conventionally, only the reference section in OH was rotatable. That is, in the conventional OH, geometry operations such as rotation, reduction, enlargement, and movement are not performed. As a result, it is difficult for a user to estimate the spatial position of the 3D ultrasound image and the reference cross-sectional image using OH.

The present invention provides an OH (orientation help) comprising a three-dimensional ultrasound image, an orientation marker for providing an orientation of the ultrasonic probe, a clip plane for displaying an image of a reference section, a region of interest and an OH direction marker. An ultrasound system and method are provided.

The present invention also provides an ultrasound system and method for performing geometry operations including rotation, reduction, enlargement and movement of OH.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasound system, comprising: an ultrasound data acquisition unit operative to acquire ultrasound data through an ultrasound probe that transmits an ultrasound signal to an object and receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object; A volume data forming unit operable to form volume data of the object using the ultrasound data; A user input unit operable to receive a user instruction including a first user instruction for setting a region of interest and a second user instruction for selecting a reference section for selecting a reference section from the volume data; An ultrasound image forming unit operable to form an image and a 3D ultrasound image of a reference section corresponding to the user instruction using the volume data according to the user instruction; And an OH including the 3D ultrasound image, an orientation marker for providing an orientation of the ultrasound probe, a clip plane for displaying an image of the reference section, the region of interest, and an OH direction marker according to the user instruction. a processor operative to form an orientation help.

In addition, a method of providing an orientation help (OH) of an ultrasound system including an ultrasound probe according to the present invention includes a) transmitting an ultrasound signal to an object through the ultrasound probe and receiving an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object to provide ultrasound data. Obtaining; b) forming volume data of the object using the ultrasound data; c) receiving a user instruction including a first user instruction for setting a region of interest and a second user instruction for selecting a reference section for selecting a reference section from the volume data; d) forming an image and a 3D ultrasound image of a reference section corresponding to the user instruction using the volume data according to the user instruction; And e) the 3D ultrasound image according to the user instruction, an orientation marker for providing an orientation of the ultrasound probe, a clip plane for displaying an image of the reference section, the region of interest, and the like according to the user instruction. Forming an orientation help (OH) comprising an OH orientation marker.

According to the present invention, an orientation help (OH) including a 3D ultrasound image, an orientation marker for providing an orientation of an ultrasound probe, a clip plane for displaying an image of a reference section, a region of interest and an OH direction marker In this case, the spatial position of the 3D ultrasound image may be more intuitively provided to the user.

In addition, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform a geometric operation (rotation, reduction, enlargement, movement, etc.) of the OH.

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

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasound system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasound system 100 includes an ultrasound data acquisition unit 110, a volume data forming unit 120, an ultrasound image forming unit 130, a user input unit 140, a processor 150, a display unit 160, and a controller 170. ).

The ultrasound data obtaining unit 110 transmits an ultrasound signal to the object and receives the ultrasound signal (that is, the ultrasound echo signal) reflected from the object to obtain the ultrasound data.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic data acquisition unit 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The ultrasonic data acquisition unit 110 includes a transmission signal forming unit 111, an ultrasonic probe 112 including a plurality of transducer elements, a beam former 113, and an ultrasonic data forming unit 114.

The transmission signal forming unit 111 forms a transmission signal to be applied to each of the plurality of conversion elements of the ultrasound probe 112 in consideration of the position and focusing point of the conversion element of the ultrasound probe 112. In the present embodiment, the transmission signal is a transmission signal for obtaining each of a plurality of frames forming a 3D ultrasound image.

The ultrasonic probe 112 may be implemented as a three-dimensional probe in which a plurality of converters swing at an angle in a high direction. The ultrasonic probe 112 converts the transmission signal provided from the transmission signal forming unit 111 into an ultrasonic signal. The ultrasound probe 112 transmits the converted ultrasound signal to the object in the axial direction as shown in FIG. 3 and receives the ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object to form a received signal. 3 shows the lateral and elevation directions perpendicular to the axial direction together. In this case, the altitude direction indicates a cross-sectional direction of the object, that is, a direction in which the plurality of conversion elements 112a swing. The ultrasonic probe 112 includes an orientation provider (not shown) for providing an orientation of the ultrasonic probe 112.

The beam former 113 converts the received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 112 into analog and digital. In addition, the beam former 113 receives and focuses the digitally converted reception signal in consideration of the position and focusing point of the conversion element of the ultrasonic probe 112 to form a reception focus signal.

The ultrasonic data forming unit 114 forms ultrasonic data by using the reception focus signal provided from the beam former 113. The ultrasonic data forming unit 114 may perform various signal processing (for example, gain adjustment, filtering processing, etc.) on the received focus signal provided from the beamformer 113.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the volume data forming unit 120 forms volume data using ultrasonic data provided from the ultrasonic data obtaining unit 110.

The user input unit 130 is implemented as a control panel, a mouse, a keyboard, and the like, and receives an instruction of a user. In this embodiment, the user instruction includes a first user instruction for setting a region of interest (ROI), a second user instruction for selecting a reference plane, and a geometry operation of an orientation help (OH). It includes a third user instruction for setting the. Here, the reference cross section is any one of A cross section, B cross section and C cross section in the volume data 210 as shown in FIG. 4. In addition, the setting of the ROI includes setting of the size and position of the ROI. In addition, the geometry operation includes at least one of rotation, reduction, enlargement, and movement of the OH.

The ultrasound image forming unit 140 forms an ultrasound image using volume data provided from the volume data forming unit 120 according to a user instruction (ie, a first user instruction) from the user input unit 130. In the present embodiment, the ultrasound image forming unit 140 uses the volume data 210 as shown in FIG. B cross-sectional image), C cross-sectional ultrasound image (hereinafter referred to as C cross-sectional image) and a three-dimensional ultrasound image.

The processor 150 forms OH according to user instructions (ie, first and second user instructions) provided from the user input unit 130. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the OH 300 is an orientation marker 320 corresponding to the 3D ultrasound image 310 formed by the ultrasound image forming unit 140 and the orientation providing unit of the ultrasound probe 112. ), A clip plane 330 for displaying an image of a reference section, a region of interest (ROI) 340, and an OH direction marker 350. Here, the 3D ultrasound image 310 is set inside the OH 300. In addition, the OH direction marker 350 may include a first OH direction marker (not shown) representing a swing direction (ie, an elevation direction) of the plurality of conversion elements 112a and a scan line direction (ie, side) of the ultrasonic probe 112. Direction) and a second OH direction marker (not shown). In FIG. 5, the first OH direction marker is shown as the OH direction marker 350. In addition, the processor 150 may set the geometry operation of the OH (that is, any one of rotation, reduction, enlargement, and movement) of the OH according to a user instruction (ie, a third user instruction) provided from the user input unit 130. have.

The display 160 displays the ultrasound images formed by the ultrasound image forming unit 140, that is, the A cross-sectional image, the B cross-sectional image, and the C cross-sectional image, and the OH processed by the processor 150.

Although the above-described embodiment has been described as displaying the A cross-sectional image, the B cross-sectional image, the C cross-sectional image, and the OH, in another embodiment, the three-dimensional ultrasound image is displayed together with the A cross-sectional image, the B cross-sectional image, the C cross-sectional image, and the OH. You may.

The controller 170 controls the transmission and reception of the ultrasound signal and controls the acquisition of the ultrasound data. In addition, the controller 170 controls the formation and display of the ultrasound image, and controls the formation, geometry operation, and display of the OH.

While the invention has been described and illustrated by way of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic data acquisition unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic view showing a conversion element, a scanning line and a coordinate system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is an exemplary view showing an example of volume data.

5 is an exemplary view showing an orientation help (OH) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (10)

As an ultrasonic system, An ultrasound data acquisition unit operable to transmit ultrasound signals to an object and to acquire ultrasound data through an ultrasound probe that receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object; A volume data forming unit operable to form volume data of the object using the ultrasound data; A user input unit operable to receive a user instruction including a first user instruction for setting a region of interest and a second user instruction for selecting a reference section for selecting a reference section from the volume data; An ultrasound image forming unit operable to form an image and a 3D ultrasound image of a reference section corresponding to the user instruction using the volume data according to the user instruction; And OH including the 3D ultrasound image, an orientation marker for providing an orientation of the ultrasound probe, a clip plane for displaying an image of the reference section, the ROI and an OH direction marker according to the user instruction. includes a processor operative to form an orientation help, The user instruction further comprises a third user instruction for setting a geometry operation of the OH comprising at least one of rotation, reduction, enlargement and movement of the OH. The ultrasound system of claim 1, wherein the OH direction marker comprises at least one of a first OH direction marker representing a swing direction of the ultrasound probe and a second OH direction marker representing a scan line direction of the ultrasound probe. delete delete The ultrasound system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operative to set the geometry operation of the OH in accordance with the third user instruction. The method according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 5, A display unit operable to display the OH Ultrasonic system further comprising. A method of providing orientation help (OH) of an ultrasonic system including an ultrasonic probe, a) obtaining ultrasound data by transmitting an ultrasound signal to an object through the ultrasound probe and receiving an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object; b) forming volume data of the object using the ultrasound data; c) receiving a user instruction including a first user instruction for setting a region of interest and a second user instruction for selecting a reference section for selecting a reference section from the volume data; d) forming an image and a 3D ultrasound image of a reference section corresponding to the user instruction using the volume data according to the user instruction; e) the 3D ultrasound image according to the user instruction, an orientation marker for providing an orientation of the ultrasound probe, a clip plane for displaying an image of the reference section, the region of interest and the OH according to the user instruction. Forming an orientation help (OH) comprising an orientation marker; f) receiving a third user instruction for setting a geometry operation of the OH including at least one of rotation, reduction, enlargement and movement of the OH; And g) establishing a geometry operation of the OH in accordance with the third user instruction. The method of claim 7, wherein the OH direction marker comprises at least one of a first OH direction marker representing a swing direction of the ultrasound probe and a second OH direction marker representing a scan line direction of the ultrasound probe. delete The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein after step g) Displaying the OH OH providing method comprising more.

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