KR101511501B1 - Ultrasound system for measuring thickness of image and method for operating ultrasound system - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of operating a three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection device and a three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection device is disclosed. A three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus includes a display unit that scans an image of an object in a human body, extracts an image in consideration of an input seed in the image, and displays the extracted image; and a zero crossing A search unit for searching a zero crossing of the extracted image and searching for a gradient peak of the extracted image using the searched zero crossing; and a controller for measuring the thickness of the extracted image using the searched gradient peak And a control unit.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic inspection apparatus and an ultrasonic inspection apparatus,

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a 3D ultrasound tester and a 3D ultrasound tester capable of automatically measuring the thickness of an image of an object in a human body.

The ultrasound tester transmits an ultrasound signal from a body surface of a human body toward a predetermined site in the body (i.e., an object such as a fetus or an organ), and uses information of the ultrasound signal reflected from the tissue in the body, It is a device to obtain an image. Such an ultrasonic inspection apparatus is small, inexpensive, can display in real time, has no advantage of X-ray exposure and has high stability, and can be used as an X-ray diagnostic apparatus, a CT (computerized tomography) scanner, an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) , Nuclear medicine diagnostic devices, and the like.

On the other hand, as a method for discriminating the fetus of Down's syndrome, NT can be measured through an ultrasound tester (NT, Nuchal Translucency). At this time, the ultrasound scanner can measure the thickness of the neck of the fetus using a graphic template to be adjusted according to a combination of a trackball and a set button controlled by the user.

Therefore, when measuring the thickness of an object (or a partial area) using the ultrasonic inspection apparatus, the user's intervention is inevitable, and accurate measurement can not be performed according to the user's intervention.

Therefore, there is a need for an ultrasound scanner that can automate a series of processes for measuring the thickness of an object, minimizing user intervention, and providing accurate measurement results with ease.

An embodiment according to the present invention provides a method of scanning an image by scanning an image, searching for a gradient peak for the image in consideration of an input seed, and automatically measuring the thickness of the image using the searched gradient peak, And it is an object of the present invention to easily provide an accurate measurement result of the thickness of the image.

In order to achieve the above object, a three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus includes a display unit for scanning an image of an object in a human body, extracting an image in consideration of an input seed of the image, and displaying the extracted image; A search unit for searching a zero crossing based on the seed and searching for a gradient peak of the extracted image using the searched zero crossing; and a search unit for searching, using the searched gradient peak, And a controller for measuring the thickness of the image.

As a technical method for achieving the above object, an operation method of a 3-dimensional ultrasound tester scans an image of an object in a human body, extracts an image in consideration of an input seed in the image, Searching for a zero crossing based on the seed and searching for a gradient peak of the extracted image using the retrieved zero crossing; and displaying the retrieved gradient peak And measuring the thickness of the extracted image.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of scanning an image, retrieving a gradient peak for the image in consideration of an input seed, and automatically measuring the thickness of the image using the retrieved gradient peak , It is possible to easily provide an accurate measurement result on the thickness of the image.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating an example of measuring and displaying the thickness of an image in a 3-dimensional ultrasound tester according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of a 3D ultrasound examiner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to or limited by the embodiments. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a 3D ultrasound tester 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display unit 103, a processing unit 105, a search unit 107, and a control unit 109.

The display unit 103 scans an image of an object in the human body and displays the image on the screen. Here, the object in the human body may be a fetus, a blood vessel, or an organ.

At this time, the display unit 103 extracts an image (e.g., a peripheral image around the seed) in consideration of a seed input from the image, and displays the extracted image. Here, when the object is a fetus, the seed may be located in the vicinity of the NT (Nuchal Translucency).

In addition, the display unit 103 may extract some of the scanned images of the entire object. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only a part of the object may be scanned to acquire an image. That is, the display unit 103 may set a region of interest (i.e., ROI region) with respect to the object, position a seed within the set ROI, and then scan and display a portion of the object.

The processing unit 105 may perform thresholding or multiply the extracted image based on the selected brightness information. For example, the processing unit 105 separates the extracted image into '0' and '1' based on the selected brightness information, and separates the extracted image into 'black' or 'white', thereby sharpening the outline of the image . In addition, the processing unit 105 performs the multiplication on the extracted image, thereby making it possible to easily search for the gradient peak of the image by processing the bright portion brighter and the dark portion darker.

The searching unit 107 searches the extracted image for a zero crossing based on the seed and searches for a gradient peak of the extracted image using the zero crossing searched. Specifically, the search unit 107 searches for a first zero crossing at the upper portion and a second zero crossing at the lower portion based on the seed, and uses the first zero crossing and the second zero crossing , A first gradient peak and a second gradient peak of the extracted image may be searched.

At this time, the search unit 107 can locate a plurality of seeds on a horizontal line including the seed, and search for gradient peaks using each seed. Here, the search unit 107 may search for the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak, which are different in position from each other, with respect to the plurality of seeds.

The control unit 109 measures the thickness of the extracted image using the searched gradient peak. Here, the control unit 109 may measure the separation distance between the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak searched by the search unit 107. [

For example, when the extracted image is in the vicinity of the NT of the fetus, the control unit 109 searches for the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak with respect to the boundary of the transparent portion located behind the neck of the fetus, By measuring the distance between the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak searched, the thickness of the neck NT of the fetus can be easily measured. Accordingly, the practitioner (or the doctor) can accurately and easily diagnose the abnormality with respect to the fetus based on the thickness of the neck / NT that is measured.

In addition, the control unit 109 may measure the separation distance of each of the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak, when each of the first and second gradient peaks for the plurality of seeds is searched. At this time, the controller 109 selects one of a plurality of spacing distances, that is, the thickness of the image, and displays it on the display unit 103, thereby providing a more accurate image thickness.

For example, the control unit 109 may calculate the average and variance of the thicknesses of the respective measured images, and may select the thickness of the images measured as the maximum of the thicknesses of the measured images that are less than the sum of the average and the variance have. Thereafter, the control unit 109 displays the thickness of the predetermined image or the gradient peak corresponding to the selected thickness on the extracted image, thereby allowing the thickness measurement portion of the image to be easily recognized.

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of measuring and displaying the thickness of an image in a 3-dimensional ultrasound tester according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound tester scans an image of an object in a human body, extracts an image (e.g., a peripheral image around the seed) in consideration of an input seed in the image, And displays the resulting image.

For example, when the object is a fetus, the 3-dimensional ultrasound scanner scans the image of the fetus and extracts an image of the periphery of the seed based on the seed located near the NT of the fetus in the image .

The three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus can locate a plurality of seeds on a horizontal line including the seed, and search for gradient peaks using each seed. At this time, the 3-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus searches for the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak of each of the plurality of seeds having different positions from each other, and measures the distance between the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak searched for can do.

For example, when the extracted image is in the vicinity of the NT of the fetus, the 3-dimensional ultrasound examiner searches for the first gradient peak_ # 1 201_1 positioned at the upper side with reference to the first seed, It is possible to search the second gradient peak_ # 1 201_2 positioned at the bottom based on the seed. Also, the first gradient peak # 2 202_1 located on the upper side is searched for on the basis of the second seed, and the second gradient peak_ # 2 202_2 located on the lower side is searched for on the basis of the second seed can do. The three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus includes first and second gradient peaks_ # 3 (203_1 and 203_2), first and second gradient peaks (# 2 and # 3) 203_1 and 203_2 corresponding to the third and fourth seeds, respectively, like a gradient peak corresponding to the first and second seeds The gradient peak_ # 4 204_1 and 204_2 can be searched.

The three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus measures a distance between the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak, calculates an average and variance of the measured distance distance (e.g., first through fourth distance distances), respectively, The thickness of the image measured as the maximum value among the thicknesses of the images measured smaller than the sum of the dispersions can be selected.

For example, in the case where the separation distance between the first gradient peak_ # 3 203_1 and the second gradient peak_3_3 203_2, that is, the third separation distance, is selected according to the selection condition, the three- The first gradient peak_ # 3 203_1 and the second gradient peak_3_3 203_2 associated with the third separation distance are superimposed on the extracted image to display the third gap distance, So that the thickness measuring portion of the display device can be easily recognized.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of a 3D ultrasound examiner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the 3D ultrasound scanner scans an image of an object in a human body and displays the image on a screen (301).

That is, the 3D ultrasound scanner scans an image of an object, extracts an image (e.g., a peripheral image around the seed) in consideration of an input seed in the image, and displays the extracted image. Here, when the object is a fetus, the seed may be located in the vicinity of the NT (Nuchal Translucency).

The 3-dimensional ultrasound tester may be a preprocessing process for accurately measuring the thickness of the extracted image, and may correct the extracted image. For example, the 3D ultrasound tester can sharpen the outline of the image by performing thresholding or multiply on the extracted image based on the selected brightness information.

The 3D ultrasound tester searches for the gradient peak of the image based on the input seed (303).

Specifically, the 3-dimensional ultrasound tester searches the extracted image for zero crossing based on the input seed, and calculates the gradient peak of the extracted image using the retrieved zero crossing You can search. That is, the three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus searches for the first zero crossing on the upper side and the second zero crossing on the upper side on the basis of the seed, uses the first zero crossing and the second zero crossing, The first gradient peak and the second gradient peak of the extracted image can be retrieved.

At this time, the three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus can locate a plurality of seeds on a horizontal line including the seed, and search for gradient peaks using each seed. Here, the three-dimensional ultrasonic inspection apparatus can search for the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak, which are different in position from each other, with respect to the plurality of seeds.

The 3D ultrasound tester uses the searched gradient peaks to measure the thickness of the image (305).

Here, the 3D ultrasound tester can measure the distance between the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak searched. For example, when the extracted image is the NT of the fetus, the control unit 109 searches for the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak with respect to the boundary of the transparent part located behind the neck of the fetus, By measuring the distance between the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak, the thickness of the neck transparent bar NT of the fetus can be easily measured.

Further, the three-dimensional ultrasonic tester can measure the separation distance of each of the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak when each first and second gradient peaks for a plurality of seeds are searched. Thereafter, the 3D ultrasound tester selects one of a plurality of spacing distances, that is, the thickness of the image, and displays it on the screen, thereby providing a more accurate image thickness.

For example, the 3D ultrasound tester calculates the average and variance of the thickness of each of the measured images, selects the thickness of the image measured as the maximum of the thicknesses of the measured images smaller than the sum of the average and the variance, A gradient peak corresponding to the thickness of the selected image can be superimposed on the extracted image and displayed.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of scanning an image, retrieving a gradient peak for the image in consideration of an input seed, and automatically measuring the thickness of the image using the retrieved gradient peak , It is possible to easily provide an accurate measurement result on the thickness of the image.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a graphic template corresponding to an image is generated, and the generated graphic template is adjusted through rotation, movement, or deformation in consideration of a reference position of the image, By displaying the feature information (for example, the short axis length, the long axis length, the circumference length, or the ratio of the short axis and the long axis) of the matched figure template, accurate measurement results for the image can be automatically provided.

Embodiments of the present invention include computer readable media including program instructions for performing various computer implemented operations. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and constructed for the present invention or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magnetic media such as floppy disks; Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, such as specific elements, and specific embodiments and drawings. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above- And various modifications and changes may be made thereto by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Therefore, the spirit of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the described embodiments, and all of the equivalents or equivalents of the claims, as well as the following claims, are included in the scope of the present invention.

101: 3D Ultrasonic Inspector
103:
105:
107:
109:

Claims (10)

A display unit for scanning the image of the object and displaying the scanned image;
A retrieving unit for retrieving a first gradient peak of the image at an upper portion of the seed and a second gradient peak of the image at a lower portion of the seed based on a position of a seed input to the image; And
And a controller for measuring the thickness of the extracted image by using a distance between the searched first gradient peak and the second gradient peak. delete The method according to claim 1,
The search unit may search,
Placing a plurality of seeds on a horizontal line including the seed, searching each of the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak using each seed,
Wherein,
Wherein the thickness of the image is measured using each of the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak. The method of claim 3,
Wherein,
Calculating an average and a variance of the thicknesses of the respective measured images,
The thickness of the image measured as the maximum value among the thicknesses of the images measured to be smaller than the sum of the average and the variance,
And displays a first gradient peak and a second gradient peak corresponding to a thickness of the selected image in a superimposed manner on the image. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a processing unit for performing thresholding or multiply for the image based on the selected brightness information. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 21 > Scanning an image of the object and displaying the scanned image;
Retrieving a first gradient peak of the image at an upper portion of the seed and a second gradient peak of the image at a lower portion of the seed based on the position of the seed input to the image; And
Measuring a thickness of the image using the distances between the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak searched for by the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak. delete The method according to claim 6,
Wherein the step of retrieving the first gradient peak and the second gradient peak of the image comprises:
Placing a plurality of seeds on a horizontal line including the seed and using each seed to search for a first gradient peak and a second gradient peak,
Wherein measuring the thickness of the image comprises:
Measuring the thickness of the image using the first and second gradient peaks, respectively. ≪ Desc / Clms Page number 20 > 9. The method of claim 8,
Calculating an average and a variance for each thickness of the measured image, and selecting a thickness of the image measured as a maximum value among the thicknesses of the measured images smaller than the sum of the average and the variance; And
Further comprising displaying a first gradient peak and a second gradient peak corresponding to a thickness of the selected image in a superimposed manner on the image. The method according to claim 6,
Further comprising the step of performing thresholding or performing a multiplication on the basis of the selected brightness information for the image.

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