KR102025966B1 - Ultrasound system and method for determining geometric information of ultrasound probe - Google Patents

Ultrasound system and method for determining geometric information of ultrasound probe Download PDF

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KR102025966B1
KR102025966B1 KR1020150124771A KR20150124771A KR102025966B1 KR 102025966 B1 KR102025966 B1 KR 102025966B1 KR 1020150124771 A KR1020150124771 A KR 1020150124771A KR 20150124771 A KR20150124771 A KR 20150124771A KR 102025966 B1 KR102025966 B1 KR 102025966B1
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ultrasonic
time interval
geometric information
ultrasound
probe
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KR1020150124771A
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Korean (ko)
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KR20170028022A (en
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장웅
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지멘스 메디컬 솔루션즈 유에스에이, 인크.
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/42—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient
    • A61B8/4245—Details of probe positioning or probe attachment to the patient involving determining the position of the probe, e.g. with respect to an external reference frame or to the patient
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/13—Tomography
    • A61B8/14—Echo-tomography
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
    • A61B8/4444—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/54—Control of the diagnostic device

Abstract

An ultrasound system and method for determining geometric information of an ultrasound probe is disclosed. The ultrasound system includes an ultrasound probe and a processor. The ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements operable to transmit a plurality of ultrasonic signals to the object and receive ultrasonic echo signals from the object. The processor samples the ultrasonic echo signal at predetermined time intervals to obtain a plurality of ultrasonic data, determines a first time interval representing a peak value in the ultrasonic data for the ultrasonic echo signal, and based on the predetermined geometric information of the ultrasonic probe. Thus, a second time interval for the ultrasonic signal to move the distance between each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements and the object of interest in the object is determined, and based on the plurality of first time intervals and the plurality of second time intervals, the geometry of the ultrasonic probe Operate to determine information.

Description

ULTRASOUND SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING GEOMETRIC INFORMATION OF ULTRASOUND PROBE}

FIELD The present disclosure relates to ultrasound systems, and more particularly, to ultrasound systems and methods for determining geometric information of ultrasound probes.

Ultrasound systems are widely used in the medical field for obtaining information about internal tissues of living bodies. The ultrasound system may provide high-resolution images of the subject in real time using high frequency sound waves without the need for surgical surgery to directly incision and observe the subject. Ultrasonic systems have non-invasive and non-destructive properties and are very important in the medical field.

The ultrasound system transmits an ultrasound signal to an object in the object, and receives an ultrasound signal reflected from the object using a reception focusing technique. Based on the received ultrasound signal, an ultrasound image of the object is formed and displayed.

In order to improve the image quality of an ultrasound image, an ultrasound system typically uses a transmission focusing technique and a reception focusing technique. For example, the transmission focusing focuses the ultrasonic signal transmitted by each transducer element of the ultrasonic transducer in the ultrasonic probe by applying a time delay to the ultrasonic signal to simultaneously reach a predetermined point in the object. On the other hand, the receive focusing technique adds an appropriate time delay to the ultrasound signal received by the transducer element of the ultrasound transducer to form an ultrasound image using the ultrasound signal received from different distances. As such, the transmission focusing and reception focusing techniques improve the image quality of the ultrasound image.

In particular, the ultrasound system calculates a delay time for performing focusing on the ultrasonic signals reaching each transducer element based on the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe, and performs the focusing of the ultrasonic signals based on the calculated delay time. . This geometric information is preset information provided by the manufacturer of the ultrasonic probe.

Conventionally, without considering the error due to the refraction of the ultrasonic signal (sound field) generated from the skin of the object and the ultrasonic probe, the error that may occur in the production process of the ultrasonic transducer, and the like based on the predetermined geometric information Since reception focusing is performed on a signal, there is a limit in improving the resolution of an ultrasound image of an object.

The present disclosure provides an ultrasound system and method for acquiring an ultrasonic signal for each of a plurality of focusing depths and determining geometric information of the ultrasonic probe based on the obtained ultrasonic signal and predetermined geometric information of the ultrasonic probe.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound system includes an ultrasound probe and a processor. The ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements, and is configured to transmit a plurality of ultrasonic signals into the object based on the plurality of focusing depths, and receive an ultrasonic echo signal from the object for each of the plurality of focusing depths. The processor acquires a plurality of ultrasonic data by sampling each of the ultrasonic echo signals at a predetermined time interval, and determines a first time interval representing a peak value in the ultrasonic data for each of the plurality of echo signals. The processor determines a second time interval for the ultrasonic signal to move the distance between the piezoelectric element and the object of interest in the object based on preset geometric information of the ultrasonic probe. The processor determines the geometric information of the ultrasound probe based on a plurality of first time intervals and a plurality of second time intervals, and allocates the determined geometric information to the ultrasound probe.

In another embodiment, a method of determining geometric information of an ultrasonic probe in an ultrasonic system includes transmitting, by the ultrasonic probe including a plurality of piezoelectric elements, a plurality of ultrasonic signals in the object based on a plurality of focusing depths. And receiving, by each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements of the ultrasonic probe, an ultrasonic echo signal from the object for each of the plurality of focusing depths, and sampling each of the ultrasonic echo signals at a predetermined time interval. Acquiring an ultrasound data of the second ultrasound signal, determining a first time interval representing a peak value in the ultrasound data for each of the plurality of ultrasound echo signals, and based on predetermined geometric information of the ultrasound probe, Ultrasonic distance between the device and the object of interest in the object Determining a second time interval for the call to move, determining the geometric information of the ultrasound probe based on a plurality of first time intervals and a plurality of second time intervals, and converting the determined geometric information into the ultrasound Assigning to the probe.

According to the present disclosure, the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe may be determined based on the unfocused ultrasonic signal, and the error generated during the production of the ultrasonic probe or the ultrasonic signal (sound field) generated from the ultrasonic probe and the skin of the object may be determined. Errors due to refraction can be compensated for.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of an ultrasound system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a processor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
3 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic transducer and a receiver according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by the geometric information determination unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
5 is an exemplary view showing sampling data for a plurality of sampling points according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
6 is an exemplary view showing a maximum size and position of sampling data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
7 is an exemplary view showing geometric information according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of determining a second time interval according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
9 is an exemplary view showing a two-dimensional coordinate value of the ultrasonic transducer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The term " part " used in this embodiment means software or a hardware component such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like. However, "part" is not limited to hardware and software. The "unit" may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium, and may be configured to play one or more processors. Thus, as an example, "parts" means components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, and processors, functions, properties, procedures, subroutines, program code. Includes segments, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Functions provided within a component and "part" may be combined into a smaller number of components and "parts" or further separated into additional components and "parts".

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an ultrasound system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The ultrasound system 100 includes an ultrasound probe 110 and a processor 120. The ultrasonic probe 110 converts an electrical signal into an ultrasonic signal for transmitting to an object, and when receiving an ultrasonic signal (that is, an ultrasonic echo signal) reflected from the object, an ultrasonic transducer configured to convert the ultrasonic echo signal into an electrical signal. (112; see FIG. 3). The ultrasonic transducer 112 includes a plurality of transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N (see FIG. 3), and the plurality of transducer elements may be piezoelectric elements.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, each of the plurality of transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N of the ultrasound transducer 112 converts an electrical signal provided from the processor 120 into an ultrasound signal and transmits an ultrasound signal to an object. . The subject includes an object of interest (eg, liver, heart, blood flow, blood vessels, etc.) to be observed or diagnosed. In addition, each of the plurality of transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N of the ultrasonic transducer 112 receives an ultrasonic echo signal reflected from an object, and converts the ultrasonic echo signal into an electrical signal (hereinafter referred to as a "receive signal"). do.

In the ultrasound system 100, the processor 120 controls transmission and reception of an ultrasound signal. In addition, the processor 120 determines geometric information of the ultrasonic probe 110 based on the received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 110. The geometric information may be a geometry or parameter of the ultrasound probe 110 and may include at least one of the radius of curvature of the plurality of transducer elements and the pitch length between two adjacent transducer elements in the ultrasound probe 110. . In addition, the processor 120 performs reception focusing on the received signal provided from the ultrasound probe 110 based on the determined geometric information to form a reception focusing signal, and based on the reception focusing signal, one or more ultrasound images of the object. To form. In the ultrasound system 100, the processor 120 may be configured to control operations of the ultrasound probe 110, the storage unit 130, the control panel 140, the display unit 150, and the like.

 2 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a processor 120 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The processor 120 includes a transmitter 210 for forming a transmission signal for obtaining one or more ultrasound images of the object.

In one embodiment, the transmitter 210 forms a transmission signal based on each of a plurality of focusing depths in the object. Here, the focusing depth may be the depth of the focusing point at a specific position in the object such that the ultrasound signal transmitted from the ultrasound probe 110 is focused at the depth depth.

According to an embodiment, the transmitter 210 forms a transmission signal (hereinafter, referred to as a “first transmission signal”) based on the first focusing depth. In addition, the transmitter 210 forms a transmission signal (hereinafter referred to as a "second transmission signal") based on the second focusing depth. In addition, the transmitter 210 forms a transmission signal (hereinafter referred to as a "third transmission signal") based on the third focusing depth. Such a transmission signal is formed based on three focusing depths, but the transmission signal may be formed based on an appropriate number of focusing depths.

The processor 120 further includes a transmit / receive switch 220 and a receiver 230. The transmit / receive switch 220 serves as a duplexer for switching between the transmitter 210 and the receiver 230 so that the transmitter 210 and the receiver 230 are not affected by signal transmission from each other. do. For example, when the ultrasound probe 110 alternately transmits and receives an ultrasound signal, the transmit / receive switch 220 moves the transmitter 210 or the receiver 230 to the ultrasound probe 110 (that is, the ultrasound transducer). (112)) appropriately switching or electrically connecting.

The receiver 230 may be configured to amplify the received signal provided from the ultrasound probe 110 through the transmission / reception switch 220 and convert the amplified received signal into a digital signal.

For example, the receiver 230 amplifies the first received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 110, that is, the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N, and converts the amplified first received signal into an analog-digital digital signal. , &Quot; first digital signal " Similarly, the receiver 230 amplifies the second received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 110, that is, the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N, and converts the amplified second received signal into an analog-digital digital signal (hereinafter, &Quot; second digital signal " Similarly, the receiver 230 amplifies the third received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 110, that is, the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N, and converts the amplified third received signal into an analog-digital digital signal. A third digital signal ".

3 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic transducer 112 and a receiver 230 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In Fig. 3, reference numeral CH i (1 ≦ i ≦ N) denotes the i-th channel. As described above, the ultrasonic transducer 112 includes a plurality of transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N.

The receiver 230 includes a signal amplifier 310 and a signal converter 320. The signal amplifier 310 amplifies the received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 110. In one embodiment, the signal amplifier 310 includes a plurality of amplifiers 310_1 to 310_N, and each of the plurality of amplifiers 310_1 to 310_N is connected to each of the plurality of transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N. That is, the i-th amplifier 310_i is connected to the i-th transducer element 112_i to amplify the received signal provided from the transducer element 112_i.

The signal converter 320 is electrically connected to receive the received signal amplified from the signal amplifier 310, and performs a digital conversion to the received signal to form a digital signal. In one embodiment, the signal converter 320 includes a plurality of analog to digital converters (ADCs) 320_1 to 320_N, as shown in FIG. 3. The plurality of ADCs 320_1 to 320_N are connected to each of the plurality of amplifiers 310_1 to 310_N. That is, the i-th ADC 320_i is connected to the i-th amplifier 310_i and performs analog-to-digital conversion on the amplified received signal received from the i-th amplifier 310_i.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the processor 120 further includes a geometric information determiner 240. The geometric information determiner 240 determines the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe 110 based on the digital signal provided from the receiver 230, and allocates the determined geometric information to the ultrasonic probe 110. The geometric information determiner 240 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG. 4.

The processor 120 further includes a signal processor 250, and the signal processor 250 receives and focuses a digital signal provided from the receiver 230 based on the geometric information received from the geometric information determiner 240. Form a receive focus signal. For example, the signal processor 250 forms a reception focused signal by beamforming a digital signal provided from the receiver 230 based on the geometric information received from the geometric information determiner 240.

The processor 120 further includes an image forming unit 260. The image forming unit 250 performs at least one scan conversion on the received focus signal provided from the signal processor 240 to form at least one ultrasound image of the object.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the ultrasound system 100 further includes a storage 130. The storage unit stores the ultrasound data formed by the processor 120. In addition, the storage 130 may store one or more ultrasound images formed by the processor 120.

The ultrasound system 100 further includes a control panel 140. The control panel 140 receives input information from the user and transmits the received input information to the processor 120. The control panel 140 includes an input device (not shown) including an input device such as, for example, a trackball, a keyboard, a button, and the like. The input device executes operations such as selection of a diagnostic mode, control of a diagnostic operation, input of a command required for diagnosis, signal manipulation, output control, and the like, thus enabling an interface between the user and the ultrasound system 100.

The ultrasound system 100 further includes a display unit 150. The display unit 150 displays one or more ultrasound images formed by the processor 120. In addition, the display unit 150 may display any appropriate information about the ultrasound image or the ultrasound system 100.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by the geometric information determiner 240 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The geometric information determiner 240 corresponds to a digital signal corresponding to the ultrasonic echo signals obtained by the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N, that is, the plurality of channels CH 1 to CH N , for each of the plurality of focusing depths. Acquire a digital signal (S402).

The geometric information determiner 240 samples a digital signal corresponding to each of the plurality of channels CH 1 to CH N for each of the plurality of focusing depths, and then applies the plurality of channels to each of the plurality of channels CH 1 to CH N. Ultrasound data (hereinafter referred to as "sampling data") is obtained (S404).

In an embodiment, the geometric information determiner 240 obtains sampling data corresponding to each of the plurality of sampling points, as shown in FIG. 5, based on a preset sampling rate. For example, the sampling rate may be a sampling period of 40 MHz, that is, 2.5e -2 Hz, and the number of sampling points may be 1024, but is not limited thereto. The geometric information determiner 240 samples the digital signals corresponding to each of the plurality of channels CH 1 to CH N every 2.5e −2 kHz to obtain sampling data corresponding to each of 1024 sampling points. In Fig. 5, the horizontal axis represents the sampling point, and the vertical axis represents the magnitude (intensity) of the signal.

For example, the geometric information determiner 240 samples the first digital signal for each of the channels CH 1 to CH N at the first focusing depth, based on the preset sampling rate, and at the first focusing depth. Sampling data corresponding to each sampling point (hereinafter, referred to as “first sampling data”) is obtained for each of the channels CH 1 to CH N.

In addition, the geometric information determiner 240 samples the second digital signal for each of the channels CH 1 to CH N at the second focusing depth based on the preset sampling rate, and thus the channel at the second focusing depth. For each of (CH 1 to CH N ), sampling data corresponding to each sampling point (hereinafter referred to as "second sampling data") is obtained.

In addition, the geometric information determiner 240 samples a third digital signal for each of the plurality of channels CH 1 to CH N at a third focusing depth based on a preset sampling rate, and then, at the third focusing depth, a to obtain the sampling data (hereinafter referred to as "third sampling data") corresponding to each of a plurality of sampling points for each channel (CH 1 to CH N).

The geometric information determination unit 240 detects sampling data indicating a peak value based on the sampling data (S406). That is, the geometric information determiner 240 detects sampling data of peak values (ie, sampling data having a maximum size) in the plurality of sampling data associated with each channel CH 1 to CH N at each focusing depth.

In one embodiment, the geometric information determiner 240 is a Hilbert transform (quadrant demodulation) to a plurality of sampling data for each channel (CH 1 to CH N ) at each focusing depth As shown in FIG. 6, an envelope, which is sizes for each of the plurality of sampling data, is detected. The geometric information determiner 240 detects sampling data having a peak value (ie, a maximum size) based on the detected size. In FIG. 6, the sampling data of peak value is sampling data corresponding to a 677th sampling point, and the magnitude is 158.14.

In the case of three focusing depths, for example, the geometric information determination unit 240 performs a Hilbert transform or quadrant on a plurality of first sampling data for each channel CH 1 to CH N at the first focusing depth. The demodulation method is applied to detect the magnitudes of the plurality of first sampling data, and the first sampling data of the peak value is detected based on the detected magnitudes. In addition, the geometric information determiner 240 applies a Hilbert transform or quadrant demodulation scheme to the plurality of second sampling data for each of the channels CH 1 to CH N at the second focusing depth, and the plurality of second sampling data. Is detected, and second sampling data of the peak value is detected based on the detected size. In addition, the geometric information determiner 240 applies a Hilbert transform or quadrant demodulation scheme to the plurality of third sampling data for each of the channels CH 1 to CH N at the third focusing depth, and the plurality of third sampling data. Is detected, and the third sampling data of the peak value is detected based on the detected size.

The geometric information determiner 240 determines a first time interval indicating a peak value for each channel CH 1 to CH N at each of the plurality of focusing depths based on the sampling data of the peak value (S408). According to an embodiment, the first time interval may be a reception propagation time indicating a time taken from starting time of sampling the digital signal to acquiring sampling data of a peak value, as shown in FIG. 5.

For example, the geometric information determiner 240 may calculate a first time interval (ie, reception propagation time) for each channel CH 1 to CH N at each of the plurality of focusing depths according to the following equation. Can be.

Figure 112016001898210-pat00001

In Equation 1, T FTP (i) represents the first time interval for the i-th channel, T SI represents the sampling period, and P MAX (i) indicates that the sampling data will reach the peak value in the i-th channel. The number of samplings at the time, that is, the position of the sampling point corresponding to the sampling data of the peak value in the i-th channel.

In a sampling period (T SI) that is 2.5e -2 ㎲, the peak value for the i-th sampled data channel 677th sampling points (i.e., P MAX = 677) (that is, a maximum size) according to the equation (1) In the case of corresponding sampling data, the first time interval (i.e., reception propagation time) for the i-th channel is 16.925 ms (16.925 ms = 2.5e -2 ms x 677).

Referring back to FIG. 4, the geometric information determiner 240 determines the depth of the ROI in the object based on the first time interval for each channel CH 1 to CH N in each of the plurality of focusing depths. (S410).

In one embodiment, the geometric information determiner 240 detects the minimum first time interval by comparing the plurality of first time intervals for the plurality of channels. The geometric information determiner 240 determines the depth of the object of interest in the object based on the minimum first time interval and the preset sound velocity, and the sound velocity may be the sound velocity in the object.

For example, the depth of the object of interest in the object may be calculated according to the following equation.

Figure 112016001898210-pat00002

In Equation 2, D target represents the depth of the object of interest in the object, min (T FTP ) represents the minimum first time interval, and S speed represents the speed of sound (eg, 1540 m / s in the object). ).

The geometric information determiner 240 is a second time interval for the ultrasonic signal to move the distance between each transducer element 112_1 to 112_N and the object of interest in the object based on the predetermined geometric information of the ultrasonic probe 110. Determine (S412).

In one embodiment, the geometric information determiner 240 is based on the predetermined geometric information of the ultrasound probe 110 and the depth of the object of interest in the object, each of the transducer elements (112_1 to 112_N) and the object of interest in the object. The distance between the signals determines a second time interval for moving the ultrasound signal.

The geometric information and the preset geometric information include, but are not necessarily limited to, at least one of the radius of curvature of the ultrasound transducer 112 and the pitch distance between the transducer elements (or piezoelectric elements) of the ultrasound transducer 112. In general, when the ultrasonic probe 110 is a convex probe, a plurality of transducer elements may be formed by dicing the piezoelectric element (PZT) 710 as shown in FIG. 7. have. In addition, by forming or bending the diced piezoelectric element 710 on the circular jig 720, each piezoelectric element 710 may be manufactured in a curved form. Therefore, the piezoelectric element 710 may be formed in a curved shape or concentric circles. In this configuration, the distance between the center of the concentric circle and each piezoelectric element 710 is defined as the radius of curvature, and the distance between adjacent piezoelectric elements 710 is defined as the pitch length.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining a second time interval according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 8, the geometric information determiner 240 determines two-dimensional coordinate values of the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N based on preset geometric information (S802).

In an exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the geometric information determiner 240 sets the center of the concentric circle formed by the ultrasonic transducer 112 based on the radius of curvature of the ultrasonic transducer 112. The geometric information determiner 240 determines two-dimensional coordinate values of the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N based on the center of the concentric circles.

For example, the two-dimensional coordinate values of the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N may be determined according to the following equation.

Figure 112016001898210-pat00003

In Equation 3, x (i) represents the X-axis coordinate value of the ith transducer element, y (i) represents the Y-axis coordinate value of the ith transducer element, N represents a positive integer, L ROC represents the radius of curvature and L PT represents the pitch length.

Referring back to FIG. 8, the geometric information determiner 240 determines the distance between each transducer element 112_1 to 112_N and the object of interest in the object based on the two-dimensional coordinate values of the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N. (S804).

For example, the distance between each transducer element 112_1 to 112_N and the object of interest in the object may be determined according to the following equation.

Figure 112016001898210-pat00004

In Equation 4, L ele (i) represents the distance between the i th transducer element and the object of interest in the object, x (i) represents the X-axis coordinate value of the i th transducer element, and D target represents an intra- object. Denotes the depth of the object of interest, L ROC denotes the radius of curvature and y (i) denotes the Y-axis coordinate value of the i th transducer element.

The geometric information determiner 240 determines a second time interval for each transducer element 112_1 to 112_N based on the distance between the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N and the object of interest in the object (S806).

For example, the second time interval for each transducer element 112_1 to 112_N may be determined according to the following equation.

Figure 112016001898210-pat00005

In Equation 5, T STP (i) represents the second time interval for the i th transducer element, L ele (i) represents the distance between the i th transducer element and the object of interest in the object, and S speed is Sound velocity (eg, 1540 m / s) in the object.

Referring back to FIG. 4, the geometric information determiner 240 determines geometric information of the ultrasound probe 110 based on the first time interval and the second time interval (S414). In one embodiment, the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe 110 may be determined by performing a least square error minimization operation based on the first time interval and the second time interval.

For example, the first time interval determined in step S408 is used as a target value of the minimum squared error minimization operation, and the second time interval determined in step S412 is used as an initial value of the minimum squared error minimization operation, thereby minimizing the minimum squared error. The operation can be performed.

Subsequently, the geometric information determiner 240 determines the geometric information by changing the predetermined geometric information by a predetermined value. For example, the geometric information L 1 -ROC , L 1 -PT can be determined by changing the radius of curvature L 0 -ROC and the pitch length L 0 -PT by a predetermined value ε.

In addition, the geometric information determiner 240 is based on the geometric information (L 1-ROC , L 1-PT ), as shown in Figure 8, the transducer elements 112_1 to 112_N of the ultrasonic probe 110 and A new second time interval between objects of interest in the object is determined.

Subsequently, the minimum squared error minimization operation may be performed by using the first time interval as a target value of the minimum squared error minimization operation and using the new second time interval as an initial value of the minimum squared error minimization operation.

The geometric information determiner 240 performs the above-described process a predetermined number of times (for example, 1000 times) to obtain a minimum error value, and determines the geometric information associated with the minimum error value as the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe 110. Can be.

Referring back to FIG. 4, the geometric information determiner 240 updates the geometric information on the ultrasonic probe 110 by assigning or setting the determined geometric information as the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe 110 (S416). The signal processor 250 may focus the digital signal provided from the receiver 230 on the basis of the determined geometric information to form a received focus signal.

In some embodiments, the geometric information determiner 240 may determine geometric information for scan conversion based on predetermined geometric information about the ultrasound probe 110. In the case of determining geometric information for reception focusing, the determined geometric information may cause unwanted changes (eg, distortion of an ultrasound image) in the result of the scanning transformation. Therefore, in this case, the geometric information for the scan conversion can be determined according to the following equation.

Figure 112016001898210-pat00006

In Equation 6, L 0-PT represents a preset pitch length, L 0-ROC represents a preset radius of curvature, L n -PT represents a determined pitch length, and L n -ROC represents a determined radius of curvature. Indicates.

While specific embodiments have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure. The novel methods and apparatus of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of other forms and furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the embodiments disclosed herein are possible without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. The claims appended hereto and their equivalents should be construed to include all such forms and modifications as fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure.

100: ultrasonic system 110: ultrasonic probe
112: ultrasonic transducer
112_1 to 112_N: transducer elements
120: processor 130: storage unit
140: control panel 150: display unit
210: transmitting unit 220: transmission and reception switch
230: receiver 240: geometric information determiner
250: signal processor 260: image forming unit
310: signal amplifiers 310_1 to 310_N: amplifiers
320: signal converter 320_1 to 320_N: ADC
710: piezoelectric element 720: jig
CH 1 to CH N : channel

Claims (20)

A method of determining geometric information of an ultrasonic probe in an ultrasonic system,
Transmitting, by the ultrasonic probe including a plurality of piezoelectric elements, a plurality of ultrasonic signals in the object based on the plurality of focusing depths;
Receiving, by each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements of the ultrasonic probe, an ultrasonic echo signal from the object for each of the plurality of focusing depths;
Sampling each of the ultrasonic echo signals at a predetermined time interval to obtain a plurality of ultrasonic data;
Determining a first time interval representing a peak value in the ultrasound data for each of the plurality of ultrasound echo signals;
Determining a second time interval for the ultrasound signal to move a distance between each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements and the object of interest in the object based on preset geometric information of the ultrasound probe;
Determining the geometric information about the ultrasound probe based on the first time interval and the second time interval;
Allocating the determined geometric information to the ultrasonic probe
How to include. The method of claim 1, wherein the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe comprises at least one of a radius of curvature for the plurality of piezoelectric elements or a pitch length between adjacent piezoelectric elements. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of the first time interval representing the peak value comprises: determining a reception propagation time between a start time of the sampling and a time at which the ultrasound data has a peak value for each of the ultrasound echo signals. Method comprising the steps. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of the first time interval representing the peak value comprises:
Performing Hilbert transform on the ultrasonic data for each of the ultrasonic echo signals;
Detecting ultrasonic data having the peak value in the ultrasonic data for each of the ultrasonic echo signals based on the converted ultrasonic data;
Determining the first time interval based on the ultrasonic data having a peak value for each of the ultrasonic echo signals and the preset time interval
How to include. The method of claim 4, wherein the first time interval is
Figure 112016001898210-pat00007
(Mathematical formula)
It is calculated according to the above equation,
T FTP method, which is the number of sampling of the time it reaches the first represents the time interval, T SI is pre-designated time denotes gangyeokreul, P MAX is the value of the ultrasonic data peak. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of the second time interval comprises:
Determining a minimum first time interval in the plurality of first time intervals;
Determining a depth of the object of interest based on the minimum first time interval and the speed of sound in the object;
Determining the distance between each of the piezoelectric elements and the object of interest based on the preset geometric information and the depth of the object of interest;
Determining the second time interval based on the distance and the speed of sound within the object
How to include. The method of claim 6, wherein the depth of interest is
Figure 112016001898210-pat00008
(Mathematical formula)
Calculated by the above equation,
D target represents the depth of the object of interest, min (T FTP ) represents the minimum first time interval, S speed represents the speed of sound in the object. The method of claim 6, wherein the second time interval is
Figure 112016001898210-pat00009
(Mathematical formula)
Is calculated according to the equation, T STP is shown how the speed of sound within denotes the second time interval, ele L denotes the distance, speed S is the target object. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining of the geometric information comprises:
Obtaining a minimum error value by performing a minimum squared error minimization based on the plurality of first time intervals and the plurality of second time intervals;
Setting geometric information associated with the minimum error value as the geometric information of the ultrasound probe
How to include. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
Performing beamforming based on the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe
How to include more. As an ultrasonic system,
An ultrasonic probe comprising a plurality of piezoelectric elements configured to transmit a plurality of ultrasonic signals in the object based on the plurality of focusing depths, and receive an ultrasonic echo signal from the object for each of the plurality of focusing depths;
Sampling each of the ultrasonic echo signals at predetermined time intervals to obtain a plurality of ultrasonic data, determining a first time interval representing a peak value in the ultrasonic data for each of the plurality of echo signals, and pre-setting the ultrasonic probe. Based on the set geometric information, a second time interval for the ultrasonic signal to move the distance between each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements and the object of interest in the object is determined, and based on the first time interval and the second time interval. A processor configured to determine the geometric information about the ultrasound probe and to assign the determined geometric information to the ultrasound probe
Ultrasound system comprising a. The ultrasonic system of claim 11, wherein the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe comprises at least one of a radius of curvature for the plurality of piezoelectric elements or a pitch length between adjacent piezoelectric elements. The ultrasound system of claim 12, wherein the first time interval includes a reception propagation time between the start time of the sampling and the time when the ultrasound data has a peak value for each of the ultrasound echo signals. The method of claim 12, wherein the processor,
Performing a Hilbert transform on the ultrasonic data for each of the ultrasonic echo signals,
Detecting ultrasound data having the peak value from the ultrasound data based on the converted ultrasound data,
And determine the first time interval based on the ultrasonic data having a peak value for each of the ultrasonic echo signals and the preset time interval. The method of claim 14, wherein the first time interval is
Figure 112016001898210-pat00010
(Mathematical formula)
It is calculated according to the above equation,
T FTP represents a first time interval, T SI represents a preset time interval, and P MAX represents the number of sampling when the ultrasonic data reaches a peak value. The method of claim 12, wherein the processor,
Determine a minimum first time interval in the plurality of first time intervals,
Determine the depth of the object of interest based on the minimum first time interval and the speed of sound in the object,
Determine the distance between each of the piezoelectric elements and the object of interest based on the preset geometric information and the depth of the object of interest;
And determine the second time interval based on the distance and the speed of sound within the object. The method of claim 16, wherein the depth of interest is
Figure 112016001898210-pat00011
(Mathematical formula)
It is calculated according to the above equation,
D target represents the depth of the object of interest, min (T FTP ) represents the minimum first time interval, S speed represents the speed of sound in the object. The method of claim 16, wherein the second time interval is
Figure 112016001898210-pat00012
(Mathematical formula)
Calculated according to the equation, T STP represents the second time interval, L ele represents the distance, S speed represents the speed of sound in the object. The method of claim 12, wherein the processor,
Obtaining a minimum error value by performing a minimum squared error minimization based on the plurality of first time intervals and the second time intervals;
And set the geometric information associated with the minimum error value to the geometric information of the ultrasound probe. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 19,
And the processor is configured to perform beamforming based on the geometric information of the ultrasonic probe.
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JP2009532089A (en) 2006-03-30 2009-09-10 アロカ株式会社 Delay controller for ultrasonic receiving beamformer
JP2010213771A (en) 2009-03-13 2010-09-30 Fujifilm Corp Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonograph
US20150049578A1 (en) 2013-08-19 2015-02-19 General Electric Company Systems and methods for ultrasound retrospective transmit focus beamforming

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KR100330855B1 (en) * 1999-02-09 2002-04-03 이민화 Digital-ultrasound imaging system of memorizing the pre-received signals and again using the memorized signals
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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2009532089A (en) 2006-03-30 2009-09-10 アロカ株式会社 Delay controller for ultrasonic receiving beamformer
JP2010213771A (en) 2009-03-13 2010-09-30 Fujifilm Corp Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonograph
US20150049578A1 (en) 2013-08-19 2015-02-19 General Electric Company Systems and methods for ultrasound retrospective transmit focus beamforming

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