WO2021114106A1

WO2021114106A1 - Ultrasonic imaging device and pulse wave imaging method

Info

Publication number: WO2021114106A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/124384
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李双双; 郭跃新
Original assignee: 深圳迈瑞生物医疗电子股份有限公司
Priority date: 2019-12-10
Filing date: 2019-12-10
Publication date: 2021-06-17
Also published as: CN112932540A; CN114072065A

Abstract

The present invention provides an ultrasonic imaging device and a pulse wave imaging method, wherein the method comprises acquiring ultrasound data in a predetermined period, generating an ultrasound image containing the axial section structure of the blood vessel according to the ultrasound data; obtaining the characterization quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel according to the ultrasound data; and visually expressing the characterization quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness along the axial direction of the blood vessel, so as to generate and display the pulse wave propagation state diagram. By visually expressing the characterization quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness along the axial direction of the blood vessel, the pulse wave propagation state diagram is generated and displayed, so as to visually present the pulse wave propagation.

Description

Ultrasonic imaging equipment and pulse wave imaging method

Technical field

The invention relates to the field of medical equipment, in particular to an ultrasonic imaging device and a pulse wave imaging method.

Background technique

Vascular pulse wave detection technology is an important method for clinical blood vessel detection. The pulse wave is a pulsed mechanical wave that pulses in the radial direction and propagates in the axial direction generated by the heart pumping blood on the blood vessel wall. The pulse wave is specifically manifested as two blood vessel dilations when the left ventricle starts to pump blood (the mitral valve opens) and when the pump ends (the mitral valve closes). The two expansions correspond to the early stage of contraction (Begin of systole, BS) and the end of systole (ES) pulse wave, the pulse wave will propagate along the artery from the proximal end to the distal end. The existing vascular pulse wave detection technology detects the pulse wave propagation velocity (PWV) and displays it on the display. However, medical staff can only obtain a value reflecting the propagation velocity of pulse waves and an ultrasound B image, which cannot effectively represent the dynamic process of pulse wave propagation. Therefore, the existing expressions are not intuitive enough, which easily confuses medical staff.

technical problem

The present invention mainly provides an ultrasonic imaging device and a pulse wave imaging method, so as to visually present the propagation of the pulse wave.

Technical solutions

According to the first aspect, an embodiment provides a pulse wave imaging method, including:

Acquiring ultrasound data for a predetermined period of time, where the ultrasound data is data obtained by beam synthesis of ultrasound echo signals obtained by using the blood vessel of the target object as the detection object;

Generating an ultrasound image containing blood vessels according to the ultrasound data;

Obtain, according to the ultrasound data, the vascular wall hardness characteristic quantity reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel, where the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness is that the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel The speed of propagation; and

On the display interface, the propagation velocity is dynamically displayed in the order of propagation time in a graphical visualization manner along the axis of the blood vessel.

According to a second aspect, an embodiment provides a pulse wave imaging method, including:

Acquiring multiple frames of ultrasound data, where the ultrasound data is data obtained by beam synthesis of ultrasound echo signals obtained by using the blood vessel of the target object as the detection object;

Generating an ultrasound image including an axial section structure of a blood vessel according to at least part of the ultrasound data of multiple frames;

Obtain, according to at least part of the multiple frames of the ultrasound data, the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel; and

Visually express the vascular wall stiffness along the axial direction of the blood vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state graph.

According to a third aspect, an ultrasonic imaging device is provided in an embodiment, including:

Ultrasonic probe, used to transmit ultrasonic waves to the blood vessel to be detected, and receive echoes of ultrasonic waves to obtain echo signals;

Human-computer interaction device for obtaining user input and visual output;

The processor is used to obtain echo signals from the ultrasound probe and process them into ultrasound data; generate ultrasound images containing axially arranged blood vessels according to the ultrasound data; obtain signals on the blood vessel wall according to the ultrasound data The characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel; the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness is visually expressed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, thereby generating a pulse wave propagation state diagram and displaying it through the human-computer interaction device The pulse wave propagation state diagram.

According to a fourth aspect, an ultrasonic imaging device is provided in an embodiment, including:

Memory, used to store programs;

The processor is configured to execute the program stored in the memory to implement the method described above.

According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is characterized by including a program, which can be executed by a processor to implement the method as described above.

Beneficial effect

According to the ultrasonic imaging device and pulse wave imaging method of the above embodiments, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is visually expressed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state graph, so as to visually present the pulse wave propagation.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of pulse wave propagation;

Figure 2 is a structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a pulse wave imaging method provided by an embodiment;

4 is a flowchart of a pulse wave imaging method provided by an embodiment;

Fig. 5a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic probe scanning in plane wave mode in an ultrasonic imaging device provided by an embodiment;

Fig. 5b is a schematic diagram of a reconstructed image of beam synthesis after scanning in the manner in Fig. 5a;

FIG. 6a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound probe in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment in a traditional focused wave mode for scanning; FIG.

Fig. 6b is a schematic diagram of a reconstructed image using traditional beam synthesis after scanning in the manner in Fig. 6a;

Fig. 7a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic probe scanning in a sparse focused wave mode in an ultrasonic imaging device provided by an embodiment;

Fig. 7b is a schematic diagram of a reconstructed image of beam synthesis after scanning in the manner in Fig. 7a;

FIG. 8a is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound probe in an ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment in a wide-focus wave mode scanning; FIG.

Fig. 8b is a schematic diagram of a reconstructed image of beam synthesis after scanning in the manner in Fig. 8a;

Figure 9 is an ultrasound image of a blood vessel in an embodiment;

Fig. 10 is a detailed flowchart of step 3'in Fig. 4;

11 is a schematic diagram of ultrasound images of two adjacent frames of blood vessels in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a fitting curve between each detection point space and the first time in the ultrasonic imaging device provided by an embodiment; FIG.

FIG. 13 is a curve of blood vessel diameter changing with time in the ultrasonic imaging device provided by an embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image displayed adjacent to the ultrasound image presented in the first visualization mode in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment; FIG.

15 is a schematic diagram of the superimposed display of the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the ultrasound image presented in the second visualization mode and the eighth visualization mode in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment;

16 is a schematic diagram showing the superimposed display of a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image presented in a third visualization mode in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image superimposed and displayed in a fourth visualization mode in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment; FIG.

18 is a schematic diagram showing the superimposed display of the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the ultrasound image presented in the fifth visualization mode in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image superimposed and displayed in a sixth visualization mode in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment; FIG.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram and an ultrasound image superimposed and displayed in a seventh visualization mode in the ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment; FIG.

21 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state diagram showing a propagation velocity using a waveform diagram in an ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment and displayed adjacent to an ultrasound image;

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram of a pulse wave propagation state graph showing a propagation velocity using a histogram in an ultrasound imaging device provided by an embodiment and displayed adjacent to an ultrasound image.

Embodiments of the present invention

Hereinafter, the present invention will be further described in detail through specific embodiments in conjunction with the drawings. Among them, similar elements in different embodiments use related similar element numbers. In the following embodiments, many detailed descriptions are used to make this application better understood. However, those skilled in the art can easily realize that some of the features can be omitted under different circumstances, or can be replaced by other elements, materials, and methods. In some cases, some operations related to this application are not shown or described in the specification. This is to avoid the core part of this application being overwhelmed by excessive descriptions. For those skilled in the art, these are described in detail. Related operations are not necessary, they can fully understand the related operations based on the description in the manual and the general technical knowledge in the field.

In addition, the features, operations, or features described in the specification can be combined in any appropriate manner to form various implementations. At the same time, the steps or actions in the method description can also be sequentially exchanged or adjusted in a manner obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the various sequences in the specification and the drawings are only for clearly describing a certain embodiment, and are not meant to be a necessary sequence, unless a certain sequence is required to be followed unless otherwise stated.

The serial numbers assigned to the components herein, such as "first", "second", etc., are only used to distinguish the described objects and do not have any sequence or technical meaning. The "connection" and "connection" mentioned in this application include direct and indirect connection (connection) unless otherwise specified.

Vascular pulse wave imaging is an important method for clinical vascular sclerosis detection. As shown in Figure 1, the pulse wave is a pulsed mechanical wave that pulses in the radial direction and propagates in the axial direction generated by the heart pumping blood on the blood vessel wall. The pulse wave is specifically manifested as two blood vessel dilations when the left ventricle starts to pump blood (the mitral valve opens) and when the pump ends (the mitral valve closes). The two expansions correspond to the early stage of contraction (Begin of systole, BS) and the end of systole (ES) pulse wave, the pulse wave will propagate along the artery from the proximal end to the distal end, and the propagation velocity (PWV) is related to the stiffness of the blood vessel wall.

By generating a pulse wave propagation state diagram, supplemented by an ultrasound B image of the blood vessel, the present invention can not only effectively correlate the structure of the blood vessel wall and the pulsation condition, but also can intuitively reflect the pulse wave propagation condition through the dynamic display of the pulse wave propagation state. The following examples are used for detailed description.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic imaging equipment provided by the present invention includes an ultrasonic probe 30, a transmitting/receiving circuit 40 (that is, a transmitting circuit 410 and a receiving circuit 420), a beam combining module 50, an IQ demodulation module 60, a processor 20, The human-computer interaction device 70 and the memory 80.

The ultrasound probe 30 includes a transducer (not shown in the figure) composed of a plurality of array elements arranged in an array. The plurality of array elements are arranged in a row to form a linear array, or arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form a surface array. The array elements can also form a convex array. The array element is used to transmit ultrasonic waves according to excitation electrical signals, or to transform received ultrasonic waves into electrical signals. Therefore, each array element can be used to realize the mutual conversion of electrical pulse signals and ultrasonic waves, so as to transmit ultrasonic waves to the object to be imaged (for example, arteries in this embodiment), and can also be used to receive echoes of ultrasonic waves reflected by the tissue. During ultrasonic testing, the transmitting circuit 410 and the receiving circuit 420 can control which array elements are used to transmit ultrasonic waves and which array elements are used to receive ultrasonic waves, or control the array elements to transmit ultrasonic waves or receive ultrasonic echoes in time slots. The array elements participating in the ultrasonic transmission can be excited by electrical signals at the same time, thereby simultaneously emitting ultrasonic waves; or the array elements participating in the ultrasonic transmission can also be excited by several electrical signals with a certain time interval, so as to continuously emit ultrasonic waves with a certain time interval.

The array element, for example, uses piezoelectric crystals to convert electrical signals into ultrasonic signals according to the transmission sequence transmitted by the transmitting circuit 410. According to the application, the ultrasonic signals may include one or more scan pulses, one or more reference pulses, and one or more pushers. Pulse and/or one or more Doppler pulses. According to the wave form, ultrasonic signals include focused waves, plane waves and divergent waves.

The user selects the appropriate position and angle by moving the ultrasonic probe 30 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the object to be imaged 10 and receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves returned by the object to be imaged 10, and output the ultrasonic echo signal. The ultrasonic echo signal is based on the receiving array element. The channel analog electrical signal formed by the channel carries amplitude information, frequency information and time information.

The transmitting circuit 410 is used to generate a transmitting sequence according to the control of the processor 20. The transmitting sequence is used to control some or all of the multiple array elements to transmit ultrasonic waves to the object to be imaged. The parameters of the transmitting sequence include the position of the array element used for transmission and the number of array elements. And ultrasonic beam transmission parameters (such as amplitude, frequency, number of transmissions, transmission interval, transmission angle, wave type, focus position, etc.). In some cases, the transmitting circuit 410 is also used to phase delay the transmitted beams, so that different transmitting array elements emit ultrasonic waves at different times, so that each transmitted ultrasonic beam can be focused on a predetermined region of interest. Different working modes, such as B image mode, C image mode and D image mode (Doppler mode), the transmission sequence parameters may be different. The echo signal is received by the receiving circuit 420 and processed by subsequent modules and corresponding algorithms. Generate a B image that reflects the anatomical structure of the tissue, a C image that reflects blood flow information, and a D image that reflects the Doppler spectrum image.

The receiving circuit 420 is used to receive ultrasonic echo signals from the ultrasonic probe 30 and process the ultrasonic echo signals. The receiving circuit 420 may include one or more amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters (ADC), and the like. The amplifier is used to amplify the received echo signal after proper gain compensation. The amplifier is used to sample the analog echo signal at a predetermined time interval to convert it into a digitized echo signal. The digitized echo signal is still retained There are amplitude information, frequency information and phase information. The data output by the receiving circuit 420 may be output to the beam synthesis module 50 for processing, or output to the memory 80 for storage.

The beam synthesis module 50 is signal-connected with the receiving circuit 420, and is used to perform beam synthesis processing such as corresponding delay and weighted summation on the echo signal. Because the distance between the ultrasonic receiving point in the measured tissue and the receiving array element is different, therefore, The channel data of the same receiving point output by different receiving array elements have delay differences, and delay processing is required to align the phase, and perform weighted summation of the different channel data of the same receiving point to obtain the ultrasound image data after beam synthesis. The ultrasound image data output by the beam synthesis module 50 is also referred to as radio frequency data (RF data). The beam forming module 50 outputs the radio frequency data to the IQ demodulation module 60. In some embodiments, the beam combining module 50 may also output the radio frequency data to the memory 80 for buffering or storage, or directly output the radio frequency data to the processor 20 for image processing.

The beam synthesis module 50 may use hardware, firmware, or software to perform the above functions. For example, the beam synthesis module 50 may include a central controller circuit (CPU) capable of processing input data according to specific logic instructions, one or more micro-processing chips, or Any other electronic components, when the beam combining module 50 is implemented in software, it can execute instructions stored on a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable medium (for example, a memory) to perform beam combining calculations using any appropriate beam combining method . The beam combining module 50 may be integrated in the processor 20, or may be provided separately, which is not limited in the present invention.

The IQ demodulation module 60 removes the signal carrier through IQ demodulation, extracts the organizational structure information contained in the signal, and performs filtering to remove noise. At this time, the acquired signal is called a baseband signal (IQ data pair). The IQ demodulation module 60 outputs the IQ data pair to the processor 20 for image processing.

In some embodiments, the IQ demodulation module 60 also buffers or saves the IQ data output to the memory 80, so that the processor 20 reads the data from the memory 80 for subsequent image processing.

The IQ demodulation module 60 can also implement the above functions in a manner of hardware, firmware or software. In some embodiments, the IQ demodulation module 60 and the beam synthesis module 50 can also be integrated into one chip.

The processor 20 is used to configure a central controller circuit (CPU), one or more microprocessors, a graphics controller circuit (GPU) or any other electronic components capable of processing input data according to specific logic instructions, which can be configured according to the input Commands or predetermined commands perform control of peripheral electronic components, or perform data reading and/or saving to the memory 80, and input data can also be processed by executing a program in the memory 80, for example, collecting data according to one or more working modes. Perform one or more processing operations on the ultrasound data. The processing operations include, but are not limited to, adjusting or limiting the form of ultrasound emitted by the ultrasound probe 30, generating various image frames for subsequent display on the display of the human-computer interaction device 70, or adjusting or Define the content and form displayed on the display, or adjust one or more image display settings displayed on the display (such as ultrasound images, interface components, locating regions of interest).

When the echo signal is received, the collected ultrasound data can be processed by the processor 20 in real time during scanning, or can be temporarily stored in the memory 80, and processed in a quasi real-time manner in online or offline operation.

In this embodiment, the processor 20 controls the operation of the transmitting circuit 410 and the receiving circuit 420, for example, controlling the transmitting circuit 410 and the receiving circuit 420 to work alternately or simultaneously. The processor 20 can also determine a suitable working mode according to the user's selection or the setting of the program, form a transmission sequence corresponding to the current working mode, and send the transmission sequence to the transmission circuit 410 so that the transmission circuit 410 adopts a suitable transmission sequence control The ultrasonic probe 30 emits ultrasonic waves.

The processor 20 is also used to process the ultrasound data to generate a grayscale image of signal strength changes within the scanning range, and the grayscale image reflects the internal anatomical structure of the tissue, which is called a B image. The processor 20 may output the B image to the display of the human-computer interaction device 70 for display.

The human-computer interaction device 70 is used for human-computer interaction, that is, receiving user input and outputting visual information; it can receive user input by using a keyboard, operating buttons, mouse, trackball, etc., or a touch integrated with a display. Control screen; its output visual information can use a display.

Based on the ultrasound imaging device shown in Figure 2, the basic process of pulse wave imaging is shown in steps 1, 3, and 4 in Figure 3: Acquire multi-frame ultrasound data, where the ultrasound data is based on the blood vessel of the target object as the detection object. The obtained ultrasonic echo signal is the data after beam synthesis; according to the ultrasonic data, the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel is obtained; the hardness of the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel is obtained The representation quantity is visually expressed to generate and display the pulse wave propagation state graph. In this way, the doctor can intuitively observe the propagation of the pulse wave along the blood vessel wall through the pulse wave propagation state diagram.

When acquiring multiple frames of ultrasound data, you can acquire ultrasound data for a certain period of time. The certain period of time can be greater than or equal to one cardiac cycle, can be a predetermined time period set by default by the system, or a predetermined period that can be freely adjusted and set by the user period. When acquiring ultrasound data for a certain period of time, the ultrasound data may be continuously acquired for a certain period of time, or it may be acquired in sections and the accumulated duration is a certain period of time. For example, in the case of real-time acquisition and acquisition of the pulse wave propagation state diagram, the ultrasonic imaging device acquires the ultrasonic data in real time according to the echo signal obtained by the ultrasonic probe, and the real-time acquisition time is the certain period of time. For example, when the pulse wave propagation state diagram is collected and obtained in real time, the ultrasound imaging device can obtain ultrasound data in real time according to the echo signal obtained by the ultrasound probe within a predetermined period of time. For example, when the pulse wave propagation state diagram is collected and obtained in real time, the ultrasound imaging device may obtain ultrasound data for a predetermined period of time from the ultrasound data collected in real time.

Of course, the present invention is not satisfied with this. A more detailed embodiment is provided below. As shown in FIG. 4, the pulse wave imaging method of the ultrasound imaging device includes the following steps:

Step 1', the processor 20 acquires ultrasound data for a predetermined period of time, where the ultrasound data is data obtained by beam synthesis of ultrasound echo signals obtained from the blood vessel of the target object as the detection object. Specifically, the processor 20 controls the ultrasonic probe 30 through the transmitting/receiving circuit 40, so that the ultrasonic probe 30 excites the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target object within the scanning time, and receives echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain echo signals. For example, the ultrasonic probe 30 transmits ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate under scanning control, and receives echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals. The ideal scanning frame rate should be 1000Hz or more than 1000Hz. When the frame rate is lower than this frame rate, the upper limit of pulse wave propagation speed that can be detected by pulse wave imaging will be limited, and the accuracy may be affected at the same time. The scanning time is not less than one cardiac cycle (approximately 0.6 second to 1 second), so that the processor 20 can obtain ultrasound data of at least one cardiac cycle. Less than one cardiac cycle cannot guarantee the acquisition of the detected pulse wave. The usual scanning time lasts for multiple cardiac cycles to facilitate subsequent observation by the sonographer; the usual target object is the neck or abdomen, and the blood vessel of the target object is the carotid artery or abdominal aorta.

After that, the processor 20 performs at least beam synthesis processing on the ultrasound echo signal to obtain ultrasound data of the blood vessel of the target object for a predetermined period of time. The signal processing of the ultrasonic echo signal in the ultrasonic imaging process may include signal processing links such as analog signal gain compensation, beam synthesis, IQ demodulation, digital signal gain compensation, and amplitude calculation. Specifically, the echo signal is subjected to front-end filtering and amplification (that is, gain compensation) through an analog circuit, and then converted into a digital signal by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and the channel data after the analog-to-digital conversion is further subjected to beam synthesis processing to form a scan line data. The data obtained after the completion of this stage, that is, the ultrasonic echo signal output by the beam synthesis module 50, may be referred to as radio frequency signal data, that is, RF data. After the RF data is acquired, the signal carrier is removed by IQ demodulation, the organizational structure information contained in the signal is extracted, and filtering is performed to remove noise. At this time, the acquired signal is the baseband signal (IQ data). Finally, obtain the intensity of the baseband signal and pass its gray level through logarithmic compression and gray conversion to obtain an ultrasound image.

The ultrasonic data of the present invention is the data after beam synthesis processing is performed on the ultrasonic echo signal, that is, the ultrasonic data may be the data generated in any link after the beam synthesis link in the above-mentioned signal processing link. For example, the ultrasonic data may be data after beam synthesis, such as the ultrasonic echo signal output by the beam synthesis module 50, or data after IQ demodulation, such as the ultrasonic echo signal output by the IQ demodulation module 60, also It can be based on the data after beam synthesis or the ultrasound image data obtained by further processing the data after IQ demodulation.

The ultrasound data obtained by real-time scanning is sent to the memory 80 for storage, and the processor 20 can directly obtain the ultrasound data from the memory 80 for subsequent pulse wave propagation state processing.

Further, in order to increase the scanning frame rate of the ultrasound probe 30 in the above steps, any one of the following methods can be used.

Manner 1: The ultrasound probe 30 transmits non-focused ultrasound to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and the scanning area of the non-focused ultrasound transmitted once covers the designated examination area of the blood vessel (target area a in the figure). Non-focused ultrasound includes planar ultrasound or divergent ultrasound. Taking plane ultrasound as an example, the ultrasound probe 30 adopts a plane wave mode for scanning. As shown in Fig. 5a, the arrow indicates ultrasound echo. The ultrasound probe 30 transmits a plane wave covering the entire target area a (that is, the blood vessel area of the target object) and receives the echo. data. As shown in FIG. 5b, the beam synthesis module 50 performs beam synthesis to reconstruct the image b of the entire target area. In the first mode, at the cost of reducing the image quality, one transmission and reception can complete a scan of the entire area, thereby increasing the scanning frame rate.

Method 2: As shown in Figure 6a, the ultrasound probe 30 uses the traditional focused wave mode to transmit focused ultrasound waves with a preset number of shots in the focused imaging mode to the target object. For example, intensively emit focused waves (100~200 beams) to cover the entire designated inspection area ( The illustrated target area b) and receive the echo signal. Then the entire target area is reconstructed by beam synthesis, as shown in Figure 6b. This traditional focused wave mode can perform imaging with high image quality, but the scan frame rate is lower than that of mode one due to the number of scans of intensively emitted focused waves.

The present invention further improves this traditional focused wave method to increase the scanning frame rate. The ultrasound probe 30 of the present invention transmits multiple focused ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and the number of times the multiple focused ultrasound waves are emitted is less than The preset number of shots for focused imaging, and the scanning area of multiple focused ultrasounds covers the designated examination area of the blood vessel. For details, see Mode 3 and Mode 4 below.

Method 3: The ultrasound probe 30 uses the sparse focused wave mode to scan. As shown in Figure 7a, the arrow indicates the ultrasound echo. The ultrasound probe 30 performs focused imaging based on the focused wave scan mode. By reducing the emission density, the number of emission is reduced (for example, 10 ~20 times), thereby increasing the scanning frame rate. Since the echo data mainly comes from the area covered by the focused wave, beam synthesis only reconstructs the image information in this area. In Fig. 7b, there are only two focused beams in the target area a, so only the area covered by the two focused beams is reconstructed in the target area a after beam synthesis.

Manner 4: The ultrasound probe 30 scans in a wide-focus wave mode, and transmits at least one wide-focus ultrasound to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and the scanning area of the at least one wide-focus ultrasound covers the designated examination area of the blood vessel. As shown in FIG. 8a, the arrow indicates the ultrasonic echo. The ultrasonic probe 30 performs focused imaging based on the focused wave scanning mode, transmits a wide focused wave to cover the entire target area a and receives the echo signal, and improves the scanning frame rate by reducing the number of transmissions. Beam synthesis reconstructs the entire target area a to obtain the image b.

Step 2', the processor 20 generates an ultrasound image containing blood vessels according to the ultrasound data. The orientation of the blood vessel in the ultrasound image is the axial arrangement, that is, the doctor can see the blood vessels arranged in "one" or "I" type. For example, as shown in FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b, the processor 20 reconstructs the image b of the target area a from the echo signals of each target location point with multiple composite lines, that is, an ultrasound image frame is obtained. Since the time corresponding to the ultrasound data exceeds one cardiac cycle, the ultrasound image generated by the processor 20 according to the ultrasound data may be an ultrasound image video or an ultrasound image frame in the ultrasound image video. In addition, the ultrasound images can be three-dimensional or two-dimensional, such as ultrasound B images, ultrasound C images, and so on. The ultrasound image generated by the processor 20 is a three-dimensional ultrasound image, and it can be an image (non-sectional view) in which the length of the blood vessel can be seen, or it can include the axial section structure of the vessel wall (axial section view), both of which can reflect the blood vessel.的axial. The ultrasound image generated by the processor 20 is a two-dimensional ultrasound image, and it contains an axially sectioned structure of the blood vessel wall, as shown in FIG. 9. This embodiment uses a two-dimensional ultrasound B image as an example for description, but combined with two-dimensional ultrasound B The pulse wave propagation state diagram described by the image can also be applied to three-dimensional ultrasound B images, two-dimensional or three-dimensional ultrasound C images, and so on.

In step 3', the processor 20 obtains, according to the ultrasound data, the characteristic quantity of the hardness of the blood vessel wall reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The characterization quantity of blood vessel wall stiffness can be the propagation velocity of pulse wave on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel (PWV), or the pulsation parameters of the blood vessel wall pulsating along the radial direction of the blood vessel (radial displacement, radial movement velocity, etc.) . In this embodiment, the propagation speed is taken as an example for description. Pulse wave propagation velocity (PWV) refers to the propagation velocity of pulse waves between two established points in the arterial system, including the beginning of the systolic period (BS) of the anterior artery wall and the end of the systolic period (ES). . Only one of BS and ES can be calculated and displayed, or both can be calculated and displayed. Figure 13 shows the change of tube diameter in two cardiac cycles. There are two peaks in one cardiac cycle. The highest peak is formed at the beginning of the systolic period of the anterior artery wall, and the lower peak is formed at the end of the systolic period.

Among them, as shown in Figure 10, step 3'specifically includes:

Step 31: The processor 20 detects the pulsation parameters at different time points of the detection points arranged on the blood vessel wall along the blood vessel axis in the ultrasound image according to the ultrasound data of the predetermined time period. The pulsation parameter is a parameter that reflects the pulsation of the blood vessel wall of the blood vessel in the radial direction. Affected by the heartbeat, the blood vessel wall mainly pulsates along the radial direction of the blood vessel, so the pulsation parameter in the present invention refers to the radial direction. The pulsation parameters include: at least one of the displacement of the unilateral blood vessel wall, the radial movement speed of the unilateral blood vessel wall, the radial movement acceleration of the unilateral blood vessel wall, the change of blood vessel diameter, the change speed of blood vessel diameter, or the acceleration of change of blood vessel diameter. One. If the user does not circle the ROI (region of interest) through the human-computer interaction device, the processor 20 calculates the pulsation parameters of the blood vessel wall in the entire target area (acoustic window); if the user circles the ROI, the processor 20 only calculates the ROI The pulsation parameters within.

Further, the processor 20 detecting the pulsation parameters at different time points of the detection points arranged on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel in the ultrasound image according to the ultrasound data of the predetermined time period includes: detecting the pulsation parameters according to one frame of image data in the ultrasound data. The position of the blood vessel wall in the image frame; according to the position of the blood vessel wall in different frames, calculate the radial displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel at different time points; according to the radial displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall The displacement obtains the pulsation parameters of each detection point at different time points. Each detection point can be evenly arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel wall, which is equivalent to sampling points to save computation. In some examples, the spacing between the detection points may also be unequal, that is, the detection points are arranged non-uniformly. Specifically, based on the ultrasound data, the processor 20 first extracts the spatial position information (for example, coordinates) of the blood vessel wall from a frame of beam synthesis data obtained in the beam synthesis data link, or the ultrasound image obtained from the image synthesis link Extract the spatial position information of the blood vessel wall. Because the acoustic properties of the vessel wall are significantly different from the blood in the lumen and the surrounding soft tissues, the image appears as two high-bright elongated structures close to the echoless area of the lumen, as shown in Figure 9. . By setting an appropriate threshold in the Y-axis direction (the radial direction of the blood vessel) to filter the signal, the specific position of the tube wall can be obtained. The processor 20 takes each detection point on the tube wall as the center point (point M in the left picture of FIG. 11), and takes a fixed-size section in the Y-axis direction of the first frame of beam synthesis data or the first frame of ultrasound image One-dimensional data (the solid line segment passing through the M point in the left picture of Fig. 11) is used as the characteristic information of the pipe wall at the current position. In the second frame of beam synthesis data or the second frame of ultrasound image with the same position as the center point (point M in the right picture of Fig. 11), search in the one-dimensional search area on the Y-axis direction (the solid line segment in the right picture of Fig. 11) The data segment that best matches the feature information (the dotted line segment in the right image of Figure 11), and the center point of the data segment (point N in the right image of Figure 11) is used as the new blood vessel wall position at the current horizontal position of the frame . The position change of each detection point between two frames is the radial change of the blood vessel wall in the corresponding time period. This is repeated until the radial change of the blood vessel wall between every two adjacent frames or between several frames in the entire predetermined time period is calculated. The change results are accumulated to obtain the displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall at different time points within a predetermined time period. The pulsation parameters are radial displacement, radial velocity, radial acceleration, change of blood vessel diameter, change speed of blood vessel diameter, or change acceleration of blood vessel diameter. The radial displacement of the front wall detection point is subtracted from the corresponding rear wall detection point radial displacement to obtain the change in blood vessel diameter corresponding to the front wall detection point or the back wall detection point (Figure 13). The first and second derivatives of the radial displacement and the change of blood vessel diameter are obtained in the time dimension, and then the radial velocity, radial acceleration, and the change speed and acceleration of the blood vessel diameter can be obtained. Synthesize the pulsation parameters of each detection point on the blood vessel wall at different time points to obtain the displacement of the unilateral blood vessel wall at different time points, the radial velocity of the unilateral blood vessel wall, the radial acceleration of the unilateral blood vessel wall, and the diameter of the blood vessel. The amount of change, the rate of change of blood vessel diameter, or the acceleration of change of blood vessel diameter. If the user does not circle the ROI (region of interest), the processor 20 calculates the pulsation parameters of the blood vessel wall in the entire target area; if the user circles the ROI, the processor 20 only calculates the pulsation parameters in the ROI. When calculating the pulsation parameters of the blood vessel wall, after determining the center point, two-dimensional data of a fixed size can also be taken from the first frame of beam synthesis data or the first frame of ultrasound image, and the second frame of beam synthesis data or the second frame of ultrasound Taking the same position as the center point on the image, the two-dimensional image block is calculated to find the data block with the most matching feature information in the two-dimensional search area through template matching, etc., and the center point position of the data block is used as the current horizontal position of the frame Position the new blood vessel wall.

The processor 20 is also used to obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction on the blood vessel wall according to the pulsation parameters of each detection point. See step 32 and step 33 for the specific process.

Step 32: The processor 20 detects the first time when the pulsation parameter of each detection point reaches a first predetermined threshold.

Specifically, as shown in Figure 12, the points in the figure are the detection points, the abscissa is the position of the detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel wall, and the ordinate is the first time corresponding to the detection point. The first predetermined threshold can be based on the user It needs to be set. For example, for the pulse wave in the early stage of contraction, the pulsation parameter can be selected as the radial displacement, and the first predetermined threshold can be the minimum value of the empirical value of the maximum radial displacement (corresponding to the wave crest), or the maximum diameter. 50% or more of the displacement experience value, etc. For the pulse wave in the late systole, detect the first time when the pulsation parameter of each detection point is in the first predetermined threshold interval and is the maximum value. By setting the maximum value of the first predetermined threshold interval, the peak in the early systole can be eliminated, and Setting the minimum value of the first predetermined threshold interval can cover the maximum value of the late contraction (lower peak in the cardiac cycle). Through the judgment of the maximum value (conventional mathematical method), the pulse wave reflecting the late contraction can be obtained. The first time when the wave crest comes. In this embodiment, the pulse wave in the early stage of contraction is taken as an example for description.

The user takes the minimum value of the empirical value of the pulsation parameter of interest as the first predetermined threshold, and can conveniently observe the pulsation parameter of interest. In other words, the pulsation parameters of each detection point can be connected in series to reflect the propagation process of the pulse wave. Usually, the user is interested in the propagation process of the wave crest, which is described in this embodiment.

Step 33: The processor 20 obtains the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point. Specifically, according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point, the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the partial or entire segment of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image is obtained; according to the two adjacent detection points The position on the axis of the blood vessel and the difference between the two adjacent detection points corresponding to the first time obtains the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point. The two adjacent detection points here are not limited to the two adjacent detection points in the spatial position relationship, and can also refer to two detection points on the inner boundary of the blood vessel corresponding to an acoustic window. For example, the processor 20 selects at least two detection points and extracts the first time of the detection point; the propagation velocity of the pulse wave can be obtained according to the axial distance between the detection points and the difference between the first time. In order to improve the accuracy, the selected detection points are multiple, and the more within the processing capacity, the better, and the corresponding relationship between the time and space of each detection point is obtained. As shown in Figure 12, a linear fitting is performed on each point to obtain a slope Line, the slope of the oblique line is the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave in the current cardiac cycle. Of course, it is also possible to obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point based on the position of the two adjacent detection points in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the difference between the two adjacent detection points corresponding to the first time, so that the user can obtain the different positions on the blood vessel wall. The difference in hardness.

Since the position of each detection point and the corresponding first time are known, the pulse wave propagation velocity at the beginning of the systolic period (BS) and the end of the systolic period (ES) of the anterior arterial wall, and the propagation velocity of any detection point on the blood vessel wall , The average propagation speed of any segment can be calculated by the above method.

On the basis of the foregoing method of calculating the propagation velocity, the method of calculating the propagation velocity is optimized in an optional embodiment. Specifically, the processor 20 detects the time point when the pulsation parameter of a specified detection point reaches a predetermined specific value, and This time point is the starting point to extend the preset time forward and/or backward respectively to obtain the effective time period; obtain the pulsation parameters of each detection point at different time points in the effective time period; detect the pulsation in the effective time period of each detection point The first time when the parameter reaches the first predetermined threshold; the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image is obtained according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the corresponding first time of each detection point. The designated detection point may be a detection point at the position of the wave crest to facilitate identification and selection of the designated detection point. The preset time can be set according to the actual situation, and the effective time period only needs to be not shorter than the time required for the pulse wave to pass through each detection point. The effective time period is set to reduce the amount of calculation of the processor 20. This is because the scanning range of the ultrasound probe is small (0.03 meters to 0.05 meters), the pulse wave propagation time (0.003 seconds to 0.02 seconds) in a cardiac cycle (0.6 seconds to 1 second), and the time for the pulse wave to pass through each detection point It is very short (0.003 seconds to 0.02 seconds), and then there will be a relatively long time (0.597 seconds to 0.98 seconds). The pulsation parameters of each detection point change very little. If the data with small changes in the pulsation parameters are also calculated, it will be no use. The calculation amount is increased, so by limiting the effective time period, the calculation amount of the processor 20 for calculating the propagation speed can be saved.

In some examples, in addition to performing B imaging (two-dimensional or three-dimensional tissue grayscale imaging) on the blood vessel of the target object, the ultrasound imaging device can also perform M imaging and Doppler imaging on the blood vessel of the target image, such as Doppler imaging. Can include tissue Doppler imaging (Tissue doppler imaging, TDI) and tissue velocity imaging (Tissue velocity imaging) imaging, TVI). In each ultrasound imaging mode, the propagation velocity of the pulse wave can be obtained according to the following steps.

Ultrasound imaging equipment can obtain ultrasound data in the form of M data when performing M imaging. The M data includes grayscale data on multiple scan lines arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and each detection point is a point on the blood vessel wall on each scan line. When the pulse wave propagates through a certain detection point, the blood vessel wall at the detection point will have a certain displacement change in the depth direction (that is, the radial direction of the blood vessel) due to the action of the pulse wave. Correspondingly, the M data can reflect the radial displacement. Variety. The processor 20 can obtain the time-varying gray value of the detection point on the blood vessel wall on the scan line according to the M data of each scan line, and calculate the time-dependent gray value of the detection point on the blood vessel wall according to the gray value. Varying radial displacement.

Subsequently, the processor 20 may detect the first time when the radial displacement of each detection point reaches the second predetermined threshold. The second predetermined threshold can be set according to user requirements. For example, the second predetermined threshold may be the minimum value among the empirical values of the maximum radial displacement, or may be 50% or more of the empirical value of the maximum radial displacement. After detecting the first time of each detection point, the processor 20 can obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point. The position of each detection point on the blood vessel wall is known, and after the time difference between each detection point is determined, the propagation velocity of the pulse wave can be obtained.

When the ultrasound imaging device performs B imaging, it can obtain ultrasound data in the form of M data based on ultrasound data in the form of B data (tissue grayscale), and then the processor 20 can calculate the propagation velocity of the pulse wave based on the above-mentioned method in the M imaging mode.

Ultrasound imaging equipment can obtain ultrasound data with Doppler information when performing TVI imaging or TDI imaging. The processor 20 can analyze the Doppler information of the ultrasound data, and calculate the velocity information at different time points of the detection points arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall. For example, when performing TVI imaging, the velocity variance energy can be solved on the ultrasound data with Doppler information, so as to obtain the velocity information of each detection point over time. For example, when performing TDI imaging, a spectrum image of each detection point on the blood vessel wall can be obtained. The spectrum image records the frequency information of each detection point over time. A simple conversion based on the frequency information can obtain the detection point at different time points. Speed information.

The processor 20 can then detect the first time when the speed information of each detection point reaches the third predetermined threshold. The third predetermined threshold can be set according to user requirements. For example, the third predetermined threshold may be 50% or more of the detected maximum speed information, etc. After detecting the first time of each detection point, the processor 20 can obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point. The position of each detection point on the blood vessel wall is known, and after the time difference between each detection point is determined, the propagation velocity of the pulse wave can be obtained.

Step 4', the processor 20 visually expresses the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state graph through the human-computer interaction device 70. For example, at a position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, a preset image element is used to visually express the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point. The pulse wave propagation state diagram can be static or dynamic. Taking dynamic as an example, the processor 20 uses a graphical visualization along the axis of the blood vessel on the display interface of the human-computer interaction device, in the order of propagation time. Dynamic display of pulse wave propagation speed, for example, at the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, when the first time corresponding to each detection point arrives, the pulse wave propagation speed corresponding to each detection point is used by preset image elements Visual expression is implemented to realize the periodic update of the pulse wave propagation velocity at each detection point. The image elements can be one or a combination of color, pattern, texture, and pattern density. The pulse wave propagation state diagram shows the propagation speed, because the doctor may be interested in the propagation speed on the entire vessel wall, or the propagation speed on a certain section of the vessel wall, or the position corresponding to each detection point Therefore, there are many ways to visually express the vascular wall hardness characterization in the pulse wave propagation state diagram, which will be specifically exemplified below.

Before exemplifying a variety of visual expressions, let me explain the way that the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the ultrasound image are displayed together on the display interface. In order to combine the pulse wave propagation state diagram with the actual ultrasound image, there are specifically two types of adjacent display and superimposed display. The pulse wave propagation state diagram A1 is displayed near the ultrasound image C through the processor 20, as shown in FIG. 14, which is an adjacent display. In this way, when the blood vessel is in a horizontal direction, the pulse wave propagation state diagram A1 and the ultrasound image C shares the abscissa, that is, the two graphs are set up and down, as shown in Figure 14; when the blood vessel is in the vertical direction, the pulse wave propagation state graph and the ultrasound image share the ordinate, that is, the two graphs are set up and down correspondingly. Of course, the processor 20 can also superimpose and display the axial section structure of the blood vessel in the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 and the ultrasound image C according to preset weights, as shown in FIG. 15, which is a superimposed display, and the pulse wave propagation The state diagram A2 and the ultrasound image C share the coordinate system after being superimposed. Further, the processor 20 is also used to detect the user's modification of the weight through the human-computer interaction device 70; update the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2-A8 and the superposition of the axial section structure of the blood vessel in the ultrasound image C according to the modified weight display. When the weight of one of the pictures is 0, only the other picture is displayed. If the two weights are not 0, it can reflect the structure of the blood vessel wall and intuitively reflect the propagation speed. By setting the weight, the doctor can adjust the display effect to highlight the blood vessel. The structure of the wall or the speed of propagation. The ultrasound image C generated from ultrasound data displayed on the display interface may be an ultrasound image frame or an ultrasound video. In this embodiment, the ultrasound image is an ultrasound video and superimposed display is taken as an example for description.

Of course, regardless of adjacent display or superimposed display, the processor 20 also displays the value bar for indicating the corresponding relationship between the size of the characterization quantity of blood vessel wall hardness and the color, texture, pattern or pattern density through the display interface of the human-computer interaction device. B.

In an example, the vascular wall hardness characterization quantity is visually expressed in the manner shown in FIG. 14. In this example, the vascular wall hardness characterization quantity is the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the entire blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image. The average propagation speed, for example, the average of the propagation speeds of all detection points. The processor 20 uses preset image elements to visually express the average propagation velocity along the axial direction of the blood vessel at a position corresponding to the entire section of the blood vessel wall, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state graph A1 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. Take the density of the image element as the pattern as an example. In the pulse wave propagation state diagram A1 shown in Figure 14, the oblique line (pattern) covers the entire blood vessel wall and must be covered in the axial direction of the blood vessel, and there is a certain amount in the radial direction. The length is sufficient, and it does not necessarily cover the entire width in the radial direction as shown in FIG. 14. The doctor can know the approximate range of the average propagation velocity at a glance based on the density of the diagonal line, and can get a more accurate average propagation velocity by comparing the measurement bar B. For the convenience of the doctor, the specific value of the average propagation velocity and the current time relative to the entire time of the ultrasound data are also displayed on the display interface. Of course, it is more intuitive to use different colors to indicate different average propagation speeds. For example, a colored area covers the entire blood vessel wall. The redder the color, the faster the speed, and the bluer the color, the slower the speed. The slash area is replaced with the corresponding color. Of course, the average propagation velocity can be the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave in a cardiac cycle, or the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave in each cardiac cycle. No matter what, the pulse wave propagation velocity does not change between cycles. Therefore, even if the pulse wave propagation state diagram A1 shown in Fig. 14 is updated with the cardiac cycle, the change is not large, and it is basically static.

In another example, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasound image. The blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasound image includes the pulse wave currently propagating in the ultrasound image. A section of the blood vessel wall. As shown in FIG. 15, the processor 20 uses preset image elements to visually express the average propagation velocity at a position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and generates and displays the pulses distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The wave propagation state is shown in Figure A2. For example, the processor 20 obtains the average propagation velocity of the blood vessel wall section through which the pulse wave has passed when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image to each detection point; the pulse wave has passed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The corresponding position of the blood vessel wall segment of the, uses the color, pattern or the density of the pattern to represent the average propagation speed, and generates and displays the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The display is updated according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point The pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 (that is, dynamic display). Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 presents the average propagation velocity of a section of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave is currently propagating in the ultrasound image, the average propagation velocity shown in the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 is a dynamic change over time of. As shown in Figure 15, when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall for 0.03 s (seconds), the average propagation velocity in this time period is calculated once, and the average propagation velocity is measured from the proximal end of the blood vessel (the beginning end of the ultrasound image) to The current propagation position is displayed with preset image elements. Image elements such as pattern density are shown in the diagonal area of the left image in Figure 15. When the pulse wave continues to propagate on the blood vessel to 0.033s, calculate the average within 0.033s again The propagation speed is also displayed as a preset image element within the range from the proximal end of the blood vessel to the current propagation position, as shown in the diagonal area in the right figure of Figure 15. By analogy, the length of the axial coverage of the oblique area is determined by the current propagation range, and the density of the oblique area is determined by the average propagation speed of the current propagation area, and the density of the oblique line changes as the propagation progresses, and the oblique area is along the blood vessel. The axial direction becomes longer. Similarly, different colors can also be used to indicate different average propagation speeds. For example, a colored area covers the entire blood vessel wall. The redder the color, the faster the speed, and the bluer the color, the slower the speed. The slash area is replaced with the corresponding color.

Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 is dynamically changing, the superimposed result of the pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 and the ultrasound image C is equivalent to the dynamic playback of the pulse wave in a chronological order in the form of a movie, that is, the pulse wave propagation in real time. The propagation of pulse waves is reflected in: pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 or pulse wave propagation state. The image element area of diagram A2 advances from the proximal end to the distal end along the vascular axis according to the pulse wave propagation time, as shown in Figure 15. As shown, the pulse wave propagates in the horizontal direction according to the time of pulse wave propagation. The left picture of Figure 15 shows the pulse wave propagation state at a moment in time. Picture A2 and the superimposed display of the ultrasound video. After a period of time, the superimposed picture is the right picture, showing The process of pulse wave propagation from the left side to the right side of the figure. The pulse wave propagation state diagram A2 is dynamic when displayed on the display interface of the human-computer interaction device (image elements change with time), and can also be called pulse wave propagation state video or pulse wave propagation state animation.

In another example, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasound image. The blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasound image includes the pulse wave currently propagating in the ultrasound image. A section of the blood vessel wall. As shown in FIG. 16, the processor 20 uses preset image elements to visually express the average propagation velocity of the target segment of the blood vessel wall at a position corresponding to the entire segment of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and the pulse wave propagates The whole section of the blood vessel wall of the state diagram A3 indicates the corresponding position of the target section of the blood vessel wall (as shown by the triangular arrow in the figure, so that the doctor can know the position of the wave peak). In other words, the processor 20 obtains the average propagation velocity of the blood vessel wall segment that the pulse wave passes through when the pulse wave propagates along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; The position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image uses the color, pattern, or pattern density to represent the average propagation velocity, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, which is displayed according to the pulse wave propagation to The time of the detection point updates the pulse wave propagation state graph. That is to say, it is the same as the average propagation speed shown in Fig. 15, but the way of presentation is different. Fig. 15 only displays the image elements in the target segment of the blood vessel, while Fig. 16 displays the image elements in the whole segment of the blood vessel. For example, when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall for 0.03s, calculate the average propagation speed of the pulse wave in the blood vessel wall segment that has passed through in this period of time, and use the average propagation speed to preset the image at the corresponding position of the whole blood vessel wall. The elements are displayed, as shown in the oblique area in Figure 16; when the pulse wave continues to propagate on the blood vessel to 0.033s, calculate the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave in the blood vessel wall segment that has passed through in 0.033s, and update the image elements.

In another example, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point. As shown in FIG. 17, the processor 20 uses preset image elements to visually express the propagation speed of each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel at a position corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasound image, and generates and displays The pulse wave propagation state in the axial direction is shown in Figure A4. For example, if the total propagation time of the pulse wave on the blood vessel in the acoustic window (field of view) is 0.04s, the propagation speed of each detection point when the pulse wave propagates on the segment of the blood vessel is calculated by processing, and the image elements such as color mapping are preset The method displays the propagation speed of each detection point, so which detection point position has a slow propagation speed, and which detection point position has a fast propagation speed at a glance. Since the detection point is similar to the sampling point, it is impossible to calculate the propagation velocity for all points in the axial direction of the vessel wall from the calculation amount. Therefore, the image element represents the propagation velocity of the detection point, showing a small area, as shown in Figure 17. Instead of narrowly defined points, it is more intuitive to present the propagation speed with image elements. Since the propagation velocity of the detection point does not vary greatly between the various cardiac cycles, the color display range and color in the pulse wave propagation state diagram A4 basically do not change dynamically with the cardiac cycle. Similar to the first type, the pulse wave propagation state belonging to "static" is shown in Figure A4. The dynamic display of the propagation speed is more intuitive, and the present invention focuses on the dynamic display. Of course, the processor 20 is also used to determine the standard deviation of the propagation speed of each detection point; and to display the standard deviation synchronously when displaying the pulse wave propagation state diagram A4, so that the doctor can more intuitively see the uniformity of the pulse wave propagation speed.

In another example, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point. As shown in FIG. 18, the processor 20 is located at a position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel. When the pulse wave propagates to each detection point (such as the first time), the The corresponding pulse wave propagation velocity is visually expressed. For example, the processor 20 obtains the propagation velocity of each detection point of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, the position corresponding to each detection point of the blood vessel wall section where the pulse wave has passed, adopts color, pattern or pattern The density of represents the propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point. A pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel is generated and displayed. When displayed, the pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 is updated according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point (also It is dynamic display). Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 shows the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point, as the propagation progresses, the pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 or pulse wave The area of the image element in the propagation state diagram A5 changes dynamically. As shown in the left figure of Figure 18, when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall for 0.03s, the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the current pulse wave propagates is calculated once, and the propagation velocity is displayed as a preset image element at the position corresponding to the detection point Come out, the image elements at the corresponding positions of the detection points that the pulse wave has passed are retained. As shown in the slanted area on the left of Figure 18; when the pulse wave continues to propagate on the blood vessel to 0.033s, the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the current pulse wave is propagated is calculated again, and the propagation velocity is predicted at the position corresponding to the detection point. Assuming that the image elements are displayed, the image elements corresponding to the detection points where the pulse wave has passed continue to remain, as shown in the diagonal area in the right figure of Figure 18. By analogy, the length of the entire oblique area is determined by the current propagation range, and the oblique density of the corresponding position of the detection point is determined by the propagation speed of the detection point, and as the propagation progresses, the entire oblique area becomes longer along the axial direction of the blood vessel. Similarly, different colors can also be used to indicate different propagation speeds, which is actually equivalent to replacing the diagonal lines in Figure 18 with corresponding colors.

Since the pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 is dynamically changing, the superimposed result of the pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 and the ultrasound image C is equivalent to a movie in the form of a dynamic playback in chronological order, that is, real-time pulse wave propagation. The propagation of pulse waves is reflected in: pulse wave propagation state diagram A5 or pulse wave propagation state. The image element area of diagram A5 advances from the proximal end to the distal end along the vascular axis according to the pulse wave propagation time, as shown in Figure 18. As shown, it advances in the horizontal direction according to the propagation time of the pulse wave. This intuitively reflects the propagation process of the pulse wave, and the difference in the propagation speed of each detection point can also be observed.

In another example, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point. As shown in FIG. 19, the processor 20 uses preset image elements to visually express the propagation speed of each detection point at a position corresponding to each detection point of the target segment of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel. Among them, the target segment of blood vessel wall includes a segment of blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave is currently propagated in the ultrasound image. For example, the processor 20 obtains the propagation speed of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image (the speed at which the pulse wave passes through the detection point is the instantaneous speed or the average speed of the detection point corresponding to a small section of the blood vessel wall); The direction of the pulse wave passes through the position corresponding to the current detection point, and the color, pattern or pattern density is used to indicate the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point, and the pulse wave propagation state diagram A6 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel is generated and displayed. The pulse wave propagation state diagram A6 is updated when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point. Compared with FIG. 18, this solution actually does not retain the image elements other than the blood vessel wall of the target segment, and the others are the same, so it will not be repeated. Of course, the target segment of the blood vessel wall can also be a segment of the blood vessel wall that extends a preset length from the detection point where the pulse wave is currently propagated and the pulse wave has passed through. That is to say, on the basis of Figure 19, adjust the image element area as needed. The length of extension in the axial direction of the blood vessel.

In another example, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point. As shown in FIG. 20, the processor 20 uses preset image elements to visually express the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel. Pulse Wave Propagation State Figure A7 indicates the position to which the pulse wave currently propagates on the entire blood vessel wall. For example, the processor 20 obtains the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at the position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image, the density of the color, pattern or pattern is adopted. Represents the propagation velocity corresponding to the current detection point, generates and displays the pulse wave propagation state diagram A7 distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updates the pulse wave propagation state diagram A7 according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point. Compared with the scheme in Fig. 19, this scheme presents the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point or the propagation speed of a small section of blood vessel corresponding to the current detection point. The difference is that the image element area in this method covers the entire blood vessel wall. And the mark (triangular arrow in the figure) indicates the current propagation position of the pulse wave. The others are the same, so I won’t repeat it.

In another example, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point. The processor 20 uses preset image elements to visually express the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated at a position corresponding to the target segment of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The target segment of the ultrasound image includes A section of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave is currently propagating in the ultrasound image. For example, the processor 20 obtains the propagation velocity of each detection point of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, the position corresponding to each detection point of the blood vessel wall section through which the pulse wave passes, adopts colors, patterns or patterns. The density of represents the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point. Generate and display the pulse wave propagation state diagram A distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The pulse wave propagation state diagram A is updated according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point. The display effect of this method is similar to that shown in Fig. 15. The difference is that the position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment in Fig. 15 is represented by image elements as the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall of the target segment. The position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment is represented by the image element as the propagation speed of the current detection point. Of course, the target segment of blood vessel wall can also be a segment of blood vessel wall that extends a preset length from the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated and the pulse wave has passed through. That is to say, on the basis of Figure 20, adjust the image elements as needed. The extent of the region in the axial direction of the blood vessel.

In the visual display mode exemplified above, the processor 20 also obtains the second time when the detection points on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel in the ultrasound image reach the peak position according to the ultrasound data, on the pulse wave propagation state graph Use icons (such as the triangular arrows in Figures 15, 16, 18-20) to mark the detection point where the current wave crest is located to remind the doctor where the current pulse wave has spread, which is very intuitive. If the first predetermined threshold is used to determine the peak value, then at the first time when each detection point reaches the peak position, an icon can be used to mark the detection point where the current peak is located on the pulse wave propagation state graph, without Repeat the calculation for the second time.

In the above-exemplified visual display mode, the processor 20 also suspends the update of the pulse wave propagation state diagrams A1-A7 according to the pause instruction input by the user through the human-computer interaction device 70; according to the human-computer interaction device cursor (mouse cursor, track The position of the ball cursor or touch point, etc., shows the propagation speed of the nearest detection point at the cursor position on the paused pulse wave propagation state diagrams A1-A7. In this way, no matter what kind of visualization method is used, the doctor can obtain the desired propagation speed of the detection point position by manual selection.

In the visual display mode illustrated above, when the pulse wave propagates through the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, the processor 20 also presents the propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point in the form of a picture through the display interface of the human-computer interaction device It is convenient for doctors to observe, record and print the results.

In an alternative embodiment, the method shown in Figures 14-20 can use colors as image elements to express the propagation speed. In addition to this dynamic display of the propagation speed in the form of a color map, it can also be displayed in the form of a two-dimensional vector diagram. The propagation velocity can be displayed dynamically, for example, a waveform graph, a histogram, or an area graph can be used to express the propagation velocity, and pulse wave propagation state graphs A8 and A9 can be generated, as shown in Figs. 21 and 22.

The visualization of the present invention is preferably a dynamic display, by graphically displaying the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the display interface and changing it with time, so that the sonographer can see it at a glance, which is very convenient and intuitive.

Similarly, on the display interface, if the user does not circle the ROI, the entire blood vessel wall is the blood vessel wall segment of the ultrasound image in the entire target area, superimposed on the ultrasound B image video and pulse wave propagation state diagram in the entire target area A1- A7: If the user has circled the ROI, the entire blood vessel wall is the blood vessel wall segment of the ultrasound image in the ROI area, and only the ultrasound B image video and pulse wave propagation state diagrams A1-A7 in the ROI area can be superimposed. Of course, the specific value of the propagation speed can also be displayed on the display interface in real time, which is convenient for users to accurately grasp.

It can be seen that with the technical solution of the present invention, if in the real-time imaging mode, the user only needs to flatten the probe on the body surface so that the viewing angle is on the long axis of the blood vessel. Keep the probe position still, start scanning, circle the ROI, the ultrasound imaging equipment can generate blood vessel B image and pulse wave propagation state graph A, superimpose the blood vessel B image and pulse wave propagation state graph A, so that the propagation speed can be displayed In the corresponding position, better correlate the blood vessel structure and the propagation velocity; if in the non-real-time imaging mode, the ultrasound imaging device obtains the data stored in the memory, and after processing, generates the blood vessel B image and the pulse wave propagation state diagram A, so that the propagation The propagation speed displayed in the state diagram can be displayed in the corresponding position. At the same time, the propagation status of the pulse wave is dynamically displayed in the form of a movie and matched with the instructions of the wave crest, which can intuitively and accurately represent the propagation process of the pulse wave. In the embodiment of the present invention, the pulse wave propagation state diagram and the blood vessel B diagram can be dynamically displayed synchronously, or only the pulse wave propagation state diagram can be dynamically displayed and one of the frame B diagrams in the propagation state can be statically displayed.

This document is described with reference to various exemplary embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of this document. For example, various operation steps and components used to perform the operation steps can be implemented in different ways according to specific applications or considering any number of cost functions associated with the operation of the system (for example, one or more steps can be deleted, Modify or incorporate into other steps).

In addition, as understood by those skilled in the art, the principles herein can be reflected in a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium, which is pre-installed with computer-readable program code. Any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be used, including magnetic storage devices (hard disks, floppy disks, etc.), optical storage devices (CD-ROM, DVD, Blu Ray disks, etc.), flash memory and/or the like . These computer program instructions can be loaded on a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment to form a machine, so that these instructions executed on the computer or other programmable data processing device can generate a device that realizes the specified function. These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory, which can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory can form a piece of Manufactured products, including realizing devices that realize designated functions. Computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so as to execute a series of operation steps on the computer or other programmable equipment to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the execution on the computer or other programmable equipment Instructions can provide steps for implementing specified functions.

Although the principles herein have been shown in various embodiments, many modifications to the structure, arrangement, proportions, elements, materials, and components that are particularly suitable for specific environments and operating requirements can be made without departing from the principles and scope of this disclosure. use. The above modifications and other changes or amendments will be included in the scope of this article.

The foregoing detailed description has been described with reference to various embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, the consideration of this disclosure will be in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense, and all these modifications will be included in its scope. Likewise, the advantages, other advantages, and solutions to problems of the various embodiments have been described above. However, benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that can produce these, or make them more specific, should not be construed as critical, necessary, or necessary. The term "including" and any other variants used in this article are non-exclusive inclusions. Such a process, method, article or device that includes a list of elements not only includes these elements, but also includes those that are not explicitly listed or are not part of the process. , Methods, systems, articles or other elements of equipment. In addition, the term "coupled" and any other variations thereof used herein refer to physical connection, electrical connection, magnetic connection, optical connection, communication connection, functional connection and/or any other connection.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that many changes can be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the basic principles of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be determined according to the following claims.

Claims

A pulse wave imaging method, which is characterized in that it comprises:

Acquiring ultrasound data for a predetermined period of time, where the ultrasound data is data obtained by beam synthesis of ultrasound echo signals obtained by using the blood vessel of the target object as the detection object;

Generating an ultrasound image containing blood vessels according to the ultrasound data;

Obtain, according to the ultrasound data, the vascular wall hardness characteristic quantity reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel, where the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness is that the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel The speed of propagation; and

On the display interface, the propagation velocity is dynamically displayed in the order of propagation time in a graphical visualization manner along the axis of the blood vessel.
A pulse wave imaging method, which is characterized in that it comprises:

Acquiring multiple frames of ultrasound data, where the ultrasound data is data obtained by beam synthesis of ultrasound echo signals obtained by using the blood vessel of the target object as the detection object;

Generating an ultrasound image including an axial section structure of a blood vessel according to at least part of the ultrasound data of multiple frames;

Obtain, according to at least part of the multiple frames of the ultrasound data, the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel; and

Visually express the vascular wall stiffness along the axial direction of the blood vessel, thereby generating and displaying a pulse wave propagation state graph.
A pulse wave imaging method, characterized in that it comprises:

Transmit ultrasound to the blood vessel of the target object for ultrasound imaging;

Receiving the ultrasonic echo returned from the blood vessel of the target object to obtain the ultrasonic echo signal;

Signal processing on the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain ultrasonic data;

Obtain, according to the ultrasound data, the characteristic quantity of blood vessel wall stiffness reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel; and

Visually express the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and generate a real-time display of the pulse wave propagation state graph.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the characteristic quantity of the hardness of the blood vessel wall is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein acquiring ultrasound data comprises:

Transmit ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and receive ultrasonic echoes to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

At least beam synthesis processing is performed on the ultrasound echo signal to obtain ultrasound data of the blood vessel of the target object.
The method according to claim 3, wherein the transmitting ultrasonic waves to the blood vessels of the target object comprises: transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate.
The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the scanning frame rate is at least 1000 Hz or more.
The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the transmitting ultrasound to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate comprises:

The non-focused ultrasound is emitted to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and the scanning area of the non-focused ultrasound emitted at one time covers the designated examination area of the blood vessel.
The method according to claim 8, wherein the non-focused ultrasound includes planar ultrasound or divergent ultrasound.
The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the transmitting ultrasound to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate comprises:

Multiple focused ultrasounds are emitted to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, the number of emission of the multiple focused ultrasound is lower than the preset number of emission of focused imaging, and the scanning area of the multiple focused ultrasound covers the area Specify the inspection area.
The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the transmitting ultrasound to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate comprises:

At least one wide-focus ultrasound is transmitted to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and the scanning area of the at least one wide-focus ultrasound covers the designated examination area of the blood vessel.
The method according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the obtaining, according to the ultrasound data, the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Detect the pulsation parameters at different time points of each detection point arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image according to the ultrasound data;

Detect the first time when the pulsation parameter of each detection point reaches the first predetermined threshold;

According to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point, the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image is obtained.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the detecting the pulsation parameters at different time points of the detection points arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasonic image according to the ultrasonic data comprises:

Detect the time point when the pulsation parameter of a designated detection point reaches a predetermined specific value, and use this time point as the starting point to extend the preset time forward and/or backward respectively to obtain the effective time period;

Obtain the pulsation parameters of each detection point at different time points in the effective time period.
The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the detection of the pulsation parameters at different time points of the detection points on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel according to the ultrasound data comprises:

Detecting the position of the blood vessel wall in the image frame according to one frame of image data in the ultrasound data;

Calculate the radial displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel at different time points according to the position of the blood vessel wall in different frames;

According to the radial displacement of each detection point on the blood vessel wall, the pulsation parameters of each detection point at different time points are obtained.
The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein the pulsation parameter is the displacement of the unilateral blood vessel wall, the radial velocity of the unilateral blood vessel wall, the acceleration of the radial movement of the unilateral blood vessel, and the diameter of the blood vessel. Change, the rate of change of blood vessel diameter, or the acceleration of change of blood vessel diameter.
The method of claim 4, wherein the ultrasound imaging performed by transmitting ultrasound to the blood vessel of the target object includes B imaging or M imaging, and the ultrasound data includes M data; and the ultrasound data is obtained from the blood vessel The characteristic quantities of blood vessel wall stiffness reflected by the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel include:

Detect the radial displacement of each detection point arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the vessel wall at different time points according to the M data;

Detect the first time when the radial displacement of each detection point reaches a second predetermined threshold;

According to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point, the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image is obtained.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the ultrasound imaging performed by transmitting ultrasound to the blood vessel of the target object comprises Doppler imaging; and the obtaining of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel based on the ultrasound data The characteristic quantities of blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the wave include:

Analyzing the Doppler information of the ultrasound data to obtain velocity information at different time points of the detection points arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall;

Detecting the first time when the speed information of each detection point reaches the third predetermined threshold;

According to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point, the propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image is obtained.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the transmitting ultrasound to the blood vessel of the target object to perform ultrasound imaging comprises: transmitting the ultrasound to the blood vessel of the target object to perform B imaging, M imaging, TDI imaging or TVI imaging.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image is obtained according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point. The speed of propagation includes:

Obtain the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the whole section of the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image according to the position of each detection point in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the first time corresponding to each detection point; or

The propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point is obtained according to the difference between the positions of the two adjacent detection points in the axial direction of the blood vessel and the corresponding first time of the two adjacent detection points.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the visual expression of the vascular wall hardness characterization along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises: at a position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, Preset image elements are used to visually express the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the visual expression of the vascular wall hardness characterization along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises: at a position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, When the first time corresponding to each detection point arrives, a preset image element is used to visually express the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vascular wall hardness characterization quantity is the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasound image The target segment of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image includes a segment of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image.
The method according to claim 22, wherein the visual expression of the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

A preset image element is used to visually express the average propagation velocity at a position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The method according to claim 22, wherein the visual expression of the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, the average propagation velocity is visualized by using preset image elements, and the pulse wave propagation state diagram is displayed in the entire blood vessel. The wall indicates the position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the characteristic quantity of blood vessel wall hardness is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel to each detection point.
The method according to claim 19 or 25, wherein the method further comprises:

Determine the standard deviation of the propagation velocity of each detection point; and

The pulse wave propagation state diagram and the standard deviation are simultaneously displayed.
The method according to claim 25, wherein the visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

A preset image element is used to visually express the propagation speed of each detection point in a position corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The method according to claim 25, wherein said visually expressing the characterization quantity of blood vessel wall hardness along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises: in the position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, in the pulse wave When propagating to each detection point, the preset image elements are used to visually express the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point.
The method according to claim 25, wherein the visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to each detection point of the target segment of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, a preset image element is used to visually express the propagation velocity of each detection point, and the target segment of the blood vessel wall It includes a section of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave is currently propagated in the ultrasound image, or the target section of the blood vessel wall includes a section of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave has propagated that extends a preset length from the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated. A section of blood vessel wall.
The method according to claim 25, wherein the visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasound image, a preset image element is used to visually express the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated. The target segment of the blood vessel wall includes a segment of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image.
The method according to claim 25, wherein the visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, a preset image element is used to visually express the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated, and the pulse wave The current propagation position of the pulse wave is indicated on the entire blood vessel wall of the wave propagation state diagram.
The method according to any one of claims 20 to 31, wherein the image element includes a color, a pattern, or a density of a pattern.
The method according to any one of claims 20 to 32, wherein the visual expression of the vascular wall hardness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel further comprises: synchronously displaying the characterization quantity of the vascular wall hardness The magnitude bar of the corresponding relationship between the size and the color, pattern, or pattern density.
The method according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 4 to 33, wherein the visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel further comprises: graphing the pulse wave propagation state And the ultrasound image is superimposed and displayed according to a preset weight; or the pulse wave propagation state diagram is displayed near the ultrasound image.
The method of claim 34, further comprising:

Detecting the modification of the weight by the user;

The superimposed display of the pulse wave propagation state graph and the ultrasound image is updated according to the modified weight.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the pulse wave propagation state diagram advances from the proximal end to the distal end along the blood vessel axis according to the propagation time of the pulse wave.
The method according to claim 36, wherein the pulse wave propagation state diagram is advanced in a horizontal direction according to the propagation time of the pulse wave.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the visual expression of the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Obtain the characterization quantity of blood vessel wall hardness at each detection point on the blood vessel wall along the axis of the blood vessel;

Use different colors, patterns or pattern densities to represent different blood vessel wall hardness, or use wave graphs, bar graphs or area graphs to represent different blood vessel wall hardnesses, and generate pulse wave propagation states distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel Figure.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the characterization quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness is the average value of the detection points arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image or is compared with each detection point. The value corresponding to the position.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel so as to generate and display a pulse wave propagation state graph comprises:

Obtain the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave on the entire blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, use the color, pattern or pattern at the position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image The density of represents the average propagation velocity, and a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel is generated and displayed; or,

Obtain the average propagation velocity of the blood vessel wall segment through which the pulse wave passes when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image to each detection point; The position corresponding to the passage of the blood vessel wall segment uses the color, pattern or the density of the pattern to represent the average propagation speed, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The display is based on the pulse wave propagation to the detection point. Update the pulse wave propagation state diagram in time; wherein each detection point is arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; or,

Obtain the average propagation velocity of the blood vessel wall segment that the pulse wave passes through when the pulse wave propagates on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image to each detection point along the axis of the blood vessel; The position corresponding to the whole section of the blood vessel wall uses color, pattern or pattern density to represent the average propagation speed, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. The display is based on the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point. Update the pulse wave propagation state diagram; wherein each detection point is arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; or,

Obtain the propagation velocity of each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image of the pulse wave; at the position corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel, use the color, pattern or pattern density to indicate the corresponding detection point Generate and display a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel; where each detection point is arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; or,

Obtain the propagation velocity of each detection point of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, the position corresponding to each detection point of the blood vessel wall section through which the pulse wave passes, using colors, patterns or patterns Density represents the propagation speed corresponding to each detection point, generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and updates the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point; wherein each detection point Arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; or,

Obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, the current detection point is represented by the color, pattern, or density of the pulse wave at the position where the pulse wave passes through the current detection point Corresponding to the propagation velocity, generate and display a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and update the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point; wherein each detection point is in the ultrasound image Arranged along the axis of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall; or,

Obtain the propagation velocity of the pulse wave at each detection point on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at the position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image, the current detection is represented by color, pattern or pattern density Point corresponding to the propagation velocity, generate and display a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, and update the pulse wave propagation state diagram according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point; wherein each detection point is in the ultrasound image Arranged along the axis of the blood vessel on the wall of the blood vessel; or,

Obtain the propagation velocity of each detection point of the pulse wave on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image; along the axial direction of the blood vessel, the position corresponding to each detection point of the blood vessel wall section through which the pulse wave passes, using colors, patterns or patterns Density represents the propagation speed corresponding to the current detection point, and generates and displays a pulse wave propagation state diagram distributed along the axial direction of the blood vessel. When displayed, the pulse wave propagation state diagram is updated according to the time when the pulse wave propagates to the detection point; wherein each detection point It is arranged along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall in the ultrasound image.
The method according to claim 40, further comprising: obtaining, according to the ultrasound data, the second time when the detection points on the blood vessel wall along the axial direction of the blood vessel in the ultrasound image reach the peak position, The pulse wave propagation state diagram uses an icon to mark the detection point where the current wave crest is located.
The method of claim 41, wherein:

Obtaining, according to the ultrasound data, the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity reflected by the pulse wave propagating on the vessel wall along the vessel axis includes: obtaining the pulse wave according to the ultrasound data along the vessel axis on the vessel wall in the ultrasound image Propagation speed to each detection point arranged;

The visual expression of the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel further includes: suspending the update of the pulse wave propagation state graph according to the pause instruction input by the user; The pulse wave propagation state graph displays the propagation speed of the detection point closest to the cursor position.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel further comprises:

After the pulse wave propagates through the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, the propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point is presented in the form of a picture.
The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined period of time is greater than or equal to one cardiac cycle.
An ultrasonic imaging equipment, characterized in that it comprises:

Ultrasonic probe, used to transmit ultrasonic waves to the blood vessel to be detected, and receive echoes of ultrasonic waves to obtain echo signals;

A transmitting circuit for stimulating the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the blood vessel to be detected;

A receiving circuit for controlling the ultrasonic probe to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave returned from the detected blood vessel to obtain the echo signal;

Human-computer interaction device for obtaining user input and visual output;

The processor is used to obtain echo signals from the ultrasound probe and process them into ultrasound data; generate ultrasound images containing axially arranged blood vessels according to the ultrasound data; obtain signals on the blood vessel wall according to the ultrasound data The characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness reflected by the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel; the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness is visually expressed along the axial direction of the blood vessel, thereby generating a pulse wave propagation state diagram and displaying it through the human-computer interaction device The pulse wave propagation state diagram.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 45, wherein the characteristic quantity of the hardness of the blood vessel wall is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall in the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The ultrasound imaging device of claim 45, wherein the processor obtains the echo signal from the ultrasound probe and processes it into ultrasound data comprises:

Transmit ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate through the ultrasonic probe, and receive ultrasonic echoes to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

At least beam synthesis processing is performed on the ultrasound echo signal to obtain ultrasound data of the blood vessel of the target object.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 47, wherein the scanning frame rate is at least 1000 Hz or more.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 47 or 48, wherein the transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate through the ultrasonic probe comprises:

The ultrasound probe emits non-focused ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and the scanning area of the non-focused ultrasound waves emitted at one time covers the designated examination area of the blood vessel.
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 49, wherein the non-focused ultrasonic waves comprise planar ultrasonic waves or divergent ultrasonic waves.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 47 or 48, wherein the transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate through the ultrasonic probe comprises:

The ultrasound probe transmits multiple focused ultrasound waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, the transmission times of the multiple focused ultrasound waves are lower than the preset transmission times of focused imaging, and the scanning area of the multiple focused ultrasound waves The part covering the blood vessel specifies the examination area.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 47 or 48, wherein the transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate through the ultrasonic probe comprises:

The ultrasound probe transmits at least one wide-focus ultrasound to the target object at a preset scanning frame rate, and the scanning area of the at least one wide-focus ultrasound covers the designated examination area of the blood vessel.
The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 45, wherein the characterization quantity of blood vessel wall hardness is the average propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating along the axial direction of the blood vessel on the blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasonic image, and The target segment of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image includes a segment of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 53, wherein the processor visually expresses the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel, comprising:

A preset image element is used to visually express the average propagation velocity at a position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 53, wherein the processor visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, the average propagation velocity is visualized by using preset image elements, and the pulse wave propagation state diagram is displayed in the entire blood vessel. The wall indicates the position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 45, wherein the characteristic quantity of the blood vessel wall hardness is the propagation velocity of the pulse wave propagating on the blood vessel wall of the ultrasonic image along the blood vessel axis to each detection point.
The ultrasound imaging device according to claim 56, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the standard deviation of the propagation velocity of the detection points; and to display the pulse wave propagation synchronously through the human-computer interaction device State diagram and said standard deviation.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 56, wherein the processor visually expresses the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel, comprising:

A preset image element is used to visually express the propagation speed of each detection point in a position corresponding to each detection point in the ultrasound image along the axial direction of the blood vessel.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 56, wherein the processor visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

At a position corresponding to each detection point along the axial direction of the blood vessel, when the pulse wave propagates to each detection point, a preset image element is used to visually express the pulse wave propagation velocity corresponding to each detection point.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 56, wherein the processor visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to each detection point of the target segment of the blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, a preset image element is used to visually express the propagation velocity of each detection point, and the target segment of the blood vessel wall It includes a section of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave is currently propagated in the ultrasound image, or the target section of the blood vessel wall includes a section of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave has propagated that extends a preset length from the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated. A section of blood vessel wall.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 56, wherein the processor visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to the blood vessel wall of the target segment of the ultrasound image, a preset image element is used to visually express the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated. The target segment of the blood vessel wall includes a segment of the blood vessel wall through which the pulse wave currently propagates in the ultrasound image.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to claim 56, wherein the processor visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization quantity along the axial direction of the blood vessel comprises:

Along the axial direction of the blood vessel, at a position corresponding to the entire blood vessel wall of the ultrasound image, a preset image element is used to visually express the propagation velocity of the detection point to which the pulse wave is currently propagated, and the pulse wave The current propagation position of the pulse wave is indicated on the entire blood vessel wall of the wave propagation state diagram.
The ultrasonic imaging device according to any one of claims 46 to 62, wherein the processor visually expressing the vascular wall stiffness characterization along the axial direction of the blood vessel further comprises:

The pulse wave propagation state diagram and the axially arranged blood vessels in the ultrasound image are superimposed and displayed according to preset weights; or the pulse wave propagation state diagram is displayed near the ultrasound image.
The ultrasonic imaging device of claim 63, wherein the processor is further configured to:

Detecting the modification of the weight by the user through a human-computer interaction device;

The superimposed display of the pulse wave propagation state graph and the axially arranged blood vessels in the ultrasound image is updated according to the modified weight.
An ultrasonic imaging equipment, characterized in that it comprises:

Memory, used to store programs;

The processor is configured to execute the program stored in the memory to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-44.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized by comprising a program, which can be executed by a processor to implement the method according to any one of claims 1-44.