WO2022006819A1 - 超声声速确定方法和超声成像系统 - Google Patents

超声声速确定方法和超声成像系统 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2022006819A1
WO2022006819A1 PCT/CN2020/101100 CN2020101100W WO2022006819A1 WO 2022006819 A1 WO2022006819 A1 WO 2022006819A1 CN 2020101100 W CN2020101100 W CN 2020101100W WO 2022006819 A1 WO2022006819 A1 WO 2022006819A1
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Prior art keywords
sound
processed
ultrasonic
speed
region
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PCT/CN2020/101100
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
徐志安
李雷
王渊
董腾驹
陈卫程
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深圳迈瑞生物医疗电子股份有限公司
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Priority to PCT/CN2020/101100 priority Critical patent/WO2022006819A1/zh
Priority to CN202080102881.1A priority patent/CN115867202A/zh
Publication of WO2022006819A1 publication Critical patent/WO2022006819A1/zh

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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
    • A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
    • A61B8/13—Tomography
    • A61B8/14—Echo-tomography

Definitions

  • the present application relates to the technical field of ultrasonic imaging, and more particularly, to a method for determining an ultrasonic sound velocity and an ultrasonic imaging system.
  • ultrasound imaging technology has become an irreplaceable diagnostic technology in modern medical imaging due to its non-invasive, non-radiation, good real-time performance, high discrimination against soft tissue, convenient use of instruments, and low price.
  • the preferred method for the diagnosis of many diseases is
  • the speed of sound is one of the important imaging parameters. Since ultrasonic waves propagate in different individuals and different tissues of the human body, there will be differences in the speed of sound. If the speed of sound used for beamforming deviates from the true speed of sound, a phase deviation will occur, resulting in tissue offset, image deformation, and contrast. It affects the imaging quality of the image and may even affect the accuracy of medical diagnosis. However, most of the existing ultrasound products preset the speed of sound to a specific value according to the type of examination mode.
  • a first aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a method for determining the speed of ultrasonic sound, the method comprising:
  • the third resolution is lower than the first resolution or the second resolution, determine the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first resolution and the second resolution as the to-be-processed sound speed the best sound speed in the area;
  • a second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a method for determining the speed of sound, the method comprising:
  • a fitting curve between the sound velocity and the intelligibility is determined according to the at least three sound velocities and the corresponding intelligibility, and the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the maximum value of the area to be processed. Good speed.
  • a third aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a method for determining the speed of sound, the method comprising:
  • the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to at least three different sound velocities among the different sound velocities obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities;
  • the optimal sound speed of the to-be-processed region is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities.
  • a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a method for determining the speed of sound, the method comprising:
  • the optimal sound speed of the to-be-processed region is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities.
  • a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, where the ultrasound imaging system includes:
  • a transmitting circuit used to excite the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object
  • a receiving circuit for receiving the echo of the ultrasonic wave to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal
  • a beam synthesizing circuit configured to process the ultrasonic echo signal by adopting the first sound speed, the second sound speed and the third sound speed respectively;
  • processor for:
  • the third resolution is lower than the first resolution or the second resolution, determine the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first resolution and the second resolution as the to-be-processed sound speed the best sound speed in the area;
  • a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, where the ultrasound imaging system includes:
  • a transmitting circuit used to excite the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object
  • a receiving circuit for receiving the echo of the ultrasonic wave to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal
  • a beam synthesizing circuit configured to process the ultrasonic echo signals by adopting at least three sound velocities respectively;
  • processor for:
  • a fitting curve between the sound velocity and the intelligibility is determined according to the at least three sound velocities and the corresponding intelligibility, and the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the maximum value of the area to be processed. Good speed.
  • a seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, the ultrasound imaging system comprising:
  • a transmitting circuit used to excite the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object
  • a receiving circuit for receiving the echo of the ultrasonic wave to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal
  • a beam forming circuit for processing the ultrasonic echo signals with different sound velocities respectively;
  • processor for:
  • the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to at least three different sound velocities among the different sound velocities obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities;
  • the optimal sound speed of the to-be-processed region is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities.
  • An eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, where the ultrasound imaging system includes:
  • a transmitting circuit used to excite the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object
  • a receiving circuit for receiving the echo of the ultrasonic wave to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal
  • a beam forming circuit for processing the ultrasonic echo signals with different sound velocities respectively;
  • processor for:
  • the optimal sound speed of the to-be-processed region is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities.
  • the way of determining the sound velocity is improved, and the efficiency of the sound velocity determination is improved.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application
  • FIG. 2 shows a schematic flowchart of a method for determining the speed of ultrasonic sound according to an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of step-by-step sound speed determination in a method for determining ultrasonic sound speed according to an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 4 shows a schematic flowchart of a method for determining the speed of ultrasonic sound according to another embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of fitting sound velocity determination in a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 6 shows a schematic flowchart of a method for determining the speed of ultrasonic sound according to yet another embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 7 shows a schematic flowchart of a method for determining the speed of ultrasonic sound according to still another embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application.
  • the ultrasound imaging system 100 includes an ultrasound probe 110 , a transmitting circuit 112 , a receiving circuit 114 , a beam forming circuit 116 , a processor 118 and a display 120 . Further, the ultrasound imaging system may further include a transmit/receive selector switch 122 , and the transmit circuit 112 and the receive circuit 114 may be connected to the ultrasound probe 110 through the transmit/receive selector switch 122 .
  • the ultrasound probe 110 includes an array of multiple transducer elements. Every time ultrasonic waves are emitted, all or part of the array elements of the ultrasonic probe 110 participate in the emission of ultrasonic waves. At this time, each array element or each part of the array elements participating in the ultrasonic emission is stimulated by the emission pulse and emits ultrasonic waves respectively. A synthetic ultrasound beam of the target tissue of the subject.
  • the transmit circuit 112 transmits the delayed focused transmit pulses to the ultrasound probe 110 through the transmit/receive selection switch 122 .
  • the ultrasonic probe 110 is stimulated by the transmission pulse to transmit an ultrasonic beam to the target tissue of the measured object, and after a certain delay, receives the ultrasonic echo with tissue information reflected from the target tissue, and reconverts the ultrasonic echo into a electric signal.
  • the receiving circuit 114 receives the electrical signals converted and generated by the ultrasonic probe 110, obtains ultrasonic echo signals, and sends these ultrasonic echo signals to the beam forming circuit 116, and the beam forming circuit performs focusing delay, weighting and channel calculation on the ultrasonic echo data. and etc., and then sent to the processor 118.
  • the processor 118 performs signal detection, signal enhancement, data conversion, logarithmic compression and other processing on the ultrasonic echo data to form an ultrasonic image.
  • the ultrasound images obtained by the processor 118 can be displayed on the display 120 or stored in a memory.
  • the processor 118 may be implemented as software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof, and may use single or multiple application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), single or multiple general-purpose integrated circuits, single or multiple microprocessors, single or multiple programmable logic devices, or any combination of the foregoing circuits and/or devices, or other suitable circuits or devices. Also, the processor 118 may control other components in the ultrasound imaging system 100 to perform corresponding steps of the methods in the various embodiments in this specification.
  • ASICs application specific integrated circuits
  • the processor 118 may control other components in the ultrasound imaging system 100 to perform corresponding steps of the methods in the various embodiments in this specification.
  • the display 120 is connected to the processor 118, and the display 120 may be a touch display screen, a liquid crystal display screen, etc.; or the display 120 may be an independent display device such as a liquid crystal display, a television set, etc. independent of the ultrasound imaging system 100; or the display 120 may be Displays of electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, etc.
  • the number of displays 120 may be one or more.
  • the display 120 may include a main screen and a touch screen, the main screen is mainly used for displaying ultrasound images, and the touch screen is mainly used for human-computer interaction.
  • Display 120 may display ultrasound images obtained by processor 118 .
  • the display 120 can also provide a graphical interface for the user to perform human-computer interaction while displaying the ultrasound image, set one or more controlled objects on the graphical interface, and provide the user with a human-computer interaction device to input operating instructions to control these objects.
  • the controlled object so as to perform the corresponding control operation.
  • an icon is displayed on the graphical interface, and the icon can be operated by using a human-computer interaction device to perform a specific function, such as drawing a region of interest frame on the ultrasound image.
  • the ultrasound imaging system 100 may further include other human-computer interaction devices other than the display 120, which are connected to the processor 118.
  • the processor 118 may be connected to the human-computer interaction device through an external input/output port.
  • the output port can be a wireless communication module, a wired communication module, or a combination of the two.
  • External input/output ports may also be implemented based on USB, bus protocols such as CAN, and/or wired network protocols, and the like.
  • the human-computer interaction device may include an input device for detecting the user's input information, for example, the input information may be a control instruction for the ultrasonic transmission/reception sequence, or a point, line or frame drawn on the ultrasonic image. Manipulate input instructions, or may also include other instruction types.
  • the input device may include one or a combination of a keyboard, a mouse, a scroll wheel, a trackball, a mobile input device (eg, a mobile device with a touch display screen, a cell phone, etc.), a multi-function knob, and the like.
  • the human-computer interaction apparatus may also include an output device such as a printer.
  • the ultrasound imaging system 100 may also include memory for storing instructions executed by the processor, storing received ultrasound echoes, storing ultrasound images, and the like.
  • the memory may be a flash memory card, solid state memory, hard disk, or the like. It may be volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory, removable memory and/or non-removable memory, and the like.
  • the components included in the ultrasound imaging system 100 shown in FIG. 1 are only illustrative, and may include more or less components. This application is not limited to this.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 for determining a supersonic sound speed according to an embodiment of the present application.
  • the method 200 includes the following steps:
  • step S201 transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object, and receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;
  • step S202 an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and an area to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;
  • step S203 acquiring a first ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at a first sound speed;
  • step S204 based on the first ultrasound image of the to-be-processed area, obtain a first definition of the first ultrasound image
  • step S205 acquiring a second ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the second sound velocity;
  • step S206 a second definition of the second ultrasonic image is obtained based on the second ultrasonic image of the region to be processed, and the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed;
  • step S207 determining a third speed of sound according to the variation of the first clarity and the second clarity
  • step S208 the ultrasonic echo signal is processed by using the third sound speed to obtain a third ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area;
  • step S209 a third definition of the third ultrasound image is obtained based on the third ultrasound image of the region to be processed;
  • step S210 when the third resolution is lower than the first resolution or the second resolution, it is determined that the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first resolution and the second resolution is the optimum sound velocity of the area to be treated;
  • step S211 when the third definition is higher than the first definition and the second definition, according to the larger value of the first definition and the second definition and the third definition The degree of change determines the fourth speed of sound.
  • the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 in this embodiment of the present application can be used to automatically focus an ultrasonic image.
  • the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 in this embodiment of the present application may be automatically executed during the ultrasonic imaging process, or an auto-focus button may be set or an auto-focus icon may be displayed on the graphical interface of the display 120.
  • the method 200 for determining the ultrasonic sound velocity in this embodiment of the present application is executed.
  • the ultrasonic auto-focusing process can also be hidden in the one-key optimization function, and when the user triggers the one-key optimization function, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 in this embodiment of the present application is executed.
  • the transmitting circuit 112 sends an appropriately delayed electrical signal to each transducer element in the ultrasonic probe 110 , and the transducer converts the electrical signal into ultrasonic waves and transmits it to the measured object
  • the transducer in the ultrasonic probe 110 converts the received ultrasonic echo into an electrical signal
  • the receiving circuit 114 is responsible for receiving the electrical signal and performing signal amplification, analog-to-digital conversion and other processing, wherein each transducer array element Corresponding to one electrical signal; the beam forming circuit 116 performs delay calculation, dynamic focusing and other beam forming processing on the multiple electrical signals converted by the receiving circuit 114, and finally combines the multiple electrical signals into one ultrasonic echo signal.
  • the sound velocity determination strategy proposed in the embodiment of the present application can quickly and accurately determine the optimal sound velocity that is more matched with the real sound velocity, thereby obtaining a better focusing effect.
  • step S202 when the beamforming process is performed on the electrical signal for the first time, the sound velocity has not yet been determined, and at this time, the beamforming circuit can use the preset sound velocity to perform beamforming. After that, the beamforming circuit sends the ultrasonic echo signal processed by the beamformation to the processor 118 for related processing, thereby obtaining an ultrasonic image.
  • the sound velocity corresponding to the ultrasonic image is the preset sound velocity in the system.
  • the preset sound velocity Can be a fixed value in the current inspection mode.
  • the to-be-processed region for the subsequent sound velocity determination process can be determined therein, that is, only the to-be-processed region will be subsequently subjected to sound velocity determination.
  • the area to be processed may be an area at a specified location, an area containing the target tissue, an area of interest to the user, or an area that satisfies other conditions.
  • the method of determining the to-be-processed area may be automatically determined or manually determined by the user; the to-be-processed area may be one or multiple; or, the to-be-processed area may also be the entire ultrasound image, that is The ultrasound image is not segmented, and the sound velocity is determined by taking the entire ultrasound image as a whole.
  • the ultrasound image may be firstly divided into a plurality of regions, and some or all of the regions are determined as regions to be processed.
  • the ultrasound image may be divided into a plurality of regions, for example, the ultrasound image may be divided into 9 regions of the same size in the form of a nine-square grid.
  • the division of the ultrasound image is not limited to equal division, and may also include unequal division, and the number of divided regions is not limited to nine.
  • the number of regions divided in the ultrasound image may be determined automatically or manually according to the examination mode.
  • the number of divided areas can be reduced, for example, the ultrasound image is divided into 4 or 9 areas; when the target tissue is small, such as blood vessels and other fine tissues, the The number of divided regions can be increased, for example, the ultrasound image can be divided into 16, 25 or more regions to perform more accurate sound velocity determination for the fine tissue region, thereby improving the focusing effect of the fine tissue region.
  • the to-be-processed area may be determined among the divided multiple areas.
  • all the divided regions may be determined as to-be-processed regions, that is, the sound velocity will be determined separately for multiple regions in the entire ultrasound image subsequently.
  • a part of the divided regions can also be determined as the region to be processed, thereby reducing the amount of calculation.
  • a partial region whose position in the ultrasound image meets a predetermined requirement may be determined as the region to be processed.
  • the tissue image of the target tissue is generally located in the central area or near-field area of the ultrasound image
  • the sound velocity can be determined only by taking the central area or near-field area of the ultrasound image as the area to be processed.
  • the region where the tissue of the target tissue is located in the ultrasound image can also be detected and used as the to-be-processed region determined by the sound speed.
  • the region to be processed in the ultrasound image can also be determined in an interactive manner.
  • a graphical interface for human-computer interaction can be provided to the user on the display 120, an ultrasound image is displayed on the graphical interface, and the division of multiple regions is displayed, and the user can click to select one or more regions.
  • the manner of displaying the division of the multiple areas may include displaying the dividing lines between the multiple areas, and may also include displaying different areas in different colors.
  • the area to be processed may also be directly selected in the ultrasonic image by an automatic or manual method. After that, the selected to-be-processed area can be further divided into multiple areas.
  • the central area, the near-field area or other areas that meet the requirements can be directly selected as the to-be-processed area in the ultrasound image, and the to-be-processed area can also be displayed on the display 120 shown in FIG. 1 .
  • the result of the selection of the area is displayed to the user.
  • a graphical interface for human-computer interaction can be provided to the user on the display 120, the ultrasonic image and icons are displayed on the graphical interface, and the user can use the human-computer interaction device to input operating instructions to control This icon to draw a ROI box to select the ROI box on the ultrasound image.
  • the processor 112 receives a user's instruction to frame a region of interest in the ultrasound image, and uses the region of interest selected by the user as a to-be-processed region for sound velocity determination.
  • subsequent steps S203 to S211 are performed to determine the sound speed of the region to be processed to determine the optimal sound speed of the region to be processed.
  • the sound velocity can be determined for the multiple regions to be processed in sequence, or the multiple regions to be processed can be determined in sequence.
  • the speed of sound determination is performed in parallel.
  • the sound velocity determination strategy adopted by each to-be-processed area may be the same or different.
  • some of the to-be-processed areas may adopt the step-by-step determination strategy in the method 200, and other to-be-processed areas may adopt other implementations of this application.
  • the step-by-step sound velocity determination strategy adopted in this embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below for a single to-be-processed area.
  • the processor 118 first determines a sound speed, and transmits it to the beam forming circuit 116, and the beam forming circuit 116 uses the sound speed determined by the processor 118 to focus on the area to be processed, and the processed
  • the ultrasound echo data is sent back to the processor 118, which uses the data to generate an ultrasound image of the area to be processed and calculates the sharpness of the ultrasound image.
  • any one or more indicators can be used to evaluate the sharpness of the image, for example, any one of the image gradient value, image entropy, and image variance of the to-be-processed area can be calculated.
  • multiple parameters in the image gradient value, image entropy, and image variance of the area to be processed can also be calculated, and one of them can be selected as an index for evaluating image clarity, or a comprehensive evaluation index can be obtained through operations such as weighted summation.
  • other parameters related to image quality may also be used to evaluate image clarity, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.
  • a step-by-step sound speed determination method is adopted, and the clarity of the to-be-processed area after image processing is performed using the current sound speed and the image processing of the to-be-processed area using the previous sound speed of the current sound speed.
  • the clarity of the processing area is compared, and the next sound speed is determined according to the comparison result until the optimal sound speed is determined.
  • the sound velocity determination method adopted in the embodiment of the present application compares different sound velocities in real time during the determination process.
  • the clarity of the lower image can be adjusted in real time to determine the direction of the sound speed, which shortens the determination time and reduces the amount of calculation.
  • the intelligibility corresponding to the first sound speed and the second sound speed is first determined.
  • a preset sound speed in the system is used as the first sound speed, and a preset step size is added on the basis of the preset sound speed as the second sound speed.
  • the first sound speed is the preset sound speed used when generating the ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal in step S202, and the first ultrasonic wave of the to-be-processed area obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal through the first sound speed is obtained.
  • the image is the first ultrasonic image of the region to be processed obtained in the ultrasonic image generated in step S202.
  • the first ultrasonic image is obtained by directly processing the ultrasonic image generated by the ultrasonic echo signal based on the preset sound speed in the system.
  • the first sound speed is the preset sound speed, and there is no need to renew Launch the first speed of sound once.
  • the preset sound speed in the system is taken as the second sound speed, and a preset step size is reduced on the basis of the preset sound speed as the first sound speed, then this
  • the second speed of sound is the speed of sound used when generating the ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal in step S202, and obtaining the second ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal through the second speed of sound is in step S202
  • a second ultrasound image of the region to be processed is acquired from the ultrasound image generated in .
  • the first sound speed and the second sound speed are not limited to the first two sound speeds determined by the sound speed, but only represent two adjacent sound speeds during the sound speed determination process.
  • the first sound speed when the first sound speed is not the preset sound speed used when generating the initial ultrasonic image in step S202, obtain the to-be-processed region obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the first sound speed.
  • the first ultrasonic image further includes: acquiring an ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the to-be-processed area from an ultrasonic echo signal; First ultrasound image of the region to be processed.
  • the first sound speed can be determined by the processor 118 and communicated to the beam forming circuit 116.
  • the beam forming circuit 116 obtains the to-be-processed area from the ultrasonic echo signal according to the location of the area to be processed and the location information carried in the ultrasonic echo signal.
  • the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the processing area is processed, and the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the area to be processed is processed using the first sound speed.
  • the beamforming circuit 116 sends the beamformed ultrasound echo signals to the processor 118 for processing to generate a first ultrasound image of the region to be processed, and calculate the first definition of the first ultrasound image.
  • the second sound speed is not the sound speed used when generating the initial ultrasonic image in step S202, acquiring a second ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the second sound speed, It further includes: obtaining the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the to-be-processed area from the ultrasonic echo signal; processing the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the to-be-processed area by using the second sound speed to obtain the second sound speed of the to-be-processed area.
  • the second speed of sound is greater than the above-mentioned first speed of sound.
  • step S206 based on the second ultrasound image of the region to be processed, a second definition of the second ultrasound image corresponding to the second sound speed is obtained.
  • the embodiments of the present application do not limit the order of determining the first clarity corresponding to the first sound speed and determining the second clarity corresponding to the second sound speed, and the first sound
  • the larger of the speed of sound and the second speed of sound is called the second speed of sound, and the smaller speed of sound is called the first speed of sound.
  • a second intelligibility corresponding to the second speed of sound is obtained.
  • step S207 a third speed of sound is determined according to the changes of the first clarity and the second clarity.
  • the first preset step size is increased on the basis of the second sound speed to obtain the third speed of sound.
  • the second clarity is lower than the first clarity, it is considered that the clarity decreases with the increase of the sound speed, so the third preset step size is reduced on the basis of the first sound speed to obtain the third speed of sound.
  • the preset step size represents the interval between two adjacent sound velocities. The smaller the preset step size is, the higher the determination accuracy is, but the determination speed is correspondingly slower, so a trade-off between determination accuracy and determination speed can be made by adjusting the preset step size. Exemplarily, several precision levels may be set, and each precision level corresponds to a preset step size. The higher the precision, the smaller the preset step size.
  • the preset step size can be a predetermined fixed value, and the same preset step size is used between every two adjacent sound speeds, that is, the first preset step size and the third preset step size can be preset fixed values. value, and the two can be equal.
  • the preset step size can also be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the current sound speed and the previous sound speed obtained by image processing, and the first preset step size and the third preset step size can be adjusted according to the first
  • the difference between the degree and the second definition is adaptively adjusted, for example, the larger the difference, the larger the first preset step size and the third preset step size.
  • step S208 the ultrasonic echo signal is processed with the third sound speed to obtain a third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed; and in step S209, a third ultrasonic image of the third ultrasonic image is obtained based on the third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed.
  • the third sound speed may be selected as the optimal sound speed or the sound speed determination may be continued according to the change of the third sound speed corresponding to the third sound speed compared with the first definition or the second definition.
  • step S210 if the third resolution corresponding to the third sound speed is lower than the first resolution or the second resolution, it can be considered that the previous sound speed of the third sound speed has reached the Therefore, the sound speed before the third sound speed can be determined as the optimal sound speed. That is, when the third resolution is lower than the first resolution or the second resolution, the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first resolution and the second resolution is determined as the optimum sound speed. Therefore, the method 200 adopts a step-by-step sound velocity determination method, and the optimal sound velocity of the area to be processed can be determined by performing signal processing on the ultrasonic echo signal by using three sound velocities at the fastest.
  • the third speed of sound is obtained by adding the first preset step size on the basis of the second speed of sound, that is, the speed of sound before the third speed of sound is the second speed of sound , then when the third resolution is lower than the second resolution, the second sound speed is determined to be the optimum sound speed.
  • the third sound speed is obtained by reducing the third preset step size on the basis of the first sound speed, that is, the sound speed before the third sound speed is the first sound speed, Then, when the third definition is lower than the first definition, the first sound speed is determined to be the optimum sound speed.
  • the third sound speed can be determined by reducing the step size.
  • a further refined determination is made between the speed of sound and the speed of sound preceding the third speed of sound. For example, if the third sound speed is obtained by increasing the first preset step size on the basis of the second sound speed, the fourth sound speed can be obtained by reducing the fifth preset step size on the basis of the third sound speed. Set the step size to be smaller than the first preset step size.
  • the fourth speed of sound for processing to obtain a fourth ultrasound image, calculate a fourth definition of the fourth ultrasound image, compare the fourth definition with the second definition, and compare the fourth definition with the second definition
  • the sound speed corresponding to the larger value in the middle is determined as the optimal sound speed.
  • the fourth speed of sound can be obtained by increasing the sixth preset step size on the basis of the third speed of sound.
  • the preset step size is smaller than the third preset step size.
  • the fourth speed of sound for processing to obtain a fourth ultrasound image, calculate a fourth definition of the fourth ultrasound image, compare the fourth definition with the first definition, and compare the fourth definition with the first definition
  • the sound speed corresponding to the larger value in the middle is determined as the optimal sound speed.
  • the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first resolution and the second resolution can be directly determined as the optimal sound speed, And stop the speed of sound determination, thereby increasing the speed of the speed of sound determination.
  • step S211 if the third resolution corresponding to the third sound speed is higher than the first resolution and the second resolution, it is considered that the change trend of the current sound speed is still approaching the optimum The sound speed has not yet reached the optimal sound speed, so the current sound speed change direction can be used to continue to determine the sound speed, that is, the fourth sound speed is determined according to the change of the larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity and the third clarity.
  • the second preset step size is a fixed value, for example, the second preset step size may be equal to the first preset step size and the third preset step size;
  • the second preset step size is adaptively adjusted by the difference value of the sound speed. For example, the larger the difference is, the farther the distance is from the optimal sound speed, and thus the second preset step size is larger, thereby speeding up the speed of sound speed determination.
  • the second preset step size is a fixed value, for example, the second preset step size may be equal to the first preset step size and the third preset step size;
  • the second preset step size is adaptively adjusted by the difference value of the degree, for example, the larger the difference value, the larger the second preset step size.
  • the ultrasonic echo signal can be processed by using the fourth sound speed to obtain a fourth ultrasound image, the fourth definition of the fourth ultrasound image is determined, and the fourth definition is compared with the third definition , if the fourth resolution is lower than the third resolution, the third sound speed is determined as the optimal sound speed; if the fourth resolution is higher than the third resolution, the sound speed determination is continued along the current sound speed change direction until the third resolution
  • the image definition of the ultrasonic image of the area to be processed obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals at N sound speeds is lower than that of the ultrasonic image of the area to be processed obtained by using the N-1th sound speed to process the ultrasonic echo signals. Clarity, stop the sound speed determination at this time, and determine the N-1th sound speed as the best sound speed.
  • the determination of the sound speed starts from the preset sound speed, that is, the preset sound speed is taken as the above-mentioned first sound speed SP1 .
  • the first sound speed SP1 increase the sound speed by one to obtain the second sound speed SP2, and use the first sound speed SP1 and the second sound speed SP2 to process the ultrasonic echo signals respectively to obtain the first ultrasonic image and the second ultrasonic image.
  • the first definition and the second definition of the first ultrasound image and the second ultrasound image respectively.
  • the ultrasound image obtained in step S202 can be used to evaluate the clarity of the area to be processed, and only the second sound speed SP2 is needed for image processing at this time.
  • the second resolution corresponding to the second speed of sound SP2 is higher than the first resolution corresponding to the first speed of sound SP1, so the first preset step is added on the basis of the second speed of sound SP2 to obtain the third speed of sound SP3, and use the third speed of sound SP3 to perform signal processing to obtain the third definition, and then compare the third definition with the second definition.
  • the third resolution corresponding to the third speed of sound SP3 is higher than the second resolution corresponding to the second speed of sound SP2, so the original speed of sound change trend is followed, and the third speed of sound SP3 continues to increase.
  • the fourth sound speed SP4 is used for signal processing to obtain the fourth definition. Since the fourth resolution is lower than the third resolution corresponding to the third speed of sound SP3, the determination of the speed of sound is stopped, and the speed of sound preceding the fourth speed of sound SP4 (ie, the third speed of sound SP3) is determined as the optimum speed of sound.
  • the speed of sound is determined for one or more regions to be processed in the ultrasound image, respectively, so that the respective optimal speed of sound is determined for each region to be processed.
  • an ultrasound image corresponding to the optimum sound velocity is generated for the region to be processed, so the sound velocity generated in the sound velocity determination process and the optimum sound velocity can be used.
  • the corresponding ultrasonic image replaces the ultrasonic image of the corresponding area in the ultrasonic image obtained in step S202, and retains the ultrasonic image of the non-to-be-processed area, thereby obtaining a clear and complete ultrasonic image.
  • the optimal sound velocities obtained by determining the sound velocities of the multiple to-be-processed areas may be different, so different optimal sound velocities are used for adjacent to-be-processed areas.
  • the manner of smoothing the image is not limited to any one, for example, interpolation, post-processing, smooth operation, or transition band gradation may be used for the image.
  • the method 200 may further include: displaying the optimal sound speed of each region to be processed on the display interface. Since the speed at which ultrasound travels through tissue is related to properties such as tissue density and stiffness, showing the optimal speed of sound helps physicians understand the tissue conditions in each area to be treated.
  • the optimum sound velocity may be displayed on the ultrasound image. For example, when the ultrasound image is divided into multiple regions in step S202, the optimum sound velocity of the region may be displayed on the ultrasound image of each region. Alternatively, the optimal sound velocity can also be displayed outside the ultrasound image. As an example, the division of the ultrasound image can be displayed at other positions on the display interface. For example, when the ultrasound image is divided into nine-square grids, a nine-square-grid graphic can be displayed around the ultrasound image, and the best results of each corresponding region of the ultrasound image can be displayed in the nine-square grid graphic. speed of sound.
  • the average value of the optimal sound speed of each area to be processed can also be calculated and displayed on the display interface. Displaying the average speed of sound helps doctors understand the overall condition of the target tissue.
  • the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 in this embodiment of the present application adopts a step-by-step ultrasonic sound velocity determination method, which improves the efficiency of sound velocity determination, and can separately determine the sound velocity for different regions in the ultrasonic image, thereby improving the ultrasonic image speed. focus accuracy.
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method 400 for determining a supersonic sound speed according to an embodiment of the present application.
  • the method 400 for determining the speed of supersonic sound includes the following steps:
  • step S401 transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object, and receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;
  • step S402 an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and an area to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;
  • step S403 acquiring ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three sound velocities obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals at least three sound velocities respectively;
  • step S404 based on the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three sound velocities, obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three sound velocities;
  • step S405 a fitting curve between the sound velocity and the intelligibility is determined according to the at least three sound velocities and the corresponding intelligibility, and the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the to-be-to-be Optimum speed of sound for the processing area.
  • Steps S401 and S402 in the supersonic speed determination method 400 are generally similar to steps S201 and S202 in the supersonic speed determination method 200. For the sake of brevity, the same details are not repeated here. The specific manner of determining the speed of sound in steps S403 to S405 will be described in detail.
  • the beamforming circuit may use the preset sound speed in the ultrasonic imaging system to perform beamforming, and perform related image processing on the ultrasonic echo signal after the beamforming process.
  • the sound velocity corresponding to the obtained ultrasound image is the preset sound velocity.
  • the preset sound velocity can be a fixed value in the current inspection mode.
  • the region to be processed for the subsequent sound velocity determination process may be determined therein, that is, only the region to be processed will be subsequently subjected to sound velocity determination.
  • the area to be processed may be an area at a specified location, an area containing the target tissue, an area of interest to the user, or an area that satisfies other conditions.
  • the method of determining the to-be-processed area may be automatically determined or manually determined by the user; the to-be-processed area may be one or multiple; or, the to-be-processed area may also be the entire ultrasound image, that is The ultrasound image is not segmented, and the sound velocity is determined by taking the entire ultrasound image as a whole.
  • the ultrasound image may be firstly divided into a plurality of regions, and some or all of the regions are determined as regions to be processed.
  • the region to be processed can also be directly framed in the ultrasound image in an automatic or manual manner. After that, the selected to-be-processed area can be further divided into multiple areas. For the specific method of determining the area to be processed, reference may be made to the relevant description in the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 , which will not be repeated here.
  • the sound speed of the region to be processed is determined to obtain the optimal sound speed of the region to be processed.
  • the sound velocity can be determined for the multiple regions to be processed in sequence, or the multiple regions to be processed can be determined in sequence.
  • the speed of sound determination is performed in parallel.
  • the sound velocity determination strategy adopted by each to-be-processed area may be the same or different. For example, some of the to-be-processed areas may adopt the step-by-step sound velocity determination strategy in method 200, and the rest of the to-be-processed areas adopt the method 400.
  • the fitted sound velocity determination strategy may be the same or different.
  • the method 200 and the method 400 can be combined, for example, the method 200 and the method 400 are respectively used to determine an optimal sound speed, and the definition obtained by the image processing of the area to be processed by using the above two optimal sound speeds is compared, and the higher sound speed is used.
  • the sound speed corresponding to the clarity is determined as the final optimum sound speed.
  • step S403 at least three sound speeds are used to respectively process the ultrasonic echo signals, and obtaining the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed area corresponding to the at least three sound speeds further includes: Obtain the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the to-be-processed area from the signal; use at least three sound speeds to respectively process the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the to-be-processed area to obtain the to-be-processed area corresponding to the at least three sound speeds ultrasound images.
  • the sound velocity may be determined by the processor 118 and communicated to the beamforming circuit 116 based on the location of the region to be processed and the location carried in the ultrasonic echo signal information, obtain the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the area to be processed from the ultrasonic echo signal, and use the sound velocity received from the processor 118 to process the ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the area to be processed.
  • the beamforming circuit 116 sends the beamformed ultrasound echo signal to the processor 118 for processing to generate an ultrasound image of the to-be-processed area, and calculates the sharpness of the ultrasound image of the to-be-processed area in step S404.
  • step S405 a fitting curve between the sound velocity and the intelligibility is determined according to the at least three sound velocities and the corresponding intelligibility, and the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the the optimal sound velocity of the region to be treated.
  • the at least three sound velocities above include the preset sound velocities in the ultrasonic imaging system and at least two sound velocities obtained by increasing or decreasing the preset step size on the basis of the preset sound velocities.
  • the above-mentioned at least three sound velocities may include preset sound velocities, and at least two sound velocities obtained by increasing and decreasing the preset step size respectively on the basis of the preset sound velocities, thereby reducing the three sound velocities distributed on one side of the peak value. Possibility to make the fitted curve inaccurate.
  • the above-mentioned at least three sound speeds respectively include a first sound speed SP1, a second sound speed SP2 and a third sound speed SP3.
  • the first speed of sound SP1 may be a preset speed of sound in the ultrasound imaging system
  • the second speed of sound SP2 and the third speed of sound SP3 are obtained by reducing and increasing the preset step size on the basis of the first speed of sound SP1, respectively. speed of sound.
  • the sound speed corresponding to the extreme point of the curve is the fourth sound speed. Therefore, the fourth sound speed SP4 can be regarded as the optimum sound speed.
  • the optimal speed of sound can also be determined by using only three speeds of sound to perform signal processing at the fastest.
  • the more sound velocities used for curve fitting the more accurate the fitted curve will be, but the corresponding determination speed will be slower. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the number of sound velocities between determining the speed and determining the accuracy. For example, when the determination accuracy is high, more sound speeds are used for curve fitting.
  • the number of sound velocities used can be automatically determined by the system, or a number of precision gears can be set, which is determined according to the user's requirements for determining the precision.
  • the optimal sound speed is determined according to the fitting curve, and the optimal sound speed has not been used for image processing before. Processing is performed to obtain an ultrasound image of the region to be processed corresponding to the optimum sound velocity. After that, the ultrasonic image of the corresponding region in the ultrasonic image obtained in step S402 can be replaced with the ultrasonic image of the region to be processed corresponding to the optimal sound speed, and the transition region between two adjacent regions to be processed can also be smoothed, To further improve the quality and visual effect of the image.
  • the optimal sound speed of each to-be-processed region can also be displayed on the display interface, or the average value of the optimal sound speed of each to-be-processed region can be calculated and displayed on the display interface.
  • the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 of the embodiment of the present application adopts a fitting-type ultrasonic sound velocity determination method, which improves the efficiency of sound velocity determination, and can separately determine the sound velocity in different regions in the ultrasonic image, thereby improving the ultrasonic image speed. focus accuracy.
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a method 600 for determining a supersonic speed of sound according to an embodiment of the present application.
  • the method 600 for determining the speed of supersonic sound includes the following steps:
  • step S601 transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object, and receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;
  • step S602 an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and an area to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;
  • step S603 acquiring ultrasonic images of the region to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals at different sound velocities respectively;
  • step S604 according to the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to at least three different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities;
  • step S605 the optimal sound speed of the to-be-processed region is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities.
  • the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 is similar to the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 and the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 above, and also firstly uses at least three sound velocities to process the ultrasonic echo signals to obtain the corresponding ultrasonic images of the region to be processed.
  • the clarity of the ultrasound image corresponding to at least three sound velocities determines the optimal sound velocity.
  • the sound speed determination strategy of the ultrasonic sound speed determination method 600 is not limited to the above step method and fitting method, but also includes other suitable sound speed determination strategies. For example, in one embodiment, a determination method combining the stepping method and the fitting method may be used.
  • the fitting method is used to find the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point, and then the stepping starts with the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point as the starting point.
  • the speed of sound is determined.
  • a step-by-step method of determining the speed of sound can also be used, for example, first take several speeds of sound with a larger interval step, determine the two speeds of sound with the best clarity among the several speeds of sound, and then further extract the speed between these two speeds of sound. There are several sound velocities with smaller step size, and the two sound velocities that make the definition the best are determined, and so on step by step until the definition meets the predetermined requirement.
  • the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 of the embodiment of the present application determines the optimal sound velocity according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area obtained after signal processing with at least three sound velocities, which improves the efficiency of sound velocity determination.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method 700 for determining a supersonic sound speed according to an embodiment of the present application.
  • the method 700 for determining the speed of supersonic sound includes the following steps:
  • step S701 transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object, and receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;
  • step S702 an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and an area to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;
  • step S703 acquiring ultrasonic images of the region to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities obtained by separately processing the ultrasonic echo signals at different sound velocities;
  • step S704 according to the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to at least two different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities;
  • step S705 the optimal sound speed of the to-be-processed region is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed region corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities.
  • the ultrasonic sound speed determination method 700 determines the optimal sound speed of the to-be-processed region according to at least two sound speeds and the clarity of the corresponding ultrasonic images of the to-be-processed region. For example, the intelligibility corresponding to at least two sound speeds may be compared, and the sound speed corresponding to the highest intelligibility may be determined as the optimum sound speed. According to the ultrasonic sound speed determination method 700, the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed can be automatically determined, and the user does not need to manually switch the sound speed, which improves the user experience.
  • the ultrasonic imaging system 100 provided in this embodiment of the present application can be used to implement the above-mentioned ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 , ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 , ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 , or ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 700 .
  • the ultrasound imaging system 100 may include part or all of the ultrasound probe 110 , the transmitting circuit 112 , the receiving circuit 114 , the beam forming circuit 116 , the processor 118 , the display 120 and the transmit/receive selection switch 122 , and the relevant descriptions of the respective components may refer to above.
  • the transmitting circuit 112 is used to excite the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the measured object; the receiving circuit 114 is used to receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals.
  • the beam forming circuit 116 is configured to process the ultrasonic echo signal using the first sound speed, the second sound speed and the third sound speed respectively;
  • the processor 118 is configured to: obtain a first ultrasonic image of the region to be processed based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed by using the first sound speed; and obtain the first ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic image of the region to be processed a first definition of an ultrasonic image; obtaining a second ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed by the second sound speed; obtaining the first ultrasonic image based on the second ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area
  • the second definition of the two ultrasonic images, the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed;
  • the third sound speed is determined according to the change of the first definition and the second definition; based on the processing of the third sound speed obtaining a third ultrasound image of the region to be processed based on the acquired ultrasonic echo signal; obtaining a third definition of the third ultrasound image based on the third ultrasound image of the region to be processed; When it is lower than the first definition or the second definition, it
  • the determining the third speed of sound according to the change of the first definition and the second definition includes: when the second definition is higher than the first definition, then On the basis of the second sound speed, the first preset step size is increased to obtain the third sound speed.
  • the first preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the second definition.
  • the second sound speed is determined to be the optimum sound speed; when the third definition is higher than the second definition , then a second preset step size is added on the basis of the third sound speed to obtain the fourth sound speed.
  • the second preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the second definition and the third definition.
  • the determining the third speed of sound according to the change of the first clarity and the second clarity includes: when the second clarity is lower than the first clarity, then On the basis of the first sound speed, a third preset step size is reduced to obtain the third sound speed.
  • the third preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the second definition.
  • the first sound speed is determined to be the optimum sound speed; when the third resolution is higher than the first resolution , the fourth preset step size is reduced on the basis of the third sound speed to obtain the fourth sound speed.
  • the fourth preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the third definition.
  • the beam forming circuit 116 When used to implement the method 400 for determining the ultrasonic sound speed, the beam forming circuit 116 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signals respectively by adopting at least three sound speeds;
  • the processor 118 is configured to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determine a to-be-processed area in the ultrasonic image; and obtain an ultrasonic image corresponding to the ultrasonic echo signal processed by using the at least three sound speeds respectively.
  • Ultrasound images of the region to be processed corresponding to at least three velocities of sound based on the ultrasonic images of the region to be processed corresponding to the at least three velocities of sound, obtaining ultrasonic images of the region to be processed corresponding to the at least three velocities of sound according to the at least three sound velocities and the corresponding clarity, determine a fitting curve between the sound speed and the clarity, and determine the sound speed corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve as the to-be-to-be Optimum speed of sound for the processing area.
  • the at least three sound velocities include a preset sound speed and at least two sound velocities obtained by increasing and decreasing a preset step size on the basis of the preset sound speed.
  • the beam forming circuit 116 When used to implement the method 600 for determining the ultrasonic sound velocity, the beam forming circuit 116 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signals with different sound velocities respectively;
  • the processor 118 is configured to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determine a to-be-processed area in the ultrasonic image; obtain the different ultrasonic echo signals processed by using the different sound velocities respectively.
  • the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities.
  • the beam forming circuit 116 When used to implement the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 700, the beam forming circuit 116 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signals with different sound velocities respectively;
  • the processor 118 is configured to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determine a to-be-processed area in the ultrasonic image; obtain the different ultrasonic echo signals processed by using the different sound velocities respectively.
  • the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities.
  • the ultrasonic imaging system of the embodiment of the present application improves the way of determining the speed of sound, improves the efficiency of determining the speed of sound, and can separately determine the speed of sound in different regions in the ultrasonic image, thereby improving the focusing accuracy of the ultrasonic image.
  • a computer storage medium is also provided, where program instructions are stored on the computer storage medium, and when the program instructions are run by a computer or a processor, are used to execute the ultrasound according to the embodiments of the present application Corresponding steps of sound velocity determination method 200 , 400 , 600 or 700 .
  • the storage medium may include, for example, a memory card of a smartphone, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a personal computer, read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), portable compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media.
  • the computer-readable storage medium can be any combination of one or more computer-readable storage media.
  • a computer program is also provided, and the computer program can be stored in the cloud or on a local storage medium.
  • the computer program is run by a computer or a processor, it is used to execute the corresponding steps of the method for determining the speed of ultrasonic sound according to the embodiment of the present application.
  • the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method and the ultrasonic imaging system improve the way of determining the sound velocity, improve the focusing speed and efficiency, and can determine the sound velocity for different regions in the ultrasonic image respectively.
  • the focusing accuracy of the image improves the way of determining the sound velocity, improve the focusing speed and efficiency, and can determine the sound velocity for different regions in the ultrasonic image respectively.
  • the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners.
  • the device embodiments described above are only illustrative.
  • the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.
  • multiple units or components may be combined or May be integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented.
  • Various component embodiments of the present application may be implemented in hardware, or in software modules running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof.
  • a microprocessor or a digital signal processor (DSP) may be used in practice to implement some or all functions of some modules according to the embodiments of the present application.
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • the present application may also be implemented as a program of apparatus (eg, computer programs and computer program products) for performing part or all of the methods described herein.
  • Such a program implementing the present application may be stored on a computer-readable medium, or may be in the form of one or more signals. Such signals may be downloaded from Internet sites, or provided on carrier signals, or in any other form.

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Abstract

一种超声声速搜索方法和超声成像系统，所述方法包括：生成超声图像，并确定其中的待处理区域；获取通过第一声速和第二声速分别对超声回波信号进行处理得到的待处理区域的第一超声图像及其第一清晰度以及第二超声图像及其第二清晰度，第二声速大于第一声速；根据第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速；采用第三声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理，获得待处理区域的第三超声图像及其第三清晰度；当第三清晰度低于第一清晰度或第二清晰度时，确定二者中较大值对应的声速为待处理区域的最佳声速；当第三清晰度高于第一清晰度和第二清晰度时，根据二者中较大值与第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。本方案提高了声速搜索的效率。

Description

超声声速确定方法和超声成像系统
说明书
技术领域
本申请涉及超声成像技术领域，更具体地涉及一种超声声速确定方法和超声成像系统。
背景技术
在医疗领域中，超声成像技术以其无创、无辐射、实时性好、对软组织鉴别力较高、仪器使用方便、价格低廉等特点，成为现代医学成像中不可替代的诊断技术，目前已成为临床多种疾病诊断的首选方法。
在超声成像过程中，声速是重要的成像参数之一。由于超声波在不同的个体以及人体不同组织中传播时，均会存在声速差异，若用于波束合成的声速偏离真实声速，就会出现相位偏差，导致组织偏移、图像变形、对比度下降等问题，影响图像的成像质量，甚至可能会影响医疗诊断的准确性。然而，现有的超声产品大多根据检查模式类型将声速预置为特定的值。当医生需要根据个体差异调节图像质量时，需要手动调节声速值来进行聚焦，操作繁琐且聚焦速度慢；而且，医生只能在有限的几个声速值中进行权衡，无法保证聚焦精度。
发明内容
在发明内容部分中引入了一系列简化形式的概念，这将在具体实施方式部分中进一步详细说明。本发明的发明内容部分并不意味着要试图限定出所要求保护的技术方案的关键特征和必要技术特征，更不意味着试图确定所要求保护的技术方案的保护范围。
本申请实施例第一方面提供一种超声声速确定方法，所述方法包括：
向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理 区域；
获取通过第一声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第一超声图像；
基于所述待处理区域的第一超声图像，获得所述第一超声图像的第一清晰度；
获取通过第二声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第二超声图像；
基于所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，获得所述第二超声图像的第二清晰度，所述第二声速大于所述第一声速；
根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速；
采用所述第三声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述待处理区域的第三超声图像；
基于所述待处理区域的第三超声图像，获得所述第三超声图像的第三清晰度；
当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度或者所述第二清晰度时，确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速；
当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度时，根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。
本申请实施例第二方面提供一种声速确定方法，所述方法包括：
向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
获取通过至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
基于所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
根据所述至少三个声速和相应的所述清晰度确定声速与清晰度之间的拟合曲线，并将所述拟合曲线的极值点所对应的声速确定为所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
本申请实施例第三方面提供一种声速确定方法，所述方法包括：
向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
获取通过不同的声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
根据所述不同的声速中至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
根据所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
本申请实施例第四方面提供一种声速确定方法，所述方法包括：
向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
获取通过不同的声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
根据所述不同的声速中至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
根据所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
本申请实施例第五方面提供一种超声成像系统，所述超声成像系统包括：
超声探头；
发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
波束合成电路，用于采用第一声速、第二声速和第三声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器，用于：
基于采用所述第一声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第一超声图像；
基于所述待处理区域的第一超声图像，获得所述第一超声图像的第一清晰度；
基于采用所述第二声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第二超声图像；
基于所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，获得所述第二超声图像的第二清晰度，所述第二声速大于所述第一声速；
根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速；
基于采用所述第三声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第三超声图像；
基于所述待处理区域的第三超声图像，获得所述第三超声图像的第三清晰度；
当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度或者所述第二清晰度时，确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速；
当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度时，根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。
本申请实施例第六方面提供一种超声成像系统，所述超声成像系统包括：
超声探头；
发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
波束合成电路，用于采用至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器，用于：
基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
分别基于采用所述至少三个声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得与所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
基于所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
根据所述至少三个声速和相应的所述清晰度确定声速与清晰度之间的拟合曲线，并将所述拟合曲线的极值点所对应的声速确定为所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
本申请实施例第七方面提供一种超声成像系统，所述超声成像系统包括：
超声探头；
发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
波束合成电路，用于分别采用不同的声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器，用于：
基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
分别基于采用所述不同的声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
根据所述不同的声速中至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
根据所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
本申请实施例第八方面提供一种超声成像系统，所述超声成像系统包括：
超声探头；
发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
波束合成电路，用于分别采用不同的声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器，用于：
基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
分别基于采用所述不同的声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得所述不同的 声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
根据所述不同的声速中至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
根据所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
根据本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法和超声成像系统，改进了声速确定的方式，提高了声速确定的效率。
附图说明
为了更清楚地说明本申请实施例中的技术方案，下面将对实施例描述中所需要使用的附图作简单地介绍，显而易见地，下面描述中的附图仅仅是本发明的一些实施例，对于本领域普通技术人员来讲，在不付出创造性劳动性的前提下，还可以根据这些附图获得其他的附图。
在附图中：
图1示出根据本申请实施例的超声成像系统的示意性框图；
图2示出根据本发明一实施例的超声声速确定方法的示意性流程图；
图3示出根据本发明一实施例的超声声速确定方法中步进式声速确定的原理图；
图4示出根据本发明另一实施例的超声声速确定方法的示意性流程图；
图5示出根据本发明一实施例的超声声速确定方法中拟合式声速确定的原理图；
图6示出根据本发明又一实施例的超声声速确定方法的示意性流程图；
图7示出根据本发明再一实施例的超声声速确定方法的示意性流程图。
具体实施方式
为了使得本申请的目的、技术方案和优点更为明显，下面将参照附图详细描述根据本申请的示例实施例。显然，所描述的实施例仅仅是本申请的一部分实施例，而不是本申请的全部实施例，应理解，本申请不受这里描述的示例实施例的限制。基于本申请中描述的本申请实施例，本领域技术人员在没有付出创造性劳动的情况下所得到的所有其它实施例都应落入本申请的保 护范围之内。
在下文的描述中，给出了大量具体的细节以便提供对本申请更为彻底的理解。然而，对于本领域技术人员而言显而易见的是，本申请可以无需一个或多个这些细节而得以实施。在其他的例子中，为了避免与本申请发生混淆，对于本领域公知的一些技术特征未进行描述。
应当理解的是，本申请能够以不同形式实施，而不应当解释为局限于这里提出的实施例。相反地，提供这些实施例将使公开彻底和完全，并且将本申请的范围完全地传递给本领域技术人员。
在此使用的术语的目的仅在于描述具体实施例并且不作为本申请的限制。在此使用时，单数形式的“一”、“一个”和“所述/该”也意图包括复数形式，除非上下文清楚指出另外的方式。还应明白术语“组成”和/或“包括”，当在该说明书中使用时，确定所述特征、整数、步骤、操作、元件和/或部件的存在，但不排除一个或更多其它的特征、整数、步骤、操作、元件、部件和/或组的存在或添加。在此使用时，术语“和/或”包括相关所列项目的任何及所有组合。
为了彻底理解本申请，将在下列的描述中提出详细的结构，以便阐释本申请提出的技术方案。本申请的可选实施例详细描述如下，然而除了这些详细描述外，本申请还可以具有其他实施方式。
下面，首先参考图1描述根据本申请一个实施例的超声成像系统，图1示出了根据本申请实施例的超声成像系统100的示意性结构框图。
如图1所示，超声成像系统100包括超声探头110、发射电路112、接收电路114、波束合成电路116、处理器118以及显示器120。进一步地，超声成像系统还可以包括发射/接收选择开关122，发射电路112和接收电路114可以通过发射/接收选择开关122与超声探头110连接。
其中，超声探头110包括多个换能器阵元的阵列。在每次发射超声波时，超声探头110的所有阵元或者部分阵元参与超声波的发射。此时，这些参与超声波发射的阵元中的每个阵元或者每部分阵元分别受到发射脉冲的激励并分别发射超声波，这些阵元分别发射的超声波在传播过程中发生叠加，形成发射到被测对象的目标组织的合成超声波束。
在超声成像过程中，发射电路112将经过延迟聚焦的发射脉冲通过发射/接收选择开关122发送到超声探头110。超声探头110受发射脉冲的激励而向 被测对象的目标组织发射超声波束，经一定延时后接收从目标组织反射回来的带有组织信息的超声回波，并将此超声回波重新转换为电信号。接收电路114接收超声探头110转换生成的电信号，获得超声回波信号，并将这些超声回波信号送入波束合成电路116，波束合成电路对超声回波数据进行聚焦延时、加权和通道求和等处理，然后送入处理器118。处理器118对超声回波数据进行信号检测、信号增强、数据转换、对数压缩等处理形成超声图像。处理器118得到的超声图像可以在显示器120上显示，也可以存储于存储器中。
可选地，处理器118可以实现为软件、硬件、固件或其任意组合，并且可以使用单个或多个专用集成电路(Application Specific Integrated Circuit，ASIC)、单个或多个通用集成电路、单个或多个微处理器、单个或多个可编程逻辑器件、或者前述电路和/或器件的任意组合、或者其他适合的电路或器件。并且，处理器118可以控制所述超声成像系统100中的其它组件以执行本说明书中的各个实施例中的方法的相应步骤。
显示器120与处理器118连接，显示器120可以为触摸显示屏、液晶显示屏等；或者显示器120可以为独立于超声成像系统100之外的液晶显示器、电视机等独立显示设备；或者显示器120可以是智能手机、平板电脑等电子设备的显示屏，等等。其中，显示器120的数量可以为一个或多个。例如，显示器120可以包括主屏和触摸屏，主屏主要用于显示超声图像，触摸屏主要用于人机交互。
显示器120可以显示处理器118得到的超声图像。此外，显示器120在显示超声图像的同时还可以提供给用户进行人机交互的图形界面，在图形界面上设置一个或多个被控对象，提供给用户利用人机交互装置输入操作指令来控制这些被控对象，从而执行相应的控制操作。例如，在图形界面上显示图标，利用人机交互装置可以对该图标进行操作，用来执行特定的功能，例如在超声图像上绘制出感兴趣区域框等。
可选地，超声成像系统100还可以包括显示器120之外的其他人机交互装置，其与处理器118连接，例如，处理器118可以通过外部输入/输出端口与人机交互装置连接，外部输入/输出端口可以是无线通信模块，也可以是有线通信模块，或者两者的组合。外部输入/输出端口也可基于USB、如CAN等总线协议、和/或有线网络协议等来实现。
其中，人机交互装置可以包括输入设备，用于检测用户的输入信息，该 输入信息例如可以是对超声波发射/接收时序的控制指令，可以是在超声图像上绘制出点、线或框等的操作输入指令，或者还可以包括其他指令类型。输入设备可以包括键盘、鼠标、滚轮、轨迹球、移动式输入设备(比如带触摸显示屏的移动设备、手机等等)、多功能旋钮等等其中之一或者多个的结合。人机交互装置还可以包括诸如打印机之类的输出设备。
超声成像系统100还可以包括存储器，用于存储处理器执行的指令、存储接收到的超声回波、存储超声图像，等等。存储器可以为闪存卡、固态存储器、硬盘等。其可以为易失性存储器和/或非易失性存储器，为可移除存储器和/或不可移除存储器等。
应理解，图1所示的超声成像系统100所包括的部件只是示意性的，其可以包括更多或更少的部件。本申请对此不限定。
下面，将参考图2描述根据本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法。图2是本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法200的一个示意性流程图。
如图2所示，所述方法200包括如下步骤：
在步骤S201，向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
在步骤S202，基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
在步骤S203，获取通过第一声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第一超声图像；
在步骤S204，基于所述待处理区域的第一超声图像，获得所述第一超声图像的第一清晰度；
在步骤S205，获取通过第二声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第二超声图像；
在步骤S206，基于所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，获得所述第二超声图像的第二清晰度，所述第二声速大于所述第一声速；
在步骤S207，根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速；
在步骤S208，采用所述第三声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述待处理区域的第三超声图像；
在步骤S209，基于所述待处理区域的第三超声图像，获得所述第三超声图像的第三清晰度；
在步骤S210，当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度或者所述第二清晰度时，确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速；
在步骤S211，当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度时，根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。
本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法200可以用于对超声图像进行自动聚焦。本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法200可以在超声成像过程中自动执行，或者，可以设置自动聚焦按钮或在显示器120的图形界面上显示自动聚焦图标，当接收选中自动聚焦按钮或图标的输入指令时，执行本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法200。可选地，超声自动聚焦过程也可以隐藏在一键优化功能中，当用户触发一键优化功能时，执行本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法200。
在超声成像过程中，参照图1，发射电路112向超声探头110中的每个换能器阵元发送经过适当延时的电信号，由换能器将电信号转化为超声波发射至被测对象的目标组织；超声探头110中的换能器将接收到的超声回波转化为电信号，接收电路114负责接收电信号并进行信号放大、模数变换等处理，其中每个换能器阵元对应一路电信号；波束合成电路116对接收电路114转换后的多路电信号进行延时计算、动态聚焦等波束合成处理，最终将多路电信号合并成一路超声回波信号。
在波束合成电路116进行的波束合成处理中，需要对每一路信号作合适的延时处理，才能确保信号叠加相位的一致性，因而需要准确的声速值来进行延时参数的计算。本申请实施例所提出的声速确定策略能够快速、准确地确定到与真实声速更为匹配的最佳声速，从而获得较佳的聚焦效果。
在步骤S202中，在首次对电信号进行波束合成处理时，尚未进行声速确定，此时波束合成电路可以使用预置声速进行波束合成。之后，波束合成电路将该波束合成处理后的超声回波信号送入处理器118进行相关的处理，从而得到超声图像，该超声图像所对应的声速为系统内的预置声速，该预置声速可以是当前检查模式下的固定值。
在生成超声图像以后，可以在其中确定后续声速确定处理的待处理区域，即后续将仅对待处理区域进行声速确定。待处理区域可以是指定位置处的区域、包含目标组织的区域、用户感兴趣的区域或满足其他条件的区域。确定所述待处理区域的方式可以是自动确定，也可以是用户手动确定；所述待处理区域可以是一个，也可以是多个；或者，该待处理区域也可以是整幅超声图像，即不对超声图像进行分割，将将整幅超声图像作为一个整体进行声速确定。
在一个实施例中，可以首先将超声图像划分为多个区域，并将其中的部分或全部区域确定为待处理区域。作为示例，可以将超声图像划等分为多个区域，例如，可以以九宫格的形式将超声图像划分为相同尺寸的9个区域。当然，对超声图像的划分不限于等分，还可以包括非等分，划分的区域个数也不限于9个。
可选地，在超声图像中划分的区域的个数可以根据检查模式自动或手动确定。当当前检查模式针对的目标组织较大时，可以减少划分区域的个数，例如将超声图像划分为4个或9个区域；当目标组织较小，例如对血管等细微的组织进行检查时，可以增加划分区域的个数，例如将超声图像划分为16个、25个或更多个区域，以针对细微组织区域进行更精确的声速确定，从而提高细微组织区域的聚焦效果。
之后，可以在所划分的多个区域中确定待处理区域。其中，可以将所划分的全部的区域均确定为待处理区域，即后续将对整个超声图像中的多个区域分别进行声速确定。或者，由于在超声图像的多个区域中，通常只有部分区域包括目标组织的组织图像，因而也可以将所划分区域中的部分区域确定为待处理区域，从而降低计算量。作为示例，可以将在超声图像中的位置满足预定要求的部分区域确定为待处理区域。例如，由于目标组织的组织图像一般位于超声图像中的中心区域或近场区域，因而可以只将超声图像的中心区域或近场区域作为待处理区域进行声速确定。在其他示例中，也可以检测超声图像中目标组织的组织所在的区域，并将其作为声速确定的待处理区域。
在一个实施例中，也可以采用交互式的方式确定超声图像中的待处理区域。例如，可以在显示器120上向用户提供进行人机交互的图形界面，在图形界面上显示超声图像，并显示其中多个区域的划分情况，用户可以点击以选中其中的一个或多个区域。作为示例，显示多个区域的划分情况的方式可 以包括显示多个区域间的分界线，还可以包括将不同区域分别显示为不同的颜色。当接收用户对所述待处理区域的选择指令后，则根据选择指令将用户选中的一个或多个区域确定为待处理区域。由此，可以使待处理区域的选择更具有针对性，更符合用户需求。
在一个实施例中，除了采用上述首先对超声图像进行划分、再在此基础上确定待处理区域的方式以外，也可以直接可以采用自动或手动的方式在超声图像中框选出待处理区域。之后，还可以将选中的待处理区域进一步划分为多个区域。
例如，当采用自动确定的方式时，可以直接在超声图像中选择中心区域、近场区域或其他符合要求的区域作为待处理区域，并且，还可以在图1所示的显示器120上将待处理区域的选择结果显示给用户。当根据用户指令确定待处理区域时，可以在显示器120上向用户提供进行人机交互的图形界面，在图形界面上显示所述超声图像和图标，用户可以利用人机交互装置输入操作指令来控制该图标，以在超声图像上绘制框选出感兴趣区域的感兴趣区域框。处理器112接收在超声图像中框选出感兴趣区域的用户指令，并将用户选中的感兴趣区域作为用于进行声速确定的待处理区域。
在确定超声图像中的待处理区域后，执行后续步骤S203至步骤S211，对所述待处理区域进行声速确定，以确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。如上所述，超声图像中的待处理区域可以为一个，也可以为多个，当存在多个待处理区域时，可以对多个待处理区域依次进行声速确定，也可以对多个待处理区域并行进行声速确定。并且，每个待处理区域所采用的声速确定策略可以相同，也可以不同，例如，其中部分待处理区域可以采用方法200中的步进式的确定策略，其他待处理区域可以采用本申请其他实施例所描述的确定策略。以下针对单个待处理区域对本申请实施例所采用的步进式的声速确定策略进行详细描述。
示例性地，在声速确定过程中，首先由处理器118确定一个声速，并传达给波束合成电路116，波束合成电路116利用处理器118确定的声速对待处理区域进行聚焦处理，并将处理后的超声回波数据发送回处理器118，处理器118利用该数据生成待处理区域的超声图像，并计算该超声图像的清晰度。
其中，可以采用任意一种或多种指标来评价图像的清晰度，例如，可以计算待处理区域的图像梯度值、图像熵和图像方差等中的任意一个。或者，也可以计算待处理区域的图像梯度值、图像熵和图像方差等中的多个参数， 并选择其中之一作为评价图像清晰度的指标，或通过加权求和等运算得到综合的评价指标。当然，也可以采用与图像质量有关的其他参数评价图像清晰度，本申请实施例对此不做限定。
在本申请实施例采用步进式的声速确定方式，将采用当前的声速对待处理区域进行图像处理后该待处理区域的清晰度与采用当前声速的前一个声速对待处理区域进行图像处理后该待处理区域的清晰度进行比较，并根据比较结果确定下一个声速，直到确定到最佳声速。与遍历所有声速进行图像处理、之后再比较每个声速下超声图像的清晰度从而选择最佳声速的方式相比，本申请实施例所采用的声速确定方式在确定的过程中实时地比较不同声速下图像的清晰度，从而实时地调整声速确定方向，缩短了确定时间，减少了计算量。
具体地，在步骤S203至步骤S206中，首先确定与第一声速和第二声速对应的清晰度。在一个示例中，在最初开始进行声速确定时，首先以系统内的预置声速作为第一声速，并在预置声速的基础上增加一个预设步长作为第二声速。则此时第一声速即为步骤S202中基于超声回波信号生成超声图像时所采用的预置声速，获取通过第一声速对超声回波信号进行处理得到的待处理区域的第一超声图像即为在步骤S202中生成的超声图像中获取待处理区域的第一超声图像。在另一示例中，直接基于系统内的预置声速对超声回波信号处理生成的超声图像获取第一超声图像，在本实施例中，第一声速即为预置声速，并且不需要重新发射一次第一声速。在另一示例中，在最初开始进行声速确定时，首先以系统内的预置声速作为第二声速，并在预置声速的基础上减小一个预设步长作为第一声速，则此时第二声速即为步骤S202中基于超声回波信号生成超声图像时所采用的声速，获取通过第二声速对超声回波信号进行处理得到的待处理区域的第二超声图像即为在步骤S202中生成的超声图像中获取待处理区域的第二超声图像。但需要注意的是，第一声速和第二声速不限于声速确定的最初两个声速，而仅表示声速确定过程中的相邻两个声速。
示例性地，当第一声速并非步骤S202中生成初始的超声图像时所采用的预置声速时，获取通过第一声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第一超声图像，进一步包括：从超声回波信号中获取所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号；采用第一声速对所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述待处理区域的第一超声图像。具体地，可以由处理 器118确定第一声速并传达至波束合成电路116，波束合成电路116根据待处理区域的位置和超声回波信号中携带的位置信息，从超声回波信号中获取待处理区域对应的超声回波信号，并采用第一声速对待处理区域对应的超声回波信号进行处理。之后，波束合成电路116将波束合成后的超声回波信号发送至处理器118进行处理以生成待处理区域的第一超声图像，并计算该第一超声图像的第一清晰度。
类似地，当第二声速并非步骤S202中生成初始的超声图像时所采用的声速时，获取通过第二声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，进一步包括：从超声回波信号中获取所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号；采用第二声速对所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，第二声速大于上述的第一声速。之后，在步骤S206，基于所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，获得与第二声速对应的第二超声图像的第二清晰度。需要注意的是，本申请实施例对确定与第一声速对应的第一清晰度和确定与第二声速对应的第二清晰度的顺序不做限制，仅是为了便于区分而将第一声速和第二声速中较大的声速称为第二声速，将其中较小的声速称为第一声速，而不意图限制为先确定与第一声速对应的第一清晰度、再确定与第二声速对应的第二清晰度。
接着，在步骤S207中，根据第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速。
示例性地，当第二清晰度高于第一清晰度时，则认为清晰度随着声速的增加而提高，因此在第二声速的基础上增加第一预设步长以得到所述第三声速。反之，当第二清晰度低于第一清晰度时，则认为清晰度随着声速的增加而降低，因此在第一声速的基础上减小第三预设步长以得到所述第三声速。
其中，预设步长表示相邻两个声速之间的间隔。预设步长越小，确定的精度越高，但相应地确定速度较慢，因而可以通过调整预设步长在确定精度和确定速度之间进行权衡。示例性地，可以设置若干精度档位，每个精度档位对应一个预设步长，精度越高，预设步长越小。预设步长可以为预先确定的固定值，每相邻两个声速之间都采用相同的预设步长，即第一预设步长和第三预设步长可以为预先设定的固定值，且二者可以相等。或者，也可以根据当前声速与前一声速进行图像处理所得的清晰度的差值大小自适应地调整预设步长，则第一预设步长和第三预设步长可以根据第一清晰度和第二清晰度的差值自适应地调整，例如，该差值越大，则第一预设步长和第三预设步 长越大。
接着，在步骤S208，采用第三声速对超声回波信号进行处理，获得待处理区域的第三超声图像；以及在步骤S209，基于待处理区域的第三超声图像获得第三超声图像的第三清晰度。之后，可以根据与第三声速对应的第三清晰度相比于第一清晰度或第二清晰度的变化情况选择将所述第三声速作为最佳声速或继续进行声速确定。
具体地，在第一种情况下，在步骤S210中，若与第三声速对应的第三清晰度低于第一清晰度或第二清晰度，则可以认为第三声速的前一声速已达到了最佳声速，因而可以将第三声速的前一声速确定为最佳声速。也就是说，当第三清晰度低于第一清晰度或者第二清晰度时，确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为最佳声速。由此，方法200采用步进式的声速确定方式，最快采用三个声速对超声回波信号进行信号处理即可以确定待处理区域的最佳声速。
其中，若第二清晰度高于所述第一清晰度，第三声速是在第二声速的基础上增加第一预设步长所得到的，即第三声速的前一声速为第二声速，则当第三清晰度低于第二清晰度时，确定第二声速为最佳声速。
若第二清晰度低于第一清晰度，第三声速是在第一声速的基础上减小第三预设步长所得到的，即第三声速的前一声速为第一声速，则当第三清晰度低于第一清晰度时，确定所述第一声速为最佳声速。
可选地，若对清晰度的要求较高，或者采用第三声速的前一声速进行图像处理后所得到的图像清晰度不能满足要求，则可以通过减小确定步长的方式在第三声速和与第三声速的前一声速之间进行进一步细化的确定。例如，若第三声速是在第二声速的基础上增加第一预设步长所得到的，则可以在第三声速的基础上减小第五预设步长得到第四声速，第五预设步长小于第一预设步长。之后，采用第四声速进行处理以获得第四超声图像，计算第四超声图像的第四清晰度，并将第四清晰度与第二清晰度进行比较，将第四清晰度与第二清晰度中较大值所对应的声速确定为最佳声速。反之，若第三声速是在第一声速的基础上减小第三预设步长所得到的，则可以在第三声速的基础上增加第六预设步长得到第四声速，第六预设步长小于第三预设步长。之后，采用第四声速进行处理以获得第四超声图像，计算第四超声图像的第四清晰度，并将第四清晰度与第一清晰度进行比较，将第四清晰度与第一清晰度中较大值所对应的声速确定为最佳声速。当然，若第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值能够满足对清晰度的要求，则可以直接将第一清晰度和第二清晰度中 较大值对应的声速确定为最佳声速，并停止声速确定，从而提高声速确定的速度。
在第二种情况下，在步骤S211中，若与第三声速对应的第三清晰度高于第一清晰度和第二清晰度时，则认为当前声速的变化趋势仍然在趋近于最佳声速，且尚未达到最佳声速，因而可以沿用当前的声速变化方向继续进行声速确定，即根据第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。
其中，若第二清晰度高于第一清晰度，第三清晰度是在第二声速的基础上增加第一预设步长所得到的，则在第三清晰度高于第二清晰度时，沿用声速增加的声速变化方向，在第三声速的基础上增加第二预设步长以得到所述第四声速。示例性地，第二预设步长为固定值，例如，第二预设步长可以等于第一预设步长和第三预设步长；或者，可以根据第二清晰度和第三清晰度的差值自适应调整第二预设步长，例如，该差值越大，说明距离最佳声速越远，因而第二预设步长越大，从而加快声速确定速度。
反之，若第二清晰度低于第一清晰度，第三清晰度是在第一清晰度的基础上减小第三预设步长所得到的，则在第三清晰度高于第一清晰度时，沿用声速降低的声速变化方向，在第三声速的基础上减小第四预设步长以得到所述第四声速。示例性地，第二预设步长为固定值，例如，第二预设步长可以等于第一预设步长和第三预设步长；或者，可以根据第一清晰度和第三清晰度的差值自适应调整第二预设步长，例如，该差值越大，则第二预设步长越大。
确定第四声速以后，可以采用第四声速对超声回波信号进行处理，以得到第四超声图像，确定第四超声图像的第四清晰度，并将第四清晰度与第三清晰度进行比较，若第四清晰度低于第三清晰度，则将第三声速确定为最佳声速；若第四清晰度高于第三清晰度，则沿当前的声速变化方向继续进行声速确定，直到第N个声速对超声回波信号进行处理后所得的待处理区域的超声图像的图像清晰度低于采用第N-1个声速对超声回波信号进行处理后所得的待处理区域的超声图像的图像清晰度，此时停止声速确定，并将第N-1个声速确定为最佳声速。
参照图3，在图3所示的例子中，声速确定从预置声速开始，即以预置声速作为上述的第一声速SP1。在第一声速SP1的基础上增大一个声速得到第二声速SP2，并采用第一声速SP1和第二声速SP2分别对超声回波信号进行处理以得到第一超声图像和第二超声图像，并分别获得第一超声图像和第 二超声图像的第一清晰度和第二清晰度。当第一声速SP1为预置声速时，可以采用步骤S202中所获得的超声图像评价待处理区域的清晰度，此时只需采用第二声速SP2进行图像处理。
接着，比较第一清晰度和第二清晰度的大小，并根据比较结果确定第三声速。在图3所示的例子中，第二声速SP2所对应的第二清晰度高于第一声速SP1所对应的第一清晰度，因而在第二声速SP2的基础上增加第一预设步长，以得到第三声速SP3，并采用第三声速SP3进行信号处理以获得第三清晰度，继而比较第三清晰度与第二清晰度。在图3中，与第三声速SP3对应的第三清晰度高于与第二声速SP2对应的第二清晰度，因而沿用原有的声速变化趋势，在第三声速SP3的基础上继续增加第二预设步长以得到第四声速SP4，并采用第四声速SP4进行信号处理以获得第四清晰度。由于第四清晰度低于第三声速SP3对应的第三清晰度，因而停止声速确定，将第四声速SP4的前一声速(即第三声速SP3)确定为最佳声速。
基于以上描述，分别对超声图像中的一个或多个待处理区域进行了声速确定，从而为每个待处理区域确定了各自的最佳声速。示例性地，在步进式声速确定过程中，在获取最佳声速的同时，针对待处理区域均生成了与最佳声速对应的超声图像，因而可以用声速确定过程中生成的与最佳声速对应的超声图像替换步骤S202中获得的超声图像中相应区域的超声图像，并保留其中非待处理区域的超声图像，从而得到清晰的完整超声图像。
可以理解的是，当存在多个待处理区域时，对多个所述待处理区域进行声速确定所得到的最佳声速可能不同，因而在对相邻的待处理区域采用不同的最佳声速进行成像以后，相邻区域的边界处可能存在阶梯效应。因此，在一个实施例中，在采用声速确定所得的最佳声速对每个待处理区域进行成像以后，还可以对相邻两个待处理区域之间的过渡区域进行平滑处理，使两个待处理区域之间没有明显的分界线，以进一步提高图像的质量和视觉效果。
其中，对图像进行平滑处理的方式不限于某一种，例如，可以采用对图像进行插值、后处理、平滑运算或过渡带渐变等方式。
在一个实施例中，方法200还可以包括：在显示界面上显示每个待处理区域的最佳声速。由于超声在组织内传播的速度与组织密度、硬度等性质相关，显示最佳声速有助于医生了解每个待处理区域的组织情况。该最佳声速可以显示在超声图像上，例如，当在步骤S202中，将所述超声图像划分为多个区域时，可以在每个区域的超声图像上显示该区域的最佳声速。或者，最佳声速也可以显示在超声图像以外的位置。作为示例，可以在显示界面的其 他位置显示超声图像的划分情况，例如当超声图像被划分为九宫格时，可以在超声图像周围显示九宫格图形，并九宫格图形中显示超声图像每个相应区域的最佳声速。
此外，还可以计算各个待处理区域最佳声速的平均值，并在显示界面上进行显示。显示平均声速有助于医生了解目标组织的整体情况。
综上所述，本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法200采用步进式的超声声速确定方式，提高了声速确定的效率，并且能够对超声图像中的不同区域分别进行声速确定，提高了超声图像的聚焦精度。
下面，参考图4描述根据本申请另一实施例的超声声速确定方法。图4是本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法400的一个示意性流程图。
如图4所示，超声声速确定方法400包括如下步骤：
在步骤S401，向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
在步骤S402，基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
在步骤S403，获取通过至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
在步骤S404，基于所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
在步骤S405，根据所述至少三个声速和相应的所述清晰度确定声速与清晰度之间的拟合曲线，并将所述拟合曲线的极值点所对应的声速确定为所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
根据本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法400中的步骤S401和步骤S402与超声声速确定方法200中的步骤S201和步骤S202大体上类似，为了简洁，此处不再赘述相同的细节内容，以下主要对步骤S403至步骤S405中声速确定的具体方式进行详细描述。
具体地，在步骤S402中，在生成初始的超声图像时，可以由波束合成电路使用超声成像系统内的预置声速进行波束合成，对该波束合成处理后的超声回波信号进行相关的图像处理所得到的超声图像所对应的声速为该预置声速。预置声速可以是当前检查模式下的固定值。
在生成超声图像以后，可以在其中确定后续声速确定处理的待处理区域， 即后续将仅对待处理区域进行声速确定。待处理区域可以是指定位置处的区域、包含目标组织的区域、用户感兴趣的区域或满足其他条件的区域。确定所述待处理区域的方式可以是自动确定，也可以是用户手动确定；所述待处理区域可以是一个，也可以是多个；或者，该待处理区域也可以是整幅超声图像，即不对超声图像进行分割，将将整幅超声图像作为一个整体进行声速确定。
在一个实施例中，可以首先将超声图像划分为多个区域，并将其中的部分或全部区域确定为待处理区域。在另一个实施例中，也可以直接可以采用自动或手动的方式在超声图像中框选出待处理区域。之后，还可以将选中的待处理区域进一步划分为多个区域。确定待处理区域的具体方法可以参见超声声速确定方法200中的相关描述，在此不再赘述。
在确定超声图像中的待处理区域后，对所述待处理区域进行声速确定，以得到所述待处理区域的最佳声速。如上所述，超声图像中的待处理区域可以为一个，也可以为多个，当存在多个待处理区域时，可以对多个待处理区域依次进行声速确定，也可以对多个待处理区域并行进行声速确定。并且，每个待处理区域所采用的声速确定策略可以相同，也可以不同，例如，其中部分待处理区域可以采用方法200中的步进式的声速确定策略，其余的待处理区域采用方法400中的拟合式的声速确定策略。此外，方法200和方法400可以相结合，例如分别采用方法200和方法400确定一个最佳声速，并比较采用以上两个最佳声速对待处理区域进行图像处理所得的清晰度，并将较高的清晰度所对应的声速确定为最终的最佳声速。以下针对单个待处理区域对本申请实施例所采用的拟合式的声速确定策略进行详细描述。
具体地，在步骤S403中，采用至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像进一步包括：从所述超声回波信号中获取所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号；采用至少三个声速分别对所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像。具体地，对于该至少三个声速中的每个声速，可以由处理器118确定该声速并传达至波束合成电路116，波束合成电路116根据待处理区域的位置和超声回波信号中携带的位置信息，从超声回波信号中获取待处理区域对应的超声回波信号，并采用从处理器118接收到的声速对待处理区域对应的超声回波信号进行处理。之后， 波束合成电路116将波束合成后的超声回波信号发送至处理器118进行处理以生成待处理区域的超声图像，并在步骤S404中计算与该待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度。
接着，在步骤S405中，根据所述至少三个声速和相应的清晰度确定声速与清晰度之间的拟合曲线，并将所述拟合曲线的极值点所对应的声速确定为所述待处理区域的所述最佳声速。
作为示例，由于超声成像系统内的预置声速一般偏离最佳声速较小，并且在生成初始的超声图像时使用了预置声速，因而为了提高拟合所得的曲线的准确性以及提高声速确定效率，上述至少三个声速包括超声成像系统内的预置声速以及在预置声速的基础上增加或减少预设步长所得的至少两个声速。进一步地，上述至少三个声速可以包括预置声速，以及在预置声速的基础上分别增加和减少预设步长所得的至少两个声速，从而减小三个声速分布在峰值的一侧而使拟合曲线不准确的可能性。
参见图5，上述至少三个声速分别包括第一声速SP1、第二声速SP2和第三声速SP3。作为示例，第一声速SP1可以为超声成像系统内的预置声速，第二声速SP2和第三声速SP3分别为在第一声速SP1的基础上减小和增加预设步长所得到的声速。根据第一声速SP1、第二声速SP2和第三声速SP3以及采用以上三个声速生成的待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度进行曲线拟合以后，曲线的极值点对应的声速为第四声速SP4，因而可以将第四声速SP4作为最佳声速。
根据本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法400，同样最快只需采用三个声速进行信号处理即可确定最佳声速。但可以理解的是，用于进行曲线拟合的声速越多，拟合所得的曲线越准确，但相应地确定速度较慢，因而可以通过调整声速的个数在确定速度和确定精度之间进行权衡，例如在对确定精度要求较高时，采用较多的声速进行曲线拟合。所采用的声速个数可以由系统自动确定，也可以设置若干精度档位，根据用户对确定精度的需求来确定。
在拟合式声速的过程中，最佳声速是根据拟合曲线确定的，此前未采用最佳声速进行图像处理，因而在确定最佳声速以后，还包括采用该最佳声速对超声回波信号进行处理以得到与最佳声速相对应的待处理区域的超声图像。之后，可以用最佳声速对应的待处理区域的超声图像替换步骤S402中获得的超声图像中相应区域的超声图像，并且还可以对相邻两个待处理区域之间的 过渡区域进行平滑处理，以进一步提高图像的质量和视觉效果。此外，还可以在显示界面上显示每个待处理区域的最佳声速，或者计算各个待处理区域最佳声速的平均值，并在显示界面上进行显示，具体参照方法200中的相关描述。
综上所述，本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法400采用拟合式的超声声速确定方式，提高了声速确定的效率，并且能够对超声图像中的不同区域分别进行声速确定，提高了超声图像的聚焦精度。
下面，参考图6描述根据本申请另一实施例的超声声速确定方法。图6是本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法600的一个示意性流程图。
如图6所示，超声声速确定方法600包括如下步骤：
在步骤S601，向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
在步骤S602，基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
在步骤S603，获取通过不同的声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
在步骤S604，根据所述不同的声速中至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
在步骤S605，根据所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
超声声速确定方法600与上文中的超声声速确定方法200和超声声速确定方法400类似，同样是首先采用至少三个声速对超声回波信号进行处理以得到相应的待处理区域的超声图像，并根据至少三个声速对应的超声图像的清晰度确定最佳声速。不同之处在于，超声声速确定方法600的声速确定策略不限于上文中的步进法和拟合法，还包括其他合适的声速确定策略。例如，在一个实施例中，可以采用步进法与拟合法相结合的确定方式，首先采用拟合法寻找到极值点对应的声速，之后以该极值点对应的声速作为起点开始进行步进法声速确定。或者，也可以采用逐级确定的声速确定方式，例如首先取间隔步长较大的若干声速，在若干声速中确定使清晰度最佳的两个声速，再在这两个声速之间进一步提取间隔步长较小的若干声速，并确定其中使清 晰度最佳的两个声速，如此逐级确定，直到清晰度满足预定要求。综上所述，本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法600根据采用至少三个声速进行信号处理后所得的待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定最佳声速，提高了声速确定的效率。
下面，参考图7描述根据本申请另一实施例的超声声速确定方法。图7是本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法700的一个示意性流程图。
如图7所示，超声声速确定方法700包括如下步骤：
在步骤S701，向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
在步骤S702，基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
在步骤S703，获取通过不同的声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
在步骤S704，根据所述不同的声速中至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
在步骤S705，根据所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
与上文中的超声声速确定方法600的不同之处在于，超声声速确定方法700根据至少两个声速及其对应的待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定待处理区域的最佳声速。例如，可以通过比较与至少两个声速对应的清晰度，并将最高的清晰度对应的声速确定为最佳声速。根据超声声速确定方法700可以自动确定待处理区域的最佳声速，无需用户手动切换声速，提高了用户体验。
现在重新参照图1，本申请实施例提供的超声成像系统100，可以用于实现上述超声声速确定方法200、超声声速确定方法400、超声声速确定方法600或超声声速确定方法700。超声成像系统100可以包括超声探头110、发射电路112、接收电路114、波束合成电路116、处理器118、显示器120以及发射/接收选择开关122中的部分或全部部件，各个部件的相关描述可以参照上文。
其中，发射电路112用于激励所述超声探头110向被测对象的目标组织 发射超声波；接收电路114用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号。
当用于实现超声声速确定方法200时，波束合成电路116用于采用第一声速、第二声速和第三声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器118用于：基于采用所述第一声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第一超声图像；基于所述待处理区域的第一超声图像，获得所述第一超声图像的第一清晰度；基于采用所述第二声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第二超声图像；基于所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，获得所述第二超声图像的第二清晰度，所述第二声速大于所述第一声速；根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速；基于采用所述第三声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第三超声图像；基于所述待处理区域的第三超声图像，获得所述第三超声图像的第三清晰度；当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度或者所述第二清晰度时，确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速；当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度时，根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。
在一个实施例中，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速，包括：当所述第二清晰度高于所述第一清晰度时，则在所述第二声速的基础上增加第一预设步长以得到所述第三声速。
示例性地，所述第一预设步长可以为固定值，或者也可以根据所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度的差值自适应调整。
在这种情况下，当所述第三清晰度低于所述第二清晰度时，确定所述第二声速为最佳声速；当所述第三清晰度高于所述第二清晰度时，则在所述第三声速的基础上增加第二预设步长以得到所述第四声速。
类似地，所述第二预设步长可以为固定值，或者也可以根据所述第二清晰度和所述第三清晰度的差值自适应调整。
在另一个实施例中，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速，包括：当所述第二清晰度低于所述第一清晰度时，则在所述第一声速的基础上减小第三预设步长以得到所述第三声速。
类似地，所述第三预设步长可以为固定值，或者也可以根据所述第一清 晰度和所述第二清晰度的差值自适应调整。
在这种情况下，当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度时，确定所述第一声速为最佳声速；当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度时，则在所述第三声速的基础上减小第四预设步长以得到所述第四声速。
类似地，所述第四预设步长可以为固定值，或者也可以根据所述第一清晰度和所述第三清晰度的差值自适应调整。
当用于实现超声声速确定方法400时，波束合成电路116用于采用至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器118用于：基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；分别基于采用所述至少三个声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得与所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；基于所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；根据所述至少三个声速和相应的所述清晰度确定声速与清晰度之间的拟合曲线，并将所述拟合曲线的极值点所对应的声速确定为所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
在一个实施例中，所述至少三个声速包括预置声速和在所述预置声速的基础上分别增加和减少预设步长所得的至少两个声速。
当用于实现超声声速确定方法600时，波束合成电路116用于分别采用不同的声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器118用于：基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；分别基于采用所述不同的声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；根据所述不同的声速中至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；根据所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
当用于实现超声声速确定方法700时，波束合成电路116用于分别采用不同的声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
处理器118用于：基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；分别基于采用所述不同的声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；根据所述不同的声速中至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至 少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；根据所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
以上仅描述了超声成像系统100各部件的主要功能，更多细节参见对超声声速确定方法200、400、600和700进行的相关描述。本申请实施例的超声成像系统改进了声速确定的方式，提高了声速确定的效率，并且能够对超声图像中的不同区域分别进行声速确定，提高了超声图像的聚焦精度。
此外，根据本申请实施例，还提供了一种计算机存储介质，在所述计算机存储介质上存储了程序指令，在所述程序指令被计算机或处理器运行时用于执行本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法200、400、600或700的相应步骤。所述存储介质例如可以包括智能电话的存储卡、平板电脑的存储部件、个人计算机的硬盘、只读存储器(ROM)、可擦除可编程只读存储器(EPROM)、便携式紧致盘只读存储器(CD-ROM)、USB存储器、或者上述存储介质的任意组合。所述计算机可读存储介质可以是一个或多个计算机可读存储介质的任意组合。
此外，根据本申请实施例，还提供了一种计算机程序，该计算机程序可以存储在云端或本地的存储介质上。在该计算机程序被计算机或处理器运行时用于执行本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法的相应步骤。
基于上面的描述，根据本申请实施例的超声声速确定方法和超声成像系统改进了声速确定的方式，提高了聚焦速度和效率，并且能够对超声图像中的不同区域分别进行声速确定，提高了超声图像的聚焦精度。
尽管这里已经参考附图描述了示例实施例，应理解上述示例实施例仅仅是示例性的，并且不意图将本申请的范围限制于此。本领域普通技术人员可以在其中进行各种改变和修改，而不偏离本申请的范围和精神。所有这些改变和修改意在被包括在所附权利要求所要求的本申请的范围之内。
本领域普通技术人员可以意识到，结合本文中所公开的实施例描述的各示例的单元及算法步骤，能够以电子硬件、或者计算机软件和电子硬件的结合来实现。这些功能究竟以硬件还是软件方式来执行，取决于技术方案的特定应用和设计约束条件。专业技术人员可以对每个特定的应用来使用不同方法来实现所描述的功能，但是这种实现不应认为超出本申请的范围。
在本申请所提供的几个实施例中，应该理解到，所揭露的设备和方法， 可以通过其它的方式实现。例如，以上所描述的设备实施例仅仅是示意性的，例如，所述单元的划分，仅仅为一种逻辑功能划分，实际实现时可以有另外的划分方式，例如多个单元或组件可以结合或者可以集成到另一个设备，或一些特征可以忽略，或不执行。
在此处所提供的说明书中，说明了大量具体细节。然而，能够理解，本申请的实施例可以在没有这些具体细节的情况下实践。在一些实例中，并未详细示出公知的方法、结构和技术，以便不模糊对本说明书的理解。
类似地，应当理解，为了精简本申请并帮助理解各个发明方面中的一个或多个，在对本申请的示例性实施例的描述中，本申请的各个特征有时被一起分组到单个实施例、图、或者对其的描述中。然而，并不应将该本申请的方法解释成反映如下意图：即所要求保护的本申请要求比在每个权利要求中所明确记载的特征更多的特征。更确切地说，如相应的权利要求书所反映的那样，其发明点在于可以用少于某个公开的单个实施例的所有特征的特征来解决相应的技术问题。因此，遵循具体实施方式的权利要求书由此明确地并入该具体实施方式，其中每个权利要求本身都作为本申请的单独实施例。
本领域的技术人员可以理解，除了特征之间相互排斥之外，可以采用任何组合对本说明书(包括伴随的权利要求、摘要和附图)中公开的所有特征以及如此公开的任何方法或者设备的所有过程或单元进行组合。除非另外明确陈述，本说明书(包括伴随的权利要求、摘要和附图)中公开的每个特征可以由提供相同、等同或相似目的的替代特征来代替。
此外，本领域的技术人员能够理解，尽管在此所述的一些实施例包括其它实施例中所包括的某些特征而不是其它特征，但是不同实施例的特征的组合意味着处于本申请的范围之内并且形成不同的实施例。例如，在权利要求书中，所要求保护的实施例的任意之一都可以以任意的组合方式来使用。
本申请的各个部件实施例可以以硬件实现，或者以在一个或者多个处理器上运行的软件模块实现，或者以它们的组合实现。本领域的技术人员应当理解，可以在实践中使用微处理器或者数字信号处理器(DSP)来实现根据本申请实施例的一些模块的一些或者全部功能。本申请还可以实现为用于执行这里所描述的方法的一部分或者全部的装置程序(例如，计算机程序和计算机程序产品)。这样的实现本申请的程序可以存储在计算机可读介质上，或者可以具有一个或者多个信号的形式。这样的信号可以从因特网网站上下载 得到，或者在载体信号上提供，或者以任何其他形式提供。
应该注意的是上述实施例对本申请进行说明而不是对本申请进行限制，并且本领域技术人员在不脱离所附权利要求的范围的情况下可设计出替换实施例。在权利要求中，不应将位于括号之间的任何参考符号构造成对权利要求的限制。本申请可以借助于包括有若干不同元件的硬件以及借助于适当编程的计算机来实现。在列举了若干装置的单元权利要求中，这些装置中的若干个可以是通过同一个硬件项来具体体现。单词第一、第二、以及第三等的使用不表示任何顺序。可将这些单词解释为名称。
以上所述，仅为本申请的具体实施方式或对具体实施方式的说明，本申请的保护范围并不局限于此，任何熟悉本技术领域的技术人员在本申请揭露的技术范围内，可轻易想到变化或替换，都应涵盖在本申请的保护范围之内。本申请的保护范围应以权利要求的保护范围为准。

Claims (41)

  1. 一种超声声速确定方法，其特征在于，所述方法包括：
    向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
    基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
    获取通过第一声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第一超声图像；
    基于所述待处理区域的第一超声图像，获得所述第一超声图像的第一清晰度；
    获取通过第二声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述待处理区域的第二超声图像；
    基于所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，获得所述第二超声图像的第二清晰度，所述第二声速大于所述第一声速；
    根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速；
    采用所述第三声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述待处理区域的第三超声图像；
    基于所述待处理区域的第三超声图像，获得所述第三超声图像的第三清晰度；
    当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度或者所述第二清晰度时，确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速；
    当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度时，根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。
  2. 根据权利要求1所述的方法，其特征在于，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速，包括：
    当所述第二清晰度高于所述第一清晰度时，则在所述第二声速的基础上增加第一预设步长以得到所述第三声速。
  3. 根据权利要求2所述的方法，其特征在于，
    当所述第三清晰度低于所述第二清晰度时，所述确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速包括：
    确定所述第二声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速；
    当所述第三清晰度高于所述第二清晰度时，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速包括：
    在所述第三声速的基础上增加第二预设步长以得到所述第四声速。
  4. 根据权利要求1所述的方法，其特征在于，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速，包括：
    当所述第二清晰度低于所述第一清晰度时，则在所述第一声速的基础上减小第三预设步长以得到所述第三声速。
  5. 根据权利要求4所述的方法，其特征在于，
    当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度时，所述确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速包括：
    确定所述第一声速为所述待处理区域的最佳声速；
    当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度时，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速包括：
    在所述第三声速的基础上减小第四预设步长以得到所述第四声速。
  6. 根据权利要求2所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第一预设步长为固定值或者根据所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度的差值自适应调整。
  7. 根据权利要求3所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第二预设步长为固定值或者根据所述第二清晰度和所述第三清晰度的差值自适应调整。
  8. 根据权利要求4所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第三预设步长为固定值或者根据所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度的差值自适应调整。
  9. 根据权利要求5所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第四预设步长为固定值或者根据所述第一清晰度和所述第三清晰度的差值自适应调整。
  10. 根据权利要求1所述的方法，所述采用第二声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，包括：
    从所述超声回波信号中获取所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号；
    采用第二声速对所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述待处理区域的第二超声图像。
  11. 一种超声声速确定方法，其特征在于，所述方法包括：
    向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
    基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
    获取通过至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述至 少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
    基于所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
    根据所述至少三个声速和相应的所述清晰度确定声速与清晰度之间的拟合曲线，并将所述拟合曲线的极值点所对应的声速确定为所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
  12. 根据权利要求11所述的方法，其特征在于，所述至少三个声速包括预置声速和在所述预置声速的基础上增加或减少预设步长所得的至少两个声速。
  13. 根据权利要求11所述的方法，其特征在于，所述获取通过至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，包括：
    从所述超声回波信号中获取所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号；
    采用至少三个声速分别对所述待处理区域对应的超声回波信号进行处理，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像。
  14. 根据权利要求1-13中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域，包括：
    将所述超声图像划分为多个区域，并将所述多个区域中至少一个区域确定为所述待处理区域。
  15. 根据权利要求14所述的方法，其特征在于，所述将所述超声图像划分为多个区域包括：将所述超声图像等分为多个区域。
  16. 根据权利要求14所述的方法，其特征在于，将所述多个区域中至少一个区域确定为所述待处理区域，包括：
    将在所述超声图像中的位置满足预定要求的至少一个区域确定为所述待处理区域。
  17. 根据权利要求16所述的方法，其特征在于，所述在所述超声图像中的位置满足预定要求的至少一个区域包括所述超声图像的中心区域和近场图像区域中的至少一个。
  18. 根据权利要求14所述的方法，其特征在于，将所述多个区域中的至少一个区域确定为所述待处理区域，包括：
    在所述超声图像上显示所述多个区域的划分情况；
    接收用户对所述待处理区域的选择指令，并根据所述选择指令将所述多个区域中至少一个区域确定为所述待处理区域。
  19. 根据权利要求1-13中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域，包括：
    接收在所述超声图像中框选出感兴趣区域的用户指令，并将所述感兴趣区域作为所述待处理区域。
  20. 根据权利要求14-18中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，将所述多个区域中至少两个区域确定为所述待处理区域，对所述待处理区域进行声速确定，包括：
    对至少两个所述待处理区域依次进行声速确定，或者，对至少两个所述待处理区域并行进行声速确定。
  21. 根据权利要求1-20中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，还包括：
    对基于最佳声速生成的超声图像中相邻两个所述待处理区域之间的过渡区域进行平滑处理。
  22. 根据权利要求1-20中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述清晰度包括所述待处理区域的图像梯度值、图像熵和图像方差中的一个或多个。
  23. 根据权利要求1-22中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述待处理区域包括多个待处理区域，所述方法还包括：
    显示多个所述待处理区域中至少一个区域的所述最佳声速的平均值。
  24. 根据权利要求14所述的方法，其特征在于，还包括：
    在所述超声图像上显示所述多个区域的划分情况；
    显示所述多个区域中的至少一个区域的所述最佳声速。
  25. 一种超声声速确定方法，其特征在于，所述方法包括：
    向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
    基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
    获取通过不同的声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
    根据所述不同的声速中至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
    根据所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
  26. 一种超声声速确定方法，其特征在于，所述方法包括：
    向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波，并接收所述超声波的回波，以得到超声回波信号；
    基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
    获取通过不同的声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理得到的所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
    根据所述不同的声速中至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
    根据所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
  27. 一种超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述超声成像系统包括：
    超声探头；
    发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
    接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
    波束合成电路，用于采用第一声速、第二声速和第三声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
    处理器，用于：
    基于采用所述第一声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第一超声图像；
    基于所述待处理区域的第一超声图像，获得所述第一超声图像的第一清晰度；
    基于采用所述第二声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第二超声图像；
    基于所述待处理区域的第二超声图像，获得所述第二超声图像的第二清晰度，所述第二声速大于所述第一声速；
    根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速；
    基于采用所述第三声速处理后的超声回波信号获得所述待处理区域的第三超声图像；
    基于所述待处理区域的第三超声图像，获得所述第三超声图像的第三清晰度；
    当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度或者所述第二清晰度时，确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为所述待处理区域的最 佳声速；
    当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度时，根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速。
  28. 根据权利要求27所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速，包括：
    当所述第二清晰度高于所述第一清晰度时，则在所述第二声速的基础上增加第一预设步长以得到所述第三声速。
  29. 根据权利要求28所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述处理器用于：
    当所述第三清晰度低于所述第二清晰度时，所述确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为最佳声速包括：
    确定所述第二声速为最佳声速；
    当所述第三清晰度高于所述第二清晰度时，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速包括：
    在所述第三声速的基础上增加第二预设步长以得到所述第四声速。
  30. 根据权利要求27所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度的变化情况确定第三声速，包括：
    当所述第二清晰度低于所述第一清晰度时，则在所述第一声速的基础上减小第三预设步长以得到所述第三声速。
  31. 根据权利要求30所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述处理器用于：
    当所述第三清晰度低于所述第一清晰度时，所述确定所述第一清晰度和所述第二清晰度中较大值对应的声速为最佳声速包括：
    确定所述第一声速为最佳声速；
    当所述第三清晰度高于所述第一清晰度时，所述根据所述第一清晰度和第二清晰度中较大值与所述第三清晰度的变化情况确定第四声速包括：
    在所述第三声速的基础上减小第四预设步长以得到所述第四声速。
  32. 一种超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述超声成像系统包括：
    超声探头；
    发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
    接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
    波束合成电路，用于采用至少三个声速分别对所述超声回波信号进行处 理；
    处理器，用于：
    基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
    分别基于采用所述至少三个声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得与所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
    基于所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
    根据所述至少三个声速和相应的所述清晰度确定声速与清晰度之间的拟合曲线，并将所述拟合曲线的极值点所对应的声速确定为所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
  33. 根据权利要求32所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述至少三个声速包括预置声速和在所述预置声速的基础上增加或减少预设步长所得的至少两个声速。
  34. 根据权利要求27-33之一所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，还包括显示器，用于显示所述超声图像。
  35. 根据权利要求34所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域，包括：
    将所述超声图像划分为多个区域，并将所述多个区域中的部分或全部区域确定为所述待处理区域。
  36. 根据权利要求35所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述显示器还用于在所述超声图像上显示所述多个区域的划分情况；
    将所述多个区域中的部分区域确定为所述待处理区域，包括：
    接收用户对所述待处理区域的选择指令，并根据所述选择指令将所述多个区域中的一个或多个区域确定为所述待处理区域。
  37. 根据权利要求36所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域，包括：
    接收在所述超声图像中框选出感兴趣区域的用户指令，并将所述感兴趣区域作为所述待处理区域。
  38. 根据权利要求35所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述显示器还用于显示至少部分所述待处理区域的所述最佳声速的平均值。
  39. 根据权利要求35所述的超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述显示器还用于：
    在所述超声图像上显示所述多个区域的划分情况；以及
    显示所述多个区域中的至少部分所述待处理区域的所述最佳声速。
  40. 一种超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述超声成像系统包括：
    超声探头；
    发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
    接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
    波束合成电路，用于分别采用不同的声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
    处理器，用于：
    基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
    分别基于采用所述不同的声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
    根据所述不同的声速中至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
    根据所述至少三个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
  41. 一种超声成像系统，其特征在于，所述超声成像系统包括：
    超声探头；
    发射电路，用于激励所述超声探头向被测对象的目标组织发射超声波；
    接收电路，用于接收所述超声波的回波，以获得超声回波信号；
    波束合成电路，用于分别采用不同的声速对所述超声回波信号进行处理；
    处理器，用于：
    基于所述超声回波信号生成超声图像，并确定所述超声图像中的待处理区域；
    分别基于采用所述不同的声速处理后的超声回波信号，获得所述不同的声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像；
    根据所述不同的声速中至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像，获得所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度；
    根据所述至少两个不同声速对应的所述待处理区域的超声图像的清晰度确定所述待处理区域的最佳声速。
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