WO2022099704A1

WO2022099704A1 - Ultrasonic imaging method and ultrasonic imaging system of fetus in middle and late pregnancy

Info

Publication number: WO2022099704A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/129099
Authority: WO
Inventors: 张福; 邹耀贤; 林穆清; 梁天柱; 陈志杰
Original assignee: 深圳迈瑞生物医疗电子股份有限公司
Priority date: 2020-11-16
Filing date: 2020-11-16
Publication date: 2022-05-19
Also published as: CN116322521A

Abstract

An ultrasonic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging system of a fetus in middle and late pregnancy. The method comprises: S220, obtaining three-dimensional ultrasonic data of a fetus in middle and late pregnancy; S230, determining a direction of a long axis of a body region of the fetus in the middle and late pregnancy according to the three-dimensional ultrasonic data; S540, extracting, from the three-dimensional ultrasonic data, information of middle and late pregnancy target characteristic structures of the fetus, the middle and late pregnancy target characteristic structures comprising at least one of: the stomach bubble, spine, liver, umbilical veins, descending aorta, postcava, position where an umbilical cord is inserted, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, both legs, umbilical artery, and gall bladder; and according to the direction of the long axis and the information of the middle and late pregnancy target characteristic structures, S560, extracting, from the three-dimensional ultrasonic data, at least one standard abdomen section of the fetus in the middle and late pregnancy and displaying the standard abdomen section. In the ultrasonic imaging method and the ultrasonic imaging system, the standard abdomen section of the fetus in the middle and late pregnancy is automatically extracted according to the three-dimensional ultrasonic data collected at one time without manually extracting the standard abdomen sections one by one by a doctor, thus improving the efficiency of extracting the standard abdomen sections and the quality of the extracted standard abdomen sections.

Description

Ultrasound imaging method and ultrasound imaging system of the fetus in the second and third trimesters

manual

technical field

The present application relates to the technical field of ultrasound imaging, and more particularly, to an ultrasound imaging method and an ultrasound imaging system for a fetus in the second and third trimesters.

Background technique

With the improvement of people's living standards and social progress, people have unlimited expectations for the accuracy of prenatal ultrasonography. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the level of prenatal ultrasonography, the clinical demand for prenatal ultrasonography has also increased accordingly. There is no unified standard and lack of standardization, which directly affects the quality of prenatal ultrasonography and the development of the discipline.

Abdominal ultrasonography is an indispensable part of prenatal ultrasonography. When performing ultrasonography on the abdomen, it is often necessary to check the deformity through standard sections. Whether there are deformities in structures such as kidneys, bladder, and the entrance of the abdominal wall of the umbilical cord. This prenatal examination method can timely and effectively detect fetal abdominal malformations, and carry out corresponding diagnosis and treatment.

In the actual operation of obtaining standard abdominal views, doctors often need to constantly adjust the position of the probe to obtain these views. This process not only requires the doctor's skilled image acquisition operation, but also the operation process is relatively cumbersome and time-consuming. When the hospital needs to examine a large number of pregnant women, there is a lot of repetitive work, which greatly limits the efficiency of prenatal examinations. At the same time, in primary hospitals, many doctors are limited by their level and experience, and it is not easy to obtain the best standard abdominal section; there is no uniform standard for the extraction of abdominal standard section between different regions, hospitals and doctors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A series of concepts in simplified form have been introduced in the Summary section, which are described in further detail in the Detailed Description section. The Summary of the Invention section of the present invention is not intended to attempt to limit the key features and essential technical features of the claimed technical solution, nor is it intended to attempt to determine the protection scope of the claimed technical solution.

A first aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the middle and late pregnancy, the method comprising:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receiving the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

obtaining three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signal;

determining the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

Extract information about the target feature structure of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, where the feature structure of the second trimester target includes at least one of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta, inferior Vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, gallbladder;

Extracting at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters;

The at least one abdominal standard slice is displayed.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters, the method comprising:

determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

extracting information about the target feature structure of the second- and third-trimester fetuses from the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

extracting at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the target direction and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters;

The at least one abdominal standard slice is displayed.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters, the method comprising:

Detecting at least two different regions of the second and third trimester target feature structures from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, the at least two different second and third trimester target feature structures include at least two of the following: gastric vesicles, spine bones, liver, umbilicus Veins, descending aorta, inferior vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, gallbladder;

Determining at least one cut plane that at least partially overlaps with the region of each of the at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structure regions, as at least one abdominal standard cut plane of the second-late pregnancy fetus ;

The at least one abdominal standard slice is displayed.

A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasonic imaging system, the ultrasonic imaging system includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor, and a display, where a computer program executed by the processor is stored in the memory , the computer program executes the steps of the ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters of the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application when the computer program is run by the processor.

A fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasonic imaging system, where the ultrasonic imaging system includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor, and a display, where a computer program executed by the processor is stored in the memory , the computer program executes the steps of the ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters of the second aspect of the embodiments of the present application when the computer program is run by the processor.

A sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasonic imaging system, where the ultrasonic imaging system includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor, and a display, where a computer program executed by the processor is stored in the memory , the computer program executes the steps of the method for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimesters of the third aspect of the embodiments of the present application when the computer program is run by the processor.

According to the ultrasound imaging method and ultrasound imaging system of the fetus in the second and third trimesters of the present application, it is possible to automatically extract the standard abdominal slices of the fetus in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data collected in a single time, without the need for doctors to manually extract the standard slices one by one, which greatly optimizes the It can improve the workflow of prenatal examination, effectively improve work efficiency, and improve the stability of the obtained standard section quality, and promote the popularization and application of structural screening in middle and late pregnancy.

Description of drawings

In order to illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained from these drawings without creative labor.

In the attached image:

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 an ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 shows a schematic diagram of the relationship between the long-axis direction of the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters and the standard section of the abdomen according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 shows a schematic diagram of a cut surface of an umbilical cord insertion opening of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic flowchart of an ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a schematic flowchart of a method for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the exemplary embodiments according to the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application, and it should be understood that the present application is not limited by the example embodiments described herein. Based on the embodiments of the present application described in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present application may be practiced without one or more of these details. In other instances, some technical features known in the art have not been described in order to avoid confusion with the present application.

It should be understood that the application may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of this application to those skilled in the art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the/the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "compose" and/or "include", when used in this specification, identify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not exclude one or more other The presence or addition of features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and/or groups. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of the associated listed items.

For a thorough understanding of the present application, detailed structures will be presented in the following description in order to explain the technical solutions proposed by the present application. Alternative embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, however, the present application may have other embodiments in addition to these detailed descriptions.

In the following, an ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application is first described with reference to FIG. 1 , which shows a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the ultrasound imaging system 100 includes an ultrasound probe 110 , a transmit/receive circuit 112 , a processor 114 , a display 116 , and a memory 118 . Further, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may further include a beam forming circuit, a transmit/receive selection switch, and the like.

Specifically, the ultrasonic probe 110 includes a plurality of transducer array elements, and the plurality of transducer array elements can be arranged in a row to form a linear array, or arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form an area array, and the plurality of transducer array elements can also be arranged form a convex array. The transducer is used to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the excitation electrical signal, or convert the received ultrasonic waves into electrical signals, so each array element can be used to realize the mutual conversion of electrical pulse signals and ultrasonic waves, so as to realize the tissue emission to the target area of the measured object. Ultrasound can also be used to receive ultrasound echoes reflected back by tissue. During ultrasonic imaging, which transducers are used for transmitting ultrasonic waves and which transducers are used for receiving ultrasonic waves, or which transducers are used for transmitting ultrasonic waves or receiving ultrasonic waves in time slots through the transmitting sequence and receiving sequence. The transducers participating in ultrasonic emission can be excited by electrical signals at the same time, so as to emit ultrasonic waves at the same time; or, the transducers participating in ultrasonic beam emission can also be excited by several electrical signals with a certain time interval, so as to continuously emit a certain time interval. Ultrasound.

The transmit/receive circuit 112 may be connected to the ultrasound probe 110 through a transmit/receive selection switch. The transmit/receive selection switch may also be called a transmit/receive controller, which may include a transmit controller and a receive controller, the transmit controller is used to excite the ultrasound probe 110 to transmit ultrasound to the area where the fetus is located in the second and third trimesters via the transmit circuit; the receive control The device is used to receive ultrasonic echoes returned from the region where the fetus is located in the second and third trimesters through the ultrasonic probe 110 via the receiving circuit, so as to obtain ultrasonic echo data. After that, the transmitting/receiving circuit 112 sends the electrical signal of the ultrasonic echo into the beam forming circuit, and the beam forming circuit performs processing such as focusing delay, weighting and channel summation on the electrical signal, and then sends the processed ultrasonic echo data to the beam forming circuit. into the processor 114.

Optionally, the processor 114 may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof, and may use circuits, 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, thereby enabling the processor 114 to perform the various corresponding steps of the method. Also, the processor 114 may control other components in the ultrasound imaging system 100 to perform desired functions.

The processor 114 processes the received ultrasound echo data to obtain three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters. As an example, the ultrasound probe 110 transmits/receives ultrasound in a series of scanning planes, and is integrated by the processor 114 according to its three-dimensional spatial relationship to realize the scanning of the fetus in the three-dimensional space and the reconstruction of the three-dimensional image in the second and third trimesters. Finally, after the processor 114 performs some or all of the image post-processing steps such as denoising, smoothing, and enhancement, the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is acquired. The processor 114 may acquire three-dimensional ultrasound data of the whole body of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, or may acquire only the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the head or body of the fetus in the second and third trimesters. The processor 114 is also used for extracting standard slices of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data. Standard slices obtained by processor 114 may be stored in memory or displayed on display 116 . Also, the processor 114 may render and display the three-dimensional ultrasound data on the display 116 .

The display 116 is connected to the processor 114, and the display 116 may be a touch display screen, a liquid crystal display screen, etc.; or the display 116 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 116 may be Displays of electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets, etc. The number of displays 116 may be one or more. For example, the display 116 may include a main screen and a touch screen, where the main screen is mainly used for displaying ultrasound images, and the touch screen is mainly used for human-computer interaction.

Display 116 may display ultrasound images obtained by processor 114 . In addition, the display 116 can also provide a graphical interface for the user to perform human-computer interaction while displaying the ultrasonic 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. For example, an icon is displayed on a graphical interface, and the icon can be operated by using a human-computer interaction device to perform a specific function.

Optionally, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may further include other human-computer interaction devices other than the display 116, which are connected to the processor 114. For example, the processor 114 may be connected to the human-computer interaction device through an external input/output port, and the external input/output port may be connected to the human-computer interaction device. / 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.

Wherein, 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 a memory 118 for storing instructions executed by the processor, storing received ultrasound echoes, storing ultrasound images, and the like. The memory 118 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.

It should be understood that 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.

Hereinafter, an ultrasound imaging method of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the ultrasound imaging method 200 of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

First, in step S210, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and echoes of the ultrasonic waves are received to obtain ultrasonic echo signals.

Among them, the fetus in the second and third trimesters includes the fetus in the second trimester and the fetus in the third trimester. The fetus in the second trimester generally refers to the fetus from the 14th to the 27th week of pregnancy, and the fetus in the third trimester generally refers to the fetus at the 28th week of pregnancy and above. Exemplarily, an ultrasound scan may be performed based on the ultrasound imaging system 100 shown in FIG. 1 . The user moves the ultrasound probe 110 to select an appropriate position and angle, and the transmit circuit in the transmit/receive circuit 120 sends a set of delayed and focused pulses to the ultrasound probe 110 , and the ultrasound probe 110 transmits ultrasound to the fetus in the second and third trimesters along the 2D scanning plane. After the ultrasonic probe 110 receives the reflected ultrasonic echoes, it converts them into electrical signals, and the beamforming circuit performs corresponding delay and weighted summation processing on the ultrasonic echo signals obtained from multiple transmissions/receptions, so as to realize the beam forming process. It is synthesized and then sent to the processor 114 for subsequent signal processing.

In step S220, three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is obtained based on the ultrasound echo signal.

Specifically, the three-dimensional spatial relationship of the ultrasound echoes obtained by the ultrasound probe 110 transmitted/received in a series of scanning planes can be integrated, so as to realize the scanning of the fetus in the three-dimensional space and the reconstruction of the three-dimensional ultrasound data in the second and third trimesters. Finally, after some or all image post-processing steps such as denoising, smoothing, and enhancement, three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters are obtained. Among them, the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the whole body of the fetus in the second and third trimesters may be acquired, or only the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters may be acquired.

In some embodiments, after acquiring the three-dimensional ultrasound data, a visualization algorithm may be used to render the three-dimensional ultrasound data, so as to obtain a three-dimensional ultrasound image and display it by using a display device. The method used for rendering the three-dimensional image includes, for example, a surface rendering method or a volume rendering method, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the standard abdominal section is a two-dimensional section containing key information of the abdomen in the three-dimensional ultrasound image. The physiological characteristic structure with clinical value can be observed through the standard abdominal section, which is an important basis for screening abdominal deformities. Exemplarily, the subsequently extracted standard abdominal slices include at least one of the following standard slices: abdominal girth slice, umbilical cord insertion slice slice, gallbladder slice, bilateral kidney transverse slice, and bladder and double umbilical artery slice.

Specifically, the abdominal girth section is usually round or oval, and contains information about the gastric vesicle, the umbilical vein, and the transverse section of the spine. The cut surface of the umbilical cord insertion port is usually round or oval, and the normal abdominal wall entrance of the umbilical cord is located in the center of the anterior abdominal wall, which is in a straight line with the spinal echo of the posterior abdominal wall, forming the anterior and posterior central axis of the cut surface of the umbilical cord insertion port. The gallbladder section is usually round or oval in shape and contains information about structures such as the gallbladder. The cross-section of both kidneys is usually round or oval, which contains information about the structure of the two kidneys. The section of the bladder and double umbilical arteries is a transverse section of the lower abdomen, which shows the anechoic area of the bladder, and the color Doppler image shows the umbilical arteries on both sides of the bladder. Subsequent extraction of some or all of the standard abdominal slices above can be performed to perform comprehensive screening of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters.

In step S230, the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters is determined according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data.

Since the long-axis direction of the body region can be more accurately determined according to the 3D ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and the standard abdominal section generally has a certain angular relationship with the long-axis direction of the body region, first determine the long-axis direction of the body region, Further extracting the abdominal standard slice according to the long axis direction of the body region can improve the quality of the extracted abdominal standard slice. Exemplarily, determining the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters includes but is not limited to the following implementations:

In one manner, the spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters may be determined from the three-dimensional ultrasound data acquired in step S220, and the long axis direction of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters may be determined according to the direction of the spine region. Since the spine region is more obvious in the three-dimensional ultrasound images of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, the long-axis direction of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters can be accurately determined according to the position of the spine region.

Exemplarily, determining the spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in the three-dimensional ultrasound data includes segmenting the spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and the methods include but are not limited to the following two: one is to divide the three-dimensional spine region; The segmentation is transformed into two-dimensional spine region segmentation, that is, the spine region is segmented in multiple two-dimensional slice images of the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and the segmentation results of the spine region on the multiple two-dimensional slice images are combined to obtain the spine in the three-dimensional ultrasound image. The second is to directly perform 3D segmentation on the 3D ultrasound data to obtain the 3D segmentation result of the spine region.

When converting the 3D spine region segmentation into 2D spine region segmentation, the multiple 2D slices extracted from the 3D ultrasound data can be all 2D slices of the 3D ultrasound data, and then the segmentation of the spine region from all the 2D slices can be synthesized results to obtain the segmentation results of the spine in the entire 3D ultrasound data. Exemplarily, all the two-dimensional slices of the three-dimensional ultrasound data may be acquired by taking the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to horizontal slices, upper and lower slices, and the like. Alternatively, the multiple 2D slices extracted from the 3D ultrasound data may also be part of the 2D slices in the 3D ultrasound data, that is, the 2D slices are sampled images obtained by sampling the 3D ultrasound data with preset rules, for example The sampled images can be obtained equidistantly in a certain direction or rotated according to a center point to obtain the sampled images, and the spine regions in the sampled images can be segmented. 3D segmentation results of the spine region.

Wherein, as an example, a machine learning method or a traditional image processing method can be used to segment the spinal region in a plurality of two-dimensional slice images of the three-dimensional ultrasound data.

Specifically, when using a machine learning algorithm to segment the spine region in the two-dimensional slice image, it is necessary to build a two-dimensional slice image database of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in advance, in which each two-dimensional slice image data is marked with the corresponding spine region. , and then learn an optimal mapping function for mapping from the two-dimensional slice image to the spine region's domain region of interest box or the spine region's specific region range.

When segmenting the spine region based on the deep learning method, the 3D ultrasound data in the database is first sliced, and multiple 2D slice images are obtained as training samples, and each 2D slice image is marked with the location of the spine area. These training samples are sent to the network model constructed in advance, and the loss function of the network model is optimized for training until the network model reaches convergence. During the training process, the network model can learn how to recognize the spine region from a two-dimensional slice image. the location. After training the network model, you only need to input a single two-dimensional slice image into the network model to get the segmentation result of the spine region.

When segmenting the spine region based on traditional image processing methods, pixel clustering, edge segmentation, graph cutting, or threshold-based image segmentation algorithms can be used. Among them, the threshold-based image segmentation algorithm is relatively simple and straightforward. Since the spine region and other regions in the ultrasound image have different gray values, based on this property of the spine region, the threshold-based image segmentation can achieve better results. . When performing image segmentation based on a threshold, one or more grayscale values may be preset as a threshold, so that the ultrasound image is divided into a spine region and a background region based on the grayscale values of the ultrasound image.

In addition to the above methods, other suitable methods can also be used to segment the spine region in the two-dimensional slice images. For example, first pre-segment the 2D slice image by threshold segmentation, Snake, level set, GraphCut, ASM, AAM and other methods to obtain a set of candidate boundary ranges; then perform feature extraction for each candidate boundary range. The extraction method can be to extract traditional image features such as PCA, LDA, HOG, Harr, LBP, etc., or to extract image features based on neural networks; after that, compare the extracted image features with the images extracted from the marked spine regions in the pre-built database. The features are matched, and the discriminators such as KNN, SVM, random forest or neural network are used for classification to determine whether the current candidate boundary range contains the spine region.

When directly performing 3D segmentation on 3D ultrasound data, a 3D convolutional neural network can be used to perform 3D segmentation to obtain a 3D spine region, determine the long axis direction of the spine region, and then determine the long axis direction of the body region. Specifically, a three-dimensional ultrasound database is pre-built, wherein each three-dimensional ultrasound data is marked with a position corresponding to the spine region, and then the three-dimensional convolutional neural network is trained based on the pre-built database. Based on the 3D convolutional neural network, the 3D ultrasound data does not need to be sliced, and the 3D ultrasound data can be directly input into the trained model to obtain the segmentation results of the spine region. Available 3D Convolutional Neural Networks include, but are not limited to, 3DUnet, 3DFCN, Medical-Net, etc.

Alternatively, a traditional 3D segmentation algorithm can be used to segment the spine region in the 3D ultrasound data. Optional 3D segmentation algorithms include but are not limited to 3D Otsu method, 3D threshold segmentation, 3D region growing, 3D level set, split and merge method, etc. The three-dimensional spine region can be directly segmented by the three-dimensional segmentation algorithm, and then the long-axis direction of the fetus can be calculated by using the spine.

After the spine region in the 3D ultrasound data is segmented by the above method, the long axis direction of the spine region is determined according to the range of the spine region, and the long axis direction is the long axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters. Illustratively, a straight line proximate the spinal region may be determined and the direction of the straight line determined as the direction of the spinal region. Among them, the straight line closest to the spine region can be fitted by methods such as least squares. Alternatively, in traditional image processing methods, methods such as Hough transform and random sampling consensus algorithm (RANSAC) can be used to detect the brightest straight line in the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters as the detection result of the spine region, and The orientation of this line is determined as the orientation of the spine region.

In another way of determining the long axis direction of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters, the body region of the second and third trimester fetuses can be determined in the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and the long axis direction of the second and third trimester fetal body can be determined according to the shape of the body region.

The manner in which the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is determined in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is similar to the manner in which the spine region is determined as described above. For example, the body region may be firstly segmented in multiple 2D slice images of the 3D ultrasound data, and the segmentation results of the body area on the multiple 2D slice images may be integrated to obtain the 3D segmentation result of the body area in the 3D ultrasound image, wherein The methods for segmenting body regions on 2D slice images include but are not limited to machine learning methods and traditional image processing methods; alternatively, 3D convolutional neural networks or traditional 3D segmentation algorithms can also be used to directly process 3D ultrasound data and directly segment The body area of the fetus in the second and third trimesters.

Then, according to the segmentation result of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters, the long axis of the body region is determined according to the shape of the body region, and the long axis direction is determined as the up and down direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters. Exemplarily, the principal component analysis (PCA) method or the least squares method can be used to determine the long-axis direction of the body region, or to divide the two points that are farthest away in the above-mentioned body region, and the connection between the two points is the body region. long axis.

In addition to the above automatic segmentation methods, manual segmentation methods can also be used to determine the long axis direction of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters. That is, a user instruction for determining the direction of the long axis is received, and the direction of the long axis of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters is determined according to the received user instruction. Users only need to specify the direction of the long axis to obtain at least one standard abdominal slice without manually extracting the standard abdominal slices one by one.

In step S240, information about the target feature structure of the fetus in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy is extracted from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and the feature structure of the second and third trimester fetuses includes at least one of the following: gastric vesicles, spine bones, liver, umbilical veins , descending aorta, inferior vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, gallbladder.

The above-mentioned target feature structure in the second and third trimesters is a specific target feature structure in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, and is also a landmark structure for obtaining a specific standard abdominal section. Therefore, it is first necessary to analyze the information of the characteristic structures of these mid-late pregnancy targets, such as obtaining their positions and volumes. Among them, it is possible to detect the region where the feature structure of the mid-late pregnancy target is located in multiple two-dimensional slice images of the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and synthesize the segmentation results of the feature structure of the mid-late pregnancy target on the multiple two-dimensional slice images, so as to obtain the mid-late pregnancy target feature structure. The 3D segmentation result of the feature structure of the pregnancy target in the 3D ultrasound image; it can also directly perform 3D segmentation on the 3D ultrasound data, so as to obtain the 3D segmentation result of the feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy target.

Similar to the method for segmenting the spine region above, the pre-trained target segmentation network can be used to extract the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters in the multiple 2D slice images of the 3D ultrasound data. The segmentation method based on machine learning needs to construct an ultrasound image database in advance, in which each ultrasound image is marked with the information of each mid-late pregnancy target feature structure in various abdominal standard slices, specifically including: whether the mid-late pregnancy target feature structure exists, Types of target eigenstructures in the second and third trimesters and the location of the second and third trimester target eigenstructures.

The target segmentation method based on deep learning mainly includes the feature learning and parameter regression of the pre-built database by stacking convolutional layers and fully connected layers, so that after obtaining the input ultrasound image, the network can directly predict the The position of the late pregnancy target feature structure, and the category of the middle and late pregnancy target feature structure is output. Optional networks include: RCNN, Fast RCNN, Faster-RCNN, YOLO, SSD, Retina-Net, and more. When training the network, first obtain the 2D slice images of the 3D ultrasound data in the database, each 2D slice image corresponds to a label, and the label includes the location of the target feature structure in the second and third trimesters and the category of the target feature structure in the second and third trimesters. , and finally train the mid-late pregnancy target feature structure segmentation model through the two-dimensional slice images and the corresponding labels. After the segmentation model is trained, it is only necessary to input the 2D slice images of the 3D ultrasound data to be segmented into the trained segmentation model to obtain the location and type of the feature structures of each middle-late pregnancy target.

When directly performing 3D segmentation on the 3D ultrasound data, a 3D convolutional neural network can be used for 3D segmentation to obtain a 3D region where the target feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy is located. Specifically, a three-dimensional ultrasound database is pre-built, in which each three-dimensional ultrasound data is marked with information such as the position and type corresponding to the feature structure of the target in the middle and late pregnancy, and then the three-dimensional convolutional neural network is trained based on the pre-built database. Based on the 3D convolutional neural network, the 3D ultrasound data does not need to be sliced, and the 3D ultrasound data can be directly input into the trained model to obtain the information of the target feature structure in the second and third trimesters.

In addition, it is also possible to determine at least one candidate feature structure in the 3D ultrasound data according to the morphological features of the target feature structure in the second and third trimesters, use a classifier to determine the category of the candidate feature structure, and classify the candidate feature structure according to the category of the candidate feature structure. Determining the target characteristic structure in the second and third trimesters. For example, traditional image processing methods can be used to perform threshold segmentation and morphological operations on hypoechoic structures such as transparent bladder, gastric vesicle, gallbladder, and umbilical vein to obtain the locations of these hypoechoic structures, and then use KNN, SVM, random forest or A classifier such as a neural network performs category judgment on these positions to determine the position of the target feature structure in the second and third trimesters.

In step S250, at least one standard abdominal slice of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is extracted from the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the long-axis direction of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters.

In one embodiment, the cut plane that forms a preset angle with the long axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters and meets the preset requirements with the overlapping area with the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters can be determined as the abdominal standard cut plane. Wherein, when the standard abdominal section is the transverse section of the abdomen, the preset angle may be approximately equal to or equal to 90°, that is, the standard abdominal section is perpendicular to the long axis direction. FIG. 3 shows the three-dimensional ultrasound image of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, the direction of the long axis and the direction of the standard slice of the abdomen perpendicular to the direction of the long axis.

Since the target feature structure of the second and third pregnancy has a certain volume, it is at a preset angle to the long axis, and there may be multiple sections passing through the area where the target feature structure of the second and third pregnancy is located. The slices whose overlapping areas meet the preset requirements are used as the standard slices of the abdomen. Optionally, the coincidence area with the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters meets the preset requirements, which may be that the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters has the largest area on the standard abdominal section, or the standard section of the abdomen passes through the center point of the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters. , the standard abdominal section extracted in this way can provide more information, and is helpful to standardize the extraction standard of standard abdominal section between different regions, different hospitals and different doctors. In some embodiments, a section perpendicular to the long axis direction and at least partially coincident with the at least two mid-late pregnancy target feature structures may also be determined as a standard abdominal section, so as to improve the accuracy of the extracted standard abdominal section.

For example, the abdominal girth section is a section perpendicular to the long axis and at least partially coincident with the gastric bubble area and the umbilical vein area; the umbilical cord insertion port section is a section perpendicular to the long axis and at least partially coincident with the umbilical cord insertion port area, as shown in the figure 4; the gallbladder section is the section perpendicular to the long axis and at least partially coincident with the gallbladder area; the double kidney section is the section perpendicular to the long axis and at least partially coincident with the double kidney area; the bladder section is perpendicular to the long axis and a section that at least partially coincides with the bladder area and the umbilical artery area on both sides of the bladder.

The method for automatically obtaining the standard abdominal slice is shown above. On this basis, a semi-automatic detection method can also be used, that is, the extraction range of the standard abdominal slice is first limited, and the ultrasound imaging system receives the user who determines the extraction range of the standard abdominal slice. an instruction, determining an extraction range according to the received user instruction, and extracting the abdominal standard slice within the extraction range. The user can limit the extraction range to the abdominal area of the fetus in the second and third trimesters to remove some unnecessary interferences, thereby improving the quality of the standard abdominal section.

Exemplarily, the automatic extraction of a standard slice of the abdomen may be performed automatically after acquiring the three-dimensional ultrasound data, or may be performed according to a received user instruction. For example, a user can activate the function of automatically extracting a standard abdominal slice by triggering a button for extracting a standard abdominal slice. After acquiring the three-dimensional ultrasound data, when a user instruction for extracting a standard abdominal slice is received, the standard slice of the abdomen is extracted. In some embodiments, the user may also activate the function of automatically extracting a standard abdominal slice before starting to acquire ultrasound data, and then automatically extract a standard slice of the abdomen after acquiring the three-dimensional ultrasound data. The standard abdominal section is an important basis for the screening of abdominal deformities. By observing the standard abdominal section, it can be judged whether the fetal abdominal development is normal in the second and third trimesters.

In some embodiments, the standard slice to be extracted may also be determined first according to the received user input. For example, options for standard abdominal slices such as abdominal circumference slices and umbilical cord insertion opening slices may be displayed on the user interface, and the standard abdominal slices to be extracted may be determined according to the user's selection.

Finally, in step S260, the standard abdominal slice is displayed.

The displayed standard cut planes may be all the standard cut planes extracted in step S250, or may be part of the standard cut planes. Exemplarily, when the standard slices extracted in step S250 are displayed, some of the standard slices may be displayed according to the received user instruction. The corresponding standard slice is displayed.

In some embodiments, since the feature structures of the second and third pregnancy targets are detected in the three-dimensional ultrasound data in step S240, the position of the second and third trimester target feature structures detected from the three-dimensional ultrasound data can also be displayed, so as to For users to conduct comparative analysis.

Besides, the long-axis direction determined in step S230 may also be displayed, so that the user can view the associated standard abdominal slice in combination with the target direction. As an example, the target direction may be displayed at the same time as the three-dimensional ultrasound image is displayed. For example, the direction of the long axis of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can be displayed by graphical markers such as arrows.

In some embodiments, the name of each determined standard slice may also be displayed, so that the user can intuitively determine the type of the standard slice, or select the standard slice to be viewed according to the name of the standard slice. The names of the standard slices can be displayed synchronously with the standard slices, or, the names of each standard slice can be displayed on the display interface first, and when the user selects the name of the standard slice, the corresponding standard slice is displayed.

To sum up, the ultrasound imaging method 200 of the fetus in the second and third trimesters of the embodiment of the present application can automatically determine at least one standard abdominal slice according to the long-axis direction of the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters, without the need for The doctor manually extracts the standard abdominal sections one by one, which greatly optimizes the workflow of prenatal examination, effectively improves work efficiency, and can improve the stability of the quality of the obtained standard abdominal sections, and promote the promotion and application of structural screening in the middle and late pregnancy. .

Embodiments of the present application further provide an ultrasound imaging system for implementing the above-mentioned ultrasound imaging method 200 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters. The ultrasonic imaging system includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor and a display, wherein a computer program executed by the processor is stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, an ultrasonic imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters is executed 200 steps. Referring now back to FIG. 1 , the ultrasound imaging system may be implemented as ultrasound imaging system 100 as shown in FIG. 1 . As described above, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may include the ultrasound probe 110 , the transmit/receive circuit 112 , the processor 114 , and the display 116 , and the relevant descriptions of the various components can be referred to above.

When used to implement the ultrasonic imaging method 200, the transmitting/receiving circuit 112 is used to excite the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; the processor 114 The method is used for: obtaining three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signal; determining the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data; extracting the target features of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data Structural information, the target feature structure in the second and third trimester includes at least one of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta, inferior vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery , gallbladder; according to the information of the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters and the information of the target characteristic structure of the second and third trimesters, extract at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data; the display 116 is used to display the at least one abdomen Standard section of the stock.

Only the main functions of the components of the ultrasound imaging system 100 are described above. For more details, please refer to the related description of the ultrasound imaging method 200 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters. The ultrasound imaging system of the embodiment of the present application can automatically determine the standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, thereby improving the work efficiency and the quality of the standard abdominal section.

Hereinafter, an ultrasound imaging method of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to another embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to FIG. 5 . FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method 500 for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the ultrasound imaging method 500 of the fetus in the second and third trimesters includes the following steps:

In step S510, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

In step S520, obtain three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signal;

In step S530, the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters is determined according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

In step S540, extract information about the target feature structure of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

In step S550, extract at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the target direction and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters;

In step S560, the at least one abdominal standard slice is displayed.

Steps S510 and S520 in the ultrasound imaging method 500 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to the embodiment of the present application are substantially similar to steps S210 and S220 in the ultrasound imaging method 200 described with reference to FIG. Repeating the same details, the following mainly describes in detail the manner in which the standard slice is determined according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data in the method 500 .

The main difference between the ultrasound imaging method 500 of the fetus in the second and third trimesters of this embodiment and the ultrasonic imaging method 200 above is that the target direction determined according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data is not limited to the long axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters. For example, the target direction may include the up-down direction of the body region (ie, the long-axis direction above), the front-rear direction, and the left-right direction, hereinafter referred to as the first direction, the second direction, and the third direction, respectively.

In one embodiment, determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data includes: determining the spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and determining the middle and late pregnancy according to the direction of the spine region. Target orientation of fetal body regions during pregnancy. Since the spine region is more obvious in the three-dimensional ultrasound image, the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can be accurately determined according to the position of the spine region. The method for determining the spine region may include segmenting the spine region in multiple two-dimensional slice images of the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and synthesizing the segmentation results of the spine region on the multiple two-dimensional slice images, so as to obtain the three-dimensional spine in the three-dimensional ultrasound image. segmentation result; or, directly perform 3D segmentation on the 3D ultrasound data to obtain a 3D segmentation result of the spine region. The specific details of the method of determining the spine region in the three-dimensional ultrasound data can be referred to above.

The up-down and front-back directions of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can be directly determined through the segmentation results of the spine region. Wherein, determining the up and down direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the direction of the spine region includes: determining a straight line close to the spine region, and determining the direction of the straight line as the first direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters, that is, the up and down direction. Exemplarily, the straight line closest to the spine region can be fitted by methods such as least squares, or the straight line with the brightest brightness obtained by using methods such as Hough transform and RANSAC in traditional image processing methods can be directly used as the closest line. Straight lines in the spine area.

After the up-down direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters is determined according to the segmentation result of the spine region, the second direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can be further determined according to the up and down direction, that is, the front-rear direction. Specifically, one or more cross-sections of the body region perpendicular to the above-determined up-down direction can be extracted from the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters, and machine learning or traditional image processing methods are used to detect the body region in the cross-section of the body region The position of the center point and the spine is determined, and the direction of the line connecting the center point of the body region and the position of the spine is determined as the second direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters, that is, the front-to-back direction, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.

In another embodiment, the front-back direction of the body region can also be directly determined according to the segmentation result of the spine region, without the need to determine the front-back direction based on the up-down direction of the body region. Specifically, since the spine is convex toward the back of the body, a curve close to the spine can be determined, and the convex direction of the curve can be determined as the front-back direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters. Wherein, a method such as least squares can be used to fit an arc closest to the spine as the above curve, or the arc with the brightest brightness obtained in the traditional image processing method can be directly obtained as the above curve.

In addition, the direction of the body region can also be determined according to the shape characteristics of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters, that is, the body region of the second and third trimester fetuses can be detected from the 3D ultrasound data, and the target direction can be determined according to the shape of the body region. Since the shape characteristics of the fetal body region in the upper and lower directions in the second and third trimesters are more obvious, and the shape difference between the front and rear directions and the left and right directions is small, this method is mainly used to determine the upper and lower directions of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters.

Specifically, a machine learning or image processing method can be used to determine the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in the three-dimensional ultrasound data, wherein the determined body region may be a region of interest frame (ROI) that is determined to surround the body of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, or Segment the specific area of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters. After that, the long axis of the body region is determined according to the shape of the body region, and the direction of the long axis is determined as the up-down direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters. Exemplarily, a principal component analysis (PCA) method can be used to determine the long axis of the body region, or to detect the two most distant points in the above body region, and the line connecting the two points is the long axis of the body region.

As for the determination of the third direction (ie, the left-right direction) of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters, the up-down direction and the anterior-posterior direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can be determined by using any of the above methods or any other feasible methods. The direction perpendicular to the anterior-posterior direction is determined as the left-right direction of the fetal body in the second and third trimesters. In addition, the left and right directions of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can also be determined according to some specific target feature structures of the fetus in the second and third trimesters. For example, symmetrical features in the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can be detected in the three-dimensional ultrasound data. The position of the structure was determined, and the direction of the line connecting the symmetrical features was determined as the left and right direction of the fetal body area in the second and third trimesters. The symmetrical characteristic structure is, for example, a symmetrical characteristic structure such as two kidneys, two lungs, and left and right ribs. Alternatively, the left and right atriums of the fetus in the second and third trimesters can also be detected. The direction of the connection between the left and right atriums generally forms an angle of 45° with the left and right directions of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters. According to this feature, the left and right directions of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters can also be determined.

In step S540, information about the target feature structure of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is extracted from the three-dimensional ultrasound data. Among them, the target feature structure of the second and third pregnancy includes at least one of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta, inferior vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, gallbladder .

The target feature structure of the second and third trimesters corresponds to the standard abdominal section to be extracted. In some embodiments, the type of the standard abdominal slice to be extracted is first determined, and then the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters corresponding to the type of the standard abdominal slice is determined. Specifically, the standard abdominal section includes at least one of the following: abdominal girth section, umbilical cord insertion port section, gallbladder section, bilateral kidney transverse section, bladder and double umbilical artery section. When the standard abdominal section is the abdominal girth section, the target feature structure of the second trimester includes at least one of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta and inferior vena cava; when the standard abdominal section is the umbilical cord insertion port In the view, the target feature structures of the second and third trimesters include at least one of the following: umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, spine, anterior abdominal wall and descending aorta; when the standard view of the abdomen is the bladder and double umbilical arteries, the second trimester target feature structures include: At least one of the following: bladder and umbilical artery; when the standard abdominal section is the gallbladder section, the target characteristic structures in the second and third trimesters include gallbladder and spine; when the standard abdominal section is the transverse section of both kidneys, the target characteristic structures in the second and third trimesters include Kidneys and spine.

In step S540, any suitable image detection or segmentation method can be used to determine the position of the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters. For example, a traditional machine learning method or a deep learning method can be used to train a machine learning model for the target feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy corresponding to each standard abdominal slice, so as to determine the position of the target feature structure. Before model training, a fetal ultrasound database in the second and third trimesters is established in advance. Each 3D ultrasound data in the database marks the position of the fetal target feature structure in the second and third trimesters, such as its region of interest frame or specific region range. A machine learning method or a deep learning method is used to learn an optimal mapping function, which is used to obtain the region of interest frame or specific area range of the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, so as to realize the target feature of the second and third trimesters. Detection or segmentation of structures.

In step S550, according to the target direction determined in step S530 and the information of the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters determined in step S540, at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is extracted from the three-dimensional ultrasound data. Specifically, a cut plane that forms a preset angle with the target direction and meets the preset requirements with the overlapping area with the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters can be determined as the standard abdomen cut plane. Exemplarily, the overlapping area with the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters meeting the preset requirements includes: the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters has the largest area on the standard abdominal section, or the standard section of the abdomen passes through the center point of the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters. .

For different target directions, the above preset angles are different. For example, the transverse section of the body region such as the abdominal circumference section, the umbilical cord insertion incision section, and the bilateral kidney transverse section are parallel or approximately parallel to the anterior-posterior or left-right direction of the body area, that is, the preset angle with the anterior-posterior or left-right direction is about 0 °; perpendicular or approximately perpendicular to the up-down direction of the body area, that is, the preset angle with the up-down direction is about 90°.

In step S560, the displayed standard slices of the abdomen may be part or all of the standard slices extracted in step S550. In addition to displaying the extracted standard slices, the name of the abdominal standard slices can also be displayed. In addition, the target feature structures of the second and third trimesters detected from the 3D ultrasound data can also be displayed. In the three-dimensional ultrasound image of the fetus, for example, a ROI frame surrounding the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters is displayed or an outline showing the feature structure of the second and third trimester target is displayed.

Embodiments of the present application further provide an ultrasound imaging system for implementing the above-mentioned ultrasound imaging method 500 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters. The ultrasonic imaging system includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor and a display, wherein a computer program executed by the processor is stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, an ultrasonic imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters is executed 500 steps. Referring now back to FIG. 1 , the ultrasound imaging system may be implemented as ultrasound imaging system 100 as shown in FIG. 1 . As described above, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may include the ultrasound probe 110 , the transmit/receive circuit 112 , the processor 114 , and the display 116 , and the relevant descriptions of the various components can be referred to above.

When used to implement the ultrasonic imaging method 500, the transmitting/receiving circuit 112 is used to excite the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; the processor 114 It is used for: determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data; extracting the information about the target feature structure of the second and third trimester fetuses in the three-dimensional ultrasound data; according to the target direction Extracting at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters; the display 116 is configured to display the at least one standard abdominal section.

Only the main functions of the components of the ultrasound imaging system 100 are described above. For more details, please refer to the related description of the ultrasound imaging method 500 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters.

The ultrasound imaging method 500 and the ultrasound imaging system of the fetus in the second and third trimesters of the present application automatically determine the standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters according to the target direction of the fetus in the second and third trimesters and the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters, without the need for doctors to manually extract the abdomen one by one. The standard section greatly optimizes the workflow of prenatal examination, effectively improves work efficiency, and can improve the stability of the quality of the obtained standard abdominal section, and promote the popularization and application of structural screening in the middle and late pregnancy.

Hereinafter, an ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to another embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a method 600 for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 6 , an ultrasound imaging method 600 of a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to an embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

In step S610, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

In step S620, obtain three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signal;

In step S630, at least two different regions of the second and third pregnancy target feature structures are detected from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and the at least two different second and third trimester pregnancy target feature structures include at least two of the following: gastric bubbles, spine bones , liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta, inferior vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, gallbladder;

In step S640, at least one section that at least partially overlaps with each of the at least two different regions of the second and third trimester target feature structures is determined as the at least one section of the second and third trimester fetuses. A standard section of the abdomen;

In step S650, the at least one standard abdominal slice is displayed.

Steps S610 and S620 in the ultrasound imaging method 600 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters according to the embodiment of the present application are substantially similar to steps S210 and S220 in the ultrasound imaging method 200 described with reference to FIG. Repeating the same details, the following mainly describes in detail the manner in which the standard slice is determined according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data in the method 600 .

In step S630, detecting at least two different regions of target feature structures of the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data includes: acquiring the type of the standard abdominal slice; detecting at least two regions corresponding to the type of the standard abdominal slice from the three-dimensional ultrasound data regions with different target feature structures in the second and third trimesters.

Exemplarily, the standard view of the abdomen of the fetus in the second and third trimesters includes at least one of the following: abdominal circumference view, umbilical cord insertion port view, gallbladder view, bilateral kidney transverse view, bladder and double umbilical artery view. When the standard abdominal section is the abdominal girth section, the target feature structures that need to be detected in the second and third trimesters include at least one of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta and inferior vena cava; when the standard abdominal section is umbilical cord insertion When the oral view is used, the target feature structures of the second and third trimesters that need to be detected include at least one of the following: umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, spinal bone, anterior abdominal wall and descending aorta; when the standard abdominal view is the bladder and double umbilical arteries, the The target feature structure in the second and third trimesters includes at least one of the bladder and the umbilical artery; when the standard abdominal section is the gallbladder section, the target feature structure in the second and third trimesters to be detected includes at least one of the gallbladder and the spine; when the standard abdominal section is the double When the kidney is cross-sectioned, the target feature structures that need to be detected in the second and third trimesters include at least one of the kidneys and the spine.

In step S630, any suitable image detection or segmentation method can be used to determine the position of the feature structure of the target in the second and third trimesters. For example, a traditional machine learning method or a deep learning method can be used to train a machine learning model for the feature structure corresponding to each standard slice, so as to determine the position of the feature structure. Before model training, a fetal ultrasound database in the second and third trimesters is established in advance, and each 3D ultrasound data in the database marks the position of the fetal target feature structure in the second and third trimesters, such as its region of interest (ROI) or specific area range, Then, traditional machine learning methods or deep learning methods are used to learn an optimal mapping function, which is used to obtain the region of interest box (ROI) or specific area range of the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters. The detection or segmentation of the feature structure of the mid-late pregnancy target.

In step S640, for the standard abdominal slice to be extracted, first obtain the type of the standard abdominal slice, determine the target feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy corresponding to the type of the standard abdominal slice, and detect the difference between the standard slice and the abdominal slice from the three-dimensional ultrasound data. Types of regions corresponding to at least two different target features in the second and third trimesters. Afterwards, a section that at least partially overlaps with the at least two different target feature structures of the second and third trimesters is determined as the detection result of the standard section of the abdomen. Specifically, a cut plane substantially coincident with each of the regions of the at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structure regions may be determined as a standard cut plane. Exemplarily, substantially coincident with the area of each mid-late pregnancy target feature structure in at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structure regions can be realized as passing through the center point of at least two mid-late pregnancy target feature structures, or at least The two target feature structures in the second and third trimesters have the largest cross-sectional area on the extracted standard slices of the abdomen, and so on. Optionally, in order to make the obtained standard slices more accurate, slices that at least partially overlap with three or more different mid-late pregnancy target feature structures may be determined as the detection results of the standard slices of the abdomen.

In step S650, the displayed abdominal standard slices may be part or all of the abdominal standard slices extracted in step S640. In addition to displaying the extracted standard abdominal slices, it can also display the name of the standard abdominal slices. In addition, it can also display the target feature structure of the second and third pregnancy detected from the 3D ultrasound data. The target feature structure of the second and third pregnancy can be displayed in the middle and late pregnancy In the three-dimensional ultrasound image of the fetus during pregnancy, for example, a ROI frame surrounding the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters is displayed or an outline showing the feature structure of the second and third trimester target is displayed.

Embodiments of the present application further provide an ultrasound imaging system for implementing the above-mentioned ultrasound imaging method 600 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters. The ultrasonic imaging system includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor and a display, wherein a computer program executed by the processor is stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, an ultrasonic imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters is executed 600 steps. Referring now back to FIG. 1 , the ultrasound imaging system may be implemented as ultrasound imaging system 100 as shown in FIG. 1 . As described above, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may include the ultrasound probe 110 , the transmit/receive circuit 112 , the processor 114 , and the display 116 , and the relevant descriptions of the various components can be referred to above.

When used to implement the ultrasonic imaging method 600, the transmitting/receiving circuit 112 is used to excite the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimester, and receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; the processor 114 Used for: obtaining three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signals; in step S630, detecting at least two different regions of the second and third trimester target feature structures from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, at least two different regions of the second trimester and third trimester pregnancy The target feature structure includes at least two of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta, inferior vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, and gallbladder; in step S640 , determining at least one cut plane that at least partially overlaps with the region of each of the at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structure regions, as at least one abdominal standard cut plane of the second-late pregnancy fetus; the display 116 Used to display the at least one abdominal femoral standard slice.

Only the main functions of the components of the ultrasound imaging system 100 are described above. For more details, please refer to the related description of the ultrasound imaging method 600 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters.

The ultrasound imaging method 600 for a fetus in the second and third trimesters and the ultrasound imaging system of the embodiments of the present application automatically determine the standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters according to at least two target feature structures of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, eliminating the need for a doctor to manually extract the abdomen one by one The standard section greatly optimizes the workflow of prenatal examination, effectively improves work efficiency, and can improve the stability of the quality of the obtained standard abdominal section, and promote the popularization and application of structural screening in the middle and late pregnancy.

In addition, according to the embodiments of the present application, a computer storage medium is also provided, where program instructions are stored on the computer storage medium, and the program instructions are used to execute the methods of the embodiments of the present application when the program instructions are run by a computer or a processor 200. Corresponding steps of method 500 or method 600. 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.

In addition, according to the embodiments of the present application, a computer program is also provided, and the computer program can be stored in the cloud or on a local storage medium. When the computer program is run by a computer or a processor, it is used to execute the corresponding steps of the ultrasound imaging method for a fetus in the second and third trimesters of the embodiments of the present application.

Based on the above description, according to the ultrasound imaging method and ultrasound imaging system of the fetus in the second and third trimesters of the present application, the standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters can be automatically determined according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data collected in a single time, without the need for a doctor to manually extract the abdomen one by one. The standard section greatly optimizes the workflow of prenatal examination, effectively improves work efficiency, and improves the stability of the quality of the obtained standard abdominal section, and promotes the popularization and application of structural screening in middle and late pregnancy.

Although example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above-described example embodiments are exemplary only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the application thereto. Various changes and modifications may be made therein by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this application as claimed in the appended claims.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality using different methods for each particular application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or May be integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. It will be understood, however, that the embodiments of the present application may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it is to be understood that in the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present application, various features of the present application are sometimes grouped together into a single embodiment, FIG. , or in its description. However, this method of application should not be construed as reflecting an intention that the claimed application requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the corresponding claims reflect, the invention lies in the fact that the corresponding technical problem may be solved with less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this application.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) and any method or apparatus so disclosed may be used in any combination, except that the features are mutually exclusive. Processes or units are combined. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that although some of the embodiments described herein include certain features, but not others, included in other embodiments, that combinations of features of different embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the present application within and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

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. Those skilled in the art should understand that 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. The present application can 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.

It should be noted that the above-described embodiments illustrate rather than limit the application, and alternative embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The application can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc. do not denote any order. These words can be interpreted as names.

The above are only specific embodiments of the present application or descriptions of the specific embodiments, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions should be included within the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A method for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimester, characterized in that the method comprises:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receiving the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

obtaining three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signal;

determining the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

Extract information about the target feature structure of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, where the feature structure of the second trimester target includes at least one of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta, inferior Vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, gallbladder;

Extracting at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters;

The at least one abdominal standard slice is displayed.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the standard abdominal section includes at least one of the following: abdominal circumference section, umbilical cord insertion port section, gallbladder section, bilateral kidney transverse section, bladder and double umbilical artery section.
The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, when the standard abdominal section is an abdominal girth section, the target feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy includes at least one of the following: gastric bubble, spine bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta and inferior vena cava;

When the standard abdominal cut plane is the cut plane of the umbilical cord insertion port, the target feature structure of the second and third pregnancy includes at least one of the following: the umbilical cord insertion site, the umbilical cord, the spine, the anterior abdominal wall and the descending aorta;

When the standard abdominal section is the section of the bladder and the double umbilical artery, the target characteristic structure of the second and third pregnancy includes at least one of the following: the bladder and the umbilical artery;

When the standard abdominal section is the gallbladder section, the target characteristic structure of the second and third pregnancy includes the gallbladder and the spine;

When the standard abdominal section is a transverse section of both kidneys, the target characteristic structures of the second and third trimesters include both kidneys and spine bones.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters and information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters At least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, including:

The cut plane that forms a preset angle with the long axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters and meets the preset requirements with the overlapping region of the second and third trimester target feature structures is determined as the abdominal standard cut plane.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the overlapping area with the target feature structure of the second and third trimester satisfies a preset requirement comprising:

The mid-late pregnancy target feature structure has the largest area on the abdominal standard section, or the abdominal standard section passes through the center point of the mid-late pregnancy target feature structure.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

determining the spinal region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

The direction of the long axis of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters is determined according to the direction of the spine region.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the determining, in the three-dimensional ultrasound data, the spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters comprises:

segmenting the spine region in a plurality of two-dimensional slice images of the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

The segmentation results of the spine region on a plurality of the two-dimensional slice images are integrated to obtain a three-dimensional segmentation result of the spine region in the three-dimensional ultrasound image.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the plurality of 2D slice images of the 3D ultrasound data are all 2D slice images in the 3D ultrasound data, or,

The multiple two-dimensional slices of the three-dimensional ultrasound data are sampled images obtained by sampling the three-dimensional ultrasound data with a preset rule, and the integration of the segmentation results of the spine region on the multiple two-dimensional slices The method includes: performing three-dimensional interpolation on the segmentation result of the sampled image, so as to obtain the three-dimensional segmentation result of the spine region.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the determining, in the three-dimensional ultrasound data, the spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters comprises:

Three-dimensional segmentation is performed on the three-dimensional ultrasound data to obtain a three-dimensional segmentation result of the spine region.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

determining the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

The long-axis direction of the body region is determined as the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the determining the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

segmenting the body region in a plurality of two-dimensional slice images of the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

The segmentation results of the body region on a plurality of the 2D slice images are integrated to obtain a 3D segmentation result of the body region in the 3D ultrasound image.
The method according to claim 10, wherein the determining the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

Three-dimensional segmentation is performed on the three-dimensional ultrasound data to obtain a three-dimensional segmentation result of the body region.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

A user instruction for determining the long-axis direction is received, and the long-axis direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters is determined according to the user instruction.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the extracting information on the target feature structure of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

Use a pre-trained target detection network to extract the feature structure of the second- and late-pregnancy target in the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

Alternatively, at least one candidate feature structure is determined in the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the morphological feature of the feature structure of the second-late pregnancy target, and a classifier is used to determine the category of the candidate feature structure, and according to the category of the candidate feature structure, the The target feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy is determined in the candidate feature structure.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the method further comprises: receiving a user instruction for determining the extraction range of the abdominal standard slice, determining the extraction range according to the user instruction, and performing the extraction in the extraction range Extract the standard section of the abdomen.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the method further comprises at least one of the following: displaying the position of the target feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy in the standard abdominal section, and displaying the long axis direction.
A method for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimester, characterized in that the method comprises:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receiving the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

obtaining three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signal;

determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

extracting information about the target feature structure of the second- and third-trimester fetuses from the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

extracting at least one standard abdominal section of the fetus in the second and third trimesters from the three-dimensional ultrasound data according to the target direction and the information on the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters;

The at least one abdominal standard slice is displayed.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

determining the spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters in the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and determining the first direction of the body region of the second and third trimester fetuses according to the direction of the spine region;

Alternatively, the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is determined in the three-dimensional ultrasound data, and the long axis direction of the body region is determined as the target direction of the body region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

In the three-dimensional ultrasound data, the region of the symmetrical feature structure of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is determined, and the direction of the line connecting the regions of the symmetrical feature structure is determined as the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimester.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

extracting at least one body region transverse plane perpendicular to the first direction in the three-dimensional ultrasound data;

Detecting the position of the center point of the body region and the spine in the cross section of the body region, and determining the direction of the line connecting the center point of the body region and the position of the spine as the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters.
The method according to claim 17, wherein the determining the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data comprises:

The spine region of the fetus in the second and third trimesters is determined from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, a curve close to the spine region is determined, and the convex direction of the curve is determined as the target direction of the fetal body region in the second and third trimesters.
A method for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimester, characterized in that the method comprises:

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the fetus in the second and third trimesters, and receiving the echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

obtaining three-dimensional ultrasound data of the fetus in the second and third trimesters based on the ultrasound echo signal;

Detect regions of at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structures from the three-dimensional ultrasound data, the at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structures include at least two of the following: gastric vesicles, spine bones, liver, umbilicus Veins, descending aorta, inferior vena cava, umbilical cord insertion, umbilical cord, anterior abdominal wall, bladder, legs, umbilical artery, gallbladder;

Determining at least one cut plane that at least partially overlaps with the region of each of the at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structure regions, as at least one abdominal standard cut plane of the second-late pregnancy fetus ;

The at least one abdominal standard slice is displayed.
The method according to claim 22, wherein the detecting from the three-dimensional ultrasound data at least two different regions of the target feature structure of the second and third trimesters comprises:

Get the type of standard abdominal section;

Regions of at least two different mid-late pregnancy target feature structures corresponding to the type of the abdominal standard slice are detected from the three-dimensional ultrasound data.
The method of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises:

Regions showing the at least two distinct mid- to late-trimester target features.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein the determining of at least a region of the at least two different second and third trimester target feature structure regions that at least partially overlaps One slice, as at least one standard slice of the abdomen of the fetus in the second and third trimesters, including:

Determining a section that is substantially coincident with each of the at least two different regions of the target feature structure in the second and third trimesters, as a standard section of the abdomen of the fetus in the second and third trimesters .
The method according to claim 22, wherein the standard abdominal section includes at least one of the following: abdominal girth section, umbilical cord insertion port section, gallbladder section, bilateral kidney transverse section, bladder and double umbilical artery section.
The method according to claim 26, characterized in that, when the standard abdominal section is an abdominal girth section, the target feature structure of the middle and late pregnancy includes at least one of the following: gastric vesicle, spinal bone, liver, umbilical vein, descending aorta and inferior vena cava;

When the standard abdominal cut plane is the cut plane of the umbilical cord insertion port, the target feature structure of the second and third pregnancy includes at least one of the following: the umbilical cord insertion site, the umbilical cord, the spine, the anterior abdominal wall and the descending aorta;

When the standard abdominal section is the section of the bladder and the double umbilical artery, the target characteristic structure of the second and late pregnancy includes at least one of the following: the bladder and the umbilical artery;

When the standard abdominal section is the gallbladder section, the target characteristic structure of the second and third pregnancy includes the gallbladder and the spine;

When the standard abdominal section is a transverse section of both kidneys, the target characteristic structures of the second and third trimesters include both kidneys and spine bones.
An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that it includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor, and a display, wherein the memory stores a computer program run by the processor, and the computer program is executed by the processor. The processor executes the steps of the method for ultrasound imaging of the fetus in the second and third trimesters of any one of claims 1-16 when the processor is running.
An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that it includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor, and a display, wherein the memory stores a computer program run by the processor, and the computer program is executed by the processor. The processor executes the steps of the method for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimesters of any one of claims 17-21 when the processor is running.
An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that it includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving circuit, a memory, a processor, and a display, wherein the memory stores a computer program run by the processor, and the computer program is executed by the processor. The processor executes the steps of the method for ultrasound imaging of a fetus in the second and third trimesters of any one of claims 22-27 when the processor is running.