Ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band combined imaging system

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of ultrasonic imaging, in particular to an ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band combined imaging system, which comprises an array element array, a plurality of frequency bands and a plurality of frequency bands, each array element comprises a plurality of stacked piezoelectric material layers, and the fundamental tone frequencies corresponding to the piezoelectric material layers are different; and the ultrasonic machine core controls the selection circuit to switch the conducted piezoelectric material layers so as to change the resonant frequency of the multi-band ultrasonic probe. Aiming at the problem that the multi-band imaging equipment in the prior art is inconvenient to use due to the fact that the frequency needs to be manually adjusted and the equipment needs to be replaced, in the scheme, a plurality of array elements in an array element array are adjusted, and a plurality of stacked piezoelectric material layers and a selection circuit are arranged; the ultrasonic machine core can switch the conducted piezoelectric material layers through the selection circuit when working, so that the resonant frequency of the multi-band ultrasonic probe is changed, the automatic frequency modulation and scanning process is achieved, and the use experience is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of ultrasonic imaging technology, and particularly to an ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band combined imaging system. Background Art

[0002] Ultrasonic scanning, or medical ultrasonic examination, is a medical imaging diagnosis technology based on ultrasonic waves. This technology can achieve visual imaging of a patient's muscle tissues and internal organs - including size, structure, and pathological lesions - outside the patient's body based on ultrasonic waves, to assist doctors in making an effective diagnosis of the patient's disease. An ultrasonic scanning device refers to a medical instrument that applies the above ultrasonic scanning technology, which images various tissue parts of a patient by means of ultrasonic waves to assist medical diagnosis. During an ultrasonic examination, due to different parameters such as the depth, water content, and density of each tissue, the reflectivity of different tissues to ultrasonic signals on different frequency bands is different.

[0003] In the prior art, to achieve a better scanning effect, it is usually necessary to determine the frequency band corresponding to the current examination item before the ultrasonic scanning starts. For example, Chinese Patent CN201880095972.X discloses a method for switching examination modes and an ultrasonic device, which are used to improve the operation efficiency. Among them, the method for switching examination modes includes: receiving a first operation instruction; in response to the first operation instruction, generating a first interface, the first interface including at least one ultrasonic probe information, the ultrasonic probe information including the ultrasonic probe type and the examination mode corresponding to the ultrasonic probe type, the examination mode corresponding to the ultrasonic probe type including at least one examination mode with a use frequency exceeding a first threshold; receiving a second operation instruction; in response to the second operation instruction, determining a first target examination mode corresponding to a first target ultrasonic probe from the at least one ultrasonic probe information; switching to the first target examination mode corresponding to the first target ultrasonic probe.

[0004] However, in the actual implementation process, the inventor found that in the application of such technical solutions, the ultrasonic frequency is mainly set manually, which is relatively inconvenient to use. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of the above problems existing in the prior art, there is provided an ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band combined imaging system.

[0006] The specific technical solution is as follows:

[0007] An ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band combined imaging system includes a multi-frequency band ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic core unit that are connected to each other;

[0008] An array element array is provided in the multi-frequency band ultrasonic probe, and the array element array includes a plurality of array elements;

[0009] Each of the array elements includes:

[0010] Multiple stacked piezoelectric material layers, with different fundamental frequencies corresponding to each piezoelectric material layer;

[0011] A selection circuit, with multiple input terminals of the selection circuit respectively connected to each piezoelectric material layer, the output terminal of the selection circuit connected to the input terminal of the ultrasonic core unit, and the control terminal of the selection circuit connected to the control terminal of the ultrasonic core unit;

[0012] The ultrasonic core unit controls the selection circuit to switch the conducting piezoelectric material layer to change the resonant frequency of the multi - frequency ultrasonic probe.

[0013] On the other hand, the ultrasonic core unit includes:

[0014] A sampling module, which sequentially selects the piezoelectric material layers and sends measurement signals to the tissue to be examined, and then collects the measurement echoes;

[0015] A measurement module, connected to the sampling module, and the measurement module calculates the reflection gain of each group of the measurement echoes for the tissue to be examined respectively;

[0016] A first determination module, connected to the measurement module, and the first determination module determines the piezoelectric material layer to be used during actual examination according to the reflection gain.

[0017] On the other hand, the measurement module includes:

[0018] A pre - imaging module, which performs pre - imaging according to the measurement echoes to obtain a pre - imaging image;

[0019] A position determination module, connected to the pre - imaging module, and the position determination module determines the tissue area corresponding to the tissue to be examined for the pre - imaging image;

[0020] A gain calculation module, connected to the position determination module, and the gain calculation module calculates the reflection gain for the tissue area respectively.

[0021] On the other hand, the pre - imaging module includes:

[0022] A pre - processing module, which performs band - pass filtering on the received measurement echoes to remove noise signals and obtain a filtered signal;

[0023] An image reconstruction module, connected to the pre - processing module, and the image reconstruction module generates the pre - processing image according to the filtered signal.

[0024] On the other hand, the position determination module includes:

[0025] An image stack module that stacks the preprocessed images after registration to obtain a stacked image;

[0026] An edge extraction module that is connected to the image stack module and extracts tissue edges from the stacked image;

[0027] A connected component recognition module that is connected to the edge extraction module and determines the tissue region corresponding to the tissue to be examined according to the tissue edges.

[0028] On the other hand, the gain calculation module includes:

[0029] A grayscale mapping module that extracts pixel grayscale values for each single pixel point in each group of the tissue regions and generates pixel gains according to the pixel grayscale values;

[0030] A gain averaging module that is connected to the grayscale mapping module and performs mean processing on the pixel gains to obtain the reflection gain.

[0031] On the other hand, the ultrasonic core also includes:

[0032] A second determination module that determines multiple associated frequency bands for the tissue to be examined;

[0033] A multi-band imaging module that selects the piezoelectric material layer to collect multi-band echoes according to the associated frequency bands and performs imaging according to the multi-band echoes.

[0034] On the other hand, the multi-band imaging module includes:

[0035] An image generation module that performs image reconstruction on each group of multi-band echoes to obtain frequency band images;

[0036] An image synthesis module that is connected to the image generation module and generates a composite image according to the frequency band images.

[0037] The above technical solutions have the following advantages or beneficial effects:

[0038] In view of the problem that the multi-band imaging devices in the prior art require manual frequency adjustment and equipment replacement, resulting in inconvenient use, in this solution, by adjusting multiple elements in the element array, a multi-layer stacked piezoelectric material layer and a selection circuit are set, so that when the ultrasonic movement works, the selection circuit can switch the conductive piezoelectric material layer to change the resonance frequency of the multi-band ultrasonic probe, thereby realizing the process of automatic frequency modulation and scanning, and improving the use experience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] Referring to the accompanying drawings, the embodiments of the present invention will be described more fully. However, the accompanying drawings are only for illustration and explanation, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the whole of the embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the ultrasonic movement in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0042] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the measurement module in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the pre-imaging module in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the position determination module in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the gain calculation module in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the second determination module in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the multi-band imaging module in the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0048] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0049] It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in the present invention and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0050] Next, the present invention will be further described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments, but it is not a limitation of the present invention.

[0051] The present invention includes:

[0052] An ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi - band combined imaging system, as Figure 1 shown, includes a multi - band ultrasonic probe 1 and an ultrasonic core unit 2 which are connected to each other;

[0053] An array element array 3 is provided in the multi - band ultrasonic probe 1, and the array element array 3 includes a plurality of array elements 31;

[0054] Each array element 31 respectively includes:

[0055] Piezoelectric material layers 4 stacked in multiple layers, and the fundamental frequencies corresponding to each layer of piezoelectric material layer 4 are different;

[0056] A selection circuit 5, multiple input ends of the selection circuit 5 are respectively connected to each layer of piezoelectric material layer 4, the output end of the selection circuit 5 is connected to the input end of the ultrasonic core unit 2, and the control end of the selection circuit 5 is connected to the control end of the ultrasonic core unit 2;

[0057] The ultrasonic core unit 2 controls the selection circuit 5 to switch the conducting piezoelectric material layer 4 to change the resonance frequency of the multi - band ultrasonic probe 1.

[0058] Specifically, for the problem that the multi - band imaging devices in the prior art require manual frequency adjustment and equipment replacement, which causes inconvenience in use. In this embodiment, by adjusting the multiple array elements 31 in the array element array, piezoelectric material layers 4 stacked in multiple layers and a selection circuit 5 are provided, so that the ultrasonic core unit can switch the conducting piezoelectric material layer through the selection circuit during operation to change the resonance frequency of the multi - band ultrasonic probe, thereby realizing the process of automatic frequency modulation and scanning, and improving the user experience.

[0059] Specifically, relevant computer programs and circuits are configured in the ultrasonic core unit 2, including a driving circuit, a processing circuit, a communication circuit, etc., which can control the array element 31 to emit ultrasonic waves to a coupling object according to the arrangement mode of the array element array 3 and collect the echo sequence, and then perform image reconstruction according to the echo sequence to obtain an ultrasonic image. Among them, the array element 31 includes multiple piezoelectric material layers 4 with different components on the section, so that the fundamental frequencies corresponding to each layer of piezoelectric material layer 4 are different, thereby obtaining a wider inspection frequency band. The selection circuit 5 is a group of switch matrices, which can control the conduction and cut - off of each channel according to the control signal provided by the ultrasonic core unit 2. During use, the selection circuit 5 is controlled by the ultrasonic core unit 2 to select the accessed piezoelectric material layer 4 for ultrasonic wave transmission and reception, thereby changing the frequency.

[0060] In one embodiment, as Figure 2 shown, the ultrasonic core unit 2 includes:

[0061] Sampling module 21, the sampling module 21 sequentially selects the piezoelectric material layer and sends a measurement signal to the tissue to be examined, and then collects the measurement echo;

[0062] Measurement module 22, the measurement module 22 is connected to the sampling module 21, and the measurement module 22 calculates the reflection gain of each group of measurement echoes for the tissue to be examined respectively;

[0063] First determination module 23, the first determination module 23 is connected to the measurement module 22, and the first determination module 23 determines the piezoelectric material layer 4 to be used during actual examination according to the reflection gain.

[0064] Specifically, to achieve a better frequency band switching effect, in this embodiment, before the formal start of the scan, the sampling module 21 sequentially selects the piezoelectric material layer and sends a measurement signal to the tissue to be examined, and then collects the measurement echoes corresponding to different piezoelectric material layers 4. Then, the measurement module 22 calculates the reflection gain of each group of measurement echoes for the area where the tissue to be examined is located respectively, so as to determine the gain intensity of different resonant frequencies relative to the current tissue to be examined, and screen out the frequency band with better imaging effect. Finally, the first determination module 23 determines the piezoelectric material layer 4 to be used during actual examination according to the reflection gain.

[0065] In one embodiment, as Figure 3 shown, the measurement module 22 includes:

[0066] Pre-imaging module 221, the pre-imaging module 221 performs pre-imaging according to the measurement echo to obtain a pre-imaging image;

[0067] Position determination module 222, the position determination module 222 is connected to the pre-imaging module 221, and the position determination module 222 determines the tissue area corresponding to the tissue to be examined for the pre-imaging image;

[0068] Gain calculation module 223, the gain calculation module 223 is connected to the position determination module 222, and the gain calculation module 223 calculates the reflection gain for the tissue area respectively.

[0069] Specifically, to achieve a better frequency screening effect, in this embodiment, during the measurement, first, the pre-imaging module 221 performs pre-imaging according to the measurement echo to obtain a pre-imaging image. Then, the position determination module 222 performs image recognition on the pre-imaging image, and identifies the tissue area actually corresponding to the tissue to be examined from the pre-imaging image. For this tissue area, the gain calculation module 223 calculates the reflection gain for the tissue area respectively, and finally screens out the corresponding frequency, thus achieving a better screening effect.

[0070] In one embodiment, as Figure 4 shown, the pre-imaging module 221 includes:

[0071] A preprocessing module 2211, which performs band-pass filtering on the received measurement echo to remove noise signals and obtain a filtered signal;

[0072] An image reconstruction module 2212, which is connected to the preprocessing module 2211 and generates a preprocessed image according to the filtered signal.

[0073] Specifically, to achieve a better imaging effect, in this embodiment, for each group of measurement echoes, first, the preprocessing module 2211 performs band-pass filtering on the received measurement echo to remove noise signals mainly distributed in the low-frequency band, thereby obtaining a filtered signal. Then, the image reconstruction module 2212 generates a preprocessed image according to the filtered signal to achieve a better image pre-reconstruction process.

[0074] In one embodiment, as Figure 5 shown, the position determination module 222 includes:

[0075] An image stack module 2221, which registers and stacks the preprocessed images to obtain a stacked image;

[0076] An edge extraction module 2222, which is connected to the image stack module 2221 and segments the tissue edge from the stacked image;

[0077] A connected component recognition module 2223, which is connected to the edge extraction module 2222 and determines the tissue region corresponding to the tissue to be examined according to the tissue edge.

[0078] Specifically, to achieve a better position determination effect, in this embodiment, first, the image stack module 2221 registers and stacks the preprocessed images to obtain a stacked image, and the stacking mode is mean stacking. Then, the edge extraction module 2222 segments the tissue edge from the stacked image, which corresponds to the tissue edge of the tissue to be examined and other tissues in the background. Finally, the connected component recognition module 2223 performs connected component detection according to the tissue edge to obtain connected components at multiple different levels, and finally takes the connected component closest to the center of the screen and with the largest area as the actual tissue region.

[0079] In one embodiment, as Figure 6 shown, the gain calculation module 223 includes:

[0080] A gray-scale mapping module 2231, which extracts the pixel gray-scale value for each single pixel point in each group of tissue regions and generates a pixel gain according to the pixel gray-scale value;

[0081] Gain averaging module 2232, the gain averaging module 2232 is connected to the grayscale mapping module 2231, and the gain averaging module 2232 performs mean processing according to the pixel gain to obtain the reflection gain.

[0082] Specifically, to achieve a better gain calculation effect, in this embodiment, after determining the tissue region, the pre-imaging image is first segmented based on the tissue region to obtain a plurality of pixel points within the region. Subsequently, the grayscale mapping module 2231 extracts the pixel grayscale values for each single pixel point in each group of tissue regions respectively, generates the pixel gain according to the pixel grayscale values, and finally, the gain averaging module 2232 performs mean processing according to the pixel gain to obtain the reflection gain.

[0083] In one embodiment, as Figure 7 shown, the ultrasonic core unit 24 further includes:

[0084] A second determination module 241, the second determination module 241 determines a plurality of associated frequency bands for the tissue to be examined;

[0085] A multi-band imaging module 242, the multi-band imaging module 242 respectively selects the piezoelectric material layer according to the associated frequency bands to collect multi-band echoes and performs imaging according to the multi-band echoes.

[0086] Specifically, to achieve a better imaging effect, in this embodiment, for a relatively large tissue region, a second determination module 241 is further configured. The second determination module 241 determines a plurality of associated frequency bands for the tissue to be examined, and then, the multi-band imaging module 242 respectively selects the piezoelectric material layer according to the associated frequency bands to collect multi-band echoes and performs imaging according to the multi-band echoes, so as to finally synthesize an ultrasonic image obtained by imaging based on the echo sequences of different frequency bands.

[0087] In one embodiment, as Figure 8 shown, the multi-band imaging module 242 includes:

[0088] An image generation module 2421, the image generation module 2421 performs image reconstruction respectively according to each group of multi-band echoes to obtain frequency band images;

[0089] An image synthesis module 2422, the image synthesis module 2422 is connected to the image generation module 2421, and the image synthesis module 2422 generates a synthesized image according to the frequency band images.

[0090] Specifically, to achieve a better imaging effect, in this embodiment, after collecting the multi-band echoes, the image generation module 2421 performs image reconstruction respectively according to each group of multi-band echoes to obtain frequency band images, and then, the image synthesis module 2422 generates a synthesized image according to the frequency band images.

[0091] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not limit the implementation manners and protection scope of the present invention thereby. For those skilled in the art, it should be realized that all the solutions obtained by equivalent substitutions and obvious changes made by using the description and illustrations of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-band joint imaging system, characterized in that: It includes a multi-band ultrasound probe and an ultrasound core that are connected to each other; The multi-band ultrasound probe is provided with an array element array, and the array element array includes a plurality of array elements; Each of the array elements comprises: Multiple layers of stacked piezoelectric material layers, each of which corresponds to a different fundamental frequency; A selection circuit, wherein a plurality of input terminals of the selection circuit are respectively connected to each piezoelectric material layer, an output terminal of the selection circuit is connected to an input terminal of the ultrasonic core, and a control terminal of the selection circuit is connected to a control terminal of the ultrasonic core; The ultrasonic core controls the selection circuit to switch the conductive piezoelectric material layer to change the resonant frequency of the multi-band ultrasonic probe.

2. The ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band joint imaging system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ultrasonic core comprises: A sampling module, wherein the sampling module sequentially selects the piezoelectric material layer and sends a measurement signal to the tissue to be examined, and then collects the measurement echo; A measuring module, the measuring module is connected to the sampling module, and the measuring module respectively calculates the reflection gain of each group of the measurement echoes for the tissue to be inspected; A first determining module, wherein the first determining module is connected to the measuring module, and the first determining module determines the piezoelectric material layer used in actual inspection according to the reflection gain.

3. The ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band joint imaging system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The measuring module comprises: A pre-imaging module, wherein the pre-imaging module performs pre-imaging according to the measurement echo to obtain a pre-imaging image; a position determination module, the position determination module being connected to the pre-imaging module, and the position determination module determining a tissue region corresponding to the tissue to be inspected based on the pre-imaging image; A gain calculation module, wherein the gain calculation module is connected to the position determination module, and the gain calculation module calculates the reflection gain for each tissue region.

4. The ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band joint imaging system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The pre-imaging module comprises: A preprocessing module, wherein the preprocessing module performs bandpass filtering on the received measurement echo to remove noise signals and obtain a filtered signal; An image reconstruction module is connected to the preprocessing module, and the image reconstruction module generates the preprocessed image according to the filtered signal.

5. The ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band joint imaging system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The location determination module comprises: An image stacking module, wherein the image stacking module registers and stacks the pre-processed images to obtain a stacked image; An edge extraction module, the edge extraction module is connected to the image stack module, and the edge extraction module obtains tissue edges by segmenting from the stack image; A connected domain identification module is connected to the edge extraction module, and the connected domain identification module determines the tissue region corresponding to the tissue to be inspected according to the tissue edge.

6. The ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band joint imaging system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The gain calculation module comprises: A grayscale mapping module, wherein the grayscale mapping module extracts pixel grayscale values ​​for each pixel point in each group of the tissue regions and generates pixel gains according to the pixel grayscale values; A gain averaging module, wherein the gain averaging module is connected to the grayscale mapping module, and the gain averaging module performs average processing according to the pixel gain to obtain the reflection gain.

7. The ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band joint imaging system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The ultrasonic core also includes: a second determining module, the second determining module determining a plurality of associated frequency bands for the tissue to be inspected; A multi-band imaging module is provided, wherein the multi-band imaging module selects the piezoelectric material layer according to the associated frequency bands to collect multi-band echoes and performs imaging according to the multi-band echoes.

8. The ultrasonic intelligent frequency band switching and multi-frequency band joint imaging system according to claim 7, characterized in that: The multi-band imaging module comprises: An image generation module, wherein the image generation module performs image reconstruction according to each group of multi-band echoes to obtain a frequency band image; An image synthesis module is connected to the image generation module, and the image synthesis module generates a synthesized image according to the frequency band image.

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