Ultrasonic imaging device and method, ultrasonic elasticity detection device and method

Abstract

A shear wave generation method and device, comprising: an array element emits a pulsed ultrasonic wave to an area of ​​interest at one time, the pulsed ultrasonic wave forms at least two focal points in the sound field, and the at least two focal points are used as shear wave sources to form a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasonic wave. The present invention also discloses a shear wave ultrasonic elasticity detection method and device, because in the same pulsed ultrasonic wave emission, the pulsed ultrasonic wave converges into multiple focal points in the sound field, and under the joint action of the multiple focal points, a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasonic wave is formed, thereby expanding the propagation range of the shear wave in the tissue, so that the detection ultrasonic wave can perform elasticity detection on a wide range of tissues.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to an ultrasonic device. Background Art

[0002] Ultrasonic elastography is mainly used to reflect the elasticity or hardness of tissues, and is increasingly used in the auxiliary detection of tissue cancer lesions, differentiation of benign and malignant lesions, and prognosis and recovery evaluation.

[0003] One method of ultrasound elastography is ultrasound shear wave elastography. The basic principle of using ultrasound shear wave elastography to detect the softness and hardness of tissues is to generate shear waves inside the tissue and detect the propagation parameters of the shear waves (such as propagation speed). For isotropic elastic tissues, there is the following relationship between the propagation speed of the shear wave and the elastic modulus of the tissue: Young's modulus E = 3ρCs 2 It can be seen that there is a one-to-one correspondence between shear wave velocity and elastic modulus, so the hardness difference between tissues can be reflected according to the shear wave velocity. Since this method can obtain quantitative hardness measurement results, it makes the doctor's diagnosis more convenient and objective, so it has received widespread attention and popularity among doctors.

[0004] There are two main methods for generating shear waves in tissues. One is to generate shear waves and transmit them into tissues by means of external force vibration. The other is to use the acoustic radiation force effect of ultrasound to emit an ultrasonic pulse of a specific length into the tissue, which can generate corresponding shear waves that propagate in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction. The shear waves generated by the acoustic radiation force-based method are very weak. Therefore, in order to increase the amplitude of the generated shear waves, it is often necessary to set a specific focusing position to generate a relatively strong shear wave source at the focus. However, this also results in a smaller propagation range of the shear wave, and only elastic results within a very limited range can be obtained. Summary of the invention

[0005] The main technical problem solved by this application is how to expand the propagation range of shear waves.

[0006] According to a first aspect, an embodiment provides a shear wave generating method, comprising:

[0007] An array element on the ultrasound probe for transmitting pulsed ultrasonic waves transmits pulsed ultrasonic waves to a region of interest;

[0008] The pulsed ultrasonic wave forms at least two focal points in the sound field;

[0009] The pulsed ultrasound pushes the tissue and forms a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasound with at least two focal points as shear wave sources.

[0010] According to the second aspect, an embodiment provides a shear wave ultrasonic elasticity detection method, comprising:

[0011] An array element on the ultrasound probe for transmitting pulsed ultrasonic waves transmits pulsed ultrasonic waves to a region of interest;

[0012] The pulsed ultrasonic wave forms at least two focal points in the sound field;

[0013] The pulsed ultrasound pushes the tissue and forms a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasound with at least two focal points as shear wave sources;

[0014] An array element for transmitting a detection ultrasonic wave continuously transmits the detection ultrasonic wave for a predetermined time period to a propagation path of the shear wave band, and receives an echo signal of the detection ultrasonic wave;

[0015] The elastic characteristic quantity is calculated based on the echo signal.

[0016] According to a third aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound imaging method, comprising:

[0017] Determine at least two focal points along the ultrasonic emission direction in the region of interest of the biological tissue being measured;

[0018] Outputting transmission parameters to array elements on the ultrasound probe for transmitting ultrasound, wherein the transmission parameters divide the array elements for transmitting ultrasound into at least two groups, each group corresponding to a focus;

[0019] The array elements of each group transmit ultrasonic waves into the tissue according to the transmission parameters and focus on the focal point corresponding to the array elements of the group;

[0020] receiving an echo signal of the ultrasonic wave;

[0021] An ultrasound image is generated according to the echo signal.

[0022] According to the fourth aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasonic elasticity detection device, including an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting and receiving controller and a data processor; the ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of array elements for transmitting pulsed ultrasonic waves, the array elements are at least used to transmit pulsed ultrasonic waves to an area of ​​interest and form at least two focuses in the sound field, the pulsed ultrasonic waves push the tissue and form a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the pulsed ultrasonic wave emission direction with at least two focuses as shear wave sources; the ultrasonic probe is also used to continuously transmit a detection ultrasonic wave for a predetermined period of time to the propagation path of the shear wave band, and receive the ultrasonic wave echo; the transmitting and receiving controller is used to generate ultrasonic wave emission parameters and output the ultrasonic wave emission parameters to the ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic wave emission parameters include pulsed ultrasonic wave parameters or detection ultrasonic wave parameters; the data processor is used to calculate the elastic characteristic quantity according to the ultrasonic wave echo.

[0023] According to the fifth aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasonic imaging device, including an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting and receiving controller and a data processor; the transmitting and receiving controller is used to determine at least two focal points along the ultrasonic emission direction within the area of ​​interest of the measured biological tissue, and the transmitting and receiving controller is also used to generate ultrasonic emission parameters according to the determined at least two focal points, and output the ultrasonic emission parameters to the ultrasonic probe; the ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of array elements arranged in an array, and the ultrasonic probe emits ultrasonic waves to the area of ​​interest of the measured biological tissue according to the ultrasonic emission parameters, and receives echoes of the ultrasonic waves; the ultrasonic parameters divide the array elements used to emit ultrasonic waves into at least two groups, and the ultrasonic waves emitted by each group are focused on one focus; the data processor is used to generate an ultrasonic image according to the echo signal.

[0024] According to the sixth aspect, an embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a program, wherein the program can be executed by a computer to implement the above method.

[0025] In the embodiment of the present invention, since the pulsed ultrasonic wave converges into multiple focuses in the sound field during the same pulsed ultrasonic wave emission, a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the pulsed ultrasonic wave emission direction is formed under the combined action of the multiple focuses, thereby expanding the propagation range of the shear wave in the tissue, so that the detection ultrasonic wave can perform elastic detection on a wide range of tissues. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of an ultrasonic elastic imaging device in an embodiment;

[0027] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of focusing of ultrasonic waves emitted by array elements;

[0028] Figure 3 A flow chart of shear wave generation and detection in one embodiment;

[0029] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between the transmitting and receiving controller and the array element;

[0030] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of delayed output of transmission parameters to array elements;

[0031] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of shear wave generation for multiple foci;

[0032] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of shear wave generation for a comprehensive shear wave source;

[0033] Figure 8a Schematic diagram of shear wave generation with 5 focal points;

[0034] Figure 8b Schematic diagram of shear wave generation for multiple focal points distributed along the curve;

[0035] Figure 8c Schematic diagram of shear wave generation for a shear wave source of bending type synthesis;

[0036] Figure 8d Schematic diagram of multiple focal points generated by ultrasound with a certain deflection angle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The present invention is further described in detail below by specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Wherein similar elements in different embodiments adopt associated similar element numbers. In the following embodiments, many detailed descriptions are for making the present application better understood. However, those skilled in the art can easily recognize that some features can be omitted in different situations, or can be replaced by other elements, materials, methods. In some cases, some operations related to the present application are not shown or described in the specification, this is to avoid the core part of the present application being overwhelmed by too much description, and for those skilled in the art, it is not necessary to describe these related operations in detail, and they can fully understand the related operations according to the description in the specification and the general technical knowledge in the art.

[0038] In addition, the features, operations or characteristics described in the specification can be combined in any appropriate manner to form various implementations. At the same time, the steps or actions in the method description can also be interchanged or adjusted in a manner that is obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the various sequences in the specification and the drawings are only for the purpose of clearly describing a certain embodiment and are not meant to be a required sequence, unless otherwise specified that a certain sequence must be followed.

[0039] The serial numbers of the components in this document, such as "first", "second", etc., are only used to distinguish the objects described and do not have any order or technical meaning. The "connection" and "coupling" mentioned in this application, unless otherwise specified, include direct and indirect connections (couplings).

[0040] In order to generate shear waves by utilizing the acoustic radiation force effect of pulsed ultrasound, in an embodiment of the present invention, in the same pulsed ultrasonic emission, at least two focal points are selected along the emission direction, and the transmitting array elements are divided into at least two groups, which are focused on the above-mentioned focal positions respectively, so as to finally form a strong and uniform linear sound field band along the emission direction. Within the depth range of the sound field band, shear waves can be generated and propagated to both sides, thereby expanding the generation and propagation range of shear waves.

[0041] Please refer to Figure 1 The structure of the ultrasonic elastic imaging device 100 is as follows: Figure 1As shown, the ultrasonic elastic imaging device 100 includes an ultrasonic probe 101, a transmitting and receiving controller 102, a data processor 105, a display device 106 and a memory 107. In a specific embodiment, the ultrasonic elastic imaging device 100 also includes a transmitting and receiving circuit 103 and an echo signal processor 104. The transmitting and receiving controller 102 is connected to the ultrasonic probe 101 through the transmitting and receiving circuit 103, and the ultrasonic probe 101 is connected to the echo signal processor 104 through the transmitting and receiving circuit 103. The output end of the echo signal processor 104 is connected to the data processor 105, and the output end of the data processor 105 is connected to the display device 106. The memory 107 is connected to the data processor 105.

[0042] The ultrasonic probe 101 is used to realize the mutual conversion between the electric pulse signal and the ultrasonic wave, so as to realize the transmission of ultrasonic wave to the biological tissue to be detected (such as the biological tissue in the human body or animal body) 108 and receive the ultrasonic echo reflected by the tissue. In this embodiment, the ultrasonic probe 101 includes a plurality of array elements, which are also called ultrasonic transducers. The plurality of array elements are arranged in a row to form a linear array, or arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form a surface array, and the plurality of array elements can also form a convex array. The array element is used to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the excitation electrical signal, or to convert the received ultrasonic waves into electrical signals. Therefore, each array element can be used to transmit ultrasonic waves to the biological tissue in the area of ​​interest, and can also be used to receive ultrasonic echoes returned by the tissue. When performing ultrasonic detection, which array elements are used to transmit ultrasonic waves and which array elements are used to receive ultrasonic waves can be controlled by the transmission sequence and the reception sequence, or the array elements can be controlled to transmit ultrasonic waves or receive ultrasonic echoes in time slots. All array elements participating in ultrasonic emission can be excited by electrical signals at the same time, so as to transmit ultrasonic waves at the same time; or the array elements participating in ultrasonic emission can also be excited by several electrical signals with a certain time interval, so as to continuously transmit ultrasonic waves with a certain time interval. In practical applications, a plurality of adjacent array elements are usually grouped into an array element group, and the array elements of the array element group are made to transmit or receive at the same time to increase the working aperture.

[0043] The transmitting and receiving controller 102 is used to generate a transmitting sequence and output the transmitting sequence to the ultrasonic probe. The transmitting sequence is used to control part or all of the multiple array elements to transmit ultrasonic waves to the biological tissue in the area of ​​interest. The transmitting sequence also provides transmission parameters (such as the amplitude, frequency, number of waves, wave angle, waveform and / or focal position of the ultrasonic wave, etc.). According to different uses, the waveform, transmission direction and focal position of the transmitted ultrasonic wave can be controlled by adjusting the transmission parameters. The waveform of the ultrasonic wave can be a pulse ultrasonic wave, a plane wave, etc. When it is necessary to generate shear waves, usually, the transmitting and receiving controller 102 controls several adjacent array elements to transmit pulse ultrasonic waves through the transmission parameters, such as Figure 2As shown, the ultrasonic waves 202 emitted by each array element 201 are combined into an ultrasonic beam after spatial superposition, and the combined ultrasonic beam will converge to form a focus 204 at the focal position. The combined ultrasonic beam forms a sound field 203. The sound field refers to the space covered or passed by the combined ultrasonic beam. It is the energy distribution field in space after an ultrasonic emission. In this energy distribution field, the energy is not evenly distributed. Generally, the energy is the highest at the convergence position, and the farther away from the focal position, the lower the energy. At the left and right positions, when the energy decays to a certain extent relative to the maximum energy, it is considered to be the boundary of the sound field. The emitted ultrasonic waves can be controlled by the emission parameters to form a specific sound field range and focal position. The ultrasonic wave 202 generates a downward instantaneous force on the tissue at the focus 204. When the force disappears, due to the adhesion between the tissues and the elasticity of the tissues, a shear wave 205 is generated in the tissue that propagates to both sides with the focus 204 as the center. Therefore, the focus 204 is also called the shear wave source. The propagation direction of the shear wave 205 is perpendicular to the direction of the ultrasonic beam. When shear waves need to be detected, the transmitting and receiving controller 102 controls several adjacent array elements to transmit ultrasonic waves to the shear wave propagation path for a period of time through the transmitting parameters, and at the same time, the transmitting and receiving controller 102 controls the receiving array elements to receive the echo of ultrasonic waves. The shear waves generated in this way can only propagate in a small range, and can only detect the elastic characteristics of tissues in a small range.

[0044] The transmitting and receiving circuit 103 is connected between the ultrasonic probe and the transmitting and receiving controller 102 and the echo signal processor 104, and is used to transmit the transmitting sequence of the transmitting and receiving controller 102 to the ultrasonic probe 101, and transmit the ultrasonic echo signal received by the ultrasonic probe 101 to the echo signal processor 104.

[0045] The echo signal processor 104 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal, for example, filtering, amplifying, beamforming, etc., to obtain ultrasonic echo data. In a specific embodiment, the echo signal processor 104 can output the ultrasonic echo data to the data processor 105, or store the ultrasonic echo data in the memory 107 first. When it is necessary to perform calculations based on the ultrasonic echo data, the data processor 105 reads the ultrasonic echo data from the memory 107.

[0046] The memory 107 is used to store data and programs. The programs may include system programs of the ultrasound device, various application programs, or algorithms for implementing various specific functions.

[0047] The data processor 105 is used to acquire ultrasound echo data and use relevant algorithms to obtain required parameters or images. For example, the data processor 105 can generate an ultrasound image based on ultrasound echo data, or generate an elasticity image based on ultrasound echo data.

[0048] In this embodiment, the array elements used to transmit pulsed ultrasonic waves are divided into at least two groups. For example, there are N array elements used to transmit pulsed ultrasonic waves. N1 adjacent array elements form the first group, N2 adjacent array elements form the second group, ..., and Nn adjacent array elements form the nth group. N1, N2, ..., Nn are positive integers, and N1+N2+...+Nn=N. By configuring the transmission parameters, such as the transmission angle and the focus position in the transmission parameters, each array element group corresponds to a focus. When N adjacent array elements transmit pulsed ultrasonic waves, due to the effect of the acoustic lens, the ultrasonic waves emitted by the N array elements converge to form a synthetic ultrasonic beam. Since the array elements of different groups have different focus positions, n focuses are formed in the sound field defined by the synthetic ultrasonic beam. Each focus becomes a shear wave source, generating a shear wave propagating in a direction perpendicular to the pulsed ultrasonic wave emission direction. The n focuses form n shear waves propagating in a direction perpendicular to the pulsed ultrasonic wave emission direction, thereby forming a shear wave band. The propagation range of the shear wave is expanded. By controlling the focusing position, the distance between adjacent focal points can be adjusted. When adjacent shear wave sources are close enough, they can influence each other and increase the vibration amplitude of the shear wave source, thereby increasing the amplitude of the shear wave, reducing the impact of interference on the shear wave, and improving the signal-to-noise ratio of detection.

[0049] In a preferred embodiment, the transmitting and receiving controller 102 also performs delay processing according to the distance from the array element to the focus when outputting the control signal to the ultrasonic probe, so that the ultrasonic pulses emitted by each array element in the same array element group arrive at the focus position corresponding to the group at the same time. The ultrasonic pulses emitted by each array element arrive at the focus position at the same time, which can make the ultrasonic intensity at the focus position the maximum and the amplitude of the shear wave source formed at the focus position the maximum. In a further improved embodiment, the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by all array element groups can also arrive at the focus position corresponding to each group at the same time, so that each shear wave source vibrates synchronously, so that adjacent shear wave sources have the same direction of influence, which is conducive to increasing the amplitude of the shear wave.

[0050] Different array elements in each group have relative transmission delays according to the distance between the array element and the focus, so that the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by different array elements in the group arrive at the focus corresponding to the group at the same time.

[0051] The following takes the generation of three focal points as an example to illustrate the generation and detection process of shear waves. Figure 3 As shown, the following steps are included:

[0052] Step 10: The transmitting and receiving controller 102 generates transmitting parameters, including the amplitude, the number of wave transmissions, the wave transmission angle, the focus position and other parameters of the transmitted ultrasonic pulse.

[0053] For the focus position parameters, the number of focuses is first determined. The number of focuses can be pre-designed or determined according to the value input by the user in the dialog window. When the number of focuses is determined, for example, the number of focuses is 3, the transmitting and receiving controller 102 determines 3 focus positions according to the number of focuses and the position of the region of interest. The focus positions are usually determined to be located at the focus position of the synthetic ultrasonic beam, and an array element is allocated to each focus, and then the transmission parameters are output to the corresponding array element, such as Figure 4 As shown, the transmitting and receiving controller 102 outputs the transmitting parameters to the multiple array elements 201 through the connecting line 109 respectively, and the corresponding relationship between the focus position and the array element in the output transmitting parameters is shown in the following Table 1:

[0054] Table 1

[0055]

[0056] It can be seen from the above table that the array elements receiving the same focus position parameters can be regarded as belonging to the same array element group. The number of array elements in each array element group can be the same or different.

[0057] In the improved embodiment, the transmitting and receiving controller 102 determines the appropriate probe array element to transmit according to the focusing depth and focusing strength, such as the array element position and the number of array elements. When the focusing position is determined, the number of array elements in each array element group will affect the strength of the focusing, and the strength of the focusing can be determined according to the Fnumber index, which directly affects the shape of the sound field and the width of the sound field boundary. The relationship between the number of array elements in each array element group and the F number is as follows:

[0058] F number = focal depth / transmitting aperture.......................(1)

[0059] Among them, Fnumber is a characteristic value that characterizes the focusing strength, the focusing depth refers to the distance between the focus and the tissue surface, the emission aperture refers to the maximum width range formed by all the array elements participating in the emission that are focused on the focus, and the emission array element width is also called the emission aperture, which is proportional to the number of array elements.

[0060] The larger the F number, the weaker the focus, and the wider and more dispersed the sound field of the convergent part. The smaller the F number, the stronger the focus, and the narrower and more concentrated the sound field of the convergent part.

[0061] It can be seen from formula (1) that once the focus position is determined, the number of array elements in each array element group can be determined according to the required F number.

[0062] Step 11: The transmit / receive controller 102 determines the delay of outputting the transmit parameters to each array element.

[0063] Since the distances from the array elements to their respective focal positions are different, the time at which the ultrasound waves emitted by the array elements arrive at their respective focal positions is also different. In order to make the emitted ultrasound waves arrive at their respective focal positions at the same time, some array elements can be controlled to delay the emission of ultrasound waves. The transmitting and receiving controller 102 can obtain the distance from the array element to the focal position based on the array element and the focal position, calculate the time at which the ultrasound waves arrive at the focal position based on the distance and the propagation speed of the sound wave in the tissue, and further determine the delay of the array element in emitting the ultrasound waves.

[0064] Step 12: the transmitting and receiving controller 102 controls the ultrasonic probe 101 to transmit pulsed ultrasonic waves.

[0065] The transmitting and receiving controller 102 transmits the transmitting parameters 206 to each array element 201 for transmitting ultrasound after a delay, such as Figure 5 As shown, after receiving the transmission parameter 206, the array element 201 transmits the ultrasonic wave 202 according to the transmission parameter 206, and the ultrasonic wave reaches the respective focusing position (i.e., focus) 204 at the same time. Figure 6 As shown, for example, at the same time, the ultrasonic waves emitted by the array elements of group 1 are focused on the first focus 204a, the ultrasonic waves emitted by the array elements of group 2 are focused on the second focus 204b, and the ultrasonic waves emitted by the array elements of group 3 are focused on the third focus 204c.

[0066] After the above processing, the ultrasonic probe can synchronously focus the pulsed ultrasonic wave on the focusing position corresponding to each array element group through one transmission.

[0067] Step 13: The shear wave source generates a shear wave band.

[0068] In this embodiment, three focal points form three shear wave sources. The first focal point 204a forms the first shear wave 205a, the second focal point 204b forms the second shear wave 205b, and the third focal point 204c forms the third shear wave 205c. The three shear waves propagate in directions perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasonic wave, thereby forming a shear wave band 205d. By controlling the position of the focus points, when the three focal points are physically adjacent and vibrate synchronously in the same direction, the shear wave sources at the three points can interact with each other. The three focal points are connected together, which is equivalent to forming a shear wave source similar to a straight line range, such as Figure 7 As shown, after this comprehensive shear wave source is generated, the energy and amplitude are the strongest in this area, and it will spread to both sides, forming a shear wave band 205 that propagates to both sides within a larger depth range.

[0069] Step 14, continuously transmit the detection ultrasonic wave to the propagation path of the shear wave band. The transmitting and receiving controller 102 outputs the transmission parameters to the array element on the ultrasonic probe 101 for transmitting the detection ultrasonic wave, and the transmission parameters include ultrasonic wave type, transmission frequency, transmission angle, transmission duration and amplitude, etc. The array element continuously transmits the detection ultrasonic wave 207 for a predetermined duration to the propagation path of the shear wave band according to the transmission parameters, and at the same time, the array element on the ultrasonic probe for receiving receives the echo 208 of the detection ultrasonic wave.

[0070] In this embodiment, since a shear wave band propagating in the tissue is formed in the region of interest, each position within the shear wave propagation path can be detected as long as the shear wave passes through the range.

[0071] Step 15: Perform beam synthesis on the echo signal.

[0072] Step 16, calculating the elastic feature quantity according to the synthesized echo signal.

[0073] The tissue located on the propagation path of the shear wave band is displaced under the action of the shear wave. The data processor can determine the displacement of the tissue when the shear wave passes through it based on the two frames of ultrasonic echo data before and after the tissue displacement. By taking the derivative of the displacement with respect to time, the propagation speed C of the shear wave in the tissue can be calculated. s The propagation speed of shear waves is C s The following relationship exists between the tissue elastic modulus E:

[0074]

[0075] Among them, ρ is the tissue density. In other words, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the shear wave velocity and the elastic modulus, and the shear wave velocity can be used to characterize the softness and hardness of the tissue.

[0076] This embodiment forms multiple focal points in the sound field, thereby generating shear wave bands propagating in the area of ​​interest, thereby expanding the propagation range of the shear wave in the tissue, so that the detection ultrasound can perform elasticity detection on a wide range of tissues. Compared with the solution of emitting pulse ultrasound and detection ultrasound multiple times, this embodiment can achieve elasticity detection of a wide range of tissues by emitting pulse ultrasound and detection ultrasound once, thereby improving the detection speed and the comfort of the person being detected.

[0077] In this embodiment, three focal points are used as an example for description. In other embodiments, there may be two, four or five focal points. Figure 8a As shown, the array elements are divided into five groups, which are respectively focused on five focal points in the sound field. In this embodiment, the multiple focal points are distributed along a straight line in the sound field. In other embodiments, the multiple focal points are distributed along a curve in the sound field, such as Figure 8bAs shown, or multiple focal points are distributed in other shapes or irregularly in the sound field, the final integrated shear wave source may be as follows Figure 8c In addition, the present invention does not require the focal point to always be located in a direction perpendicular to the probe, that is, it does not require the direction of the synthesized ultrasonic beam to be perpendicular to the probe. Figure 8d As shown, the direction of the synthetic ultrasonic beam may also have a certain deflection angle relative to the normal line of the probe, which causes an effect similar to the effect of implementing a certain angle of deflection transmission under the above-mentioned vertical transmission focus setting.

[0078] The solution of the present invention can also be applied to ultrasonic array elements arranged in different shapes, such as linear arrangement, convex arrangement, annular arrangement, etc.

[0079] The solution of the present invention is not limited to shear wave imaging, but also applicable to other imaging methods. For example, in a B image, by setting ultrasonic parameters, the array elements used to transmit ultrasonic waves are divided into at least two groups, and the ultrasonic waves emitted by each group are focused on a focal point; at the same time, the echo of the ultrasonic wave is received. Since the focal position usually means a position with higher acoustic energy, and the amplitude of the received echo is relatively large at a position with higher acoustic energy, the image of the focal area is usually brighter and has a higher resolution than the image far from the focal position. After applying the solution of the present invention, the range of the focal area can be expanded in the depth direction to a certain extent, thereby improving the uniformity of the depth direction of the B-type image.

[0080] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the functions of the various methods in the above-mentioned embodiments can be implemented by hardware or by computer programs. When all or part of the functions in the above-mentioned embodiments are implemented by computer programs, the program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium can include: read-only memory, random access memory, disk, optical disk, hard disk, etc., and the program is executed by a computer to implement the above-mentioned functions. For example, the program is stored in the memory of the device, and when the program in the memory is executed by a data processor, all or part of the above-mentioned functions can be implemented. In addition, when all or part of the functions in the above-mentioned embodiments are implemented by computer programs, the program can also be stored in a storage medium such as a server, another computer, disk, optical disk, flash disk or mobile hard disk, and can be downloaded or copied and saved in the memory of the local device, or the system of the local device is updated, and when the program in the memory is executed by a data processor, all or part of the functions in the above-mentioned embodiments can be implemented.

[0081] The above specific examples are used to illustrate the present invention, which is only used to help understand the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, according to the concept of the present invention, some simple deductions, modifications or substitutions can be made.

Claims

1. A shear wave generating method, characterized in that include: The array elements on the ultrasound probe for transmitting pulsed ultrasound transmit pulsed ultrasound to the region of interest; wherein the array elements on the ultrasound probe for transmitting pulsed ultrasound are divided into at least two groups; The pulsed ultrasonic wave forms at least two focal points in the sound field along the emission direction, wherein the pulsed ultrasonic wave emitted by each group is focused into one of the focal points, and the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by different groups arrive at the focal points corresponding to each group at the same time; The pulsed ultrasound pushes the tissue and forms a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasound with at least two focal points as shear wave sources.

2. A shear wave ultrasonic elasticity detection method, characterized in that include: The array elements on the ultrasound probe for transmitting pulsed ultrasound transmit pulsed ultrasound to the region of interest; wherein the array elements on the ultrasound probe for transmitting pulsed ultrasound are divided into at least two groups; The pulsed ultrasonic wave forms at least two focal points in the sound field along the emission direction, wherein the pulsed ultrasonic wave emitted by each group is focused into one of the focal points, and the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by different groups arrive at the focal points corresponding to each group at the same time; The pulsed ultrasound pushes the tissue and forms a shear wave band propagating in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasound with at least two focal points as shear wave sources; An array element for transmitting a detection ultrasonic wave continuously transmits the detection ultrasonic wave for a predetermined time period to a propagation path of the shear wave band, and receives an echo signal of the detection ultrasonic wave; The elastic characteristic quantity is calculated based on the echo signal.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that Before the array element transmits the pulsed ultrasonic wave, the method further includes outputting a pulsed ultrasonic wave parameter of one transmission to the array element on the ultrasonic probe for transmitting the pulsed ultrasonic wave, and dividing the array element into at least two groups corresponding to respective focal points through the pulsed ultrasonic wave parameter.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Different array elements in each group have relative transmission delays according to the distance between the array element and the focus, so that the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by different array elements in the group arrive at the focus corresponding to the group at the same time.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The number of array elements in each group is determined according to the following formula: Fnumber = focal depth / transmitting aperture Among them, Fnumber is a characteristic value that characterizes the focusing strength, the focusing depth refers to the distance between the focus and the tissue surface, and the emission aperture refers to the width of the emission array element focused on the focus, and the emission array element width is proportional to the number of array elements.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The at least two focal points are distributed in a straight line or a curve in the sound field.

7. An ultrasonic imaging method, characterized in that include: Determine at least two focal points along the ultrasonic emission direction in the region of interest of the biological tissue being measured; Outputting transmission parameters to array elements on the ultrasound probe for transmitting ultrasound, wherein the transmission parameters divide the array elements for transmitting ultrasound into at least two groups, each group corresponding to a focus; The array elements of each group transmit ultrasonic waves into the tissue according to the transmission parameters and focus on the focal point corresponding to the array elements of the group; wherein the pulsed ultrasonic waves transmitted by different groups arrive at the focal points corresponding to each group at the same time; receiving an echo signal of the ultrasonic wave; An ultrasound image is generated according to the echo signal.

8. An ultrasonic elasticity detection device, characterized in that: It includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting and receiving controller and a data processor; The ultrasonic probe includes a plurality of array elements for emitting pulsed ultrasonic waves, wherein the array elements are at least used to emit pulsed ultrasonic waves to an area of ​​interest and form at least two focal points in the sound field along the emission direction, wherein the pulsed ultrasonic waves push tissues and respectively use at least two focal points as shear wave sources to form a shear wave band that propagates in a direction perpendicular to the emission direction of the pulsed ultrasonic waves; the ultrasonic probe is also used to continuously emit detection ultrasonic waves for a predetermined period of time onto the propagation path of the shear wave band and receive echoes of the ultrasonic waves; wherein the array elements on the ultrasonic probe for emitting pulsed ultrasonic waves are divided into at least two groups, the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by each group are focused into one of the focal points, and the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by different groups arrive at the focal points corresponding to each group at the same time; The transmitting and receiving controller is used to generate ultrasonic transmission parameters and output the ultrasonic transmission parameters to the ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic transmission parameters include pulse ultrasonic parameters or detection ultrasonic parameters; The data processor is used for calculating the elastic characteristic quantity according to the ultrasonic echo.

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that The array elements for transmitting pulsed ultrasonic waves are divided into at least two groups according to the pulsed ultrasonic parameters.

10. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that Different array elements in each group have relative transmission delays according to the distance between the array element and the focus, so that the pulsed ultrasonic waves emitted by different array elements in the group arrive at the focus corresponding to the group at the same time.

11. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that The number of array elements in each group is determined according to the following formula: Fnumber = focal depth / transmitting aperture Among them, Fnumber is a characteristic value that characterizes the focusing strength, the focusing depth refers to the distance between the focus and the tissue surface, and the emission aperture refers to the width of the emission array element focused on the focus, and the emission array element width is proportional to the number of array elements.

12. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that The at least two focal points are distributed in a straight line or a curve in the sound field.

13. An ultrasonic imaging device, characterized in that: It includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting and receiving controller and a data processor; The transmitting and receiving controller is used to determine at least two focal points along the ultrasonic emission direction in the region of interest of the biological tissue being measured, and the transmitting and receiving controller is also used to generate ultrasonic emission parameters according to the determined at least two focal points, and output the ultrasonic emission parameters to the ultrasonic probe; The ultrasonic probe comprises a plurality of array elements arranged in an array, and the ultrasonic probe transmits ultrasonic waves to an area of ​​interest of a biological tissue to be measured according to ultrasonic wave transmission parameters, and receives echoes of the ultrasonic waves; the ultrasonic wave parameters enable the array elements for transmitting ultrasonic waves to be divided into at least two groups, and the ultrasonic waves transmitted by each group are focused on a focal point; wherein the pulsed ultrasonic waves transmitted by different groups arrive at the focal points corresponding to each group at the same time; The data processor is used for generating an ultrasound image according to the echo signal.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The method comprises a program which can be executed by a computer to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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