Ultrasonic imaging method and system

Abstract

A method, device and computer storage medium for displaying a motion trajectory of an ultrasonic probe, wherein the method comprises: using an ultrasonic probe (101) to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue; receiving ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue; determining an ultrasonic image of the target tissue according to the ultrasonic echoes; acquiring motion data of the ultrasonic probe (101) from a positioning device (102); generating a motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe (101) according to the motion data; and displaying the ultrasonic image and the motion trajectory.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to ultrasound probe positioning technology, and in particular to an ultrasound imaging method and system. Background Art

[0002] At present, after using an ultrasound probe to transmit an ultrasonic signal to the target tissue, an echo signal can be received, and ultrasound data can be generated based on the echo signal. When the ultrasound data is video data, if the ultrasound data is played, only the relative time position of the current frame in the entire video data can be displayed through the playback progress bar, and the spatial position information of the ultrasound probe in the process of acquiring the video data cannot be provided. Summary of the invention

[0003] To solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide an ultrasonic imaging method and system.

[0004] The present application provides an ultrasonic imaging method, which is applied to an ultrasonic imaging system. The ultrasonic imaging system includes an ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic probe is provided with a positioning device. The method includes:

[0005] emitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue using the ultrasonic probe;

[0006] receiving an ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue;

[0007] determining an ultrasonic image of the target tissue according to the ultrasonic echo;

[0008] Acquiring motion data of the ultrasound probe from the positioning device;

[0009] generating a motion trajectory of the ultrasound probe according to the motion data;

[0010] The ultrasound image and the motion trajectory are displayed.

[0011] The present application also provides an ultrasound imaging system, wherein the ultrasound imaging system comprises an ultrasound probe, a display and a processor; the ultrasound probe is provided with a positioning device,

[0012] The ultrasonic probe is used to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue and receive ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue;

[0013] The processor is configured to determine an ultrasonic image of the target tissue according to the ultrasonic echo; obtain motion data of the ultrasonic probe from the positioning device; and generate a motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe according to the motion data;

[0014] The display is used to display the ultrasonic image and the motion trajectory.

[0015] The technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application utilizes the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue; receives ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue; determines an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echoes; obtains motion data of the ultrasonic probe from the positioning device; generates a motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe based on the motion data; and displays the ultrasonic image and the motion trajectory.

[0016] By adopting the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the ultrasonic probe can be used to scan the target tissue to obtain an ultrasonic image and the motion data of the ultrasonic probe. Then, the ultrasonic image and the motion trajectory can be displayed. In this way, the spatial position information of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue can be provided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A system structure block diagram for implementing the ultrasonic imaging method of the embodiment of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of coordinate transformation involved in the embodiments of the present application;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of marking direction information on a motion trajectory curve in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of displacements marked at fixed intervals on a motion trajectory according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the structure of an ultrasonic imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to enable a more detailed understanding of the features and technical contents of the embodiments of the present application, the implementation of the embodiments of the present application is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The attached drawings are for reference only and are not used to limit the embodiments of the present application.

[0024] Below through Figure 1 The system structure block diagram of the ultrasonic imaging method of the present application is exemplarily described. Figure 1The ultrasonic probe 101 is connected to the ultrasonic device 103 for communication. The ultrasonic probe 101 is provided with a positioning device 102, which is used to position the ultrasonic probe. The ultrasonic probe 101 and the positioning device 102 are detachably connected or fixedly connected. In practical applications, the ultrasonic probe 101 transmits an ultrasonic signal to the target tissue (e.g., a certain inspection part of the human body), and after receiving the ultrasonic echo corresponding to the ultrasonic signal, the ultrasonic echo is forwarded to the ultrasonic device 103; the ultrasonic device 103 can obtain the ultrasonic data of the target tissue according to the ultrasonic echo, and can generate an ultrasonic image according to the ultrasonic data; in the process of the ultrasonic probe 101 scanning the target tissue, the positioning device can collect the motion data of the ultrasonic probe in real time, and send the collected motion data to the displacement calculation device 104, and the displacement calculation device 104 obtains the position information of the ultrasonic probe at any time when scanning the target tissue according to the motion data, and the displacement calculation device 104 outputs the obtained position information to the trajectory reconstruction device 105 to reconstruct the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe, and the trajectory reconstruction device 105 outputs the reconstructed motion trajectory to the display device 106 for display. In addition, the ultrasonic device 103 can send the ultrasonic image to the display device 106 for display.

[0025] Here, the positioning device 102 can be at least one of an inertial navigation device, an optical navigation device, and a magnetic navigation device. Of course, it can also be other navigation devices, which are not specifically limited here; when the positioning device 102 is an inertial navigation device, the positioning device 102 includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU); the motion data of the ultrasound probe can include acceleration data and angular velocity data of the ultrasound probe at any time when scanning the target tissue.

[0026] In practical applications, the ultrasonic device 103, the displacement calculation device 104 and the trajectory reconstruction device 105 can all be implemented by a processor. The processor can be at least one of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a DSP, a digital signal processing device (DSPD), a programmable logic device (PLD), an FPGA, a CPU, a controller, a microcontroller, and a microprocessor.

[0027] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to the scenario of reconstructing the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe. The principle of reconstructing the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe is: real-time tracking of the dynamics during the ultrasonic scanning process is performed through a spatial positioning device (usually a positioning device bound to the probe), and while obtaining the ultrasonic data, the acceleration data and angular velocity data of the ultrasonic probe are recorded in real time. By reasonably calculating these recorded data, the relative displacement and rotation angle of the ultrasonic probe at that time are determined, thereby realizing the reconstruction of the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe.

[0028] Figure 2 Flow chart of an ultrasonic imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application, wherein the method is applied to an ultrasonic imaging system, the ultrasonic imaging system comprises an ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic probe is provided with a positioning device, such as Figure 2 As shown, the process may include the following steps:

[0029] Step 201: emitting ultrasonic waves to a target tissue using the ultrasonic probe; and receiving ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue.

[0030] Here, the target tissue may be a part of the human body, for example, any tissue or organ of the human body to be examined.

[0031] Step 202: Determine an ultrasonic image of the target tissue according to the ultrasonic echo.

[0032] In practical applications, after receiving the ultrasonic echo, the ultrasonic probe can send the ultrasonic echo to the ultrasonic device, and the ultrasonic device can obtain the ultrasonic data of the target tissue according to the ultrasonic echo, and determine the ultrasonic image of the target tissue according to the ultrasonic data. In one example, the ultrasonic data is video data composed of a plurality of two-dimensional ultrasonic images played continuously.

[0033] Step 203: Acquire the motion data of the ultrasound probe from the positioning device.

[0034] Here, the motion data of the ultrasound probe may include acceleration data and angular velocity data when the ultrasound probe scans the target tissue; in actual applications, the positioning device may include an accelerometer or a gyroscope. When the accelerometer is working, the acceleration data of the ultrasound probe when scanning the target tissue can be obtained. When the gyroscope is working, the angular velocity data of the ultrasound probe when scanning the target tissue can be obtained. Of course, the positioning device may also include other sensors, such as a magnetometer, etc., that is, the acceleration data and angular velocity data of the ultrasound probe when scanning the target tissue are determined by at least one sensor.

[0035] Here, the positioning device may send the collected motion data of the ultrasound probe to the displacement calculation device via the ultrasound device.

[0036] Step 204: Generate a motion trajectory of the ultrasound probe according to the motion data.

[0037] Here, the motion trajectory includes direction information and position information. The motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue can be a three-dimensional motion trajectory or a two-dimensional motion trajectory; the displayed motion trajectory here can be reflected by a progress bar.

[0038] For the implementation method of this step, the displacement calculation device can determine the linear acceleration and quaternion based on the acceleration data and the angular velocity data, wherein the linear acceleration does not include the acceleration of gravity; then, the displacement calculation device can determine the position information of the ultrasonic probe based on the linear acceleration and the quaternion; determine the direction information of the ultrasonic probe based on the quaternion; and further, generate the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe based on the position information and direction information of the ultrasonic probe.

[0039] In a specific implementation, the displacement calculation device can calculate a quaternion based on the angular velocity data of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue, and obtain a rotation matrix based on the quaternion. Then, based on the rotation matrix, the acceleration data of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue is converted to the world coordinate system. Combined with the quaternion, the linear acceleration of the ultrasonic probe in the world coordinate system can be obtained; then the linear acceleration in the world coordinate system is quadratically integrated to obtain the position information of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue. Specifically, after the displacement calculation device obtains the linear acceleration of the ultrasonic probe in the world coordinate system, it integrates the linear acceleration in the world coordinate system to obtain the velocity data of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue; the displacement calculation device integrates the velocity data of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue to obtain the position information of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue.

[0040] Here, in order to obtain the acceleration data and angular velocity data of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue, in actual applications, when using the ultrasonic probe to scan the target tissue, the positioning device can collect the acceleration data and angular velocity data in the body coordinates, and then, based on the collected acceleration data and angular velocity data in the body coordinates, calculate and output the acceleration data and angular velocity data in the world coordinate system.

[0041] Here, the body coordinate system is a three-dimensional orthogonal rectangular coordinate system fixed on the positioning device and following the right-hand rule. In an example, the origin of the body coordinate system is located at the center of gravity of the positioning device.

[0042] In order to facilitate processing, it is usually necessary to convert the acceleration data in the body coordinate system to the world coordinate system. Figure 3 Schematic diagram of coordinate transformation involved in the embodiment of the present application, Figure 3In the ultrasound image space, a three-dimensional orthogonal rectangular coordinate system can be constructed for the three-dimensional ultrasound image. In the three-dimensional orthogonal rectangular coordinate system, the three axes are represented as X US , Y US and Z US In the positioning device space, the body coordinate system recorded above can be constructed, and the three axes of the body coordinate system can be expressed as X Sensor , Y Sensor and Z Sensor , the three axes of the world coordinate system are represented as X Sec , Y Sec and Z Sec ; Convert the acceleration data in the body coordinate system to the world coordinate system. The coordinate conversion formula used can be expressed as:

[0043] A n =C·A b

[0044] Among them, A n is the acceleration data in the world coordinate system, A b is the acceleration data in the body coordinate system, C is the rotation matrix, and the rotation matrix can be obtained from the quaternion output by the positioning device at the corresponding time.

[0045] In summary, in actual implementation, in the displacement calculation device, first, the rotation matrix C of the corresponding moment can be obtained according to the quaternion at any moment obtained by the displacement calculation device, and then, according to the rotation matrix, the acceleration data of the three-axis directions in the body coordinate system at the corresponding moment is converted to the world coordinate system, and the linear acceleration is determined according to the acceleration data and the angular velocity data; by performing a secondary integration of the linear acceleration in the world coordinate system, the position information of the ultrasonic probe in the world coordinate system at the corresponding moment is obtained.

[0046] In an embodiment of the present application, the direction information of the ultrasound probe may be the relative rotation angle of the ultrasound probe. As for the implementation method of determining the direction information of the ultrasound probe, exemplarily, the displacement calculation device generates a quaternion based on acceleration data and angular velocity data; the displacement calculation device may derive the direction information of the ultrasound probe when scanning the target tissue based on the received quaternion.

[0047] It is understandable that the reproduction of the ultrasound probe direction information helps the user to associate the image data at the current moment with the corresponding probe scanning direction. When the ultrasound probe is used to scan the target tissue, the reproduction of the ultrasound probe direction information helps to find the lesion.

[0048] In actual implementation, after determining the quaternion, the displacement calculation device can calculate the Euler angle of the ultrasound probe relative to the world coordinate system at the current moment based on the quaternion, and calculate the direction information of the ultrasound probe at the current moment through the obtained Euler angle. The Euler angle of the ultrasound probe relative to the world coordinate system can be calculated by the following formula:

[0049]

[0050] Among them, φ, θ, ψ are the rotation angles of the ultrasound probe around the X, Y, and Z axes of the world coordinate system, respectively, and q0, q1, q2, and q3 are the determined quaternions. The above formula can be used to calculate the posture change of the ultrasound probe relative to the world coordinate system at any time.

[0051] After obtaining the position information of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue, the displacement calculation device can determine the displacement change (relative displacement) of the ultrasonic probe relative to the initial position at different times when scanning the target tissue based on the initial position of the ultrasonic probe.

[0052] In actual implementation, the ultrasound data recorded above are usually in Figure 3 The data of the three-dimensional orthogonal rectangular coordinate system of the ultrasonic image space is shown. Therefore, in one example, in the displacement calculation device, the ultrasonic data of the three-dimensional orthogonal rectangular coordinate system of the ultrasonic image space can be converted into the world coordinate system through coordinate transformation.

[0053] The displacement calculation device is the core module for realizing the construction of the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe in the embodiment of the present application. The implementation method of the displacement calculation device directly affects the quality of the reconstruction of the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe. Generally speaking, the linear acceleration can be directly integrated twice to calculate the relative displacement of the probe at any time without human intervention. However, due to the structural principle of the electronic components inside the positioning device, the imperfection of the manufacturing and debugging process of the electronic components inside the positioning device, and some unknown or uncontrollable random factors, such as the Brownian noise of the elastic system of the positioning device, the output of the positioning device is always subject to noise interference and cumulative errors. Therefore, the positioning device is not only used during the movement of the ultrasonic probe. There is non-zero data output. In fact, the data output by the positioning device at any time is basically not zero. The output data of the positioning device is usually expressed as a broken line that oscillates near the actual measurement value. If the output data of the positioning device is directly used for subsequent position information calculation without preprocessing, the calculation result of the position information will be seriously deviated, and the requirements for reconstructing the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe will not be met. In order to solve this problem, the usual practice is to low-pass filter the output data of the positioning device in the displacement calculation device. For example, before calculating the position information, the output data of the positioning device can be filtered through a Kalman filter or a manually designed low-pass finite impulse response (FIR) filter. It is worth mentioning that even after filtering, it only reduces the error and cannot completely eliminate the adverse effects of noise.

[0054] Generally speaking, the position information of the ultrasonic probe only changes when the ultrasonic probe moves. At other times, the default speed is zero and the displacement remains unchanged. Therefore, the detection of the motion state of the ultrasonic probe has an important impact on the calculation of the position information. The detection of the motion state is determined by the accumulated value of the acceleration data of the accelerometer in the three-axis direction or the accumulated value of the angular velocity data of the gyroscope in the three-axis direction. When the accumulated value of the acceleration data of the accelerometer in the three-axis direction exceeds the set acceleration threshold, or the accumulated value of the angular velocity data of the gyroscope in the three-axis direction exceeds the set angular velocity threshold, it is considered that the ultrasonic probe is in motion at this time, otherwise it is in a stationary state.

[0055] Furthermore, in the embodiment of the present application, the displacement calculation device can also perform error compensation on the linear acceleration obtained by the positioning device, and the error compensation for the linear acceleration is performed on the premise of reasonably judging the motion state of the ultrasonic probe. Theoretically, there can be the following first assumption: at the start and end of a continuous motion, the linear acceleration of the ultrasonic probe should be zero; according to the first assumption, the linear acceleration can be compensated for the error by applying a linear compensation method, that is, compensation is performed at any time during the motion of the ultrasonic probe according to the corresponding proportion, so that the acceleration data after error compensation meets the above first assumption.

[0056] Assume that the acceleration of the positioning device returning to rest after movement is A after , the duration of this motion is T, then the acceleration error compensation formula can be expressed as follows

[0057]

[0058] Wherein, A(t) represents the linear acceleration at time t after error compensation, A(t) represents the linear acceleration at time t without error compensation, and the starting time of this section of movement of the positioning device is recorded as time 0.

[0059] The error compensation of velocity data is implemented in a similar way to the error compensation of acceleration data. Specifically, in the displacement calculation device, the velocity data during the static state is forcibly changed to zero, and the data during the moving state is linearly compensated; after obtaining the error-compensated velocity data, the error-compensated velocity data is integrated to obtain the position information of the ultrasonic probe; the position information of the ultrasonic probe is the relative displacement of the ultrasonic probe relative to the initial moment.

[0060] Step 205: Display the ultrasound image and the motion trajectory.

[0061] In an embodiment of the present application, the ultrasound device can send the ultrasound image to a display device, and the display device can display the ultrasound image of the target tissue while displaying the motion trajectory of the ultrasound probe when scanning the target tissue.

[0062] Here, the display device may have multiple display interfaces, and in the interface for displaying the ultrasonic image, it may include an ultrasonic image display area and other areas excluding the ultrasonic image display area; in this way, for the implementation method of displaying the motion trajectory, the display device may display the motion trajectory on the ultrasonic image, and may also display the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasonic image; for the implementation method of displaying the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasonic image, the display device may display the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasonic image that are the same interface as the ultrasonic image; or, display the motion trajectory on other interfaces outside the ultrasonic image.

[0063] Furthermore, the displacement calculation device can obtain the position information of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the ultrasonic image at the first moment, and send the position information of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the ultrasonic image at the first moment to the display device, and the display device can mark the position information of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the ultrasonic image at the first moment on the motion trajectory.

[0064] Here, the first moment may be any moment when the ultrasound probe scans the target tissue; in practical applications, a display window may be established in a corner (e.g., the lower right corner) of an interface displaying the ultrasound data of the target tissue, configured to display the motion trajectory recorded above and mark the position information of the ultrasound probe corresponding to the ultrasound image at the first moment; while retaining the timing information of the ultrasound data, the embodiment of the present application can provide the user with spatial and motion information of the ultrasound probe, so that the user can form a spatial concept of the ultrasound data of the target tissue; by displaying the motion trajectory, the user can be helped to intuitively determine and observe key target areas; for example, when the target tissue is a part of the human body, by displaying the motion trajectory recorded above and marking the position information of the ultrasound probe at the first moment, the doctor can be assisted in the screening of the thyroid gland, breast, etc., and the doctor may be prompted that the section with the nodule is in the relative position of the thyroid gland or breast, such as on the left side, right side, isthmus, etc. of the thyroid gland; this can serve as an auxiliary prompt for the doctor and effectively improve the doctor's work efficiency.

[0065] Furthermore, the displacement calculation device can obtain the direction information of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the ultrasonic image at the second moment, and send the direction information of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the ultrasonic image at the second moment to the display device, and the display device can mark the direction information of the ultrasonic probe corresponding to the ultrasonic image at the second moment on the motion trajectory.

[0066] Here, the second moment may be any moment when the ultrasonic probe scans the target tissue, and the first moment and the second moment may be the same or different.

[0067] In actual implementation, the display device may mark the direction information of the ultrasonic probe on the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe; or, in other display areas except the display area of ​​the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe, mark the direction information of the ultrasonic probe. Specifically, the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe may be displayed as a curve on the interface, and the direction information of the ultrasonic probe may be marked on the motion trajectory curve, or may be displayed separately near the motion trajectory curve.

[0068] For the implementation method of marking the direction information on the motion trajectory curve, the direction information can be marked on the motion trajectory by an indicative icon, the indicative icon is used to indicate the direction information of the ultrasound probe, and the indicative icon can include any one of an arrow, a pointer, and a probe icon. The indicative icon can indicate the direction information of the ultrasound probe by a rotation angle; Figure 4 Schematic diagram of marking direction information on a motion trajectory curve in an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 4 As shown, the indicative icon 41 is a simulated small probe icon.

[0069] Furthermore, the displacement calculation device can also obtain the relative displacement of the ultrasonic probe at each moment and the initial moment when scanning the target tissue; determine the preset displacement interval of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue; select the relative displacement at equal intervals from the obtained relative displacement according to the fixed preset displacement interval; the displacement calculation device can send the selected relative displacement to the display device, and in the display device, the preset displacement interval is marked on the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue. In actual implementation, the positions corresponding to the selected displacements can be marked on the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue, and the implementation method of marking the positions corresponding to the selected displacements in the embodiments of the present application is not limited.

[0070] It can be seen from the above that in the embodiment of the present application, by marking each selected displacement amount, the user can conveniently view the displacement changes of the ultrasound probe at multiple different moments.

[0071] That is to say, for the implementation method of selecting the relative displacement, it can be selected and marked according to the fixed interval of the displacement of the ultrasonic probe, for example, only marks are made on the motion trajectory curve at positions such as 1 cm and 2 cm to show the displacement; the fixed interval here can be set according to the total length of the motion trajectory curve. When the total length of the motion trajectory curve is long, the fixed interval can be appropriately set larger to ensure the neatness of the visual presentation; Figure 5 Schematic diagram of displacements marked at fixed intervals on a motion trajectory according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 In the figure, the numbers in the circles with numbers represent the displacements marked at fixed intervals, and the order of numbers from small to large represents the order in which the displacements of the ultrasound probe gradually increase.

[0072] In actual applications, considering the user's usage habits, a switch button for marking and not marking the displacement of the ultrasonic probe can be added near the motion trajectory curve, so that the user can choose whether to turn on the displacement marking function of the ultrasonic probe.

[0073] Furthermore, the displacement calculation device can determine the movement speed information of the ultrasonic probe according to the motion data, and send the movement speed information to the display device; the display device can also display the movement speed information while displaying the movement trajectory of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue.

[0074] As for the implementation method of displaying the motion speed information on the display device, exemplarily, the display device can display the motion speed information on the motion trajectory. Optionally, the display device can display the motion speed information on the motion trajectory by at least one of color, shape and pattern, that is, different colors, patterns or shapes are used to represent different speeds on the motion trajectory when the ultrasound probe scans the target tissue.

[0075] In the embodiment of the present application, different colors, patterns or shapes are used to represent different speeds, which can be considered to have added a speed heat map display function, that is, the changes in color, pattern or shape on the motion trajectory curve are used to prompt the user of the speed of the ultrasound probe moving at the corresponding moment.

[0076] Regarding the implementation method of displaying the motion speed information through shapes on the motion trajectory, in one example, different shapes can be used to represent different motion speed levels, for example, a triangle represents a lower motion speed, and a parallelogram represents a higher motion speed.

[0077] Regarding the implementation method of displaying the motion speed information through patterns on the motion trajectory, in one example, different patterns can be used to represent different motion speed levels, for example, a box filled with horizontal lines represents a lower motion speed, and a box filled with vertical lines represents a higher motion speed.

[0078] Regarding the implementation method of displaying the motion speed information by color on the motion trajectory, in one example, red can represent the rapid motion of the ultrasonic probe, green can represent the slow motion of the ultrasonic probe, and the trajectory curve changes from red to green to indicate that the moving speed of the ultrasonic probe changes from fast to slow; in another example, the corresponding color can be obtained for the moving speed of the ultrasonic probe according to the following formula and the RGB three-primary color principle:

[0079]

[0080]

[0081] B=0

[0082] Among them, R, G and B represent the three color components of red, green and blue respectively, v represents the moving speed of the probe ultrasound probe at a certain moment, threshold represents the preset gradient threshold, when the moving speed of the ultrasound probe reaches the threshold, yellow appears on the motion trajectory, int is the integer operation, max and min are the maximum value operation and the minimum value operation respectively.

[0083] In actual applications, considering the user's usage habits, a switch button for displaying and hiding the moving speed of the ultrasound probe can be added near the motion trajectory curve, so that the user can choose whether to turn on the ultrasound probe moving speed display function.

[0084] In practical applications, step 201 can be implemented by an ultrasonic probe, steps 202 to 204 can be implemented using the above-mentioned processor and other devices, and step 205 can be implemented using the above-mentioned processor in combination with a display.

[0085] In summary, in the embodiment of the present application, in order to provide users with more visual information and to display various trajectory information as much as possible in a window of limited size, the characteristics of the motion trajectory curve of the ultrasonic probe can be fully utilized to present necessary information to the user by making full use of its color, length and other attributes. Specifically, a display window can be added to a corner of the interface displaying ultrasonic data, configured to display the motion trajectory curve, in which the running position of the probe at any time during the scanning process of the ultrasonic probe can be simulated and reproduced; further, a playback progress mark point can be added to the motion trajectory curve, configured to mark the time point in the ultrasonic data corresponding to the point on the motion trajectory at the corresponding time; the difference from the existing scheme of displaying the time point through the playback progress bar of the ultrasonic data itself is that the existing scheme of displaying the time point through the playback progress bar of the ultrasonic data itself can only give a progress mark on a line segment of fixed length in a two-dimensional plane, and can only present the user with timing information, and cannot provide information such as the moving speed of the ultrasonic probe and the position of the ultrasonic probe in three-dimensional space, while in the embodiment of the present application, the moving speed of the ultrasonic probe and the position of the ultrasonic probe in three-dimensional space can be displayed by using the color, length and other attributes of the motion trajectory.

[0086] To implement the method of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasound imaging system, wherein the ultrasound imaging system comprises an ultrasound probe 101, and the ultrasound probe is provided with a positioning device 102, such as Figure 6 As shown, the system further includes: a display 601 and a processor 602; a display and a processor;

[0087] The ultrasonic probe 101 is configured to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue and receive ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue;

[0088] The processor 602 is configured to determine the ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the ultrasound echo; obtain the motion data of the ultrasound probe from the positioning device; and generate the motion trajectory of the ultrasound probe according to the motion data;

[0089] The display 601 is configured to display the ultrasound image and the motion trajectory.

[0090] In some embodiments of the present application, the display 601 is specifically configured to display the motion trajectory on the ultrasound image; or, to display the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasound image.

[0091] In some embodiments of the present application, the display 601 is specifically configured to display the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasound image that are on the same interface as the ultrasound image; or, to display the motion trajectory on other interfaces outside the ultrasound image.

[0092] In some embodiments of the present application, the motion trajectory includes direction information and position information.

[0093] In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 602 is further configured to obtain position information of the ultrasound probe corresponding to the ultrasound image at the first moment;

[0094] The display 601 is further configured to mark the position information on the motion trajectory.

[0095] In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 602 is further configured to obtain direction information of the ultrasound probe corresponding to the ultrasound image at the second moment;

[0096] The display 601 is further configured to mark the direction information on the motion trajectory.

[0097] In some embodiments of the present application, the display 601 is specifically configured to mark the direction information on the motion trajectory through an indicative icon, wherein the indicative icon includes any one of an arrow, a pointer, and a probe icon.

[0098] In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 602 is further configured to obtain a preset displacement interval of the movement of the ultrasound probe;

[0099] The display 601 is further configured to mark the preset displacement interval on the motion trajectory.

[0100] In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 602 is further configured to determine the motion speed information of the ultrasound probe according to the motion data;

[0101] The display 601 is further configured to display the movement speed information.

[0102] In some embodiments of the present application, the display 601 is specifically configured to display the motion speed information on the motion trajectory.

[0103] In some embodiments of the present application, the display 601 is specifically configured to display the motion speed information on the motion trajectory in at least one of color, shape and pattern.

[0104] In some embodiments of the present application, the motion data includes acceleration data and angular velocity data.

[0105] In some embodiments of the present application, the processor 602 is specifically configured to determine the linear acceleration and the quaternion based on the acceleration data and the angular velocity data, determine the position information of the ultrasound probe based on the linear acceleration and the quaternion; determine the direction information of the ultrasound probe based on the quaternion; the linear acceleration does not include the acceleration of gravity.

[0106] In some embodiments of the present application, the motion trajectory is a two-dimensional or three-dimensional motion trajectory.

[0107] The technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present application can be combined arbitrarily without conflict.

[0108] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed methods and intelligent devices can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as: multiple units or components can be combined, or can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection between the components shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection of the devices or units can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0109] The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units; some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present embodiment.

[0110] In addition, all functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a second processing unit, or each unit may be a separate unit, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit; the above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of hardware plus software functional units.

[0111] The above description is only a specific implementation manner of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

[0112] Industrial Applicability

[0113] The technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application uses the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue; receives ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue; determines the ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echoes; obtains the motion data of the ultrasonic probe from the positioning device; generates the motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe based on the motion data; and displays the ultrasonic image and the motion trajectory. Using the solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the target tissue can be scanned using the ultrasonic probe to obtain the ultrasonic image and the motion data of the ultrasonic probe, and then the ultrasonic image and the motion trajectory can be displayed, so that the spatial position information of the ultrasonic probe when scanning the target tissue can be provided.

Claims

1. A method for ultrasonic imaging, wherein: The method is applied to an ultrasonic imaging system, the ultrasonic imaging system comprises an ultrasonic probe, the ultrasonic probe is provided with a positioning device, and the method comprises: emitting ultrasonic waves to the target tissue using the ultrasonic probe; receiving an ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue; Determine a multi-frame ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the ultrasound echo; Acquire acceleration data and angular velocity data of the ultrasonic probe from the positioning device; Calculating the position information and direction information of the ultrasonic probe according to the acceleration data and the angular velocity data; Generate a motion trajectory of the ultrasonic probe through the position information and direction information; Adding a playback progress mark point on the motion trajectory curve, configured to mark a time point in the ultrasound image corresponding to a point on the motion trajectory at a corresponding moment; Displaying the ultrasonic image and displaying the motion trajectory; Wherein, displaying the motion trajectory includes: Displaying the moving speed of the ultrasound probe at a corresponding time point in the multiple frames of ultrasound images on the motion trajectory by at least one of different colors, patterns and shapes; and / or, The displacement changes of the ultrasound probe at corresponding time points in the multiple frames of ultrasound images are displayed by marking on the motion trajectory.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The displaying of the motion trajectory comprises: displaying the motion trajectory on the ultrasound image; Alternatively, the motion trajectory is displayed in other areas outside the ultrasound image.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The displaying of the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasound image comprises: Displaying the motion trajectory in another area outside the ultrasound image and in the same interface as the ultrasound image; Alternatively, the motion trajectory is displayed on another interface outside the ultrasound image.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The method further comprises: Acquire the position information of the ultrasound probe corresponding to the ultrasound image at the first moment; The position information is marked on the motion trajectory.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 4, wherein: The method further comprises: Acquire direction information of the ultrasound probe corresponding to the ultrasound image at the second moment; The direction information is marked on the motion trajectory.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The marking of the direction information on the motion trajectory comprises: The direction information is marked on the motion trajectory by an indicative icon, wherein the indicative icon includes any one of an arrow, a pointer and a probe icon.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The displaying of the displacement change of the ultrasound probe at the corresponding time point in the multiple frames of ultrasound images by marking on the motion trajectory includes: Obtaining a preset displacement interval of the ultrasonic probe movement; The preset displacement interval is marked on the motion trajectory.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The calculating the position information and direction information of the ultrasonic probe according to the acceleration data and the angular velocity data comprises: Determine a linear acceleration and a quaternion according to the acceleration data and the angular velocity data, wherein the linear acceleration does not include gravity acceleration; Determine the position information of the ultrasound probe according to the linear acceleration and the quaternion; The direction information of the ultrasound probe is determined according to the quaternion.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The method further comprises: The moving speed of the ultrasound probe is determined according to the linear acceleration.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The method further comprises: The displacement change is determined according to the position information and an initial position of the ultrasound probe.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, 6 to 10, wherein: The motion trajectory is a two-dimensional or three-dimensional motion trajectory.

12. An ultrasound imaging system, wherein: The ultrasonic imaging system comprises an ultrasonic probe, a display and a processor; the ultrasonic probe is provided with a positioning device, The ultrasonic probe is configured to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue and receive ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue; The processor is configured to determine multiple frames of ultrasound images of the target tissue according to the ultrasound echo; obtain acceleration data and angular velocity data of the ultrasound probe from the positioning device; calculate position information and direction information of the ultrasound probe according to the acceleration data and angular velocity data, and generate a motion trajectory of the ultrasound probe through the position information and direction information; and add a playback progress mark point on the motion trajectory, configured to mark a time point in the ultrasound image corresponding to a point on the motion trajectory at a corresponding moment; The display is configured to display the ultrasound image and the motion trajectory; Wherein, the processor is also configured to display the movement speed of the ultrasound probe at the corresponding time point in the multiple frames of ultrasound images on the motion trajectory by at least one of different colors, patterns and shapes; and / or to display the displacement change of the ultrasound probe at the corresponding time point in the multiple frames of ultrasound images by marking on the motion trajectory.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein: The display is specifically configured to display the motion trajectory on the ultrasound image; or, to display the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasound image.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein: The display is specifically configured to display the motion trajectory on other areas outside the ultrasound image that are on the same interface as the ultrasound image; or, to display the motion trajectory on other interfaces outside the ultrasound image.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein: The processor is further configured to obtain position information of the ultrasound probe corresponding to the ultrasound image at the first moment; The display is further configured to mark the position information on the motion trajectory.

16. The system according to claim 12 or 15, wherein: The processor is further configured to obtain direction information of the ultrasound probe corresponding to the ultrasound image at the second moment; The display is further configured to mark the direction information on the motion trajectory.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein: The display is specifically configured to mark the direction information on the motion trajectory through an indicative icon, wherein the indicative icon includes any one of an arrow, a pointer, and a probe icon.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein: The processor is configured to obtain a preset displacement interval of the movement of the ultrasound probe; The display is configured to mark the preset displacement interval on the motion trajectory.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein: The processor is specifically configured to determine linear acceleration and quaternion according to the acceleration data and the angular velocity data, determine the position information of the ultrasound probe according to the linear acceleration and the quaternion; determine the direction information of the ultrasound probe according to the quaternion; the linear acceleration does not include gravity acceleration.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein: The processor is specifically configured to determine the moving speed of the ultrasound probe according to the linear acceleration.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein: The processor is specifically configured to determine the displacement change according to the position information and an initial position of the ultrasound probe.

22. The system according to any one of claims 12 to 15, 17 to 21, wherein: The motion trajectory is a two-dimensional or three-dimensional motion trajectory.

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