Prostate elasticity measurement method and ultrasound imaging system

Abstract

A prostate elasticity measurement method and an ultrasonic imaging system (100). The method comprises: controlling an ultrasonic probe (110) to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to a prostate part, receiving an ultrasonic echo to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal; a processor (116) to obtain a B-type ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic echo signal; controlling the ultrasonic probe (110) to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to track a shear wave, receiving an ultrasonic echo to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal; a processor (116) to obtain a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo signal; the processor (116) to determine a prostate extra-gland region based on the B-type ultrasonic image, determine an elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-gland region based on the shear wave elasticity image, determine at least one target measurement position in the prostate extra-gland region based on the elasticity measurement value, generate a target measurement region based on the target measurement region, and obtain an elasticity measurement result based on the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement region; and controlling a display device (118) to display the elasticity measurement result. The system (100) comprises an ultrasonic probe (110), a transmitting circuit (112), a receiving circuit (114), a processor (116), and a display device (118).

Description

[0001] manual Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of ultrasonic imaging, and more specifically to a prostate elasticity measurement method and an ultrasonic imaging system. Background Art

[0003] Prostate cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors of the male urogenital system, and its incidence and mortality have shown a clear upward trend in recent years. Ultrasound is the most commonly used method for screening prostate lesions in clinical practice, and ultrasound elastography can reflect the hardness of lesions and surrounding tissues. It has unique diagnostic value and advantages in cancer diagnosis and has been increasingly widely used in the clinical diagnosis of prostate diseases in recent years. Elastic imaging technology mainly includes strain elastography and shear wave elastography. Shear wave elastography refers to the formation of shear waves propagating in tissues, the identification and detection of shear waves generated in tissues and their propagation parameters, and imaging of these parameters, thereby visually presenting the hardness differences of tissues.

[0004] Elastic imaging can reflect the tissue hardness of the prostate, but if you want to obtain specific parameters, you need to select a measurement area for elasticity measurement. The prostate is divided into inner glands and outer glands in terms of tissue structure. Among them, prostate cancer is more common in the outer glands of the prostate, so prostate elasticity measurement is mainly used in the outer gland area. However, it is difficult for users to distinguish the outer gland area of ​​the prostate through elastic images, and most prostate cancers are diffuse rather than nodular, and the boundaries of the lesions are difficult to distinguish. Therefore, users usually encounter the problem of difficulty in selecting the measurement position during elasticity measurement. In addition, it often takes a long time to perform elasticity measurements in multiple measurement areas. Summary of the invention

[0005] A series of simplified concepts are introduced in the Summary of the Invention, which will be further described in detail in the Detailed Description of the Invention. The Summary of the Invention does not mean to attempt to define the key features and essential technical features of the claimed technical solution, nor does it mean to attempt to determine the scope of protection of the claimed technical solution.

[0006] A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a prostate elasticity measurement method, which is applied to an ultrasound imaging system, wherein the ultrasound imaging system includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display device. The method includes:

[0007] Controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the prostate part of the measured object, and receiving an ultrasonic echo of the first ultrasonic wave to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal;

[0008] The processor performs signal processing on the first ultrasonic echo signal to obtain a B-type ultrasonic image of the prostate area;

[0009] Controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the prostate part to track the shear wave propagating in the prostate part, and receiving an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal;

[0010] The processor performs signal processing on the second ultrasonic echo signal to obtain a shear wave elastic image of the prostate area;

[0011] The processor determines the extra-prostatic gland region according to the B-mode ultrasound image, and determines the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the shear wave elasticity image;

[0012] The processor determines at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region;

[0013] The processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area;

[0014] The display device is controlled to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0015] A second aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a prostate elasticity measurement method, which is applied to an ultrasound imaging system, wherein the ultrasound imaging system includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display device. The method includes:

[0016] Controlling the ultrasonic probe to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain a B-type ultrasonic image and an elasticity image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured;

[0017] The processor determines an extra-prostatic gland region according to the B-mode ultrasound image, and determines an elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity image;

[0018] The processor determines at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region;

[0019] The processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area;

[0020] The display device is controlled to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0021] A third aspect of the present application provides a prostate elasticity measurement method, which is applied to an ultrasound imaging system, wherein the ultrasound imaging system includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display device. The method includes:

[0022] Controlling the ultrasonic probe to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain a B-type ultrasonic image and an elasticity image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured;

[0023] The processor determines the prostate extra-gland region according to the B-mode ultrasound image, and determines the elasticity measurement value corresponding to at least one pixel point in the prostate extra-gland region based on the elasticity image;

[0024] The processor determines at least one target pixel point whose elasticity measurement value meets a preset requirement according to the elasticity measurement value corresponding to the at least one pixel point;

[0025] The processor generates a target measurement area according to the at least one target pixel point, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area;

[0026] The display device is controlled to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0027] A fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, which includes an ultrasound probe, a processor and a display device, and the processor is used to control the ultrasound probe and the display device to perform the prostate elasticity measurement method of the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application.

[0028] A fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, which includes an ultrasound probe, a processor and a display device, and the processor is used to control the ultrasound probe and the display device to perform the prostate elasticity measurement method of the second aspect of the embodiment of the present application.

[0029] A sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, which includes an ultrasound probe, a processor and a display device, and the processor is used to control the ultrasound probe and the display device to perform the prostate elasticity measurement method of the third aspect of the embodiment of the present application.

[0030] According to the prostate elasticity measurement method and ultrasound imaging system of the embodiments of the present application, the prostate extra-glandular region is determined based on the B-type ultrasound image, the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-glandular region is obtained according to the elasticity image corresponding to the B-type ultrasound image, and then the target measurement position is selected in the prostate extra-glandular region according to the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-glandular region, thereby solving the problem of difficulty in determining the measurement area when performing prostate elasticity measurement. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0032] In the attached picture:

[0033] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic flow chart showing a method for measuring prostate elasticity according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 3A A B-mode ultrasound image of a prostate region according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0036] Figure 3B Shown in Figure 3A The extraprostatic glandular area identified in the B-mode ultrasound image shown;

[0037] Figure 4A A B-mode ultrasound image of a prostate region according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0038] Figure 4B Shown in Figure 4A The extraprostatic glandular area identified in the B-mode ultrasound image shown;

[0039] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing a measurement area determined in an extra-prostatic gland region according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0040] Figure 6 A schematic diagram showing a plurality of candidate measurement regions determined in the extra-prostatic gland region according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0041] Figure 7 A schematic block diagram showing an ultrasound imaging system according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 8 A schematic flow chart showing a method for measuring prostate elasticity according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Fig. 9 A schematic flow chart showing a method for measuring prostate elasticity according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more obvious, the example embodiments according to the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application, and it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the example embodiments described herein. Based on the embodiments of the present application described in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0045] In the following description, a large number of specific details are provided to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present application can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, in order to avoid confusion with the present application, some technical features well known in the art are not described.

[0046] It should be understood that the present application can be implemented in different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, providing these embodiments will make the disclosure thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present application to those skilled in the art.

[0047] The purpose of the terms used herein is only to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present application. When used herein, the singular forms "one", "an" and "said / the" are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "consisting of" and / or "comprising", when used in this specification, determine the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups. When used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of the relevant listed items.

[0048] In order to thoroughly understand the present application, a detailed structure will be proposed in the following description to illustrate the technical solution proposed by the present application. The optional embodiments of the present application are described in detail as follows, but in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present application may also have other implementation methods.

[0049] Next, first refer to Figure 1 An ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 1 A schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0050] like Figure 1As shown, the ultrasound imaging system 100 includes an ultrasound probe 110, a transmitting circuit 112, a receiving circuit 114, a processor 116, and a display device 118. Further, the ultrasound imaging system may also include a transmit / receive selection switch 120 and a beamforming circuit 122, and the transmitting circuit 112 and the receiving circuit 114 may be connected to the ultrasound probe 110 through the transmit / receive selection switch 120.

[0051] Specifically, the ultrasonic probe 110 includes a plurality of transducer array elements, which can be arranged in a row to form a linear array, or arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form a surface array, and a plurality of transducer array elements can also form a convex array. The transducer is used to transmit ultrasonic waves according to the excitation electrical signal, or to convert the received ultrasonic waves into electrical signals, so each array element can be used to realize the mutual conversion between the electrical pulse signal and the ultrasonic wave, so as to realize the transmission of ultrasonic waves to the tissue of the target area of ​​the object to be measured, and can also be used to receive the ultrasonic wave echo reflected by the tissue. When performing ultrasonic imaging, which transducers are used to transmit ultrasonic waves and which transducers are used to receive ultrasonic waves can be controlled by the transmission sequence and the reception sequence, or the transducers can be controlled to transmit ultrasonic waves or receive ultrasonic wave echoes in time slots. The transducers participating in ultrasonic wave transmission can be excited by electrical signals at the same time, so as to transmit ultrasonic waves at the same time; or, the transducers participating in ultrasonic wave beam transmission 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.

[0052] In one embodiment, the transducer is used to both emit ultrasound waves for generating B-type ultrasound images and to apply acoustic radiation force pulses to a target area of ​​the object to be measured to generate shear waves. In another embodiment, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may also include a vibrator. When performing transient elastic detection, the vibrator generates mechanical vibrations under the control of the processor 116, thereby generating shear waves propagating in the tissue in the target area of ​​the object to be measured. The vibrator may be a built-in vibrator disposed inside the ultrasound probe 110, or may be a separately disposed external vibrator.

[0053] During the ultrasonic imaging process, the transmitting circuit 112 sends the delayed focused transmitting pulse to the ultrasonic probe 110 through the transmitting / receiving selection switch 120. The ultrasonic probe 110 is stimulated by the transmitting pulse to transmit an ultrasonic beam to the tissue of the target area of ​​the object under test, and receives the ultrasonic echo with tissue information reflected from the tissue of the target area after a certain delay, and reconverts the ultrasonic echo into an electrical signal. The receiving circuit 114 receives the electrical signal converted and generated by the ultrasonic probe 110, obtains the ultrasonic echo signal, and sends these ultrasonic echo signals to the beamforming circuit 122, which performs focusing delay, weighting and channel summing on the ultrasonic echo data, and then sends them to the processor 116.

[0054] The processor 116 performs signal detection, signal enhancement, data conversion, logarithmic compression and other processing on the ultrasonic echo signal to form an ultrasonic image. Specifically, the processor 116 can perform conventional B-type ultrasonic image processing on the ultrasonic echo signal to generate a B-type ultrasonic image; the processor 116 can also perform elastic imaging processing on the ultrasonic echo signal that tracks the shear wave, calculate the elasticity measurement value used to generate the elastic image, and generate a corresponding elastic image based on the elasticity measurement value. The processor 116 can also select a specific measurement area and obtain a quantitative elasticity measurement result based on the elasticity measurement value in the measurement area. The ultrasonic image (such as a B-type ultrasonic image, an elasticity image, etc.) and the elasticity measurement result obtained by the processor 116 can be displayed on the display device 118, or stored in the memory 124.

[0055] Optionally, the processor 116 may be implemented as software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof, and may use a single or multiple application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), a single or multiple general purpose integrated circuits, a single or multiple microprocessors, a single or multiple programmable logic devices, or any combination of the aforementioned circuits and / or devices, or other suitable circuits or devices. Furthermore, the processor 116 may control other components in the ultrasound imaging system 100 to perform the corresponding steps of the methods in various embodiments of the present specification.

[0056] The display device 118 is connected to the processor 116, and the display device 118 may be a touch screen, a liquid crystal display, etc.; or, the display device 118 may be an independent display device such as a liquid crystal display, a television, etc., which is independent of the ultrasound imaging system 100; or, the display device 118 may be a display screen of an electronic device such as a smart phone or a tablet computer, etc. The number of the display device 118 may be one or more. For example, the display device 118 may include a main screen and a touch screen, wherein the main screen is mainly used to display ultrasound images, and the touch screen is mainly used for human-computer interaction.

[0057] The display device 118 can display the ultrasound image obtained by the processor 116. In addition, the display device 118 can also provide the user with a graphical interface for human-computer interaction while displaying the ultrasound image. One or more controlled objects are set on the graphical interface, and the user is provided with a human-computer interaction device to input operation instructions to control these controlled objects, thereby performing corresponding control operations. For example, an icon is displayed on the graphical interface, and the icon can be operated using the human-computer interaction device to perform a specific function, such as drawing a region of interest box on the ultrasound image, selecting whether to accept the elasticity measurement area automatically determined by the system, etc.

[0058] Optionally, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may further include other human-computer interaction devices in addition to the display device 118, which are connected to the processor 116. For example, the processor 116 may be connected to the human-computer interaction device via an external input / output port, and the external input / output port may be a wireless communication module, or a wired communication module, or a combination of the two. The external input / output port may also be implemented based on USB, bus protocols such as CAN, and / or wired network protocols.

[0059] The human-computer interaction device may include an input device for detecting user input information, which may be, for example, a control instruction for ultrasonic transmission / reception timing, an operation input instruction for drawing points, lines or frames on an ultrasonic image, or other instruction types. The input device may include a keyboard, a mouse, a scroll wheel, a trackball, a mobile input device (such as a mobile device with a touch screen, a mobile phone, etc.), a multi-function knob, etc., or a combination of multiple thereof. The human-computer interaction device may also include an output device such as a printer.

[0060] The ultrasound imaging system 100 may further include a memory 124 for storing instructions executed by the processor, storing received ultrasound echoes, storing ultrasound images, etc. The memory may be a flash memory card, a solid-state memory, a hard disk, etc. It may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory, a removable memory and / or a non-removable memory, etc.

[0061] It should be understood that Figure 1 The components included in the ultrasonic imaging system 100 are only exemplary, and the ultrasonic imaging system 100 may include more or fewer components, and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0062] Next, we will refer to Figure 2 A prostate elasticity measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application is described. The prostate elasticity measurement method is applied to an ultrasound imaging system. The ultrasound imaging system at least includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display device. For details, see Figure 1 An ultrasound imaging system 100 is shown. Figure 2 It is a schematic flow chart of the prostate elasticity measurement method 200 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0063] like Figure 2 As shown, the prostate elasticity measurement method 200 comprises the following steps:

[0064] In step S210, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the prostate part of the measured object, and an ultrasonic echo of the first ultrasonic wave is received to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal;

[0065] In step S220, the processor performs signal processing on the first ultrasonic echo signal to obtain a B-mode ultrasonic image of the prostate area;

[0066] In step S230, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the prostate part to track the shear wave propagating in the prostate part, and an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave is received to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal;

[0067] In step S240, the processor processes the second ultrasound echo signal to obtain a shear wave elastic image of the prostate area;

[0068] In step S250, the processor determines the extra-prostatic gland region according to the B-mode ultrasound image, and determines the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the shear wave elasticity image;

[0069] In step S260, the processor determines at least one target measurement position in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region;

[0070] In step S270, the processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value in the at least one target measurement area;

[0071] In step S280, the display device is controlled to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0072] The prostate elasticity measurement method 200 of the embodiment of the present application is used to perform elasticity measurement on a specific measurement area after performing shear wave elastic imaging on the prostate to obtain a quantitative elasticity measurement result. Among them, the processor determines the prostate extra-gland region based on the B-type ultrasound image corresponding to the shear wave elastic image, and then automatically selects a position in the prostate extra-gland region where the elasticity measurement value meets the preset requirements to determine the target measurement position, determines the target measurement area based on the target measurement position, and counts the elasticity measurement values ​​in the target measurement area to obtain the measurement result, thereby solving the problem that the measurement area of ​​the prostate elasticity measurement is difficult to determine, and can simultaneously select multiple positions that meet the preset requirements for automatic measurement, saving measurement time.

[0073] Exemplarily, in step S210, Figure 1, the transmitting circuit 112 sends an electrical signal with an appropriate delay to each transducer array element in the ultrasonic probe 110, and the transducer converts the electrical signal into a first ultrasonic wave and transmits it to the target area of ​​the object under test; the transducer in the ultrasonic probe 110 receives the ultrasonic echo of the first ultrasonic wave returned by the target area and converts it into an electrical signal to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal, which is transmitted to the beam synthesis circuit 122 for beam synthesis processing after signal amplification, analog-to-digital conversion and other processing, and then the beam synthesized first ultrasonic echo signal is sent to the processor 116. Then, in step S220, the processor 116 performs logarithmic compression, dynamic range adjustment, digital scan conversion and other processing on the first ultrasonic echo signal to form a B-type ultrasonic image for reflecting the tissue morphological structure of the target area, and outputs the B-type ultrasonic image to the display device 118 for display. The user can observe the B-type ultrasonic image in real time, and thus adjust the inspection range, the angle of placement of the ultrasonic probe, etc. according to needs.

[0074] After the B-type ultrasound image is generated and displayed, the elastic image acquisition preparation state is entered to determine the region of interest (ROI) in the B-type ultrasound image for generating the elastic image. As an example, the user can manually select the region of interest frame on the B-type ultrasound image, and determine the position of the region of interest according to the detected user input instruction. The region of interest frame can be a rectangle, or a circle, an ellipse, a sector, or the like. For example, the user can draw a region of interest frame on the B-type ultrasound image through an input device such as a mouse or a touch screen.

[0075] As another implementation, the position of the region of interest can be automatically determined on the B-type ultrasound image based on a relevant machine recognition algorithm, that is, the region of interest frame can be automatically generated. In other examples, the region of interest can also be obtained by semi-automatic detection. For example, the position of the region of interest on the B-type ultrasound image is first automatically detected based on a machine recognition algorithm, and an editable region of interest frame is displayed on the B-type ultrasound image, allowing the user to adjust its height, width and position through a mouse, touch screen, etc. to determine the specific position of the region of interest.

[0076] Afterwards, the display device 118 transmits the coordinate information of the determined region of interest to the processor 116, and the processor 116 determines the position of the region of interest in the tissue according to the coordinate information of the region of interest, so as to perform elastic imaging on the region of interest later. In some embodiments, the region of interest can also be selected by other means, such as setting a predetermined distance below a certain position of the default ultrasound probe as the region of interest, and according to the displayed ultrasound image, the user can adjust the region of interest by moving the ultrasound probe, thereby changing the position of the elastic imaging.

[0077] After the position of the region of interest is determined, the scanning phase of the elastic imaging mode is entered, in which elastic imaging is performed on the region of interest determined above. In this phase, a shear wave propagating in the target area of ​​the object under test is first generated. In one embodiment, shear waves can be generated inside the tissue of the region of interest by focusing the impact of acoustic radiation force. Specifically, a series of ultrasonic push pulses can be emitted to the tissue of the region of interest by the ultrasonic probe 110 to generate the propagation of shear waves in the tissue based on the acoustic radiation force. In another embodiment, mechanical vibration can also be applied to the object under test by a vibrator to generate shear waves inside the tissue of the region of interest. The vibrator can be arranged inside the ultrasonic probe 110, or it can be an independent vibrator arranged outside the ultrasonic probe 110.

[0078] Afterwards, in step S230, the transmitting circuit 112 excites the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit a second ultrasonic wave that tracks the shear wave to the determined region of interest and receives the echo of the second ultrasonic wave to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal. In step S240, the processor 116 calculates the elastic measurement value of the region of interest based on the second ultrasonic signal, such as at least one of the shear wave velocity, Young's modulus or shear modulus. Afterwards, a shear wave elastic image is generated based on the distribution of the elastic measurement values. In the shear wave elastic image, different attribute hardness tissues can be identified by different colors, grayscales or filling methods. For example, pseudo-color mapping can be performed based on the elastic measurement values ​​at multiple positions in the region of interest and superimposed in the region of interest frame of the B-type ultrasound image, so that a shear wave elastic image of the region of interest can be formed.

[0079] Exemplarily, the following method can be used to calculate elasticity measurements: calculate the displacement of a point on the shear wave propagation path based on the received second ultrasonic echo signal, and when the displacement of the point is the largest, it is considered that the shear wave has reached the point. The propagation path or propagation trajectory of the shear wave can be located by the time it takes for the shear wave to arrive at each point, so that a shear wave trajectory diagram can be drawn, and the slope of each point on the shear wave propagation path can be obtained based on the shear wave trajectory line, and the slope is the shear wave velocity. According to the relationship between the shear wave velocity and Young's modulus and shear modulus, after the shear wave velocity is obtained, other elasticity measurements can be further calculated, such as Young's modulus, shear modulus, etc.

[0080] Afterwards, the processor may merge the B-type ultrasound image with the region of interest identifier and the elastic image into one frame of image. In an embodiment of the present application, the B-type ultrasound image with the region of interest identifier obtained in the elastic imaging preparation stage and the elastic image result may be synthesized into one frame of image, or the B-type ultrasound imaging of the target area and the elastic imaging of the region of interest may be performed alternately in the elastic scanning stage, or the B-type ultrasound imaging and the elastic image may be generated separately based on the same set of ultrasonic echo signals, and then the region of interest identifier is added to the B-type ultrasound image generated in real time in the elastic scanning stage according to the position information of the region of interest obtained in the elastic acquisition preparation stage, and the real-time generated B-type ultrasound image and the elastic image are merged into one frame of image. That is, the B-type ultrasound image in step S220 may be generated before acquiring the elastic image or in the process of acquiring the elastic image. Afterwards, the processor 116 may output the synthesized image data to the display device 118 so as to be displayed on the display interface of the display device 118.

[0081] In step S250, the processor first determines the extra-prostatic gland region according to the B-mode ultrasound image. The specific workflow can be implemented in any of the following forms:

[0082] 1) In the B-mode ultrasound imaging mode before acquiring the elasticity image, that is, in the process of acquiring the B-mode ultrasound image, the prostate extra-gland region in the B-mode ultrasound image is determined in real time, and then the position and direction of the ultrasound probe are maintained to acquire the shear wave elasticity image corresponding to the B-mode ultrasound image;

[0083] 2) in the elastic image acquisition preparation state after obtaining the B-type ultrasound image and before acquiring the elastic image, determining the prostate extra-gland region of the B-type ultrasound image, then maintaining the position and direction of the ultrasound probe, and acquiring the shear wave elastic image corresponding to the B-type ultrasound image;

[0084] 3) in an elastic imaging mode, i.e., in the process of obtaining a shear wave elastic image corresponding to the B-mode ultrasound image, determining the extraprostatic gland area in the B-mode ultrasound image;

[0085] 4) After obtaining the shear wave elasticity image corresponding to the B-mode ultrasound image, determine the extra-prostatic gland area of ​​the B-mode ultrasound image.

[0086] The inner prostate gland region and the outer prostate gland region may be determined in the B-mode ultrasound image, or only the outer prostate gland region may be determined. The prostate region in the B-mode ultrasound image may be determined first, and then the outer prostate gland region may be segmented into the outer prostate gland region and the inner prostate gland region, or the outer prostate gland region in the B-mode ultrasound image may be directly identified and segmented.

[0087] In one example, the processor may use an edge detection image segmentation method to identify and segment the extra-prostatic gland area in the B-mode ultrasound image or the extra-prostatic gland area and the intra-prostatic gland area in the B-mode ultrasound image. Figure 3A and Figure 3B ,exist Figure 3A The discontinuity caused by grayscale or structural mutation in the B-type ultrasound image shown is the edge. The prostate gland, the prostate gland and other tissue regions have grayscale or structural discontinuity in the B-type ultrasound image. The discontinuity in the B-type ultrasound image can be detected by edge detection algorithms including but not limited to differential operators, thereby realizing the recognition and segmentation of the prostate gland region, the prostate gland region and other tissue regions. Figure 3B Shown in Figure 3A The intra-prostatic glandular area and the extra-prostatic glandular area are segmented in the B-mode ultrasound image shown.

[0088] In another example, the processor may use a machine learning algorithm to perform image segmentation, for example, a trained deep learning neural network model may be used to segment the extra-prostatic gland region in a B-mode ultrasound image, or segment the prostatic gland region and the extra-prostatic gland region in a B-mode ultrasound image. This type of method learns features of a pre-built database by stacking convolutional layers and fully connected layers, thereby directly obtaining the region to be segmented of the input image and its corresponding category. Figure 4A and Figure 4B A B-mode ultrasound image of the prostate region and an inner prostate gland region and an outer prostate gland region segmented from the B-mode ultrasound image are shown respectively.

[0089] Alternatively, an image feature recognition algorithm may be used to segment the extraprostatic gland region in a B-type ultrasound image, or to segment the prostatic gland region and the extraprostatic gland region in a B-type ultrasound image. For example, feature extraction may be performed on image blocks in a predetermined neighborhood around each pixel point in the B-type ultrasound image, and then the extracted features may be matched with features in a pre-constructed database, and the extracted features may be classified using a classifier to determine the category of the image block corresponding to the feature, that is, the image block may be divided into an image block of the extraprostatic gland region, an image block of the prostatic gland region, and an image block of other regions according to the features of the image block, thereby achieving segmentation of the extraprostatic gland region in the B-type ultrasound image.

[0090] The above only provides several ways to determine the extraprostatic gland area as examples, but it should be noted that in addition to the above methods, the processor can also use any suitable image recognition or segmentation algorithm to segment the B-type ultrasound image, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific algorithm used. The above specifically describes the determination of the extraprostatic gland area based on the B-type ultrasound image. It can be understood that the extraprostatic gland area can also be determined based on a C-type ultrasound image, a three-dimensional ultrasound image, or other images that can see the extraprostatic gland structure. The specific method can be understood by referring to the above-mentioned image recognition or segmentation algorithm based on the B-type ultrasound image, which will not be repeated here.

[0091] After the extra-prostatic gland region is determined in the B-mode ultrasound image, the processor can determine the extra-prostatic gland region in the elastic image according to the correspondence between the B-mode ultrasound image and the shear wave elastic image. Since the shear wave elastic image is generated based on the distribution of elasticity measurements, the elasticity measurements of the extra-prostatic gland region can be obtained according to the location of the extra-prostatic gland region in the shear wave elastic image, such as the shear wave velocity, shear modulus or Young's modulus corresponding to each pixel point in the extra-prostatic gland region.

[0092] In some embodiments, after the extra-prostatic gland region is determined in the B-mode ultrasound image, the location of the extra-prostatic gland region can be displayed on the B-mode ultrasound image or the shear wave elasticity image. Figure 3B The demarcation line between the intraprostatic and extraprostatic glandular regions is shown, or Figure 4B The outline of the extra-prostatic gland area is shown to help users intuitively understand the extra-prostatic gland area in the ultrasound image.

[0093] Then, in step S240, at least one target measurement position is determined in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region. Figure 5 As shown, a region of interest frame 502 is drawn on a B-mode ultrasound image 501, and a shear wave elasticity image 503 is superimposed in the region of interest frame 502 of another identical B-mode ultrasound image. After the prostate extra-gland region 504 is determined based on the B-mode ultrasound image 501, the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-gland region 504 is obtained based on the shear wave elasticity image 503, and the target measurement position is determined in the prostate extra-gland region 504 based on the obtained elasticity measurement value, and the target measurement region 505 is determined based on the target measurement position.

[0094] Figure 5 The target measurement area 505 shown is the area with the highest elasticity measurement value in the extraprostatic gland area 504, but in other embodiments, the target measurement area may also be the area with the lowest elasticity measurement value in the extraprostatic gland area, the area where the median elasticity measurement value is located, or the area where the elasticity measurement value meets other preset standards. Figure 5 The target measurement area shown is a circular area with the target measurement position as the center, but the shape of the target measurement area in the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the shape of the target measurement area may also be implemented as an ellipse, square, rectangle, four-pointed star or other shapes, which may be pre-set by the ultrasound imaging system or set by the user.

[0095] Reference Figure 6 , which shows a specific solution for determining the target measurement position according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, in this embodiment, the extra-prostatic gland region 601 is first divided into at least two sub-regions. Figure 6 The prostate extra-glandular region 601 is divided into four sub-regions, wherein the dotted lines represent the dividing lines between adjacent sub-regions. The areas of the sub-regions may be equal or unequal, and the number and area of ​​the sub-regions may be preset by the ultrasound imaging system or may be set by the user.

[0096] Afterwards, determine the alternative measurement position corresponding to each sub-region based on the elasticity measurement values ​​of at least two sub-regions. Specifically, for each sub-region, obtain the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to each pixel point in the sub-region, and use the pixel point corresponding to the elasticity measurement value that meets the preset conditions as the alternative measurement position. The preset conditions depend on the characteristics of the expected measurement area. For example, when it is desired to perform elasticity measurement in the area with the highest elasticity measurement value in the extraprostatic gland area to obtain the elasticity measurement result of the prostate lesion, the elasticity measurement value represented by each pixel point in the sub-region can be arranged from large to small, and the pixel point with the largest elasticity measurement value can be used as the alternative measurement position of the sub-region. Figure 6 In the example of , one candidate measurement position is determined in each of the four sub-areas, and a total of four candidate measurement positions are obtained.

[0097] Similarly, the area of ​​interest to the user does not only include the area with the highest elasticity measurement value. In some cases, the area with the lowest elasticity measurement value, the area corresponding to the median elasticity measurement value, or the area where the elasticity measurement value meets other conditions also has research value. The user may also want to conduct research and analysis on these areas, and thus can select the candidate measurement position in the sub-area according to the corresponding standard. The specific standard can be pre-set by the system, or the user can select one or more standards required from the preset multiple standards. For example, the candidate measurement position can be the maximum value, minimum value, median value, quantile of the maximum value (e.g., 75% of the maximum value) or multiple of the minimum value (e.g., 2 times of the minimum value) of the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to all pixel points in the sub-area.

[0098] Afterwards, the final target measurement position is selected from the candidate measurement positions. Specifically, firstly, a candidate measurement area is generated based on each candidate measurement position. For example, a circular candidate measurement area of ​​a predetermined size can be determined with each candidate measurement position as the center. The radius of the candidate measurement area is, for example, 2.5 mm or 3 mm, but is not limited thereto. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 5 , a circular candidate measurement area 602 is respectively determined in each sub-area.

[0099] Afterwards, an alternative elastic measurement result of each alternative measurement area is obtained according to the elastic measurement value in each alternative measurement area. For example, the elastic measurement values ​​corresponding to all pixel points in each alternative measurement area can be obtained, and the statistical results such as the average value, minimum value, maximum value, quartile value or standard deviation of the elastic measurement value can be calculated as the alternative elastic measurement result in the alternative measurement area, and the alternative measurement position corresponding to the alternative elastic measurement result that meets the preset conditions is determined as the final target measurement position.

[0100] Among them, the alternative elasticity measurement results that meet the preset conditions may be the maximum value, minimum value, median value, quantile of the maximum value, or multiple of the minimum value among all the alternative elasticity measurement results. The preset conditions here may be consistent with the conditions used when selecting the alternative measurement positions. For example, when the alternative measurement position is a pixel point with the largest elasticity measurement value in the sub-region, the alternative measurement position corresponding to the maximum value among all the alternative elasticity measurement results is determined as the final target measurement position, so that the final selected target measurement position is located in the region with the largest measurement value in the extra-prostatic gland region.

[0101] In another embodiment, the target measurement position can be determined in the following manner: generating an alternative measurement region based on each pixel point in the prostate extra-glandular region, and determining an alternative elasticity measurement result corresponding to each alternative measurement region according to the elasticity measurement value in the alternative measurement region, determining at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets the preset conditions from the alternative elasticity measurement results corresponding to each alternative measurement region, and using the pixel point corresponding to the at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets the preset conditions as at least one target measurement position. The alternative measurement results that meet the preset conditions include but are not limited to the maximum value, minimum value, median value, quantile of the maximum value, or multiple of the minimum value among all the alternative elasticity measurement results.

[0102] In addition, the target measurement position can also be determined in the following manner: first, the prostate gland region is divided into at least two sub-regions, and the corresponding candidate measurement region is generated based on each pixel point in each sub-region, and the candidate elasticity measurement result corresponding to each candidate measurement region is determined according to the elasticity measurement value of the candidate measurement region; at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets the preset conditions is determined according to the candidate elasticity measurement result corresponding to each candidate measurement region of each sub-region; at least one target elasticity measurement result is determined from at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets the preset conditions; and the pixel point corresponding to the at least one target elasticity measurement result is used as at least one target measurement position. For example, in each sub-region, each pixel point is used as the center of the alternative measurement region, and the average value of the elasticity measurement value corresponding to all the pixel points in the circular region with a certain radius around it is calculated, which is the candidate measurement result corresponding to the pixel point as the center of the circle. Afterwards, the alternative elasticity measurement results corresponding to each pixel point in each sub-region are compared, and the pixel point corresponding to the alternative measurement result that meets the preset conditions is determined as the alternative measurement position in the sub-region. Finally, the final target measurement position is selected from multiple alternative measurement positions.

[0103] Refer to above Figure 6 Compared with the method described above, the above two schemes perform statistics on the area around each pixel, so that absolute results can be obtained, which is particularly suitable for scenarios with high measurement accuracy requirements.

[0104] The third scheme for determining the target measurement position provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: obtaining the elasticity measurement value corresponding to each pixel point in the prostate extra-glandular region; determining at least one elasticity measurement value that meets the preset requirements from the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to each pixel point; and using the pixel point corresponding to at least one elasticity measurement value that meets the preset requirements as at least one target measurement position. In other words, this scheme selects the target measurement position only based on the elasticity measurement value of a single point, without dividing the region or calculating the alternative measurement results, so the calculation amount is small and the calculation speed is fast.

[0105] Among them, the elasticity measurement values ​​represented by each pixel point in the outer gland region of the prostate can be arranged from large to small, and one or more pixel points corresponding to the elasticity measurement values ​​that meet the preset requirements are determined as the target measurement positions. Exemplarily, the elasticity measurement values ​​that meet the preset requirements include but are not limited to the maximum value, minimum value, median value, maximum value quantile (e.g., 75% of the maximum value) or multiple of the minimum value (e.g., 2 times the minimum value) of the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to all pixel points.

[0106] For example, when you want to measure the elasticity of the lesion area, you can use the pixel corresponding to the maximum value in the elasticity measurement as the target measurement position. However, since this solution selects the target measurement position based on single-point measurement, sometimes there will be outliers. For example, most of the elasticity measurements are within a certain range, while a small number of values ​​far exceed most of the elasticity measurements. These elasticity measurements may be inaccurate or have no reference value. Therefore, when you want to measure the elasticity of the lesion area, you can also use the pixel corresponding to about 75% of the maximum value in the elasticity measurement as the target measurement position. This position can exclude the influence of outliers and better reflect the final target measurement position.

[0107] In one embodiment, the processor may first exclude abnormal measurement points according to the elasticity measurement values ​​of the extra-prostatic gland region, and determine the target measurement position in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement values ​​of the extra-prostatic gland region after excluding the abnormal measurement points. Exemplarily, the abnormal measurement points may be measurement points whose elasticity measurement values ​​are higher than a preset threshold or lower than a preset threshold. Thus, interference caused by abnormal measurement points in determining the target measurement position can be avoided.

[0108] In step S270, the processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value in the at least one target measurement area.

[0109] Specifically, the processor can determine a certain area around each selected target measurement position as the final target measurement area, and calculate the statistical results of the elasticity measurement values ​​in the final target measurement area to obtain the final elasticity measurement result. The target measurement position can be the center of the target measurement area. The shape of the target measurement area includes but is not limited to a circle, an ellipse, a square, a rectangle or a four-pointed star, and its shape and area can be pre-set by the ultrasonic imaging system or selected by the user.

[0110] For example, when the target measurement position is selected by partitioning, the shape and area of ​​the final target measurement area can be consistent with the alternative measurement area in each partition, and the alternative elasticity measurement result corresponding to the final target measurement position can be directly used as the final elasticity measurement result. The shape and area of ​​the final target measurement area can also be different from the alternative measurement area. For example, when the alternative measurement area is circular, the final target measurement area can be a square, rectangle, etc. of different sizes, and the final measurement result can be recalculated at this time.

[0111] In one embodiment, after the target measurement position is determined, the location of the target measurement position can be displayed, and the user can choose whether to adopt the target measurement position. Optionally, after the target measurement position is determined, the user can choose whether to adopt the measurement area. Specifically, at least one target measurement area is generated based on the target measurement position, and at least one target measurement area is displayed, for example, a circular measurement frame with the target measurement position as the center is displayed, and a user's confirmation instruction for at least one target measurement area is received to determine at least one selected target measurement area; an elasticity measurement result is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value in the at least one selected target measurement area. Of course, the user selection step can also be skipped, and the target measurement area is directly generated based on the selected target measurement position and the elasticity measurement result is obtained.

[0112] Finally, in step S280, the processor controls the display to display the elasticity measurement result obtained in step S270.

[0113] Referring to the above description, it can be known that the number of target measurement positions can be one or more. When there is only one target measurement position, the corresponding elasticity measurement result can be directly output. When there are multiple target measurement positions, the output methods of the elasticity measurement result include but are not limited to the following:

[0114] As a first method, multiple elasticity measurement results can be obtained, wherein each of the elasticity measurement results is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area corresponding to the respective target measurement position. Afterwards, the multiple elasticity measurement results are displayed respectively, thereby obtaining the measurement results of multiple measurement areas at one time without manual measurement, saving operation time.

[0115] As a second method, multiple elasticity measurement results can be obtained, wherein each elasticity measurement result is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area corresponding to the respective target measurement position; statistical operations are performed on the multiple elasticity measurement results to obtain statistical results, such as averaging or medianing the multiple elasticity measurement results, and finally the obtained statistical results are displayed, which may be different from each individual measurement result.

[0116] As a third method, multiple elasticity measurement results can be obtained, wherein each elasticity measurement result is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area corresponding to the respective target measurement position; the elasticity measurement results corresponding to the multiple target measurement positions are compared to determine and display the final measurement result, which is, for example, the maximum value, minimum value or median value of the multiple elasticity measurement results. In addition, the above three methods can also be combined with each other, for example, each measurement result, statistical result and final measurement result can be displayed simultaneously.

[0117] Based on the above description, the prostate elasticity measurement method 200 of the embodiment of the present application determines the extraprostatic gland area based on the B-type ultrasound image, and automatically selects the target measurement position within the extraprostatic gland area, generates a measurement area based on the selected target measurement position and obtains the elasticity measurement result, thereby solving the problem of difficulty in determining the measurement area when performing prostate elasticity measurement, and does not require the user to manually select the measurement area, saving operation time.

[0118] The present application also provides an ultrasonic imaging system, referring to Figure 7 The ultrasound imaging system 700 includes an ultrasound probe 710, a processor 720, and a display device 730. The processor 720 can control the ultrasound probe 710 and the display device to implement the above-mentioned prostate elasticity measurement method 200. The ultrasound imaging system 700 may include a reference Figure 1 For some or all of the components in the ultrasound imaging system 100 described, the relevant description of each component can refer to the above. The following only describes the main functions of the ultrasound imaging system 700, and omits the details already described above.

[0119] Specifically, the processor 720 is used to control the ultrasound probe 710 to transmit a first ultrasound wave to the prostate part of the object under test, and receive the ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave to obtain a first ultrasound echo signal; the processor 720 performs signal processing on the first ultrasound echo signal to obtain a B-type ultrasound image of the prostate part; the processor 720 is also used to control the ultrasound probe 710 to transmit a second ultrasound wave to the prostate part to track the shear wave propagating in the prostate part, and receive the ultrasound echo of the second ultrasound wave to obtain a second ultrasound echo signal; the processor 720 performs signal processing on the second ultrasound echo signal to obtain a shear wave elastic image of the prostate part; the processor 720 determines the prostate extra-gland region according to the B-type ultrasound image, and determines the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-gland region based on the shear wave elasticity image; the processor 720 determines at least one target measurement position within the prostate extra-gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-gland region; the processor 720 generates at least one target measurement region based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement region; the processor 720 is also used to control the display device 730 to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0120] In one embodiment, determining at least one target measurement position within the extraprostatic gland region based on the elasticity measurement value of the extraprostatic gland region includes: dividing the extraprostatic gland region into at least two sub-regions; determining an alternative measurement position corresponding to each sub-region based on the elasticity measurement values ​​of the at least two sub-regions; generating an alternative measurement region corresponding to each alternative measurement position based on the alternative measurement position corresponding to each sub-region, and obtaining an alternative elasticity measurement result corresponding to each alternative measurement region based on the elasticity measurement value of the alternative measurement region corresponding to each alternative measurement position; determining at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets a preset condition from the alternative elasticity measurement results corresponding to each alternative measurement region; and determining the alternative measurement position corresponding to the at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets the preset condition as the at least one target measurement position.

[0121] In one embodiment, determining the alternative measurement position corresponding to each sub-region based on the elastic measurement values ​​of the at least two sub-regions includes: obtaining the elastic measurement values ​​corresponding to each pixel point in each sub-region; using the pixel points corresponding to the elastic measurement values ​​that meet preset conditions in each sub-region as the alternative measurement positions corresponding to each sub-region, and the elastic measurement values ​​that meet the preset conditions include: the maximum value, the minimum value, the median value, the quantile of the maximum value, or the multiple of the minimum value of the elastic measurement values ​​corresponding to all the pixel points in the sub-region.

[0122] In one embodiment, the at least one candidate elasticity measurement result satisfying a preset condition comprises: a maximum value, a minimum value, a median value, a quantile of a maximum value, or a multiple of a minimum value in the candidate elasticity measurement results corresponding to the candidate measurement area.

[0123] In one embodiment, determining at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region includes: generating a corresponding alternative measurement region based on each pixel point within the extra-prostatic gland region, and determining an alternative elasticity measurement result corresponding to each alternative measurement region based on the elasticity measurement value of the alternative measurement region; determining at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets a preset condition from the alternative elasticity measurement results corresponding to each alternative measurement region; and using the pixel point corresponding to the at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets the preset condition as the at least one target measurement position.

[0124] In one embodiment, determining at least one target measurement position within the extraprostatic gland region based on the elasticity measurement value of the extraprostatic gland region includes: dividing the extraprostatic gland region into at least two sub-regions; generating a corresponding alternative measurement region based on each pixel point in each sub-region, and determining an alternative elasticity measurement result corresponding to each alternative measurement region based on the elasticity measurement value of the alternative measurement region; determining at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets a preset condition based on the alternative elasticity measurement result corresponding to each alternative measurement region of each sub-region; determining at least one target elasticity measurement result from the at least one alternative elasticity measurement result that meets the preset condition; and using the pixel point corresponding to the at least one target elasticity measurement result as the at least one target measurement position.

[0125] In one embodiment, the at least one candidate elasticity measurement result satisfying a preset condition comprises: a maximum value, a minimum value, a median value, a quantile of a maximum value, or a multiple of a minimum value in the candidate elasticity measurement results corresponding to the candidate measurement area.

[0126] In one embodiment, determining at least one target measurement center within the extraprostatic gland region based on the elasticity measurement value of the extraprostatic gland region includes: obtaining the elasticity measurement value corresponding to each pixel point within the extraprostatic gland region; determining at least one elasticity measurement value that meets preset requirements from the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to each pixel point; and using the pixel point corresponding to the at least one elasticity measurement value that meets the preset requirements as the at least one target measurement position.

[0127] In one embodiment, the at least one elasticity measurement value that meets the preset requirements includes: a maximum value, a minimum value, a median value, a quantile of a maximum value, or a multiple of a minimum value in the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to the pixel points.

[0128] In one embodiment, when there are multiple target measurement positions, obtaining the elasticity measurement result based on the elasticity measurement value of at least one target measurement area includes: obtaining multiple elasticity measurement results, wherein each elasticity measurement result is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area corresponding to the respective target measurement position; and displaying the elasticity measurement result includes: displaying the multiple elasticity measurement results.

[0129] In one embodiment, when there are multiple target measurement positions, obtaining the elasticity measurement result based on the elasticity measurement value of at least one target measurement area includes: obtaining multiple elasticity measurement results, wherein each elasticity measurement result is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area corresponding to the respective target measurement position; performing statistical operations on the multiple elasticity measurement results to obtain statistical results; and displaying the elasticity measurement results includes: displaying the statistical results.

[0130] In one embodiment, when there are multiple target measurement positions, obtaining the elasticity measurement result based on the elasticity measurement value of at least one target measurement area includes: obtaining multiple elasticity measurement results, wherein each elasticity measurement result is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area corresponding to the respective target measurement position; comparing the multiple elasticity measurement results to determine a final measurement result among the multiple elasticity measurement results; and displaying the elasticity measurement result includes: displaying the final measurement result.

[0131] In one embodiment, the elasticity measurement includes at least one of shear wave velocity, shear modulus and Young's modulus.

[0132] In one embodiment, the elasticity measurement result includes at least one of a mean value, a minimum value, a maximum value, a quartile value, and a standard deviation of the elasticity measurement values ​​of the measurement area.

[0133] In one embodiment, determining the extra-prostatic gland area according to the B-mode ultrasound image includes: after obtaining the shear wave elasticity image, determining the extra-prostatic gland area according to the B-mode ultrasound image.

[0134] In one embodiment, after generating the at least one target measurement area, the processor 720 is also used to control the display device 730 to display the at least one target measurement area; obtaining the elasticity measurement result based on the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area includes: receiving a user's confirmation instruction on the at least one target measurement area to determine at least one selected target measurement area; obtaining the elasticity measurement result based on the elasticity measurement value of the at least one selected target measurement area.

[0135] In one embodiment, the target measurement position is the center of the target measurement area.

[0136] In one embodiment, determining at least one target measurement position within the extraprostatic gland region based on the elasticity measurement value of the extraprostatic gland region includes: excluding abnormal measurement points of the extraprostatic gland region based on the elasticity measurement value of the extraprostatic gland region; and determining the target measurement position based on the elasticity measurement value of the extraprostatic gland region after excluding the abnormal measurement points.

[0137] Based on the above description, the ultrasound imaging system of the embodiment of the present application determines the extraprostatic gland area based on the B-type ultrasound image, and automatically selects the target measurement position in the extraprostatic gland area, generates a measurement area based on the selected target measurement position and obtains the elasticity measurement result, thereby solving the problem of difficulty in determining the measurement area when performing prostate elasticity measurement, and does not require the user to manually select the measurement area, saving operation time.

[0138] Next, we will refer to Figure 8 A prostate elasticity measurement method according to another embodiment of the present application is described. The prostate elasticity measurement method is applied to an ultrasound imaging system, and the ultrasound imaging system at least includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display device. Figure 8 FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a prostate elasticity measurement method 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the prostate elasticity measurement method 800 includes the following steps:

[0139] In step S810, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain an ultrasonic image and an elastic image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured;

[0140] In step S820, the processor determines an extra-prostatic gland region according to the ultrasound image, and determines an elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity image;

[0141] In step S830, the processor determines at least one target measurement position in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region;

[0142] In step S840, the processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area;

[0143] In step S850, the display device is controlled to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0144] The prostate elasticity measurement method 800 according to the embodiment of the present application is substantially similar to the prostate elasticity measurement method 200 described above, and the difference between the two is that the prostate elasticity measurement method 800 does not limit the acquisition method of the elasticity image and the ultrasound image. For example, the elasticity image and ultrasound image acquired in step S810 may be acquired in real time using the scanning method described above, or may be a saved image extracted from a storage medium.

[0145] Moreover, in the prostate elasticity measurement method 800, the elastic image obtained in step S810 includes not only the shear wave elastic image described above, but also the strain elastic image. The implementation method of the shear wave elastic image can be understood by referring to the above description; for the strain elastic image, it is implemented by pressure elastic imaging, and the specific method is mainly to apply pressure to the target tissue by a handheld ultrasonic probe, obtain two frames of ultrasonic echo information before and after the target tissue is compressed, and then calculate the displacement of the corresponding position before and after the compression by a specific algorithm, that is, the spatial position change information of the target tissue at two different times, and obtain the axial gradient of the displacement, and then obtain the strain value of each point in the target tissue area, and express it in the form of an image according to the strain value of each point in the target tissue area, that is, the strain elastic image. The strain elastic image can intuitively reflect the difference in hardness or elasticity between different tissues. Under the same external force compression, the greater the strain, the softer the tissue, and the smaller the strain, the harder the tissue.

[0146] In addition, the ultrasound image acquired in step S810 includes not only the B-type ultrasound image described above, but also a C-type ultrasound image, a three-dimensional ultrasound image, or other images in which the prostate gland structure can be seen. Therefore, determining the prostate gland region based on the ultrasound image in step S820 also includes not only determining the prostate gland region based on the B-type ultrasound image described above, but also determining the prostate gland region based on the C-type ultrasound image, a three-dimensional ultrasound image, or other images in which the prostate gland structure can be seen. The specific method can be understood by referring to the aforementioned image recognition or segmentation algorithm based on the B-type ultrasound image, which will not be repeated here.

[0147] In addition, steps S820 to S850 are substantially similar to steps S230 to S260 in the prostate elasticity measurement method 200. For details, please refer to the relevant description above. For the sake of brevity, the same details will not be repeated here.

[0148] The present application embodiment also provides an ultrasound imaging system, which can be used to implement the above-mentioned prostate elasticity measurement method 800. Figure 7 The ultrasound imaging system 700 may include an ultrasound probe 710, a processor 720, and a display device 730. In addition, the ultrasound imaging system 700 may also include some or all of the ultrasound probe, the transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, the transmitting / receiving selection switch, and the beamforming circuit in the ultrasound imaging system 100 described above.

[0149] The processor 720 may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof, and may use circuits, single or multiple dedicated integrated circuits, single or multiple general-purpose integrated circuits, single or multiple microprocessors, single or multiple programmable logic devices, or any combination of the aforementioned circuits and / or devices, or other suitable circuits or devices, and the processor 720 may control other components in the ultrasound imaging system 700 to perform desired functions.

[0150] Specifically, the processor 720 is used to: control the ultrasound probe 710 to scan the prostate part of the object to be measured to obtain an ultrasound image and an elasticity image of the prostate part of the object to be measured; the processor 720 determines the prostate extra-gland region according to the ultrasound image, and determines the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-gland region based on the elasticity image; the processor 720 determines at least one target measurement position in the prostate extra-gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-gland region; the processor 720 generates at least one target measurement region based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement region; and controls the display device 730 to display the elasticity measurement result. The elasticity image includes a shear wave elasticity image or a strain elasticity image; and the ultrasound image includes a B-type ultrasound image, a C-type ultrasound image, or a three-dimensional ultrasound image.

[0151] Based on the above description, the prostate elasticity measurement method 800 and the ultrasound imaging system according to the embodiment of the present application determine the extra-prostatic gland area based on the ultrasound image, and automatically select the target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland area, thereby solving the problem of difficulty in determining the measurement area when performing prostate elasticity measurement.

[0152] Next, we will refer to Fig. 9 A prostate elasticity measurement method according to another embodiment of the present application is described. The prostate elasticity measurement method is applied to an ultrasound imaging system, and the ultrasound imaging system at least includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display device. Fig. 9 FIG. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a prostate elasticity measurement method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the prostate elasticity measurement method 900 includes the following steps:

[0153] In step S910, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain an ultrasonic image and an elastic image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured;

[0154] In step S920, the processor determines an extra-prostatic gland region according to the ultrasound image, and determines an elasticity measurement value corresponding to at least one pixel point in the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity image;

[0155] In step S930, the processor determines at least one target pixel whose elasticity measurement value meets a preset requirement according to the elasticity measurement value corresponding to the at least one pixel;

[0156] In step S940, the processor generates a target measurement area according to the at least one target pixel point, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area;

[0157] In step S950, the display device is controlled to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0158] Compared with the above-mentioned prostate elasticity measurement method 200 and prostate elasticity measurement method 800, the prostate elasticity measurement method 900 of this embodiment is mainly different in that: in step S940, the processor generates a target measurement area according to at least one target pixel point. In other words, it is not limited that each target pixel point corresponds to one target measurement area, but multiple target pixels can correspond to one target measurement area, and the target measurement area can be an area containing multiple or all target pixels.

[0159] In addition, in step S930, the processor directly determines at least one target pixel whose elasticity measurement value meets the preset requirements based on the elasticity measurement value corresponding to at least one pixel in the extra-prostatic gland region, that is, directly determines whether to use the pixel as the target pixel based on whether the elasticity measurement value of each pixel meets the preset requirements, without having to determine the target pixel based on the alternative elasticity measurement results corresponding to the alternative measurement area. In one embodiment, the elasticity measurement value that meets the preset requirements includes the elasticity measurement value within the first threshold range. Exemplarily, the processor can use all pixels whose elasticity measurement values ​​are greater than the preset threshold as target pixels, and the target measurement area can be an area composed of target pixels.

[0160] In another embodiment, the elasticity measurement value meets the preset requirement including: the maximum value, minimum value, median value, quantile of the maximum value or multiple of the minimum value in the elasticity measurement value. In this case, the target measurement area may be an area centered on the target pixel point.

[0161] The present application embodiment also provides an ultrasound imaging system, which can be used to implement the above-mentioned prostate elasticity measurement method 900. Figure 7 The ultrasound imaging system 700 may include an ultrasound probe 710, a processor 720, and a display device 730. In addition, the ultrasound imaging system 700 may also include some or all of the ultrasound probe, the transmitting circuit, the receiving circuit, the transmitting / receiving selection switch, and the beamforming circuit in the ultrasound imaging system 100 described above.

[0162] Specifically, the processor 720 is used to: control the ultrasound probe 710 to scan the prostate part of the object under test to obtain an ultrasound image and an elasticity image of the prostate part of the object under test; determine the extraprostatic gland area according to the ultrasound image, and determine the elasticity measurement value corresponding to at least one pixel point in the extraprostatic gland area based on the elasticity image; determine at least one target pixel point whose elasticity measurement value meets preset requirements according to the elasticity measurement value corresponding to the at least one pixel point; generate a target measurement area according to the at least one target pixel point, and obtain an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the target measurement area; control the display device 730 to display the elasticity measurement result.

[0163] Based on the above description, the prostate elasticity measurement method 900 and the ultrasound imaging system according to the embodiment of the present application determine the extra-prostatic gland area based on the ultrasound image, and automatically select target pixel points within the extra-prostatic gland area, thereby solving the problem of difficulty in determining the measurement area when performing prostate elasticity measurement.

[0164] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present application, a computer storage medium is also provided, on which program instructions are stored, and when the program instructions are executed by a computer or a processor, the corresponding steps of the prostate elasticity measurement method 200, the prostate elasticity measurement method 800, or the prostate elasticity measurement method 900 of the embodiment of the present application are executed. The storage medium may include, for example, a memory card of a smart phone, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a personal computer, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media. The computer-readable storage medium may be any combination of one or more computer-readable storage media.

[0165] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present application, a computer program is also provided, which can be stored in a cloud or local storage medium. When the computer program is run by a computer or a processor, it is used to execute the corresponding steps of the prostate elasticity measurement method of the embodiment of the present application.

[0166] Although example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above example embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application to this. Those of ordinary skill in the art may make various changes and modifications therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application. All these changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present application as required by the appended claims.

[0167] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0168] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed.

[0169] In the description provided herein, a large number of specific details are described. However, it is understood that the embodiments of the present application can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques are not shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.

[0170] Similarly, it should be understood that in order to streamline the present application and help understand one or more of the various inventive aspects, in the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present application, the various features of the present application are sometimes grouped together into a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. However, the method of the present application should not be interpreted as reflecting the following intention: the claimed application requires more features than the features clearly stated in each claim. More specifically, as reflected in the corresponding claims, the inventive point is that the corresponding technical problem can be solved with features less than all the features of a single disclosed embodiment. Therefore, the claims following the specific embodiment are hereby explicitly incorporated into the specific embodiment, wherein each claim itself serves as a separate embodiment of the present application.

[0171] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, except for mutually exclusive features, all features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) and all processes or units of any method or device disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination. Unless otherwise expressly stated, each feature disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature that provides the same, equivalent or similar purpose.

[0172] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, although some embodiments described herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not other features, the combination of features of different embodiments is meant to be within the scope of the present application and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any one of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

[0173] The various component embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or in software modules running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) can be used in practice to implement some or all functions of some modules according to the embodiments of the present application. The application can also be implemented as a device program (e.g., computer program and computer program product) for executing a part or all of the methods described herein. Such a program implementing the present application can be stored on a computer-readable medium, or can have the form of one or more signals. Such a signal can be downloaded from an Internet website, or provided on a carrier signal, or provided in any other form.

[0174] It should be noted that the above embodiments illustrate rather than limit the present application, and that those skilled in the art may devise alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference symbol between brackets should not be constructed as a limitation to the claims. The present application may be implemented by means of hardware including several different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim that lists several devices, several of these devices may be embodied by the same hardware item. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc. does not indicate any order. These words may be interpreted as names.

[0175] The above is only a specific implementation or description of a specific implementation of the present application, and 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. The protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A prostate elasticity measurement method, applied to an ultrasonic imaging system, wherein the ultrasonic imaging system comprises an ultrasonic probe, a processor and a display device, characterized in that: The method comprises: Controlling the ultrasonic probe to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain an ultrasonic image and an elastic image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured; The processor determines an extra-prostatic gland region based on the ultrasound image, and determines an elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity image; The processor determines at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region; The processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area; Controlling the display device to display the elasticity measurement result; Wherein, determining at least one target measurement position in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region comprises: Dividing the extraprostatic gland region into at least two sub-regions; Determine a candidate measurement position corresponding to each sub-region according to the elasticity measurement values ​​of the at least two sub-regions; Generating a candidate measurement region corresponding to each candidate measurement position based on the candidate measurement position corresponding to each sub-region, and obtaining a candidate elasticity measurement result corresponding to each candidate measurement region according to the elasticity measurement value of the candidate measurement region corresponding to each candidate measurement position; Determine at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets a preset condition from the candidate elasticity measurement results corresponding to each candidate measurement area; The candidate measurement position corresponding to the at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets the preset condition is determined as the at least one target measurement position.

2. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of determining the candidate measurement position corresponding to each sub-region according to the elasticity measurement values ​​of the at least two sub-regions includes: Obtain the elasticity measurement value corresponding to each pixel point in each sub-area; The pixel points corresponding to the elasticity measurement values ​​that meet the preset conditions in each sub-region are used as the alternative measurement positions corresponding to each sub-region, and the elasticity measurement values ​​that meet the preset conditions include: the maximum value, the minimum value, the median value, the quantile of the maximum value or the multiple of the minimum value of the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to all the pixel points in the sub-region.

3. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: The at least one candidate elasticity measurement result satisfying a preset condition comprises: a maximum value, a minimum value, a median value, a quantile of a maximum value, or a multiple of a minimum value in the candidate elasticity measurement results corresponding to the candidate measurement area.

4. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: When there are multiple target measurement positions, obtaining the elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of at least one target measurement area includes: Obtaining a plurality of elasticity measurement results, wherein each of the elasticity measurement results is obtained based on an elasticity measurement value of a target measurement area corresponding to a respective target measurement position; The displaying the elasticity measurement result includes: displaying the plurality of elasticity measurement results.

5. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: When there are multiple target measurement positions, obtaining the elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of at least one target measurement area includes: Obtaining a plurality of elasticity measurement results, wherein each of the elasticity measurement results is obtained based on an elasticity measurement value of a target measurement area corresponding to a respective target measurement position; performing statistical operations on the plurality of elasticity measurement results to obtain statistical results; The displaying of the elasticity measurement result includes: displaying the statistical result.

6. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: When there are multiple target measurement positions, obtaining the elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of at least one target measurement area includes: Obtaining a plurality of elasticity measurement results, wherein each of the elasticity measurement results is obtained based on an elasticity measurement value of a target measurement area corresponding to a respective target measurement position; comparing the plurality of elasticity measurements to determine a final measurement among the plurality of elasticity measurements; The displaying of the elasticity measurement result includes: displaying the final measurement result.

7. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: The elasticity measurement includes at least one of shear wave velocity, shear modulus and Young's modulus.

8. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 7, characterized in that: The elasticity measurement result includes at least one of an average value, a minimum value, a maximum value, a quartile value, and a standard deviation of the elasticity measurement values ​​of the measurement area.

9. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: Determining the extra-prostatic gland area according to the ultrasound image comprises: After obtaining the elasticity image, the extra-prostatic gland area is determined according to the ultrasound image.

10. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 1, characterized in that: After generating the at least one target measurement area, the method further includes: displaying the at least one target measurement area; The obtaining of the elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area comprises: receiving a confirmation instruction from a user regarding the at least one target measurement area to determine at least one selected target measurement area; The elasticity measurement result is obtained based on the elasticity measurement value of the at least one selected target measurement area.

11. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The target measurement position is the center of the target measurement area.

12. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: Determining at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region comprises: Eliminating abnormal measurement points in the extraprostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extraprostatic gland region; The target measurement position is determined according to the elasticity measurement value of the prostate extra-glandular region after excluding the abnormal measurement point.

13. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The elasticity image includes a shear wave elasticity image or a strain elasticity image.

14. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The ultrasound image includes a B-type ultrasound image, a C-type ultrasound image or a three-dimensional ultrasound image.

15. A method for measuring prostate elasticity, applied to an ultrasonic imaging system, wherein the ultrasonic imaging system comprises an ultrasonic probe, a processor and a display device, characterized in that: The method comprises: Controlling the ultrasonic probe to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain an ultrasonic image and an elastic image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured; The processor determines an extra-prostatic gland region based on the ultrasound image, and determines an elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity image; The processor determines at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region; The processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area; Controlling the display device to display the elasticity measurement result; The processor determines at least one target measurement position in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region, including: Obtaining the elasticity measurement value corresponding to each pixel point in the extraprostatic gland region; Determine at least one elasticity measurement value that meets preset requirements from the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to each pixel point; The pixel point corresponding to the at least one elasticity measurement value that meets the preset requirements is used as the at least one target measurement position.

16. A method for measuring prostate elasticity, applied to an ultrasonic imaging system, wherein the ultrasonic imaging system comprises an ultrasonic probe, a processor and a display device, characterized in that: The method comprises: Controlling the ultrasonic probe to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain an ultrasonic image and an elastic image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured; The processor determines an extra-prostatic gland region based on the ultrasound image, and determines an elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity image; The processor determines at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region; The processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area; Controlling the display device to display the elasticity measurement result; The processor determines at least one target measurement position in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region, including: Generate a corresponding candidate measurement region based on each pixel point in the extraprostatic gland region, and determine a candidate elasticity measurement result corresponding to each candidate measurement region according to the elasticity measurement value of the candidate measurement region; Determine at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets a preset condition from the candidate elasticity measurement results corresponding to each candidate measurement area; The pixel point corresponding to the at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets the preset condition is used as the at least one target measurement position.

17. A method for measuring prostate elasticity, applied to an ultrasonic imaging system, wherein the ultrasonic imaging system comprises an ultrasonic probe, a processor and a display device, wherein: The method comprises: Controlling the ultrasonic probe to scan the prostate part of the subject to be measured, so as to obtain an ultrasonic image and an elastic image of the prostate part of the subject to be measured; The processor determines an extra-prostatic gland region based on the ultrasound image, and determines an elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region based on the elasticity image; The processor determines at least one target measurement position within the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region; The processor generates at least one target measurement area based on the at least one target measurement position, and obtains an elasticity measurement result according to the elasticity measurement value of the at least one target measurement area; Controlling the display device to display the elasticity measurement result; The processor determines at least one target measurement position in the extra-prostatic gland region according to the elasticity measurement value of the extra-prostatic gland region, including: Dividing the extraprostatic gland region into at least two sub-regions; Generate a corresponding candidate measurement region based on each pixel point in each sub-region, and determine a candidate elasticity measurement result corresponding to each candidate measurement region according to the elasticity measurement value of the candidate measurement region; Determine at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets a preset condition according to the candidate elasticity measurement results corresponding to each candidate measurement area of ​​each sub-area; Determine at least one target elasticity measurement result from the at least one candidate elasticity measurement result that meets the preset condition; The pixel point corresponding to the at least one target elasticity measurement result is used as the at least one target measurement position.

18. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that: The at least one candidate elasticity measurement result satisfying a preset condition comprises: a maximum value, a minimum value, a median value, a quantile of a maximum value, or a multiple of a minimum value in the candidate elasticity measurement results corresponding to the candidate measurement area.

19. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to claim 15, characterized in that: The at least one elasticity measurement value that meets the preset requirements includes: a maximum value, a minimum value, a median value, a quantile of a maximum value, or a multiple of a minimum value in the elasticity measurement values ​​corresponding to the pixel points.

20. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that: The elasticity image includes a shear wave elasticity image or a strain elasticity image.

21. The method for measuring prostate elasticity according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that: The ultrasound image includes a B-type ultrasound image, a C-type ultrasound image or a three-dimensional ultrasound image.

22. An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that: The ultrasound imaging system comprises an ultrasound probe, a processor and a display device, wherein the processor is used to control the ultrasound probe and the display device to execute the prostate elasticity measurement method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

Images