Parametric display of blood flow by ultrasound and ultrasound imaging system therefor

Abstract

The application provides a parameter display method of ultrasonic blood flow, which comprises the following steps: obtaining ultrasonic signals from a scanning target through a probe; obtaining a plurality of blood flow velocity directions in the scanning target according to the ultrasonic signals; extracting the plurality of blood flow velocity directions; quantifying the dispersion of the extracted plurality of blood flow velocity directions; and displaying the quantification result of the dispersion. The application provides a new method for quantitatively evaluating blood flow motion directions and provides a better observation perspective for users.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the invention patent application filed on September 30, 2016, with application number 201680084275.5 and invention title "Method for Displaying Parameters of Ultrasonic Blood Flow and Ultrasonic Imaging System Thereof". Technical Field

[0002] This invention relates to blood flow information imaging and display technology in ultrasound systems, and in particular to a method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters and an ultrasound imaging system thereof. Background Technology

[0003] In medical ultrasound imaging equipment, ultrasound waves are radiated into the object being examined. Like pulsed wave and continuous wave Doppler, color Doppler flowmeters utilize the Doppler effect between red blood cells and ultrasound waves to achieve imaging. A color Doppler flowmeter includes a two-dimensional ultrasound imaging system, a pulsed Doppler (one-dimensional Doppler) blood flow analysis system, a continuous wave Doppler blood flow measurement system, and a color Doppler (two-dimensional Doppler) blood flow imaging system. An oscillator generates two orthogonal signals with a phase difference of π / 2, which are multiplied by the Doppler blood flow signal. The product is converted into a digital signal by an analog-to-digital (A / D) converter, filtered by a comb filter to remove low-frequency components generated by the blood vessel wall or valves, and then sent to an autocorrelation analyzer for autocorrelation detection. Since each sample contains Doppler blood flow information generated by many red blood cells, the autocorrelation result is a mixed signal of multiple blood flow velocity vectors. The autocorrelation test results are fed into a velocity calculator and a variance calculator to obtain the average velocity, which, along with the blood flow spectrum information processed by FFT and the two-dimensional image information, is stored in a digital scan converter (DSC). Finally, based on the direction and velocity of the blood flow, the color processor encodes the blood flow data as pseudo-color and sends it to a color display for display, thus completing color Doppler blood flow imaging.

[0004] Spectral Doppler ultrasound is used for the quantitative diagnosis of conditions such as valvular stenosis and arteriosclerosis. Blood flow direction can vary at different times during a cardiac cycle. For example, blood flow in the common carotid artery is normally laminar, but if plaque forms and arterial stenosis occurs, the blood flow becomes more turbulent. During systole, eddies may form near the stenosis. The degree of eddy flow is also an important indicator of the stenosis rate. Eddy flow area is usually used as an indicator of eddy flow degree, but traditional color Doppler cannot measure the direction of blood flow; the area of ​​the eddy flow must be manually drawn using red and blue light and relevant clinical experience, which is prone to error. The degree of eddy flow needs to be quantitatively calculated to make the diagnosis more reliable. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, it is necessary to address the shortcomings of existing technologies by providing a method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters and an ultrasound imaging system thereof, which provides a new method for quantitatively assessing the direction of blood flow movement and offers users a better viewing perspective.

[0006] One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for displaying parameters of ultrasound blood flow, comprising:

[0007] The probe obtains ultrasonic signals from within the scanned target.

[0008] Based on the ultrasonic signal, the direction of blood flow velocity within the scanned target is obtained;

[0009] Extract multiple blood flow velocity directions;

[0010] Quantitatively extract the dispersion of multiple blood flow velocity directions;

[0011] This displays the quantization result of the discreteness.

[0012] One embodiment of the present invention provides an ultrasound imaging system comprising:

[0013] The probe is used to emit an ultrasonic beam toward the target being scanned.

[0014] The receiving circuit and beamforming module are used to receive the echo signal from the ultrasonic beam, and obtain the ultrasonic signal after beamforming.

[0015] The image processing module is used to obtain the blood flow velocity direction within the scanned target based on the ultrasonic signal, extract multiple blood flow velocity directions, and quantify the dispersion of the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions.

[0016] A display for showing the quantization results of the discreteness. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a vertically emitted planar ultrasonic beam according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a deflected planar ultrasonic beam according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of multi-angle reception in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a method flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating a method for calculating blood flow velocity vectors in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the spatial coordinate representation of the blood flow velocity direction in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the calculation of the discreteness image in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 9(a) is a schematic diagram of blood flow velocity vector information calculation in the first mode of one embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 9(b) is a schematic diagram of blood flow velocity vector information calculation in the second mode of one embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of a method flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a method flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of a method flow according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the display effect of a discrete image according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 14 for Figure 13 Line drawing diagram;

[0032] Figure 15 , Figure 16 , Figure 17 , Figure 18 and Figure 19 These are schematic diagrams showing a comparison between ultrasound images and discrete quantitative structures in several embodiments of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0033] Figure 1 This is a schematic block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 As shown, this ultrasound imaging system typically includes: a probe 1, a transmitting circuit 2, a transmitting / receiving selection switch 3, a receiving circuit 4, a beamforming module 5, a signal processing module 6, an image processing module 7, and a display 8. In this document, "multiple" refers to two or more components.

[0034] During ultrasound imaging, the transmitting circuit 2 sends a delayed-focused transmission pulse with a certain amplitude and polarity to the probe 1 via the transmit / receive selection switch 3. Excited by the transmission pulse, the probe 1 emits ultrasound waves towards the scanning target (e.g., organs, tissues, blood vessels, etc. in the human or animal body, not shown in the figure). After a certain delay, it receives the ultrasound echo signal reflected from the target area, carrying information about the scanned target, and converts this ultrasound echo signal back into an electrical signal. The receiving circuit receives the electrical signal generated by the probe 1 and sends these ultrasound echo signals to the beamforming module 5. The beamforming module 5 performs focusing delay, weighting, and channel summation on the ultrasound signal to obtain the ultrasound signal, which is then sent to the signal processing module 6 for relevant signal processing, such as filtering. The ultrasound signal processed by the signal processing module 6 is then sent to the image processing module 7. The image processing module 7 processes the signal differently according to the user's desired imaging mode, obtaining image data of different modes. Then, through logarithmic compression, dynamic range adjustment, and digital scan transformation, it forms ultrasound images of different modes, such as B-images, C-images, and D-images (two-dimensional images). Furthermore, the ultrasound image may also include a three-dimensional image. The ultrasound image generated by the image processing module 7 is sent to the display 8 for display. In addition, the image processing module 7 can calculate the blood flow velocity vector of the target point within the scanned target based on the ultrasound signal. This calculated blood flow velocity vector can be rendered and added to the ultrasound image output to the display for display, and / or the calculated blood flow velocity vector can be sent to the display for displaying relevant velocity information. The image processing module 7 and the signal processing module 6 are either separately located on different processors or integrated on the same processor 9.

[0035] In this embodiment, the target point can be a single pixel on an ultrasound image or a region containing at least two pixels. The blood flow velocity vector of the target point, including the velocity value and velocity direction, is used to characterize the flow velocity information of the blood flow motion state within the scanned target. The calculation method of the blood flow velocity vector will be explained in detail below.

[0036] Probe 1 typically comprises an array of multiple elements. During each transmission or reception of ultrasonic waves, all or a portion of the elements in probe 1 participate in the transmission of ultrasonic waves. Each element or portion of these elements is excited by a transmission pulse and emits ultrasonic waves independently. The ultrasonic waves emitted by these elements superimpose during propagation, forming a composite ultrasonic beam that is transmitted to the scanning target. The propagation direction of this composite ultrasonic beam is the emission angle of the ultrasonic wave mentioned herein. The elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission can be excited by the transmission pulse simultaneously; alternatively, there can be a delay between the excitation times of the elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission. By controlling the delay between the excitation times of the elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission, the propagation direction (i.e., the emission angle) of the composite ultrasonic beam can be changed, as will be explained in detail below.

[0037] By controlling the time delay between the excitation pulses of the array elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission, the ultrasonic waves emitted by each array element can be prevented from focusing or completely diverging during propagation, instead forming a plane wave that is generally planar. Alternatively, by controlling the time delay between the excitation pulses of the array elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission, the ultrasonic beams emitted by each element can be superimposed at a predetermined position, maximizing the intensity of the ultrasonic waves at that position. This means the ultrasonic waves emitted by each element are "focused" at that predetermined position, called the "focal point." The resulting composite ultrasonic beam is a beam focused at this focal point, referred to in this paper as a "focused ultrasonic beam." During the transmission of the focused ultrasonic beam, the array elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission can operate with a predetermined transmission time delay (i.e., a predetermined time delay exists between the excitation pulses of the array elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission). The ultrasonic waves emitted by each element are focused at the focal point, forming a focused ultrasonic beam. Alternatively, by controlling the time delay between the excitation pulses of the array elements participating in the ultrasonic wave emission, the ultrasonic waves emitted by each array element can diverge during propagation, forming a generally divergent wave as a whole. In this paper, this type of divergent ultrasonic wave is referred to as a "divergent ultrasonic beam".

[0038] Multiple linearly arranged array elements are simultaneously excited by electrical pulse signals, and each element emits ultrasonic waves simultaneously. The propagation direction of the synthesized ultrasonic beam is consistent with the normal direction of the plane in which the array elements are arranged. For example... Figure 2The vertically emitted plane wave shown in the diagram has no time delay between the various array elements participating in the ultrasonic wave emission (i.e., no time delay between the excitation times of each array element by the emitted pulse), and each array element is excited simultaneously by the emitted pulse. The generated ultrasonic beam is a plane wave, i.e., a plane ultrasonic beam, and the propagation direction of this plane ultrasonic beam is approximately perpendicular to the surface of the ultrasonic wave emitted by probe 1, i.e., the angle between the propagation direction of the synthesized ultrasonic beam and the normal direction of the array element arrangement plane is zero degrees. However, if there is a time delay in the excitation pulses applied between the array elements, and each array element emits ultrasonic beams sequentially according to this time delay, then the propagation direction of the synthesized ultrasonic beam will have a certain angle with the normal direction of the array element arrangement plane, which is the emission angle of the synthesized beam. Changing the above time delay can adjust the magnitude of the emission angle of the synthesized beam and the emission direction relative to the normal direction of the array element arrangement plane within the scanning plane of the synthesized beam. For example, Figure 3 The diagram shows a plane wave emitted by deflection. In this case, there is a predetermined time delay between the various array elements participating in the ultrasonic wave emission (i.e., a predetermined time delay between the excitation times of each element by the emitted pulse), and the elements are excited by the emitted pulses in a predetermined order. The generated ultrasonic beam is a plane wave, i.e., a planar ultrasonic beam, and the propagation direction of this planar ultrasonic beam forms a certain angle with the normal direction of the array element arrangement plane of probe 1 (e.g., ...). Figure 3 Angle 'a' in the equation represents the emission angle of the planar ultrasonic beam. The size of angle 'a' can be adjusted by changing the time delay. Similarly, whether it's a planar ultrasonic beam, a focused ultrasonic beam, or a divergent ultrasonic beam, the "emission angle" of the composite beam formed between the direction of the composite beam and the normal direction of the array element plane can be adjusted by changing the time delay between the excitation of the array elements participating in the ultrasonic beam emission and the excitation pulse. This composite beam can be the planar ultrasonic beam, focused ultrasonic beam, or divergent ultrasonic beam mentioned above, etc.

[0039] Furthermore, as mentioned above, a two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer can be understood as a combination of multiple linear arrays. Therefore, the two-dimensional ultrasonic transducer can also adjust the "emission angle" of the synthetic beam formed between the synthetic beam and the normal direction of the array element arrangement plane by controlling the delay between the time when the array elements involved in the ultrasonic wave emission are excited by the emission pulse.

[0040] Furthermore, by controlling the aperture position of the array elements involved in receiving the ultrasonic waves (hereinafter referred to as the receiving array elements), the receiving angle of the received ultrasonic signal can be adjusted. For example, as Figure 4As shown, the ultrasonic probe includes array element 1, array element 2, array element 3, and array element 4. Array element 1, array element 2, array element 3, and array element 4 can be one or more array elements. A combination of one or more of array element 1, array element 2, array element 3, and array element 4 can be used as the receiving array element. Figure 4 In the process of transmitting an ultrasonic beam at a certain angle to a scanning target containing target point A, array element 1 is used as a receiving element to receive the echo of the ultrasonic beam reflected from a target point A within the scanning target. The echo is then transmitted according to the line connecting the aperture position of array element 1 and the target point A. Figure 4 (marked as a solid line in the middle), the receiving angle α1 of the echo of the received ultrasonic beam at the current moment can be determined. Simultaneously, by using element 2 as a receiving element to receive the echo of the ultrasonic beam reflected from a target point A within the scanned target, the line connecting the aperture position of element 2 and the target point A ( Figure 4 The angle α2 of the echo of the received ultrasonic beam at the current moment can be determined by the dashed line (marked in the center). The echo of the ultrasonic beam returning from the same target location A can yield two echoes with different receiving angles. Therefore, the "receiving angle" of the ultrasonic beam echo is defined by the angle between the line connecting the aperture position of the receiving element and the target point position, and the normal direction of the plane where the ultrasonic elements are arranged. By changing the aperture position of the receiving elements on the probe, the "receiving angle" of the ultrasonic beam echo can be changed, thereby obtaining ultrasonic signals returning from the scanned target at different receiving angles.

[0041] Based on the above explanation, when emitting an ultrasonic beam towards a scanning target and aiming to obtain ultrasonic signals from multiple angles, the receiving angle of the ultrasonic beam echo can be changed by altering the aperture position of the receiving array elements on the probe, thereby obtaining ultrasonic signals corresponding to different receiving angles from the scanning target. Alternatively, the emission angle of the ultrasonic beam can be changed by controlling the delay between the excitation time of the emitted pulses on the array elements involved in the ultrasonic beam emission, and ultrasonic signals corresponding to different emission angles from the scanning target can be obtained based on the echoes of the ultrasonic beams at different emission angles. The image processing module 7 can calculate the blood flow velocity vectors of multiple target points within the scanning target or within the region of interest of the scanning target based on the ultrasonic signals from different angles.

[0042] also, Figure 1The ultrasound imaging system shown also includes an operation control module 10, used to receive adjustment signals input from the user. These adjustment signals include adjustments to imaging parameters such as the emission angle, reception angle, and type of the ultrasound beam, or adjustments to the calculated results of the image, region of interest, or blood flow velocity vector from the tissue image processing module. The operation control module 10 can be a human-machine interface, such as a keyboard, scroll wheel, a touch gesture receiving and calculation module connected to a touch-enabled display screen, a mouse, or a transceiver module for gesture control signals, etc. Figure 1 The display 8 includes one or more display screens. In this embodiment, the display screen can be a touch screen, an LED display screen, etc.

[0043] The image data or quantization results output by the image processing module can also be transmitted to a remote display for display via a wireless transmission module. The solution in this embodiment is not limited to desktop ultrasound equipment, but can also include all devices that can be used to display ultrasound images within the medical Internet system.

[0044] Figure 5 This paper presents a method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters, which provides a way to assess the degree of eddy currents or turbulence in blood flow within blood vessels. This can serve as a more intuitive quantitative analysis method for determining the degree of vascular stenosis. The following will describe this in detail.

[0045] Figure 5 In step S100, the receiving circuit 4 and the beamforming module 5 are used to obtain the received ultrasonic signal from the scanning target through the probe 1.

[0046] In some embodiments, the transmitting circuit 2 excites the probe 1 to emit an ultrasonic beam toward the scanning target, and the echo of the ultrasonic beam is received to obtain the ultrasonic signal mentioned in step S100. In this embodiment, the ultrasonic beam emitted toward the scanning target may include: a focused ultrasonic beam and an unfocused ultrasonic beam, wherein the unfocused ultrasonic beam includes at least one or a combination of at least two of the following beam types: virtual source ultrasonic beam, non-diffractive ultrasonic beam, divergent ultrasonic beam, or planar ultrasonic beam (the term "at least" includes the stated number). Of course, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above types of ultrasonic beams. It is evident that the ultrasonic signal in step S100 can be the echo signal of the ultrasonic beam.

[0047] In some embodiments, step S100 includes: step 121: emitting a focused ultrasound beam toward the scanning target, receiving the echo of the focused ultrasound beam, and obtaining a focused ultrasound signal for reconstructing an ultrasound image or calculating a blood flow velocity vector, etc. Alternatively, step S100 includes step 122: emitting a planar ultrasound beam toward the scanning target, receiving the echo of the planar ultrasound beam, and obtaining a planar ultrasound signal for reconstructing an ultrasound image or calculating a blood flow velocity vector, etc. Or, step S100 includes the above steps 121 and 122: emitting a focused ultrasound beam toward the scanning target to obtain a focused ultrasound signal; and emitting a planar ultrasound beam toward the scanning target to obtain a planar ultrasound signal. The focused ultrasound signal can be used to reconstruct at least a portion of the ultrasound image of the scanning target to obtain a high-quality ultrasound image as a background image, while... Figure 5 In step S200, the planar ultrasound signal can also be used as the image data basis for calculating the blood flow velocity vector.

[0048] If two beam types are used for transmission in step S100, the two ultrasonic beams are transmitted alternately towards the scanning target. For example, the process of transmitting a focused ultrasonic beam towards the scanning target is inserted during the transmission of a planar ultrasonic beam towards the scanning target, that is, steps 121 and 122 above are executed alternately. This ensures the synchronization of image data acquisition from the two ultrasonic beams and improves the accuracy of the blood flow velocity vector obtained by multi-beam angle transmission.

[0049] Besides the freely selectable beam type, step S100 can also receive ultrasound signals from multiple angles to calculate blood flow velocity vectors or ultrasound images. For example, in step S100, ultrasound beams with different emission angles can be emitted towards the scanning target to receive ultrasound signals corresponding to multiple emission angles. Alternatively, ultrasound signals corresponding to different reception angles can be received from the scanning target. Therefore, ultrasound signals from multiple angles can correspond to multiple emission angles or multiple reception angles. Specifically, as shown below:

[0050] 1. For ultrasonic beams emitted at different angles toward the scanning target, ultrasonic signals from multiple angles can be received along different emission angles.

[0051] In some embodiments, step S100 may include: emitting ultrasonic beams toward the scanning target along multiple emission angles, receiving the echoes of the ultrasonic beams to obtain ultrasonic signals corresponding to multiple emission angles, and using these as ultrasonic signals of the multiple angles received in step S100.

[0052] In one embodiment, step S100 includes: emitting ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target along multiple emission angles. During this process, the emission of ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target can be performed alternately according to different emission angles. For example, if ultrasonic beams are emitted towards the scanning target along two emission angles, the ultrasonic beam is first emitted along the first emission angle, then along the second emission angle, completing one scanning cycle. Finally, the above scanning cycle process is repeated sequentially. Alternatively, ultrasonic beams can be emitted towards the scanning target along one emission angle, then along another emission angle, and so on, completing the scanning process after all emission angles have been executed. To obtain different emission angles, the time delay of each element or part of the array elements participating in ultrasonic emission can be changed, as detailed in [reference needed]. Figure 2 or Figure 3 Explanation.

[0053] In one embodiment, multiple ultrasonic beams are emitted toward the scanning target along each emission angle to obtain multiple ultrasonic signals for subsequent processing of ultrasonic image data. For example, multiple unfocused ultrasonic beams or multiple focused ultrasonic beams are emitted toward the scanning target along multiple emission angles. Each emission of an ultrasonic beam corresponds to obtaining one ultrasonic signal.

[0054] Alternating the emission of multiple ultrasound beams at different emission angles allows the obtained echo data to approximate the blood flow velocity vector at the target point at the same moment, improving the accuracy of velocity vector calculation. For example, if N ultrasound beams are emitted at the target along three emission angles, at least one beam can be emitted at the first emission angle, then at least one beam at the second emission angle, and then at least one beam at the third emission angle, completing one scanning cycle. This scanning cycle process is then repeated until all the scans at all emission angles are completed. The number of ultrasound beams emitted at different emission angles within the same scanning cycle can be the same or different. For example, if ultrasound beams are emitted along two emission angles, the sequence is A1 B1 A2 B2 A3 B3 A4 B4…Ai Bi, and so on. Here, Ai is the i-th emission at the first emission angle, and Bi is the i-th emission at the second emission angle. If the ultrasonic beams are emitted along three emission angles, the sequence is A1 B1 B1C1 A2 B2 B2C2 A3 B3 B3C3…Ai Bi Bi Ci, and so on. Here, Ai is the i-th emission at the first emission angle; Bi is the i-th emission at the second emission angle; and Ci is the i-th emission at the third emission angle.

[0055] When two types of ultrasonic beams are selected to be emitted towards the scanning target in step S100, the two types of ultrasonic beams can be emitted alternately. For example, step S100 includes: step S101, emitting multiple focused ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target to obtain image data for reconstructing the ultrasonic image; step S102, emitting multiple planar ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target along one or more emission angles to obtain image data for calculating velocity vector information. However, the process of emitting focused ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target can be inserted into the process of emitting planar ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target. For example, the multiple focused ultrasonic beams emitted towards the scanning target can be uniformly inserted into the process of executing step S102. Alternatively, any alternating emission method can be used to achieve the alternating execution of at least a portion of the above-mentioned multiple planar ultrasonic beams emitted towards the scanning target and at least a portion of the above-mentioned multiple focused ultrasonic beams emitted towards the scanning target. In this embodiment, a high-quality ultrasonic image can be obtained using focused ultrasonic beams; while the high frame rate of planar ultrasonic beams can be used to obtain high real-time velocity vector information. Moreover, in order to have better synchronization between the two in data acquisition, an alternating emission method of two types of ultrasonic beams is adopted.

[0056] The receiving circuit 4 and the beamforming module 5 receive the echoes of the emitted ultrasonic beams and perform beamforming to obtain ultrasonic signals. For example, when receiving the echo of a focused ultrasonic beam, a focused ultrasonic signal is obtained; when receiving the echo of a planar ultrasonic beam, a planar ultrasonic signal is obtained, and so on. The type of ultrasonic beam emitted in step S100 corresponds to the type of ultrasonic beam echo received, generating a corresponding type of ultrasonic signal. For example, a focused ultrasonic beam corresponds to a focused ultrasonic signal, a planar ultrasonic beam corresponds to a planar ultrasonic signal, a diverging ultrasonic beam corresponds to a diverging ultrasonic signal, and so on, not listed here.

[0057] When receiving circuit 4 and beamforming module 5 receive the echo of the ultrasonic beam emitted in step S100, they can use each element or part of the array elements participating in ultrasonic transmission to perform time-division multiplexing to receive the echo of the ultrasonic beam emitted in step S100, or divide the array elements on the probe into a receiving part and a transmitting part, and then use each element or part of the array elements participating in ultrasonic reception to receive the echo of the ultrasonic beam emitted in step S100, and so on.

[0058] When an ultrasonic beam is emitted along a single emission angle in step S100, the echo from that emission angle is received, resulting in a set of ultrasonic signals. When ultrasonic beams are emitted along multiple emission angles in step S100, echoes from multiple emission angles are received, resulting in multiple sets of ultrasonic signals corresponding to multiple emission angles. Based on different emission angles, multiple sets of ultrasonic signals corresponding to different emission angles can be received. Furthermore, a set of ultrasonic signals includes multiple ultrasonic signals, which can correspond to receiving multiple echo signals from multiple ultrasonic beams emitted along each emission angle, where each emission of an ultrasonic beam corresponds to obtaining one ultrasonic signal. For example, if multiple planar ultrasonic beams are emitted towards the scanning target along multiple different emission angles in step S100, the echoes of the planar ultrasonic beams corresponding to the multiple emission angles are received respectively, resulting in multiple sets of planar ultrasonic signals belonging to different emission angles, where each set of planar ultrasonic signals includes at least two planar ultrasonic signals, each planar ultrasonic signal originating from the echo obtained by performing the step of emitting an ultrasonic beam towards the scanning target once along a single emission angle. For example, in step S100, multiple focused ultrasonic beams are emitted towards the scanning target, and the echoes of the focused ultrasonic beams are received to obtain multiple focused ultrasonic signals.

[0059] 2. Receive ultrasonic signals from multiple angles along different receiving angles from the scanning target.

[0060] When the transmitting circuit 2 excites the probe 1 to emit an ultrasonic beam toward the scanning target along one or more transmission angles in step S100, the echo of the ultrasonic beam from the scanning target can be received by adjusting the aperture position of the receiving array element on the probe, thus obtaining ultrasonic signals at different receiving angles. These are used as the ultrasonic signals at different angles received in step S100. For details, please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 4 As shown in the relevant explanations. The process of emitting ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target at multiple emission angles is explained in the relevant explanations above.

[0061] For example, in one embodiment, in step S100, when the echo from the ultrasonic beam on the scanning target is received, the aperture position of the receiving element in the probe is adjusted to a first position to receive the echo of the ultrasonic beam at that emission angle, thereby obtaining a first set of ultrasonic signals belonging to the first receiving angle. The aperture of the receiving element is then adjusted to a second position to receive the echo of the ultrasonic beam at that emission angle, thereby obtaining a second set of ultrasonic signals belonging to the second receiving angle. Similarly, multiple sets of ultrasonic signals are obtained based on different receiving angles.

[0062] Referring to the execution order and rules along multiple transmission angles described above, in the process of receiving ultrasonic signals from multiple angles from the scanning target along different receiving angles in the above embodiments, the receiving process of multiple sets of ultrasonic signals can also be executed alternately according to different receiving angles. In one embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting circuit 2 excites the probe 1 to emit an ultrasonic beam towards the scanning target, and receives the echo of the ultrasonic beam at multiple different receiving angles to obtain multiple sets of ultrasonic signals belonging to different receiving angles. Among them, the echo signal of one set of ultrasonic beams is received from the scanning target along one receiving angle, which is used for subsequent beamforming, processing of ultrasonic image data, and calculation of blood flow velocity vector. Multiple sets of ultrasonic beam echoes are received from the scanning target along multiple receiving angles. For example, in step S100, a planar ultrasonic beam is emitted towards the scanning target, and the echo of the ultrasonic beam is received multiple times along one receiving angle to obtain a set of planar ultrasonic signals. This set of planar ultrasonic signals includes multiple planar ultrasonic signals. Multiple sets of planar ultrasonic beam echoes are received along different receiving angles to obtain multiple sets of planar ultrasonic signals belonging to different receiving angles.

[0063] 3. Ultrasonic signals obtained based on a transmission angle or a reception angle can also be used in subsequent steps to calculate blood flow velocity vectors and / or obtain ultrasound images. For example, in step S100, a planar ultrasonic beam is emitted towards the scanning target along a transmission angle, and the echoes of the ultrasonic beam are received multiple times along a reception angle to obtain a set of planar ultrasonic signals, which includes multiple planar ultrasonic signals. Of course, this embodiment can also be replaced with other ultrasonic waveforms described above.

[0064] Based on the aforementioned adjustment of the transmission angle or the reception angle, ultrasonic signals along one or more angles can be obtained in step S100. These angles can include the transmission angle or the reception angle. A set of ultrasonic signals is obtained corresponding to each transmission angle or reception angle. Multiple sets of ultrasonic signals can be obtained for different transmission angles or reception angles. Each set of ultrasonic signals includes at least one ultrasonic signal obtained along the transmission angle or reception angle. Based on any one set of ultrasonic signals or a combination of two or more sets of ultrasonic signals, an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target can be obtained. Furthermore, based on any one set or a combination of two or more sets of ultrasonic signals, the blood flow velocity vector of the target point in the region of interest can be obtained.

[0065] In step S100, to facilitate calculation and improve image display, ultrasonic signals from multiple angles within the scanned target are obtained through the probe. These ultrasonic signals belong to different receiving or transmitting angles. Based on the different angles corresponding to the ultrasonic signals, at least one set of data frames related to the angle is stored. That is, the aforementioned set of ultrasonic signals is stored as a set of angle-related data frames, and the data frame set includes at least one frame of image data.

[0066] Figure 12 Based on Figure 5 The deformation, in step S100, includes:

[0067] Step S191: The probe emits planar ultrasonic beams at different emission angles toward the scanning target.

[0068] Step S192: A focused ultrasonic beam is emitted towards the scanning target through the probe;

[0069] Step S193: Receive the echo of the planar ultrasonic beam to obtain planar ultrasonic signals belonging to different emission angles. These signals are used as ultrasonic signals or a part of ultrasonic signals that need to be obtained in step S100, and are used to calculate the blood flow velocity vector in step S200, thereby improving the calculation speed of the blood flow velocity vector.

[0070] Step S194: Receive the echo of the focused ultrasonic beam to obtain a focused ultrasonic signal, which serves as the ultrasonic signal or part of the ultrasonic signal required in step S100, and is used in step S601 to obtain an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target based on the focused ultrasonic signal. This embodiment obtains a higher quality ultrasonic image.

[0071] Figure 5 In step S200, the image processing module 7 obtains the direction of blood flow velocity within the scanned target based on the ultrasonic signal obtained in step S100.

[0072] In step S200, the blood flow velocity direction corresponding to all target points in the entire imaging region of the scanned target can be calculated first, and then the blood flow velocity direction at multiple target points to be obtained can be selected. Alternatively, the target points for which the blood flow velocity direction is to be obtained can be determined first, and then ultrasound images can be acquired to calculate the blood flow velocity direction corresponding to each of these multiple target points. The target points in step S200 can be pixels or pixel regions input by the user in the region of interest, or multiple discrete pixels or pixel regions automatically generated by the system in the region of interest, used to determine the associated points for calculating the blood flow velocity direction or blood flow velocity vector at a certain image coordinate or a certain block of images.

[0073] Before obtaining the blood flow velocity direction, the blood flow velocity vectors at multiple target points within the scanned target area can be obtained based on the ultrasound signal. These vectors include both the blood flow velocity value and its direction. Then, the blood flow velocity directions at these multiple target points can be extracted. Alternatively, the blood flow velocity value can be obtained directly through calculation, without calculating the blood flow velocity direction.

[0074] Furthermore, depending on the different display methods of superimposing blood flow velocity vectors on the ultrasound image, the target point mentioned in step S200 can be a selected actual location or a location calculated based on the blood flow velocity vector calculated at the previous moment. For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions of the first and second display modes below.

[0075] Whether it's obtaining the direction of blood flow velocity or the value of blood flow velocity, the following calculation methods can be used as a reference.

[0076] The first method, based on speckle tracking, uses the offset of identical specks between two image frames to calculate the blood flow velocity vector at the target point. Specifically, it combines... Figure 6 As shown.

[0077] First, an ultrasonic signal is acquired as described above. This ultrasonic signal may include at least one set of ultrasonic signals.

[0078] Secondly, based on the ultrasound signal, at least two ultrasound images are obtained, for example, at least the first ultrasound image is obtained (see, Figure 6 The largest box on the left in the middle) and the second frame ultrasound image (see, Figure 6 (The largest box on the right in the middle). As mentioned above, in this embodiment, a planar ultrasound signal can be used to acquire an ultrasound image for calculating the blood flow velocity vector of the target point. The planar ultrasound beam propagates almost throughout the entire imaging area; therefore, typically, the planar beam echo signal obtained from a single emitted planar ultrasound beam can be processed to obtain a frame of planar beam echo image data. In this paper, the ultrasound image data of the scanned target obtained by processing the planar beam echo signal obtained from the planar ultrasound beam is referred to as a "planar beam echo image".

[0079] Then, a tracking region is selected in the first frame of the ultrasound image. This tracking region may contain the target point whose velocity vector or velocity direction is desired. For example, the tracking region may be a neighborhood of the target point or a data block containing the target point; see [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 6 The smallest box on the left in the middle.

[0080] Next, a region corresponding to the tracking area is searched in the second frame of the ultrasound image. For example, the region with the greatest similarity to the aforementioned tracking area is searched as the tracking result region (see, Figure 6 The second smallest box in the bottom position of the largest box on the right. Figure 6 The first small box at the top of the largest box on the right indicates the location of the tracking area in the second frame of the ultrasound image. Here, the similarity measurement process can use the following formula to find the similarity matrix, and based on the similarity matrix, find the region with the greatest similarity to the aforementioned tracking area.

[0081] The similarity matrix in a two-dimensional image is calculated using the following formula (1) or (2).

[0082]

[0083]

[0084] Where X1 is the first frame of ultrasound image and X2 is the second frame of ultrasound image. i and j are the horizontal and vertical coordinates of the two-dimensional image. This represents the values ​​of K and L when the result of the expression on its right is minimized. K and L represent the new positions in the image. M and N are the sizes of the tracking region in the image. and It is the average value of the tracking area and the tracking result area in the first and second frames.

[0085] The similarity matrix in a three-dimensional image is calculated using the following formula (3) or (4).

[0086]

[0087]

[0088] Where X1 is the first frame of ultrasound image and X2 is the second frame of ultrasound image. i, j and k are the coordinates of the three-dimensional image. This represents the values ​​of A, B, and C when the result of the expression on its right is minimized. A, B, and C then represent the new horizontal and vertical coordinate positions in the image. M, N, and L are the sizes of the tracking area in the image. and It is the average value of the tracking area and the tracking result area in the first and second frames.

[0089] Finally, based on the positions of the aforementioned tracking area and the aforementioned tracking result area, as well as the time interval between the first frame image data and the second frame image data, the velocity vector of the target point can be obtained. For example, the velocity value can be obtained by dividing the distance between the tracking area and the tracking result area (i.e., the displacement of the target point within a preset time interval) by the time interval between the first frame planar beam echo image data and the second frame planar beam echo image data, while the velocity direction can be the direction of the line connecting the tracking area and the tracking result area, i.e., the direction of movement of the target point within the preset time interval.

[0090] Based on the above method, the direction of blood flow velocity in step S200 can be obtained, as well as the value of blood flow velocity. Combining the direction of blood flow velocity and the value of blood flow velocity, the blood flow velocity vector can be obtained.

[0091] Furthermore, before velocity calculation, wall filtering can be performed on at least two frames of the acquired ultrasound images. This involves applying wall filtering to each point on the image along the time direction. Tissue signals in the image change relatively little over time, while blood flow signals change significantly due to blood flow. Therefore, a high-pass filter can be used as a wall filter for the blood flow signal. After wall filtering, higher-frequency blood flow signals are retained, while lower-frequency tissue signals are filtered out. The signal-to-noise ratio of the blood flow signal is greatly enhanced after wall filtering.

[0092] The second method involves obtaining the blood flow velocity vector at the target point based on the temporal and spatial gradients, as shown below.

[0093] First, an ultrasonic signal is acquired as described above. This ultrasonic signal may include at least one set of ultrasonic signals. This ultrasonic signal may belong to one or more angles. This angle may be a transmission angle or a reception angle; the following embodiment uses the transmission angle as an example.

[0094] Secondly, based on the ultrasound signal, at least two ultrasound images are obtained;

[0095] Then, based on the ultrasound image, a first gradient along the time direction at the target point is obtained, a second gradient along the emission angle at the target point is obtained, and a third gradient along the direction perpendicular to the emission angle at the target point is obtained. Based on the first, second, and third gradients, a fifth velocity component at the emission angle and a sixth velocity component in the direction perpendicular to the emission angle at the target point are calculated.

[0096] Secondly, the blood flow velocity vector of the target point is obtained by synthesizing the fifth and sixth velocity components, including the synthesized blood flow velocity value and the synthesis angle, with the synthesis angle pointing in the direction of blood flow velocity.

[0097] The above embodiment uses the emission angle as an example. If at least two ultrasound images are used to obtain ultrasound signals along the receiving angle mentioned above, the above method can also be used for calculation. However, the "emission angle" in each step should be replaced with the receiving angle. In one embodiment, using planar ultrasound signals for calculation can improve the calculation speed and accuracy of the velocity vector. Based on the above method, the blood flow velocity direction in step S200 can be obtained, as well as the blood flow velocity value. Combining the blood flow velocity direction and the blood flow velocity value, the blood flow velocity vector can be obtained.

[0098] The third method involves using data frames belonging to different angles to obtain blood flow velocity components along multiple different angles at the target point; synthesizing the blood flow velocity components related to multiple different angles to obtain the blood flow velocity vector at the target point.

[0099] In one embodiment, Doppler imaging technology can be used to calculate the blood flow velocity component at a target point along an angle.

[0100] First, ultrasonic signals are acquired as described above. These ultrasonic signals can be ultrasonic signals belonging to multiple angles. These angles can be either emission angles or reception angles. The following embodiment illustrates this by emitting ultrasonic beams towards the scanning target along multiple emission angles and receiving the echo signals of these ultrasonic beams as the ultrasonic signals in step S100. In the Doppler ultrasound imaging method, multiple ultrasonic beams are continuously emitted towards the scanning target at the same emission angle; the echoes of the emitted ultrasonic beams are received to obtain multiple ultrasonic signals. Each value in each ultrasonic signal corresponds to a value at a target position when scanning at a certain emission angle.

[0101] Then, in step S200, the calculation is performed as follows:

[0102] Multiple ultrasonic signals from a set of ultrasonic signals corresponding to a transmission angle are subjected to Hilbert transform along the direction of the transmission angle to obtain multiple image data in which the value at each target point is represented by a complex number. After N transmissions and receptions, there are N complex values ​​that change over time at each target point. Then, the velocity of the target point z in the direction of the transmission angle is calculated according to the following two formulas (5) and (6):

[0103]

[0104]

[0105] Among them, V z It is the calculated velocity value along the emission angle, where c is the speed of sound, f0 is the center frequency of the probe, and T is the velocity value. prfLet be the time interval between two launches, N be the number of launches, x(i) be the real part of the i-th launch, and y(i) be the imaginary part of the i-th launch. To extract the imaginary part operator, This is the operator for taking the real part. Formulas (5) and (6) above are formulas for calculating the velocity value at a fixed position.

[0106] Secondly, by analogy, the velocity value at each target point can be calculated using these N complex values.

[0107] If the above method is used to calculate the blood flow velocity component, then the Doppler velocity value V can be taken. z The blood flow velocity value at the target point along the corresponding emission angle is represented by the emission angle, which represents the direction of the blood flow velocity at the target point. The blood flow velocity components along the corresponding emission angle are obtained by combining them, and can be expressed in a vector form.

[0108] The above embodiment uses the transmission angle as an example. If multiple ultrasound signals are obtained along a receiving angle as mentioned above, the above method can also be used for calculation. However, the transmission angle mentioned above is replaced by the receiving angle, and the blood flow velocity direction is the receiving angle, so that the blood flow velocity component along the corresponding receiving angle can be obtained.

[0109] Using the above Doppler calculation method, blood flow velocity values ​​along different angular directions can be obtained based on ultrasound signals at different angles, which can be characterized by Doppler frequency.

[0110] In ultrasound imaging, the Doppler principle is typically used to process ultrasound signals to obtain the velocity of the scanned target or its moving parts. For example, after obtaining the ultrasound signal, the velocity of the scanned target or its moving parts can be obtained from the ultrasound signal using autocorrelation estimation or cross-correlation estimation methods. The method for obtaining the velocity of the scanned target or its moving parts through Doppler processing of ultrasound signals can use any method currently in use or likely to be used in the future in the art for calculating the velocity of a scanned target or its moving parts from ultrasound signals, and will not be detailed here.

[0111] The blood flow velocity components at the target point along different transmission or reception angles are obtained using the method described above. These velocity components are then synthesized at the target point to obtain the composite velocity, i.e., the blood flow velocity vector at the target point. For example... Figure 10 As shown, specifically as follows.

[0112] First, at least two sets of ultrasonic signals are acquired as described above. These at least two sets of ultrasonic signals can be ultrasonic signals belonging to multiple different angles, including different transmission angles or different reception angles (step S110). The ultrasonic signals corresponding to different angles are stored as at least two sets of data frames related to the angle. Step S210: The ultrasonic signals corresponding to different angles are stored as at least two sets of data frames related to the angle.

[0113] Secondly, based on data frame sets belonging to different angles, and referring to the calculation process using Doppler imaging technology described above, the blood flow velocity component corresponding to each data frame set is calculated to obtain at least two blood flow velocity components related to the angle (step S220). At least two blood flow velocity components are obtained at each target point.

[0114] Then, at least two blood flow velocity components are combined to obtain the blood flow velocity vector expected in step S200, which includes the combined blood flow velocity value and the combined angle, with the combined angle pointing in the direction of the blood flow velocity (step S230). This method can obtain the blood flow velocity vectors corresponding to multiple target points.

[0115] The above embodiment uses the transmission angle as an example. If multiple sets of ultrasonic echo signals are obtained along multiple receiving angles as mentioned above, the above method can also be used for calculation. However, the "transmission angle" in each step should be replaced with the "receiving angle".

[0116] Of course, for a blood flow velocity component corresponding to a transmission angle or reception angle, the present invention is not limited to the above method, and other methods known in the art or that may be adopted in the future may also be used.

[0117] The preceding text has proposed several methods for calculating blood flow velocity vectors. The velocity value in the blood flow velocity vector can include one of the statistical quantities characterizing the velocity state, such as the approximate or true velocity at the target point, acceleration, velocity variance evaluation value, etc.

[0118] Step S120, or steps parallel to step S120, further includes the following steps:

[0119] Based on the aforementioned ultrasonic signals, the image processing module obtains an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target. This ultrasonic image can be a three-dimensional ultrasonic image or a two-dimensional ultrasonic image, such as a B-image, an image from a three-dimensional ultrasonic image database obtained through the aforementioned scanning body, or an enhanced B-image obtained through two-dimensional blood flow display technology. In one embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic image can be obtained using planar ultrasonic beam imaging or focused ultrasonic beam imaging. However, because the focused ultrasonic beam has a more concentrated power output each time it is emitted, and imaging only occurs at the point of power concentration, the obtained echo signal has a higher signal-to-noise ratio, resulting in a better quality ultrasonic image. Furthermore, the focused ultrasonic beam has a narrow main lobe and low side lobes, resulting in a higher lateral resolution of the obtained ultrasonic image. Therefore, in one embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic image can be obtained using focused ultrasonic beam imaging. Simultaneously, to obtain an even higher quality ultrasonic image, multiple emitted focused ultrasonic beams can be used in step S100 to achieve scanning and obtain a single frame of ultrasonic image.

[0120] In one embodiment of the present invention, in step S100, multiple focused ultrasonic beams are emitted towards the scanning target, and in step S200, the echoes of the focused ultrasonic beams are received to obtain a set of focused beam echo signals. An ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanning target is obtained based on the focused beam echo signals. High-quality ultrasonic images can be obtained using focused ultrasound. For details on the combined emission process of planar ultrasonic beams and focused ultrasonic beams, please refer to the foregoing related content.

[0121] Furthermore, the data for acquiring the ultrasound image can be obtained based on any set of ultrasound signals or any set of data frames from the aforementioned step S100. The ultrasound image is displayed on a monitor, and sampling frames can also be displayed on the ultrasound image. In this embodiment, there can be one or more sampling frames, and multiple sampling frames can overlap. When sampling multiple sampling frames, the quantization results of multiple discretenesses can be compared and observed simultaneously. In one embodiment, the sampling frame can be adjusted by the user. Based on the user's adjustment signal to the sampling frame, a redefined sampling frame is determined, and the size and shape of the sampling frame are obtained.

[0122] In step S300, the image processing module 7 extracts multiple blood flow velocity directions.

[0123] The extracted blood flow velocity directions include at least one of the following:

[0124] 1. The direction of blood flow velocity at multiple locations at the same time; and,

[0125] 2. Multiple blood flow velocity directions at the same location at different times.

[0126] In this embodiment, "same time" includes the same instant or the same time period; "instant" includes at least one actual point in time; and "time period" includes at least one instant.

[0127] In this embodiment, the time point can also be determined by the image acquisition frame rate. By using the blood flow velocity directions corresponding to multiple locations at the same time, it is possible to assess eddies and other phenomena at these multiple locations at the same time. Conversely, by sampling the blood flow velocity directions corresponding to the same location at different times, it is possible to assess eddies and other phenomena at the same location over a certain period. For example, in echocardiography, the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions include multiple blood flow velocity directions corresponding to any time within the same cardiac cycle, thereby enabling the assessment of changes in blood flow direction at the same location during different periods or within the same period within a cardiac cycle. Alternatively, the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions can include multiple blood flow velocity directions corresponding to the same time within different cardiac cycles, used to quantitatively assess changes in blood flow velocity direction during systole or diastole. The temporal phase in this article includes any moment or time period within the cardiac cycle, including systole and / or diastole.

[0128] The location in this embodiment can be a point or region of interest within the scanning target. Typically, it refers to a point or region of interest that can be marked or displayed in at least a portion of the ultrasound image of the scanning target shown on the display. For example, in some embodiments, the location may include at least one target point. When a location includes multiple target points, the blood flow velocity direction at that location can be the composite angle direction of the blood flow velocity vectors corresponding to the multiple target points at that location, or one of the blood flow velocity directions corresponding to the multiple target points at that location, or the direction with the largest number of blood flow velocity directions corresponding to the multiple target points at that location, and so on. Similarly, the blood flow velocity vector at that location can be the composite velocity of the blood flow velocity vectors corresponding to the multiple target points at that location, or one of the blood flow velocity vectors corresponding to the multiple target points at that location, or the direction with the largest number of directions among the blood flow velocity vectors corresponding to the multiple target points at that location, or the average value of the blood flow velocity vectors corresponding to the multiple target points at that location, and so on.

[0129] In some embodiments, multiple locations for the blood flow velocity direction to be acquired are determined based on a set region of interest (ROI). This set ROI may include one or a combination of ranges such as a user-selected ROI, a vascular region automatically segmented based on system image segmentation technology, a system-default selected ROI range, and the entire imaging area of ​​the scanned target. The multiple locations can be multiple discrete or continuous locations within the ROI, which can be automatically assigned by the system or selected by the user. Therefore, in step S300, extracting multiple blood flow velocity directions within the ROI to quantify and estimate the ROI is, in one embodiment, the ROI is determined by a sampling frame. This sampling frame can be a region automatically formed by the system on the ultrasound image, the entire imaging area, or a region obtained by the user inputting a selection command on the ultrasound image, etc. Typically, the ROI includes at least one target point, or a region (data block) containing at least one target point. For example, Figure 13 31 in the middle, Figure 14 41 in the middle, Figure 15 51 or A32 in the middle, Figure 16 61 or 62 in the middle, and Figure 17 71 or 72 in the text.

[0130] Multiple locations, multiple moments, and multiple time periods can all be extracted discretely, rather than necessarily continuously. Of course, the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions can also be a combination of the first and second methods described above; for example, the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions could include the blood flow velocity directions corresponding to multiple locations at multiple times. The above embodiments can comprehensively measure the blood flow in the blood vessels from both spatial and temporal dimensions.

[0131] Furthermore, in one embodiment, see based on Figure 5 Deformation scheme Figure 11The image processing module executes step S600 to obtain an ultrasound image of at least a portion of the scanned target based on the ultrasound signal. The display executes step S700 to display the ultrasound image. Step S800 involves using the operation control module to acquire a sampling frame on the ultrasound image. After step S200, step S310 is executed, whereby the image processing module extracts multiple blood flow velocity directions associated with the sampling frame. These multiple blood flow velocity directions can be discrete or continuous blood flow velocity directions at multiple locations within the sampling frame; alternatively, they can be blood flow velocity directions at multiple locations corresponding to multiple sampling frames. In one embodiment, the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions include at least a portion of the location-related blood flow velocity directions within the sampling frame at the same time, and at least a portion of the time-related blood flow velocity directions within the sampling frame. The extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions can be multiple blood flow velocity directions corresponding to all locations within the sampling frame, or multiple blood flow velocity directions corresponding to only some locations. When using this method, the positions of some expected discretization measurements can be extracted from the sampling frame. These expected positions may be close or far apart, thus allowing for a more flexible macroscopic analysis of the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction over a relatively large range.

[0132] In this embodiment, before extracting multiple blood flow velocity directions, the method further includes: recording the correspondence between the blood flow velocity vector and time at each location; and then, when extracting multiple blood flow velocity directions, extracting the blood flow velocity directions corresponding to multiple time points from the correspondence. This allows for a clearer understanding of the time information regarding the blood flow velocity directions, facilitating display in subsequent processes.

[0133] The direction of blood flow velocity is represented by an angle value or a direction vector. For example, the direction of blood flow velocity can be represented by an angle value of 0-360 degrees, or by coordinates in a spherical or rectangular coordinate system.

[0134] In step S400, the image processing module quantizes the dispersion of the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions. Dispersion represents the degree of difference between the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions. Quantization refers to representing the dispersion with values.

[0135] In this embodiment, the dispersion of the extracted multiple blood flow velocity directions is quantified using one of the following methods:

[0136] Calculate the variance of multiple blood flow velocity directions, the extreme values ​​of the angular differences of multiple blood flow velocity directions, and the standard deviation of multiple blood flow velocity directions. The specific calculation methods are explained below.

[0137] See Figure 7 As shown, the calculation of variance and standard deviation is illustrated by using a vector in a rectangular coordinate system to represent the direction of blood flow velocity.

[0138] The conversion formula between spherical coordinates and rectangular coordinates is expressed by the following formula (7):

[0139]

[0140] The direction of velocity at each point in space needs to be represented by two angle values, namely θ and θ'. The magnitude of the velocity is represented by r. Through coordinate transformation, it can also be represented as a vector in a Cartesian coordinate system, i.e., (x, y, z), which contains information about the magnitude and direction of the velocity. The dispersion of the velocity direction (angle) at multiple points can be calculated using the following formula for vector variance or standard deviation.

[0141] The two-dimensional vector representation of blood flow velocity is (x1, y1), (x2, y2), ..., (x... N y N ), and obtain the unit vector through processing. They only contain information about the direction of blood flow velocity, where (a,b) represents a two-dimensional unit vector representing the direction of blood flow velocity.

[0142]

[0143]

[0144]

[0145] Calculate the average value of each dimension using the following formula (9):

[0146]

[0147]

[0148] The two-dimensional vector variance Var2 used to quantify the dispersion of multiple blood flow velocity directions can be expressed as:

[0149]

[0150] The standard deviation SD2 of the two-dimensional vector used to quantify the dispersion of multiple blood flow velocity directions is:

[0151]

[0152] The three-dimensional vector of blood flow velocity: (x1, y1, z1), (x2, y2, z2), ..., (x N y N , z N Similarly, the unit vector is obtained through processing. They only have directional information; (a, b, c) represents a three-dimensional unit vector representing the direction of blood flow velocity.

[0153]

[0154]

[0155]

[0156] Calculate the average value of each dimension using the formula (13) below.

[0157]

[0158]

[0159]

[0160] The three-dimensional vector variance Var3 used to quantify the dispersion of multiple blood flow velocity directions can be expressed as follows:

[0161] The standard deviation SD3 used to quantify the dispersion of multiple blood flow velocity directions is

[0162]

[0163] In two-dimensional space, the extreme values ​​of the angle difference between multiple blood flow velocity directions are obtained in the following way.

[0164] Among a number of angles (assuming N), calculate the angle difference between any two angles, find the largest angle difference, i.e., the maximum value of the angle difference is given by formula (16), and find the smallest angle difference, i.e., the minimum value of the angle difference is given by formula (17).

[0165]

[0166]

[0167] Where, d i d represents the magnitude of the angle value in the direction of the i-th blood flow velocity. j d represents the magnitude of the angle value in the direction of the j-th blood flow velocity. i or d j They are angular values ​​ranging from 0 to 360 degrees.

[0168] Regardless of the number or type of angles, the extreme value of the angle difference calculated using formulas (16) and (17) above is a value that varies between 0 and 180 degrees. The larger the value, the larger the extreme value of the angle difference.

[0169] The extreme values ​​of the angle difference between multiple blood flow velocity directions in two-dimensional or three-dimensional space are calculated in the form of vectors, as shown in the following formulas (18) and (19).

[0170] The formula for calculating the maximum angle difference in two-dimensional or three-dimensional space is as follows:

[0171]

[0172]

[0173] The maximum angular difference can also be measured by distance, for example, in the following formulas (20) and (21).

[0174]

[0175]

[0176] in, As previously defined, it is a two-dimensional or three-dimensional unit vector. The result is the distance between two vectors (applicable to both two-dimensional and three-dimensional spaces).

[0177] As can be seen, when calculating the extreme values ​​of the angle difference between multiple blood flow velocity directions, the angle difference between any two angles is first calculated; then, the maximum or minimum value of the angle difference is found. In this embodiment, the angle difference can be expressed as in formulas (18) and (19), or it can be expressed as the distance measurement method in formulas (20) and (21).

[0178] In addition, another method can be used to calculate the variance of multiple blood flow velocity directions.

[0179] After the direction of blood flow velocity is quantified, it is a value between 0 and 360 degrees (or -180 to 180 degrees), and the variance Var can be calculated using the following formula (22).

[0180]

[0181]

[0182]

[0183] In the formula, θ is the quantized angle value of the blood flow velocity direction, and N represents the number of target points in the sampling frame or the number of positions belonging to different sampling frames. Var is a number between 0 and 1, and it can also be multiplied by 100 to get the variance, which is a number between 0 and 100. The larger Var is, the greater the change in velocity direction in the sampling frame (the greater the dispersion, the greater the degree of turbulence or eddies). The smaller Var is, the higher the consistency of the velocity direction in the sampling frame, and the closer it is to laminar flow. For example, when Var is 0, the blood flow velocity direction of all points in the sampling frame is completely consistent, which is a typical laminar flow state.

[0184] Although this embodiment only provides the above-mentioned methods, the present invention does not limit the method of quantifying the dispersion of multiple blood flow velocity directions, and other user-selectable methods can also be used. Of course, the system can also provide multiple quantization methods for users to choose from, and compare and view the dispersion results obtained using different quantization methods to achieve a comprehensive evaluation.

[0185] In step S500, the quantization result of the dispersion is displayed on a monitor. Alternatively, the monitor may display an ultrasound image and mark sampling frames within the ultrasound image for comparison of the quantization result of the dispersion in the associated region.

[0186] In this embodiment, the quantization results of the discreteness can be displayed in at least one of the following ways:

[0187] The quantization results of the dispersion are displayed in text.

[0188] Display an icon model, which is constructed based on the quantization results; and,

[0189] The quantification results of the dispersion are superimposed on the ultrasound images.

[0190] In some embodiments, the method for overlaying and displaying the quantification results of dispersion on ultrasound images includes:

[0191] First, an image processing module generates particle blocks associated with a specific region. The color coding of these particle blocks is related to the discrete quantization result of the blood flow velocity direction within that specific region. Then, the color-coded particle blocks are displayed at the specific region of the ultrasound image to obtain a discrete image. (See particle blocks for details.) Figure 13 and Figure 14 The color spots and color blocks are divided into A1, A2, A3, and A4.

[0192] In this embodiment, a specific region refers to a mass block corresponding to the quantized result of blood flow velocity direction within a specific area on an ultrasound image. The specific region can be the size of the image region set by the system or selected by the user, such as 3*8, 4*4, or 5*5. The ultrasound image is segmented according to the size of the specific region, and the discrete quantization result of the blood flow velocity direction corresponding to multiple specific regions in the ultrasound image is calculated sequentially. These multiple specific regions can be the result of non-overlapping segmentation of the ultrasound image. The area size of each specific region can be the same or different. For example, if the ultrasound image is 80*80, it can be divided into 100 equal 8*8 specific regions, with no overlap between them. The dispersion of the blood flow velocity direction of each specific region is calculated sequentially based on the blood flow velocity direction of each target point within each specific region. The calculation result is the discrete quantization result of the center point within the specific region. The corresponding specific region is then color-coded according to the magnitude of this discrete quantization result and displayed on the ultrasound image.

[0193] Of course, these multiple specific regions can also be the result of continuous overlapping segmentation of ultrasound images, for example, as shown below. Figure 8 As shown, in the entire sampling frame (see Figure 8 The large box in the middle is sampled through a small sampling box (see...). Figure 8 The small squares in the image are successively shifted one or more pixels to the next position, obtaining a new image region. This process is repeated to continuously overlap and segment the ultrasound image. Multiple image region ranges obtained by the continuous shifting of small sampling boxes correspond to multiple specific regions. In the calculation... Figure 8 When determining the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction across the entire sampling frame, first select a small sampling frame (see...). Figure 8 The dispersion of blood flow velocity direction is calculated using the blood flow velocity direction at each target point within the small sampling box (a small square within the larger sampling box). The result is the quantified dispersion of the center point of the small sampling box. After moving this small sampling box, the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction at its center is calculated again. This process is repeated to obtain the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction in multiple overlapping specific regions within the larger sampling box. The size of this small sampling box is variable, and the distance it moves or shifts after each calculation is also variable. Figure 8 The two overlapping boxes represent small sampling frames in two calculations, and the calculated value is the discrete quantization result at the corresponding center point. The small sampling frames are then color-coded according to the magnitude of this discrete quantization result, and displayed on the ultrasound image to form a discrete image. The two sampling frames can overlap; the greater the overlap, the higher the spatial resolution of the calculated discrete image.

[0194] Figure 13A discrete image with color effect is presented, in which the discrete quantization results of a specific region are superimposed on the vascular portion within the sampling frame 31, obtaining results such as... Figure 13 The image contains discrete images with multiple color blocks, and provides color-coded Bar 32 on the interface to prompt users to identify the magnitude of the discreteness. Figure 14 Provided Figure 13 The line drawing effect has a sampling frame of 41 and an ultrasound image of 42. A1, A2, A3, and A4 are rendered in different colors to indicate the difference in dispersion within the current region. Furthermore, if using... Figure 8 Rendering in the manner shown will further subdivide the color blocks A1, A2, A3, and A4, thus improving the spatial resolution of the discrete image. This embodiment provides a new imaging effect diagram, offering doctors a more intuitive observation angle and showcasing blood flow within blood vessels through the overlay effect with ultrasound images. Figure 13 Green indicates the smallest dispersion, and red indicates the largest dispersion.

[0195] In some embodiments, the quantization result of the discreteness can be displayed directly at any location on the display interface using text display, for example, Figure 16 and Figure 17 The value displayed is "SD 0.01 / 100".

[0196] In some embodiments, an icon model is constructed based on the quantization results, and the icon model is displayed to show the discrete quantization results of the associated sampling boxes. The icon model can be displayed in many ways, for example, as... Figure 16 In example 642, rectangular bars with color coding are used, and the color coding is related to the magnitude of the quantization result of the dispersion. Another example is... Figure 16 In 641, a circular icon with an arrow pointing to the target value is used, where the arrow points to the discrete quantization result.

[0197] It's also possible to build icon models based on positional relationships, for example, such as... Figure 18 As shown, the sampling frame 81 in the display area 80 of the ultrasound image, or the region of interest 81, constructs an icon model 84 corresponding to the blood vessel or part of the image area of ​​the blood vessel by displaying the identifier 83 representing the blood flow velocity vector. The icon model 84 is divided into partitions (B1, B2, B3, B4), and the discrete quantization result corresponding to the corresponding area on the ultrasound image is calculated for each partition. Then, the discrete quantization result is superimposed on the corresponding partition in the form of text or color encoding for display on the monitor.

[0198] Furthermore, icon models can be constructed based on time changes. For example, a coordinate system relating dispersion to time can be built, recording the changes in the quantization result of dispersion over time, displaying these changes, and plotting the changes in the quantization result of dispersion over time one by one in the coordinate system, thereby generating a dispersion change map associated with the sampling frame. The dispersion change map is a type of icon model. See also... Figure 15 A display effect diagram is provided, in which the ultrasound image 50 includes a large sampling frame 51 and a small sampling frame A32. The dispersion quantification result corresponding to the small sampling frame A32 is shown in graph 53. A coordinate relationship between dispersion (e.g., variance SD) and time is established. Then, the dispersion quantification results at each time t31, t32, t33, t34, and t35 are extracted and plotted on the coordinate relationship to obtain the dispersion variation graph shown in graph 53, which is used to show the quantification result of the dispersion of the small sampling frame A32 when it changes at different times. In addition, graph 53 is marked with a black inverted triangle to indicate the position of the small sampling frame A32, and can also be used to indicate the position corresponding to the current time. Figure 19 Another display effect diagram is also provided. The ultrasound image 90 in the figure includes a large sampling frame 91 and a small sampling frame 92. The discrete quantification result corresponding to the small sampling frame 92 is shown in the chart 93. The coordinate relationship of the time axis is established, and the discrete quantification results corresponding to each time t31, t32, t33, t34, t35, etc. are plotted on the time axis. Rectangular bars corresponding to different times are plotted on the time axis. The color or height of each rectangular bar is related to the discrete quantification result corresponding to the current time, forming a discrete variation diagram.

[0199] Regardless of the display method used, the quantization result of the dispersion is associated with the corresponding position range in the ultrasound image. When the position range changes, the quantization result is updated accordingly. For example, a sampling frame is used to mark the target point or target point region of interest in the ultrasound image. When the user's adjustment signal for the sampling frame is obtained, and a redefined sampling frame is determined based on the adjustment signal, multiple blood flow velocity directions associated with the redefined sampling frame are extracted in step S300. Here, "associated with sampling frame" means selecting multiple blood flow velocity directions within the sampling frame, or it may also include the number of extracted blood flow velocity directions being determined by the number of sampling frames. In displaying the quantization result of the dispersion, the quantization result changes as the sampling frame is updated. This change also includes the number of quantization results and / or the value of the quantization results changing with the update of the sampling frame.

[0200] The discrete quantification results of blood flow velocity direction can be displayed separately or in conjunction with ultrasound images on the monitor's interface. These ultrasound images can be one of Doppler flow images, flow projectile images, or B-images, etc. In other words, the quantification results of the discreteness are displayed simultaneously with the ultrasound image, and the blood flow velocity vector is superimposed on the ultrasound image. The following provides a method for displaying the superimposed blood flow velocity vector on an ultrasound image.

[0201] In one embodiment, step S200 includes: calculating the blood flow velocity vector at the first display position of the target point in the ultrasound images at different times based on the ultrasound signal obtained in step S100, to obtain the blood flow velocity vector information of the target point in the ultrasound images at different times. In the following process, the blood flow velocity vector information at the first display position in the ultrasound images at each time can be compared and displayed. As shown in Figure 9(a), based on the ultrasound signal obtained in step S200, ultrasound image data P1, P2, ..., Pn corresponding to times t1, t2, ..., tn can be obtained respectively, and then the blood flow velocity vector of the target point at the first display position in the ultrasound images at each time (the position of the black dot in the figure) is calculated. In this embodiment, the first display position of the target point in the ultrasound images at each time is always located at position (H1, W1) in the two-dimensional image. Based on this, when comparing and displaying the blood flow velocity vector information in the subsequent step S800, the calculated blood flow velocity vector at the target point (H1, W1) is displayed at the ultrasound image P0 on the display. If the target point is selected partially or entirely by the user in the above specific embodiments, or by the system default, then the corresponding first display position can be obtained. The blood flow velocity vector information at the first display position in the ultrasound image at the current moment is calculated and used for comparison. In this paper, this display mode is called the first mode of superimposing blood flow velocity vector on ultrasound image, and the same applies below. Figure 9(a) shows the effect of displaying two-dimensional image P0. Of course, it can also be applied to three-dimensional image display. That is, the ultrasound images at each moment are taken as the scanning volume mentioned above to obtain a three-dimensional image database, and the first display position is taken as the spatial three-dimensional coordinate position in the three-dimensional image database, which will not be elaborated here.

[0202] In another embodiment, step S200 includes: calculating the blood flow velocity vectors obtained sequentially as the target point moves continuously to corresponding positions in the ultrasound image based on the ultrasound signal obtained in step S100, thereby obtaining the blood flow velocity vector of the target point. In this embodiment, by repeatedly calculating the blood flow velocity vector of the target point moving from one position to another position in the ultrasound image within a time interval, the blood flow velocity vectors corresponding to each corresponding position in the ultrasound image after the target point moves continuously from the initial position are obtained. That is, the calculation position used to determine the blood flow velocity vector in the ultrasound image in this embodiment can be obtained by calculation. Therefore, in the following process, the blood flow velocity vectors at the calculated positions in the ultrasound image at various times can be compared and displayed.

[0203] As shown in Figure 9(b), based on the ultrasound signal obtained in step S100 above, ultrasound image data P11, P12, ..., P1n corresponding to times t1, t2, ..., tn can be obtained respectively. Then, referring to the above embodiment, based on the user's self-selection of part or all of the target points, or the density of the target points defaulted by the system, the initial position of the target point is determined, as shown by the first point (H1, W1) in Figure 9(b). Then, the blood flow velocity vector A1 in the ultrasound image P11 at the initial position is calculated. Next, the position (H2, W2) of the target point (i.e., the black dot in the figure) moved from the initial position on the ultrasound image P11 at time t1 to the position on the ultrasound image P12 at time t2 is calculated. Then, based on the ultrasound signal, the blood flow velocity vector at (H2, W2) in the ultrasound image P12 is obtained for comparison and display. For example, along the direction of the blood flow velocity vector on (H1, W1) in the ultrasound image P11 at time t1, move by a time interval (where time t2 - time t1 = time interval), and calculate the displacement when reaching the second time t2. In this way, the second display position of a target point at the first time t1 on the ultrasound image at the second time is found. Then, based on the ultrasound signal obtained in step S100 above, the blood flow velocity vector at this second display position is obtained, thereby obtaining the blood flow velocity vector information of the target point in the ultrasound image P12 at time t2. Similarly, for every two adjacent time points, the displacement is obtained by moving along the direction of the blood flow velocity vector corresponding to the target point at the first time point by the time interval between the two adjacent time points. The corresponding position of the target point on the ultrasound image at the second time point is determined based on the displacement. Then, the blood flow velocity vector at the corresponding position in the ultrasound image at the second time point is obtained based on the ultrasound signal. In this way, the blood flow velocity vector of the target point can be obtained by continuously moving from (H1, W1) to (Hn, Wn) in the ultrasound image. Thus, the blood flow velocity vector of the target point can be obtained by continuously moving from the initial position to the corresponding position in the ultrasound image at different time points. This is used to obtain the blood flow velocity vector of the target point so that it can be displayed simultaneously with the ultrasound image.

[0204] In this embodiment, the displacement of the target point over a time interval is calculated, and the corresponding position of the target point in the ultrasound image is determined based on this displacement. Starting from the initially selected target point, the target point moves according to this time interval, which can be determined by the system's transmission frequency, the display frame rate, or a user-inputted time interval. The position reached by the target point after moving is calculated according to the user-inputted time interval, and then the blood flow velocity vector information at that position is obtained for comparison and display. Initially, N initial target points can be marked on the image as described above. Each initial target point has an arrow indicating the magnitude and direction of the flow velocity at that point, as shown in Figure 9(b). During the display process, the blood flow velocity vector obtained when the target point moves continuously to the corresponding position is marked, forming a flowing identifier over time. By marking the blood flow velocity vector obtained in the method of Figure 9(b), the arrows of each point will change position in the newly generated image as time changes. This movement of the arrows can create a similar blood flow process, allowing the user to observe a near-realistic blood flow imaging effect. This display mode is referred to as the second mode in this paper, and the same applies below. Similarly, Figure 9(b) shows a schematic diagram of the effect of displaying a two-dimensional image P10. Of course, it can also be applied to the display of three-dimensional images. That is, the ultrasound images at each moment are taken as the scanning volume mentioned above to obtain a three-dimensional image database, and the first display position is taken as the spatial three-dimensional coordinate position in the three-dimensional image database. This will not be elaborated here.

[0205] To improve the display effect and avoid the blood flow velocity being too fast for the human eye to discern, in one embodiment of the present invention, the process of superimposing and displaying the blood flow velocity vector further includes slowing down the blood flow velocity vector obtained in step S200 during the display of the blood flow velocity, so as to compare and display the slowed-down blood flow velocity vector. For example, firstly, the blood flow velocity vector is slowed down to generate a slow blood flow velocity vector; then, the slow blood flow velocity vector is superimposed and displayed on the ultrasound image to form the blood flow projectile diagram, thereby realizing the comparative display of the blood flow velocity vector and the discrete quantization result.

[0206] In one embodiment, a particle projector is generated as an identifier to depict changes in blood flow velocity at a target point. The color coding and / or length of the particle projector are related to the blood flow velocity value at a specific location in the blood vessel. The particle projector is then displayed on a monitor, showing its changes over time at a specific location in the ultrasound image. This dynamic display of the particle projector dynamically illustrates the movement of blood flow in the blood vessel, thus obtaining a blood flow projectile map. Furthermore, the particle projector also includes a direction indicator, the direction of which is related to the direction of the blood flow velocity. Using the method of this embodiment, the actual flow direction of the target point within the scanned target can be clearly depicted in the displayed blood flow projectile map. Compared to simply displaying the magnitude and direction of the blood flow velocity at the current location over time at a corresponding display position in the image, this method provides a more accurate, realistic, and vivid representation of the actual blood flow direction within the scanned target. The flow of blood can be described using flowing dots or arrows, or other markers that depict direction. See also... Figures 15 to 19 In the diagram, arrow 83 represents the point mass projection body.

[0207] Furthermore, the particle projector may only contain a direction indicator without carrying blood flow velocity information. The direction indicator points in relation to the direction of blood flow velocity at a specific location within the scanned target. Displaying a particle projector with a direction indicator at a specific location in the ultrasound image dynamically demonstrates the direction of blood flow movement within the scanned target.

[0208] In this embodiment, the particle projector can be represented in a manner similar to an arrow. The length and / or thickness of the arrow can be used to represent the blood flow velocity value, and the direction of the arrow can be used to represent the direction of the blood flow velocity. In this embodiment, a specific position refers to a blood flow velocity vector displayed at a specific location on the ultrasound image corresponding to a particle projector. The specific position can be a location used to mark and display the blood flow velocity value, such as the first display position or the second display position mentioned in Figures 9(a) and 9(b).

[0209] Multiple blood flow velocity directions used to calculate dispersion include: multiple blood flow velocity directions corresponding to any phase within the same cardiac cycle (e.g., systole and / or diastole), or multiple blood flow velocity directions corresponding to the same phase within different cardiac cycles (e.g., systole or diastole). When it is necessary to select blood flow velocity directions at multiple times within a cardiac cycle, please refer to [reference needed]. Figure 17In the illustrated embodiment, the ultrasound image 70 includes a large sampling frame 71 and a small sampling frame 72. The small sampling frame 72 is used to select the location to be viewed. Simultaneously, based on the electrocardiogram or Doppler spectrogram 74 provided on the display interface, the cursor 73 is used to select the blood flow velocity direction corresponding to different time frames during the systolic and / or diastolic phases of the heart. Then, the discrete blood flow direction within a systolic or diastolic phase, or a cardiac cycle, is calculated. Thus, in one embodiment, using a display to show graphics representing the cardiac cycle, including electrocardiograms, Doppler spectrograms, video browsing axes containing multiple frames of the cardiac cycle, etc., allows for intuitive identification of any time within the cardiac cycle. The user's selection signal on the graphics representing the cardiac cycle is obtained, and multiple blood flow velocity directions corresponding to multiple times at the same location are extracted based on the selection signal. This embodiment provides convenient operation guidance for users in echocardiography mode, allowing users to make their own selections.

[0210] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating a parameter display method according to one embodiment. It should be understood that, although... Figure 5 The steps in the flowchart are shown sequentially as indicated by the arrows, but these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise explicitly stated herein, there is no strict order in which these steps are executed; they can be performed in other orders. Furthermore, Figure 5 At least some of the steps in the process may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages. These sub-steps or stages are not necessarily completed at the same time, but can be executed at different times. Their execution order is not necessarily sequential, but can be executed in parallel or alternately with other steps or at least some of the sub-steps or stages of other steps. Figures 10 to 12 for Figure 5 For extended embodiments, please refer to the relevant description above for related steps.

[0211] The above embodiments only describe the implementation of the corresponding steps in the specific description. However, without logical contradiction, the above embodiments can be combined with each other to form new technical solutions, and the new technical solutions are still within the scope of disclosure of this specific embodiment.

[0212] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general-purpose hardware platforms. Of course, they can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is carried in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium (such as ROM, magnetic disk, optical disk, server cloud space), including several instructions to cause a terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0213] The imaging method based on blood flow velocity vectors in this embodiment first calculates the direction of blood flow, and then uses this direction to further assess the degree of edema or turbulence, thus serving as a quantitative analysis method for determining the degree of stenosis. By calculating the variance of blood flow direction at different locations at the same time or at different times at the same location, specific data for diagnosis is obtained, providing doctors with more intuitive image analysis results and enhancing the intelligence of the ultrasound imaging system.

[0214] The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of several implementations of the present invention, and while the descriptions are specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of the present invention, and these modifications and improvements all fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of this patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for displaying parameters of ultrasound blood flow, characterized in that, include: The probe obtains ultrasonic signals from within the scanned target. Based on the ultrasound signal, the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target is obtained; Based on the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target, multiple unit vectors corresponding to multiple target points within the scanned target are determined, wherein the unit vectors are used to represent the direction of blood flow velocity, and the unit vectors include at least two dimensions; Calculate the average value of the multiple unit vectors along the same dimension to obtain the corresponding average value for each dimension; The variance or standard deviation is calculated based on the values ​​of the multiple unit vectors in each dimension and the corresponding mean value in each dimension; The variance or standard deviation is displayed, wherein the variance or standard deviation is used to represent the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction at multiple target points within the scanned target.

2. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of calculating the variance based on the values ​​of the multiple unit vectors in each dimension and the corresponding average value in each dimension includes: The variance is obtained by dividing the sum of the squares of the differences between the values ​​of the multiple unit vectors in each dimension and the corresponding average values ​​in each dimension by the number of the multiple unit vectors.

3. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of calculating the standard deviation based on the values ​​of the multiple unit vectors in each dimension and the corresponding mean value in each dimension includes: The standard deviation is obtained by calculating the square root of the variance.

4. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: The magnitudes of multiple blood flow velocities corresponding to multiple target points within the scanned target are determined based on the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target. Based on the multiple blood flow velocity magnitudes and the variance or standard deviation, a quantification result is determined to represent the dispersion of blood flow velocities at multiple target points within the scanned target.

5. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the ultrasonic signal, an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target is obtained; Display the ultrasound image; Obtain the sampling frame on the ultrasound image; The step of determining multiple unit vectors corresponding to multiple target points within the scanned target based on the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target includes: Based on the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target, determine multiple unit vectors corresponding to multiple target points associated with the sampling frame.

6. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of unit vectors includes at least one of the following: The unit vectors corresponding to multiple target points at the same time; and, Multiple unit vectors corresponding to the same target point at different times.

7. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of obtaining ultrasound signals from within the scanned target via a probe, and obtaining the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target based on the ultrasound signals, includes: The probe obtains ultrasonic signals from multiple different angles within the scanned target, and these ultrasonic signals from different angles belong to different receiving angles or different transmitting angles. Based on the ultrasonic signals corresponding to different angles, store them as at least two sets of data frames related to the angle; Based on data frame sets belonging to different angles, calculate the blood flow velocity component corresponding to each data frame set to obtain at least two blood flow velocity components related to the angle. The at least two blood flow velocity components are synthesized to obtain the blood flow velocity vector.

8. The method for displaying ultrasonic blood flow parameters according to claim 7, characterized in that, The acquisition of ultrasonic signals from multiple different angles within the scanned target via the probe includes: The probe emits planar ultrasonic beams at different angles toward the target being scanned. The echo of the planar ultrasonic beam is received to obtain planar ultrasonic signals belonging to different emission angles, which are used to calculate the blood flow velocity vector.

9. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The display of the variance or standard deviation includes at least one of the following methods: The variance or standard deviation is displayed in text; and, Display icon model, which is constructed based on the variance or standard deviation.

10. The method for displaying parameters of ultrasound blood flow according to claim 1, characterized in that, The display of the variance or standard deviation includes: Based on the ultrasonic signal, an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target is obtained; Display the ultrasound image; A specific region is determined on the ultrasound image, and the variance or standard deviation corresponding to the specific region is obtained, wherein the variance or standard deviation corresponding to the specific region is used to represent the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction of multiple target points within the specific region; Generate particle blocks associated with the specific region, wherein the color coding of the particle blocks is related to the variance or standard deviation corresponding to the specific region; Color-coded particle blocks are displayed at the specific region of the ultrasound image.

11. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the ultrasonic signal, an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target is obtained; A particle projection is generated based on the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target, and the color coding and / or length of the particle projection is related to the magnitude of the blood flow velocity value of the target point at a specific location in the ultrasound image. The ultrasound image is displayed, and the particle projector is displayed at a specific location in the ultrasound image to dynamically show the speed of blood flow in the scanned target.

12. The method for displaying ultrasonic blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the ultrasonic signal, an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target is obtained; A particle projection body containing a direction indicator is generated based on the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target, wherein the direction of the direction indicator is related to the direction of blood flow velocity at a target point at a specific location in the ultrasound image; The ultrasound image is displayed, and the particle projector is displayed at a specific location in the ultrasound image to dynamically show the direction of blood flow in the scanned target.

13. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 5, characterized in that, The method includes: Obtain the user's adjustment signal for the sampling frame; Based on the adjustment signal, determine the redefined sampling frame; Based on the blood flow velocity vector within the scanned target, determine multiple unit vectors corresponding to multiple target points associated with the redefined sampling frame; In the display of the variance or standard deviation, the variance or standard deviation changes as the sampling frame is updated.

14. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The process of displaying the variance or standard deviation includes: Record the changes in the variance or standard deviation over time; The display of the variance or standard deviation includes: The variance or standard deviation is displayed as a function of time, generating a graph showing the variation of dispersion over time.

15. The method for displaying ultrasound blood flow parameters according to claim 1, characterized in that, The plurality of unit vectors includes: Multiple unit vectors corresponding to any time within the same cardiac cycle, or, Multiple unit vectors corresponding to the same time in different cardiac cycles.

16. A method for displaying parameters of ultrasound blood flow, characterized in that, include: The probe obtains ultrasonic signals from within the scanned target. Based on the ultrasonic signal, the direction of blood flow velocity within the scanned target is obtained; Based on the direction of blood flow velocity within the scanned target, multiple blood flow velocity angle values ​​corresponding to multiple target points within the scanned target are determined, wherein the blood flow velocity angle values ​​are used to represent the direction of blood flow velocity. Summing the sine values ​​corresponding to the multiple blood flow velocity angle values ​​yields a sine sum. The cosine sum is obtained by summing the cosine values ​​corresponding to the multiple blood flow velocity angle values. The quantization result for representing the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction of multiple target points within the scanned target is determined based on the sine sum, the cosine sum, and the number of multiple target points; The quantification results are displayed.

17. The method for displaying parameters of ultrasound blood flow according to claim 16, characterized in that, The quantization result for determining the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction at multiple target points within the scanned target, based on the sine sum, the cosine sum, and the number of target points, includes: Calculate the value corresponding to the square root of the sum of squares of the sine and cosine sums; The quantization result for representing the dispersion of blood flow velocity direction of multiple target points within the scanned target is determined based on the value corresponding to the square root and the number of multiple target points.

18. The method for displaying ultrasonic blood flow parameters according to claim 16, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the ultrasonic signal, the magnitudes of multiple blood flow velocities corresponding to multiple target points within the scanned target are obtained; Based on the quantization results of the dispersion of the multiple blood flow velocity magnitudes and the blood flow velocity directions, a quantization result is determined to represent the dispersion of blood flow velocities at multiple target points within the scanned target.

19. The method for displaying ultrasonic blood flow parameters according to claim 16, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the ultrasonic signal, an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target is obtained; Based on the ultrasonic signal, the magnitudes of multiple blood flow velocities corresponding to multiple target points within the scanned target are obtained; Multiple particle projectors are generated based on the magnitude of multiple blood flow velocities corresponding to multiple target points within the scanned target. The color coding and / or length of the particle projectors are related to the magnitude of the blood flow velocity value of the target point at a specific location in the ultrasound image. The ultrasound image is displayed, and the particle projector is displayed at a specific location in the ultrasound image to dynamically show the speed of blood flow in the scanned target.

20. The method for displaying parameters of ultrasound blood flow according to claim 16, characterized in that, The method further includes: Based on the ultrasonic signal, an ultrasonic image of at least a portion of the scanned target is obtained; A particle projection body containing a direction indicator is generated based on the direction of blood flow velocity within the scanned target, wherein the direction of the direction indicator is related to the direction of blood flow velocity at a target point at a specific location in the ultrasound image; The ultrasound image is displayed, and the particle projector is displayed at a specific location in the ultrasound image to dynamically show the direction of blood flow in the scanned target.

21. An ultrasound imaging system, characterized in that, include: The probe is used to emit an ultrasonic beam toward the target being scanned. The receiving circuit and beamforming module are used to receive the echo signal of the ultrasonic beam and obtain the ultrasonic signal after beamforming. An image processing module is used to perform the steps of the method for displaying parameters of ultrasound blood flow according to any one of claims 1 to 20; A display is used to show the results obtained after processing by the image processing module.

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