Ultrasonic device and ultrasonic attenuation imaging method

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound device and an ultrasound attenuation imaging method. For a preset number of frames of ultrasound echo data, a fundamental signal and a harmonic signal are extracted from the preset number of frames of ultrasound echo data. The fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal are determined respectively, thereby reducing the situation where the accuracy of the attenuation coefficient is affected by the low amount of single-frame ultrasound echo data. After obtaining the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image, the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image are fused based on the fusion coefficient, and the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image are fused into one image. The attenuation characteristic coefficient of the ultrasound attenuation image obtained by the fusion in the above manner integrates the data of the fundamental component and the harmonic component, thereby improving the accuracy of the quantitative evaluation results of the tissue.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of image processing, and in particular to an ultrasonic device and an ultrasonic attenuation imaging method. Background Art

[0002] With improved living standards, health issues are receiving increasing attention. Ultrasonic attenuation imaging is often used to diagnose fatty liver disease in human tissue. Ultrasonic attenuation imaging of tissue regions acquires ultrasonic echo data. Power spectrum analysis of this ultrasonic echo data reveals the attenuation coefficient of human tissue, which can be used to quantitatively assess fatty liver disease in human tissue. Related technologies often extract fundamental wave data from ultrasonic echo data to obtain the attenuation coefficient of human tissue.

[0003] Because ultrasound echo data contains both fundamental and harmonic components, the fundamental wave has strong penetration but is susceptible to reverberation noise, while the harmonics have poor penetration but are less affected by reverberation noise. Consequently, the attenuation characteristic coefficients derived from fundamental wave data in related technologies are less accurate, affecting the results of quantitative tissue assessment. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides an ultrasound device and ultrasound attenuation imaging method. This method obtains a fundamental attenuation image corresponding to a fundamental signal and a harmonic attenuation image corresponding to a harmonic signal, then fuses the fundamental and harmonic attenuation images to produce an ultrasound attenuation image. This method combines the fundamental and harmonic components to obtain an attenuation characteristic coefficient, improving the accuracy of quantitative tissue assessment results.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound device, comprising:

[0006] The probe is configured to transmit an ultrasonic beam and receive an echo signal fed back from a target area;

[0007] a display unit configured to display an ultrasound image;

[0008] A processor is connected to the probe and the display unit respectively, and is configured to:

[0009] Perform ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area to obtain a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0010] Extracting a fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining a fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal;

[0011] The fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image are fused using a fusion coefficient to obtain an ultrasonic attenuation image corresponding to the target area.

[0012] The embodiment of the present application extracts the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data obtained by ultrasonic attenuation imaging, and respectively determines the fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal, thereby reducing the situation where the accuracy of the attenuation coefficient is affected by the low amount of single-frame ultrasonic echo data. After obtaining the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image, the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image are fused based on the fusion coefficient, and the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image are fused into one image. The attenuation characteristic coefficient of the ultrasonic attenuation image obtained by the fusion in the above manner integrates the data of the fundamental component and the harmonic component, thereby improving the accuracy of the quantitative evaluation results of the tissue.

[0013] In some possible embodiments, to extract the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and to determine the fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal, the processor is configured to:

[0014] Extracting the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0015] Determine, based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, a power spectrum of the fundamental signal and a power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data;

[0016] The fundamental wave attenuation image is determined according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum, and the harmonic attenuation image is determined according to the harmonic signal power spectrum.

[0017] The present embodiment extracts the fundamental signal and harmonic signals corresponding to each frame of ultrasound echo data from a preset number of frames. A fundamental attenuation image is determined based on all extracted fundamental signals, and a harmonic attenuation image is determined based on all extracted harmonic signals. This reduces the problem of insufficient data when extracting single-frame signal data.

[0018] In some possible embodiments, to determine the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum corresponding to each frame of ultrasound echo data based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, the processor is configured to:

[0019] performing power spectrum estimation on the fundamental wave signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; and

[0020] A power spectrum estimation is performed on the harmonic signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data.

[0021] The embodiment of the present application estimates the power spectrum of the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal in each frame of ultrasonic echo data, and obtains the power spectrum of the fundamental signal and the power spectrum of the harmonic signal, thereby reducing the situation where only the fundamental signal is analyzed, resulting in inaccurate evaluation results of the target area.

[0022] In some possible embodiments, to perform the steps of determining the fundamental wave attenuation image based on the fundamental wave signal power spectrum and determining the harmonic attenuation image based on the harmonic signal power spectrum, the processor is configured to:

[0023] Based on the depth direction, linear fitting is performed on the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum respectively to obtain the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image.

[0024] In the embodiment of the present application, linear fitting is performed on the power spectrum of the fundamental signal and the power spectrum of the harmonic signal, and the linear fitting result is corrected in the depth direction, thereby obtaining a fundamental wave attenuation image and a harmonic wave attenuation image that are only related to the depth.

[0025] In some possible embodiments, the processor is configured to:

[0026] Determining the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near field area, and fundamental wave far field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near field area, and harmonic far field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging;

[0027] Based on the fusion coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field region and the harmonic near-field region are fused into a near-field attenuation image, the fundamental wave focal region and the harmonic focal region are fused into a focal region attenuation image, and the fundamental wave far-field region and the harmonic far-field region are fused into a far-field attenuation image;

[0028] The ultrasound attenuation image is determined according to the near-field attenuation image, the focal zone attenuation image, and the far-field attenuation image.

[0029] In this embodiment, the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image are divided into corresponding focal, near-field, and far-field regions based on imaging parameters. The focal, near-field, and far-field regions of the fundamental wave and harmonic wave images are fused together using the corresponding fusion coefficients. The final fusion result is an ultrasonic attenuation image, obtained by fusing the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image. This resulting ultrasonic attenuation image integrates data from the fundamental and harmonic components of the ultrasonic echo signal, improving the accuracy of the attenuation characteristic coefficients.

[0030] In some possible embodiments, the determining of the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near-field area, and fundamental wave far-field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near-field area, and harmonic far-field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging is performed by the processor being configured to:

[0031] respectively acquiring the fundamental wave focal area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic focal area of ​​the harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging;

[0032] Determine the fundamental wave near field region according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the fundamental wave focal region, and determine the fundamental wave far field region according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the fundamental wave attenuation image;

[0033] The harmonic near-field region is determined according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the harmonic focal region, and the harmonic far-field region is determined according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the harmonic attenuation image.

[0034] This embodiment of the application determines the focal zone position based on imaging parameters for both the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image. The image to the upper boundary of the focal zone is defined as the near field, while the area from the lower boundary of the focal zone to the lower boundary of the image is defined as the far field. By partitioning the image and setting corresponding preset fusion parameters for different regions, the accuracy of the fusion result is improved.

[0035] In some possible embodiments, the fusion coefficient includes a fundamental wave focal zone coefficient, a fundamental wave near-field coefficient, a fundamental wave far-field coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a harmonic far-field coefficient;

[0036] The fusion coefficient is determined according to the following method:

[0037] For the fundamental wave attenuation image, determining the fundamental wave focal region coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field coefficient, and the fundamental wave far-field coefficient according to the fundamental wave curve parameters corresponding to the fundamental wave focal region, the fundamental wave near-field region, and the fundamental wave far-field region, respectively;

[0038] For the harmonic attenuation image, the harmonic focal region coefficient, the harmonic near-field coefficient, and the harmonic far-field coefficient are determined according to harmonic curve parameters corresponding to the harmonic focal region, the harmonic near-field region, and the harmonic far-field region, respectively.

[0039] The embodiment of the present application determines the fusion coefficients corresponding to the corresponding areas based on the curve parameters in different areas of the image to improve the accuracy of the fusion results.

[0040] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound attenuation imaging method, the method comprising:

[0041] Perform ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area to obtain a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0042] Extracting a fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining a fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal;

[0043] The fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image are fused using a fusion coefficient to obtain an ultrasonic attenuation image corresponding to the target area.

[0044] In some possible embodiments, extracting the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining a fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and a harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal, includes:

[0045] Extracting the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0046] Determine, based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, a power spectrum of the fundamental signal and a power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data;

[0047] The fundamental wave attenuation image is determined according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum, and the harmonic attenuation image is determined according to the harmonic signal power spectrum.

[0048] In some possible embodiments, determining the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal includes:

[0049] performing power spectrum estimation on the fundamental wave signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; and

[0050] A power spectrum estimation is performed on the harmonic signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data.

[0051] In some possible embodiments, determining the fundamental wave attenuation image according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum, and determining the harmonic attenuation image according to the harmonic signal power spectrum, includes:

[0052] Based on the depth direction, linear fitting is performed on the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum respectively to obtain the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image.

[0053] In some possible embodiments, the fusing the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image using a fusion coefficient to obtain an ultrasound attenuation image corresponding to the target area includes:

[0054] Determining the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near field area, and fundamental wave far field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near field area, and harmonic far field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging;

[0055] Based on the fusion coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field region and the harmonic near-field region are fused into a near-field attenuation image, the fundamental wave focal region and the harmonic focal region are fused into a focal region attenuation image, and the fundamental wave far-field region and the harmonic far-field region are fused into a far-field attenuation image;

[0056] The ultrasound attenuation image is determined according to the near-field attenuation image, the focal zone attenuation image, and the far-field attenuation image.

[0057] In some possible embodiments, determining the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near-field area, and fundamental wave far-field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near-field area, and harmonic far-field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging includes:

[0058] respectively acquiring the fundamental wave focal area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic focal area of ​​the harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging;

[0059] Determine the fundamental wave near field region according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the fundamental wave focal region, and determine the fundamental wave far field region according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the fundamental wave attenuation image;

[0060] The harmonic near-field region is determined according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the harmonic focal region, and the harmonic far-field region is determined according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the harmonic attenuation image.

[0061] In some possible embodiments, the fusion coefficient includes a fundamental wave focal zone coefficient, a fundamental wave near-field coefficient, a fundamental wave far-field coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a harmonic far-field coefficient;

[0062] The fusion coefficient is determined according to the following method:

[0063] For the fundamental wave attenuation image, determining the fundamental wave focal region coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field coefficient, and the fundamental wave far-field coefficient according to the fundamental wave curve parameters corresponding to the fundamental wave focal region, the fundamental wave near-field region, and the fundamental wave far-field region, respectively;

[0064] For the harmonic attenuation image, the harmonic focal region coefficient, the harmonic near-field coefficient, and the harmonic far-field coefficient are determined according to harmonic curve parameters corresponding to the harmonic focal region, the harmonic near-field region, and the harmonic far-field region, respectively.

[0065] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasonic attenuation imaging device, comprising:

[0066] a frame data acquisition module, configured to perform ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area and acquire a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0067] an image acquisition module configured to extract a fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determine a fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal;

[0068] The image fusion module is configured to perform fusion processing on the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image using a fusion coefficient to obtain an ultrasonic attenuation image corresponding to the target area.

[0069] In some possible embodiments, to extract the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal from the ultrasonic echo data and determine the fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal, the image acquisition module is configured to:

[0070] Extracting the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0071] Determine, based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, a power spectrum of the fundamental signal and a power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data;

[0072] The fundamental wave attenuation image is determined according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum, and the harmonic attenuation image is determined according to the harmonic signal power spectrum.

[0073] In some possible embodiments, the determining of the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum corresponding to each frame of ultrasound echo data based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal is performed, and the image acquisition module is configured to:

[0074] performing power spectrum estimation on the fundamental wave signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; and

[0075] A power spectrum estimation is performed on the harmonic signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data.

[0076] In some possible embodiments, the determining of the fundamental wave attenuation image based on the fundamental wave signal power spectrum and the determining of the harmonic attenuation image based on the harmonic signal power spectrum are performed, and the image acquisition module is configured to:

[0077] Based on the depth direction, linear fitting is performed on the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum respectively to obtain the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image.

[0078] In some possible embodiments, the image fusion module is configured to:

[0079] Determining the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near field area, and fundamental wave far field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near field area, and harmonic far field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging;

[0080] Based on the fusion coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field region and the harmonic near-field region are fused into a near-field attenuation image, the fundamental wave focal region and the harmonic focal region are fused into a focal region attenuation image, and the fundamental wave far-field region and the harmonic far-field region are fused into a far-field attenuation image;

[0081] The ultrasound attenuation image is determined according to the near-field attenuation image, the focal zone attenuation image, and the far-field attenuation image.

[0082] In some possible embodiments, the determining of the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near-field area, and fundamental wave far-field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near-field area, and harmonic far-field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging is performed by the image fusion module being configured as follows:

[0083] respectively acquiring the fundamental wave focal area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic focal area of ​​the harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging;

[0084] Determine the fundamental wave near field region according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the fundamental wave focal region, and determine the fundamental wave far field region according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the fundamental wave attenuation image;

[0085] The harmonic near-field region is determined according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the harmonic focal region, and the harmonic far-field region is determined according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the harmonic attenuation image.

[0086] In some possible embodiments, the fusion coefficient includes a fundamental wave focal zone coefficient, a fundamental wave near-field coefficient, a fundamental wave far-field coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a harmonic far-field coefficient;

[0087] The fusion coefficient is determined according to the following method:

[0088] For the fundamental wave attenuation image, determining the fundamental wave focal region coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field coefficient, and the fundamental wave far-field coefficient according to the fundamental wave curve parameters corresponding to the fundamental wave focal region, the fundamental wave near-field region, and the fundamental wave far-field region, respectively;

[0089] For the harmonic attenuation image, the harmonic focal region coefficient, the harmonic near-field coefficient, and the harmonic far-field coefficient are determined according to harmonic curve parameters corresponding to the harmonic focal region, the harmonic near-field region, and the harmonic far-field region, respectively.

[0090] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which, when the instructions in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by a processor of an electronic device, enables the electronic device to execute any of the methods provided in the second aspect of the present application.

[0091] Other features and advantages of the present application will be described in the following description, and in part will become apparent from the description, or will be understood by practicing the present application. The purposes and other advantages of the present application can be realized and obtained by the structures particularly pointed out in the written description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0092] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the drawings introduced below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0093] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasound device 100 according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the application principle of the ultrasonic equipment shown in the embodiment of the present application;

[0095] Figure 3a This is an overall flow chart of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging method shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] Figure 3b This is a schematic diagram of determining the fundamental wave focal zone according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] Figure 3c A schematic diagram illustrating determination of a fundamental wave near-field region and a fundamental wave far-field region in an embodiment of the present application;

[0098] Figure 3dThis is a schematic diagram of attenuation image fusion of fundamental wave and harmonic wave shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0099] Figure 3e This is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound attenuation image shown in an embodiment of the present application;

[0100] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic attenuation imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0101] The following will clearly and thoroughly describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means or, for example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in the text is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "multiple" means two or more than two.

[0102] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the term "multiple" refers to two or more, and other quantifiers should be understood similarly. The preferred embodiments described herein are only used to illustrate and explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application. In addition, the embodiments of the present application and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other if there is no conflict.

[0103] To further illustrate the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application, this is described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods. Although the embodiments of the present application provide the method operation steps as shown in the following embodiments or drawings, more or fewer operation steps may be included in the method based on routine or no creative labor. In steps where there is no necessary causal relationship logically, the execution order of these steps is not limited to the execution order provided by the embodiments of the present application. During the actual processing process or when the control device is executed, the method can be executed in the order of the methods shown in the embodiments or drawings or in parallel.

[0104] In ultrasound attenuation imaging, the power spectrum of the ultrasound echo signal is primarily related to parameters such as the time gain curve, the acoustic field distribution, and the fundamental harmonic component of the signal. By analyzing the power spectrum of the ultrasound echo signal, the ultrasonic attenuation coefficient can be obtained for quantitative tissue assessment. A larger ultrasonic attenuation coefficient indicates more severe fatty liver disease. Because ultrasound waves gradually attenuate during propagation, gain compensation is required based on the propagation distance of the ultrasound. Different gain configurations can result in energy differences in the ultrasound echo signal. Ultrasonic waves are primarily emitted as focused waves and plane waves. The sound field generated by focused waves has higher energy and a higher signal-to-noise ratio near the focal region, while the sound field of plane waves is more uniform within the imaging area. Because the sound waves are not focused, their penetration is reduced, resulting in differences in the sound field that directly affect the energy differences in the ultrasound echo signal.

[0105] In related technologies, the diagnostic methods for quantitative analysis of fatty liver using ultrasound mainly include the following two methods:

[0106] Method 1 uses reference phantom data from a body modeled after human tissue to eliminate the influence of parameters on the time gain curve and acoustic field distribution. The reference phantom is a body modeled after human tissue, and the attenuation coefficients used in this method are known. However, due to time-varying changes in parameters such as the propagation velocity and density of acoustic waves within the reference phantom, the actual attenuation coefficients of the reference phantom may differ from the pre-labeled attenuation coefficients, leading to inaccurate evaluation results.

[0107] Method 2 analyzes only the fundamental component of the ultrasonic echo data. The reference frequency method eliminates the influence of the time gain curve and acoustic field distribution parameters. Because the fundamental wave has strong penetrating properties but is susceptible to reverberation noise, this can affect the accuracy of the evaluation results.

[0108] Based on this, the present application proposes a new ultrasonic attenuation imaging method. The data of the fundamental component and the harmonic component in the ultrasonic echo data are integrated to obtain the attenuation characteristic parameters to improve the accuracy of the evaluation results. The inventive concept of the present application is: for a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data obtained by ultrasonic attenuation imaging, the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal are extracted from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data. And the fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal are determined respectively, so as to reduce the situation where the accuracy of the attenuation coefficient is affected by the low amount of single-frame ultrasonic echo data. After obtaining the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image, the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image are fused based on the fusion coefficient, and the fundamental attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image are fused into one image. The attenuation characteristic coefficient of the ultrasonic attenuation image obtained by the fusion in the above manner integrates the data of the fundamental component and the harmonic component, thereby improving the accuracy of the quantitative evaluation results of the tissue.

[0109] Figure 1 FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of an ultrasound device 100 provided in one embodiment of the present application. The following embodiment is specifically described using the ultrasound device 100 as an example. It should be understood that Figure 1 The ultrasound device 100 shown is only one example, and the ultrasound device 100 may have more Figure 1 The more or less components shown in the figure can be combined with two or more components, or can have different component configurations. The various components shown in the figure can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software including one or more signal processing and / or application specific integrated circuits.

[0110] Figure 1 Schematically shows a hardware configuration block diagram of the ultrasound apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0111] like Figure 1 As shown, the ultrasound device 100 may include, for example: a processor 110, a memory 120, a display unit 130 and a probe 140; wherein,

[0112] The probe 140 is configured to transmit an ultrasonic beam and receive an echo signal fed back from a target area;

[0113] A display unit 130 configured to display an ultrasound image;

[0114] The memory 120 is configured to store data required for ultrasound images, which may include software programs, application interface data, etc.

[0115] The processor 110 is connected to the probe 140 and the display unit 130 respectively, and is configured to:

[0116] Perform ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area to obtain a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0117] Extracting the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining the fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal;

[0118] The fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image are fused using the fusion coefficient to obtain the ultrasonic attenuation image corresponding to the target area.

[0119] In some possible embodiments, to extract the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal from the ultrasound echo data and determine the fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal, the processor 110 is configured to:

[0120] Extracting the fundamental wave signal and harmonic wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data from a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0121] Determine the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal;

[0122] A fundamental wave attenuation image is determined according to the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal, and a harmonic attenuation image is determined according to the power spectrum of the harmonic signal.

[0123] In some possible embodiments, to determine the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum corresponding to each frame of ultrasound echo data based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, the processor 110 is configured to:

[0124] Performing power spectrum estimation on the fundamental wave signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; and

[0125] The power spectrum of the harmonic signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data is estimated to obtain the power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data.

[0126] In some possible embodiments, to determine the fundamental wave attenuation image based on the fundamental wave signal power spectrum and to determine the harmonic attenuation image based on the harmonic signal power spectrum, the processor 110 is configured to:

[0127] Based on the depth direction, linear fitting is performed on the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum respectively to obtain the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image.

[0128] In some possible embodiments, the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image are fused using a fusion coefficient to obtain an ultrasound attenuation image corresponding to the target area. The processor 110 is configured to:

[0129] determining a fundamental wave focal area, a fundamental wave near-field area, and a fundamental wave far-field area of ​​a fundamental wave attenuation image, and a harmonic focal area, a harmonic near-field area, and a harmonic far-field area of ​​a harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of ultrasonic attenuation imaging;

[0130] Based on the fusion coefficient, the fundamental wave near field area and the harmonic wave near field area are fused into the near field attenuation image, the fundamental wave focal area and the harmonic wave focal area are fused into the focal area attenuation image, and the fundamental wave far field area and the harmonic wave far field area are fused into the far field attenuation image.

[0131] An ultrasound attenuation image is determined based on the near-field attenuation image, the focal zone attenuation image, and the far-field attenuation image.

[0132] In some possible embodiments, to determine the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near-field area, and fundamental wave far-field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near-field area, and harmonic far-field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to imaging parameters of ultrasound attenuation imaging, the processor 110 is configured to:

[0133] acquiring a fundamental wave focal area of ​​a fundamental wave attenuation image and a harmonic focal area of ​​a harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of ultrasound attenuation imaging;

[0134] The fundamental wave near field region is determined according to the ultrasound probe surface and the upper boundary of the fundamental wave focal region, and the fundamental wave far field region is determined according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the fundamental wave attenuation image;

[0135] The harmonic near-field region is determined according to the ultrasonic probe surface and the upper boundary of the harmonic focal region, and the harmonic far-field region is determined according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the harmonic attenuation image.

[0136] In some possible embodiments, the fusion coefficients include a fundamental wave focal zone coefficient, a fundamental wave near field coefficient, a fundamental wave far field coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a harmonic far field coefficient;

[0137] The fusion coefficient is determined as follows:

[0138] For the fundamental wave attenuation image, the fundamental wave focal area coefficient, fundamental wave near field coefficient and fundamental wave far field coefficient are determined according to the fundamental wave curve parameters corresponding to the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near field area and fundamental wave far field area respectively;

[0139] For the harmonic attenuation image, the harmonic focal region coefficient, harmonic near-field coefficient and harmonic far-field coefficient are determined according to the harmonic curve parameters corresponding to the harmonic focal region, harmonic near-field region and harmonic far-field region respectively.

[0140] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the application principle according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 The implementation of some modules or functional components of the ultrasound device shown will only be described below with respect to the main components, while other components, such as memory, controller, control circuit, etc., will not be described in detail here.

[0141] like Figure 2 As shown, the application environment may include a user interface 310 provided via an input and output unit for user operation, a display unit 320 for displaying the user interface, and a processor 330 .

[0142] The display unit 320 may include a display panel 321 and a backlight assembly 322. The display panel 321 is configured to display ultrasound images, and the backlight assembly 322 is located behind the display panel 321. The backlight assembly 322 may include a plurality of backlight sub-areas (not shown in the figure), each of which may emit light to illuminate the display panel 321.

[0143] The processor 330 may be configured to control the brightness of the backlight source of each backlight partition in the backlight assembly 322 , and to control the probe to transmit ultrasonic beams and receive ultrasonic echo signals.

[0144] The processor 330 may include a focusing processing unit 331, a beamforming unit 332, and a spectrum generation unit 333. The focusing processing unit 331 may be configured to perform focusing processing on the target detection area. The focusing processing includes: transmitting an ultrasonic beam to the target area based on a transmission coefficient set for the target detection area; and receiving feedback ultrasonic echo signals. The beamforming unit 332 is configured to perform beamforming on the ultrasonic echo signals fed back from the target detection area to obtain ultrasonic echo data. The spectrum generation unit 333 is configured to generate a corresponding ultrasonic attenuation image based on the ultrasonic echo data.

[0145] Based on the previous introduction to the hardware configuration and application principles of ultrasound equipment, the following is based on Figure 3a An ultrasonic attenuation imaging method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 3a Shown, including:

[0146] Step 301: performing ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area to obtain a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0147] During implementation, a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data can be acquired using amplitude modulation, phase modulation, or a combination of amplitude modulation and phase modulation. Amplitude modulation refers to the adjustment of parameters such as transmit voltage and transmit aperture in ultrasonic attenuation imaging, while phase modulation refers to the adjustment of the phase of the transmit waveform. Whether using amplitude modulation, phase modulation alone, or a combination of both, the goal is to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the fundamental and harmonic signals in the ultrasonic echo data. This application does not limit the specific acquisition method.

[0148] Step 302: extracting a fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining a fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal;

[0149] During implementation, filters of different bandwidths can be designed based on the ultrasonic echo data, and the fundamental signal and harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data can be extracted based on the filter. After obtaining the fundamental signal and harmonic signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data, the power spectrum of the obtained fundamental signal and harmonic signal is estimated respectively. The fundamental attenuation image is determined based on the power spectrum of the fundamental signal, and the harmonic attenuation image is determined based on the power spectrum of the harmonic signal. Among them, power spectrum estimation is an analysis method that places the time domain signal in the frequency domain. Specifically, Fourier transform or Welch algorithm can be used to determine the power spectrum of the fundamental signal corresponding to the fundamental signal and the power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to the harmonic signal.

[0150] Because ultrasound waves gradually attenuate during propagation, differences in gain configurations can cause energy differences in ultrasonic echo signals. Furthermore, because sound waves are unfocused, their penetration is weakened, leading to differences in the acoustic field that directly affect the energy differences in ultrasonic echo signals. Based on this, after determining the power spectra of the fundamental and harmonic signals, the reference frequency method can be used to correct these power spectra, respectively, to reduce the impact of the time gain curve and acoustic field distribution.

[0151] Considering that the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal in the ultrasonic echo data is often estimated frame by frame in the related art, the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal in one frame (PF(f x , z), can be expressed as the following formula (1):

[0152] PF(f x , z)=G(f x )×TGC(z)×D(f x , z)×F(f x , z)×BSC(f x )×A(f x ,z) (1)

[0153] Among them, G(f x ) indicates that at frequency f x The probe transmit and receive system responses at ; x represents the frequency component index within the bandwidth; TGC(z) represents time gain compensation; z represents depth. As ultrasound propagates, its energy gradually attenuates, so the deeper the depth, the greater the gain compensation. D(f x , z) represents the combined effect of focusing, beamforming and scattering; F(f x , z) represents the fundamental component; BSC(f x ) represents the backscattering coefficient, which can be preset to be uniform in the local area; A(f x , z) represents the frequency-dependent attenuation, which is defined as shown in the following formula (2):

[0154] A(f x , z) = exp(-4×α×f x ×z) (2)

[0155] Here, α is the frequency-dependent attenuation coefficient, which characterizes the degree of attenuation of ultrasonic energy in the target tissue. Power spectrum estimation is the process of calculating the accurate attenuation coefficient. In fatty liver disease detection, a larger α indicates more severe fatty liver disease.

[0156] Considering that in related technologies, when estimating the power spectrum of the fundamental signal in ultrasonic echo data frame by frame, insufficient data in a single frame can lead to inaccurate attenuation characteristic coefficient α, which in turn affects the evaluation results. To address this issue, the present application obtains the corresponding fundamental signal power spectrum and harmonic signal power spectrum based on a preset number of frames of the fundamental signal and harmonic signal, respectively, to improve the accuracy of the attenuation characteristic coefficient.

[0157] Specifically, when determining the fundamental signal power spectrum based on the fundamental signal of the preset number of frames, the PF(f x , z) is converted to Among them, ∏ represents continuous multiplication; N is the number of frames; and n is the frame index, which is a known quantity.

[0158] Next, the reference frequency method is used to divide the power spectrum of the fundamental signal at adjacent frequencies to eliminate irrelevant parameters, as shown in the following formula (3):

[0159]

[0160] Since the focusing, beamforming and ultrasonic scattering factors can be ignored for adjacent frequency components at the same depth, D in formula (3) is n (f x , z) and D n (f x-1 , z) can be considered equal. At the same time, since time gain compensation is independent of frequency, it can be eliminated accordingly. Moreover, at the same depth, the influence of the fundamental component under adjacent frequency components can be ignored. Based on this, after eliminating the same parameters in formula (3), the following formula (4) can be obtained:

[0161]

[0162] Where PF2 represents the power spectrum of the multi-frame fundamental signal. By taking the logarithm of the left and right sides of the above formula (4), the following formula (5) can be obtained:

[0163] PF2=N×(ln(G(f x ))-ln(G(f x-1 ))+ln(BSC(f x ))-ln(BSC(f x-1 ))-4×α×(f x -f x-1 )z) (5)

[0164] It can be seen that the corrected fundamental signal power spectrum PF2 is linearly related to the depth z. The same applies to the harmonic signal. Replacing the fundamental signal power spectrum PF2 in the above formulas (1) to (5) with the harmonic signal power spectrum PH2 can obtain the following formula (6):

[0165] PH2=N×(ln(G(f x ))-ln(G(f x-1 ))+ln(BSC(f x ))-ln(BSC(f x-1 ))-4×α×(f x -f x-1 )z) (6)

[0166] This shows that the corrected fundamental and harmonic power spectra are both linearly correlated with depth z. Therefore, after determining the fundamental and harmonic power spectra based on the preset fundamental and harmonic signals of the ultrasonic echo data, linear fitting can be performed on the fundamental and harmonic power spectra based on the depth direction. This yields a fundamental attenuation image and a harmonic attenuation image.

[0167] In some possible embodiments, a least squares method or a random sampling consensus algorithm can be used to perform linear fitting on the corrected fundamental signal power spectrum and harmonic signal power spectrum in the depth direction. The linear fitting result of the fundamental signal power spectrum is the fundamental wave attenuation image, and correspondingly, the linear fitting result of the harmonic signal power spectrum is the harmonic attenuation image.

[0168] Step 303: Using a fusion coefficient, the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image are fused to obtain an ultrasonic attenuation image corresponding to the target area.

[0169] The present application aims to integrate the data of the fundamental and harmonic components in the ultrasonic echo data to obtain an ultrasonic attenuation image that is more consistent with the actual situation of the target area (i.e., the human tissue area being detected). Considering that the fundamental signal is greatly affected by noise in the near-field area, while the harmonic signal is greatly affected by noise in the far-field area, the embodiment of the present application pre-determines the fundamental focal area, fundamental near-field area, and fundamental far-field area of ​​the fundamental attenuation image, as well as the harmonic focal area, harmonic near-field area, and harmonic far-field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image based on the imaging parameters of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging. By fusing the image corresponding to the fundamental focal area with the image corresponding to the harmonic focal area, the image corresponding to the fundamental near-field area with the image corresponding to the harmonic near-field area, and the image corresponding to the fundamental far-field area with the image corresponding to the harmonic far-field area, the fusion result integrates the data of the fundamental and harmonic components in the ultrasonic echo data, thereby obtaining an ultrasonic attenuation image that is more consistent with the actual situation of human tissue.

[0170] During implementation, the size of the fundamental wave focal area in the fundamental wave attenuation image and the size of the harmonic focal area in the harmonic wave attenuation image are determined according to the focal area calculation formula, as shown in the following formula (7):

[0171] DOF = 8 × λ × (F#) 2 (7)

[0172] Where F# represents the ratio of the focal depth to the signal transmission aperture, and λ is the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave.

[0173] Specific as Figure 3b As shown in Figure 1, taking the fundamental wave attenuation image as an example, for example, if the image depth z is 0 mm to 50 mm, and the fundamental wave focal area range is 20 mm to 30 mm based on the above formula (7), the fundamental wave focal area is defined as the fundamental wave focal area within the range of 20 to 30 mm in the fundamental wave attenuation image. After determining the fundamental wave focal area and the harmonic focal area, the fundamental wave near-field area and the fundamental wave far-field area can be defined based on the location of the fundamental wave focal area in the fundamental wave attenuation image. Correspondingly, the harmonic near-field area and the harmonic far-field area can be defined based on the location of the harmonic focal area in the harmonic attenuation image.

[0174] The near field area is the distance from the probe surface to the upper boundary of the focal area, and the far field area is the distance from the lower boundary of the focal area to the lower boundary of the image. Figure 3c As shown in the figure, the fundamental wave attenuation image has an image depth of 0mm to 50mm, and the fundamental wave focal area is located in the range of 20mm to 30mm. Therefore, the area between 0mm and 20mm is the fundamental wave near-field, and the corresponding area between 30mm and 50mm is the fundamental wave far-field.

[0175] After determining the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near-field area, fundamental wave far-field area in the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near-field area, harmonic far-field area in the harmonic attenuation image in the above manner, the fundamental wave near-field area and the harmonic wave near-field area can be fused into a near-field attenuation image, the fundamental wave focal area and the harmonic wave focal area can be fused into a focal area attenuation image, and the fundamental wave far-field area and the harmonic wave far-field area can be fused into a far-field attenuation image based on the fusion coefficient.

[0176] The fusion coefficients include the fundamental wave focal area coefficient, the fundamental wave near field coefficient, the fundamental wave far field coefficient, the harmonic focal area coefficient, the harmonic focal area coefficient, and the harmonic far field coefficient. The fusion coefficients can be determined based on the curve parameters in the attenuation image. Specifically, the following formula (8) can be used to determine the fusion coefficients corresponding to each area in the fundamental wave attenuation image:

[0177]

[0178] Where CoefPF represents the fusion coefficient. K1 and b1 represent the slope and intercept of the curve within the corresponding region, respectively. Substituting z corresponding to the fundamental near-field region into equation (1) yields the fundamental near-field coefficient; substituting z corresponding to the fundamental focal region into equation (2) yields the fundamental focal region coefficient; and correspondingly, substituting z corresponding to the fundamental far-field region into equation (3) yields the fundamental far-field coefficient.

[0179] Similarly, based on the same method, the following formula (9) can be used to determine the fusion coefficient corresponding to each area in the harmonic attenuation image:

[0180]

[0181] Where CoefHF represents the fusion coefficient. m1 and n1 represent the slope and intercept of the curve within the corresponding region, respectively. Substituting z corresponding to the harmonic near-field region into equation (1) yields the harmonic near-field coefficient; substituting z corresponding to the harmonic focal region into equation (2) yields the harmonic focal region coefficient; and correspondingly, substituting z corresponding to the harmonic far-field region into equation (3) yields the harmonic far-field coefficient.

[0182] In order to ensure that the gain of the fused ultrasound attenuation image does not change as much as possible, the embodiment of the present application needs to ensure that the sum of CoefPF(z) and CoefHF(z) is 1. During implementation, for the near-field area, a first preset weight of CoefPF(z) is set, and a second preset weight of CoefHF(z) is set; for the focal area, a third preset weight of CoefPF(z) is set, and a fourth preset weight of CoefHF(z) is set; for the far-field area, a fifth preset weight of CoefPF(z) is set, and a sixth preset weight of CoefHF(z) is set.

[0183] Since the fundamental signal is greatly affected by noise in the near field area, and the harmonic signal is greatly affected by noise in the far field area, it is necessary to give preference to harmonic data in the near field area, that is, the first preset weight is less than the second preset weight. The fundamental data is more preferred in the far field area, that is, the fifth preset weight is greater than the sixth preset weight. The gap between the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal in the focal area is relatively small, so the third preset weight can be set to be equal to the fourth preset weight. The specific size of the preset weight can be determined according to the actual situation. For example, if the relevant personnel determine that the curve representation in the fundamental near field area of ​​the fundamental attenuation image is greatly affected by noise, the first preset weight value can be set to 0 and the second preset weight value can be set to 1. That is, it is equivalent to fully referring to the harmonic data in the near field area.

[0184] Furthermore, the near-field area, focal area and far-field area of ​​the two images (fundamental wave attenuation image and harmonic wave attenuation image) are fused respectively, as follows: Figure 3dAs shown, for the near-field region, the product of the fundamental near-field data, the fundamental near-field coefficient, and the first preset weight is summed with the product of the harmonic near-field data, the harmonic near-field coefficient, and the second preset weight to obtain a near-field attenuation image. For the focal region, the product of the fundamental focal region data, the fundamental focal region coefficient, and the third preset weight is summed with the product of the harmonic focal region data, the harmonic focal region coefficient, and the fourth preset weight to obtain a focal region attenuation image. For the far-field region, the product of the fundamental far-field data, the fundamental far-field coefficient, and the fifth preset weight is summed with the product of the harmonic far-field data, the harmonic far-field coefficient, and the sixth preset weight to obtain a far-field attenuation image.

[0185] Finally, the near-field attenuation image, focal area attenuation image and far-field attenuation image are spliced ​​together to obtain the following Figure 3e Thus, by fusing the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image, the attenuation characteristic coefficient of the ultrasound attenuation image is obtained by integrating the data of the fundamental wave component and the harmonic wave component, thereby improving the accuracy of the quantitative evaluation results of the tissue.

[0186] Based on the same inventive concept, the present application also provides an ultrasonic attenuation imaging device 400, specifically Figure 4 As shown, the device includes:

[0187] The frame data acquisition module 401 is configured to perform ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area and acquire a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0188] An image acquisition module 402 is configured to extract a fundamental signal and a harmonic signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determine a fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and a harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal;

[0189] The image fusion module 403 is configured to perform fusion processing on the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic wave attenuation image using a fusion coefficient to obtain an ultrasound attenuation image corresponding to the target area.

[0190] In some possible embodiments, to extract the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal from the ultrasonic echo data and determine the fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal, the image acquisition module 402 is configured to:

[0191] Extracting the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data;

[0192] Determine, based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, a power spectrum of the fundamental signal and a power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data;

[0193] The fundamental wave attenuation image is determined according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum, and the harmonic attenuation image is determined according to the harmonic signal power spectrum.

[0194] In some possible embodiments, to determine the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum corresponding to each frame of ultrasound echo data based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, the image acquisition module 402 is configured to:

[0195] performing power spectrum estimation on the fundamental wave signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; and

[0196] A power spectrum estimation is performed on the harmonic signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data.

[0197] In some possible embodiments, to determine the fundamental wave attenuation image based on the fundamental wave signal power spectrum and to determine the harmonic attenuation image based on the harmonic signal power spectrum, the image acquisition module 402 is configured to:

[0198] Based on the depth direction, linear fitting is performed on the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum respectively to obtain the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image.

[0199] In some possible embodiments, the image fusion module 403 is configured to:

[0200] Determining the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near field area, and fundamental wave far field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near field area, and harmonic far field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging;

[0201] Based on the fusion coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field region and the harmonic near-field region are fused into a near-field attenuation image, the fundamental wave focal region and the harmonic focal region are fused into a focal region attenuation image, and the fundamental wave far-field region and the harmonic far-field region are fused into a far-field attenuation image;

[0202] The ultrasound attenuation image is determined according to the near-field attenuation image, the focal zone attenuation image, and the far-field attenuation image.

[0203] In some possible embodiments, the determining of the fundamental wave focal area, fundamental wave near-field area, and fundamental wave far-field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, harmonic near-field area, and harmonic far-field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging is performed by the image fusion module 403 being configured as follows:

[0204] respectively acquiring the fundamental wave focal area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic focal area of ​​the harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging;

[0205] Determine the fundamental wave near field region according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the fundamental wave focal region, and determine the fundamental wave far field region according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the fundamental wave attenuation image;

[0206] The harmonic near-field region is determined according to the surface of the ultrasound probe and the upper boundary of the harmonic focal region, and the harmonic far-field region is determined according to the lower boundary of the focal region and the lower boundary of the harmonic attenuation image.

[0207] In some possible embodiments, the fusion coefficient includes a fundamental wave focal zone coefficient, a fundamental wave near-field coefficient, a fundamental wave far-field coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a harmonic far-field coefficient;

[0208] The fusion coefficient is determined according to the following method:

[0209] For the fundamental wave attenuation image, determining the fundamental wave focal region coefficient, the fundamental wave near-field coefficient, and the fundamental wave far-field coefficient according to the fundamental wave curve parameters corresponding to the fundamental wave focal region, the fundamental wave near-field region, and the fundamental wave far-field region, respectively;

[0210] For the harmonic attenuation image, the harmonic focal region coefficient, the harmonic near-field coefficient, and the harmonic far-field coefficient are determined according to harmonic curve parameters corresponding to the harmonic focal region, the harmonic near-field region, and the harmonic far-field region, respectively.

[0211] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0212] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each process and / or block in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of processes and / or blocks in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0213] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The function specified in one or more boxes.

[0214] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operational steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device for implementing the process. Figure 1 a process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A step that specifies a function in one or more boxes.

[0215] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic device, characterized in that The ultrasonic device comprises: The probe is configured to transmit an ultrasonic beam and receive an echo signal fed back from a target area; a display unit configured to display an ultrasound image; A processor is connected to the probe and the display unit respectively, and is configured to: Perform ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area to obtain a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data; Extracting a fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining a fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal; Determining a first region of the fundamental wave attenuation image and a second region of the harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging; the first region includes a fundamental wave near-field region, a fundamental wave focal region, and a fundamental wave far-field region; and the second region includes a harmonic near-field region, a harmonic focal region, and a harmonic far-field region; Determining a first fusion coefficient according to a slope and an intercept of a fundamental wave signal curve of the first region in the fundamental wave attenuation image and an image depth of the fundamental wave attenuation image; the first fusion coefficient includes a fundamental wave near-field coefficient, a fundamental wave focal zone coefficient, and a fundamental wave far-field coefficient; determining a second fusion coefficient according to a slope and an intercept of a harmonic signal curve of the second region in the harmonic attenuation image and an image depth of the harmonic attenuation image; the second fusion coefficient includes a harmonic near-field coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a harmonic far-field coefficient; Summing the product of the image data of the fundamental near-field region, the fundamental near-field coefficient, and a first preset weight with the product of the image data of the harmonic near-field region, the harmonic near-field coefficient, and a second preset weight to obtain a near-field attenuation image; wherein the first preset weight is less than the second preset weight; Summing the product of the image data of the fundamental focal zone, the fundamental focal zone coefficient, and a third preset weight with the product of the image data of the harmonic focal zone, the harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a fourth preset weight to obtain a focal zone attenuation image; the third preset weight is equal to the fourth preset weight; Summing the product of the image data of the fundamental far field region, the fundamental far field coefficient, and a fifth preset weight with the product of the image data of the harmonic far field region, the harmonic far field coefficient, and a sixth preset weight to obtain a far-field attenuation image; wherein the fifth preset weight is greater than the sixth preset weight; The near-field attenuation image, the focal zone attenuation image and the far-field attenuation image are spliced ​​to obtain an ultrasonic attenuation image of the target area.

2. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, wherein To extract the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determine the fundamental attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental signal and the harmonic attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic signal, the processor is configured to: Extracting the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data; Determine, based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, a power spectrum of the fundamental signal and a power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; The fundamental wave attenuation image is determined according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum, and the harmonic attenuation image is determined according to the harmonic signal power spectrum.

3. The ultrasonic device according to claim 2, wherein: To determine the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, the processor is configured to: performing power spectrum estimation on the fundamental wave signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the fundamental wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; and A power spectrum estimation is performed on the harmonic signal of each frame of ultrasonic echo data to obtain the power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data.

4. The ultrasonic device according to claim 2, characterized in that To perform the steps of determining the fundamental wave attenuation image according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum and determining the harmonic attenuation image according to the harmonic signal power spectrum, the processor is configured to: Based on the depth direction, linear fitting is performed on the fundamental signal power spectrum and the harmonic signal power spectrum respectively to obtain the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic attenuation image.

5. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, wherein The processor is configured to determine the fundamental wave focal area, the fundamental wave near-field area, and the fundamental wave far-field area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image, and the harmonic focal area, the harmonic near-field area, and the harmonic far-field area of ​​the harmonic attenuation image according to the imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging: respectively acquiring the fundamental wave focal area of ​​the fundamental wave attenuation image and the harmonic focal area of ​​the harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of the ultrasound attenuation imaging; Determining the fundamental wave near-field region according to the upper boundary of the fundamental wave focal region and the surface of the ultrasound probe, and determining the fundamental wave far-field region according to the lower boundary of the fundamental wave focal region and the lower boundary of the fundamental wave attenuation image; The harmonic near-field region is determined according to the ultrasonic probe surface and the upper boundary of the harmonic focal region, and the harmonic far-field region is determined according to the lower boundary of the harmonic focal region and the lower boundary of the harmonic attenuation image.

6. An ultrasonic attenuation imaging method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Perform ultrasonic attenuation imaging on the target area to obtain a preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data; Extracting a fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining a fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and a harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal; Determining a first region of the fundamental wave attenuation image and a second region of the harmonic wave attenuation image according to imaging parameters of the ultrasonic attenuation imaging; the first region includes a fundamental wave near-field region, a fundamental wave focal region, and a fundamental wave far-field region; and the second region includes a harmonic near-field region, a harmonic focal region, and a harmonic far-field region; Determining a first fusion coefficient according to a slope and an intercept of a fundamental wave signal curve of the first region in the fundamental wave attenuation image and an image depth of the fundamental wave attenuation image; the first fusion coefficient includes a fundamental wave near-field coefficient, a fundamental wave focal zone coefficient, and a fundamental wave far-field coefficient; determining a second fusion coefficient according to a slope and an intercept of a harmonic signal curve of the second region in the harmonic attenuation image and an image depth of the harmonic attenuation image; the second fusion coefficient includes a harmonic near-field coefficient, a harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a harmonic far-field coefficient; Summing the product of the image data of the fundamental near-field region, the fundamental near-field coefficient, and a first preset weight with the product of the image data of the harmonic near-field region, the harmonic near-field coefficient, and a second preset weight to obtain a near-field attenuation image; wherein the first preset weight is less than the second preset weight; Summing the product of the image data of the fundamental focal zone, the fundamental focal zone coefficient, and a third preset weight with the product of the image data of the harmonic focal zone, the harmonic focal zone coefficient, and a fourth preset weight to obtain a focal zone attenuation image; the third preset weight is equal to the fourth preset weight; Summing the product of the image data of the fundamental far field region, the fundamental far field coefficient, and a fifth preset weight with the product of the image data of the harmonic far field region, the harmonic far field coefficient, and a sixth preset weight to obtain a far-field attenuation image; wherein the fifth preset weight is greater than the sixth preset weight; The near-field attenuation image, the focal zone attenuation image and the far-field attenuation image are spliced ​​to obtain an ultrasonic attenuation image of the target area.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The extracting of the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal from the ultrasonic echo data, and determining the fundamental wave attenuation image corresponding to the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave attenuation image corresponding to the harmonic wave signal, includes: Extracting the fundamental wave signal and the harmonic wave signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data from the preset number of frames of ultrasonic echo data; Determine, based on the fundamental signal and the harmonic signal, a power spectrum of the fundamental signal and a power spectrum of the harmonic signal corresponding to each frame of ultrasonic echo data; The fundamental wave attenuation image is determined according to the fundamental wave signal power spectrum, and the harmonic attenuation image is determined according to the harmonic signal power spectrum.

8. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that When the instructions in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by a processor of an electronic device, the electronic device is enabled to perform the ultrasound attenuation imaging method according to any one of claims 6 to 7.

Images