Ultrasonic imaging methods and equipment

Abstract

This application proposes an ultrasound imaging method and apparatus, relating to the field of ultrasound detection. Embodiments of this application automatically generate one or two target M-mode sampling lines passing through the atrial and ventricular regions to generate M-mode ultrasound images of the corresponding atrial and ventricular regions along the target M-mode sampling lines over time, thereby achieving synchronous imaging of atrial and ventricular motion for observing cardiac rhythm.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of ultrasonic detection, and in particular to an ultrasonic imaging method and device. Background Art

[0002] Ultrasound detection not only has minimal impact on the human body, but also offers accuracy, stability, safety, convenience, radiation-free operation, and affordability. Ultrasound detection technology is commonly used in obstetrics for fetal examinations, particularly for monitoring fetal biological parameters. For example, ultrasound can assist in monitoring fetal heart rhythm status.

[0003] In related technologies, fetal heart rhythm detection is often performed through M-mode ultrasound imaging. However, due to the limitation of a single sampling line, M-mode ultrasound imaging is often unable to observe the atria and ventricles simultaneously, which makes it difficult to judge the fetal heart rhythm status. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The following is a summary of the subject matter described in detail herein. This summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide an ultrasound imaging method and device that can synchronously image the movement of the atria and ventricles to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm state.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application discloses an ultrasound imaging method, the method comprising:

[0007] controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward a heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data;

[0008] Obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time;

[0009] Determining atrial region position information and ventricular region position information based on the heart section image displayed in real time;

[0010] Based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, it is determined whether a target M sampling line can be used to pass through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference: if so, a target M sampling line that passes through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, and an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line is received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, and the target M is generated based on the second ultrasonic echo data. If not, two target M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the sampling lines are generated on the cardiac section image displayed in real time, with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasound wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M-mode ultrasound lines, respectively, and ultrasound echoes of the second ultrasound waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M-mode ultrasound lines are respectively received to obtain second ultrasound echo data, and M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M-mode ultrasound lines are respectively generated based on the second ultrasound echo data;

[0011] An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

[0012] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasonic imaging method, the method comprising:

[0013] controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward a heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data;

[0014] Obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time;

[0015] Determining atrial region position information and ventricular region position information based on the heart section image displayed in real time;

[0016] According to the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, and an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line is received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, and according to the second ultrasonic echo data, an M-mode ultrasonic image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line that changes with time is generated; or, according to the atrial region position information and ventricular region position information, generating two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively on the cardiac cross-sectional image displayed in real time with the transmission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, obtaining second ultrasonic echo data, and generating, based on the second ultrasonic echo data, M-mode ultrasonic images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, changing over time;

[0017] An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

[0018] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasonic imaging method, the method comprising:

[0019] controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward a heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data;

[0020] Obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time;

[0021] Determining atrial region position information and ventricular region position information based on the heart section image displayed in real time;

[0022] In the first state, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, and an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line is received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data. Based on the second ultrasonic echo data, an M-mode ultrasonic image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line that changes with time is generated; in the second state generating, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively on the cardiac cross-sectional image displayed in real time with the transmission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave toward the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, obtaining second ultrasonic echo data, and generating, based on the second ultrasonic echo data, M-mode ultrasonic images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, changing over time;

[0023] An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

[0024] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasound imaging method, which is applied to an ultrasound imaging device, wherein the ultrasound imaging device includes a processor and a memory, and the method includes the following steps executed by the processor:

[0025] Acquire and display a target cardiac section image from the plurality of frames of cardiac section images stored in the memory;

[0026] determining, based on the target cardiac section image, position information of an atrial region and position information of a ventricular region;

[0027] generating, on the displayed target cardiac section image, a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, or generating, on the displayed target cardiac section image, two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively;

[0028] According to the target M sampling line, pixel data of an image area corresponding to the target M sampling line is retrieved from at least two frames of the stored multi-frame cardiac section image;

[0029] generating, based on the pixel data, an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line, which changes over time;

[0030] An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

[0031] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasonic imaging device, comprising:

[0032] Ultrasound probe;

[0033] a transmitting circuit, wherein the transmitting circuit excites the ultrasound probe to transmit ultrasound waves toward the heart tissue region of the fetus;

[0034] a receiving circuit, wherein the receiving circuit controls the ultrasound probe to receive ultrasound echoes returned from the heart tissue region of the fetus to obtain ultrasound echo signals;

[0035] A processor processes the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain an ultrasonic image of the fetal heart tissue region, and executes the ultrasonic imaging method as described in the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect, or the fourth aspect.

[0036] In some embodiments of the present application, by identifying a cardiac cross-sectional image to determine the position information of the atrial region and the position information of the ventricular region, it is then determined whether a target M sampling line can pass through both the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously: if so, a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region is generated; if not, two M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region are generated respectively; finally, the ultrasonic echoes returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line are detected, and an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line is generated and displayed as they change over time. In embodiments of the present application, by automatically generating one or two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region to generate M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line as they change over time, synchronous imaging of the movement of the atria and ventricles is achieved to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0037] In other embodiments of the present application, by identifying a cardiac cross-sectional image to determine the position information of the atrial region and the ventricular region, one or two target M-sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region are automatically generated; finally, the ultrasonic echoes returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the target M-sampling lines are detected, and an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M-sampling lines as they change over time is generated and displayed. In the embodiments of the present application, by automatically generating one or two target M-sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region to generate an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M-sampling lines as they change over time, synchronous imaging of the movement of the atria and ventricles is achieved to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0038] In other embodiments of the present application, by identifying a target cardiac section image to determine the position information of the atrial region and the ventricular region, one or two target M-sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region are automatically generated; then, pixel data of the image region corresponding to the target M-sampling lines is extracted from at least two frames of the stored multi-frame cardiac section image to compose and display an M-mode ultrasound image. In embodiments of the present application, by automatically generating one or two target M-sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region, anatomical M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M-sampling lines, which change over time based on the stored multi-frame cardiac section image, are constructed and displayed, thereby achieving synchronous imaging of the movement of the atrial and ventricular regions to facilitate observation of the cardiac rhythm and thus facilitate observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0039] 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 achieved and obtained through the structures particularly pointed out in the description, claims and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the technical solution of the present application and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present application, they are used to explain the technical solution of the present application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solution of the present application.

[0041] Figure 1 This is a module block diagram of an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 2 This is a flow chart of an ultrasonic imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the principle of generating a target M sampling line in an ultrasonic imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 4 is a flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 5 is a flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 6 is a flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of a real-time M-mode ultrasound image according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of an anatomical M-mode ultrasound image according to another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] The present application is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. The described embodiments should not be considered as limiting the present application. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0050] In the following description, reference is made to “some embodiments”, which describes a subset of all possible embodiments, but it will be understood that “some embodiments” may be the same subset or different subsets of all possible embodiments and may be combined with each other without conflict.

[0051] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this application pertains. The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing the embodiments of this application only and are not intended to limit this application.

[0052] Before describing the present application in detail, the structure of the ultrasonic imaging device is described first.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 FIG1 is a block diagram of the structure of an ultrasonic imaging device in an embodiment of the present application. The ultrasonic imaging device 10 may include an ultrasonic probe 100, a transmitting circuit 101, a transmit / receive selection switch 102, a receiving circuit 103, a beamforming circuit 104, a processor 105, a display 106, and a memory 107.

[0054] The ultrasound probe 100 includes a transducer (not shown) composed of multiple array elements arranged in an array. The array elements can be arranged in a row to form a linear array, or in a two-dimensional matrix to form a planar array. Multiple array elements can also form a convex array. The array elements are used to transmit ultrasonic beams based on excitation electrical signals or to convert received ultrasonic beams into electrical signals. Therefore, each array element can be used to convert electrical pulse signals into and from ultrasonic beams, thereby transmitting ultrasonic waves to a target area of human tissue (e.g., the heart in this embodiment) and receiving echoes of ultrasonic waves reflected from the tissue. During ultrasonic testing, the transmit / receive selector switch 102 can be used to control which array elements are used to transmit and which are used to receive ultrasonic beams, or to control the time slots in which the array elements are used to transmit or receive ultrasonic beam echoes. Array elements participating in ultrasonic transmission can be simultaneously excited by electrical signals, thereby transmitting ultrasonic waves simultaneously; alternatively, array elements participating in ultrasonic transmission can be excited by multiple electrical signals separated by a certain time interval, thereby continuously transmitting ultrasonic waves separated by a certain time interval.

[0055] The transmitting circuit 101 is configured to generate a transmit sequence under the control of the processor 105. The transmit sequence is used to control some or all of the multiple array elements to transmit ultrasound waves toward biological tissue. Transmit sequence parameters include the array element positions, the number of array elements, and ultrasound beam transmission parameters (e.g., amplitude, frequency, number of transmissions, transmission interval, transmission angle, waveform, focal position, etc.). In some cases, the transmitting circuit 101 is also configured to phase-delay the transmitted beam, causing different transmitting array elements to transmit ultrasound waves at different times so that each transmitted ultrasound beam can be focused on a predetermined region of interest. Transmit sequence parameters may vary for different operating modes, such as B-image mode, C-image mode, and D-image mode (Doppler mode). After the echo signals are received by the receiving circuit 103 and processed by subsequent modules and corresponding algorithms, a B image reflecting the tissue anatomical structure, a C image reflecting the tissue anatomical structure and blood flow information, and a D image reflecting the Doppler spectrum image can be generated.

[0056] The receiving circuit 103 is used to receive and process the electrical signals of ultrasonic echoes from the ultrasound probe 100. The receiving circuit 103 may include one or more amplifiers, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), and other components. The amplifiers amplify the received electrical signals of ultrasonic echoes after appropriate gain compensation, while the ADCs sample the analog echo signals at predetermined intervals, converting them into digitized signals. The digitized echo signals retain amplitude, frequency, and phase information. The data output by the receiving circuit 103 can be sent to the beamforming circuit 104 for processing or to the memory 107 for storage.

[0057] The beamforming circuit 104 is signal-connected to the receiving circuit 103 and is used to perform beamforming processing, such as delay and weighted summation, on the signal output by the receiving circuit 103. Because the distances between the ultrasound receiving points in the measured tissue and the receiving elements vary, the channel data from the same receiving point output by different receiving elements have different delays. This requires delay processing, phase alignment, and weighted summation of the different channel data from the same receiving point to obtain beamformed ultrasound image data. The ultrasound image data output by the beamforming circuit 104 is also referred to as radio frequency data (RF data). The beamforming circuit 104 outputs the RF data to the IQ demodulation circuit. In some embodiments, the beamforming circuit 104 may also output the RF data to the memory 107 for caching or storage, or directly output the RF data to the image processing module of the processor 105 for image processing.

[0058] The beamforming circuit 104 may perform the aforementioned functions in hardware, firmware, or software. For example, the beamforming circuit 104 may include a central controller circuit (CPU), one or more microprocessor chips, or any other electronic components capable of processing input data according to specific logic instructions. When the beamforming circuit 104 is implemented in software, it may execute instructions stored in a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable medium (e.g., the memory 107) to perform beamforming calculations using any appropriate beamforming method.

[0059] The processor 105 is configured to be a central control circuit (CPU), one or more microprocessors, a graphics controller circuit (GPU) or any other electronic component that can process input data according to specific logical instructions. It can control peripheral electronic components according to input instructions or predetermined instructions, or read and / or save data from the memory 107. It can also process the input data by executing the program in the memory 107, for example, performing one or more processing operations on the collected ultrasound data according to one or more working modes. The processing operations include but are not limited to adjusting or limiting the form of ultrasound waves emitted by the ultrasound probe 100, generating various image frames for subsequent display on the display 106 of the human-computer interaction device, or adjusting or limiting the content and form displayed on the display 106, or adjusting one or more image display settings displayed on the display 106 (such as ultrasound images, interface components, and positioning areas of interest).

[0060] The image processing module of processor 105 is used to process the data output by beamforming circuit 104 or the data output by IQ demodulation circuit to generate a grayscale image showing the signal strength changes within the scanning range. This grayscale image reflects the internal anatomical structure of the tissue and is called a B-image (B-mode ultrasound image). The image processing module can output the B-image to the display 106 of the human-computer interaction device for display.

[0061] The human-computer interaction device is used for human-computer interaction, that is, receiving user input and outputting visual information; it can receive user input using a keyboard, operation buttons, mouse, trackball, etc., or a touch screen integrated with a display; it outputs visual information using the display 106.

[0062] The memory 107 can be a tangible and non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as a flash memory card, a solid-state memory, a hard disk, etc., for storing data or programs. For example, the memory 107 can be used to store the acquired ultrasound data or image frames generated by the processor 105 that are not immediately displayed, or the memory 107 can store a graphical user interface, one or more default image display settings, and programming instructions for the processor, beamforming circuit, or IQ demodulation circuit.

[0063] It should be noted that Figure 1 The structure is only for illustration and may also include Figure 1 More or fewer components than shown, or with Figure 1 Different configurations shown. Figure 1 Each component shown in the figure may be implemented using hardware and / or software.

[0064] It should be noted that the structure of the ultrasonic imaging device described in the embodiment of the present invention is for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will know that with the evolution of the device architecture and the emergence of new application scenarios, the technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0065] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that Figure 1 The ultrasonic imaging device shown in the figure does not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of the present invention, and may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0066] exist Figure 1 In the ultrasonic imaging device shown, the processor can call the stored program to execute ultrasonic imaging process control.

[0067] Ultrasound detection not only has minimal impact on the human body, but also offers accuracy, stability, safety, convenience, radiation-free operation, and affordability. Ultrasound detection technology is commonly used in obstetrics for fetal examinations, particularly for monitoring fetal biological parameters. For example, ultrasound can assist in monitoring fetal heart rhythm status.

[0068] In related technologies, fetal heart rhythm detection is often performed through M-mode ultrasound imaging. However, due to the limitation of a single sampling line, M-mode ultrasound imaging is often unable to observe the atria and ventricles simultaneously, which makes it difficult to judge the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0069] Determining fetal heart rhythm status has important clinical value. In practical applications, the applicant has discovered that by placing one or two M-mode sampling lines in a cardiac section image (such as an apical four-chamber view or a ventricular outflow tract view), the movement of the atria and ventricles can be imaged synchronously to observe the rhythm of the fetal heart beat, thereby assisting in observing the heart rhythm status. Currently, conventional M-mode ultrasound imaging is often unable to simultaneously observe the atria and ventricles due to the limitation of a single sampling line.

[0070] Based on this, an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging method and device, which automatically sets one or two M sampling lines passing through the atrial and ventricular regions, detects and displays the M-type ultrasound images of the atrial and ventricular regions corresponding to the M sampling lines that change over time, and realizes synchronous imaging of the movement of the atria and ventricles, so as to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0071] In some embodiments, the present application provides an M-mode ultrasound-based imaging method for fetal atrioventricular pulsation, comprising the following steps: (1) acquiring a cardiac cross-sectional image of the fetus; (2) automatically locating the atrial region and the ventricular region based on the cardiac cross-sectional image; (3) automatically setting one or two M-sampling lines passing through the atrial region or the ventricular region based on the position information of the atrial region and the ventricular region; (4) displaying M-mode ultrasound images (such as real-time M-mode ultrasound images or anatomical M-mode ultrasound images) of the atrial region and the ventricular region that change with time based on the M-sampling lines. In step (2), one M-sampling line that passes through both the atrial region and the ventricular region or two M-sampling lines that pass through both the atrial region and the ventricular region are automatically selected based on the spatial positional relationship between the fan-shaped emission center of the ultrasound probe and the atrial region and the ventricular region. Through the embodiments of the present application, after obtaining a cross-sectional image of the fetus' heart, the positions of the atrial and ventricular regions can be quickly and automatically identified and one or two M sampling lines can be placed to synchronously image the movement of the atrial and ventricular regions. The generated M-mode ultrasound images (such as real-time M-mode ultrasound images or anatomical M-mode ultrasound images) are used to characterize the movement of the atrial and ventricular walls, thereby facilitating the observation of the rhythm of the fetal heart beat and providing more clinical information for the judgment of the heart rhythm state. The embodiments of the present invention no longer require or reduce the need for users (such as doctors) to perform tedious manual operation steps, effectively improving the work efficiency of users (such as doctors) and effectively improving the stability of ultrasound images; at the same time, it effectively solves the technical problem that conventional M-mode ultrasound imaging is limited by a single sampling line and cannot simultaneously observe the atria and ventricles.

[0072] It should be noted that in the following multiple embodiments, the degree of dispersion may be variance, standard deviation, or coefficient of dispersion, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0073] Please refer to Figure 2 , an embodiment of the present application discloses an ultrasound imaging method, which includes the following steps S1100 to S1700.

[0074] Step S1100 , controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave to the heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data.

[0075] Step S1200: Obtain a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and display it in real time.

[0076] Step S1300 : determining the position information of the atrial region and the position information of the ventricular region based on the real-time displayed cardiac cross-sectional image.

[0077] Step S1400, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, determine whether it is possible to use the transmission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference and use a target M sampling line to pass through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time: if so, execute step S1510; if not, execute step S1520.

[0078] In step S1510 , a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region is generated based on the emission center of the ultrasound probe on the real-time displayed cardiac section image, and step S1610 is executed.

[0079] Step S1610: Control the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasound wave toward the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, receive an ultrasound echo of the second ultrasound wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, obtain second ultrasound echo data, and generate an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial and ventricular regions corresponding to the target M sampling line as they change over time based on the second ultrasound echo data.

[0080] S1520 , generating two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively based on the emission center of the ultrasound probe on the real-time displayed cardiac section image, and executing step S1620 .

[0081] Step S1620: Control the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasound wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, and receive ultrasound echoes of the second ultrasound wave returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, to obtain second ultrasound echo data; and generate, based on the second ultrasound echo data, M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial and ventricular regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, as they change over time.

[0082] Step S1700 : Displaying M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region changing with time.

[0083] In some optional embodiments, the cardiac section image includes a standard section image or a non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region. Among them, the standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region includes an apical four-chamber section image or a ventricular outflow tract section image, and the non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region must satisfy the requirement that at least one atrium and at least one ventricle are visible. Exemplarily, the cardiac section image can be a B-mode ultrasound image. The cardiac section image can be acquired in real time by a medical ultrasound imaging device. For example, Figure 1As shown, the user (e.g., a doctor) moves the ultrasound probe 100 to select an appropriate position and angle. The transmitting circuit 101 sends a set of delayed and focused pulses to the ultrasound probe 100, which then transmits an ultrasonic waveform (a first ultrasonic wave) along a 2D scanning plane toward the fetal heart. After receiving the reflected ultrasonic waveform, the ultrasound probe 100 converts it into an electrical signal. The beamforming circuit 104 then delays and weights the signals generated by multiple transmissions and receptions to achieve beamforming. The signals are then processed by the processor 105. Finally, the image processing module of the processor 105 performs some or all of the image processing steps, such as denoising, smoothing, and enhancement, to produce a cross-sectional image of the heart.

[0084] It is understood that the transmit center of the ultrasonic probe refers to the center of the transmit aperture of the ultrasonic probe. Correspondingly, taking the transmit center of the ultrasonic probe as a reference means that the M sampling line is a ray passing through the center of the transmit aperture of the ultrasonic probe. In other words, taking the transmit center of the ultrasonic probe as a reference means that the pulse signal is emitted from the center of the transmit aperture of the ultrasonic probe.

[0085] In some embodiments, for conventional M-mode ultrasound imaging, using a single target M sampling line for M-mode ultrasound image sampling provides higher temporal resolution than using two target M sampling lines, thereby improving observation quality. Therefore, embodiments of the present application utilize a single target M sampling line for M-mode ultrasound image sampling whenever possible, and if two target M sampling lines are not feasible, to maximize observation quality.

[0086] In some optional implementations, step S1510, generating a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region, includes the following steps S1511 and S1512.

[0087] Step S1511: if there is only one M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region, the M sampling line is used as the target M sampling line;

[0088] Step S1512: If there are multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, according to the first preset rule, an M sampling line that meets the first preset rule is determined as the target M sampling line.

[0089] It can be understood that, in the process of automatically searching for and determining the target M sampling line, if there is only one M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, then the M sampling line can be directly used as the target M sampling line; if there are multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, then it is necessary to preferentially determine, according to the first preset rule, an M sampling line that meets the first preset rule as the target M sampling line, so as to make the imaging effect of the M-mode ultrasound image as good as possible.

[0090] In some optional implementations, the first preset rule includes:

[0091] From a plurality of M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously, select the M sampling line whose image region corresponding to the M sampling line has the largest grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period as the target M sampling line;

[0092] or,

[0093] The angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is used as the target M sampling line.

[0094] It is understandable that the first preset rule can be selected based on the degree of discreteness of the grayscale value. The degree of discreteness can be variance, standard deviation, or coefficient of dispersion, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Generally speaking, the greater the degree of discreteness of the grayscale value of the image area through which the M sampling line passes, the greater the degree of tissue movement corresponding thereto, and the easier it is to observe the rhythm of the fetal heart beat. Therefore, the M sampling line with the largest degree of discreteness of the grayscale value in the image area corresponding to the M sampling line within the preset time period is used as the target M sampling line. The preset time period can be set as needed. For example, the preset time period can be set to one cardiac cycle.

[0095] For example, the M sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value variation within a preset time period in the image region corresponding to the M sampling lines can be selected as the target M sampling line. For example, data collected from the points corresponding to the M sampling lines within the preset time period can be collected to form a time series, and the variance in grayscale value variation of the time series can be calculated. The grayscale value variation variances of the time series are compared, and the M sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value variation is selected as the target M sampling line.

[0096] It is understandable that the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time can also be used as the target M sampling line. Figure 3 As shown, for example, the angle bisector LM of the maximum angle α (the angle formed between the M sampling lines L1 and L2 in the figure) formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the left atrial region and the left ventricular region can be used as the target M sampling line. For another example, the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the left atrial region and the right ventricular region can be used as the target M sampling line; the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the right atrial region and the left ventricular region can also be used as the target M sampling line; the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the right atrial region and the right ventricular region can also be used as the target M sampling line; the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through either the left atrial region or the right atrial region, or either the left ventricular region or the right ventricular region can also be used as the target M sampling line.

[0097] In some optional embodiments, the two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region;

[0098] In step S1520 , two target M sampling lines are generated passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, including step S1521 .

[0099] Step S1521 : According to a second preset rule, an M sampling line passing through the atrial region is generated as a first target M sampling line, and an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region is generated as a second target M sampling line.

[0100] It is understandable that when it is not possible to use one target M sampling line for M-mode ultrasound image sampling, the ultrasound imaging device can automatically generate two target M sampling lines for M-mode ultrasound image sampling, and can also synchronously image the movement of the atria and ventricles to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0101] In some optional implementations, the second preset rule includes:

[0102] Select an M sampling line passing through the center of the atrial region as a first target M sampling line, and select an M sampling line passing through the center of the ventricular region as a second target M sampling line;

[0103] or,

[0104] An M sampling line passing through the atrial region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the first target M sampling line; an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the second target M sampling line.

[0105] In some embodiments, the second preset rule may be to set an atrial sampling point and a ventricular sampling point in the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, and then generate two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point respectively.

[0106] For example, the atrial sampling point may be the center of the atrial region, and the ventricular sampling point may be the center of the ventricular region. The center may be a geometric center, a center of gravity, a geometric center of a circumscribed rectangle, a geometric center of a circumscribed circle, or the like, and this application does not impose any limitation thereto.

[0107] For another example, an atrial sampling point may be a location in the atrial region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion, and a ventricular sampling point may be a location in the ventricular region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion. For example, data collected from various locations in the atrial region within a preset time period can be collected in an image to form a time series for each location. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series can then be calculated. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series for each location can then be compared, and the location with the greatest grayscale value variation variance can be selected as the atrial sampling point. Similarly, the ventricular sampling point can also be determined using the above method.

[0108] For another example, the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point may also be preset points, for example, they may be position points selected by the user.

[0109] In other embodiments, the second preset rule may be to select two target M sampling lines based on the degree of grayscale dispersion of the image region through which the M sampling line passes. Generally speaking, the greater the degree of grayscale dispersion of the image region through which the M sampling line passes, the greater the degree of tissue movement corresponding therein, and the easier it is to observe the fetal heart rhythm. Therefore, the M sampling line whose corresponding image region has the greatest degree of grayscale dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the target M sampling line.

[0110] For example, an M sampling line passing through the atrial region and having the largest variance in grayscale value variation within a preset time period in the image region corresponding to the M sampling line can be selected as the first target M sampling line. For example, multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region can be selected, and the variance in grayscale value variation of the time series formed by data collected at the position points corresponding to each M sampling line within the preset time period can be calculated. The variances of the grayscale value variations of the M sampling lines can then be compared, and the M sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value variation can be selected as the first target M sampling line. Similarly, the above method can also be used to obtain the second target M sampling line.

[0111] In other embodiments, the second preset rule may also be to determine two target M sampling lines based on an angle bisector. For example, the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region (left atrial region or right atrial region) may be used as the first target M sampling line; and the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the ventricular region (left ventricular region or right ventricular region) may be used as the second target M sampling line.

[0112] In some optional embodiments, in step S1400, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, it is determined whether one M sampling line can pass through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, including the following steps S1411 to S1413.

[0113] Step S1411, obtaining the image area through which the multiple M sampling lines pass;

[0114] Step S1412 : Based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, and the regions passed by each M sampling line, it is determined whether the region passed by the M sampling line is included in both the atrial region and the ventricular region.

[0115] In some embodiments, in step S1422, the area through which the M sampling line passes is included in both the atrial area and the ventricular area, which must satisfy the following conditions: the image coordinate value of at least one position point in the area through which the M sampling line passes falls within the coordinate range of the atrial area in the image, and the image coordinate value of at least another position point falls within the coordinate range of the ventricular area in the image.

[0116] Step S1413: If yes, then one M sampling line can pass through both the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time; otherwise, one M sampling line cannot pass through both the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time.

[0117] In summary, in some implementations, after obtaining the atrial and ventricular region position information output in step S1300, in steps S1510 and S1520, different methods are used to automatically set one or two target M-mode sampling lines through the atrial and ventricular regions to obtain a real-time M-mode ultrasound image (conventional M-mode ultrasound image). A real-time M-mode ultrasound image displays the motion of the cardiac tissue structure interface perpendicular to the acoustic beam (pulse signal). For example, the method for obtaining a real-time M-mode ultrasound image may be to calculate whether an M-mode sampling line from the ultrasound probe's transmitting center can simultaneously pass through the atrial and ventricular regions. If multiple rays meet the requirements, the grayscale value change of each ray passing through the region within a cardiac cycle may be calculated, and the M-mode sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value change passing through the region may be selected as the target M-mode sampling line. Alternatively, the angle bisector of all M-mode sampling lines meeting the requirements may be selected as the target M-mode sampling line. For another example, the method for obtaining a real-time M-mode ultrasound image may be to automatically set two target M-mode sampling lines from the ultrasound probe's transmitting center to pass through the atrial and ventricular regions, respectively. This method can first calculate the sampling points of the atrial region and the ventricular region (atrial sampling point and ventricular sampling point), respectively. The atrial sampling point can be the center of the atrial region or the point with the largest variance of grayscale value changes in the atrial region within a cardiac cycle; the ventricular sampling point can be the center of the ventricular region or the point with the largest variance of grayscale value changes in the ventricular region within a cardiac cycle.

[0118] In some optional embodiments, the two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region;

[0119] Step S1620, controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the target M sampling lines, and obtaining second ultrasonic echo data, includes the following steps S1621 and S1622.

[0120] Step S1621, according to a preset transmission timing, controlling the ultrasound probe to alternately transmit a second ultrasound wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line;

[0121] Step S1622, receiving ultrasound echoes of second ultrasound waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line respectively, to obtain second ultrasound echo data;

[0122] Generating M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines over time according to the second ultrasound echo data includes the following steps S1623.

[0123] Step S1623 : generating an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region corresponding to the first target M sampling line and an M-mode ultrasound image of the ventricular region corresponding to the second target M sampling line as a function of time, respectively, based on the second ultrasound echo data.

[0124] In some optional embodiments, step S1300, determining the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information based on the cardiac cross-sectional image, includes the following step S1310 or step S1320.

[0125] Step S1310, performing feature extraction on the cardiac section image using a sliding window extraction algorithm to determine atrial region position information and ventricular region position information;

[0126] or,

[0127] Step S1320: Input the cardiac cross-sectional image into the trained deep learning model to determine the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information.

[0128] It is understandable that after obtaining the fetal heart section image, the atrial region and the ventricular region of the fetal heart can be automatically identified based on the obtained heart section image.

[0129] For example, a database can be constructed as needed to perform image calibration for different models. The calibration result can be a ROI (Region of Interest) box containing the target (atrial region or ventricular region) or a mask for accurate segmentation of the target. The database stores the ROI boxes for the atrial and ventricular regions and their corresponding categories (atrial region or ventricular region).

[0130] In some embodiments, based on a sliding window method, features can be extracted from the area within the sliding window, and then the extracted features can be matched with images in a database to determine whether the current sliding window is a region of interest and obtain its corresponding category.

[0131] In other embodiments, the cardiac section image can also be input into a pre-trained deep learning model based on a deep learning algorithm to automatically identify the atrial and ventricular regions of the fetal heart. For example, the Bounding-Box method can be used for detection and recognition. By stacking base convolutional layers and fully connected layers, the constructed database is subjected to feature learning and parameter regression. For a pair of input cardiac section images, the Bounding-Box of the corresponding region of interest can be directly regressed through the network, and the category of the tissue structure in the region of interest can be obtained at the same time. For another example, the region of interest of the input cardiac section image and its corresponding category can be directly obtained based on an end-to-end semantic segmentation network (a network model based on a convolutional neural network) method of deep learning.

[0132] In some optional embodiments, before step S1610, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasound wave to the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, the following steps S1610-A and S1610-B are also included.

[0133] Step S1601-A, receiving a user's instruction to adjust the target M sampling line;

[0134] Step S1602-B: adjusting the angle of the target M sampling line according to the adjustment instruction.

[0135] In some optional embodiments, before step S1620, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit the second ultrasound wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, the following steps S1620-A and S1620-B are also included.

[0136] Step S1620-A, receiving a user's instruction to adjust one or both of the two target M sampling lines;

[0137] Step S1620-B: adjusting the angle of one or two target M sampling lines according to the adjustment instruction.

[0138] It is understandable that in some embodiments, after automatically setting one or two target M sampling lines, the user (such as a doctor) can choose whether to manually adjust the target M sampling lines, and then display the M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region that change synchronously with time based on the adjusted target M sampling lines.

[0139] Please refer to Figure 7, which is a real-time M-mode ultrasound image of an embodiment of the present application. In the figure, a target M sampling line passes through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, and the movement of the atria and ventricles is synchronously imaged through the real-time M-mode ultrasound image to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0140] In some embodiments of the present application, by identifying a cardiac cross-sectional image to determine the position information of the atrial region and the position information of the ventricular region, it is then determined whether a target M sampling line can pass through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously: if so, a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region is generated; if not, two M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region are generated respectively; finally, the ultrasonic echo returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line is detected, and an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line is generated and displayed as it changes over time. In embodiments of the present application, by automatically generating one or two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region to generate an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line as it changes over time, synchronous imaging of the movement of the atria and ventricles is achieved to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0141] In addition, please refer to Figure 4 , an embodiment of the present application also provides an ultrasound imaging method, which includes the following steps S2100 to S2500.

[0142] Step S2100, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward the heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data;

[0143] Step S2200, obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time;

[0144] Step S2300, determining the position information of the atrial region and the position information of the ventricular region based on the real-time displayed cardiac cross-sectional image, and then executing the following step S2410 or step S2420.

[0145] Step S2410, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as the reference, and the following step S2510 is executed.

[0146] S2510, control the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue area corresponding to the target M sampling line, receive the ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue area corresponding to the target M sampling line, obtain second ultrasonic echo data, and generate an M-mode ultrasonic image of the atrial area and ventricular area corresponding to the target M sampling line that changes with time based on the second ultrasonic echo data.

[0147] S2420, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, two target M sampling lines are generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as the reference, passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, and the following step S2520 is executed.

[0148] Step S2520: Control the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, receive the ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue areas corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, obtain second ultrasonic echo data, and generate M-type ultrasonic images of the atrial area and the ventricular area corresponding to the two target M sampling lines that change with time based on the second ultrasonic echo data.

[0149] Step S2600 , displaying M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region changing with time.

[0150] In addition, refer to Figure 5 , an embodiment of the present application also provides an ultrasound imaging method, which includes the following steps S3100 to S3600.

[0151] Step S3100, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward the heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data;

[0152] Step S3200: obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time;

[0153] Step S3300: Determine the position information of the atrial region and the position information of the ventricular region based on the real-time displayed cardiac cross-sectional image. In the first state, execute the following step S3410; in the second state, execute the following step S3420.

[0154] The first state may be a state in which a target M sampling line can pass through both the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference; the second state may be a state in which a target M sampling line cannot pass through both the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference. Alternatively, the first state and the second state may be states determined based on user selection instructions. For example, if a user's first state selection instruction is received, it is determined that the state is in the first state, and the first state selection instruction is used to represent a state in which a target M sampling line passes through both the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously; if a user's second state selection instruction is received, it is determined that the state is in the second state, and the second state selection instruction is used to represent a state in which two target M sampling lines pass through both the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively.

[0155] Step S3410, in the first state, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as the reference, and the following step S3510 is executed.

[0156] Step S3510: Control the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasound wave toward the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, receive an ultrasound echo of the second ultrasound wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, obtain second ultrasound echo data, and generate an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial and ventricular regions corresponding to the target M sampling line as they change over time based on the second ultrasound echo data.

[0157] Step S3420, in the second state, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, two target M sampling lines are generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as the reference, passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, and the following step S3520 is performed.

[0158] Step S3520: Control the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasound wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, and receive ultrasound echoes of the second ultrasound wave returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, to obtain second ultrasound echo data; and generate, based on the second ultrasound echo data, M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial and ventricular regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, changing over time.

[0159] Step S3600 : Displaying M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region changing with time.

[0160] In some optional embodiments, the cardiac section image includes a standard section image or a non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region. The standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region includes an apical four-chamber view image or a ventricular outflow tract view image, and the non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region requires that at least one atrium and at least one ventricle be visible.

[0161] For example, the cardiac section image may be a B-mode ultrasound image. The cardiac section image may be acquired in real time by a medical ultrasound imaging device. For example, Figure 1 As shown, the user (e.g., a doctor) moves the ultrasound probe 100 to select an appropriate position and angle. The transmitting circuit 101 sends a set of delayed and focused pulses to the ultrasound probe 100, which then transmits an ultrasonic waveform (a first ultrasonic wave) along a 2D scanning plane toward the fetal heart. After receiving the reflected ultrasonic waveform, the ultrasound probe 100 converts it into an electrical signal. The beamforming circuit 104 then delays and weights the signals generated by multiple transmissions and receptions to achieve beamforming. The signals are then processed by the processor 105. Finally, the image processing module of the processor 105 performs some or all of the image processing steps, such as denoising, smoothing, and enhancement, to produce a cross-sectional image of the heart.

[0162] It is understood that the transmit center of the ultrasonic probe refers to the center of the transmit aperture of the ultrasonic probe. Correspondingly, taking the transmit center of the ultrasonic probe as a reference means that the M sampling line is a ray passing through the center of the transmit aperture of the ultrasonic probe. In other words, taking the transmit center of the ultrasonic probe as a reference means that the pulse signal is emitted from the center of the transmit aperture of the ultrasonic probe.

[0163] In some embodiments, after step S2300, step S2410 or step S2420 may be selected as needed. A target M sampling line may be automatically generated that passes through both the atrial and ventricular regions, or two target M sampling lines may be automatically generated that pass through the atrial and ventricular regions, respectively. The selection of one or two target M sampling lines may be automatically determined by the ultrasound imaging device based on the situation, or may be user-selected as needed.

[0164] In some optional embodiments, in step S2410 or step S3410, a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously is generated, including: if there is only one M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously, the M sampling line is used as the target M sampling line; if there are multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously, according to a first preset rule, an M sampling line that meets the first preset rule is determined as the target M sampling line.

[0165] In some optional implementations, the first preset rule includes:

[0166] From a plurality of M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously, select the M sampling line whose image region corresponding to the M sampling line has the largest grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period as the target M sampling line;

[0167] or,

[0168] The angle bisector of the maximum included angle of multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is used as the target M sampling line.

[0169] It is understandable that the first preset rule can be selected based on the degree of discreteness of the grayscale value. The degree of discreteness can be variance, standard deviation, or coefficient of dispersion, etc., which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. Generally speaking, the greater the degree of discreteness of the grayscale value of the image area through which the M sampling line passes, the greater the degree of tissue movement corresponding thereto, and the easier it is to observe the rhythm of the fetal heart beat. Therefore, the M sampling line with the largest degree of discreteness of the grayscale value in the image area corresponding to the M sampling line within the preset time period is used as the target M sampling line. The preset time period can be set as needed. For example, the preset time period can be set to one cardiac cycle.

[0170] For example, the M sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value variation within a preset time period in the image region corresponding to the M sampling lines can be selected as the target M sampling line. For example, data collected from the points corresponding to the M sampling lines within the preset time period can be collected to form a time series, and the variance in grayscale value variation of the time series can be calculated. The grayscale value variation variances of the time series are compared, and the M sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value variation is selected as the target M sampling line.

[0171] It is understandable that the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time can also be used as the target M sampling line. Figure 3 As shown, for example, the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the left atrial region and the left ventricle region can be used as the target M sampling line. For another example, the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the left atrial region and the right ventricle region can be used as the target M sampling line; the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the right atrial region and the left ventricle region can also be used as the target M sampling line; the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the right atrial region and the right ventricle region can also be used as the target M sampling line; the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through either the left atrial region or the right atrial region, or either the left ventricle region or the right ventricle region can also be used as the target M sampling line.

[0172] In some optional embodiments, the two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region;

[0173] In step S2420 or step S3420 , two target M sampling lines are generated passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, including the following steps S2421 / S3421 .

[0174] Step S2421 / S3421: According to the second preset rule, an M sampling line passing through the atrial region is generated as the first target M sampling line, and an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region is generated as the second target M sampling line.

[0175] In some optional implementations, the second preset rule includes:

[0176] Select an M sampling line passing through the center of the atrial region as a first target M sampling line, and select an M sampling line passing through the center of the ventricular region as a second target M sampling line;

[0177] or,

[0178] An M sampling line passing through the atrial region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the first target M sampling line; an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the second target M sampling line.

[0179] In some embodiments, the second preset rule may be to set an atrial sampling point and a ventricular sampling point in the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, and then generate two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point respectively.

[0180] For example, the atrial sampling point may be the center of the atrial region, and the ventricular sampling point may be the center of the ventricular region. The center may be a geometric center, a center of gravity, a geometric center of a circumscribed rectangle, a geometric center of a circumscribed circle, or the like, and this application does not impose any limitation thereto.

[0181] For another example, an atrial sampling point may be a location in the atrial region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion, and a ventricular sampling point may be a location in the ventricular region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion. For example, data collected from various locations in the atrial region within a preset time period can be collected in an image to form a time series for each location. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series can then be calculated. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series for each location can then be compared, and the location with the greatest grayscale value variation variance can be selected as the atrial sampling point. Similarly, the ventricular sampling point can also be determined using the above method.

[0182] For another example, the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point may also be preset points, for example, they may be position points selected by the user.

[0183] In other embodiments, the second preset rule may be to select two target M sampling lines based on the degree of grayscale dispersion of the image region through which the M sampling line passes. Generally speaking, the greater the degree of grayscale dispersion of the image region through which the M sampling line passes, the greater the degree of tissue movement corresponding therein, and the easier it is to observe the fetal heart rhythm. Therefore, the M sampling line whose corresponding image region has the greatest degree of grayscale dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the target M sampling line.

[0184] For example, an M sampling line passing through the atrial region and having the largest variance in grayscale value variation within a preset time period in the image region corresponding to the M sampling line can be selected as the first target M sampling line. For example, the variance of grayscale value variation of a time series formed by data collected at the position points corresponding to each M sampling line within a preset time period can be calculated from multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region. The variances of grayscale value variation of each M sampling line can then be compared, and the M sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value variation can be selected as the first target M sampling line. Similarly, the above method can also be used to obtain the second target M sampling line.

[0185] In other embodiments, the second preset rule may also be to determine two target M sampling lines based on an angle bisector. For example, the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region (left atrial region or right atrial region) may be used as the first target M sampling line; and the angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by multiple M sampling lines passing through the ventricular region (left ventricular region or right ventricular region) may be used as the second target M sampling line.

[0186] In some optional embodiments, the two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region;

[0187] In step S2520 / S3520, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, and the ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue areas corresponding to the two target M sampling lines are respectively received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, including the following steps S2521 / S3521 to S2522 / S3522.

[0188] Step S2521 / S3521, according to a preset transmission timing, controlling the ultrasonic probe to alternately transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue area corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line;

[0189] Step S2522 / S3522, respectively receiving the ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line, to obtain second ultrasonic echo data;

[0190] Generating an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line changing with time according to the second ultrasound echo data includes the following steps S2523 / S3523.

[0191] Step S2523 / S3523: Generate an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region corresponding to the first target M sampling line and an M-mode ultrasound image of the ventricular region corresponding to the second target M sampling line according to the second ultrasound echo data.

[0192] In some optional embodiments, step S2300 / S3300, determining the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information based on the cardiac cross-sectional image, includes the following steps S2310 / S3310 or steps S2320 / S3320.

[0193] Step S2310 / S3310, performing feature extraction on the cardiac cross-sectional image using a sliding window extraction algorithm to determine atrial region position information and ventricular region position information;

[0194] or,

[0195] Step S2320 / S3320: Input the cardiac cross-section image into the trained deep learning model to determine the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information.

[0196] For example, a database can be constructed as needed to perform image calibration for different models. The calibration result can be a ROI (Region of Interest) box containing the target (atrial region or ventricular region) or a mask for accurate segmentation of the target. The database stores the ROI boxes for the atrial and ventricular regions and their corresponding categories (atrial region or ventricular region).

[0197] In some embodiments, based on a sliding window method, features can be extracted from the area within the sliding window, and then the extracted features can be matched with images in a database to determine whether the current sliding window is a region of interest and obtain its corresponding category.

[0198] In other embodiments, the cardiac section image can also be input into a pre-trained deep learning model based on a deep learning algorithm to automatically identify the atrial and ventricular regions of the fetal heart. For example, the Bounding-Box method can be used for detection and recognition. By stacking base convolutional layers and fully connected layers, the constructed database is subjected to feature learning and parameter regression. For a pair of input cardiac section images, the Bounding-Box of the corresponding region of interest can be directly regressed through the network, and the category of the tissue structure in the region of interest can be obtained at the same time. For another example, the region of interest of the input cardiac section image and its corresponding category can be directly obtained based on an end-to-end semantic segmentation network (a network model based on a convolutional neural network) method of deep learning.

[0199] In some optional embodiments, before step S2510 / S3510, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasound wave to the tissue area corresponding to the target M sampling line, the following steps S2510-A / S3510-A and S2510-B / S3510-B are also included.

[0200] Step S2510-A / S3510-A, receiving a user's instruction to adjust the target M sampling line;

[0201] Step S2510 -B / S3510 -B: adjust the angle of the target M sampling line according to the adjustment instruction.

[0202] In some optional embodiments, before step S2520 / S3520, controlling the ultrasound probe to respectively transmit the second ultrasound wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, the following steps S2520-A / S3520-A and step S2520-B / S3520-B are also included.

[0203] Step S2520-A / S3520-A, receiving a user's instruction to adjust one or both of the two target M sampling lines;

[0204] Step S2520-B / S3520-B: adjust the angle of one or two target M sampling lines according to the adjustment instruction.

[0205] It is understandable that in some embodiments, after automatically setting one or two target M sampling lines, the user (such as a doctor) can choose whether to manually adjust the target M sampling lines, and then display the M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region that change synchronously with time based on the adjusted target M sampling lines.

[0206] Please refer to Figure 7, which is a real-time M-mode ultrasound image of an embodiment of the present application. In the figure, a target M sampling line passes through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, and the movement of the atria and ventricles is synchronously imaged through the real-time M-mode ultrasound image to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0207] In summary, in other embodiments of the present application, by identifying a cardiac cross-sectional image to determine the position information of the atrial region and the ventricular region, one or two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region are automatically generated; finally, the ultrasonic echoes returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line are detected, and an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line that changes with time is generated and displayed. In embodiments of the present application, by automatically generating one or two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region to generate an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line that changes with time, synchronous imaging of the movement of the atria and ventricles is achieved, so as to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0208] In addition, please refer to Figure 6 An embodiment of the present application also provides an ultrasound imaging method, which is applied to an ultrasound imaging device. The ultrasound imaging device includes a processor and a memory. The method includes the processor executing the following steps: Step S4100 to Step S4600.

[0209] Step S4100: Acquire and display a target cardiac section image from multiple frames of cardiac section images stored in a memory.

[0210] Step S4200: Determine the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information based on the target cardiac section image.

[0211] Step S4300: Based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, a target M sampling line is generated on the displayed target cardiac section image, passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region. Alternatively, two target M sampling lines are generated on the displayed target cardiac section image, passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively.

[0212] Step S4400 extracts pixel data of an image region corresponding to the target M sampling line from at least two frames of the stored multi-frame cardiac section image, based on the target M sampling line. For example, pixel data of an image region corresponding to the target M sampling line may be extracted from each frame of the stored multi-frame cardiac section image to generate an anatomical M-mode ultrasound image.

[0213] In step S4500, based on the pixel data, an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial and ventricular regions corresponding to the target M sampling line is generated over time. In other words, steps S4400 and S4500 generate an M-mode ultrasound image by sampling and reconstructing information from multiple frames of cardiac section image data.

[0214] Step S4600: Display M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region changing with time.

[0215] It is understood that the ultrasound imaging method of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to anatomical M-mode ultrasound images. Anatomical M-mode ultrasound images allow the M sampling line to be anywhere within a 360° range and display the corresponding cardiac tissue structure activity.

[0216] In some optional embodiments, the cardiac section image includes a standard section image or a non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region. The standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region includes an apical four-chamber view image or a ventricular outflow tract view image, and the non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region requires that at least one atrium and at least one ventricle be visible.

[0217] For example, the cardiac section image may be a B-mode ultrasound image. The cardiac section image may be obtained by a medical ultrasound imaging device. For example, Figure 1 As shown, the user (such as a doctor) moves the ultrasound probe 100 to select a suitable position and angle. The transmitting circuit 101 sends a set of delayed focused pulses to the ultrasound probe 100, and the ultrasound probe 100 transmits an ultrasonic waveform (first ultrasonic wave) toward the fetal heart along the 2D scanning plane. After the ultrasound probe 100 receives the reflected ultrasonic waveform, it converts it into an electrical signal. The beamforming circuit 104 performs corresponding delay and weighted summation processing on the signal obtained by multiple transmissions / receptions to achieve beamforming, and then the signal is processed by the processor 105. Finally, the image processing module of the processor 105 obtains a cardiac cross-sectional image after performing some or all of the image processing steps such as denoising, smoothing, and enhancement. Multiple frames of B-mode ultrasound images can be acquired and cached within a preset period. The target cardiac cross-sectional image can be any frame in the multiple frames of B-mode ultrasound images.

[0218] In some optional embodiments, step S4300, generating a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region on the displayed target cardiac section image, includes the following steps S4311 to S4312.

[0219] Step S4311 , determining an atrial sampling point located in the atrial region and a ventricular sampling point located in the ventricular region.

[0220] Step S4312: Generate a target M sampling line on the displayed target cardiac section image, passing through both the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point.

[0221] It can be understood that the M sampling line passing through both the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point is the target M sampling line.

[0222] In some optional embodiments, step S4311, determining an atrial sampling point located in the atrial region and a ventricular sampling point located in the ventricular region, includes the following steps S4311-A or S4311-B.

[0223] Step S4311-A: determine the center of the atrial region as the atrial sampling point, and determine the center of the ventricular region as the ventricular sampling point.

[0224] Step S4311-B, determining the position point in the atrial region with the largest grayscale value dispersion within the preset time period as the atrial sampling point; determining the position point in the ventricular region with the largest grayscale value dispersion within the preset time period as the ventricular sampling point.

[0225] It is understood that the preset time period can be set as needed. For example, the preset time period can be set to one cardiac cycle. The location point with the maximum grayscale value dispersion within the preset time period can also be determined based on multiple frames of stored cardiac cross-sectional images. For example, the degree of dispersion of each location point can be determined based on the grayscale value variation trend of the same location point in different frames of the image, thereby determining the location point with the maximum grayscale value dispersion within the preset time period.

[0226] For example, the atrial sampling point may be the center of the atrial region, and the ventricular sampling point may be the center of the ventricular region. The center may be a geometric center, a center of gravity, a geometric center of a circumscribed rectangle, a geometric center of a circumscribed circle, or the like, and this application does not impose any limitation thereto.

[0227] For another example, an atrial sampling point may be a location in the atrial region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion, and a ventricular sampling point may be a location in the ventricular region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion. For example, data collected from various locations in the atrial region within a preset time period can be collected in an image to form a time series for each location. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series can then be calculated. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series for each location can then be compared, and the location with the greatest grayscale value variation variance can be selected as the atrial sampling point. Similarly, the ventricular sampling point can also be determined using the above method.

[0228] For another example, the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point may also be preset points, for example, they may be position points selected by the user.

[0229] In some optional embodiments, the two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region;

[0230] Step S4300 , generating two target M sampling lines on the displayed target cardiac section image, passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, includes the following steps S4321 to S4322 .

[0231] Step S4321, determining an atrial sampling point located in the atrial region and a ventricular sampling point located in the ventricular region;

[0232] Step S4322: According to the third preset rule, a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial sampling point is generated on the displayed target cardiac section image, and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular sampling point is generated on the displayed target cardiac section image.

[0233] In some optional implementations, the third preset rule includes:

[0234] An M sampling line passing through the atrial sampling point and having the largest discrete degree of grayscale values in the image area corresponding to the M sampling line within a preset time period is selected as the first target M sampling line; an M sampling line passing through the ventricular sampling point and having the largest discrete degree of grayscale values in the image area corresponding to the M sampling line within a preset time period is selected as the second target M sampling line.

[0235] In some embodiments, two target M sampling lines can be selected based on the degree of grayscale dispersion of the image region through which the M sampling line passes. Generally speaking, the greater the degree of grayscale dispersion of the image region through which the M sampling line passes, the greater the degree of tissue movement corresponding therein, making it easier to observe the fetal heart rhythm. Therefore, the M sampling line whose corresponding image region has the greatest degree of grayscale dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the target M sampling line.

[0236] For example, an M sampling line passing through an atrial sampling point and having the largest variance in grayscale value variation within a preset time period in the image region corresponding to the M sampling line can be selected as the first target M sampling line. For example, the variance of grayscale value variation of a time series formed by data collected at the position points corresponding to each M sampling line within a preset time period can be calculated, and the variances of grayscale value variation of each M sampling line can be compared. The M sampling line with the largest variance in grayscale value variation can be selected as the first target M sampling line. Similarly, the above method can also be used to obtain a second target M sampling line.

[0237] For example, after calculating the atrial and ventricular sampling points, the angles of the first target M sampling line (atrial M sampling line) and the second target M sampling line (ventricular M sampling line) can be calculated respectively. According to the positions of the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point and the angles of the atrial M sampling line and the ventricular M sampling line, two target M sampling lines are set, passing through the atrial and ventricular regions respectively. The angles of the atrial M sampling line and the ventricular M sampling line can be determined by the following method: calculating the grayscale value changes of several M sampling lines with preset different angles (such as 0°, ±15°, ±30°, etc.) passing through the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point within one cardiac cycle, and selecting the direction of the ray with the largest variance of the grayscale value change as the angle of the atrial M sampling line and the ventricular M sampling line.

[0238] In some optional embodiments, step S4321, determining an atrial sampling point located in the atrial region and a ventricular sampling point located in the ventricular region, includes the following steps S4321-A or S4321-B.

[0239] Step S4321-A, determining the center of the atrial region as the atrial sampling point, and determining the center of the ventricular region as the ventricular sampling point;

[0240] or,

[0241] Step S4321-B: Determine the position point in the atrial region where the grayscale value dispersion is the largest within the preset time period as the atrial sampling point; determine the position point in the ventricular region where the grayscale value dispersion is the largest within the preset time period as the ventricular sampling point.

[0242] It is understandable that the preset time period can be set as needed. For example, the preset time period can be set to one cardiac cycle.

[0243] For example, the atrial sampling point may be the center of the atrial region, and the ventricular sampling point may be the center of the ventricular region. The center may be a geometric center, a center of gravity, a geometric center of a circumscribed rectangle, a geometric center of a circumscribed circle, or the like, and this application does not impose any limitation thereto.

[0244] For another example, an atrial sampling point may be a location in the atrial region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion, and a ventricular sampling point may be a location in the ventricular region with the greatest grayscale value dispersion. For example, data collected from various locations in the atrial region within a preset time period can be collected in an image to form a time series for each location. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series can then be calculated. The variance of the grayscale value variation in the time series for each location can then be compared, and the location with the greatest grayscale value variation variance can be selected as the atrial sampling point. Similarly, the ventricular sampling point can also be determined using the above method.

[0245] For another example, the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point may also be preset points, for example, they may be position points selected by the user.

[0246] In some optional embodiments, step S4200, determining the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information based on the cardiac cross-sectional image, includes the following steps S4210 or S4220.

[0247] Step S4210, performing feature extraction on the cardiac section image using a sliding window extraction algorithm to determine atrial region position information and ventricular region position information;

[0248] or,

[0249] Step S4220: Input the cardiac cross-sectional image into the trained deep learning model to determine the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information.

[0250] It is understandable that after obtaining the fetal heart section image, the atrial region and the ventricular region of the fetal heart can be automatically identified based on the obtained heart section image.

[0251] For example, a database can be constructed as needed to perform image calibration for different models. The calibration result can be a ROI (Region of Interest) box containing the target (atrial region or ventricular region) or a mask for accurate segmentation of the target. The database stores the ROI boxes for the atrial and ventricular regions and their corresponding categories (atrial region or ventricular region).

[0252] In some embodiments, based on a sliding window method, features can be extracted from the area within the sliding window, and then the extracted features can be matched with images in a database to determine whether the current sliding window is a region of interest and obtain its corresponding category.

[0253] In other embodiments, the cardiac section image can also be input into a pre-trained deep learning model based on a deep learning algorithm to automatically identify the atrial and ventricular regions of the fetal heart. For example, the Bounding-Box method can be used for detection and recognition. By stacking base convolutional layers and fully connected layers, the constructed database is subjected to feature learning and parameter regression. For a pair of input cardiac section images, the Bounding-Box of the corresponding region of interest can be directly regressed through the network, and the category of the tissue structure in the region of interest can be obtained at the same time. For another example, the region of interest of the input cardiac section image and its corresponding category can be directly obtained based on an end-to-end semantic segmentation network (a network model based on a convolutional neural network) method of deep learning.

[0254] Please refer to Figure 8, which is an anatomical M-mode ultrasound image of an embodiment of the present application. In the figure, two target M sampling lines pass through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively. The anatomical M-mode ultrasound image is used to achieve synchronous imaging of the movement of the atria and ventricles, so as to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0255] In summary, in other embodiments of the present application, by identifying a target cardiac section image to determine the position information of the atrial region and the position information of the ventricular region, one or two target M-sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region are automatically generated; then, from at least two frames of the stored multi-frame cardiac section image, pixel data of the image area corresponding to the target M-sampling line is extracted to compose and display an M-mode ultrasound image. In the embodiments of the present application, by automatically generating one or two target M-sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region, an anatomical M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M-sampling line, which changes over time, is constructed and displayed based on the stored multi-frame cardiac section image, thereby achieving synchronous imaging of the movement of the atria and ventricles to observe the rhythm of the heart beat, thereby facilitating the observation of the fetal heart rhythm status.

[0256] In summary, the ultrasound imaging method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

[0257] (1) Obtaining fetal heart cross-sectional images;

[0258] (2) Automatically locate the atrial and ventricular regions based on cardiac cross-sectional images;

[0259] (3) According to the atrial region information and the ventricular region position information, one or two M sampling lines are set to pass through the atrial region or the ventricular region;

[0260] (4) Displaying the M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region changing with time according to the M sampling lines, wherein the M-mode ultrasound images may be real-time M-mode ultrasound images or anatomical M-mode ultrasound images.

[0261] In addition, an embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasonic imaging device, comprising:

[0262] Ultrasound probe;

[0263] a transmitting circuit, wherein the transmitting circuit excites the ultrasound probe to transmit ultrasound waves toward the heart tissue region of the fetus;

[0264] a receiving circuit, wherein the receiving circuit controls the ultrasonic probe to receive ultrasonic echoes returned from the fetal heart tissue region to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0265] The processor processes the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain an ultrasonic image of a cardiac tissue region of the target object and executes the ultrasonic imaging method as described above.

[0266] In some embodiments, the ultrasound imaging device is Figure 1 、 Figure 2 The ultrasonic imaging device of the illustrated embodiment, the ultrasonic imaging device and the aforementioned ultrasonic imaging method all belong to the same inventive concept, so these embodiments have the same implementation principles and technical effects, which will not be described in detail here.

[0267] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the specification of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequential order. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can, for example, be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0268] It should be understood that in the present application, "at least one of", "at least one (item)" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c", where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0269] It should be understood that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, multiple (or multiple items) means more than two, greater than, less than, exceed, etc. are understood to exclude the number itself, and above, below, within, etc. are understood to include the number itself.

[0270] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0271] Units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0272] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0273] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0274] It should also be understood that the various implementation methods provided in the embodiments of the present application can be combined arbitrarily to achieve different technical effects.

[0275] The above is a specific description of the preferred implementation of the present application, but the present application is not limited to the above implementation mode. Technical personnel familiar with the art can also make various equivalent modifications or substitutions under the shared conditions that do not violate the spirit of the present application. These equivalent modifications or substitutions are all included in the scope defined by the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic imaging method, characterized in that: The method comprises: controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward a heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data; Obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time; Determining atrial region position information and ventricular region position information based on the heart section image displayed in real time; Based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, it is determined whether a target M sampling line can be used to pass through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference: if so, a target M sampling line that passes through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, and an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line is received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, and the target M is generated based on the second ultrasonic echo data. If not, two target M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the sampling lines are generated on the cardiac section image displayed in real time, with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasound wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M-mode ultrasound lines, respectively, and ultrasound echoes of the second ultrasound waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M-mode ultrasound lines are respectively received to obtain second ultrasound echo data, and M-mode ultrasound images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M-mode ultrasound lines are respectively generated based on the second ultrasound echo data; An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

2. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 1, wherein: The generating of a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously includes: If there is only one M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region, the M sampling line is used as the target M sampling line; If there are multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, according to a first preset rule, an M sampling line that meets the first preset rule is determined as the target M sampling line.

3. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 2, wherein: The first preset rule includes: From the plurality of M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously, select an M sampling line whose image region corresponding to the M sampling line has the largest grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period as the target M sampling line; or, The angle bisector of the maximum angle formed by the multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is used as the target M sampling line.

4. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 1, wherein: The two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region; The generating of two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively includes: According to a second preset rule, an M sampling line passing through the atrial region is generated as the first target M sampling line, and an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region is generated as the second target M sampling line.

5. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The second preset rule includes: Select an M sampling line passing through the center of the atrial region as the first target M sampling line, and select an M sampling line passing through the center of the ventricular region as the second target M sampling line; or, An M sampling line passing through the atrial region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the first target M sampling line; an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the second target M sampling line.

6. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region; The controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, and receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, includes: According to a preset transmission timing, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to alternately transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line; Respectively receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line to obtain second ultrasonic echo data; Generating, based on the second ultrasonic echo data, M-mode ultrasonic images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, which change over time, respectively, includes: An M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region corresponding to the first target M sampling line and an M-mode ultrasound image of the ventricular region corresponding to the second target M sampling line that change with time are generated according to the second ultrasound echo data.

7. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: Determining the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information according to the cardiac section image includes: Performing feature extraction on the cardiac section image using a sliding window extraction algorithm to determine the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information; or, The cardiac section image is input into a trained deep learning model to determine the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information.

8. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The cardiac section image includes a standard section image or a non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region, wherein the standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region includes an apical four-chamber section image or a ventricular outflow tract section image.

9. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: Before controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue area corresponding to the target M sampling line, the method further includes: receiving a user's adjustment instruction for the target M sampling line; adjusting the angle of the target M sampling line according to the adjustment instruction; or Before controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit the second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the two target M sampling lines respectively, the method further includes: receiving a user's adjustment instruction for one or two of the two target M sampling lines; and adjusting the angle of the one or two target M sampling lines according to the adjustment instruction.

10. An ultrasonic imaging method, characterized in that: The method comprises: controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward a heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data; Obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time; Determining atrial region position information and ventricular region position information based on the heart section image displayed in real time; According to the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, and an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line is received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, and according to the second ultrasonic echo data, an M-mode ultrasonic image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line that changes with time is generated; or, according to the atrial region position information and ventricular region position information, generating two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively on the cardiac cross-sectional image displayed in real time with the transmission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, obtaining second ultrasonic echo data, and generating, based on the second ultrasonic echo data, M-mode ultrasonic images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, changing over time; An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

11. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 10, wherein: The generating of a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously includes: If there is only one M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region, the M sampling line is used as the target M sampling line; If there are multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, according to a first preset rule, an M sampling line that meets the first preset rule is determined as the target M sampling line.

12. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 11, wherein: The first preset rule includes: From the plurality of M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously, select an M sampling line whose image region corresponding to the M sampling line has the largest grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period as the target M sampling line; or, The angle bisector of the maximum included angle of the multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is used as the target M sampling line.

13. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 10, wherein: The two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region; The generating of two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively includes: According to a second preset rule, an M sampling line passing through the atrial region is generated as the first target M sampling line, and an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region is generated as the second target M sampling line.

14. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 13, wherein: The second preset rule includes: Select an M sampling line passing through the center of the atrial region as the first target M sampling line, and select an M sampling line passing through the center of the ventricular region as the second target M sampling line; or, An M sampling line passing through the atrial region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the first target M sampling line; an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the second target M sampling line.

15. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that: The two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region; The controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, and receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, includes: According to a preset transmission timing, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to alternately transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line; Respectively receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line to obtain second ultrasonic echo data; Generating, based on the second ultrasonic echo data, M-mode ultrasonic images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, which change over time, respectively, includes: An M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region corresponding to the first target M sampling line and an M-mode ultrasound image of the ventricular region corresponding to the second target M sampling line that change with time are generated according to the second ultrasound echo data.

16. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that: The cardiac section image includes a standard section image or a non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region, wherein the standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region includes an apical four-chamber section image or a ventricular outflow tract section image.

17. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that: Before controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit the second ultrasonic wave to the tissue area corresponding to the target M sampling line, the method further includes: receiving a user's adjustment instruction for the target M sampling line; adjusting the angle of the target M sampling line according to the adjustment instruction; or Before controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit the second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the two target M sampling lines respectively, the method further includes: receiving a user's adjustment instruction for one or two of the two target M sampling lines; and adjusting the angle of the one or two target M sampling lines according to the adjustment instruction.

18. An ultrasonic imaging method, characterized in that: The method comprises: controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit a first ultrasound wave toward a heart tissue region of the fetus, and receiving an ultrasound echo of the first ultrasound wave returned by the heart tissue region to obtain first ultrasound echo data; Obtaining a cardiac cross-sectional image based on the first ultrasonic echo data and displaying it in real time; Determining atrial region position information and ventricular region position information based on the heart section image displayed in real time; In a first state, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region is generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line, and an ultrasonic echo of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue region corresponding to the target M sampling line is received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, and an M-mode ultrasonic image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line that changes with time is generated based on the second ultrasonic echo data; in a second state, based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region are generated on the real-time displayed cardiac section image with the emission center of the ultrasound probe as a reference, and the ultrasound probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the two tissue regions. The tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines are respectively transmitted with a second ultrasonic wave, and ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines are respectively received to obtain second ultrasonic echo data. Based on the second ultrasonic echo data, M-mode ultrasonic images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines are respectively generated with time. The first state is a state in which the atrial region and the ventricular region can be simultaneously passed through by one target M sampling line with the emission center of the ultrasonic probe as a reference, and the second state is a state in which the atrial region and the ventricular region cannot be simultaneously passed through by one target M sampling line with the emission center of the ultrasonic probe as a reference. Alternatively, the first state is a state in which the atrial region and the ventricular region are simultaneously passed through by one target M sampling line based on a user selection instruction, and the second state is a state in which the atrial region and the ventricular region are respectively passed through by two target M sampling lines based on a user selection instruction. An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

19. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 18, wherein: The generating of a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously includes: If there is only one M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region, the M sampling line is used as the target M sampling line; If there are multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time, according to a first preset rule, an M sampling line that meets the first preset rule is determined as the target M sampling line.

20. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 19, wherein: The first preset rule includes: From the plurality of M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously, select an M sampling line whose image region corresponding to the M sampling line has the largest grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period as the target M sampling line; or, The angle bisector of the maximum included angle of the multiple M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region at the same time is used as the target M sampling line.

21. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 18, wherein: The two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region; The generating of two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively includes: According to a second preset rule, an M sampling line passing through the atrial region is generated as the first target M sampling line, and an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region is generated as the second target M sampling line.

22. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 21, wherein: The second preset rule includes: Select an M sampling line passing through the center of the atrial region as the first target M sampling line, and select an M sampling line passing through the center of the ventricular region as the second target M sampling line; or, An M sampling line passing through the atrial region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the first target M sampling line; an M sampling line passing through the ventricular region and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the second target M sampling line.

23. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized in that: The two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region; The controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, and receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic waves returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, respectively, to obtain second ultrasonic echo data, includes: According to a preset transmission timing, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to alternately transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line; Respectively receiving ultrasonic echoes of the second ultrasonic wave returned by the tissue regions corresponding to the first target M sampling line and the second target M sampling line to obtain second ultrasonic echo data; Generating, based on the second ultrasonic echo data, M-mode ultrasonic images of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the two target M sampling lines, which change over time, respectively, includes: An M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region corresponding to the first target M sampling line and an M-mode ultrasound image of the ventricular region corresponding to the second target M sampling line that change with time are generated according to the second ultrasound echo data.

24. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized in that: The cardiac section image includes a standard section image or a non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region, wherein the standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region includes an apical four-chamber section image or a ventricular outflow tract section image.

25. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 18 to 22, characterized in that: Before controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit the second ultrasonic wave to the tissue area corresponding to the target M sampling line, the method further includes: receiving a user's adjustment instruction for the target M sampling line; adjusting the angle of the target M sampling line according to the adjustment instruction; or Before controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit the second ultrasonic wave to the tissue areas corresponding to the two target M sampling lines respectively, the method further includes: receiving a user's adjustment instruction for one or two of the two target M sampling lines; and adjusting the angle of the one or two target M sampling lines according to the adjustment instruction.

26. An ultrasonic imaging method, characterized in that: The method is applied to an ultrasonic imaging device, the ultrasonic imaging device including a processor and a memory, and the method includes executing the following steps by the processor: Acquire and display a target cardiac section image from the plurality of frames of cardiac section images stored in the memory; determining, based on the target cardiac section image, position information of an atrial region and position information of a ventricular region; generating, on the displayed target cardiac section image, a target M sampling line passing through both the atrial region and the ventricular region based on the atrial region position information and the ventricular region position information, or generating, on the displayed target cardiac section image, two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively; According to the target M sampling line, pixel data of an image area corresponding to the target M sampling line is retrieved from at least two frames of the stored multi-frame cardiac section image; generating, based on the pixel data, an M-mode ultrasound image of the atrial region and the ventricular region corresponding to the target M sampling line, which changes over time; An M-mode ultrasound image showing changes in the atrial and ventricular regions over time is displayed.

27. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 26, wherein: Generating a target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region simultaneously on the displayed target cardiac section image includes: determining an atrial sampling point located in the atrial region and a ventricular sampling point located in the ventricular region; The target M sampling line is generated on the displayed target cardiac section image and passes through the atrial sampling point and the ventricular sampling point at the same time.

28. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 26, wherein: The two target M sampling lines include a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial region and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular region; Generating two target M sampling lines passing through the atrial region and the ventricular region respectively on the displayed target cardiac section image includes: determining an atrial sampling point located in the atrial region and a ventricular sampling point located in the ventricular region; According to a third preset rule, a first target M sampling line passing through the atrial sampling point is generated on the displayed target cardiac section image, and a second target M sampling line passing through the ventricular sampling point is generated on the displayed target cardiac section image.

29. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 28, wherein: The third preset rule includes: An M sampling line passing through the atrial sampling point and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the first target M sampling line; an M sampling line passing through the ventricular sampling point and having an image region corresponding to the M sampling line with the largest degree of grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is selected as the second target M sampling line.

30. The ultrasonic imaging method according to claim 27 or 28, characterized in that: The determining of the atrial sampling point located in the atrial region and the ventricular sampling point located in the ventricular region includes: Determine the center of the atrial region as the atrial sampling point, and determine the center of the ventricular region as the ventricular sampling point; or, The position point in the atrial region with the largest grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is determined as the atrial sampling point; the position point in the ventricular region with the largest grayscale value dispersion within a preset time period is determined as the ventricular sampling point.

31. The ultrasonic imaging method according to any one of claims 26 to 29, characterized in that: The cardiac section image includes a standard section image or a non-standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region, wherein the standard section image including the atrial region and the ventricular region includes an apical four-chamber section image or a ventricular outflow tract section image.

32. An ultrasonic imaging device, characterized in that: The device comprises: Ultrasound probe; a transmitting circuit, wherein the transmitting circuit excites the ultrasound probe to transmit ultrasound waves toward the heart tissue region of the fetus; a receiving circuit, wherein the receiving circuit controls the ultrasound probe to receive ultrasound echoes returned from the heart tissue region of the fetus to obtain ultrasound echo signals; A processor is provided for processing the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain an ultrasonic image of the heart tissue region of the fetus, and performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 31.

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