Ultrasonic sound velocity determination method and ultrasonic imaging system

Abstract

An ultrasonic sound speed search method and ultrasonic imaging system, the method comprising: generating an ultrasonic image and determining a region to be processed therein; obtaining a first ultrasonic image of the region to be processed and its first clarity, as well as a second ultrasonic image and its second clarity, obtained by processing ultrasonic echo signals at a first sound speed and a second sound speed, respectively, wherein the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed; determining a third sound speed based on changes in the first clarity and the second clarity; processing the ultrasonic echo signals at the third sound speed to obtain a third ultrasonic image of the region to be processed and its third clarity; when the third clarity is lower than the first clarity or the second clarity, determining the sound speed corresponding to the larger of the two as the optimal sound speed for the region to be processed; and when the third clarity is higher than the first clarity and the second clarity, determining a fourth sound speed based on changes in the larger of the two and the third clarity. This solution improves the efficiency of sound speed search.

Description

[0001] manual Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of ultrasonic imaging, and more particularly to a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity and an ultrasonic imaging system. Background Art

[0003] In the medical field, ultrasound imaging technology has become an irreplaceable diagnostic technology in modern medical imaging due to its non-invasive, radiation-free, good real-time performance, high soft tissue identification ability, easy instrument use and low price. It has now become the preferred method for diagnosing many clinical diseases.

[0004] In ultrasound imaging, sound velocity is a critical imaging parameter. Because ultrasound waves propagate at different speeds in different individuals and tissues, if the sound velocity used for beamforming deviates from the true sound velocity, phase deviation will occur, leading to tissue displacement, image distortion, and decreased contrast, affecting image quality and potentially even the accuracy of medical diagnoses. However, most existing ultrasound products preset the sound velocity to a specific value based on the examination mode. When doctors need to adjust image quality based on individual differences, they must manually adjust the sound velocity to achieve focus, a cumbersome and slow operation. Furthermore, doctors can only choose between a limited number of sound velocity values, making it impossible to guarantee focusing accuracy. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The Summary of the Invention introduces a series of simplified concepts that will be further described in the Detailed Description of the Invention. The Summary of the Invention is not intended to limit the key features and essential features of the claimed technical solution, nor is it intended to determine the scope of protection of the claimed technical solution.

[0006] A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity, the method comprising:

[0007] transmitting ultrasonic waves to target tissue of the subject and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0008] generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image;

[0009] Acquiring a first ultrasonic image of the area to be processed by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at a first sound velocity;

[0010] obtaining a first clarity of the first ultrasound image based on the first ultrasound image of the area to be processed;

[0011] Acquiring a second ultrasonic image of the area to be processed by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at a second sound velocity;

[0012] obtaining a second clarity of the second ultrasound image based on a second ultrasound image of the area to be treated, wherein the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed;

[0013] determining a third sound speed according to changes in the first clarity and the second clarity;

[0014] Processing the ultrasonic echo signal using the third sound velocity to obtain a third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed;

[0015] obtaining a third clarity of the third ultrasound image based on the third ultrasound image of the area to be processed;

[0016] When the third definition is lower than the first definition or the second definition, determining a sound speed corresponding to a larger value of the first definition and the second definition as an optimal sound speed of the area to be processed;

[0017] When the third definition is higher than the first definition and the second definition, a fourth sound speed is determined according to a change in a larger value of the first definition and the second definition and the third definition.

[0018] A second aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining sound speed, the method comprising:

[0019] transmitting ultrasonic waves to target tissue of the subject and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0020] generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image;

[0021] Acquire ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals respectively at the at least three sound velocities;

[0022] obtaining, based on the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities, clarity of the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities;

[0023] A fitting curve between sound speed and clarity is determined according to the at least three sound speeds and the corresponding clarity, and the sound speed corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed.

[0024] A third aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a method for determining sound speed, the method comprising:

[0025] transmitting ultrasonic waves to target tissue of the subject and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0026] generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image;

[0027] Acquiring ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals at different sound velocities;

[0028] Obtaining, according to the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to at least three different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities;

[0029] The optimal sound speed of the area to be treated is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least three different sound speeds.

[0030] A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a method for determining sound speed, the method comprising:

[0031] transmitting ultrasonic waves to target tissue of the subject and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0032] generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image;

[0033] Acquiring ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals at different sound velocities;

[0034] Obtaining, according to the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to at least two different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities;

[0035] The optimal sound speed of the area to be treated is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least two different sound speeds.

[0036] A fifth aspect of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0037] Ultrasound probe;

[0038] a transmitting circuit, configured to stimulate the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves toward a target tissue of the subject;

[0039] A receiving circuit, configured to receive the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

[0040] a beamforming circuit, configured to process the ultrasonic echo signal using a first sound velocity, a second sound velocity, and a third sound velocity, respectively;

[0041] Processor for:

[0042] obtaining a first ultrasonic image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed by the first sound velocity;

[0043] obtaining a first clarity of the first ultrasound image based on the first ultrasound image of the area to be processed;

[0044] obtaining a second ultrasonic image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed using the second sound velocity;

[0045] obtaining a second clarity of the second ultrasound image based on a second ultrasound image of the area to be treated, wherein the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed;

[0046] determining a third sound speed according to changes in the first clarity and the second clarity;

[0047] obtaining a third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed using the third sound velocity;

[0048] obtaining a third clarity of the third ultrasound image based on the third ultrasound image of the area to be processed;

[0049] When the third definition is lower than the first definition or the second definition, determining a sound speed corresponding to a larger value of the first definition and the second definition as an optimal sound speed of the area to be processed;

[0050] When the third definition is higher than the first definition and the second definition, a fourth sound speed is determined according to a change in a larger value of the first definition and the second definition and the third definition.

[0051] A sixth aspect of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0052] Ultrasound probe;

[0053] a transmitting circuit, configured to stimulate the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves toward a target tissue of the subject;

[0054] A receiving circuit, configured to receive the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

[0055] a beamforming circuit, configured to process the ultrasonic echo signal using at least three sound velocities respectively;

[0056] Processor for:

[0057] generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image;

[0058] Obtaining ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities based on the ultrasonic echo signals processed using the at least three sound velocities respectively;

[0059] obtaining, based on the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities, clarity of the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities;

[0060] A fitting curve between sound speed and clarity is determined according to the at least three sound speeds and the corresponding clarity, and the sound speed corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed.

[0061] A seventh aspect of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0062] Ultrasound probe;

[0063] a transmitting circuit, configured to stimulate the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves toward a target tissue of the subject;

[0064] A receiving circuit, configured to receive the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

[0065] a beamforming circuit, configured to process the ultrasonic echo signals using different sound velocities;

[0066] Processor for:

[0067] generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image;

[0068] Obtaining ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities based on the ultrasonic echo signals processed using the different sound velocities;

[0069] Obtaining, according to the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to at least three different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities;

[0070] The optimal sound speed of the area to be treated is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least three different sound speeds.

[0071] An eighth aspect of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0072] Ultrasound probe;

[0073] a transmitting circuit, configured to stimulate the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves toward a target tissue of the subject;

[0074] A receiving circuit, configured to receive the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

[0075] a beamforming circuit, configured to process the ultrasonic echo signals using different sound velocities;

[0076] Processor for:

[0077] generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image;

[0078] Obtaining ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities based on the ultrasonic echo signals processed using the different sound velocities;

[0079] Obtaining, according to the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to at least two different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities;

[0080] The optimal sound speed of the area to be treated is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least two different sound speeds.

[0081] According to the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method and ultrasonic imaging system of the embodiments of the present application, the sound velocity determination method is improved and the efficiency of sound velocity determination is increased. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0082] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative labor.

[0083] In the attached figure:

[0084] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0085] Figure 2 A schematic flow chart showing a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0086] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating a principle of step-by-step sound velocity determination in a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0087] Figure 4A schematic flow chart showing a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0088] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating the principle of determining the sound velocity using a fitting formula in a method for determining the ultrasonic sound velocity according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0089] Figure 6 A schematic flow chart showing a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

[0090] Figure 7 The following is a schematic flow chart showing a method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0091] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the following is a detailed description of example embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application, and it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the example embodiments described herein. Based on the embodiments of the present application described in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of this application.

[0092] In the following description, a large number of specific details are provided to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present application can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, some technical features well known in the art are not described in order to avoid confusion with the present application.

[0093] It should be understood that the present application can be implemented in different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, providing these embodiments will make the disclosure thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present application to those skilled in the art.

[0094] The purpose of the terms used herein is only to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present application. When used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "comprising" and / or "including", when used in this specification, determine the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups. When used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of the relevant listed items.

[0095] In order to fully understand the present application, a detailed structure will be provided in the following description to illustrate the technical solution proposed by the present application. The optional embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. However, in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present application may also have other implementation methods.

[0096] Next, first refer to Figure 1 An ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0097] like Figure 1 As shown, the ultrasound imaging system 100 includes an ultrasound probe 110, a transmitting circuit 112, a receiving circuit 114, a beamforming circuit 116, a processor 118, and a display 120. Furthermore, the ultrasound imaging system may further include a transmit / receive selection switch 122, through which the transmitting circuit 112 and the receiving circuit 114 may be connected to the ultrasound probe 110.

[0098] The ultrasound probe 110 comprises an array of multiple transducer elements. Each time an ultrasonic wave is transmitted, all or some of the elements of the ultrasound probe 110 participate in the transmission of the ultrasonic wave. Each element, or some of the elements participating in the ultrasonic wave transmission, is excited by the transmit pulse and transmits an ultrasonic wave. The ultrasonic waves transmitted by these elements superimpose during propagation, forming a composite ultrasonic beam that is transmitted to the target tissue of the subject.

[0099] During ultrasound imaging, the transmitting circuit 112 sends a delayed, focused transmit pulse to the ultrasound probe 110 via the transmit / receive selector switch 122. The ultrasound probe 110, stimulated by the transmit pulse, emits an ultrasonic beam toward the target tissue of the subject. After a certain delay, it receives the ultrasonic echo containing tissue information reflected from the target tissue and reconverts the ultrasonic echo into an electrical signal. The receiving circuit 114 receives the converted electrical signal generated by the ultrasound probe 110, obtains ultrasonic echo signals, and sends these ultrasonic echo signals to the beamforming circuit 116. The beamforming circuit performs focusing delay, weighting, and channel summing on the ultrasonic echo data before sending it to the processor 118. The processor 118 performs signal detection, signal enhancement, data conversion, and logarithmic compression on the ultrasonic echo data to form an ultrasound image. The ultrasound image generated by the processor 118 can be displayed on the display 120 or stored in memory.

[0100] Optionally, the processor 118 may be implemented as software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof, and may use one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more general-purpose integrated circuits, one or more microprocessors, one or more programmable logic devices, or any combination of the foregoing circuits and / or devices, or other suitable circuits or devices. Furthermore, the processor 118 may control other components in the ultrasound imaging system 100 to execute the corresponding steps of the methods described in various embodiments of this specification.

[0101] The display 120 is connected to the processor 118 and can be a touch screen display, liquid crystal display, or the like. Alternatively, the display 120 can be an independent display device such as a liquid crystal display or television that is independent of the ultrasound imaging system 100. Alternatively, the display 120 can be a display screen of an electronic device such as a smartphone or tablet computer. The number of displays 120 can be one or more. For example, the display 120 can include a main screen and a touch screen, with the main screen primarily used to display ultrasound images and the touch screen primarily used for human-computer interaction.

[0102] The display 120 can display the ultrasound image generated by the processor 118. In addition to displaying the ultrasound image, the display 120 can also provide a graphical interface for human-computer interaction. One or more controlled objects can be set on the graphical interface, and the user can use the human-computer interaction device to input operating instructions to control these controlled objects, thereby performing corresponding control operations. For example, icons can be displayed on the graphical interface, and the human-computer interaction device can be used to operate these icons to perform specific functions, such as drawing a region of interest on the ultrasound image.

[0103] Optionally, the ultrasound imaging system 100 may further include other human-computer interaction devices in addition to the display 120, which are connected to the processor 118. For example, the processor 118 may be connected to the human-computer interaction device via an external input / output port. The external input / output port may be a wireless communication module, a wired communication module, or a combination of the two. The external input / output port may also be implemented based on USB, a bus protocol such as CAN, and / or a wired network protocol.

[0104] The human-computer interaction device may include an input device for detecting user input information. The input information may be, for example, a control instruction for the timing of ultrasonic transmission / reception, an operation input instruction for drawing a point, line, or frame on an ultrasonic image, or other instruction types. The input device may include one or a combination of a keyboard, a mouse, a scroll wheel, a trackball, a mobile input device (such as a mobile device with a touch screen display, a mobile phone, etc.), a multi-function knob, etc. The human-computer interaction device may also include an output device such as a printer.

[0105] The ultrasound imaging system 100 may further include a memory for storing instructions executed by the processor, storing received ultrasound echoes, storing ultrasound images, etc. The memory may be a flash memory card, a solid-state memory, a hard disk, etc. The memory may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory, a removable memory and / or a non-removable memory, etc.

[0106] It should be understood that Figure 1 The components included in the ultrasound imaging system 100 are merely illustrative, and the system may include more or fewer components, which is not limited in the present application.

[0107] Below, we will refer to Figure 2 A method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to an embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 2 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method 200 for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0108] like Figure 2 As shown, the method 200 includes the following steps:

[0109] In step S201, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to a target tissue of a subject, and echoes of the ultrasonic waves are received to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0110] In step S202, an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;

[0111] In step S203, a first ultrasonic image of the area to be processed is obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at a first sound velocity;

[0112] In step S204, a first definition of the first ultrasound image is obtained based on the first ultrasound image of the area to be processed;

[0113] In step S205, a second ultrasonic image of the area to be processed is obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at a second sound velocity;

[0114] In step S206, based on a second ultrasound image of the area to be processed, a second clarity of the second ultrasound image is obtained, and the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed;

[0115] In step S207, a third sound speed is determined according to changes in the first clarity and the second clarity;

[0116] In step S208, the ultrasonic echo signal is processed using the third sound velocity to obtain a third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed;

[0117] In step S209, based on the third ultrasound image of the area to be processed, a third clarity of the third ultrasound image is obtained;

[0118] In step S210, when the third definition is lower than the first definition or the second definition, determining a sound speed corresponding to a larger value of the first definition and the second definition as an optimal sound speed of the area to be processed;

[0119] In step S211 , when the third definition is higher than the first definition and the second definition, a fourth sound speed is determined according to a change in a larger value of the first definition and the second definition and the third definition.

[0120] The ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 of the embodiment of the present application can be used to automatically focus an ultrasonic image. The ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 of the embodiment of the present application can be automatically executed during the ultrasonic imaging process. Alternatively, an autofocus button can be provided or an autofocus icon can be displayed on the graphical interface of the display 120. When an input instruction is received selecting the autofocus button or icon, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 of the embodiment of the present application is executed. Optionally, the ultrasonic autofocus process can also be hidden in a one-key optimization function. When the user triggers the one-key optimization function, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 of the embodiment of the present application is executed.

[0121] During ultrasound imaging, refer to Figure 1 The transmitting circuit 112 sends an appropriately delayed electrical signal to each transducer array element in the ultrasonic probe 110, and the transducer converts the electrical signal into an ultrasonic wave and transmits it to the target tissue of the object being measured; the transducer in the ultrasonic probe 110 converts the received ultrasonic echo into an electrical signal, and the receiving circuit 114 is responsible for receiving the electrical signal and performing signal amplification, analog-to-digital conversion and other processing, where each transducer array element corresponds to one electrical signal; the beamforming circuit 116 performs beamforming processing such as delay calculation and dynamic focusing on the multiple electrical signals converted by the receiving circuit 114, and finally merges the multiple electrical signals into one ultrasonic echo signal.

[0122] During the beamforming process performed by beamforming circuit 116, each signal must be appropriately delayed to ensure phase consistency of the signal superposition. Therefore, an accurate sound velocity value is required to calculate the delay parameter. The sound velocity determination strategy proposed in the embodiments of the present application can quickly and accurately determine the optimal sound velocity that better matches the actual sound velocity, thereby achieving a better focusing effect.

[0123] In step S202, when beamforming is first performed on the electrical signal, the sound velocity has not yet been determined. In this case, the beamforming circuit can use a preset sound velocity for beamforming. The beamforming circuit then sends the beamformed ultrasound echo signal to the processor 118 for processing, thereby generating an ultrasound image. The sound velocity corresponding to the ultrasound image is the preset sound velocity within the system, which may be a fixed value for the current examination mode.

[0124] After an ultrasound image is generated, a region to be processed for subsequent sound velocity determination can be identified therein, i.e., only the region to be processed will be subsequently subjected to sound velocity determination. The region to be processed can be an area at a specified location, an area containing target tissue, an area of ​​user interest, or an area that meets other conditions. The region to be processed can be determined automatically or manually by the user; the region to be processed can be one or more; or, the region to be processed can be the entire ultrasound image, i.e., the ultrasound image is not segmented, and the sound velocity determination is performed on the entire ultrasound image as a whole.

[0125] In one embodiment, the ultrasound image can be first divided into multiple regions, and some or all of the regions can be determined as regions to be processed. As an example, the ultrasound image can be equally divided into multiple regions. For example, the ultrasound image can be divided into nine regions of equal size in a nine-square grid format. Of course, the division of the ultrasound image is not limited to equal division and can also include non-equal division, and the number of divided regions is not limited to nine.

[0126] Optionally, the number of regions divided in the ultrasound image can be automatically or manually determined based on the examination mode. When the target tissue of the current examination mode is large, the number of divided regions can be reduced, for example, dividing the ultrasound image into 4 or 9 regions. When the target tissue is small, such as when examining delicate tissue such as blood vessels, the number of divided regions can be increased, for example, dividing the ultrasound image into 16, 25, or more regions, to more accurately determine the speed of sound in delicate tissue areas, thereby improving the focusing effect in delicate tissue areas.

[0127] Afterwards, the area to be processed can be determined from the multiple divided areas. Among them, all the divided areas can be determined as the area to be processed, that is, the sound speed will be determined for the multiple areas in the entire ultrasound image separately later. Alternatively, since in the multiple areas of the ultrasound image, usually only some areas include the tissue image of the target tissue, some areas in the divided areas can also be determined as the area to be processed, thereby reducing the amount of calculation. As an example, the partial area whose position in the ultrasound image meets the predetermined requirements can be determined as the area to be processed. For example, since the tissue image of the target tissue is generally located in the central area or near-field area of ​​the ultrasound image, only the central area or near-field area of ​​the ultrasound image can be used as the area to be processed for sound speed determination. In other examples, the area where the tissue of the target tissue is located in the ultrasound image can also be detected and used as the area to be processed for sound speed determination.

[0128] In one embodiment, an interactive method can also be used to determine the area to be processed in the ultrasound image. For example, a graphical interface for human-computer interaction can be provided to the user on the display 120, where the ultrasound image is displayed and the division of multiple areas therein is displayed, and the user can click to select one or more areas. As an example, the method of displaying the division of multiple areas can include displaying the dividing lines between multiple areas, and can also include displaying different areas in different colors. After receiving the user's selection instruction for the area to be processed, the one or more areas selected by the user are determined as the area to be processed according to the selection instruction. In this way, the selection of the area to be processed can be more targeted and more in line with user needs.

[0129] In one embodiment, in addition to the aforementioned method of first dividing the ultrasound image and then determining the area to be processed, the area to be processed can also be directly selected in the ultrasound image automatically or manually. The selected area to be processed can then be further divided into multiple areas.

[0130] For example, when the automatic determination method is adopted, the central area, the near field area or other areas that meet the requirements can be directly selected in the ultrasound image as the area to be processed, and the area can also be automatically determined. Figure 1 The display 120 shown displays the result of selecting the region to be processed to the user. When the region to be processed is determined based on the user's instruction, a graphical interface for human-computer interaction can be provided to the user on the display 120. The graphical interface displays the ultrasound image and an icon. The user can use the human-computer interaction device to input an operation instruction to control the icon to draw a region of interest on the ultrasound image to select the region of interest. The processor 112 receives the user's instruction to select the region of interest in the ultrasound image and uses the region of interest selected by the user as the region to be processed for sound velocity determination.

[0131] After determining the area to be processed in the ultrasonic image, subsequent steps S203 to S211 are executed to determine the sound velocity of the area to be processed to determine the optimal sound velocity of the area to be processed. As described above, the area to be processed in the ultrasonic image can be one or more. When there are multiple areas to be processed, the sound velocity of the multiple areas to be processed can be determined sequentially, or the sound velocity of the multiple areas to be processed can be determined in parallel. Moreover, the sound velocity determination strategy adopted by each area to be processed can be the same or different. For example, some of the areas to be processed can adopt the step-by-step determination strategy in method 200, and other areas to be processed can adopt the determination strategy described in other embodiments of the present application. The following describes in detail the step-by-step sound velocity determination strategy adopted in the embodiment of the present application for a single area to be processed.

[0132] Exemplarily, in the process of determining the sound speed, the processor 118 first determines a sound speed and conveys it to the beamforming circuit 116. The beamforming circuit 116 uses the sound speed determined by the processor 118 to focus the area to be processed and sends the processed ultrasonic echo data back to the processor 118. The processor 118 uses the data to generate an ultrasonic image of the area to be processed and calculates the clarity of the ultrasonic image.

[0133] Among them, any one or more indicators can be used to evaluate the clarity of the image. For example, any one of the image gradient value, image entropy, and image variance of the area to be processed can be calculated. Alternatively, multiple parameters such as the image gradient value, image entropy, and image variance of the area to be processed can be calculated, and one of them can be selected as the indicator for evaluating the clarity of the image, or a comprehensive evaluation indicator can be obtained through operations such as weighted summation. Of course, other parameters related to image quality can also be used to evaluate image clarity, and this embodiment of the application is not limited to this.

[0134] In the embodiments of the present application, a step-by-step sound speed determination method is used. The clarity of the area to be processed after image processing using the current sound speed is compared with the clarity of the area to be processed after image processing using the sound speed before the current sound speed. The next sound speed is determined based on the comparison results until the optimal sound speed is determined. Compared with the method of traversing all sound speeds for image processing and then comparing the clarity of the ultrasound image at each sound speed to select the optimal sound speed, the sound speed determination method used in the embodiments of the present application compares the clarity of the image at different sound speeds in real time during the determination process, thereby adjusting the sound speed determination direction in real time, shortening the determination time and reducing the amount of calculation.

[0135] Specifically, in steps S203 to S206, the clarity corresponding to the first sound speed and the second sound speed is first determined. In one example, when the sound speed determination is initially started, the preset sound speed in the system is first used as the first sound speed, and a preset step size is added to the preset sound speed as the second sound speed. At this time, the first sound speed is the preset sound speed used when generating the ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal in step S202. Obtaining the first ultrasonic image of the area to be processed by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the first sound speed is the first ultrasonic image of the area to be processed obtained in the ultrasonic image generated in step S202. In another example, the first ultrasonic image is obtained directly based on the ultrasonic image generated by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the preset sound speed in the system. In this embodiment, the first sound speed is the preset sound speed, and there is no need to re-transmit the first sound speed. In another example, when the sound velocity determination is initially performed, a preset sound velocity within the system is first used as the second sound velocity, and the preset sound velocity is reduced by a preset step size to form the first sound velocity. In this case, the second sound velocity is the sound velocity used when generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal in step S202. Acquiring a second ultrasonic image of the to-be-treated area by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the second sound velocity is equivalent to acquiring the second ultrasonic image of the to-be-treated area from the ultrasonic image generated in step S202. However, it should be noted that the first sound velocity and the second sound velocity are not limited to the first two sound velocities determined, but only represent two adjacent sound velocities during the sound velocity determination process.

[0136] Exemplarily, when the first sound velocity is not the preset sound velocity used when generating the initial ultrasound image in step S202, obtaining a first ultrasound image of the area to be treated by processing the ultrasound echo signal at the first sound velocity further includes: obtaining an ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the area to be treated from the ultrasound echo signal; and processing the ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the area to be treated using the first sound velocity to obtain the first ultrasound image of the area to be treated. Specifically, the processor 118 can determine the first sound velocity and transmit it to the beamforming circuit 116. The beamforming circuit 116 obtains the ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the area to be treated from the ultrasound echo signal based on the position of the area to be treated and the position information carried in the ultrasound echo signal, and processes the ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the area to be treated using the first sound velocity. Thereafter, the beamforming circuit 116 sends the beamformed ultrasound echo signal to the processor 118 for processing to generate the first ultrasound image of the area to be treated, and calculates the first clarity of the first ultrasound image.

[0137] Similarly, when the second sound velocity is not the sound velocity used when generating the initial ultrasound image in step S202, obtaining a second ultrasound image of the area to be processed by processing the ultrasound echo signal at the second sound velocity further includes: obtaining an ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the area to be processed from the ultrasound echo signal; and processing the ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the area to be processed at the second sound velocity to obtain the second ultrasound image of the area to be processed, wherein the second sound velocity is greater than the first sound velocity. Subsequently, in step S206, based on the second ultrasound image of the area to be processed, a second clarity of the second ultrasound image corresponding to the second sound velocity is obtained. It should be noted that embodiments of the present application do not restrict the order of determining the first clarity corresponding to the first sound velocity and determining the second clarity corresponding to the second sound velocity. For ease of distinction, the larger of the first and second sound velocities is referred to as the second sound velocity, and the smaller of the first and second sound velocities is referred to as the first sound velocity. This is not intended to limit the order of determining the first clarity corresponding to the first sound velocity first and then determining the second clarity corresponding to the second sound velocity.

[0138] Next, in step S207 , a third sound velocity is determined according to changes in the first clarity and the second clarity.

[0139] For example, when the second clarity is higher than the first clarity, it is considered that the clarity increases with increasing sound speed, and thus the first preset step size is increased based on the second sound speed to obtain the third sound speed. Conversely, when the second clarity is lower than the first clarity, it is considered that the clarity decreases with increasing sound speed, and thus the third preset step size is decreased based on the first sound speed to obtain the third sound speed.

[0140] Among them, the preset step size represents the interval between two adjacent sound speeds. The smaller the preset step size, the higher the determination accuracy, but the corresponding determination speed is slower, so the trade-off between determination accuracy and determination speed can be made by adjusting the preset step size. For example, several accuracy gears can be set, each accuracy gear corresponds to a preset step size, and the higher the accuracy, the smaller the preset step size. The preset step size can be a predetermined fixed value, and the same preset step size is used between each two adjacent sound speeds, that is, the first preset step size and the third preset step size can be a predetermined fixed value, and the two can be equal. Alternatively, the preset step size can be adaptively adjusted according to the difference in clarity obtained by image processing of the current sound speed and the previous sound speed, then the first preset step size and the third preset step size can be adaptively adjusted according to the difference in clarity between the first clarity and the second clarity, for example, the larger the difference, the larger the first preset step size and the third preset step size.

[0141] Next, in step S208, the ultrasonic echo signal is processed using the third sound velocity to obtain a third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed. Furthermore, in step S209, a third definition of the third ultrasonic image is obtained based on the third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed. Subsequently, based on the change in the third definition corresponding to the third sound velocity compared to the first or second definition, the third sound velocity can be selected as the optimal sound velocity or further sound velocity determination can be performed.

[0142] Specifically, in the first case, in step S210, if the third clarity corresponding to the third sound velocity is lower than the first or second clarity, the sound velocity preceding the third sound velocity can be considered to have reached the optimal sound velocity, and thus the sound velocity preceding the third sound velocity can be determined as the optimal sound velocity. In other words, when the third clarity is lower than the first or second clarity, the sound velocity corresponding to the larger of the first and second clarity values ​​is determined to be the optimal sound velocity. Thus, method 200 employs a step-by-step sound velocity determination method, whereby the optimal sound velocity of the area to be treated can be determined by processing the ultrasonic echo signal using the three sound velocities at the fastest.

[0143] Among them, if the second clarity is higher than the first clarity, the third sound speed is obtained by adding the first preset step size to the second sound speed, that is, the previous sound speed of the third sound speed is the second sound speed, then when the third clarity is lower than the second clarity, the second sound speed is determined to be the optimal sound speed.

[0144] If the second clarity is lower than the first clarity, the third sound speed is obtained by reducing the third preset step size on the basis of the first sound speed, that is, the previous sound speed of the third sound speed is the first sound speed, then when the third clarity is lower than the first clarity, the first sound speed is determined to be the optimal sound speed.

[0145] Alternatively, if higher clarity is required, or if the image clarity obtained after image processing using the speed preceding the third speed of sound does not meet the requirements, the third speed of sound and the speed preceding the third speed of sound can be further refined by reducing the determination step size. For example, if the third speed of sound is obtained by adding a first preset step size to the second speed of sound, then the fourth speed of sound can be obtained by reducing the third speed of sound by a fifth preset step size, where the fifth preset step size is smaller than the first preset step size. Subsequently, processing is performed using the fourth speed of sound to obtain a fourth ultrasound image, a fourth clarity of the fourth ultrasound image is calculated, and the fourth clarity is compared with the second clarity. The speed of sound corresponding to the larger value of the fourth clarity or the second clarity is determined as the optimal speed of sound. Conversely, if the third speed of sound is obtained by reducing the third preset step size from the first speed of sound, then the fourth speed of sound can be obtained by adding a sixth preset step size to the third speed of sound, where the sixth preset step size is smaller than the third preset step size. Then, processing is performed using the fourth sound velocity to obtain a fourth ultrasound image, a fourth clarity of the fourth ultrasound image is calculated, and the fourth clarity is compared with the first clarity. The sound velocity corresponding to the larger value of the fourth clarity or the first clarity is determined as the optimal sound velocity. Of course, if the larger value of the first clarity or the second clarity meets the clarity requirement, the sound velocity corresponding to the larger value of the first clarity or the second clarity can be directly determined as the optimal sound velocity, and sound velocity determination can be stopped, thereby speeding up sound velocity determination.

[0146] In the second case, in step S211, if the third clarity corresponding to the third sound speed is higher than the first clarity and the second clarity, it is considered that the current sound speed change trend is still approaching the optimal sound speed and has not yet reached the optimal sound speed. Therefore, the sound speed determination can be continued in the current sound speed change direction, that is, the fourth sound speed is determined based on the larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity and the change of the third clarity.

[0147] If the second clarity is higher than the first clarity, and the third clarity is obtained by adding the first preset step size to the second sound speed, then when the third clarity is higher than the second clarity, the second preset step size is added to the third sound speed in the same direction of sound speed change as the sound speed increases to obtain the fourth sound speed. Exemplarily, the second preset step size is a fixed value, for example, the second preset step size may be equal to the first preset step size and the third preset step size; alternatively, the second preset step size may be adaptively adjusted based on the difference between the second and third clarity. For example, a larger difference indicates a greater distance from the optimal sound speed, and thus a larger second preset step size is used, thereby accelerating the sound speed determination.

[0148] Conversely, if the second clarity is lower than the first clarity, and the third clarity is obtained by reducing the third preset step size from the first clarity, then when the third clarity is higher than the first clarity, the fourth speed of sound is obtained by reducing the fourth preset step size from the third speed of sound, following the direction of the sound speed change in which the speed of sound decreases. Exemplarily, the second preset step size is a fixed value, for example, the second preset step size may be equal to the first preset step size and the third preset step size; alternatively, the second preset step size may be adaptively adjusted based on the difference between the first and third clarity, for example, the greater the difference, the larger the second preset step size.

[0149] After determining the fourth sound speed, the ultrasonic echo signal can be processed using the fourth sound speed to obtain a fourth ultrasonic image, a fourth clarity of the fourth ultrasonic image can be determined, and the fourth clarity is compared with the third clarity. If the fourth clarity is lower than the third clarity, the third sound speed is determined as the optimal sound speed; if the fourth clarity is higher than the third clarity, the sound speed determination is continued along the current sound speed change direction until the image clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the Nth sound speed is lower than the image clarity of the ultrasonic image of the to-be-processed area obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at the N-1th sound speed. At this time, the sound speed determination is stopped, and the N-1th sound speed is determined as the optimal sound speed.

[0150] Reference Figure 3 ,exist Figure 3 In the example shown, the sound velocity determination begins with a preset sound velocity, i.e., the preset sound velocity serves as the aforementioned first sound velocity SP1. The first sound velocity SP1 is increased by one sound velocity to obtain a second sound velocity SP2. The first sound velocity SP1 and the second sound velocity SP2 are used to process the ultrasonic echo signals, respectively, to obtain a first ultrasonic image and a second ultrasonic image, and to determine a first clarity and a second clarity for the first and second ultrasonic images, respectively. When the first sound velocity SP1 is the preset sound velocity, the ultrasonic image obtained in step S202 can be used to evaluate the clarity of the area to be processed. In this case, only the second sound velocity SP2 is required for image processing.

[0151] Next, the first clarity and the second clarity are compared, and the third sound speed is determined based on the comparison result. Figure 3 In the example shown, the second clarity corresponding to the second sound velocity SP2 is higher than the first clarity corresponding to the first sound velocity SP1. Therefore, the first preset step size is increased based on the second sound velocity SP2 to obtain a third sound velocity SP3. The third sound velocity SP3 is used for signal processing to obtain a third clarity, and then the third clarity is compared with the second clarity. Figure 3In the example, the third clarity corresponding to the third sound velocity SP3 is higher than the second clarity corresponding to the second sound velocity SP2. Therefore, the original sound velocity variation trend is maintained, and the second preset step size is further increased based on the third sound velocity SP3 to obtain the fourth sound velocity SP4. Signal processing is performed using the fourth sound velocity SP4 to obtain the fourth clarity. Because the fourth clarity is lower than the third clarity corresponding to the third sound velocity SP3, sound velocity determination is stopped, and the sound velocity immediately preceding the fourth sound velocity SP4 (i.e., the third sound velocity SP3) is determined as the optimal sound velocity.

[0152] Based on the above description, the sound velocity is determined for one or more to-be-processed regions in the ultrasound image, thereby determining an optimal sound velocity for each to-be-processed region. For example, during the stepwise sound velocity determination process, while obtaining the optimal sound velocity, an ultrasound image corresponding to the optimal sound velocity is generated for each to-be-processed region. Therefore, the ultrasound image corresponding to the optimal sound velocity generated during the sound velocity determination process can be used to replace the ultrasound image of the corresponding region in the ultrasound image obtained in step S202, while retaining the ultrasound image of the non-to-be-processed region, thereby obtaining a clear and complete ultrasound image.

[0153] It is understood that when there are multiple areas to be processed, the optimal sound velocities obtained from determining the sound velocity for each of the areas to be processed may be different. Therefore, after imaging adjacent areas to be processed using different optimal sound velocities, a step effect may exist at the boundary between the adjacent areas. Therefore, in one embodiment, after imaging each area to be processed using the optimal sound velocity obtained from the sound velocity determination, the transition region between two adjacent areas to be processed may be smoothed to eliminate a distinct boundary between the two areas to be processed, thereby further improving image quality and visual effects.

[0154] The method of smoothing the image is not limited to one method. For example, the image may be interpolated, post-processed, smoothed, or gradually transitioned.

[0155] In one embodiment, method 200 may further include: displaying the optimal sound speed of each area to be treated on the display interface. Since the speed at which ultrasound propagates in tissue is related to properties such as tissue density and hardness, displaying the optimal sound speed helps doctors understand the tissue condition of each area to be treated. The optimal sound speed can be displayed on the ultrasound image. For example, when the ultrasound image is divided into multiple areas in step S202, the optimal sound speed of each area can be displayed on the ultrasound image of the area. Alternatively, the optimal sound speed can also be displayed at a location other than the ultrasound image. As an example, the division of the ultrasound image can be displayed at other locations on the display interface. For example, when the ultrasound image is divided into a nine-square grid, a nine-square grid graphic can be displayed around the ultrasound image, and the optimal sound speed of each corresponding area of ​​the ultrasound image can be displayed in the nine-square grid graphic.

[0156] In addition, the average value of the optimal sound velocity for each area to be treated can be calculated and displayed on the display interface. Displaying the average sound velocity helps doctors understand the overall condition of the target tissue.

[0157] In summary, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 of the embodiment of the present application adopts a step-by-step ultrasonic sound velocity determination method, which improves the efficiency of sound velocity determination and can determine the sound velocity of different areas in the ultrasonic image separately, thereby improving the focusing accuracy of the ultrasonic image.

[0158] Below, reference Figure 4 A method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to another embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 4 4 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0159] like Figure 4 As shown, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 includes the following steps:

[0160] In step S401, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to a target tissue of a subject, and echoes of the ultrasonic waves are received to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0161] In step S402, an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;

[0162] In step S403, ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities are obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals respectively using at least three sound velocities;

[0163] In step S404, based on the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities, clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities is obtained;

[0164] In step S405, a fitting curve between sound speed and clarity is determined based on the at least three sound speeds and the corresponding clarity, and the sound speed corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed.

[0165] According to the embodiment of the present application, steps S401 and S402 in the ultrasonic sound speed determination method 400 are substantially similar to steps S201 and S202 in the ultrasonic sound speed determination method 200. For the sake of brevity, the same details are not repeated here. The following mainly describes in detail the specific method of determining the sound speed in steps S403 to S405.

[0166] Specifically, in step S402, when generating an initial ultrasound image, a beamforming circuit may perform beamforming using a preset sound velocity within the ultrasound imaging system. The sound velocity corresponding to the ultrasound image obtained by performing image processing on the beamformed ultrasound echo signals is the preset sound velocity. The preset sound velocity may be a fixed value in the current examination mode.

[0167] After an ultrasound image is generated, a region to be processed for subsequent sound velocity determination can be identified therein, i.e., only the region to be processed will be subsequently subjected to sound velocity determination. The region to be processed can be an area at a specified location, an area containing target tissue, an area of ​​user interest, or an area that meets other conditions. The region to be processed can be determined automatically or manually by the user; the region to be processed can be one or more; or, the region to be processed can be the entire ultrasound image, i.e., the ultrasound image is not segmented, and the sound velocity determination is performed on the entire ultrasound image as a whole.

[0168] In one embodiment, the ultrasound image can be first divided into multiple regions, and some or all of these regions can be identified as regions to be processed. In another embodiment, the regions to be processed can be directly selected in the ultrasound image automatically or manually. The selected regions to be processed can then be further divided into multiple regions. The specific method for determining the regions to be processed can be found in the relevant description of ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 and will not be repeated here.

[0169] After determining the area to be processed in the ultrasonic image, the speed of sound is determined for the area to be processed to obtain the optimal speed of sound for the area to be processed. As described above, the area to be processed in the ultrasonic image can be one or more. When there are multiple areas to be processed, the speed of sound can be determined for the multiple areas to be processed in sequence, or the speed of sound can be determined for the multiple areas to be processed in parallel. In addition, the speed of sound determination strategy adopted by each area to be processed can be the same or different. For example, some areas to be processed can adopt the step-by-step speed of sound determination strategy in method 200, and the remaining areas to be processed can adopt the fitting speed of sound determination strategy in method 400. In addition, method 200 and method 400 can be combined, for example, respectively using method 200 and method 400 to determine an optimal speed of sound, and comparing the clarity obtained by image processing the area to be processed using the above two optimal speeds, and determining the speed of sound corresponding to the higher clarity as the final optimal speed of sound. The following describes in detail the speed of sound determination strategy of the fitting method adopted in the embodiment of the present application for a single area to be processed.

[0170] Specifically, in step S403, processing the ultrasonic echo signals using at least three sound velocities to obtain ultrasonic images of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least three sound velocities further includes: obtaining ultrasonic echo signals corresponding to the area to be treated from the ultrasonic echo signals; and processing the ultrasonic echo signals corresponding to the area to be treated using at least three sound velocities to obtain ultrasonic images of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least three sound velocities. Specifically, for each of the at least three sound velocities, the processor 118 can determine the sound velocity and transmit it to the beamforming circuit 116. The beamforming circuit 116 obtains the ultrasonic echo signals corresponding to the area to be treated from the ultrasonic echo signals based on the position of the area to be treated and the position information carried in the ultrasonic echo signals, and processes the ultrasonic echo signals corresponding to the area to be treated using the sound velocity received from the processor 118. Thereafter, the beamforming circuit 116 transmits the beamformed ultrasonic echo signals to the processor 118 for processing to generate an ultrasonic image of the area to be treated, and calculates the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the area to be treated in step S404.

[0171] Next, in step S405, a fitting curve between sound speed and clarity is determined according to the at least three sound speeds and the corresponding clarity, and the sound speed corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve is determined as the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed.

[0172] As an example, since the preset sound speed within the ultrasound imaging system generally deviates slightly from the optimal sound speed and is used when generating the initial ultrasound image, to improve the accuracy of the fitted curve and the efficiency of sound speed determination, the at least three sound speeds include the preset sound speed within the ultrasound imaging system and at least two sound speeds obtained by increasing or decreasing the preset sound speed by a preset step size. Furthermore, the at least three sound speeds may include the preset sound speed and at least two sound speeds obtained by increasing or decreasing the preset sound speed by a preset step size, respectively, thereby reducing the possibility that the three sound speeds are distributed on one side of a peak, thereby rendering the fitted curve inaccurate.

[0173] See also Figure 5 The at least three sound velocities include a first sound velocity SP1, a second sound velocity SP2, and a third sound velocity SP3. As an example, the first sound velocity SP1 may be a preset sound velocity within the ultrasound imaging system, and the second sound velocity SP2 and the third sound velocity SP3 may be sound velocities obtained by reducing and increasing the first sound velocity SP1 by a preset step size, respectively. After curve fitting is performed based on the first sound velocity SP1, the second sound velocity SP2, and the third sound velocity SP3, as well as the clarity of an ultrasound image of the area to be processed generated using these three sound velocities, the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point of the curve is the fourth sound velocity SP4, and thus the fourth sound velocity SP4 may be used as the optimal sound velocity.

[0174] According to the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 of the embodiment of the present application, the optimal sound velocity can be determined by performing signal processing using only three sound velocities at the fastest speed. However, it is understood that the more sound velocities used for curve fitting, the more accurate the resulting curve, but the correspondingly slower speed determination. Therefore, the trade-off between speed determination and accuracy can be achieved by adjusting the number of sound velocities. For example, when higher accuracy is required, a larger number of sound velocities can be used for curve fitting. The number of sound velocities used can be automatically determined by the system, or several accuracy levels can be set based on the user's requirements for accuracy.

[0175] During the process of fitting the sound velocity, the optimal sound velocity is determined based on the fitting curve. Previously, the optimal sound velocity was not used for image processing. Therefore, after determining the optimal sound velocity, the ultrasonic echo signal is processed using the optimal sound velocity to obtain an ultrasonic image of the area to be processed corresponding to the optimal sound velocity. Subsequently, the ultrasonic image of the area to be processed corresponding to the optimal sound velocity can be used to replace the ultrasonic image of the corresponding area in the ultrasonic image obtained in step S402. Furthermore, the transition area between two adjacent areas to be processed can be smoothed to further improve image quality and visual effects. Furthermore, the optimal sound velocity of each area to be processed can be displayed on a display interface, or the average of the optimal sound velocities of each area to be processed can be calculated and displayed on the display interface. For details, refer to the relevant description of method 200.

[0176] In summary, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 of the embodiment of the present application adopts a fitting ultrasonic sound velocity determination method, which improves the efficiency of sound velocity determination and can determine the sound velocity of different areas in the ultrasonic image separately, thereby improving the focusing accuracy of the ultrasonic image.

[0177] Below, reference Figure 6 A method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to another embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 6 6 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0178] like Figure 6 As shown, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 includes the following steps:

[0179] In step S601, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to a target tissue of a subject, and echoes of the ultrasonic waves are received to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0180] In step S602, an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;

[0181] In step S603, ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities are obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals at different sound velocities.

[0182] In step S604, based on the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to at least three different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities is obtained;

[0183] In step S605, the optimal sound speed of the area to be treated is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasound image of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least three different sound speeds.

[0184] Ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 is similar to ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 and ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 described above. Similarly, the ultrasonic echo signal is first processed using at least three sound velocities to obtain an ultrasonic image of the corresponding area to be processed, and the optimal sound velocity is determined based on the clarity of the ultrasonic image corresponding to the at least three sound velocities. The difference is that the sound velocity determination strategy of ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 is not limited to the step-wise method and fitting method described above, but also includes other suitable sound velocity determination strategies. For example, in one embodiment, a combination of the step-wise method and the fitting method can be used. First, the fitting method is used to find the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point, and then the step-wise method sound velocity determination is initiated using the sound velocity corresponding to the extreme point as the starting point. Alternatively, a step-by-step sound velocity determination method can be used. For example, a number of sound velocities with a large step size are first selected, and the two sound velocities with the best clarity are determined from these number of sound velocities. Then, a number of sound velocities with a smaller step size are further selected between these two sound velocities, and the two sound velocities with the best clarity are determined from these two sound velocities. This step-by-step determination process continues until the clarity meets the predetermined requirement. In summary, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 of the embodiment of the present application determines the optimal sound velocity based on the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the area to be processed obtained after signal processing using at least three sound velocities, thereby improving the efficiency of sound velocity determination.

[0185] Below, reference Figure 7 A method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity according to another embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 7 7 is a schematic flow chart of the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 700 according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0186] like Figure 7 As shown, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 700 includes the following steps:

[0187] In step S701, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to a target tissue of a subject, and echoes of the ultrasonic waves are received to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

[0188] In step S702, an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image is determined;

[0189] In step S703, ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities are obtained by processing the ultrasonic echo signals at different sound velocities.

[0190] In step S704, based on the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to at least two different sound velocities among the different sound velocities, clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities is obtained;

[0191] In step S705 , the optimal sound speed of the area to be treated is determined according to the clarity of the ultrasound images of the area to be treated corresponding to the at least two different sound speeds.

[0192] Unlike ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 described above, ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 700 determines the optimal sound velocity for the area to be treated based on at least two sound velocities and the clarity of the corresponding ultrasonic images of the area to be treated. For example, the clarity corresponding to the at least two sound velocities can be compared, and the sound velocity corresponding to the highest clarity can be determined as the optimal sound velocity. Ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 700 can automatically determine the optimal sound velocity for the area to be treated, eliminating the need for the user to manually switch sound velocities, thereby improving the user experience.

[0193] Now re-reference Figure 1 The ultrasound imaging system 100 provided in the embodiments of the present application can be used to implement the above-mentioned ultrasound sound velocity determination method 200, ultrasound sound velocity determination method 400, ultrasound sound velocity determination method 600, or ultrasound sound velocity determination method 700. The ultrasound imaging system 100 may include some or all of the components of an ultrasound probe 110, a transmitting circuit 112, a receiving circuit 114, a beamforming circuit 116, a processor 118, a display 120, and a transmit / receive selection switch 122. The relevant descriptions of each component can be found above.

[0194] The transmitting circuit 112 is used to stimulate the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the object under test; the receiving circuit 114 is used to receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal.

[0195] When used to implement the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200 , the beamforming circuit 116 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal using the first sound velocity, the second sound velocity, and the third sound velocity respectively;

[0196] The processor 118 is configured to: obtain a first ultrasound image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasound echo signal processed using the first sound velocity; obtain a first clarity of the first ultrasound image based on the first ultrasound image of the area to be processed; obtain a second ultrasound image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasound echo signal processed using the second sound velocity; obtain a second clarity of the second ultrasound image based on the second ultrasound image of the area to be processed, wherein the second sound velocity is greater than the first sound velocity; determine a third sound velocity based on a change between the first clarity and the second clarity; obtain a third ultrasound image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasound echo signal processed using the third sound velocity; and obtain a third clarity of the third ultrasound image based on the third ultrasound image of the area to be processed; when the third clarity is lower than the first clarity or the second clarity, determine the sound velocity corresponding to the larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity as the optimal sound velocity of the area to be processed; and when the third clarity is higher than the first clarity and the second clarity, determine a fourth sound velocity based on a change between the larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity and the third clarity.

[0197] In one embodiment, determining the third sound speed according to changes in the first and second clarity includes: when the second clarity is higher than the first clarity, adding a first preset step size to the second sound speed to obtain the third sound speed.

[0198] Exemplarily, the first preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the second definition.

[0199] In this case, when the third clarity is lower than the second clarity, the second sound speed is determined to be the optimal sound speed; when the third clarity is higher than the second clarity, a second preset step size is added to the third sound speed to obtain the fourth sound speed.

[0200] Similarly, the second preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the second definition and the third definition.

[0201] In another embodiment, determining the third sound speed according to changes in the first and second clarity includes: when the second clarity is lower than the first clarity, reducing a third preset step size based on the first sound speed to obtain the third sound speed.

[0202] Similarly, the third preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the second definition.

[0203] In this case, when the third clarity is lower than the first clarity, the first sound speed is determined to be the optimal sound speed; when the third clarity is higher than the first clarity, the fourth preset step size is reduced based on the third sound speed to obtain the fourth sound speed.

[0204] Similarly, the fourth preset step size may be a fixed value, or may be adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the third definition.

[0205] When used to implement the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 400 , the beamforming circuit 116 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal using at least three sound velocities respectively;

[0206] The processor 118 is used to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal and determine the area to be processed in the ultrasonic image; obtain ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities based on the ultrasonic echo signals processed using the at least three sound velocities; obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic image of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities based on the ultrasonic image of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three sound velocities; determine a fitting curve between sound speed and clarity based on the at least three sound velocities and the corresponding clarity, and determine the sound speed corresponding to the extreme point of the fitting curve as the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed.

[0207] In one embodiment, the at least three sound velocities include a preset sound velocity and at least two sound velocities obtained by respectively increasing and decreasing the preset step lengths based on the preset sound velocity.

[0208] When used to implement the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 600 , the beamforming circuit 116 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal using different sound velocities respectively;

[0209] The processor 118 is used to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal and determine the area to be processed in the ultrasonic image; obtain ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities based on the ultrasonic echo signals processed using the different sound velocities; obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities according to the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities; and determine the optimal sound velocity of the area to be processed according to the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least three different sound velocities.

[0210] When used to implement the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 700 , the beamforming circuit 116 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal using different sound velocities respectively;

[0211] The processor 118 is used to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal and determine the area to be processed in the ultrasonic image; obtain ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the different sound velocities based on the ultrasonic echo signals processed using the different sound velocities; obtain the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities according to the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities; and determine the optimal sound velocity of the area to be processed according to the clarity of the ultrasonic images of the area to be processed corresponding to the at least two different sound velocities.

[0212] The above description only describes the main functions of the components of the ultrasound imaging system 100. For more details, please refer to the description of the ultrasound speed determination methods 200, 400, 600, and 700. The ultrasound imaging system of the embodiment of the present application improves the method of determining the speed of sound, improves the efficiency of the speed of sound determination, and can determine the speed of sound for different areas in the ultrasound image separately, thereby improving the focusing accuracy of the ultrasound image.

[0213] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present application, a computer storage medium is also provided, on which program instructions are stored. When the program instructions are executed by a computer or processor, the computer or processor is used to execute the corresponding steps of the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method 200, 400, 600, or 700 of the embodiment of the present application. The storage medium may include, for example, a memory card of a smartphone, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a personal computer, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media. The computer-readable storage medium may be any combination of one or more computer-readable storage media.

[0214] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present application, a computer program is also provided, which can be stored in a cloud or local storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a computer or processor, it is used to perform the corresponding steps of the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method of the embodiment of the present application.

[0215] Based on the above description, the ultrasonic sound velocity determination method and ultrasonic imaging system according to the embodiments of the present application improve the sound velocity determination method, improve the focusing speed and efficiency, and can determine the sound velocity of different areas in the ultrasonic image separately, thereby improving the focusing accuracy of the ultrasonic image.

[0216] Although example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above example embodiments are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Various changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present application as required by the appended claims.

[0217] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0218] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units described is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used, such as combining or integrating multiple units or components into another device, or ignoring or not performing some features.

[0219] In the description provided herein, a large number of specific details are described. However, it is understood that the embodiments of the present application can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures, and techniques are not shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.

[0220] Similarly, it should be understood that in order to streamline the present application and aid in understanding one or more of the various inventive aspects, in the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present application, the various features of the present application are sometimes grouped together into a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. However, this approach of the present application should not be interpreted as reflecting the intention that the application claimed for protection requires more features than those explicitly recited in each claim. More precisely, as reflected in the corresponding claims, the inventive point is that the corresponding technical problem can be solved with fewer features than all the features of a single disclosed embodiment. Therefore, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim itself serving as a separate embodiment of the present application.

[0221] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, except where mutually exclusive, all features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) and all processes or units of any method or apparatus disclosed herein may be combined in any combination. Unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature providing the same, equivalent, or similar purpose.

[0222] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that although some embodiments described herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not other features, combinations of features from different embodiments are intended to be within the scope of this application and to form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

[0223] The various component embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or in a software module running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) can be used in practice to implement some or all of the functions of some modules according to the embodiments of the present application. The application can also be implemented as a part or all of a device program (e.g., a computer program and a computer program product) for performing the method described herein. Such a program implementing the present application can be stored on a computer-readable medium, or can have the form of one or more signals. Such a signal can be downloaded from an Internet website, or provided on a carrier signal, or provided in any other form.

[0224] It should be noted that the above embodiments illustrate rather than limit the present application, and that those skilled in the art may devise alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference symbols placed between brackets should not be construed as limiting the claims. The present application may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by the same item of hardware. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc. does not indicate any order. These words may be interpreted as names.

[0225] The above description is merely a specific embodiment or illustration of a specific embodiment of the present application, and the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. The scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for determining ultrasonic sound velocity, characterized in that: The method comprises: transmitting ultrasonic waves to target tissue of the subject and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; generating an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and determining a region to be processed in the ultrasonic image; Acquiring a first ultrasonic image of the area to be processed by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at a first sound velocity; obtaining a first clarity of the first ultrasound image based on the first ultrasound image of the area to be processed; Acquiring a second ultrasonic image of the area to be processed by processing the ultrasonic echo signal at a second sound velocity; obtaining a second clarity of the second ultrasound image based on a second ultrasound image of the area to be treated, wherein the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed; determining a third sound speed according to changes in the first clarity and the second clarity; Processing the ultrasonic echo signal using the third sound velocity to obtain a third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed; obtaining a third clarity of the third ultrasound image based on the third ultrasound image of the area to be processed; When the third definition is lower than the first definition or the second definition, determining a sound speed corresponding to a larger value of the first definition and the second definition as an optimal sound speed of the area to be processed; When the third definition is higher than the first definition and the second definition, a fourth sound speed is determined according to a change in a larger value of the first definition and the second definition and the third definition.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining the third sound speed according to the change of the first clarity and the second clarity includes: When the second definition is higher than the first definition, a first preset step size is added to the second sound speed to obtain the third sound speed.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that When the third definition is lower than the second definition, determining the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first definition and the second definition as the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed includes: determining the second sound speed as the optimal sound speed of the area to be treated; When the third clarity is higher than the second clarity, determining the fourth sound speed according to a change between a larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity and the third clarity includes: The fourth sound speed is obtained by increasing a second preset step length on the basis of the third sound speed.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The determining the third sound speed according to the change of the first clarity and the second clarity includes: When the second definition is lower than the first definition, the third preset step size is reduced based on the first sound speed to obtain the third sound speed.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that When the third definition is lower than the first definition, determining the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first definition and the second definition as the optimal sound speed of the area to be processed includes: determining the first sound speed as the optimal sound speed of the area to be treated; When the third clarity is higher than the first clarity, determining the fourth sound speed according to a change between a larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity and the third clarity includes: The fourth sound speed is obtained by reducing a fourth preset step size based on the third sound speed.

6. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The first preset step size is a fixed value or is adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the second definition.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The second preset step size is a fixed value or is adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the second definition and the third definition.

8. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The third preset step size is a fixed value or is adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the second definition.

9. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The fourth preset step size is a fixed value or is adaptively adjusted according to the difference between the first definition and the third definition.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second sound velocity is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain a second ultrasonic image of the area to be processed, comprising: Acquiring an ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the area to be processed from the ultrasonic echo signal; The ultrasonic echo signal corresponding to the area to be processed is processed using the second sound velocity to obtain a second ultrasonic image of the area to be processed.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The determining of the area to be processed in the ultrasound image includes: The ultrasound image is divided into a plurality of regions, and at least one region among the plurality of regions is determined as the region to be processed.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Dividing the ultrasound image into a plurality of regions includes: dividing the ultrasound image into a plurality of equal regions.

13. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Determining at least one area among the multiple areas as the area to be processed includes: At least one region in the ultrasound image whose position meets a predetermined requirement is determined as the region to be processed.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The at least one region whose position in the ultrasound image meets a predetermined requirement includes at least one of a central region and a near-field image region of the ultrasound image.

15. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that Determining at least one area among the multiple areas as the area to be processed includes: displaying the division of the multiple regions on the ultrasound image; A selection instruction for the area to be processed from a user is received, and at least one area among the multiple areas is determined as the area to be processed according to the selection instruction.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The determining of the area to be processed in the ultrasound image includes: A user instruction to select a region of interest in the ultrasound image is received, and the region of interest is used as the region to be processed.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that Determining at least two areas among the multiple areas as the areas to be processed, and determining the sound velocity of the areas to be processed, comprising: The sound velocity is determined for at least two of the areas to be processed in sequence, or the sound velocity is determined for at least two of the areas to be processed in parallel.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that Also includes: A smoothing process is performed on a transition area between two adjacent areas to be processed in the ultrasound image generated based on the optimal sound velocity.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein: The clarity includes one or more of the image gradient value, image entropy, and image variance of the area to be processed.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that The area to be processed includes a plurality of areas to be processed, and the method further includes: An average value of the optimal sound velocity of at least one area among the plurality of areas to be processed is displayed.

21. The method according to claim 11, wherein Also includes: displaying the division of the multiple regions on the ultrasound image; The optimal sound speed of at least one area among the plurality of areas is displayed.

22. An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that: The ultrasound imaging system comprises: Ultrasound probe; a transmitting circuit, configured to stimulate the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves toward a target tissue of the subject; A receiving circuit, configured to receive the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal; a beamforming circuit, configured to process the ultrasonic echo signal using a first sound velocity, a second sound velocity, and a third sound velocity, respectively; Processor for: obtaining a first ultrasonic image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed using the first sound velocity; obtaining a first clarity of the first ultrasound image based on the first ultrasound image of the area to be processed; obtaining a second ultrasonic image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed using the second sound velocity; obtaining a second clarity of the second ultrasound image based on a second ultrasound image of the area to be treated, wherein the second sound speed is greater than the first sound speed; determining a third sound speed according to changes in the first clarity and the second clarity; obtaining a third ultrasonic image of the area to be processed based on the ultrasonic echo signal processed using the third sound velocity; obtaining a third clarity of the third ultrasound image based on the third ultrasound image of the area to be processed; When the third definition is lower than the first definition or the second definition, determining a sound speed corresponding to a larger value of the first definition and the second definition as an optimal sound speed of the area to be processed; When the third definition is higher than the first definition and the second definition, a fourth sound speed is determined according to a change in a larger value of the first definition and the second definition and the third definition.

23. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 22, wherein: The determining the third sound speed according to the change of the first clarity and the second clarity includes: When the second definition is higher than the first definition, a first preset step size is added to the second sound speed to obtain the third sound speed.

24. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 23, wherein: The processor is configured to: When the third definition is lower than the second definition, determining the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first definition and the second definition as the optimal sound speed includes: determining that the second sound speed is an optimal sound speed; When the third clarity is higher than the second clarity, determining the fourth sound speed according to a change between a larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity and the third clarity includes: The fourth sound speed is obtained by increasing a second preset step length on the basis of the third sound speed.

25. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 22, wherein: The determining the third sound speed according to the change of the first clarity and the second clarity includes: When the second definition is lower than the first definition, the third preset step size is reduced based on the first sound speed to obtain the third sound speed.

26. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 25, wherein: The processor is configured to: When the third definition is lower than the first definition, determining the sound speed corresponding to the larger value of the first definition and the second definition as the optimal sound speed includes: determining that the first sound speed is an optimal sound speed; When the third clarity is higher than the first clarity, determining the fourth sound speed according to a change between a larger value of the first clarity and the second clarity and the third clarity includes: The fourth sound speed is obtained by reducing a fourth preset step size based on the third sound speed.

27. The ultrasound imaging system according to any one of claims 22 to 26, wherein: The device also includes a display for displaying the ultrasound image.

28. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 27, wherein: The determining of the area to be processed in the ultrasound image includes: The ultrasound image is divided into a plurality of regions, and part or all of the plurality of regions are determined as the regions to be processed.

29. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 28, wherein: The display is further configured to display the division of the multiple regions on the ultrasound image; Determining some areas of the multiple areas as the areas to be processed includes: A selection instruction for the area to be processed from a user is received, and one or more areas among the multiple areas are determined as the area to be processed according to the selection instruction.

30. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 29, wherein: The determining of the area to be processed in the ultrasound image includes: A user instruction to select a region of interest in the ultrasound image is received, and the region of interest is used as the region to be processed.

31. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 28, wherein The display is further configured to display an average value of the optimal sound velocity of at least a portion of the area to be treated.

32. The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 28, wherein: The display is also used to: displaying the division of the plurality of regions on the ultrasound image; and The optimal sound velocity of at least a portion of the to-be-treated areas among the plurality of areas is displayed.

Images