Vascular imaging method, apparatus, electronic device, and medium

Abstract

The application provides a blood vessel imaging method, device, electronic equipment and storage medium. The blood vessel imaging method provided by the application comprises the following steps: acquiring a filling image and a mask image matched with the filling image. Then, for each frame of filling image, a correction control point is dynamically determined on the mask image according to the size relationship between the difference between the frame of filling image and the mask image and a first preset threshold value; then, the mask image is corrected according to the correction control point to obtain a corrected mask image corresponding to the frame of filling image. Finally, a blood vessel subtraction image is obtained according to each frame of filling image and the corrected mask image corresponding to the frame of filling image. The application can fully remove motion artifacts and improve the image quality of the blood vessel subtraction image.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of medical imaging, in particular to a blood vessel imaging method and device, electronic equipment and medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] At present, the image obtained by DSA (Digital Subtraction Angiography) imaging technology is clear and has high resolution, and has been widely used in cerebral vascular, interventional diagnosis, treatment and other fields. The basic imaging principle of DSA is to subtract the fixed mask image (i.e. the image without blood vessel information) without using contrast agent from the filling image (i.e. the image containing blood vessel information) with contrast agent, so as to obtain a clear blood vessel image. Due to the time displacement between obtaining the fixed mask image and the filling image of the patient, and the spontaneous or non-spontaneous movement of the patient, the DSA image obtained after subtraction often has motion artifacts, which affects the display effect of the blood vessels.

[0003] In order to eliminate motion artifacts, in the prior art, pixel displacement technology is usually used to register each frame of the mask image and the filling image, then the mask image is distorted (i.e. the mask image or the filling image is moved by moving the pixel points so that the corresponding same points on the structure are aligned in the image position), and then the two are subtracted to remove the motion artifacts as much as possible. However, this method usually selects fixed control points on the mask image, and since the selected control points are not necessarily reasonable, it often leads to poor artifact removal effect (such as for the case where the difference between frames is large), and the quality of the final DSA image is not high.

[0004] It should be noted that the information disclosed in the background section of the present application is only intended to deepen the understanding of the general background of the present application, and should not be regarded as acknowledging or implying in any form that the information constitutes prior art known to those skilled in the art. SUMMARY

[0005] The purpose of the present application is to provide a blood vessel imaging method, device, electronic equipment and medium, which can dynamically generate correction control points according to the difference between the filling image and the mask image and correct the mask image according to the correction control points, so that the difference between the mask image and the filling image is smaller, thereby the present application can sufficiently remove motion artifacts and improve the image quality of the blood vessel subtraction image.

[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the present application realizes the technical scheme as follows: a blood vessel imaging method, comprising:

[0007] obtaining a filling image and a mask image matched with the filling image;

[0008] For each frame of the full image, based on the full image or the mask image, a plurality of first control points are determined on the mask image; and based on the difference between the full image and the mask image, the size relationship of the first preset threshold, and the first control points, the mask image is divided into several sub-mask images to determine correction control points.

[0009] For each frame of the full image, the mask image is corrected according to the correction control points to obtain the corrected mask image corresponding to that frame of the full image;

[0010] Based on each frame of the filling image and the corresponding correction mask image, a vascular subtraction image is obtained.

[0011] Optionally, the vascular imaging method includes: determining a first control point of the mask image corresponding to each frame of filling image by any of the following methods:

[0012] The frame of the full image is divided into several sub-regions, and the center point of each sub-region is obtained; and the first control point is determined on the mask image based on the correspondence between the frame of the full image and the mask image and the center point.

[0013] Alternatively, the first control point can be determined using a gradient method based on the mask image.

[0014] Optionally, the vascular imaging method includes, for each frame of filling image, determining the correction control points of the mask image through the following steps:

[0015] Determine whether the difference between the filled image and the masked image is less than the first preset threshold:

[0016] If so, the first control point shall be used as the correction control point;

[0017] If not, based on the difference between the filled image and the masked image, the masked image is divided using the following steps to obtain the correction control points:

[0018] Based on the first control point, the mask image is divided into first sub-mask images that correspond one-to-one with the regions where the first control point is located;

[0019] For each of the first sub-mask images, multiple candidate control points are determined in the first sub-mask image; the candidate control points are filtered to obtain at least one second control point;

[0020] Based on the vertices of the region where the first control point is located and the second control point, the mask image is re-divided into several second sub-mask images;

[0021] Based on the second sub-mask image, determine the third control point corresponding to each of the second sub-mask images;

[0022] The correction control point is determined based on all the third control points.

[0023] Optionally, the candidate control points are screened to obtain at least one second control point, including:

[0024] Determine whether the distance between the candidate control point and the boundary or vertex of the first sub-mask image where the candidate control point is located is greater than a second preset threshold. If so, then the candidate control point is used as the second control point.

[0025] Optionally, acquiring the filling image and the mask image matching the filling image includes:

[0026] Obtain the filled image and at least two original mask images;

[0027] The original masking image is filtered based on the filled image to obtain a masking image that matches the filled image.

[0028] Optionally, after acquiring the filling image and at least two original mask images, the vascular imaging method further includes:

[0029] The filled image and the original mask image are preprocessed, and the preprocessed filled image is used to replace the filled image, and the preprocessed original mask image is used to replace the original mask image.

[0030] Optionally, heartbeat recognition technology is used to filter the original masking image to obtain the optimal masking image corresponding to the filling image, and the optimal masking image is used as the masking image.

[0031] Optionally, the vascular imaging method further includes:

[0032] The subtraction angiography image is post-processed to obtain the target blood vessel image.

[0033] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention also provides a vascular imaging device, the vascular imaging device comprising:

[0034] The first image acquisition unit is configured to acquire a full image and a mask image that matches the full image;

[0035] The correction control point acquisition unit is configured to, for each frame of a full image, determine a plurality of first control points on the mask image based on the full image or the mask image; and divide the mask image into several sub-mask images based on the difference between the full image and the mask image, the size relationship of a first preset threshold, and the first control points, so as to determine the correction control points.

[0036] The mask image correction unit is configured to correct the mask image according to the correction control point for each frame of the full image, so as to obtain the corrected mask image corresponding to the full image of that frame.

[0037] The second image acquisition unit is configured to obtain a blood vessel subtraction image based on each frame of filling image and the corresponding correction mask image.

[0038] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention also provides an electronic device, the electronic device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program, which, when executed by the processor, implements the vascular imaging method described in any of the above claims.

[0039] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention also provides a readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the vascular imaging method described in any of the preceding claims.

[0040] Compared with the prior art, the vascular imaging method, apparatus, electronic device, and storage medium provided by the present invention have the following advantages:

[0041] The vascular imaging method provided by this invention first acquires a filling image and a mask image matching the filling image; then, for each frame of the filling image, a plurality of first control points are determined on the mask image based on the filling image or the mask image; and based on the difference between the filling image and the mask image, the magnitude relationship of a first preset threshold, and the first control points, the mask image is divided into several sub-mask images to determine correction control points; and the mask image is corrected according to the correction control points to obtain a corrected mask image corresponding to the filling image; finally, a vascular subtraction image is obtained based on each frame of the filling image and the corrected mask image corresponding to the filling image. Therefore, this invention dynamically determines the correction control points of the correction mask image for each filling image to correct the mask image, thereby minimizing the difference between each frame of the filling image and the corresponding correction mask image. Furthermore, since the differences between adjacent frames are not significant, artifacts are removed only in subtle areas between different frames of the filling image, ensuring that the vascular subtraction image does not flicker, thus laying the foundation for improving the image quality of the vascular subtraction image. Finally, this invention obtains the vascular subtraction image based on each frame of the filling image and the corresponding correction mask image, ensuring a high degree of matching between the correction mask image and the filling image, and effectively improving the imaging quality of the vascular subtraction image.

[0042] Furthermore, the vascular imaging method provided by this invention acquires a filling image and at least two original mask images. This lays the foundation for selecting a mask image that is closer to the filling image from multiple original mask images. The original mask images are then filtered based on the filling image to obtain a mask image that matches the filling image (for example, an original mask image in the same heartbeat state as the filling image is used as the mask image that matches the filling image). Therefore, this invention not only ensures that different frames of the entire filling image are registered within the same framework, but also effectively reduces the influence of motion artifacts on the vascular subtraction image caused by time displacement and spontaneous or involuntary patient movements (such as heartbeats).

[0043] Since the vascular imaging device, electronic device and storage medium provided by this invention belong to the same inventive concept as the vascular imaging method provided by this invention, the vascular imaging device, electronic device and storage medium provided by this invention have at least all the advantages of the vascular imaging method provided by this invention. For more detailed information, please refer to the relevant description of the vascular imaging method above, which will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0044] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram of the overall process of a vascular imaging method provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 2 A specific example diagram illustrating the application of the vascular imaging method provided by this invention;

[0046] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a vascular imaging device provided in another embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 4 This is a block diagram of an electronic device provided in another embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] The accompanying figure is labeled as follows:

[0049] First image acquisition unit-110, correction control point acquisition unit-120, correction mask image acquisition unit-130, second image acquisition unit-140;

[0050] Processor-210, communication interface-220, memory-230, communication bus-240. Detailed Implementation

[0051] The vascular imaging method, apparatus, electronic device, and storage medium proposed in this invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The advantages and features of this invention will become clearer from the following description. It should be noted that the drawings are in a very simplified form and use non-precise proportions, used only to facilitate and clarify the illustration of the embodiments of this invention. Please refer to the drawings to make the objectives, features, and advantages of this invention more apparent and understandable. It should be understood that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc., depicted in the accompanying drawings are only for the purpose of assisting those skilled in the art in understanding and reading the content disclosed in the specification, and are not intended to limit the implementation conditions of this invention. Any modifications to the structure, changes in proportions, or adjustments to the size, provided that the effects and objectives achieved by this invention are the same or similar, should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed in this invention. Specific design features of the invention disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, positions, and shapes, will be determined in part by the specific application and usage environment. Furthermore, in the embodiments described below, the same reference numerals are sometimes used across different drawings to denote the same parts or parts having the same function, omitting repeated descriptions. In this specification, similar reference numerals and letters are used to denote similar items; therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be discussed further in subsequent figures. Furthermore, if the methods described herein involve a series of steps, and the order of these steps presented herein is not necessarily the only possible order in which they can be performed, some of the described steps may be omitted and / or other steps not described herein may be added to the method.

[0052] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element. The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural objects. The term “or” is generally used to mean “and / or,” the term “several” is generally used to mean “at least one,” and the term “at least two” is generally used to mean “two or more.” Furthermore, the terms “first,” “second,” and “third” are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated.

[0053] The core idea of ​​this invention is to provide a vascular imaging method, device, electronic device, and medium. This invention can dynamically generate correction control points based on the differences between the filling image and the mask image, and correct the mask image based on the correction control points, thereby making the differences between the mask image and the filling image smaller. Thus, this invention can effectively remove motion artifacts and improve the image quality of vascular subtraction images.

[0054] It should be noted that the vascular imaging method provided by this invention is applicable to vascular visualization systems in X-ray sequence imaging. This method can be executed by a vascular imaging device, which can be implemented through software and / or hardware. Specifically, the vascular imaging method in the embodiments of this invention can be configured in a terminal and / or server to implement the vascular imaging method of this invention. More specifically, the vascular imaging method provided by this invention can be applied to the electronic device provided by this invention, wherein the electronic device can be a personal computer, a mobile terminal, etc., and the mobile terminal can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, or other hardware device with various operating systems.

[0055] To achieve the above-mentioned ideas, one embodiment of the present invention provides a vascular imaging method, please refer to... Figure 1 The diagram illustrates the overall flow of a vascular imaging method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 As can be seen, the vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment includes:

[0056] S100: Obtain the filling image and the mask image that matches the filling image;

[0057] S200: For each frame of full image, based on the full image or the mask image, determine a plurality of first control points on the mask image; and based on the difference between the full image and the mask image, the size relationship of the first preset threshold, and the first control points, divide the mask image into several sub-mask images to determine correction control points.

[0058] S300: For each frame of the full image, the mask image is corrected according to the correction control point to obtain the corrected mask image corresponding to the full image of that frame.

[0059] S400: Obtain a blood vessel subtraction image based on each frame of the filling image and the corresponding correction mask image.

[0060] The vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment dynamically determines the correction control points of the correction mask image for each filling image to correct the mask image, thereby making the difference between each frame of filling image and the corresponding correction mask image smaller; moreover, since the difference between adjacent frames is not too large, it ensures that artifacts are removed only in subtle places between different frames of the filling image, thus ensuring that the vascular subtraction image does not flicker, laying the foundation for improving the image quality of the vascular subtraction image. Finally, the present invention obtains the vascular subtraction image based on each frame of filling image and the corresponding correction mask image, ensuring a high degree of matching between the correction mask image and the filling image, and effectively improving the imaging quality of the vascular subtraction image. Specifically, in one exemplary embodiment, step S100, obtaining the filling image and the mask image matching the filling image, includes:

[0061] S110: Obtain the filling image and at least two original mask images;

[0062] S120: Filter the original masking image according to the filling image to obtain a masking image that matches the filling image.

[0063] Therefore, the vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment lays the foundation for selecting a mask image that is closer to the filling image from multiple original mask images by acquiring a filling image and at least two original mask images. The original mask images are then filtered based on the filling image to obtain a mask image that matches the filling image (for example, an original mask image in the same heartbeat state as the filling image is used as the mask image that matches the filling image). Thus, this embodiment not only ensures that different frames of the entire filling image are registered within the same framework, but also effectively reduces the influence of motion artifacts on the vascular subtraction image caused by time displacement and spontaneous or involuntary patient movements (such as heartbeats).

[0064] Specifically, this invention does not limit the filling image and at least two original mask images. The vascular subtraction image includes, but is not limited to, images of the subject's coronary arteries, images of the subject's intracranial blood vessels, images of the subject's aorta, etc. In other words, this invention does not limit the region of interest corresponding to the filling image and the original mask image. However, as those skilled in the art will understand, the subject and the region of interest corresponding to the filling image and the original mask image should be consistent. For example, if the filling image is a coronary artery image of subject A's heart, then the original mask image should also be a coronary artery image of subject A's heart. More specifically, taking heartbeat as an example, when acquiring the subject's filling image or original mask image, the subject's blood vessels may also experience a certain stretching and dilation with the contraction and relaxation of the heart. Therefore, as an optional technical solution of Embodiment 1 of this invention, the region of interest may include, but is not limited to, blood vessels in the heart area subtracted according to heartbeat, and blood vessels in non-heart areas may also be subtracted according to heartbeat, such as those in the head or limbs.

[0065] More specifically, the method of acquiring the filling image and the original masked image can be to perform X-ray imaging of the region of interest (ROI) of the subject using digital subtraction angiography. As those skilled in the art will understand, the filling image can be an image obtained by X-ray irradiation of the ROI of the subject after adding a contrast agent. As those skilled in the art will understand, contrast agents are generally chemical products injected (or ingested) into tissues or organs to enhance the image observation effect, such as iodine preparations and barium sulfate commonly used for X-ray observation. For example, a contrast agent can be added to the subject's body via intravenous injection, such as injecting iodine into the subject's vein, followed by X-ray irradiation of the ROI. Since iodine leaves a unique image after entering the blood vessel and being irradiated by X-ray, the real-time image acquired at this time is the filling image. Correspondingly, the original masked image can be understood as a fixed frame of image obtained by X-ray irradiation of the ROI of the subject without adding a contrast agent. Because the subject may move during X-ray irradiation (spontaneous body shaking or involuntary internal movements), motion artifacts may appear in the images, affecting the subtraction effect between the original masked image and the filling image. Therefore, in the embodiments provided by this invention, two or more original masked images are acquired to lay the foundation for subsequently acquiring the masked image corresponding to the filling image.

[0066] Furthermore, it should be noted that the present invention does not limit the order in which the filling image and the original mask image are acquired. However, preferably, the region of interest of the subject can be X-rayed first without the addition of contrast agent to acquire two or more original mask images. Then, contrast agent is added to the subject's body, and the region of interest corresponding to the original mask images is X-rayed again to acquire the filling image. For example, when it is necessary to examine the detailed condition of the blood vessels in the subject's heart region, the subject's heart region can be X-rayed first without the addition of contrast agent to acquire two or more original mask images. Then, contrast agent is added to the subject's body, and the subject's heart region is X-rayed again to acquire a filling image (i.e., an image including blood vessels) of the subject's heart region.

[0067] Furthermore, acquiring a filling image of the subject's region of interest and at least two original mask images can be achieved by first acquiring multiple original mask images of the subject's region of interest, and then acquiring a filling image of that region of interest. Acquiring multiple original mask images of the subject's region of interest can be done within one cardiac cycle, or within two or more cardiac cycles. Considering individual differences among subjects and differences in device performance, the acquisition sequence of the original mask images and filling images can be determined according to actual needs and is not specifically limited here. Furthermore, the present invention does not limit the source of the filling images and the original mask images. In some embodiments, the filling images and / or the original mask images of the subject can be acquired by scanning with medical imaging equipment (e.g., DSA, etc.); in other embodiments, the filling images and / or the original mask images can also be acquired from storage devices, networks, etc.

[0068] In one exemplary embodiment, after acquiring the filling image and at least two original mask images in step S110, the method further includes:

[0069] The filling image and the original mask image are preprocessed, and the preprocessed filling image is used to replace the original filling image, and the preprocessed original mask image is used to replace the original mask image. Therefore, the vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment, by preprocessing the filling image and the original mask image, and using the preprocessed filling image to replace the original filling image and the preprocessed original mask image to replace the original mask image, not only lays the foundation for improving the image quality of vascular subtraction images, but also lays the foundation for improving the efficiency of subsequently acquiring the correction mask image corresponding to each frame of the filling image.

[0070] Specifically, preprocessing can be understood as the initialization operation of the original mask image and the filling image, with the aim of enabling better matching between the original mask image and the filling image. For example, the preprocessing includes, but is not limited to, one or more of the following operations performed on the original mask image and the filling image: image regularization, image logarithmic transformation, filtering, chamfer edge detection, and image grayscale value normalization.

[0071] For example, in some embodiments, the filling image and the at least two original masking images can be logarithmically transformed first, and then the logarithmically transformed filling image and the at least two original masking images can be filtered. Because X-rays exhibit an exponentially decaying energy distribution, the log transformation can more clearly reflect the distribution information of each result. The second step is noise reduction. X-rays themselves have a large amount of noise, including impulse noise and Gaussian noise, which facilitates the matching of the original masking image and the filling image. For example, at least one of the following filtering methods can be used: mean filtering, Gaussian filtering, bilateral filtering, and trilateral filtering. In other embodiments, the filling image and the at least two original masking images can also be filtered first, and then the filtered filling image and the at least two original masking images can be logarithmically transformed. That is, the present invention does not limit the content of the preprocessing of the filling image and the original masking images, nor the order of multiple preprocessing operations. It should be further explained that, as mentioned above, the original masking image in the subsequent steps is the preprocessed original masking image, and the filling image is the preprocessed filling image.

[0072] Preferably, in one exemplary embodiment, step 120 filters the original masking image based on the filling image to obtain a masking image that matches the filling image, specifically including:

[0073] Using heartbeat recognition technology, the original mask image is filtered to obtain the optimal mask image corresponding to the filling image, and this optimal mask image is used as the mask image.

[0074] The vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment employs heartbeat recognition technology to obtain an optimal mask image corresponding to the filling image (the original mask image that is closest to the filling image), and uses this optimal mask image as the mask image. Therefore, the vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment ensures that the mask image and the filling image are closer, and that different frames of the entire filling image are registered within the same framework. Furthermore, it effectively reduces the influence of motion artifacts on the vascular subtraction image caused by time displacement and spontaneous or involuntary patient movements (such as heartbeats).

[0075] Specifically, each cardiac cycle can be divided into different heartbeat states. The image acquisition times of the filling image and each original masking image are determined based on their image acquisition frequencies. Then, the heartbeat state corresponding to the filling image is determined based on the image acquisition time of the filling image and the time range corresponding to each heartbeat state within each cardiac cycle. Next, the heartbeat state corresponding to each original filling image is determined based on the image acquisition time of each original masking image and the time range corresponding to each heartbeat state within each cardiac cycle. This process identifies the original masking image that is in the same heartbeat state as the filling image. It should be noted that, as those skilled in the art will understand, the masking image is the original masking image closest to the filling image. It can be determined all at once from two or more original masking images, or multiple candidate masking images can be selected from two or more original masking images, and then the one closest to the filling image can be selected as the masking image. For further details regarding heartbeat recognition technology, please refer to existing technologies known to those skilled in the art, which will not be elaborated upon here. Furthermore, the similarity between the original masked image and the filling image can be determined using methods such as maximum subtraction histogram energy, cross-correlation coefficient, and Pearson correlation coefficient; this invention does not limit the scope of such determinations.

[0076] Preferably, in some embodiments, in step S200, for each frame of the filling image, the first control point of the mask image corresponding to that frame of the filling image is determined in the following way:

[0077] The frame of the full image is divided into several sub-regions, and the center point of each sub-region is obtained; and the first control point is determined on the mask image according to the correspondence between the frame of the full image and the mask image and the center point; or the first control point is determined based on the mask image using the gradient method.

[0078] For example, in some implementations, the frame filling image can be divided into N×N (N≥2) sub-regions and the center point of each sub-region can be obtained. Then, according to the correspondence between the frame filling image and the mask image, a first control point corresponding to the center point can be determined on the mask image.

[0079] In other embodiments, structural information of the masked image can be extracted using edge detection algorithms (e.g., gradient Roberts operator, Cannny operator, first-order differential edge operator, etc.). This structural information includes the contour information of organs / tissues, etc. Control points in the masked image are selected as first control points based on this structural information. For example, a large number of first control points are randomly or equidistantly selected along the contour boundaries / edges of organs / tissues, while fewer first control points or no first control points are selected in less prominent areas. These control points are points on the medical image related to the structural distribution of organs / tissues, such as organ / tissue boundary points or other points that can represent structural distribution.

[0080] It should be noted that, as those skilled in the art will understand, other methods can also be used to determine the first control point, and the present invention does not limit this. Furthermore, the present invention does not limit the number of the first control points, which can be greater than or equal to a preset number threshold.

[0081] More specifically, in step S200, for each frame of the filled image, based on the relationship between the difference between the filled image and the mask image, the first preset threshold, and the first control point, the mask image is divided into several sub-mask images to determine the correction control point, specifically including:

[0082] S210: Determine whether the difference between the frame filling image and the mask image is less than a first preset threshold: if so, then use the first control point as the correction control point;

[0083] S220: If not, then based on the difference between the filled image and the mask image, the mask image is divided using the following steps to obtain the correction control points, specifically including the following steps S221-S225:

[0084] S221: Based on the first control point, divide the mask image into first sub-mask images that correspond one-to-one with the regions where the first control point is located;

[0085] S222: For each of the first sub-mask images, determine multiple candidate control points in the first sub-mask image; filter the candidate control points to obtain at least one second control point;

[0086] S223: Based on the vertices of the region where the first control point is located and the second control point, the mask image is re-divided into several second sub-mask images;

[0087] S224: Determine the third control point corresponding to each of the second sub-mask images based on the second sub-mask images;

[0088] S225: Determine the correction control point based on all the third control points.

[0089] Therefore, the vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment can dynamically determine the correction control points corresponding to each frame of the filling image by finely subdividing the mask image; and according to these correction control points, the mask image is pixel-shifted to obtain a correction mask image corresponding to each frame of the filling image, thereby laying the foundation for better registration of the filling image and the correction mask image.

[0090] Furthermore, the present invention does not limit the shape and size of the region corresponding to the first sub-mask image. Specifically, the first sub-mask image can be a regular shape (such as a rectangle, square, circle, etc.) or an irregular shape (polygon, organ / tissue shape, etc.), and the shape of the region corresponding to each first sub-mask image can be the same or different; furthermore, the size of the region corresponding to each first sub-mask image can be the same or different. Similarly, the present invention does not limit the shape and size of the region corresponding to the second sub-mask image. In addition, the present invention does not limit the specific method of determining the difference between each frame of filling image and the mask image in step S220. For more detailed content, please refer to the prior art known to those skilled in the art, which will not be elaborated here.

[0091] More specifically, in step S222, the method for determining multiple candidate control points is similar in principle to the method for determining the first control point described above. Please refer to the relevant description above for an adaptive understanding, and it will not be repeated here.

[0092] In one exemplary embodiment, step S222 filters the candidate control points to obtain at least one second control point, specifically including:

[0093] Determine whether the distance between the candidate control point and the boundary or vertex of the first sub-mask image where the candidate control point is located is greater than a second preset threshold. If so, then the candidate control point is used as the second control point.

[0094] For ease of understanding and explanation, the following description uses a triangle as an example to illustrate the shape of the corresponding region of the first sub-mask image. Therefore, multiple triangular first sub-mask images can be obtained through step S221.

[0095] Specifically, based on the distribution of the candidate control points in the triangular regions corresponding to each sub-mask image, the distance between the candidate control point and the boundary and vertex of the triangle can be determined. If the candidate control point is close to the boundary or vertex of the triangle (e.g., less than a second preset threshold), the candidate control point is discarded; otherwise, the candidate control point is used as the second control point. Correspondingly, in step S223, based on the three vertices of the triangular region corresponding to the first sub-mask image and the second control point, several new triangular regions are obtained to re-divide the mask image, resulting in several second sub-mask images.

[0096] Preferably, in some exemplary embodiments, the step S300, which involves correcting the mask image based on the correction control points for each frame of the filled image, can be used to obtain the corresponding control points in the filled image based on the correction control points of the mask image, and to register the mask image and the filled image based on the correction control points and the corresponding control points of the filled image. More specifically, a corrected mask image is obtained by pixel displacement of the mask image. Furthermore, the present invention does not limit the specific registration method. In some embodiments, a method that conforms to the characteristics of different parts of the human body can be adopted; in other embodiments, a rigid registration method (such as for the brain) can be used; and in still other embodiments, a non-rigid registration method (such as for the lungs, heart, etc.) can be used, without limitation.

[0097] In one preferred embodiment, step S400 obtains a vessel subtraction image based on each frame of the filling image and the corresponding correction mask image, specifically including:

[0098] Each frame of the filling image is superimposed (i.e., subtracted) with the corresponding correction mask image to eliminate motion artifacts, resulting in a subtracted vascular image. Therefore, this invention ensures a high degree of matching between each frame of the filling image and the correction mask image, effectively improving the imaging quality of the vascular subtraction image.

[0099] To better understand this invention, the following is combined with... Figure 2 The vascular imaging method proposed in this invention will be described by way of example. Specifically, Figure 2 A specific example diagram illustrating the application of the vascular imaging method provided by this invention. Figure 2 One of the frames of the full image P N (For example, the Nth frame of the full-fill image, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 1). First, based on the acquired mask image M and / or the full-fill image P of that frame... NFirst, a first control point is determined, and a first sub-mask image M1 is determined based on the first control point. Second, a second sub-mask image M2 and correction control points are determined based on the difference segmentation map D (i.e., the difference between the filling image and the mask image) and the first control point. The mask image is then corrected according to the correction control points to obtain a corrected mask image M3. Further, the filling image and the corresponding corrected mask image can be superimposed (i.e., subtracted) to obtain a vessel subtraction image P.

[0100] Please continue reading Figure 1 In one exemplary embodiment, the vascular imaging method further includes:

[0101] S500: Post-process the blood vessel subtraction image to obtain the target blood vessel image.

[0102] The vascular imaging method provided in this embodiment obtains the final target vascular image by performing post-processing (such as multi-scale enhancement) on the vascular subtraction image, thereby further improving the display effect of blood vessels in the vascular subtraction image, and thus optimizing the subtraction effect and image quality of the vascular subtraction image.

[0103] Specifically, there are various ways to post-process images, including but not limited to one or more of the following: noise removal, motion artifact reduction, stretching, shrinking, and enhancement processing.

[0104] For example, in some embodiments, an S-curve can be used to stretch or shrink different grayscale ranges of the vascular subtraction image to improve the contrast of blood vessels and optimize the subtraction effect. In other embodiments, the vascular subtraction image can be stretched based on a color lookup table curve to obtain a target blood vessel image. Specifically, a color lookup table curve, also known as a LUT curve, can be used to stretch the image and make the blood vessel image more prominent. The LUT can be a mapping table of pixel grayscale values. Specifically, the pixel grayscale values ​​of the vascular subtraction image are transformed through certain transformations, such as thresholding, inversion, binarization, contrast adjustment, and linear transformation, to obtain another grayscale value corresponding to the pixel grayscale values ​​of the vascular subtraction image. The above operations can highlight useful information in the vascular subtraction image and enhance the light contrast of the vascular subtraction image. Further, after stretching the vascular subtraction image based on the color lookup table curve, image enhancement processing can be performed on the stretched vascular subtraction image. The vascular subtraction image after image enhancement processing is then used as the target blood vessel image. Specifically, image enhancement can be understood as a method that utilizes image pyramids to interpret images at multiple resolutions. Image pyramids include Gaussian pyramids and Laplacian pyramids, which can be used to improve the display quality of images, facilitating information extraction and recognition. For example, unnecessary or distracting information can be selectively removed to highlight the desired information (blood vessels).

[0105] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a vascular imaging device. Specifically, please refer to the appendix. Figure 3 The diagram illustrates the structure of a vascular imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 As can be seen, the vascular imaging device provided in this embodiment includes a first image acquisition unit 110, a correction control point acquisition unit 120, a correction mask image acquisition unit 130, and a second image acquisition unit 140.

[0106] Specifically, the first image acquisition unit 110 is configured to acquire a filling image and a mask image matching the filling image. The correction control point acquisition unit 120 is configured to, for each frame of filling image, determine multiple first control points on the mask image based on the filling image or the mask image; and divide the mask image into several sub-mask images based on the difference between the filling image and the mask image, the magnitude relationship of a first preset threshold, and the first control points, to determine correction control points. The correction mask image acquisition unit 130 is configured to, for each frame of filling image, correct the mask image according to the correction control points to obtain a correction mask image corresponding to the filling image. The second image acquisition unit 140 is configured to obtain a blood vessel subtraction image based on each frame of filling image and the correction mask image corresponding to the filling image.

[0107] Since the vascular imaging device provided in this embodiment is based on the same principle as the vascular imaging methods provided in the above embodiments, please refer to the specific descriptions of the vascular imaging methods provided in the above embodiments for more detailed information, which will not be elaborated here. Furthermore, the vascular imaging device provided in this embodiment has at least all the advantages of the vascular imaging methods provided in the above embodiments, and please refer to the relevant descriptions of the vascular imaging methods above for more detailed information, which will not be repeated here.

[0108] Another embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device. Specifically, please refer to... Figure 4 The diagram illustrates a block structure of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 As shown, the electronic device includes a processor 210 and a memory 230. The memory 230 stores a computer program, which, when executed by the processor 210, implements the vascular imaging method described above. Since the electronic device provided in this embodiment belongs to the same inventive concept as the vascular imaging methods provided in the above embodiments, the electronic device provided in this embodiment possesses at least all the advantages of the vascular imaging methods provided in the above embodiments. For more detailed information, please refer to the relevant description of the vascular imaging method above; further details will not be repeated here.

[0109] like Figure 4As shown, the electronic device also includes a communication interface 220 and a communication bus 240, wherein the processor 210, the communication interface 220, and the memory 230 communicate with each other via the communication bus 240. The communication bus 240 can be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. This communication bus 240 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is used in the figure, but this does not indicate that there is only one bus or one type of bus. The communication interface 220 is used for communication between the aforementioned electronic device and other devices.

[0110] The processor 210 referred to in this invention can be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The processor 210 is the control center of the electronic device, connecting various parts of the entire electronic device through various interfaces and lines.

[0111] The memory 230 can be used to store the computer program. The processor 210 implements various functions of the electronic device by running or executing the computer program stored in the memory 230 and calling the data stored in the memory 230.

[0112] The memory 230 may include non-volatile and / or volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in various forms, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), dual data rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), RAMbus direct RAM (RDRAM), direct memory bus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and RAMbus dynamic RAM (RDRAM), etc.

[0113] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, can implement the vascular imaging method described above. Since the readable storage medium provided in this embodiment belongs to the same inventive concept as the vascular imaging methods provided in the above embodiments, the readable storage medium provided in this embodiment possesses at least all the advantages of the vascular imaging methods provided in the above embodiments. For more detailed information, please refer to the relevant description of the vascular imaging method above.

[0114] The readable storage medium of embodiments of the present invention can be any combination of one or more computer-readable media. The readable medium can be a computer-readable signal medium or a computer-readable storage medium. Computer-readable storage media can be, for example, but not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatuses, or devices, or any combination thereof. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of computer-readable storage media include: electrical connections having one or more wires, portable computer hard disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fibers, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination thereof. In this document, a computer-readable storage medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that can be used by or in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0115] Computer-readable signal media may include data signals propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying computer-readable program code. Such propagated data signals may take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. Computer-readable signal media may also be any computer-readable medium other than computer-readable storage media, capable of sending, propagating, or transmitting programs for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0116] Computer program code for performing the operations of this invention can be written in one or more programming languages ​​or a combination thereof, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, Smalltalk, and C++, as well as conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as "C" or similar languages. The program code can be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In cases involving remote computers, the remote computer can be connected to the user's computer via any type of network—including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0117] In summary, compared with the prior art, the vascular imaging method, apparatus, electronic device, and storage medium provided by the present invention have the following advantages:

[0118] This invention corrects the mask image by dynamically determining the correction control points of the correction mask image for each filling image, thereby minimizing the difference between each frame of the filling image and the corresponding correction mask image. Furthermore, since the differences between adjacent frames are not significant, artifacts are removed only in subtle areas between different frames of the filling image, ensuring that the vascular subtraction image does not flicker, thus laying the foundation for improving the image quality of the vascular subtraction image. Finally, this invention obtains the vascular subtraction image based on each frame of the filling image and the corresponding correction mask image, ensuring a high degree of matching between the correction mask image and the filling image, and effectively improving the imaging quality of the vascular subtraction image.

[0119] Furthermore, the vascular imaging method provided by this invention acquires a filling image and at least two original mask images. This lays the foundation for selecting a mask image that is closer to the filling image from multiple original mask images. The original mask images are then filtered based on the filling image to obtain a mask image that matches the filling image (for example, an original mask image in the same heartbeat state as the filling image is used as the mask image that matches the filling image). Therefore, this invention not only ensures that different frames of the entire filling image are registered within the same framework, but also effectively reduces the influence of motion artifacts on the vascular subtraction image caused by time displacement and spontaneous or involuntary patient movements (such as heartbeats).

[0120] Since the vascular imaging device, electronic device and storage medium provided by this invention belong to the same inventive concept as the vascular imaging method provided by this invention, the vascular imaging device, electronic device and storage medium provided by this invention have at least all the advantages of the vascular imaging method provided by this invention. For more detailed information, please refer to the relevant description of the vascular imaging method above, which will not be repeated here.

[0121] It should be noted that the apparatus and methods disclosed in the embodiments herein can also be implemented in other ways. The apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings show the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of apparatus, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments herein. In this regard, each block in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, program, or part of code containing one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the blocks may occur in a different order than those marked in the drawings. For example, two consecutive blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in a block diagram and / or flowchart, and combinations of blocks in block diagrams and / or flowcharts, can be implemented using a dedicated hardware-based system to perform the specified function or action, or can be implemented using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0122] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this article can be integrated together to form an independent part, or each module can exist independently, or two or more modules can be integrated to form an independent part.

[0123] The above description is merely a description of preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way. Any changes or modifications made by those skilled in the art based on the above disclosure are within the protection scope of the present invention. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the present invention without departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, if these modifications and variations fall within the scope of the present invention and its equivalents, the present invention also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method of blood vessel imaging, characterized by, The method comprises: obtaining a filling image and a mask image matched with the filling image; for each frame of filling image, determining a plurality of first control points on the mask image according to the frame of filling image or the mask image, and dividing the mask image into a plurality of sub-mask images according to the first control points and a size relationship between a difference between the frame of filling image and the mask image and a first preset threshold value, to determine correction control points; for each frame of filling image, correcting the mask image according to the correction control points to obtain a corrected mask image corresponding to the frame of filling image; obtaining a blood vessel subtraction image according to each frame of filling image and the corrected mask image corresponding to the frame of filling image; wherein the correction control points are determined by: judging whether the difference between the frame of filling image and the mask image is less than the first preset threshold value; if yes, taking the first control points as the correction control points; if no, dividing the mask image according to the difference between the frame of filling image and the mask image to obtain the correction control points by: dividing the mask image into first sub-mask images corresponding to regions where the first control points are located according to the first control points; for each first sub-mask image, determining a plurality of candidate control points in the first sub-mask image, and screening the candidate control points to obtain at least one second control point; re-dividing the mask image into a plurality of second sub-mask images according to vertices of the regions where the first control points are located and the second control points; determining third control points corresponding to each second sub-mask image according to the second sub-mask image; determining the correction control points according to all the third control points.

2. The blood vessel imaging method of claim 1, wherein, The method comprises: determining first control points of a mask image corresponding to each frame of filling image by any of the following methods: dividing the frame of filling image into a plurality of sub-regions, obtaining center points of each sub-region, and determining the first control points on the mask image according to a corresponding relationship between the frame of filling image and the mask image and the center points; or determining the first control points based on the mask image by using a gradient method.

3. The blood vessel imaging method of claim 1, wherein, The method of screening the candidate control points to obtain at least one second control point comprises: judging whether a distance between the candidate control point and a boundary or a vertex of the first sub-mask image where the candidate control point is located is greater than a second preset threshold value, and if yes, taking the candidate control point as the second control point.

4. The method of imaging blood vessels according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein, The method of obtaining a filling image and a mask image matched with the filling image comprises: obtaining a filling image and at least two original mask images; screening the original mask images according to the filling image to obtain a mask image matched with the filling image.

5. The method of imaging blood vessels of claim 4, wherein, After obtaining the filling image and the at least two original mask images, the blood vessel imaging method further comprises: preprocessing the filling image and the original mask images, and using the preprocessed filling image to replace the filling image and using the preprocessed original mask image to replace the original mask image.

6. The blood vessel imaging method of claim 4, wherein, The original mask image is screened by using a heart beat recognition technology to obtain an optimal mask image corresponding to the filling image, and the optimal mask image is taken as the mask image.

7. A blood vessel imaging apparatus, characterized by comprising: The method comprises the following steps: A first image acquisition unit is configured to acquire a filling image and a mask image matched with the filling image; A correction control point acquisition unit is configured to, for each frame of filling image, determine a plurality of first control points on the mask image according to the frame of filling image or the mask image, divide the mask image into a plurality of sub-mask images according to a size relationship between a difference between the frame of filling image and the mask image and a first preset threshold value and the first control points, and determine a correction control point according to the first control points. Determine whether the difference between the frame of filling image and the mask image is less than the first preset threshold value: If yes, take the first control points as the correction control points; If no, divide the mask image according to the difference between the frame of filling image and the mask image to obtain the correction control points. Divide the mask image into first sub-mask images corresponding to regions where the first control points are located according to the first control points. For each first sub-mask image, determine a plurality of candidate control points in the first sub-mask image, screen the candidate control points to obtain at least one second control point, and redivide the mask image into a plurality of second sub-mask images according to a vertex of the region where the first control points are located and the second control points. Determine a third control point corresponding to each second sub-mask image according to the second sub-mask image. Determine the correction control points according to all the third control points. A correction mask image acquisition unit is configured to, for each frame of filling image, correct the mask image according to the correction control points to obtain a correction mask image corresponding to the frame of filling image. A second image acquisition unit is configured to obtain a blood vessel subtraction image according to each frame of filling image and the correction mask image corresponding to the frame of filling image. The blood vessel imaging method comprises the following steps:

8. An electronic device, comprising: A processor and a memory are included, and a computer program is stored on the memory.

9. A readable storage medium, characterized by, The computer program is executed by the processor to implement the blood vessel imaging method of any one of claims 1 to 6. The computer program is stored in the readable storage medium and executed by the processor to implement the blood vessel imaging method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

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