A method, device, and equipment for carotid artery scanning based on an ultrasound robot.

Abstract

This invention relates to a carotid artery scanning method, apparatus, and device based on an ultrasound robot, comprising: driving an ultrasound probe to rotate transversely along the z-axis of a tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery; the tool coordinate system is set with the horizontal direction along the blood vessel as the x-axis, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the blood vessel as the y-axis, and the vertical direction as the z-axis; driving the ultrasound probe to reciprocate along the y-axis to longitudinally cut, extracting the rectangular contour of the local carotid artery, and determining the corresponding intima-media position of the carotid artery; determining whether the angle of the transverse rotation of the ultrasound probe along the z-axis is less than 180°, and if so, repeating the transverse rotation and reciprocating longitudinal rotation. The carotid artery scanning method, apparatus, and device based on an ultrasound robot provided by this invention, by driving the ultrasound probe to rotate along the z-axis and move along the length of the blood vessel, calculates the rotation angle under the condition of the maximum blood vessel length, and uses this angle for reciprocating longitudinal rotation, determining the intima-media position under the condition of the maximum blood vessel contour length, thus ensuring the accuracy of the neck scan.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of ultrasound scanning technology, and in particular to a method, apparatus and equipment for carotid artery scanning based on an ultrasound robot. Background Technology

[0002] Current ultrasound scanning robots, when scanning human blood vessels, especially those in the neck, often employ a combination of lateral and longitudinal scanning. This means scanning along the length and width of the vessel separately and then combining the results to generate images. Furthermore, in blood vessels, particularly those in the neck, the lumen and outer membrane are sequentially separated, forming an intima and media. The thickness of these two layers is used to evaluate vascular parameters.

[0003] However, the switching mechanism between the above-mentioned transverse and longitudinal scans often involves selecting a location, performing a transverse scan, and then immediately performing a longitudinal scan. This lacks location screening for the intima-media contour, so the results obtained cannot accurately reflect the health of the carotid artery. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention provides a method, apparatus, and device for carotid artery scanning based on an ultrasound robot, with the aim of accurately determining the location of the intima-media layer and ensuring the accuracy of the carotid scan.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of the present invention provide a carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot, comprising:

[0006] Drive the ultrasound probe to rotate and cut transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery. The tool coordinate system is set with the z-axis along the direction of the ultrasound probe, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the side of the ultrasound probe as the x-axis, and the direction perpendicular to the x-axis and z-axis as the y-axis.

[0007] The ultrasound probe is driven to rotate back and forth along the y-axis to longitudinally cut and extract the rectangular outline of the local carotid artery, thereby determining the location of the corresponding intima-media layer of the carotid artery.

[0008] Determine whether the angle of the transverse section of the ultrasound probe along the z-axis is less than 180°. If so, repeat the transverse section and the longitudinal section in sequence.

[0009] Optionally, driving the ultrasound probe to rotate transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system includes:

[0010] The rotation step size and rotation distance of the prefabricated ultrasound probe are used to obtain the blood vessel length at each rotation step size. The blood vessel length is the length of the major axis of the ellipse of the neck blood vessel.

[0011] Based on the blood vessel length and the rotation step size, the rotation distance for the maximum blood vessel length is obtained.

[0012] Optionally, the rotation step size is 25° / second, and the rotation distance is 180°.

[0013] Optionally, the ultrasound probe is driven to reciprocate along the y-axis to longitudinally cut and extract the rectangular contour of the local carotid artery, determining the location of the corresponding intima-media layer of the carotid artery, including:

[0014] The longitudinal section angle and longitudinal section step length of the prefabricated ultrasonic probe are used to obtain the rectangular contour corresponding to each longitudinal section step length.

[0015] The outline length of the inner membrane is determined based on the length of the rectangular outline;

[0016] Select the maximum profile length to determine the location of the inner membrane.

[0017] Optionally, the longitudinal cutting angle is from -60° to 60°.

[0018] Secondly, embodiments of the present invention provide a carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot, applying the carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot proposed in the first aspect, including:

[0019] The longitudinal section position determination module is used to drive the ultrasound probe to rotate and cut transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery. The tool coordinate system is set with the horizontal direction along the blood vessel as the x-axis, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the blood vessel as the y-axis, and the vertical direction as the z-axis.

[0020] The intima-media location determination module is used to drive the ultrasound probe to reciprocate along the y-axis to longitudinally cut and extract the rectangular contour of the local carotid artery, thereby determining the location of the corresponding intima-media of the carotid artery.

[0021] The angle determination module is used to determine whether the angle of the transverse rotation of the ultrasound probe along the z-axis is less than 180°. If so, the transverse rotation and longitudinal rotation are repeated in sequence.

[0022] Optionally, the longitudinal section position determination module is configured to perform the following operations:

[0023] The rotation step size and rotation distance of the prefabricated ultrasound probe are used to obtain the blood vessel length at each rotation step size. The blood vessel length is the length of the major axis of the ellipse of the neck blood vessel.

[0024] Based on the blood vessel length and the rotation step size, the rotation distance for the maximum blood vessel length is obtained.

[0025] Optionally, the inner membrane position determination module is configured to perform the following operations:

[0026] The longitudinal section angle and longitudinal section step length of the prefabricated ultrasonic probe are used to obtain the rectangular contour corresponding to each longitudinal section step length.

[0027] The outline length of the inner membrane is determined based on the length of the rectangular outline;

[0028] Select the maximum profile length to determine the location of the inner membrane.

[0029] Thirdly, embodiments of the present invention provide an electronic device, which includes: one or more processors;

[0030] Memory, used to store one or more programs;

[0031] When one or more programs are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot as provided in any embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Fourthly, embodiments of the present invention provide a storage medium containing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a computer processor, are used to perform the carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot as provided in any embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] The present invention provides a carotid artery scanning method, apparatus, and device based on an ultrasound robot. The method drives the ultrasound probe to rotate along the z-axis while moving along the length of the blood vessel. The rotation angle is obtained when the blood vessel length is at its maximum value, and the probe is used to perform reciprocating longitudinal sectioning. Furthermore, the position of the intima-media is determined when the blood vessel contour length is at its maximum value, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the carotid artery scanning. Attached Figure Description

[0034] Figure 1 A flowchart of a carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of driving an ultrasound probe to rotate and traverse along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system in a carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot, as provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Figure 3 This is a flowchart illustrating the determination of the intima-media location of the carotid artery in a carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot, as provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 6 This is a structural schematic diagram of an ultrasonic robot provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0040] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and not intended to limit it. Furthermore, it should be noted that, for ease of description, the accompanying drawings show only the parts relevant to the present invention, and not all of the structures.

[0041] Currently, ultrasound scanning robots often use a combination of lateral and longitudinal scans to construct rectangular images of the blood vessels in the neck, and then evaluate vascular parameters using intimal and medial parameters. However, the lack of intimal and medial contour filtering during these lateral and longitudinal scans affects the accuracy of carotid artery scan results.

[0042] Example 1

[0043] To address the above shortcomings, this invention proposes a carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot, such as... Figure 1 As shown, it includes:

[0044] S10: Drive the ultrasound probe to rotate transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery. The tool coordinate system is set with the z-axis along the direction of the ultrasound probe, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the side of the ultrasound probe as the x-axis, and the direction perpendicular to both the x-axis and z-axis as the y-axis. Figure 6 As shown; the ultrasound probe is connected to the end of a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, and the tool coordinate system is the tool coordinate system where the end of the six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm is located. The patient lies supine in front of the ultrasound robot, and the ultrasound probe scans the blood vessels in the area to be tested (such as neck vessels). The scan results are displayed on an ultrasound image monitor.

[0045] During the scanning process, the device first needs to rotate along the z-axis. Ideally, the rotation distance (rotation angle) is 180°, and the rotation step size is 25° / second. It should be noted that the above rotation step size can be adjusted according to the actual detection needs; this determines the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery, such as... Figure 2 As shown, it specifically includes:

[0046] S11: The rotation step size and rotation distance of the pre-fabricated ultrasound probe are used to obtain the blood vessel length at each rotation step size; the method for obtaining the blood vessel length includes, but is not limited to, images. The extraction method can be a convolutional neural network (CNN) or a transformer network, extracting the elliptical contour of the neck blood vessels. Since blood vessels are usually elliptical, the major axis of the ellipse is selected as the blood vessel contour length (blood vessel length). At each rotation step of the ultrasound probe, a set of blood vessel contour lengths is obtained, i.e., L = {L1, L2, L3, ..., L...}. n},

[0047] S12: Based on the vessel length and the rotation step size, obtain the rotation distance (rotation angle) for the maximum vessel length. In a preferred embodiment, based on the rotation step size, the vessel length corresponding to different rotation distances can be obtained, thereby establishing a function of rotation step size and vessel length, i.e.

[0048] Where L(α) represents the blood vessel length, α = iθ represents the rotation distance, and C i Let L(α) be a constant coefficient. A cubic polynomial is preferred to clearly represent the relationship between vessel length and rotation distance, expressed as follows:

[0049]

[0050] Where M = [a0, a1, a2, a3] T ;

[0051] This leads to the matrix formula relating blood vessel length and rotation distance:

[0052] D = N·M

[0053] Where D = [L(θ) L(2θ) … L(nθ)] represents the vector of blood vessel length.

[0054]

[0055] The basis function matrix representing the rotation distance is known, and thus M = [a0a1a2a3]. The rotation distance value corresponding to the maximum blood vessel length is the selected longitudinal section position of the carotid artery.

[0056] S20: Drive the ultrasound probe to reciprocate along the y-axis to perform longitudinal sectioning, extract the rectangular outline of the local carotid artery, and determine the location of the corresponding intima-media layer of the carotid artery;

[0057] In the process of determining the location of the endometrium, such as Figure 3 As shown, it specifically includes:

[0058] S21: The longitudinal cutting angle and longitudinal cutting step size of the prefabricated ultrasound probe are used to obtain the rectangular contour corresponding to each longitudinal cutting step size; the longitudinal cutting angle is based on the y-axis and ranges from -60° to 60°, and the longitudinal cutting step size is set to 25° / second. By swinging the ultrasound probe between -60° and 60° around the y-axis, an image of the rectangular contour of the carotid artery is obtained, and the length of the obtained rectangular contour can be used as a measure of the intima-media contour based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) and transformer network.

[0059] S22: Determine the length of the inner membrane profile based on the length of the rectangular outline; construct the set of inner membrane profile lengths using the aforementioned rectangular outline, i.e.:

[0060]

[0061] Where γ represents the longitudinal step size, and m represents the number of sampling points corresponding to 120° and the longitudinal step size.

[0062] S23: Select the maximum contour length to determine the position of the inner membrane.

[0063] Based on the longitudinal cutting step size, the contour length of the inner membrane corresponding to different longitudinal cutting angles can be obtained, and then a function of longitudinal cutting angle β and contour length W can be established, where β = iγ

[0064] Right now:

[0065]

[0066] Among them, M ′ =[b0,b1,b2,b3] T

[0067] Furthermore, a matrix formula for the contour length and longitudinal angle of the intima is established:

[0068] D′=N′·M′

[0069] Where D′=[W(γ) W(2γ) … W(nγ)] represents the vector of contour length, The basis function matrix represents the longitudinal angle. Both are known quantities. Then, the maximum value of M′ is obtained, which is the position of the inner membrane.

[0070] Next, step S30 is executed: it is determined whether the transverse rotation angle of the ultrasound probe along the z-axis is less than 180°. If so, the transverse rotation and reciprocating longitudinal rotation are repeated sequentially. When the transverse rotation angle of the ultrasound probe is greater than or equal to 180°, it indicates that the ultrasound probe has completed one carotid artery scan.

[0071] The carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot provided in this invention drives the ultrasound probe to rotate along the z-axis while moving along the length of the blood vessel. The rotation angle at the maximum length of the blood vessel is obtained and used to perform reciprocating longitudinal sectioning. Furthermore, the position of the intima-media is determined at the maximum length of the blood vessel contour, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the carotid artery scanning.

[0072] Example 2

[0073] This invention also proposes a carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot, such as... Figure 4 As shown, it includes:

[0074] The longitudinal section position determination module 01 is used to drive the ultrasound probe to rotate and cut transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery. The tool coordinate system is set with the horizontal direction along the blood vessel as the x-axis, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the blood vessel as the y-axis, and the vertical direction as the z-axis.

[0075] Furthermore, the aforementioned longitudinal section position determination module 01 is configured to perform the following operations:

[0076] The rotation step size and rotation distance of the prefabricated ultrasound probe are used to obtain the blood vessel length at each rotation step size;

[0077] Based on the vessel length and the rotation step size, the rotation distance for the maximum vessel length is obtained. The rotation step size is 25° / second, and the rotation distance is 180°.

[0078] The intima-media location determination module 02 is used to drive the ultrasound probe to reciprocate along the y-axis to longitudinally cut and extract the rectangular contour of the local carotid artery, thereby determining the location of the corresponding intima-media of the carotid artery.

[0079] Inner membrane position determination module 02 is configured to perform the following operations:

[0080] The longitudinal cutting angle and longitudinal cutting step length of the prefabricated ultrasonic probe are used to obtain the rectangular contour corresponding to each longitudinal cutting step length; the longitudinal cutting angle is from -60° to 60°.

[0081] The outline length of the inner membrane is determined based on the length of the rectangular outline;

[0082] Select the maximum profile length to determine the location of the inner membrane.

[0083] The angle determination module 03 is used to determine whether the angle of the transverse rotation of the ultrasound probe along the z-axis is less than 180°. If so, the transverse rotation and longitudinal rotation are repeated in sequence.

[0084] The carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot provided in this embodiment of the invention uses the same technical means as the carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot to achieve the same technical effect, which will not be described in detail here.

[0085] Example 3

[0086] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot, provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 As shown, the motion planning device for the ultrasonic scanning robot includes a processor 510, a memory 520, an input device 530, and an output device 540; the number of processors 510 in the ultrasonic scanning robot motion planning device can be one or more. Figure 5Taking a processor 510 as an example; the processor 510, memory 520, input device 530, and output device 540 in the ultrasonic scanning robot motion planning device can be connected via a bus or other means. Figure 5 Taking the example of a connection between China and Israel via a bus.

[0087] The memory 520, as a computer-readable storage medium, can be used to store software programs, computer-executable programs, and modules, such as the program instructions / modules corresponding to the carotid artery scanning method based on the ultrasound robot in this embodiment of the invention (e.g., the longitudinal section position determination module, the intima-media position determination module, and the angle determination module). The processor 510 executes the various functional applications and data processing of the carotid artery scanning device based on the ultrasound robot by running the software programs, instructions, and modules stored in the memory 520, thereby realizing the aforementioned carotid artery scanning method based on the ultrasound robot.

[0088] The memory 520 may primarily include a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area may store the operating system and at least one application program required for a given function; the data storage area may store data created based on terminal usage. Furthermore, the memory 520 may include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, flash memory device, or other non-volatile solid-state storage device. In some instances, the memory 520 may further include memory remotely configured relative to the processor 510, which can be connected to the carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

[0089] Input device 530 can be used to receive input digital or character information, and to generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the ultrasonic scanning robot motion planning device. Output device 540 may include display devices such as a display screen.

[0090] Example 4

[0091] Embodiment 4 of the present invention also provides a storage medium containing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a computer processor, are used to perform a carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot, including:

[0092] Drive the ultrasound probe to rotate and cut transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery. The tool coordinate system is set with the z-axis along the direction of the ultrasound probe, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the side of the ultrasound probe as the x-axis, and the direction perpendicular to the x-axis and z-axis as the y-axis.

[0093] The ultrasound probe is driven to rotate back and forth along the y-axis to longitudinally cut and extract the rectangular outline of the local carotid artery, thereby determining the location of the corresponding intima-media layer of the carotid artery.

[0094] Determine whether the angle of the transverse section of the ultrasound probe along the z-axis is less than 180°. If so, repeat the transverse section and the longitudinal section in sequence.

[0095] Of course, the computer-executable instructions provided in the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described method operations, but can also perform related operations in the carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot provided in any embodiment of the present invention.

[0096] Based on the above description of the implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present invention can be implemented using software and necessary general-purpose hardware, and of course, it can also be implemented using hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer floppy disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, hard disk, or optical disk, etc., including several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods of the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0097] It is worth noting that in the above embodiments of the carotid artery scanning device based on ultrasound robots, the various units and modules included are only divided according to functional logic, but are not limited to the above division, as long as the corresponding functions can be achieved; in addition, the specific names of each functional unit are only for easy differentiation and are not used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0098] Although the present invention has been described in detail above with general descriptions, specific embodiments, and experiments, modifications or improvements can be made to it, which will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, all such modifications or improvements made without departing from the spirit of the present invention fall within the scope of protection claimed by the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for carotid artery scanning based on an ultrasound robot, characterized in that, include: The ultrasound probe is driven to rotate and cut transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery. The tool coordinate system is set with the z-axis along the direction of the ultrasound probe, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the side of the ultrasound probe as the x-axis, and the direction perpendicular to the x-axis and z-axis as the y-axis. The ultrasound probe is driven to reciprocate along the y-axis to longitudinally cut and extract the rectangular outline of the local carotid artery, thereby determining the location of the intima-media corresponding to the carotid artery; Determine whether the angle of the transverse section of the ultrasonic probe along the z-axis is less than 180°. If so, repeat the transverse section and the reciprocating longitudinal section in sequence. The method of driving the ultrasound probe to rotate transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal position of the carotid artery includes: The rotation step size and rotation distance of the ultrasound probe are pre-defined, and the blood vessel length under each rotation step size is obtained. The blood vessel length is the length of the major axis of the ellipse of the neck blood vessel. The rotation distance corresponding to the maximum value of the blood vessel length is obtained based on the blood vessel length and the rotation step size; the rotation distance corresponding to the maximum value of the blood vessel length is the selected longitudinal section position of the carotid artery.

2. The carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The rotation step size is 25° / second, and the rotation distance is 180°.

3. The carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot according to claim 1, characterized in that, The process of driving the ultrasound probe to reciprocate along the y-axis to perform longitudinal sectioning, extracting the rectangular contour of a local carotid artery, and determining the corresponding intima-media position of the carotid artery includes: The longitudinal cutting angle and longitudinal cutting step length of the ultrasonic probe are pre-defined, and the rectangular contour corresponding to each longitudinal cutting step length is obtained; The outline length of the inner membrane is determined based on the length of the rectangular outline; The maximum value of the contour length is selected to determine the position of the inner membrane.

4. The carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot according to claim 3, characterized in that, The longitudinal cutting angle is from -60° to 60°.

5. A carotid artery scanning device based on an ultrasound robot, characterized in that, include: The longitudinal section position determination module is used to drive the ultrasound probe to rotate and cut transversely along the z-axis of the tool coordinate system to determine the longitudinal section position of the carotid artery. The tool coordinate system is set with the horizontal direction along the blood vessel as the x-axis, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the blood vessel as the y-axis, and the vertical direction as the z-axis. The intima-media location determination module is used to drive the ultrasound probe to reciprocate along the y-axis to longitudinally cut and extract the rectangular contour of the local carotid artery, thereby determining the location of the intima-media corresponding to the carotid artery. An angle determination module is used to determine whether the angle of the transverse rotation of the ultrasonic probe along the z-axis is less than 180°. If so, the transverse rotation and the reciprocating longitudinal rotation are repeated sequentially. The longitudinal section position determination module is configured to perform the following operations: The rotation step size and rotation distance of the ultrasound probe are pre-defined, and the blood vessel length under each rotation step size is obtained. The blood vessel length is the length of the major axis of the ellipse of the neck blood vessel. The rotation distance corresponding to the maximum value of the blood vessel length is obtained based on the blood vessel length and the rotation step size; the rotation distance corresponding to the maximum value of the blood vessel length is the selected longitudinal section position of the carotid artery.

6. The carotid artery scanning device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The longitudinal section position determination module is configured to perform the following operations: The rotation step size and rotation distance of the ultrasound probe are pre-defined, and the blood vessel length under each rotation step size is obtained. The blood vessel length is the length of the major axis of the ellipse of the neck blood vessel. The rotation distance for the maximum value of the blood vessel length is obtained based on the blood vessel length and the rotation step size.

7. The carotid artery scanning device according to claim 5, characterized in that, The intima-media position determination module is configured to perform the following operations: The longitudinal cutting angle and longitudinal cutting step length of the ultrasonic probe are pre-defined, and the rectangular contour corresponding to each longitudinal cutting step length is obtained; The outline length of the inner membrane is determined based on the length of the rectangular outline; The maximum value of the contour length is selected to determine the position of the inner membrane.

8. An electronic device, characterized in that, The electronic device includes: One or more processors; Memory, used to store one or more programs; When the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the one or more processors implement the carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot as described in any one of claims 1-4.

9. A storage medium containing computer-executable instructions, characterized in that, The computer-executable instructions, when executed by a computer processor, are used to perform the carotid artery scanning method based on an ultrasound robot as described in any one of claims 1-4.

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