Method, apparatus and electronic device for intravascular ultrasound image generation

Abstract

The application provides a blood vessel intracavity ultrasound image generation method, device and electronic equipment, which is applied to a blood vessel intracavity ultrasound system, and comprises the following steps: acquiring n pieces of line image data when a transducer of the blood vessel intracavity ultrasound system rotates one circle; wherein n is an integer greater than 1; superimposing line image data acquired when the number of rotation circles of the transducer of the blood vessel intracavity ultrasound system is m to m+A-1 to obtain an mth frame of ultrasound image; wherein m is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and A is an integer greater than 1; and displaying the superimposed ultrasound image by the blood vessel intracavity ultrasound system. In this way, the transverse resolution of the ultrasound image can be improved, and the image quality of the ultrasound image can be enhanced by superimposing line image data acquired when the number of rotation circles of the transducer of the blood vessel intracavity ultrasound system is m to m+A-1 to obtain an mth frame of ultrasound image.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of image processing, and in particular to a method and device for generating intravascular ultrasound images and an electronic device. BACKGROUND

[0002] An intravenous ultrasound (IVUS) system can utilize a miniature ultrasound probe installed at the distal end of a catheter to display a cross-sectional image of a blood vessel in real time, clearly display the thickness of a tube wall structure, the size and shape of a lumen, and accurately measure the lumen diameter and cross-sectional area, and even identify calcification, fibrosis and lipidization, and is an important access diagnostic modality for imaging atherosclerosis and other blood vessel diseases and defects.

[0003] An important standard for measuring the quality of an ultrasound image is the lateral resolution (or side resolution) of the image, which is the minimum width between two target points or interfaces that can be distinguished in the ultrasound scanning plane along a direction perpendicular to the ultrasound beam. In an IVUS system, the lateral resolution of an image is not only limited by the effective width of the beam (which depends on the frequency of the ultrasound wave and the pulse width), but also limited by the number of line image data included in each frame of image.

[0004] However, due to the existing physical materials and structural design of the catheter, the rotation speed of the ultrasound transducer is currently basically 1000-2000 revolutions per minute; and due to the limitation of physical parameters such as the central working frequency of the transducer and the transmission speed of the ultrasound pulse in the tissue, the emission period of the ultrasound pulse cannot be too small. Therefore, the lateral resolution of the ultrasound image of the existing IVUS system is low, resulting in poor image quality of the ultrasound image. SUMMARY

[0005] Therefore, the purpose of the present application is to provide a method and device for generating intravascular ultrasound images and an electronic device to improve the lateral resolution of the ultrasound image and enhance the image quality of the ultrasound image.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for generating intravascular ultrasound images, applied to an intravascular ultrasound system, the method comprising: acquiring n pieces of line image data when a transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates one circle; wherein n is an integer greater than 1; superimposing line image data acquired when the number of rotations of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system is m to m+A-1 to obtain an mth frame of ultrasound image; wherein m is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and A is an integer greater than 1; and displaying the superimposed ultrasound image by the intravascular ultrasound system.

[0007] In an optional embodiment of the present application, after the step of obtaining n pieces of line image data when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates one circle, the method further comprises: generating a target image based on the n pieces of line image data; and the step of superimposing the line image data obtained when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates m to m+A-1 circles to obtain the mth frame of ultrasound image comprises: superimposing the target images generated when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates m to m+A-1 circles to obtain the mth frame of ultrasound image.

[0008] In an optional embodiment of the present application, the step of superimposing the line image data obtained when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates m to m+A-1 circles to obtain the mth frame of ultrasound image comprises: arranging the line image data obtained when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates m to m+A-1 circles evenly within a 360° range to obtain the mth frame of ultrasound image.

[0009] In an optional embodiment of the present application, the angle between any two adjacent pieces of line image data obtained when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates one circle is 360 / n°.

[0010] In an optional embodiment of the present application, A=2, 4, 6 or 8.

[0011] In an optional embodiment of the present application, n=256.

[0012] In an optional embodiment of the present application, the starting position of each circle of the transducer is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by 360 / (n×A)° compared with the starting position of the previous circle of the transducer when the transducer rotates.

[0013] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide an intravascular ultrasound image generation device applied to an intravascular ultrasound system, the device comprising: a line image data obtaining module configured to obtain n pieces of line image data when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates one circle; wherein n is an integer greater than 1; a line image data superimposing module configured to superimpose the line image data obtained when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates m to m+A-1 circles to obtain the mth frame of ultrasound image; wherein m is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and A is an integer greater than 1; and an ultrasound image display module configured to display the superimposed ultrasound image on the intravascular ultrasound system.

[0014] In a third aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide an electronic device comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory stores computer executable instructions capable of being executed by the processor, and the processor executes the computer executable instructions to implement the intravascular ultrasound image generation method.

[0015] In a fourth aspect, the embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium, which stores computer executable instructions, and the computer executable instructions, when invoked and executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement the method for generating an intravascular ultrasound image.

[0016] The embodiments of the present application bring the following beneficial effects:

[0017] The embodiments of the present application provide a method and device for generating an intravascular ultrasound image and electronic equipment, when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates one circle, n pieces of line image data are acquired; the mth frame of ultrasound image is obtained by superimposing the line image data acquired when the rotation number of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system is m to m+A-1; and the superimposed ultrasound image is displayed by the intravascular ultrasound system. In this way, the lateral resolution of the ultrasound image can be improved and the image quality of the ultrasound image can be enhanced by obtaining the mth frame of ultrasound image by superimposing the line image data acquired when the rotation number of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system is m to m+A-1.

[0018] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be described in the following description, or can be learned from the description, or can be determined without doubt, or can be known by implementing the above-mentioned technologies of the present disclosure.

[0019] In order to make the above-mentioned purposes, features and advantages of the present disclosure more obvious and easy to understand, the following preferred embodiments are described in detail below, and the accompanying drawings are described as follows. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the specific embodiments or prior art description. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings according to these drawings without creative labor.

[0021] Figure 1 A flowchart of a method for generating an intravascular ultrasound image provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0022] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an ultrasonic pulse wave provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0023] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of an ultrasonic image provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0024] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the lateral resolution of an IVUS system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0025] Figure 5 A flow chart of another method for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a method for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a detailed flow of a method for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 8 A flow chart of another method for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of another method for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of a detailed flow of another method for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 11 An effect schematic diagram of a method for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 12 A structural schematic diagram of a device for producing an intravascular ultrasound image provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 13 A structural schematic diagram of an electronic device provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings, obviously, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0035] At present, an IVUS system can utilize a micro-ultrasound probe installed at a distal end of a catheter to display a cross-sectional image of a blood vessel in real time, can clearly display thickness of a tube wall structure, lumen size and shape, etc., can accurately measure a lumen diameter and a cross-sectional area, and can even recognize calcification, fibrosis and lipidization, etc., is an important access diagnostic mode for imaging of atherosclerosis and other blood vessel diseases and defects.

[0036] A key criterion for measuring ultrasound image quality is the lateral resolution, which is the minimum width between two target points or interfaces that can be distinguished along the direction perpendicular to the ultrasound beam within the ultrasound scanning plane. In IVUS systems, the lateral resolution of an image is limited not only by the effective beamwidth (which depends on the frequency and pulse width of the ultrasound waves) but also by the number of line image data lines contained in each frame.

[0037] However, due to limitations in the existing physical materials and structural design of catheters, the rotation speed of ultrasound transducers is currently limited to 1000-2000 rpm. Furthermore, the transmission period of ultrasound pulses cannot be made too short due to physical parameters such as the transducer's central operating frequency and the transmission speed of ultrasound pulses within tissues. Therefore, existing IVUS systems have low lateral resolution in ultrasound images, resulting in poor image quality.

[0038] Based on this, the present invention provides a method, apparatus and electronic device for generating intravascular ultrasound images, which obtains the m-th frame ultrasound image by superimposing line image data acquired when the number of rotations of the catheter in the intravascular ultrasound system is m to m+A-1, thereby improving the lateral resolution of the ultrasound image and enhancing the image quality of the ultrasound image.

[0039] To facilitate understanding of this embodiment, a method for generating intravascular ultrasound images disclosed in this embodiment of the invention will first be described in detail.

[0040] Example 1:

[0041] This invention provides a method for generating intravascular ultrasound images, applied to an intravascular ultrasound system, i.e., an IVUS system. An IVUS system typically includes a power module, a control module (containing a pulse generator, an ultrasound transducer motion controller, an image processor, a monitor, and related software), a catheter, and one or more transducers disposed within the catheter.

[0042] A catheter containing transducers can be positioned within or near the imaging area, in a lumen or chamber, such as the vessel wall or patient tissue adjacent to the vessel wall. A pulse generator in the control module generates electrical pulses, which are transmitted to one or more transducers and converted into acoustic signals that travel through the patient tissue. Reflected pulses of the transmitted acoustic signals are absorbed by one or more transducers and converted back into electrical pulses. The converted electrical pulses are transmitted to an image processor and transformed into an image that can be displayed on a monitor (or display).

[0043] There are two common types of IVUS catheters: mechanical / rotating catheters and solid-state catheters. Solid-state catheters (or phased array catheters) have no rotating parts. A phased array probe consists of multiple array elements (currently up to 64) arranged in a ring at the distal end of the catheter. A 360° cross-sectional image is obtained by sequentially stimulating each element or combination of elements via an electronic switch. Mechanical / rotating catheters typically have only one ultrasound transducer element. This transducer simultaneously transmits and receives ultrasound pulse echoes as it rotates continuously 360° around the blood vessel. When the transducer completes one full rotation (360°), a single cross-sectional image of the blood vessel is generated.

[0044] Based on the above description, see Figure 1 The flowchart shown illustrates a method for generating intravascular ultrasound images, which includes the following steps:

[0045] Step S102: Acquire n line image data for each rotation of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system; where n is an integer greater than 1.

[0046] The transducer rotates at a fixed speed inside the catheter, and the time required for one revolution is T1 seconds. The number of revolutions the transducer makes per second inside the catheter is M = 1 / T1 revolutions. While rotating, the transducer continuously transmits and receives ultrasonic pulse waves and their echoes.

[0047] See Figure 2 The diagram shown is a schematic of an ultrasonic pulse wave. Figure 2 The vertical axis represents the peak-to-peak voltage of the pulse wave. The horizontal axis represents the change of the ultrasonic pulse emitted by the array element over time. It should be noted that... Figure 2 This is for illustrative purposes only. The actual waveform, period, and interval of the transmitted pulse wave are controlled by the system control module and may differ from the actual waveform. Figure 2 There is a difference.

[0048] like Figure 2 As shown, the period of a single ultrasonic pulse is T2 seconds, where T2 represents the duration of a single pulse. T2 depends on the period of the ultrasonic excitation signal and the number of periods of the ultrasonic excitation signal contained in a single pulse. The time interval between two consecutive adjacent pulse waves is T3 seconds, so the pulse transmission period is T4 = T2 + T3 seconds. Since the transducer needs to receive the echo of the previous ultrasonic pulse before it can transmit the next ultrasonic pulse, both T4 and T3 are much larger than T2.

[0049] Specifically, the relationship between T1, T2, T3, and T4 can be as follows: T1 = T4 = 1 minute / revolution = T2 + T3; T2 = ultrasound cycle × number of ultrasound cycles contained in each ultrasound pulse; T3 ≥ depth of ultrasound image (unit: meter) / 1540 (unit: meter / second).

[0050] See Figure 3 The diagram illustrates an ultrasound image. A pulse reflected from the blood vessel wall is converted into an electrical signal by a transducer and returned to the system. The system processes the signal to form image data. Each rotation of the transducer emits n = T1 / T4 ultrasound pulses. Each ultrasound pulse generates a scan line image along the cross-sectional direction of the blood vessel, resulting in n lines of image data per rotation.

[0051] Step S104: The m-th frame ultrasound image is obtained by superimposing the line image data acquired when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1; where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and A is an integer greater than 1.

[0052] In existing technologies, the n line image data generated in the aforementioned steps can be combined into a single frame image in chronological order and displayed synchronously and in real time on a system monitor (or display), thus obtaining... Figure 3 The ultrasound image shown is from an existing IVUS system where the catheter generates one frame of image, which is then simultaneously displayed by the system monitor. The frame rate of the existing IVUS system is M frames per second. Each frame contains n scan lines.

[0053] However, in this embodiment, instead of directly generating an ultrasound image from the n line image data obtained in each lap, the line image data obtained from m to m+A-1 are superimposed to obtain the m-th ultrasound image.

[0054] For example, for the first frame of ultrasound image (m=1), we can set A=4. Then, by superimposing the n line image data of the first circle to the n line image data of the fourth circle (m to m+A-1, i.e. 1+4-1=4), we can obtain the first frame of ultrasound image, and so on.

[0055] Step S106: Display the superimposed ultrasound image on the intravascular ultrasound system.

[0056] In this embodiment, the superimposed ultrasound image can be displayed on the IVUS system. Compared to the existing technology where a catheter generates one frame of image and the system monitor synchronously displays this frame of ultrasound image, the superimposed ultrasound image obtained in this embodiment can have a higher lateral resolution.

[0057] An important criterion for measuring ultrasound image quality is the image's lateral resolution, which is the smallest width between two distinguishable target points or interfaces within the ultrasound scanning plane along a direction perpendicular to the ultrasound beam. See also Figure 4 The diagram shows the lateral resolution of an IVUS system, where lateral resolution = 2Rsin(θ / 2).

[0058] likeFigure 4 As shown, in an IVUS system, ultrasound images are cross-sectional images of blood vessels. Each frame contains a fixed number of line image data points (n), and the image is circular. However, since ultrasound waves are emitted outward from the catheter as the center, the larger the diameter of the circle, the longer its circumference, and the greater the distance between two adjacent image points, resulting in poorer resolution.

[0059] The lateral resolution of an ultrasound image is limited not only by the effective beamwidth (which depends on the frequency and pulse width of the ultrasound waves) but also by the number of line data points contained in each frame. Given a fixed ultrasound frequency and pulse width, the more line data points contained in each frame, the higher the lateral resolution of the image. The further away from the transducer in an ultrasound image, the worse the image resolution.

[0060] Clinical applications of IVUS systems require a higher image display frame rate (M) than possible, which necessitates a shorter time (T1) for the catheter to rotate once. Simultaneously, applications also require a higher horizontal resolution of the image, which necessitates a shorter ultrasound pulse wave emission period (T4) and a longer time (T1) for the catheter to rotate once.

[0061] However, due to limitations in the existing physical materials and structural design of catheters, the rotation speed of catheters is currently basically 1000-2000 revolutions per minute; the transmission period of ultrasound pulses cannot be made too small due to limitations in physical parameters such as the central working frequency of the transducer and the transmission speed of ultrasound pulses in tissues.

[0062] In the prior art, each frame of an IVUS system typically contains 512 to 1024 lines. This embodiment can increase the number of lines per frame to 1024 to 4096 without reducing the frame rate.

[0063] In this embodiment, the method of superimposing the line image data obtained when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1 to obtain the m-th frame ultrasound image can break through the limitations of the current IVUS system catheter rotation speed and ultrasound working frequency without changing the existing IVUS system structure and composition or increasing the system cost. This significantly improves the lateral resolution of IVUS ultrasound images, that is, it is A times higher than that of the original IVUS system.

[0064] This invention provides a method for generating intravascular ultrasound images. The method involves acquiring n line image data points for each rotation of the transducer in an intravascular ultrasound system. The line image data acquired during the transducer's rotations from m to m+A-1 are then superimposed to obtain the m-th frame of the ultrasound image. This superimposed ultrasound image is then displayed on the intravascular ultrasound system. This method, by superimposing the line image data acquired during the transducer's rotations from m to m+A-1 to obtain the m-th frame of the ultrasound image, can improve the lateral resolution of the ultrasound image and enhance its image quality.

[0065] Example 2:

[0066] This embodiment provides another method for generating intravascular ultrasound images, which is implemented based on the above embodiment. See [link to previous embodiment]. Figure 5 The flowchart illustrates another method for generating intravascular ultrasound images. The method for generating intravascular ultrasound images in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0067] Step S502: Acquire n line image data for each rotation of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system, and generate a target image based on the n line image data.

[0068] See Figure 6 The diagram illustrates a method for generating intravascular ultrasound images. After the IVUS system catheter begins operation, the transducer generates images sequentially (11th, 12th... 1st) during its first rotation. n The line image data refers to the n line image data when the transducer rotates 1 revolution. In this embodiment, the n line image data when the transducer rotates 1 revolution can be combined into a target image frame (i.e., the first frame image generated by the catheter) and stored in the system image processing module of the IVUS system, but not displayed on the system monitor (or display) of the IVUS system.

[0069] Specifically, n can be equal to 256, meaning that the transducer generates 256 pulses per revolution, producing n = 256 line image data.

[0070] like Figure 6 As shown, the IVUS system's conduit continues to operate. When the transducer is performing its kth rotational motion, it generates the k1th, k2th, ..., kth transducers in chronological order. n The line image data refers to the n line image data when the transducer rotates k times. In this embodiment, the n line image data when the transducer rotates k times can be combined into a target image frame (i.e., the kth frame image generated by the catheter) and stored in the system image processing module of the IVUS system, but not displayed on the system monitor (or display) of the IVUS system.

[0071] Specifically, in each rotation of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system, the angle between any two adjacent lines of image data is 360 / n°. This ensures that the image data of each of the n lines is evenly arranged, resulting in better display quality.

[0072] Step S504: The target images generated when the number of rotations of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system is m to m+A-1 are superimposed to obtain the m-th frame ultrasound image.

[0073] like Figure 6 As shown, when m=1, after the catheter generates the A-th frame target image, the first frame, the second frame... the A-th frame (a total of A frames) target images previously stored in the image processing module are immediately superimposed to generate a new image, namely the first frame ultrasound image. The superimposed first frame ultrasound image can then be displayed on the intravascular ultrasound system.

[0074] Specifically, A = 2, 4, 6, or 8. Theoretically, A can take any integer value, but for the convenience of computer calculation and in combination with the actual clinical needs of IVUS, A is generally selected as an even number less than 10, such as 2, 4, 6, or 8.

[0075] like Figure 6 As shown, while the system generates and displays the first frame of ultrasound image, the catheter continues to operate, synchronously rotating and generating the A+1th frame of target image. Simultaneously, the system overlays the second, third, ..., A+1th frames (a total of A frames) of target images stored in the image processing module to generate the second frame of ultrasound image, which is then displayed on the system monitor (or display). The catheter continues to operate with the system thereafter until the last frame of ultrasound image is generated and displayed.

[0076] Step S506: Display the superimposed ultrasound image on the intravascular ultrasound system.

[0077] In summary, each frame of ultrasound image displayed on the IVUS system's system monitor (or display) can be generated by superimposing a total of A target images generated before the catheter, thereby improving the lateral resolution of the ultrasound images.

[0078] It should also be noted that when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates, the starting position of each revolution of the transducer is deflected 360 / (n×A)° clockwise or counterclockwise compared to the starting position of the previous revolution.

[0079] In this embodiment, a new control module can be added to the IVUS system. This module can be pure hardware, pure software / algorithm, or a combination of hardware and software / algorithm. This control module ensures that when the catheter generates the target image of frame 1, frame 2, ... frame A (a total of A frames), the starting position of each revolution of the transducer needs to be rotated by 360 / (n×A)° according to the rotation direction of the catheter (clockwise or counterclockwise) based on the previous revolution of the transducer. That is, it ensures that the image of each frame is deflected by 360 / (n×A)° based on the previous frame.

[0080] By using the above method, a certain angle difference can be controlled between each frame of target images. If there is no angle difference between each frame of target images, the effect of the superimposed ultrasound image will be poor. Therefore, the above method can achieve a better superimposition effect.

[0081] For a detailed flowchart of the method for generating intravascular ultrasound images provided in this embodiment, please refer to [link to documentation]. Figure 7 This diagram illustrates a detailed process for generating intravascular ultrasound images. The ultrasound transducer begins to rotate and simultaneously emits the first pulse wave. After emitting the first pulse wave, the catheter immediately stops emitting and enters ultrasound echo reception mode; during this process, the catheter remains rotated. The catheter receives the echo of the first pulse wave and converts it into an electrical signal. The IVUS system uses this electrical signal to generate the first-line image data; throughout this process, the catheter remains rotated.

[0082] The ultrasound transducer continues to rotate and begins emitting a second pulse wave, repeating the aforementioned process of transmitting, receiving, and generating linear image data. The catheter rotates one revolution, generating n linear image data points. The IVUS system combines these n linear image data points into a target image frame and stores it in the system's image processing unit. The system then overlays the A target images generated during the previous A revolutions of the catheter and stored in the system's image processing unit to generate a new ultrasound image frame, which is displayed on the system monitor (or display). It is determined whether this is the last ultrasound image frame. If yes, the process ends; otherwise, the steps of starting catheter rotation and simultaneously emitting the first pulse wave are repeated.

[0083] Example 3:

[0084] This embodiment provides another method for generating intravascular ultrasound images, which is implemented based on the above embodiment. See [link to previous embodiment]. Figure 8 The flowchart illustrates another method for generating intravascular ultrasound images. The method for generating intravascular ultrasound images in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0085] Step S802: Acquire n line image data for each rotation of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system.

[0086] See Figure 9 The diagram illustrates another method for generating intravascular ultrasound images. After the IVUS system catheter begins operation, the transducer generates images sequentially (11th, 12th... 1st) during its first rotation. n The line image data refers to the n line image data when the transducer rotates 1 revolution. The time interval between generating two adjacent line image data is T1 / n seconds.

[0087] In this embodiment, the image data of n lines when the number of rotations of the transducer is 1 can be stored in the system image processing module of the IVUS system, but it is not used to form a target image, nor is it displayed on the system monitor (or display) of the IVUS system.

[0088] like Figure 9 As shown, the IVUS system's conduit continues to operate. When the transducer is performing its kth rotational motion, it generates the k1th, k2th, ..., kth transducers in chronological order. n The line image data refers to the n line image data when the transducer rotates k times. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned n line image data when the transducer rotates k times can be stored in the system image processing module of the IVUS system, but it is not used to form a target image, nor is it displayed on the system monitor (or display) of the IVUS system.

[0089] Step S804: Linear image data acquired when the transducers of the intravascular ultrasound system are uniformly arranged within a 360° range and rotated m to m+A-1 times, to obtain the m-th frame ultrasound image.

[0090] like Figure 9 As shown, when m=1, after the A-th frame target image is generated by the duct, the line image data (A×n lines in total) from the 1st to the Ath frame previously stored in the image processing module can be processed according to the following order: 11, 21...A1, 12, 22...A2...1 n 2 n ...A n The system image processing unit generates the first frame of ultrasound image by arranging the images evenly within a 360-degree range, and then displays it on the system monitor (or display). The two adjacent lines on the image are 360 / (n×A) degrees apart.

[0091] like Figure 9 As shown, when m=2, after the duct generates the (A+1)th frame of the target image, the line image data (A×n lines in total) from the 1st to the Ath frame previously stored in the image processing module can be processed according to the following order: 21, 31...A+11, 22, 32...A+12...2 n 3 n ...A+1 nThe system image processing unit generates the second frame ultrasound image by arranging the images evenly within a 360-degree range, and then displays it on the system monitor (or display). The two adjacent lines on the image are 360 / (n×A) degrees apart.

[0092] The catheter and system then continue to work until the last ultrasound image is generated and displayed.

[0093] Step S806: Display the superimposed ultrasound image on the intravascular ultrasound system.

[0094] In summary, each frame of ultrasound image displayed on the IVUS system monitor (or display) is generated by uniformly distributing and arranging the line image data of the A-ring generated before the system catheter within 360 degrees. This improves the lateral resolution of the ultrasound image and eliminates the step of generating the target image, thereby improving the efficiency of generating ultrasound images.

[0095] In this embodiment, a new control module can also be added to the IVUS system. This module can be pure hardware, pure software / algorithm, or a combination of hardware and software / algorithm. This control module ensures that when the catheter generates n lines of image data for each loop, the starting position of the transducer for each loop needs to be rotated by 360 / (n×A)° according to the direction of the catheter's rotation (clockwise or counterclockwise) based on the previous loop of the transducer. That is, it ensures that the line image data of each frame is deflected by 360 / (n×A)° based on the previous frame.

[0096] By using the above method, a certain angle difference can be controlled between the line image data of each loop. If there is no angle difference between the line image data of each loop, the effect of the superimposed ultrasound image will be poor. Therefore, the above method can achieve a better superimposition effect.

[0097] For a detailed flowchart of the method for generating intravascular ultrasound images provided in this embodiment, please refer to [link to documentation]. Figure 10 The diagram illustrates a detailed process for another method of generating intravascular ultrasound images. The catheter begins to rotate while simultaneously emitting the first pulse wave. After emitting the first pulse wave, the catheter immediately stops transmitting and enters ultrasound echo reception mode; throughout this process, the catheter remains rotated. The catheter receives the echo of the first pulse wave and converts it into an electrical signal. The IVUS system uses this electrical signal to generate the first-line image data; throughout this process, the catheter remains rotated.

[0098] The catheter continues to rotate and begins emitting a second pulse wave, repeating the aforementioned process of transmitting, receiving, and generating linear image data. The catheter rotates one revolution, generating n linear image data points, which the IVUS system stores in the system's image processing unit. The system then overlays the n×A linear image data points generated and stored in the system's image processing unit from the previous A revolutions to create a new ultrasound image frame, which is displayed on the system monitor (or display). It is determined whether this is the last ultrasound image frame. If yes, the process ends; otherwise, the steps of rotating the ultrasound transducer while simultaneously emitting the first pulse wave are repeated.

[0099] The method provided in this invention proposes a new image processing and framing approach, building upon the traditional method of composing a single or multiple beams into a frame and displaying it synchronously in real time. It is primarily applied to intracavitary ultrasound systems with built-in rotating transducers, spiral CT (Computed Tomography) systems, and other imaging examination systems with moving imaging components and images composed of multiple scan lines.

[0100] The method provided in this invention effectively improves the horizontal resolution of images without reducing the system's image display frame rate, achieving a resolution A times higher than traditional imaging methods. However, due to limitations in the catheter material and rotation speed, system ultrasound frequency, ultrasound pulse period, and required tissue detection depth of existing IVUS systems, the value of A cannot be too high. In practical engineering, A is generally taken as an even number within 10.

[0101] See Figure 11 The diagram illustrates the effect of a method for generating intravascular ultrasound images. Figure 11 The image shows the ultrasound image effects corresponding to A = 0, 2, and 4 when n = 256. Here, A = 0 represents the effect of ultrasound images in the prior art, and A = 2 and 4 represent the effects of ultrasound images in this invention. Figure 11 As shown, the image resolution of the ultrasound image improves as A increases.

[0102] Example 4:

[0103] Corresponding to the above method embodiments, this invention provides an intravascular ultrasound image generation device, applied to an intravascular ultrasound system, see [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 12 The diagram shows a structural schematic of an intravascular ultrasound image generation device, which includes:

[0104] The line image data acquisition module 1201 is used to acquire n line image data every time the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates once; where n is an integer greater than 1.

[0105] The line image data overlay module 1202 is used to overlay the line image data acquired when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1 to obtain the m-th frame of ultrasound image; where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and A is an integer greater than 1.

[0106] The ultrasound image display module 1203 is used to display superimposed ultrasound images in an intravascular ultrasound system.

[0107] This invention provides an apparatus for generating intravascular ultrasound images. Each time the transducer of an intravascular ultrasound system rotates one revolution, it acquires n line image data. The line image data acquired during the transducer's rotations from m to m+A-1 revolutions are superimposed to obtain the m-th frame of the ultrasound image. The superimposed ultrasound image is then displayed on the intravascular ultrasound system. This method, by superimposing the line image data acquired during the transducer's rotations from m to m+A-1 revolutions to obtain the m-th frame of the ultrasound image, can improve the lateral resolution of the ultrasound image and enhance its image quality.

[0108] The aforementioned line image data acquisition module is also used to generate a target image based on n line image data; the aforementioned line image data overlay module is used to overlay the target images generated when the number of rotations of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system is m to m+A-1 to obtain the m-th frame ultrasound image.

[0109] The aforementioned line image data overlay module is used to acquire line image data when the transducers of the intravascular ultrasound system are uniformly arranged within a 360° range and the number of rotations is m to m+A-1, to obtain the m-th frame ultrasound image.

[0110] In the intravascular ultrasound system described above, the angle between any two adjacent lines of image data acquired per revolution of the transducer is 360 / n°. A = 2, 4, 6, or 8. n = 256.

[0111] When the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates, the starting position of each revolution of the transducer is deflected 360 / (n×A)° clockwise or counterclockwise compared to the starting position of the previous revolution.

[0112] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working process of the device for generating intravascular ultrasound images described above can be referred to the corresponding process in the embodiments of the aforementioned method for generating intravascular ultrasound images, and will not be repeated here.

[0113] Example 5:

[0114] This invention also provides an electronic device for running the above-described method for generating intravascular ultrasound images; see also Figure 13The diagram shows the structure of an electronic device, which includes a memory 100 and a processor 101. The memory 100 stores one or more computer instructions, which are executed by the processor 101 to realize the above-mentioned method for generating intravascular ultrasound images.

[0115] Furthermore, Figure 13 The electronic device shown also includes a bus 102 and a communication interface 103, with the processor 101, the communication interface 103 and the memory 100 connected via the bus 102.

[0116] The memory 100 may include high-speed random access memory (RAM) or non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device. Communication between this system network element and at least one other network element is achieved through at least one communication interface 103 (which can be wired or wireless), such as the Internet, wide area network, local area network, or metropolitan area network. The bus 102 may be an ISA bus, PCI bus, or EISA bus, etc. The bus can be divided into address bus, data bus, control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 13 The symbol is represented by a single double-headed arrow, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0117] Processor 101 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuitry in the hardware of processor 101 or by instructions in software form. Processor 101 can be a general-purpose processor, including a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), etc.; it can also be a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. It can implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this invention. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of this invention can be directly manifested as execution by a hardware decoding processor, or execution by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can reside in a readily available storage medium in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, or registers. This storage medium is located in memory 100, and processor 101 reads information from memory 100 and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the method described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0118] This invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions. When these computer-executable instructions are called and executed by a processor, they cause the processor to implement the above-described method for generating intravascular ultrasound images. For specific implementation details, please refer to the method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0119] The computer program products of the method, apparatus and electronic device for generating intravascular ultrasound images provided in the embodiments of the present invention include a computer-readable storage medium storing program code. The instructions included in the program code can be used to execute the methods in the preceding method embodiments. For specific implementation, please refer to the method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0120] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working process of the system and / or device described above can be referred to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0121] Furthermore, in the description of the embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0122] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this invention, essentially, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this invention. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0123] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that the terms "center," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the convenience of describing the invention and for simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and "third" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0124] Finally, it should be noted that the above-described embodiments are merely specific implementations of the present invention, used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit it. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that any person skilled in the art can still modify or easily conceive of changes to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention, or make equivalent substitutions for some of the technical features; and these modifications, changes, or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, and should all be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for generating intravascular ultrasound images, characterized in that, An intravascular ultrasound system is applied, comprising a mechanically rotating catheter that simultaneously transmits and receives ultrasound pulse echoes while continuously rotating 360° within a blood vessel via an ultrasound transducer; a cross-sectional image of the blood vessel is generated when the ultrasound transducer completes its 360° rotation, the method comprising: When the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates once, it acquires n line image data; where n is an integer greater than 1. The m-th frame of ultrasound image is obtained by superimposing the line image data acquired when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1; where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and A is an integer greater than 1. The superimposed ultrasound images are displayed on the intravascular ultrasound system.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After the step of acquiring n line image data for each rotation of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system, the method further includes: generating a target image based on the n line image data; The step of obtaining the m-th frame ultrasound image by superimposing the line image data acquired when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1 includes: superimposing the target image generated when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1 to obtain the m-th frame ultrasound image.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of obtaining the m-th frame ultrasound image by superimposing the line image data acquired when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1 includes: Linear image data acquired when the transducers of the intravascular ultrasound system are uniformly arranged within a 360° range and rotate through a number of revolutions from m to m+A-1 are used to obtain the m-th frame ultrasound image.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the n line image data acquired by the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system for each rotation, the angle between any two adjacent line image data is 360 / n°.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, A = 2, 4, 6 or 8.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, n=256。 7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, When the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates, the starting position of each revolution of the transducer is deflected 360 / (n×A)° clockwise or counterclockwise compared to the starting position of the previous revolution.

8. A device for generating intravascular ultrasound images, characterized in that, An intravascular ultrasound system is used, comprising a mechanically rotating catheter that simultaneously transmits and receives ultrasound pulse echoes while continuously rotating 360° within a blood vessel via an ultrasound transducer; when the ultrasound transducer completes its 360° rotation, it generates a cross-sectional image of the blood vessel. The device includes: The line image data acquisition module is used to acquire n line image data for each rotation of the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system; where n is an integer greater than 1. The line image data overlay module is used to overlay the line image data acquired when the transducer of the intravascular ultrasound system rotates from m to m+A-1 to obtain the m-th frame of ultrasound image; where m is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and A is an integer greater than 1. An ultrasound image display module is used to display superimposed ultrasound images in the intravascular ultrasound system.

9. An electronic device, characterized in that, The method includes a processor and a memory, the memory storing computer-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor, the processor executing the computer-executable instructions to implement the method for generating intravascular ultrasound images according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when invoked and executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement the method for generating intravascular ultrasound images according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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