Ultrasound imaging apparatus and ultrasound imaging method

Abstract

The invention discloses an ultrasonic imaging device and an ultrasonic imaging method, the device comprises a transmitting and receiving circuit, an ultrasonic probe, a processor and a display, the transmitting and receiving circuit is used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to liver and kidney parts of a target object to obtain ultrasonic echo data; the processor is used for extracting echo data of at least part of the liver area and at least part of the kidney area based on the ultrasonic echo data, performing compensation processing on the echo data to compensate attenuation of the echo data caused by change of the propagation depth, and generating a liver area image and a kidney area image based on the echo data after compensation processing; the display is used for displaying the liver area image and the kidney area image; the processor is further used for obtaining a first region of interest on the liver region image, obtaining a second region of interest on the kidney region image and determining a liver and kidney analysis result, and the first region of interest and the second region of interest are located at different depths; the display is also used for displaying liver and kidney analysis results.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of ultrasonic imaging, and more specifically to an ultrasonic imaging device and an ultrasonic imaging method. Background Art

[0002] Ultrasound diagnosis based on B mode is the preferred method for diagnosing fatty liver, but due to the limited sensitivity of ultrasound diagnosis of fatty liver, when the degree of liver fattening is low, the accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis is also low. At present, there are many quantitative or semi-quantitative ultrasound diagnosis methods for the diagnosis of fatty liver, and the liver-kidney ratio is also used clinically as one of the quantitative detection methods for fatty liver. The liver-kidney ratio is the ratio of the liver echo intensity to the kidney echo intensity. With the different degrees of fattening of liver cells, the strength of liver echo also changes. As the degree of fattening increases, the scattering of ultrasonic signals increases, the local echo intensity in the shallow to middle layer area increases, and then the liver-kidney grayscale ratio increases. It is generally believed that the liver-kidney ratio of patients with fatty liver is higher than that of normal people.

[0003] In the process of measuring the liver-kidney ratio, there are some problems that may affect the final measurement results. For example, the liver-kidney section is easily affected by the acoustic shadow of the ribs (reducing the grayscale of local tissues). If the position of the region of interest (ROI) is not well placed, it may greatly affect the measurement results. For example, the renal tissue structure is diverse, the echo of the renal cortex is slightly lower than that of the liver parenchyma, the renal medulla is lower than the cortex, and the renal sinus is located in the center of the kidney area, showing a brighter high echo. The usual liver-kidney ratio detection places the ROI area in the liver parenchyma and renal cortex for measurement. If the ROI position is not well placed, it may greatly affect the measurement results. In addition, ultrasound B images are easily affected by system parameters such as time gain control (TGC). The grayscale compensation value of the image may be different at different depths. When scanning the liver-kidney section, the liver-kidney ROI can usually only be selected at the same depth for measurement to avoid the influence of system parameters on the measurement.

[0004] At present, most of the clinical studies on liver-kidney ratio are based on ultrasound B-mode images. Medical staff need to select ROIs of the liver and kidney regions at the same depth of the liver-kidney section to measure the ratio. Combined with the above problems, it is difficult to measure the liver-kidney ratio clinically, especially considering that the liver-kidney section is more complicated, and the liver-kidney ROI still needs to be placed at the same depth to perform the liver-kidney ratio test. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application is proposed to solve the above problems. According to one aspect of the present application, an ultrasonic imaging device is provided, the device comprising a transmitting and receiving circuit, an ultrasonic probe, a processor and a display, wherein: the transmitting and receiving circuit is used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the liver and kidney parts of the target object, receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves, and obtain ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes; the processor is used to extract echo data of at least part of the liver area and at least part of the kidney area based on the ultrasonic echo data, and perform compensation processing on the echo data of at least part of the liver area and at least part of the kidney area to compensate for the attenuation caused by the change of the echo data with the propagation depth, and generate a liver area image and a kidney area image based on the compensated echo data; the display is used to display the liver area image and the kidney area image; the processor is also used to obtain a first region of interest on the liver area image, obtain a second region of interest on the kidney area image, and determine a liver and kidney analysis result based on the first region of interest and the second region of interest, wherein the first region of interest and the second region of interest are at different depths; the display is also used to display the liver and kidney analysis result.

[0006] According to another aspect of the present application, an ultrasonic imaging device is provided, the device comprising a transmitting and receiving circuit, an ultrasonic probe, a processor and a display, wherein: the transmitting and receiving circuit is used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the liver and kidney parts of the target object, receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves, and obtain ultrasonic echo data based on the echo; the processor is used to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo data; obtain a first region of interest in the liver area of ​​the ultrasonic image, and obtain a second region of interest in the kidney area of ​​the ultrasonic image, wherein the first region of interest and the second region of interest are located at different depths; obtain echo data corresponding to at least the first region of interest and the second region of interest from the ultrasonic echo data, and perform compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to at least the first region of interest and the second region of interest to compensate for the attenuation of the echo data caused by the change of propagation depth; determine the liver and kidney analysis results based on the compensated echo data of the first region of interest and the second region of interest; the display is used to at least display the compensated first region of interest and the second region of interest and the liver and kidney analysis results.

[0007] According to another aspect of the present application, an ultrasound imaging method is provided, the method comprising: in a liver and kidney examination mode, acquiring an ultrasound image of a target object, wherein echo data corresponding to at least a portion of a liver region and a kidney region in the ultrasound image are compensated to compensate for attenuation of the echo data caused by a change in propagation depth; acquiring a first region of interest in the liver region that has undergone the compensation processing and a second region of interest in the liver region that has undergone the compensation processing; and determining and displaying a liver and kidney analysis result of the target object based on the first region of interest and the second region of interest, wherein the first region of interest and the second region of interest are at the same or different depths.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present application, an ultrasound imaging method is provided, the method comprising: displaying multiple examination modes on a display interface; determining a liver and kidney examination mode from the multiple examination modes in response to a user's selection; displaying multiple measurement items on the display interface based on the liver and kidney examination modes; determining a target measurement item from the multiple measurement items in response to a user's selection, wherein the target measurement item comprises a liver and kidney analysis result; acquiring an ultrasound image corresponding to the liver and kidney regions; displaying a first region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image and a second region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image; acquiring echo data corresponding to each of the first region of interest and the second region of interest, and performing compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to each of the first region of interest and the second region of interest to compensate for attenuation of the echo data caused by changes in propagation depth; determining a liver and kidney analysis result based on the echo data corresponding to each of the compensated first region of interest and the second region of interest; and displaying the liver and kidney analysis result.

[0009] According to the ultrasonic imaging device and method of the embodiment of the present application, compensation processing is performed on the echo data corresponding to at least part of the liver area and the kidney area to compensate for the attenuation of the echo data caused by the change of the propagation depth. The echo intensity of the compensated echo data is not affected by the depth change (or the impact of the depth is relatively small and can be ignored). Therefore, any depth can be selected to calculate the liver-kidney ratio, which solves the operational inconvenience caused by the existing scheme that the liver-kidney ratio can only be detected by selecting the liver and kidney ROI at the same depth, thereby improving the user's operating convenience and measurement stability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] By describing the embodiments of the present application in more detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application will become more apparent. The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present application and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present application, they are used to explain the present application and do not constitute a limitation of the present application. In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals generally represent the same components or steps.

[0011] Figure 1 A schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0012] Figure 2 An exemplary schematic diagram showing raw data of liver and kidney sections acquired by an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0013] Figure 3 An exemplary schematic diagram showing liver and kidney regions extracted by an ultrasound imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0014] Figure 4 An exemplary schematic diagram showing the results before and after attenuation compensation of an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0015] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing placement of a ROI at any position within a compensation area by an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0016] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a processing framework of an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0017] Figure 7 A schematic diagram showing an example of a processing flow of an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0018] Figure 8 A schematic diagram showing another example of a processing flow of an ultrasonic imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] Fig. 9 A schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasonic imaging device according to another embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0020] Fig.10 A schematic flowchart of an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0021] Fig.11 A schematic flowchart of an ultrasound imaging method according to another embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0022] Fig.12 An example diagram of an interface for selecting an inspection mode in an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0023] Fig.13 An example diagram of an interface for selecting a measurement item in an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0024] Fig.14An example diagram showing an ultrasound image corresponding to the liver and kidney regions and an example diagram of the liver and kidney regions of interest in the ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0025] Fig.15 An example diagram showing how to preset a region of interest before scanning in an ultrasonic imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0026] Fig.16 An example diagram showing replacement of two preset regions with first and second regions of interest in an ultrasound image in an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0027] Fig.17 An example diagram showing adjustable size and position of a preset area in an ultrasonic imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0028] Fig.18 An example diagram of a user operation interface in an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0029] Fig.19 An example diagram showing how the first and second preset areas are controlled by two buttons respectively in an ultrasonic imaging method according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more obvious, the example embodiments according to the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application, and it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the example embodiments described herein. Based on the embodiments of the present application described in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0031] First, refer to Figure 1 An ultrasonic imaging device 100 according to one embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasonic imaging device 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1As shown, the ultrasonic imaging device 100 includes a transmitting and receiving circuit 110 , an ultrasonic probe 120 , a processor 130 and a display 140 . Wherein: the transmitting and receiving circuit 110 is used to control the ultrasonic probe 120 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the liver and kidney parts of the target object, receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves, and obtain ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes; the processor 130 is used to extract the echo data of at least part of the liver area and at least part of the kidney area based on the ultrasonic echo data, and perform compensation processing on the echo data of at least part of the liver area and at least part of the kidney area to compensate for the attenuation caused by the change of the echo data with the propagation depth, and generate a liver area image and a kidney area image based on the compensated echo data; the display 140 is used to display the liver area image and the kidney area image (wherein, the liver area image and the kidney area image can be the corresponding liver area image and kidney area image in the same ultrasonic image, or can be at least two independent ultrasonic images); the processor 130 is also used to obtain a first ROI on the liver area image, obtain a second ROI on the kidney area image, and determine the liver and kidney analysis results based on the first ROI and the second ROI, wherein the depths of the first ROI and the second ROI are the same or different; the display 140 is also used to display the liver and kidney analysis results.

[0032] In an embodiment of the present application, after the processor 130 of the ultrasonic imaging device 100 acquires the ultrasonic echo data of the liver and kidney parts of the target object from the ultrasonic probe 120, it extracts the echo data of at least part of the liver area and at least part of the kidney area from the ultrasonic echo data, and performs compensation processing on the extracted echo data to compensate for the attenuation caused by the change of the propagation depth of the echo data, so that its echo intensity (that is, the signal intensity corresponding to the echo data) is not affected by the depth change. Wherein, the depth refers to the distance between the ultrasonic probe 120 and the tissue or part of the body of the target object. For example, the closer the tissue or part of the body is to the skin, the closer it is to the probe, and the shorter the time it takes for the reflected signal (i.e., echo) of the ultrasonic wave to return to the ultrasonic probe 120, that is, the smaller the depth; conversely, the farther the tissue or part of the body is from the skin, the farther it is from the probe, and the longer the time it takes for the reflected signal (i.e., echo) of the ultrasonic wave to return to the ultrasonic probe 120, that is, the greater the depth. Generally speaking, the echo intensity will change with depth, mainly for the following reasons: after the ultrasound is emitted, it spreads with depth, and energy will be lost if it is not focused; the surface of the organ and tissue will reflect or scatter the ultrasound, and the deeper the position (the greater the depth), the weaker the energy; the tissue will absorb the ultrasound, convert the vibration of the ultrasound into heat energy and then directly absorb it, and the deeper the position (the greater the depth), the weaker the energy; the ultrasound will also lose energy when it encounters obstacles during propagation. Therefore, as the depth increases, the ultrasound energy weakens, and the echo energy of the ultrasound is also weak, and the echo intensity is small. Based on this, in the present application, since the echo data of the liver area and the kidney area are compensated, the intensity of the returned echo is not affected by the depth regardless of the depth of the liver area and the kidney area of ​​the target object; in this way, no matter the user selects the liver and kidney ROI at any position on the finally displayed liver and kidney B-image (including the liver area image and the kidney area image) for liver and kidney analysis (for example, measuring the liver and kidney ratio), it will not affect the analysis result (that is, the first ROI obtained on the liver area image and the second ROI obtained on the kidney area image can be at the same depth or at different depths, which does not affect the final measurement result), which solves the problem of inconvenience in operation caused by the fact that the liver and kidney ROI can only be selected at the same depth to perform liver and kidney ratio detection in the existing solution, thereby improving the user's operation convenience and measurement stability.

[0033] Among them, the above-mentioned liver and kidney B-image can be generated based on the ultrasonic echo data before compensation processing, or based on the ultrasonic echo data after compensation processing, because the generated B-image is mainly to obtain the ROI of the liver region and the kidney region respectively (for example, based on user input or automatically based on an algorithm), regardless of whether the echo data used to generate the liver and kidney B-image has been compensated, the position of the liver and kidney regions in the generated liver and kidney B-image is the same, so when generating the liver and kidney B-image, it can be based on the ultrasonic echo data before compensation processing or the ultrasonic echo data after compensation processing. As long as the compensated data is used when performing liver and kidney analysis after obtaining the ROI, the accuracy of the measurement results can be ensured. The liver region image and kidney region image mentioned above can refer to different regions on the same image, or can refer to different images.

[0034] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 130 extracts echo data of at least part of the liver region and at least part of the kidney region based on the ultrasonic echo data, which may include: extracting liver parenchyma region data based on the ultrasonic echo data (for example, data after beam synthesis), eliminating blood vessel region data in the liver parenchyma region data, and obtaining echo data of at least part of the liver region; extracting renal cortex region data based on the ultrasonic echo data, eliminating renal medulla region data and renal sinus data in the renal cortex region data, and obtaining echo data of at least part of the kidney region. Since the liver parenchyma region is uniform as a whole, and there are a small number of cross-sectional blood vessels (circular or elliptical) therein, the blood vessel region data is eliminated, and the liver region data used for liver-kidney ratio calculation after subsequent compensation processing can be obtained, thereby avoiding the influence of regions with large echo intensity changes such as blood vessels on the measured values, and improving the accuracy of liver-kidney analysis results. The structure of the kidney area is complex. The data of the renal medulla area with low echo is eliminated, and the data of the renal sinus area with high echo is eliminated, leaving the data of the renal cortex area, so that the data of the renal area used for liver-kidney ratio calculation after subsequent compensation processing can be obtained, avoiding the influence of the areas with large echo intensity changes such as redundant tissue on the measured value, and improving the accuracy of the liver and kidney analysis results. After selecting the region of interest corresponding to the uniform tissue, the signal intensity corresponding to the echo data after attenuation compensation processing is uniform, thereby improving the user's operation convenience and measurement stability. Among them, the uniform signal intensity corresponding to the echo data here can be understood as the echo intensity basically does not change with the depth, that is, the signal intensity of the echo data corresponding to different depths becomes roughly the same due to compensation (for example, completely the same, or although not completely the same, the difference is small enough to ignore its influence).

[0035] Further, the processor 130 extracts echo data of at least part of the liver region and at least part of the kidney region based on the ultrasonic echo data, and can also include: removing the rib acoustic shadow region data in the liver parenchyma region data to obtain echo data of at least part of the liver region; and / or, removing the rib acoustic shadow region data in the renal cortex region data to obtain echo data of at least part of the kidney region. The rib acoustic shadow region is also an area with large echo changes. Therefore, removing the rib acoustic shadow region data from the liver parenchyma region data and / or the renal cortex region data can avoid the influence of the rib acoustic shadow region, such as the rib acoustic shadow region, on the measured value, and improve the accuracy of the liver and kidney analysis results. If the acoustic shadow area is too large, a quality control judgment can also be performed to determine whether it is necessary to re-collect the ultrasonic echo data.

[0036] Among them, the region can be extracted or eliminated through traditional image processing and other steps. For example, for the small blood vessel area, the data is first processed by preliminary binarization and then expanded, and then the small blood vessel area is obtained by subtracting the preliminary binarization result. According to the actual effect, the blood vessel position is corroded, expanded, smoothed, etc., so that the final result is close to the actual situation. The binarization threshold and morphological template can be preset or dynamically adjusted with the algorithm. In addition, the liver and kidney region segmentation and extraction can also be performed through artificial intelligence (AI) methods. Figure 2 and Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of liver and kidney region extraction, where Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the original data of liver and kidney sections. Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the liver and kidney region extraction results, where the liver and kidney regions are represented by different colors for clarity (they can also be distinguished from each other by other image attributes, such as different transparency, etc.), as shown in Figure 3 As shown, they are liver region images and kidney region images respectively.

[0037] After the extracted echo data of the liver region and the kidney region are obtained, compensation processing is performed on them. Specifically, in an embodiment of the present application, the processor 130 performs compensation processing on the echo data of at least part of the liver region and at least part of the kidney region, which may include: performing acoustic attenuation calculation on the echo data of at least part of the liver region and at least part of the kidney region to obtain the acoustic attenuation coefficient of the liver region and the acoustic attenuation coefficient of the kidney region; obtaining the liver region compensation reference value and the kidney region compensation reference value according to the liver and kidney positions corresponding to the echo data of at least part of the liver region and at least part of the kidney region; performing compensation processing on the echo data of at least part of the liver region based on the acoustic attenuation coefficient of the liver region and the liver region compensation reference value; performing compensation processing on the echo data of at least part of the kidney region based on the acoustic attenuation coefficient of the kidney region and the kidney region compensation reference value. Among them, the liver region compensation reference value may be, for example, the mean echo intensity at the depth corresponding to the depth center of the liver region, or the mean echo intensity within a preset depth range extended from the depth center; the kidney region compensation reference value may be, for example, the mean echo intensity at the depth corresponding to the depth center of the kidney region, or the mean echo intensity within a preset depth range extended from the depth center.

[0038] For example, it is assumed that the acoustic attenuation coefficient a1 of the liver area and the acoustic attenuation coefficient a2 of the kidney area are obtained. Then, the compensation reference value is obtained according to the extracted liver and kidney area positions. Specifically, the depth center of each liver and kidney compensation area is determined, and the mean echo intensity of the liver and kidney at the depth is selected as the respective compensation reference value, which can be the mean echo intensity of the determined depth center position, or the mean echo intensity within a certain depth range (preset extension range or extraction area range) extended from the depth center. Based on the compensation reference value and the depth center position, the acoustic attenuation a1 of the liver area and the acoustic attenuation a2 of the kidney area are used to perform acoustic attenuation compensation on the echo intensity value in the depth direction. Specifically, the echo intensity at a shallow depth position is higher than the reference value. According to the distance from the depth center position and the corresponding attenuation value, the echo intensity is compensated to be close to the reference value. After compensation, the signals of each area do not change with the increase of propagation depth, and the signal amplitude in the compensation area remains uniform and stable (approaching the compensation reference value). The compensation diagram is shown in Figure 4 As shown, the left figure shows that the echo intensity of the liver and kidney regions attenuates with depth before compensation, and the right figure shows that the echo intensity of the liver and kidney regions remains uniform and stable after compensation and basically does not change with depth.

[0039] After the aforementioned compensation process is performed, liver-kidney analysis can be performed, such as liver-kidney ratio measurement. For example, the first ROI and the second ROI can be obtained respectively on the liver-kidney extraction result, that is, the liver region image and the kidney region image, and then the liver-kidney ratio measurement can be performed according to the echo data after compensation processing corresponding to each of the two ROIs (the echo data corresponding to all regions of the liver region image and the kidney region image are all compensated, and naturally the echo data corresponding to the selected ROI are also compensated). Since the echo intensity of the two ROI regions does not change with depth after compensation processing, the positions of the two ROIs can be arbitrarily placed in the compensation region, and their depths can be the same or different, and the results of placing ROIs at any position in the compensation region for measurement will also remain uniform and stable, greatly improving the stability of the measured values. Figure 5 That is, it is a schematic diagram of arbitrarily placing the first ROI (1) and the second ROI (2) in the liver region image and the kidney region image.

[0040] In a further embodiment, the first ROI and the second ROI can even be placed outside the compensation area, and the corresponding data elimination and quality control judgment can be performed through the overlapping area of ​​the ROI and the compensation area. For example, the part of the ROI outside the compensation area is eliminated so that the liver-kidney ratio measurement is still performed based on the compensated echo data. Alternatively, the overlapping area of ​​the ROI and the compensation area can also be calculated, and the credibility index of the liver-kidney analysis result can be determined based on it. For example, when the overlapping area of ​​the two is large, most of the compensated data is used for the liver-kidney ratio measurement, and the credibility index of the liver-kidney analysis result is high; when the overlapping area of ​​the two is small, a small part of the compensated data is used for the liver-kidney ratio measurement. If the depths of the two ROIs are different, the credibility index of the liver-kidney analysis result is low.

[0041] Finally, after obtaining the liver and kidney analysis results (which may also include their credibility index), the liver and kidney analysis results, such as the liver-kidney ratio value, or the evaluation analysis results based on the value, can be displayed. The liver and kidney analysis results can be displayed on the liver region image and kidney region image described above, or can be displayed in other display areas. Among them, the liver region image and kidney region image described above can be displayed as two images separately, or as one image. In addition, they can be displayed alone or superimposed on a background image. Among them, the background image refers to an ultrasound image generated based on the echo data before the liver region and kidney region echo data are extracted, such as Figure 2 The image shown; the superimposed image is Figure 3 , Figure 5The liver and kidney region images can be highlighted by superimposing the B image with blocks of different colors and transparency to indicate the area where the ROI can be placed. The color blocks can also be controlled by controls to determine whether to display them (i.e., whether to display the liver region image and the kidney region image with certain image attributes based on user input). When setting the first ROI and the second ROI on the superimposed image, the ROI may be set outside the compensation area. In this case, the credibility index of the liver and kidney analysis results can be determined based on the overlap area between the first ROI and the liver region image and the overlap area between the second ROI and the region image, as described above.

[0042] Regarding the setting of the above ROI, the processor 130 acquires the first ROI on the liver region image, which may include: acquiring the first ROI on the liver region image based on the first user input, or identifying the liver region image, and acquiring the first ROI on the liver region image according to the identification result; the processor 130 acquires the second ROI on the kidney region image, which may include: acquiring the second ROI on the kidney region image based on the second user input, or identifying the kidney region image, and acquiring the second ROI on the kidney region image according to the identification result. Further, the processor 130 may also be used to: after acquiring the first ROI and the second ROI according to the identification result, adjust the position of the first ROI and / or the second ROI based on the third user input, determine the liver and kidney analysis result based on the adjusted result and display it on the display 140; or after acquiring the first ROI and the second ROI according to the identification result, and determining and displaying the liver and kidney analysis result, adjust the position of the first ROI and / or the second ROI based on the fourth user input, re-determine the liver and kidney analysis result based on the adjusted result, and refresh the liver and kidney analysis result on the display 140. Therefore, the ROI may be acquired based on user input, or automatically, or based on a combination of the two.

[0043] Based on the foregoing, the system framework of the ultrasonic imaging device 100 of the present application mainly includes a transducer (i.e., the ultrasonic probe 120 described above), a front-end control and processing module, a scanning control module (these two are the transmitting and receiving circuits 110 described above, and the beamforming processing module not shown, etc.), a liver and kidney compensation processing module, a basic image processing module (these two are the processors 130 described above) and a measurement display module (i.e., the display 140 described above). The transducer can usually be a multi-element array transducer. When transmitting / receiving ultrasound, all elements or part of the elements participate in ultrasound transmission / reception. The front-end control and processing module participates in the excitation of the transducer, transmits pulse excitation to all elements or part of the elements, prompts the transducer to transmit ultrasound, and performs beamforming processing on the echo data from all elements or part of the elements to obtain the original data. According to the front-end processing results, the liver and kidney compensation processing module performs compensation processing on the original data to make the echo intensity of the liver / kidney region uniform and basically does not change with depth. The basic image processing module performs image optimization processing on the original data to obtain an ultrasound basic image. Finally, the measurement and display module provides a liver-kidney ratio measurement tool. The user selects the corresponding ROI on the liver-kidney compensation data to measure the liver-kidney ratio and display the corresponding results. Figure 6 shown.

[0044] In general, the ultrasonic imaging device 100 of the present application processes the raw data, firstly performs compensation processing on the liver area and the kidney area, and then measures the liver-kidney ratio after compensation, so that the ROI can be placed at any position in the compensation area for measurement. Figure 7 and Figure 8 Two examples of workflows of the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 of the present application are described.

[0045] like Figure 7 As shown, in one embodiment, the workflow of the ultrasound imaging device 100 of the present application can be as follows: 1) the operator prepares for the examination and selects the section; 2) starts a measurement; 3) liver and kidney compensation and displays the compensation area; 4) places the liver / kidney ROI at any position in the liver / kidney compensation area (selects the ROI based on the display area of ​​step 3)); 5) calculates the measurement value and displays the measurement result; 6) steps 2)-5) can be repeated to perform multiple measurements.

[0046] like Figure 8 As shown, in another embodiment, the workflow of the ultrasound imaging device 100 of the present application can be as follows: 1) the operator prepares for the examination and selects the section; 2) a measurement is started; 3) liver and kidney compensation is performed and the compensation area is displayed; 4) the system automatically calculates the optimal ROI position and completes the measurement, and displays the measurement results at the same time (simplifying user operations); 5) the user can adjust the ROI to any position and refresh the measurement results (this step is an optional step); 6) steps 2)-5) can be repeated for multiple measurements.

[0047] The above exemplifies an ultrasonic imaging device 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. Based on the above description, after the ultrasonic imaging device 100 according to the embodiment of the present application acquires the ultrasonic echo data of the liver and kidney parts of the target object from the ultrasonic probe, it extracts the echo data of at least part of the liver area and at least part of the kidney area from the ultrasonic echo data, and performs compensation processing on the extracted echo data to compensate for the attenuation of the echo data caused by the change of the propagation depth, so that the echo intensity is not affected by the depth, and the liver-kidney ratio can be calculated at any depth. The problem of inconvenience in operation caused by the fact that the liver-kidney ROI can only be selected at the same depth in the existing scheme to perform the liver-kidney ratio detection is solved, and the user's operation convenience and measurement stability are improved.

[0048] Combine the following Fig. 9 An ultrasonic imaging device according to another embodiment of the present application is described. Fig. 9 FIG. 8 is a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasonic imaging device 900 according to another embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the ultrasonic imaging device 900 may include a transmitting and receiving circuit 910, an ultrasonic probe 920, a processor 930 and a display 940. Among them: the transmitting and receiving circuit 910 is used to control the ultrasonic probe 920 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the liver and kidney parts of the target object, receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves, and obtain ultrasonic echo data based on the echo; the processor 930 is used to: generate an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo data; obtain a first ROI in the liver area of ​​the ultrasonic image, and obtain a second ROI in the kidney area of ​​the ultrasonic image, wherein the depths of the first ROI and the second ROI are the same or different; obtain echo data corresponding to at least the first ROI and the second ROI from the ultrasonic echo data, and perform compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to at least the first ROI and the second ROI to compensate for the attenuation caused by the change of the propagation depth of the echo data; determine the liver and kidney analysis results based on the compensated echo data of the first ROI and the second ROI; the display 940 is used to at least display the compensated first ROI and second ROI and the liver and kidney analysis results.

[0049] The operation of the ultrasonic imaging device 900 according to the embodiment of the present application is substantially similar to that of the ultrasonic imaging device 100 described above, except that the ultrasonic imaging device 100 first compensates the echo data corresponding to the liver and kidney regions and then selects the ROI for the liver-kidney ratio measurement, while the ultrasonic imaging device 900 first obtains the ROI and then compensates for at least the echo data corresponding to the ROI region to measure the liver-kidney ratio. Therefore, the ultrasonic imaging device 100 can arbitrarily place the ROI in the compensation area, and the ultrasonic imaging device 900 performs targeted compensation processing on the echo data, with less calculation. The ultrasonic imaging device 900 can also place ROIs at different depths for the liver and kidney regions to measure the liver-kidney ratio, solving the problem of inconvenience in operation caused by the fact that the liver and kidney ROI can only be selected at the same depth to perform the liver-kidney ratio detection in the existing solution, thereby improving the user's operating convenience and measurement stability. The following mainly describes the differences between the two, and the similarities between the two will not be repeated.

[0050] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 930 performs compensation processing on at least the echo data corresponding to the first ROI and the second ROI, which may include: performing compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to the first preset extension area around the first ROI and the first ROI to obtain the first compensation area; performing compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to the second preset extension area around the second ROI and the second ROI to obtain the second compensation area. In this embodiment, the processor 930 not only performs compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to the first ROI and the second ROI, but also expands the range of the first ROI and the second ROI respectively, and compensates the echo data of the expanded area. The first compensation area finally obtained is larger than the first ROI, and the second compensation area is larger than the second ROI. This is beneficial for the user to obtain ROIs at other positions in the two compensation areas when performing multiple measurements, so that the user can perform multiple measurements without performing compensation processing after each ROI acquisition, thereby improving processing efficiency.

[0051] For example, in one example, the processor 930 may also be used to: obtain a third ROI in the first compensation region, and determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on the echo data corresponding to the third ROI and the second ROI. In this embodiment, a third ROI different from the first ROI position may be obtained in the first compensation region, and the second ROI position includes an unchanged position, that is, only the ROI of the liver region is changed, to calculate the liver-kidney ratio again. Multiple calculation results may be fused (e.g., averaged) to obtain a more accurate liver and kidney analysis result.

[0052] In another example, the processor 930 may also be used to: obtain a fourth ROI in the second compensation region, and determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on the echo data corresponding to the first ROI and the fourth ROI. In this embodiment, a fourth ROI different from the second ROI position may be obtained in the second compensation region, and the first ROI position remains unchanged, that is, only the ROI of the visceral region is changed, to calculate the liver-kidney ratio again. Multiple calculation results may be fused to obtain a more accurate liver and kidney analysis result.

[0053] In another example, the processor 930 can also be used to: obtain a third ROI in the first compensation area, obtain a fourth ROI in the second compensation area, and determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on the echo data corresponding to the third ROI and the fourth ROI. In this embodiment, a third ROI different from the first ROI position can be obtained in the first compensation area, and a fourth ROI different from the second ROI position can be obtained in the second compensation area, that is, the ROI of the liver area and the ROI of the kidney area are changed to calculate the liver-kidney ratio again. Multiple calculation results can be fused to obtain more accurate liver and kidney analysis results.

[0054] In a further embodiment, ROI can be acquired again in the non-compensated area, but it is not necessary to compensate echo data again based on the acquired ROI. Instead, the credibility index of the final liver and kidney analysis result can be determined based on the overlap area of ​​the re-acquired ROI and the compensation area, similar to the above description. This can reduce the amount of calculation and can also fuse multiple calculation results to obtain more accurate liver and kidney analysis results.

[0055] For example, in one example, the processor 930 may also be used to: obtain a third ROI in the liver region of the ultrasound image, determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on the echo data corresponding to the third ROI and the second ROI; determine the credibility index of the updated liver and kidney analysis result based on the overlap area of ​​the third ROI and the first compensation region; the display 940 is also used to display the credibility index. In this embodiment, a third ROI different from the first ROI position may be obtained in the liver region of the ultrasound image, and the third ROI may be located in the aforementioned first compensation region, may be located outside the first compensation region, and may also be partially located in the first compensation region. The second ROI position includes unchanged, that is, only the ROI of the liver region is changed, so as to recalculate the liver-kidney ratio. At this time, the credibility index of the recalculated result can be determined based on the overlap area of ​​the third ROI and the first compensation region. The results of multiple calculations can be fused (for example, weighted average, and the weight can be determined based on the credibility index) to obtain more accurate liver and kidney analysis results.

[0056] In another example, the processor 930 can also be used to: obtain a fourth ROI in the kidney area of ​​the ultrasound image, determine the updated liver and kidney analysis results based on the echo data corresponding to the first ROI and the fourth ROI; the overlap area of ​​the fourth ROI and the second compensation area determines the credibility index of the updated liver and kidney analysis results; the display 940 is also used to display the credibility index. In this embodiment, a fourth ROI different from the second ROI position can be obtained in the kidney area of ​​the ultrasound image. The fourth ROI may be located in the aforementioned second compensation area, may be located outside the second compensation area, and may also be partially located in the second compensation area. The first ROI position includes unchanged, that is, only the ROI of the kidney area is changed to recalculate the liver-kidney ratio. At this time, the credibility index of the recalculated result can be determined based on the overlap area of ​​the fourth ROI and the second compensation area. The results of multiple calculations can be fused (for example, weighted average, and the weight can be determined based on the credibility index) to obtain more accurate liver and kidney analysis results.

[0057] In another example, the processor 930 may also be used to: acquire a third ROI in the liver region of the ultrasound image, acquire a fourth ROI in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on the echo data corresponding to the third ROI and the fourth ROI; determine the credibility index of the updated liver and kidney analysis result based on the overlap area between the third ROI and the first compensation region and the overlap area between the fourth ROI and the second compensation region; and the display 940 is also used to display the credibility index. In this embodiment, a third ROI different from the first ROI position may be acquired in the liver region of the ultrasound image, and the third ROI may be located in the aforementioned first compensation region, may be located outside the first compensation region, and may be partially located in the first compensation region; and a fourth ROI different from the second ROI position may be acquired in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, and the fourth ROI may be located in the aforementioned second compensation region, may be located outside the second compensation region, and may be partially located in the second compensation region; that is, the ROI of the liver region and the ROI of the kidney region are both changed to recalculate the liver-kidney ratio. At this time, the credibility index of the recalculated result may be determined based on the overlap area between the third ROI and the first compensation region, and the overlap area between the fourth ROI and the second compensation region. Multiple calculation results can be fused (eg, weighted average, where the weight can be determined based on a credibility index) to obtain more accurate liver and kidney analysis results.

[0058] The above exemplifies an ultrasonic imaging device 900 according to another embodiment of the present application. Based on the above description, after the ultrasonic imaging device 900 according to the embodiment of the present application acquires the ultrasonic echo data of the liver and kidney parts of the target object from the ultrasonic probe, it generates an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic echo data, and after acquiring ROIs in the liver and kidney regions of the ultrasonic image, respectively, it performs compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to the ROI to compensate for the attenuation of the echo data caused by the change of the propagation depth, so that its echo intensity is not affected by the depth, and any depth can be selected to calculate the liver-kidney ratio, which solves the problem of inconvenience in operation caused by the fact that the liver-kidney ROI can only be selected at the same depth to perform the liver-kidney ratio detection in the existing solution, and improves the user's operation convenience and measurement stability.

[0059] Combine the following Fig.10 According to another aspect of the present application, an ultrasound imaging method is described. Fig.10 FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 As shown, the ultrasound imaging method 1000 may include the following steps:

[0060] In step S1010, in the liver and kidney examination mode, an ultrasound image of the target object is acquired, wherein echo data corresponding to at least a portion of the liver region and the kidney region in the ultrasound image are compensated to compensate for attenuation of the echo data caused by changes in propagation depth.

[0061] In step S1020, a first ROI in the liver region that has been compensated and a second ROI in the liver region that has been compensated are acquired.

[0062] In step S1030 , the liver and kidney analysis results of the target object are determined and displayed based on the first ROI and the second ROI, wherein the first ROI and the second ROI are located at the same or different depths.

[0063] The ultrasonic imaging method 1000 according to the embodiment of the present application is the method performed by the ultrasonic imaging device 100 or 900 described above, which is to compensate the echo data corresponding to at least part of the liver area and the kidney area. The ROI in the liver and kidney area can be obtained from the compensation area, or the compensation processing is performed after the ROI is obtained to compensate for the attenuation of the echo data caused by the change of the propagation depth. The echo intensity of the echo data after the compensation processing is not affected by the depth. It is used to calculate the liver-kidney ratio, which solves the problem of inconvenience in operation caused by the liver-kidney ROI that can only be selected at the same depth to detect the liver-kidney ratio in the existing scheme, and improves the user's operation convenience and measurement stability. The operation process of the ultrasonic imaging devices 100 and 900 has been described above. For the sake of brevity, the specific details will not be repeated here, and only some main operations will be described.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present application, the compensation processing described in step S1010 and step S1020 may include compensating for all echo data of each of the liver region and the kidney region; wherein the first ROI and the second ROI are acquired from the liver region and the kidney region after the compensation processing; or, the compensation processing described in step S1010 and step S1020 includes compensating for echo data corresponding to partial regions of each of the liver region and the kidney region; wherein the first ROI and the second ROI are acquired before the compensation processing, and the partial region of the liver region includes the first ROI, and the partial region of the kidney region includes the second ROI.

[0065] In an embodiment of the present application, the first ROI and the second ROI are acquired based on user input, or are acquired automatically. When acquired automatically, method 1000 also includes: adjusting the position of the first ROI and / or the second ROI based on the user input, and re-determining and refreshing the displayed liver and kidney analysis results based on the adjusted results.

[0066] Combine the following Fig.11 A schematic flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method 1100 according to another embodiment of the present application is described. Fig.11 As shown, the ultrasound imaging method 1100 may include the following steps:

[0067] In step S1110, a plurality of inspection modes are displayed on a display interface.

[0068] In step S1120, a liver and kidney examination mode is determined from a plurality of examination modes in response to a user's selection.

[0069] In step S1130, a plurality of measurement items are displayed on the display interface based on the liver and kidney examination mode.

[0070] In step S1140 , a target measurement item is determined from a plurality of measurement items in response to a user's selection, wherein the target measurement item includes a liver and kidney analysis result.

[0071] In step S1150, an ultrasound image corresponding to the liver and kidney regions is acquired.

[0072] In step S1160 , a first region of interest is displayed in a liver region of the ultrasound image and a second region of interest is displayed in a kidney region of the ultrasound image.

[0073] In step S1170, the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest are acquired, and compensation processing is performed on the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest to compensate for attenuation of the echo data caused by changes in propagation depth.

[0074] In step S1180, the liver and kidney analysis results are determined based on the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest after compensation.

[0075] In step S1190, the liver and kidney analysis results are displayed.

[0076] Fig.11 The process shown in the figure describes the ultrasonic imaging method according to the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the operation flow. Figures 12 to 19 The example diagrams of interfaces involved in the operation flow are described to better understand the ultrasound imaging method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0077] Fig.12 An example of an interface for selecting an inspection mode is shown. As described in step S1110, the following information may be displayed: Fig.12 The interface shown is used to display multiple examination modes, and then the liver and kidney examination mode is determined in response to the user's selection as described in step S1120, for example, (ABD generic, abdominal generic mode).

[0078] Fig.13 An example of an interface for selecting a measurement item is shown. As described in step S1130, the following information may be displayed: Fig.13 The interface shown is used to display multiple measurement items (including acoustic attenuation, liver texture value, liver-kidney ratio and other measurement items), and then as described in step S1140, the target measurement item - liver-kidney ratio (HRI) measurement item is determined from the multiple measurement items in response to the user's selection to obtain the liver-kidney analysis results.

[0079] Fig.14 An example diagram showing an ultrasound image corresponding to the liver and kidney regions and an example diagram showing an ultrasound image corresponding to the liver and kidney regions and an example diagram showing an ultrasound image corresponding to the liver and kidney regions and a first region of interest in the liver region and a second region of interest in the kidney region, as described in step S1150 and step S1160. Fig.14 As shown, the ultrasound image includes two ROIs, which are shown as H and R, and are respectively a first region of interest in the liver region and a second region of interest in the kidney region.

[0080] In one embodiment of the present application, before displaying the first region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image and displaying the second region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, the method further includes: automatically determining the first region of interest and the second region of interest from the ultrasound image. In this embodiment, the first region of interest and the second region of interest can be automatically determined, for example, by image recognition algorithms, deep learning, etc., which is more convenient to operate.

[0081] In another embodiment of the present application, before displaying the first region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image and displaying the second region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, the method further includes: determining the first region of interest and the second region of interest from the ultrasound image based on the user's operation. In this embodiment, the user can manually determine the first region of interest and the second region of interest, and the operation is more flexible.

[0082] In another embodiment of the present application, before displaying the first region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image and displaying the second region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, the method further includes: displaying the first preset region and the second preset region in the ultrasound image; automatically determining the first region of interest and the second region of interest from the ultrasound image; and replacing the first preset region with the first region of interest, and replacing the second preset region with the second region of interest. In this embodiment, two preset regions are provided in advance in the ultrasound image, which can be edited to be displayed as regions of interest. In this embodiment, the preset regions are replaced with the regions of interest by automatically determining the regions of interest.

[0083] In another embodiment of the present application, before displaying the first region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image and displaying the second region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, the method further includes: displaying the first preset region and the second preset region in the ultrasound image; replacing the first preset region with the first region of interest and replacing the second preset region with the second region of interest based on the user's operation. In this embodiment, two preset regions are provided in advance in the ultrasound image, which can be edited to be displayed as regions of interest. In this embodiment, the preset region is replaced with the region of interest through manual operation of the user. Fig.15 That is, an example diagram showing a preset region of interest before scanning an image is shown, wherein the two regions shown are the first and second preset regions. Fig.16 That is, an example diagram showing that two preset regions are replaced and displayed as the first and second regions of interest in an ultrasound image.

[0084] In one example, replacing the first preset area with the first area of ​​interest based on the user's operation, and replacing the second preset area with the second area of ​​interest, includes: based on the user's operation, displaying the icon corresponding to the first preset area at the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest, and linking the icon corresponding to the second preset area to the position corresponding to the second area of ​​interest. In this example, the user's operation on the first preset area can link the icons corresponding to the first and second preset areas to the positions corresponding to the first area of ​​interest and the second area of ​​interest, respectively.

[0085] In another example, replacing the first preset area with the first area of ​​interest based on the user's operation, and replacing the second preset area with the second area of ​​interest, includes: displaying the icon corresponding to the first preset area at the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest based on the user's operation, and displaying the icon corresponding to the second preset area at the position corresponding to the second area of ​​interest based on the user's operation. In this example, the user needs to operate separately to display the icons corresponding to the first and second preset areas at the positions corresponding to the first area of ​​interest and the second area of ​​interest, respectively.

[0086] In another example, replacing the first preset area with the first area of ​​interest based on the user's operation, and replacing the second preset area with the second area of ​​interest, includes: based on the user's operation, displaying the icon corresponding to the second preset area in the second area of ​​interest, and linking the icon corresponding to the first preset area to the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest. In this example, the user's operation on the second preset area can link the icons corresponding to the second and first preset areas to the positions corresponding to the second area of ​​interest and the first area of ​​interest, respectively.

[0087] In yet another example, in one example, replacing the first preset area with the first area of ​​interest based on the user's operation, and replacing the second preset area with the second area of ​​interest, includes: displaying the icon corresponding to the second preset area to the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest based on the user's operation, and displaying the icon corresponding to the first preset area to the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest based on the user's operation. In this example, the user's operation on the first preset area can link the icons corresponding to the first and second preset areas to the positions corresponding to the first area of ​​interest and the second area of ​​interest, respectively.

[0088] In an embodiment of the present application, displaying an icon corresponding to the first preset area at a position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest includes: displaying the icon corresponding to the first preset area at a position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest after being processed by at least one of selection, enlargement, reduction, and movement. Displaying an icon corresponding to the second preset area at a position corresponding to the second area of ​​interest includes: displaying the icon corresponding to the second preset area at a position corresponding to the second area of ​​interest after being processed by at least one of selection, enlargement, reduction, and movement. Fig.17 That is, an example diagram showing that the size and position of the preset area can be adjusted. The icon corresponding to the first preset area and the icon corresponding to the second preset area may include at least one of a sector, a rectangle, a square and a circle. Figure 15 to Figure 17 Shown is an example of a rectangle.

[0089] In an embodiment of the present application, the user's operation includes at least one of a button, a trackball, a touch key, and a knob; wherein, if the user's operation is a button operation, the icon corresponding to the first preset area and the icon corresponding to the second preset area are switched by one button, or the icon corresponding to the first preset area is controlled by one of the two buttons, and the icon corresponding to the second preset area is controlled by the other of the two buttons. Fig.18 That is, an example diagram of the user operation interface is shown. Fig.19 That is, an example diagram showing how the first and second preset areas are controlled by two buttons respectively. Fig.19 As shown in the two circled buttons in the lower right corner.

[0090] After displaying the first region of interest and the second region of interest, the echo data corresponding to each of the first region of interest and the second region of interest can be obtained, and the echo data corresponding to each of the first region of interest and the second region of interest can be compensated to compensate for the attenuation of the echo data caused by the change of propagation depth, and then the liver and kidney analysis results are determined and displayed based on the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest after compensation, as described in steps S1170 to S1190.

[0091] According to another aspect of the present application, a storage medium is also provided, on which program instructions are stored, and when the program instructions are run by a computer or a processor, the corresponding steps of the ultrasonic imaging method of the embodiment of the present application are used to execute. The storage medium may include, for example, a memory card of a smart phone, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a personal computer, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media. The computer-readable storage medium may be any combination of one or more computer-readable storage media.

[0092] Based on the above description, according to the ultrasonic imaging device and method of the embodiment of the present application, compensation processing is performed on the echo data corresponding to at least part of the liver area and the kidney area to compensate for the attenuation of the echo data caused by the change of the propagation depth. The echo intensity of the compensated echo data is not affected by the depth, and the liver-kidney ratio is calculated using it, which solves the operational inconvenience caused by the fact that the liver-kidney ROI can only be selected at the same depth to perform the liver-kidney ratio detection in the existing scheme, thereby improving the user's operating convenience and measurement stability.

[0093] Although example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above example embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application to this. Those of ordinary skill in the art may make various changes and modifications therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application. All these changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present application as required by the appended claims.

[0094] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0095] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed.

[0096] In the description provided herein, a large number of specific details are described. However, it is understood that the embodiments of the present application can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques are not shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.

[0097] Similarly, it should be understood that in order to streamline the present application and help understand one or more of the various inventive aspects, in the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present application, the various features of the present application are sometimes grouped together into a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. However, the method of the present application should not be interpreted as reflecting the following intention: the claimed application requires more features than the features clearly stated in each claim. More specifically, as reflected in the corresponding claims, the inventive point is that the corresponding technical problem can be solved with features less than all the features of a single disclosed embodiment. Therefore, the claims following the specific embodiment are hereby explicitly incorporated into the specific embodiment, wherein each claim itself serves as a separate embodiment of the present application.

[0098] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, except for mutually exclusive features, all features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) and all processes or units of any method or device disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination. Unless otherwise expressly stated, each feature disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature that provides the same, equivalent or similar purpose.

[0099] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, although some embodiments described herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not other features, the combination of features of different embodiments is meant to be within the scope of the present application and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any one of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

[0100] The various component embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or in software modules running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) can be used in practice to implement some or all of the functions of some modules in the article analysis device according to the embodiment of the present application. The present application can also be implemented as an ultrasonic blood flow imaging device program (e.g., computer program and computer program product) for executing part or all of the methods described herein. Such a program implementing the present application can be stored on a computer-readable medium, or can have the form of one or more signals. Such a signal can be downloaded from an Internet website, or provided on a carrier signal, or provided in any other form.

[0101] It should be noted that the above embodiments illustrate the present application rather than limit the present application, and that those skilled in the art may design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference symbol between brackets should not be constructed as a limitation on the claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in the claims. The word "one" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of multiple such elements. The present application may be implemented with the aid of hardware comprising several different elements and with the aid of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim listing several ultrasonic blood flow imaging devices, several of these ultrasonic blood flow imaging devices may be embodied by the same hardware item. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc. does not indicate any order. These words may be interpreted as names.

[0102] The above is only a specific implementation or description of a specific implementation of the present application, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic imaging device, characterized in that: The device comprises a transmitting and receiving circuit, an ultrasound probe, a processor and a display, wherein: The transmitting and receiving circuit is used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the liver and kidney parts of the target object, receive echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and obtain ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes; The processor is used to extract echo data of at least a portion of a liver region and at least a portion of a kidney region based on the ultrasound echo data, perform compensation processing on the echo data of at least a portion of the liver region and at least a portion of the kidney region to compensate for attenuation of the echo data caused by changes in propagation depth, and generate a liver region image and a kidney region image based on the echo data after the compensation processing; The display is used to display the liver region image and the kidney region image; The processor is further configured to acquire a first region of interest on the liver region image, acquire a second region of interest on the kidney region image, and determine a liver and kidney analysis result based on the first region of interest and the second region of interest, wherein the first region of interest and the second region of interest are located at different depths; The display is also used to display the liver and kidney analysis results.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The processor acquires a first region of interest on the liver region image, comprising: acquiring the first region of interest on the liver region image based on a first user input, or recognizing the liver region image and acquiring the first region of interest on the liver region image according to a recognition result; The processor acquires the second region of interest on the kidney region image, including: acquiring the second region of interest on the kidney region image based on a second user input, or identifying the kidney region image and acquiring the second region of interest on the kidney region image according to the identification result.

3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that The processor is further configured to: After acquiring the first region of interest and the second region of interest according to the recognition result, adjusting the position of the first region of interest and / or the second region of interest based on a third user input, determining a liver and kidney analysis result based on the adjusted result and displaying it on the display; or After acquiring the first region of interest and the second region of interest according to the recognition result, and determining and displaying the liver and kidney analysis result, the position of the first region of interest and / or the second region of interest is adjusted based on a fourth user input, the liver and kidney analysis result is re-determined based on the adjusted result, and the liver and kidney analysis result is refreshed and displayed by the display.

4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The processor extracts echo data of at least a portion of a liver region and at least a portion of a kidney region based on the ultrasound echo data, including: Extracting liver parenchymal region data based on the ultrasonic echo data, removing blood vessel region data from the liver parenchymal region data, and obtaining echo data of at least a portion of the liver region; Renal cortex region data is extracted based on the ultrasonic echo data, and renal medulla region data and renal sinus data in the renal cortex region data are eliminated to obtain echo data of at least a part of the kidney region.

5. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that The processor extracts echo data of at least a portion of a liver region and at least a portion of a kidney region based on the ultrasound echo data, further comprising: Eliminating the rib acoustic shadow area data in the liver parenchyma area data to obtain the echo data of at least part of the liver area; and / or The rib acoustic shadow area data in the renal cortex area data are eliminated to obtain the echo data of at least part of the kidney area.

6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The processor performs compensation processing on the echo data of at least a portion of the liver region and at least a portion of the kidney region, including: Performing acoustic attenuation calculation on the echo data of at least a portion of the liver region and at least a portion of the kidney region to obtain an acoustic attenuation coefficient of the liver region and an acoustic attenuation coefficient of the kidney region; Obtaining a liver area compensation reference value and a kidney area compensation reference value according to liver and kidney positions corresponding to the echo data of at least a portion of the liver area and at least a portion of the kidney area; Performing compensation processing on the echo data of at least part of the liver area based on the liver area acoustic attenuation coefficient and the liver area compensation reference value; Compensation processing is performed on the echo data of at least part of the kidney region based on the kidney region acoustic attenuation coefficient and the kidney region compensation reference value.

7. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that The liver area compensation reference value is the mean value of the echo intensity at the depth corresponding to the depth center of the liver area, or the mean value of the echo intensity within a preset depth range extending from the depth center; The kidney area compensation reference value is the mean echo intensity at the depth corresponding to the depth center of the kidney area, or the mean echo intensity within a preset depth range extending from the depth center.

8. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The processor is further configured to: An ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo data, and the liver region image and the kidney region image are superimposed on the ultrasonic image for display.

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that The processor is further used to: acquire the first region of interest and the second region of interest on the superimposed image; after determining the liver and kidney analysis result based on the first region of interest and the second region of interest, determine the credibility index of the liver and kidney analysis result based on the overlap area between the first region of interest and the liver region image and the overlap area between the second region of interest and the kidney region image; The display is further configured to display the credibility index.

10. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that The processor is further configured to: The liver region image and the kidney region image are superimposed and displayed on the ultrasound image with different image attributes, wherein the image attributes include color and / or transparency.

11. The device according to claim 10, characterized in that The processor is further configured to control whether to display the liver region image and the kidney region image with the image attributes based on a user input.

12. An ultrasonic imaging device, characterized in that: The device comprises a transmitting and receiving circuit, an ultrasound probe, a processor and a display, wherein: The transmitting and receiving circuit is used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the liver and kidney parts of the target object, receive echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and obtain ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes; The processor is used to: generate an ultrasound image based on the ultrasound echo data; obtain a first region of interest in a liver region of the ultrasound image, and obtain a second region of interest in a kidney region of the ultrasound image, wherein the first region of interest and the second region of interest are located at different depths; obtain echo data corresponding to at least the first region of interest and the second region of interest from the ultrasound echo data, and perform compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to at least the first region of interest and the second region of interest to compensate for attenuation caused by changes in the propagation depth of the echo data; determine a liver and kidney analysis result based on the compensated echo data of the first region of interest and the second region of interest; The display is used to display at least the compensated first region of interest and the second region of interest and the liver and kidney analysis results.

13. The device according to claim 12, characterized in that The processor at least performs compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest, including: Performing compensation processing on a first preset extended area around the first region of interest and echo data corresponding to the first region of interest to obtain a first compensation area; Compensation processing is performed on a second preset extended area around the second region of interest and echo data corresponding to the second region of interest to obtain a second compensation area.

14. The device according to claim 13, characterized in that The processor is further configured to: Acquire a third region of interest within the first compensation region, and determine updated liver and kidney analysis results based on echo data corresponding to the third region of interest and the second region of interest; or Acquire a fourth region of interest within the second compensation region, and determine updated liver and kidney analysis results based on echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the fourth region of interest; or A third region of interest is acquired within the first compensation region, a fourth region of interest is acquired within the second compensation region, and an updated liver and kidney analysis result is determined based on echo data corresponding to the third region of interest and the fourth region of interest.

15. The device according to claim 13, characterized in that The processor is further configured to: Acquire a third region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image, and determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on echo data corresponding to the third region of interest and the second region of interest; or Acquire a fourth region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, and determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the fourth region of interest; or Acquire a third region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image, acquire a fourth region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, and determine an updated liver and kidney analysis result based on echo data corresponding to the third region of interest and the fourth region of interest; Determining a credibility index of the updated liver and kidney analysis result based on an overlap area between the third region of interest and the first compensation region, and / or an overlap area between the fourth region of interest and the second compensation region; The display is further configured to display the credibility index.

16. An ultrasonic imaging method, characterized in that: The method comprises: In a liver and kidney examination mode, an ultrasonic image of a target object is acquired, wherein echo data corresponding to at least a portion of a liver region and a kidney region in the ultrasonic image are respectively processed by compensation to compensate for attenuation of the echo data caused by a change in propagation depth; Acquire a first region of interest in the liver region that has undergone the compensation processing and a second region of interest in the liver region that has undergone the compensation processing; A liver and kidney analysis result of the target object is determined and displayed based on the first region of interest and the second region of interest, wherein the first region of interest and the second region of interest are located at the same or different depths.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first region of interest and the second region of interest are acquired based on user input, or are acquired automatically. When acquired automatically, the method further includes: adjusting the position of the first region of interest and / or the second region of interest based on user input, and re-determining and refreshing the displayed liver and kidney analysis results based on the adjusted results.

18. An ultrasonic imaging method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Displaying multiple inspection modes on the display interface; determining a liver and kidney examination mode from the plurality of examination modes in response to a user's selection; Displaying a plurality of measurement items on a display interface based on the liver and kidney examination mode; determining a target measurement item from the plurality of measurement items in response to a user's selection, wherein the target measurement item includes a liver and kidney analysis result; Obtaining ultrasound images corresponding to the liver and kidney regions; Displaying a first region of interest in a liver region of the ultrasound image and displaying a second region of interest in a kidney region of the ultrasound image; Acquire the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest, and perform compensation processing on the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest to compensate for attenuation of the echo data caused by changes in propagation depth; Determine a liver and kidney analysis result based on the echo data corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest after compensation; The liver and kidney analysis results are shown.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that Before displaying the first region of interest in the liver region of the ultrasound image and displaying the second region of interest in the kidney region of the ultrasound image, the method further includes: automatically determining the first region of interest and the second region of interest from the ultrasound image; or Displaying a first preset area and a second preset area in the ultrasound image; automatically determining the first region of interest and the second region of interest from the ultrasound image; and replacing the first preset area with the first region of interest, and replacing the second preset area with the second region of interest; or Displaying a first preset area and a second preset area in the ultrasound image; replacing the first preset area with the first region of interest, and replacing the second preset area with the second region of interest based on a user's operation; or The first region of interest and the second region of interest are determined from the ultrasound image based on a user's operation.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The replacing the first preset area with the first region of interest based on the user's operation, and replacing the second preset area with the second region of interest, includes: Based on the user's operation, the icon corresponding to the first preset area is displayed at the position corresponding to the first region of interest, and the icon corresponding to the second preset area is displayed at the position corresponding to the second region of interest in conjunction with the user's operation; or Based on the user's operation, the icon corresponding to the first preset area is displayed at the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest, and based on the user's operation, the icon corresponding to the second preset area is displayed at the position corresponding to the second area of ​​interest; or Based on the user's operation, the icon corresponding to the second preset area is displayed in the second area of ​​interest, and the icon corresponding to the first preset area is displayed in the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest in conjunction with the icon; or Based on the user's operation, the icon corresponding to the second preset area is displayed at the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest, and based on the user's operation, the icon corresponding to the first preset area is displayed at the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest.

21. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The step of displaying the icon corresponding to the first preset area at a position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest includes: The icon corresponding to the first preset area is processed by at least one of selection, enlargement, reduction and movement and then displayed at the position corresponding to the first area of ​​interest; The step of displaying the icon corresponding to the second preset area at a position corresponding to the second area of ​​interest includes: The icon corresponding to the second preset area is displayed at a position corresponding to the second area of ​​interest after being processed in at least one of selection, enlargement, reduction and movement.

22. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, characterized in that The user's operation includes at least one of a button, a trackball, a touch key, and a knob; wherein, if the user's operation is a button operation, the icon corresponding to the first preset area and the icon corresponding to the second preset area are switched by one button, or the icon corresponding to the first preset area is controlled by one of the two buttons, and the icon corresponding to the second preset area is controlled by the other of the two buttons.

23. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The icon corresponding to the first preset area and the icon corresponding to the second preset area include at least one of a sector, a rectangle, a square and a circle.

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