Strain elastography method and ultrasound imaging apparatus
By identifying and eliminating interference regions in strain elastic imaging and remapping strain data, the problem of misdiagnosis caused by interference regions in strain elastic imaging is solved, and the accuracy and reliability of imaging results are improved.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- SHENZHEN MINDRAY BIO MEDICAL ELECTRONICS CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2023-07-17
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-09
Smart Images
Figure CN119318505B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application relates to the field of ultrasonic imaging technology, and more specifically to a strain elastic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging device. Background Technology
[0002] Ultrasound elastography can qualitatively and quantitatively assess the stiffness of lesions and determine the benign or malignant nature of tumors. It has been widely used in examinations of the breast, thyroid, and liver, and possesses unique diagnostic value and advantages in cancer diagnosis. In recent years, an increasing number of studies have also applied ultrasound elastography to gynecological examinations. Among these, strain elastography, due to its existing widespread use, is currently the most researched and applied in gynecological examinations.
[0003] Strain elastic imaging uses a probe to press on tissue and calculates the tissue's displacement and strain in real time to reflect the relative hardness of the tissue within the imaging area and colors it for imaging. A common approach is to use red, green, and blue to represent hard, normal, and soft tissues, respectively, but other colors can also be used.
[0004] Because the uterus / ovary / cervix is closely connected to the bladder and intestines, the fluid in the bladder and some gynecological diseases such as cystic degeneration, as well as the movement of the intestines themselves, will cause inaccurate estimations of tissue hardness based on displacement and strain when pressed. This will be perceived as "soft" on the strain elastography map, and all other tissues within the region of interest (ROI) will be considered "relatively harder," thus reducing the contrast and layering of tissues within the ROI, and even leading to misdiagnosis by judging other tissues as "hard." Furthermore, the shapes of diseased uteruses / ovaries / cervixes are often irregular, making it difficult to avoid surrounding intestines or internal cystic fluid-filled areas with regular ROIs. It is also difficult to design an ROI that can cover all situations, greatly hindering the application of strain elastography in gynecology.
[0005] In strain-elastic imaging of other parts of the body, various interference areas can reduce the contrast and layering of tissues within the region of interest (ROI), which may even lead to misdiagnosis.
[0006] Therefore, a new strain elastic imaging scheme is needed to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention
[0007] This application provides a strain elastic imaging method, comprising: controlling an ultrasound probe to emit ultrasound waves toward a pressed target tissue region of a target object and receiving ultrasound echoes to obtain ultrasound echo data; generating an ultrasound image based on the ultrasound echo data, and acquiring first strain data based on the ultrasound echo data and / or the ultrasound image; mapping the first strain data for strain elastic imaging to obtain a first strain elastic image; determining an interference region in the first strain elastic image, and determining a target region based on the interference region, wherein the target region is a region outside the interference region in the first strain elastic image; acquiring second strain data corresponding to the target region in the first strain data, mapping the second strain data for strain elastic imaging to obtain and display a second strain elastic image.
[0008] According to another aspect of this application, a strain elastic imaging method is provided, the method comprising: controlling an ultrasound probe to emit a first ultrasound wave toward a target tissue region of a target object and receiving ultrasound echoes to obtain first ultrasound echo data; generating an ultrasound image based on the first ultrasound echo data; identifying, based on the ultrasound image and / or the first ultrasound echo data, an interference region interfering with strain elastic imaging in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image, and determining a target region based on the interference region, wherein the target region is a region other than the interference region in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image; controlling the ultrasound probe to emit a second ultrasound wave toward a pressed tissue region corresponding to the target region and receiving ultrasound echoes to obtain second ultrasound echo data; acquiring strain data based on the second ultrasound echo data, mapping the strain data for strain elastic imaging, and obtaining and displaying a strain elastic image of the target region.
[0009] According to another aspect of this application, an ultrasonic imaging device is provided, the ultrasonic imaging 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 emit ultrasonic waves toward a target object, receive the echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and acquire ultrasonic echo data from the echoes; the processor is used to control the transmitting and receiving circuit and to execute the above-described strain-elastic imaging method to generate ultrasonic images and strain-elastic images; the display is used to display the ultrasonic images and the strain-elastic images.
[0010] According to another aspect of this application, a storage medium is provided, wherein program instructions are stored on the storage medium, and the program instructions are executed by a processor to perform the above-described strain elastic imaging method.
[0011] The strain elastic imaging method and ultrasonic imaging device provided in the embodiments of this application can eliminate the influence of interference areas, improve the sense of hierarchy of the strain elastic image of the target area that truly needs strain imaging, thereby improving the quality and reliability of its strain elastic results. Attached Figure Description
[0012] The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the more detailed description of the embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are provided to further illustrate the embodiments of the invention and form part of the specification. They are used together with the embodiments of the invention to explain the invention and do not constitute a limitation thereof. In the drawings, the same reference numerals generally represent the same parts or steps.
[0013] Figure 1 A schematic flowchart of a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application is shown.
[0014] Figure 2 This is an exemplary schematic diagram showing the region corresponding to the motion disturbance region determined in the strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application in the ultrasound B-image.
[0015] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates an exemplary region in an ultrasound B-mode image corresponding to a target region determined in a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application.
[0016] Figure 4 This diagram illustrates an exemplary schematic of the region corresponding to the liquid dark area interference region determined in the strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application in the ultrasound B-mode.
[0017] Figure 5 An exemplary schematic diagram is shown of the region corresponding to the target region determined in the strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application in the ultrasound B-map.
[0018] Figure 6 This diagram illustrates the mapping of first strain data for strain elastic imaging in a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application.
[0019] Figure 7 This diagram illustrates the mapping of second strain data for strain elastic imaging in a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application.
[0020] Figure 8 This diagram illustrates an example of displaying a first strain elastic image and a second strain elastic image in a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application.
[0021] Figure 9This diagram illustrates another example of displaying a first strain elastic image and a second strain elastic image in a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application.
[0022] Figure 10 The diagram illustrates yet another example of displaying a first strain elastic image and a second strain elastic image in a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application.
[0023] Figure 11 A schematic flowchart of a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application is shown.
[0024] Figure 12 A schematic flowchart of a strain elastic imaging method according to another embodiment of this application is shown.
[0025] Figure 13 An exemplary schematic diagram illustrates the entire display process in a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application.
[0026] Figure 14 A schematic flowchart illustrating an example of a strain elastic imaging method according to another embodiment of this application is shown.
[0027] Figure 15 A schematic flowchart illustrating another example of a strain elastic imaging method according to another embodiment of this application is shown.
[0028] Figure 16 A schematic block diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of this application is shown. Detailed Implementation
[0029] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention more apparent, exemplary embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are merely a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention described herein without inventive effort should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
[0030] Figure 1 A schematic flowchart of a strain elastic imaging method 100 according to one embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 1 As shown, the strain elastic imaging method 100 may include the following steps:
[0031] In step S110, the ultrasound probe is controlled to emit ultrasound waves toward the target tissue area of the target object that has been pressed, and the ultrasound echo is received to obtain ultrasound echo data.
[0032] In step S120, an ultrasonic image is generated based on the ultrasonic echo data, and first strain data is obtained based on the ultrasonic echo data and / or the ultrasonic image. The first strain data is then mapped for strain elastic imaging to obtain a first strain elastic image.
[0033] In step S130, the interference region in the first strain elastic image is determined, and the target region is determined based on the interference region. The target region is the region outside the interference region in the first strain elastic image.
[0034] In step S140, the second strain data corresponding to the target region in the first strain data is obtained, and the second strain data is mapped for strain elastic imaging to obtain and display the second strain elastic image.
[0035] In the embodiments of this application, strain-elastic imaging can first be performed according to a conventional strain-elastic imaging procedure. Specifically, after obtaining ultrasound echo data from the pressed target tissue area, an ultrasound image (such as a B-image) can be generated based on the ultrasound echo data, allowing the user to view the condition of the target tissue area. Furthermore, strain calculations can be performed based on the ultrasound image or the aforementioned ultrasound echo data to obtain strain data for application-based elastography. The strain data here includes strain data corresponding to the region of interest in the ultrasound image or strain data corresponding to the ultrasound image within the entire field of view, without excluding interference areas. To distinguish it from the strain data after excluding interference areas described later, this strain data is referred to as the first strain data. After obtaining the first strain data, it is mapped for strain-elastic imaging to obtain a strain-elastic image of the region of interest or a strain-elastic image within the entire field of view. This strain-elastic image is obtained based on all strain data (i.e., the first strain data), without excluding interference areas. To distinguish it from the strain image after excluding interference areas described later, this strain image is referred to as the first strain image. The aforementioned mapping can employ commonly used mapping schemes. For example, the mean of all strain values in the first strain data can be calculated, a certain strain range less than and greater than the mean strain value can be selected, and the strain values within the range can be mapped to gray values of 0 to 255 in a linear relationship. The strain values outside the range can be mapped to 0 or 255. Finally, the gray values can be converted into the corresponding colors in the strain image.
[0036] This concludes the conventional applied elastography process. However, as mentioned earlier, in strain elastography, various interfering regions can reduce the contrast and layering of tissues within the Region of Interest (ROI), potentially leading to misdiagnosis. Therefore, in this embodiment, an additional operation can be performed after the conventional applied elastography process to address this issue. Specifically, interfering regions in the first strain elastography image can be identified and excluded. That is, the region outside the interfering region in the first strain elastography image is taken as the target region. The strain data corresponding to the target region (referred to as the second strain data) is then remapped for strain elastography to obtain and display the second strain elastography image. Since this second mapping process only uses the strain data of the target region, the influence of the strain data corresponding to the interfering region on the overall mapping process can be eliminated. This is equivalent to excluding outliers such as abnormal maxima or minima in the "experimental results". The strain data within the "normal range" of the target area that truly needs strain imaging can be distinguished from each other (without being classified as "of the same kind" because they are far from the outliers). This improves the sense of hierarchy in the strain elasticity image of the target area that truly needs strain imaging, thereby improving the quality and reliability of its strain elasticity results.
[0037] In the embodiments of this application, the aforementioned interference region may include a motion interference region. A motion interference region refers to a region that is inherently mobile; that is, it will produce displacement and strain even without pressure during strain elastography. Therefore, if such a region is included in the target tissue region for strain elastography, it will interfere with the strain elastography results of the target region that actually produces strain due to pressure, thus affecting the determination of tissue hardness based on strain. Such interference needs to be eliminated. For example, in gynecological examinations of the uterus, ovaries, etc., the target tissue region includes the tissue region of the target organ within the pelvic cavity. This region includes not only cervical tissues such as the uterus and ovaries, but also areas closely connected to them, such as the intestines. The intestines themselves are mobile, which will lead to inaccurate estimations of tissue hardness based on displacement and strain. On the strain elastography map, it will be considered "soft," and all other tissues within the corresponding ROI will be considered "relatively harder," thus reducing the contrast and layering of tissue hardness within the ROI, and even leading to the misdiagnosis of other tissues as "hard." The shapes of diseased uteruses / ovaries / cervixes are often irregular, making it difficult to avoid surrounding intestinal segments using regular regions of interest (ROIs). It is also difficult to design an ROI that can cover all situations, greatly hindering and limiting the application of strain elastography in gynecology. Therefore, this application proposes to identify the aforementioned interfering regions and eliminate their influence on strain imaging of the target area.
[0038] Figure 2This illustrates an exemplary schematic diagram of the region (which may be referred to as the first region) in the ultrasound B-mode image corresponding to the motion interference region determined in the strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 3 This illustrates an exemplary schematic diagram of the region corresponding to the target area determined in the strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application in the ultrasound B-mode image. Figure 2 As shown, within the ROI frame of the ultrasound image, region 210 is the area that will cause motion interference. This region will correspond to a motion interference area in the strain-elastic imaging obtained after strain-elastic imaging. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the strain data corresponding to this region and remap it for strain-elastic imaging. Here, as shown in Figure B, the area outside this region within the ROI frame is the target area that needs to be remapped for strain-elastic imaging, such as... Figure 3 The area shown is 310.
[0039] In another embodiment of this application, the aforementioned interference region may include a liquid-induced dark area interference region. A liquid-induced dark area interference region refers to an area within a liquid-induced dark area where the liquid itself flows. That is, even without pressure during strain elastography, displacement and strain will occur. Therefore, if such an area is included in the target tissue area for strain elastography, it will interfere with the strain elastography results of the target area that actually experiences strain due to pressure, thus affecting the determination of tissue hardness based on strain. Such interference needs to be eliminated. For example, in gynecological examinations of the uterus, ovaries, etc., the target tissue area includes the tissue area of the target organ within the pelvic cavity. This area includes not only cervical tissues such as the uterus and ovaries, but also the bladder area closely connected to them. The fluidity of the liquid in the liquid-induced dark area of the bladder and some gynecological diseases such as cystic changes will lead to inaccurate estimations of tissue hardness based on displacement and strain. On the strain elastography map, it will be considered "soft," and all other tissues within the corresponding ROI will be considered "relatively harder," thus reducing the contrast and layering of tissue hardness within the ROI, and even leading to the misdiagnosis of other tissues as "hard." The shapes of diseased uteruses, ovaries, and cervixes are often irregular, making it difficult to avoid cystic, fluid-filled areas within the bladder or internal structures using regular regions of interest (ROIs). It is also difficult to design an ROI that can cover all situations, greatly hindering and limiting the application of strain elastography in gynecology. In strain elastography of other sites outside gynecology, fluid-filled areas such as cysts or vascular regions may also interfere with the imaging. Therefore, this application proposes to identify these interfering regions and eliminate their influence on the strain imaging of the target area.
[0040] Figure 4 This illustrates an exemplary schematic diagram of the region (which may be referred to as the first region) corresponding to the liquid dark area interference region determined in the strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application in the ultrasound B-mode. Figure 5This illustrates an exemplary schematic diagram of the region corresponding to the target area determined in the strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application in the ultrasound B-mode image. Figure 4 As shown, within the ROI frame of the ultrasound image, region 410 is the area that will generate liquid dark area interference. This will correspond to a liquid dark area interference region in the strain-elastic imaging obtained after strain-elastic imaging. Therefore, it is necessary to remove the strain data corresponding to this region and remap it for strain-elastic imaging. Here, as shown in Figure B, the area outside this region within the ROI frame is the target area that needs to be remapped for strain-elastic imaging, such as... Figure 5 The area shown is 510.
[0041] In one embodiment of this application, step S130, determining the interference region in the first strain-elastic image, may include: identifying a first region interfering with the strain-elastic imaging in the ultrasound image, and determining a region in the first strain-elastic image corresponding to the first region as the interference region. In this embodiment, the interference region in the first strain-elastic image can be identified based on the ultrasound image. Specifically, identifying the first region in the ultrasound image (as described above) Figure 2 The area 210 shown and as Figure 4 As shown in region 410, the tissue region corresponding to this first region will generate "abnormal" strain data during strain elastic imaging (abnormal means that its displacement and strain may not be caused by compression, but by its own characteristics). This will interfere with the strain of the tissue region that is actually deformed by compression and used to determine the degree of softness and hardness. Therefore, by identifying such a first region and determining its corresponding region in the first strain elastic image, the interference region in the first strain elastic image can be identified, thereby enabling the identification of the target region outside the interference region to eliminate its interference with strain elastic imaging.
[0042] In one example, identifying the first region interfering with strain elastography in an ultrasound image can include: identifying regions in the ultrasound image whose motion parameters are greater than a preset threshold based on the aforementioned ultrasound echo data and / or ultrasound images, as the first region. This example can be used to identify regions with motion interference, or regions with fluid-filled dark areas. For example, for motion interference, by calculating motion parameters such as displacement, velocity, acceleration, and strain, regions with motion parameters greater than a preset threshold of a certain system can be identified as the first region corresponding to the motion interference region. For fluid-filled dark areas, motion parameters such as displacement, velocity, acceleration, and strain can also be calculated, and regions with motion parameters greater than a preset threshold of a certain system can be identified as the first region corresponding to the fluid-filled dark area interference region. Furthermore, for strain elastography in gynecological examinations as described above, since motion interference is mainly localized transverse intestinal peristalsis, while the pressure required for strain elastography is primarily longitudinal, regions with greater transverse movement can be identified as intestinal peristalsis regions, as the first region corresponding to the motion interference region.
[0043] In another example, identifying a first region interfering with strain elastography in an ultrasound image can include: identifying regions in the ultrasound image whose motion frequency does not match the compression frequency, based on the aforementioned ultrasound echo data and / or ultrasound images, as the first region. This example is mainly used to identify regions with motion interference. Again, taking the aforementioned intestinal region as an example, the compression frequency and the intestinal peristalsis frequency are generally different; therefore, regions whose peristalsis frequency does not match the compression frequency can be identified as intestinal peristalsis regions, as the first region corresponding to the motion interference region.
[0044] In another example, identifying a first region interfering with strain elastography in an ultrasound image may include: identifying a target interference region in the ultrasound image based on at least one of the aforementioned signal intensity of ultrasound echo data, the aforementioned image grayscale of the ultrasound image, an edge recognition algorithm, and an artificial intelligence algorithm, and defining the identified target interference region as the first region. This example can be used to identify regions of motion interference or regions of fluid-filled dark areas. For examinations of different sites, the areas causing interference are predictable, and therefore can be identified based on the characteristics of such regions using the aforementioned signal or image processing algorithms. For example, if a gynecological examination is known, the intestinal region can be considered as the target interference region to be detected (corresponding to the motion interference region), and fluid-filled dark areas such as the bladder and cysts can be considered as the target interference region to be detected (corresponding to the fluid-filled dark area interference region).
[0045] The above embodiments all identify a first region in the ultrasound image, which corresponds to an interference region in the first strain-elastic image. In another embodiment of this application, the interference region can also be identified directly in the first strain-elastic image. Specifically, a second region with strain values within a preset range can be identified in the first strain-elastic image as the interference region. In this embodiment, the interference region is determined directly by the magnitude of the strain value. For example, some relatively "abnormal" maxima and minima may correspond to areas of motion interference or liquid dark areas, and these can be identified as interference regions.
[0046] After identifying the aforementioned interference area, the target area in the first strain elastic image (i.e., the area outside the interference area in the first strain elastic image) can be determined. At this time, as long as the strain data (second strain data) corresponding to the target area is obtained, the strain elastic imaging mapping can be performed again to obtain a strain elastic image (second strain elastic image) with interference eliminated, as described in step S140.
[0047] Now combine Figure 6 and Figure 7 Describe the mapping effect before and after interference removal.
[0048] Taking gynecological examination as an example, before excluding interference, the target tissue area includes intestinal loops / fluid-filled dark areas, as well as normal endometrium, normal muscle layer, fibroids, malignant tumors, etc. The average strain of the target tissue area is E1 (e.g., Figure 6 The "average strain of the target area" shown is used to map normal muscle layers, fibroids, malignant tumors, etc., which are harder tissues and have strains much smaller than this average strain. Therefore, they are easily mapped to comparable grayscale values, resulting in very low image color differentiation (e.g., ...). Figure 6 The left images are all mapped to red, because Figure 6 The image is grayscale for patent application purposes, so it's not visible, but actually, the lower part of the vertical axis is red, representing hardness, and the upper part is blue, representing softness.
[0049] After eliminating interference, strain data corresponding to the intestinal / fluid region within the target tissue area are removed, and the strain data for the new target area has a new average strain E2 (e.g., Figure 7 The "mean strain of the new target area" is shown. Since areas with excessive strain have been removed, E2 will be much lower than E1. Therefore, the difference between the mean strain and that of normal muscle layer, fibroids, and malignant tumors will decrease. The effect of remapping these areas is illustrated in the diagram. Figure 7 As shown, the muscle layer can be mapped to the middle green, fibroids to light red, malignant tumors to dark red, and the endometrium to dark blue (due to...). Figure 7The image is grayscale for patent application purposes, so it's not visible, but actually, the lower part of the vertical axis is red, representing hardness, and the upper part is blue, representing softness.
[0050] The above comparison shows that by remapping the strain data of areas outside the interference region to obtain a strain-elastic image, normal and abnormal tissues can be clearly distinguished, greatly improving the reliability of strain-elastic imaging results. It should be noted that... Figure 6 and Figure 7 The color-to-strain value mapping shown is for illustrative purposes only; actual applications will vary, and therefore should not be constrained by it. Furthermore, Figure 6 and Figure 7 The example shown is a linear mapping, but nonlinear mapping can also be performed, which will not be described in detail here.
[0051] In embodiments of this application, in addition to displaying the second strain-elastic image obtained after remapping, method 100 may also display at least one of the following: the ultrasound image described above, the first strain-elastic image, the interference region, the target region, and the corresponding regions of the interference region and the target region in the ultrasound image.
[0052] The display of the interference area and the target area may include: displaying the interference area and the target area with different display identifiers (such as different colors, different shadow lines, etc.) to distinguish between the interference area and the target area; and / or, displaying the corresponding areas of the interference area and the target area in the ultrasound image with different display identifiers to distinguish between the corresponding areas of the interference area and the target area in the ultrasound image. Figures 2 to 5 The example shows how the interference area and the target area are distinguished by different colors in the ultrasound image. The interference area is shown as a red area, and the target area is shown as a green area (this is not visible due to the grayscale image required for the patent application, but the actual image uses color differentiation). This distinction allows users to intuitively understand the specific locations of the interference area, the target area (and / or their respective corresponding areas in image B), facilitating user inspection and confirmation of any issues, and also enabling user interaction.
[0053] For example, in one example, before determining the interference region in the first strain elastic image, a first user input may be received, indicating that the interference should be removed; in response to receiving the first user input, the interference region in the first strain elastic image is determined. In this example, the interference removal is performed based on the user instruction, thereby remapping to obtain the interference-removed strain elastic image. That is, step S130 can be performed based on user input. Alternatively, it can be performed automatically.
[0054] In another example, before determining the interference region in the first strain elastic image, a second user input is received, indicating that the region should be divided. In response to receiving the second user input, the interference region in the first strain elastic image is determined. After dividing the interference region and the target region, the interference region and the target region are displayed separately (or their corresponding regions in the ultrasound B-image can be displayed separately), and a third user input is received, selecting the interference region (or selecting the corresponding region in the ultrasound B-image) and indicating that the interference should be removed. In response to receiving the third user input, the second strain data corresponding to the target region in the first strain data is obtained. In this example, steps S130 and S140 are performed based on multiple user inputs, with different user inputs having different specific instructions, indicating greater user participation. For example, when dividing the region, the interference region can be automatically determined or manually drawn by the user; after region division, the interference region selected by the user can be the result of the previous division step or a result obtained after modifying the result of the previous division step.
[0055] The following is combined Figures 8 to 11 The description shows an example displaying the first and second strain elastic images.
[0056] like Figure 8 As shown, an ultrasound image and a first strain-elastic image 810 superimposed on the ultrasound image are displayed. Based on this, a "Remove Liquid Dark Area" button can be set. After the user presses the button, the interference area of the liquid dark area is automatically identified, and the target area outside the area is remapped to obtain a second strain-elastic image 820 superimposed on the ultrasound image.
[0057] like Figure 9 As shown, an ultrasound image and a first strain-elastic image 910 superimposed on the ultrasound image are displayed. Based on this, a "Remove Motion Interference" button can be set. After the user presses the button, the motion interference area is automatically identified, and the target area outside the interference area is remapped to obtain a second strain-elastic image 920 superimposed on the ultrasound image.
[0058] like Figure 10 As shown, an ultrasound image and a first strain-elastic image 1010 superimposed on the ultrasound image are displayed. Based on this, a "reject" button can be set; after the user presses the button, different tissue regions within the ROI are automatically identified and marked (e.g., ...). Figure 10 (The dotted line mark in the upper right corner); then, select the area and choose to delete or keep (this can be done automatically by the system to remove areas corresponding to motion interference and liquid dark areas, or manually by the user through touch screen, scroll wheel, keyboard, etc.). Figure 10The bottom right corner indicates that the user has selected an area and chosen to delete it; then the system remaps and displays the strain within the user-retained area.
[0059] In the ultrasound image examples shown above with accompanying figures, a Region of Interest (ROI) has been set. However, it should be understood that an ROI may not be set, and the entire image may be directly identified or processed. The examples described below are similar.
[0060] The above describes in detail the process of the strain elastic imaging method 100 according to an embodiment of this application. Now, in conjunction with... Figure 11 To summarize the above process: Figure 11 As shown, under scanning control, the probe performs transmission, reception, and beamforming, followed by two-dimensional image synthesis and strain calculation to fully display the strain-elastic image (the image at this point is the first strain-elastic image described above). After this, the region to be removed (i.e., the interference region) can be identified, and the remaining region (target region) is then re-mapped (secondary mapping) and displayed.
[0061] Based on the above description, after obtaining a first strain elastic image of the target tissue region, the strain elastic imaging method 100 according to the embodiments of this application can determine the interference region in the first strain elastic image, and remap the strain data corresponding to the target region outside the interference region for strain elastic imaging to obtain and display a second strain elastic image. This can eliminate the influence of the strain data corresponding to the interference region on the overall mapping process, improve the sense of hierarchy of the strain elastic image of the target region that truly needs strain imaging, and thus improve the quality and reliability of its strain elastic results.
[0062] The following is combined Figure 12 A strain elastic imaging method 1200 according to another embodiment of this application is described. For example... Figure 12 As shown, the strain elastic imaging method 1200 may include the following steps:
[0063] In step S1210, the ultrasound probe is controlled to emit a first ultrasound wave toward the target tissue area of the target object and receive the ultrasound echo to obtain the first ultrasound echo data.
[0064] In step S1220, an ultrasound image is generated based on the first ultrasound echo data.
[0065] In step S1230, based on the ultrasound image and / or the first ultrasound echo data, an interference region interfering with strain elastic imaging is identified in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image, and a target region is determined based on the interference region. The target region is the area outside the interference region in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image.
[0066] In step S1240, the ultrasound probe is controlled to emit a second ultrasound wave toward the pressed tissue area corresponding to the target area, and the ultrasound echo is received to obtain the second ultrasound echo data.
[0067] In step S1250, strain data is acquired based on the second ultrasonic echo data, and the strain data is mapped for strain elastic imaging to obtain and display the strain elastic image of the target area.
[0068] The strain elastic imaging method 1200 according to the embodiments of this application is similar in part to the strain elastic imaging method 100 according to the embodiments of this application described above, both of which can eliminate the influence of interference regions on the accuracy of strain elastic imaging results. The difference is that strain elastic imaging method 100, after obtaining the ultrasound echo data of the target tissue region, maps the strain data corresponding to the region of interest in the ultrasound image or the strain data corresponding to the ultrasound image within the entire field of view to obtain a first strain elastic image, and then determines the interference region in the first strain elastic image to obtain the target region outside the interference region, and then maps the strain data of the target region a second time to obtain a second strain elastic image; strain elastic imaging method 1200, after obtaining the ultrasound echo data of the target tissue region, first determines the interference region (corresponding to the first region in method 100) in the ultrasound image or the region of interest in the ultrasound image based on the ultrasound echo data or the ultrasound image generated by it, to obtain the target region outside the interference region, and then starts strain imaging on the target region to obtain the final strain elastic image. In short, strain elastic imaging method 100 performs additional operations after the complete strain elastic imaging process to obtain an interference-free strain elastic image (requiring secondary mapping), while strain elastic imaging method 1200 only starts the strain elastic imaging process after obtaining the target area (requiring only one mapping).
[0069] For strain elastic imaging method 1200, a pre-acquisition frame can be set in the acquisition preparation state. The user selects the acquisition section and stabilizes it for several or dozens of frames. The system automatically identifies and removes motion interference and liquid dark areas, marks the remaining area as the new target area, and the user can start strain imaging through button operation, etc., and display the elastic image in the new target area. Of course, the acquisition preparation state can also be omitted. Instead, after entering the strain elastic imaging function, the system uses the first few or dozens of frames to identify and remove areas, and then the system automatically starts strain elastic imaging. Overall, although slightly different from strain elastic imaging method 100, strain elastic imaging method 1200 can also eliminate the influence of interference areas, improve the sense of hierarchy of the strain elastic image of the target area that truly needs strain imaging, and thus improve the quality and reliability of its strain elastic results. For strain elastic imaging method 1200, the types of interference areas, identification methods, and display methods are similar to those of strain elastic imaging method 100, which have been described in detail above. For the sake of brevity, only a brief description is given here.
[0070] In the embodiments of this application, the interference region includes a motion interference region and / or a liquid dark area interference region.
[0071] In embodiments of this application, identifying interference regions that interfere with strain elastic imaging in an ultrasound image or region of interest based on an ultrasound image and / or first ultrasound echo data includes at least one of the following: identifying regions in the ultrasound image or region of interest with motion parameters greater than a preset threshold as interference regions based on the first ultrasound echo data and / or ultrasound image; identifying regions in the ultrasound image or region of interest with motion frequencies that do not conform to the pressing frequency as interference regions based on the first ultrasound echo data and / or ultrasound image; identifying target interference regions in the ultrasound image or region of interest based on at least one of the echo signal intensity of the first ultrasound echo data, the image grayscale of the ultrasound image, an edge recognition algorithm, and an artificial intelligence algorithm, and determining the identified target interference regions as interference regions.
[0072] In the embodiments of this application, when the interference area includes a motion interference area, the target tissue area includes the tissue area of the target organ within the pelvic cavity, and the target interference area includes the intestinal area; when the interference area includes a fluid-filled dark area interference area, the target interference area includes a cyst or blood vessel area.
[0073] In the embodiments of this application, the motion parameters include at least one of the following: displacement, velocity, acceleration, and strain.
[0074] In embodiments of this application, the method further includes displaying at least one of the following: an ultrasound image, an interference area, and a target area.
[0075] In the embodiments of this application, the display of the interference area and the target area includes: displaying the interference area and the target area with different display identifiers to distinguish between the interference area and the target area.
[0076] The following is combined Figure 13 An exemplary schematic diagram depicts the entire display process in the strain elastic imaging method 1200 according to an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 13 As shown, after obtaining the ultrasound B-image, the motion interference area (intestinal tract) and the fluid-filled anechoic area interference area are identified and removed, and the remaining new target area within the ROI is obtained and marked. Next, the user can control the start of the formal acquisition by pressing buttons, applying pressure to the target tissue, and performing strain elastic imaging on the new target area, as shown. Figure 13 As shown in the lower right corner. Alternatively, the system can automatically begin strain elastic imaging of the new target area after the pre-acquisition meets the preset frame or preset time, or after the system determines that the pre-acquisition quality meets the standard, or after the system has generated a stable and accurate new target area.
[0077] Now combine Figure 14 and Figure 15 This summarizes the workflow of strain elastic imaging method 1200. In one example, such as... Figure 14 As shown, under scanning control, the probe performs transmission, reception, beamforming, and then two-dimensional image synthesis. Afterwards, based on the synthesized two-dimensional ultrasonic image, interference regions are identified and removed. Strain imaging (calculation) is then performed on the remaining regions, and finally, the resulting strain elastic image is displayed. In another example, as... Figure 15 As shown, under scanning control, the probe performs transmission, reception, and beamforming. Then, based on the ultrasonic echo data, a two-dimensional image is synthesized. At the same time, interference areas are identified and removed based on the ultrasonic echo data. Strain imaging (calculation) is performed on the remaining areas after removal, and finally, the strain elastic image is displayed.
[0078] Based on the above description, the strain elastic imaging method 1200 according to the embodiments of this application, after obtaining the ultrasound echo data of the target tissue region, determines the interference region in the ultrasound image that interferes with strain elastic imaging based on the ultrasound echo data or the ultrasound image generated therefrom, obtains the target region outside the interference region, and then starts strain imaging on the target region to obtain the final strain elastic image. This method can eliminate the influence of the interference region, improve the sense of hierarchy of the strain elastic image of the target region that truly needs strain imaging, thereby improving the quality and reliability of its strain elastic results.
[0079] The above exemplarily illustrates a strain elastic imaging method according to an embodiment of this application. The following, in conjunction with... Figure 16 Describes the ultrasound imaging apparatus provided in another aspect of the application. Figure 16A schematic block diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus 1600 according to an embodiment of this application is shown. Figure 16 As shown, the ultrasound imaging device 1600 may include a transmitting and receiving circuit 1610, an ultrasound probe 1620, a processor 1630, and a display 1640. The transmitting and receiving circuit 1610 controls the ultrasound probe 1620 to transmit ultrasound waves to the target tissue region and receives the echoes of the ultrasound waves to obtain ultrasound echo data. The processor 1630 controls the transmitting and receiving circuit 1610 and executes the strain-elastic imaging method 100 or 1200 according to embodiments of this application to obtain a two-dimensional ultrasound image and a strain-elastic image. The display 1640 displays the ultrasound image and the strain-elastic image. Those skilled in the art can understand the structure and operation of the ultrasound imaging device 1600 in conjunction with the foregoing description; for brevity, further details are omitted here.
[0080] Furthermore, according to embodiments of this application, a storage medium is also provided, on which program instructions are stored. When the program instructions are executed by a computer or processor, they are used to perform corresponding steps of the strain elastic imaging method of this application. The storage medium may, for example, include a memory card of a smartphone, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a personal computer, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media. A computer-readable storage medium may be any combination of one or more computer-readable storage media.
[0081] Furthermore, according to embodiments of this application, a computer program is also provided, which can be stored on a cloud or local storage medium. When this computer program is run by a computer or processor, it is used to perform the corresponding steps of the strain elastic imaging method of the embodiments of this application.
[0082] Based on the above description, the strain elastic imaging method and ultrasonic imaging device according to the embodiments of this application can eliminate the influence of interference areas, improve the sense of hierarchy of the strain elastic image of the target area that truly needs strain imaging, thereby improving the quality and reliability of its strain elastic results.
[0083] Although exemplary embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above exemplary embodiments are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Various changes and modifications can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as claimed in the appended claims.
[0084] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples 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 implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this invention.
[0085] In the several embodiments provided by this invention, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be ignored or not executed.
[0086] Numerous specific details are set forth in the specification provided herein. However, it will be understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this specification.
[0087] Similarly, it should be understood that, in order to streamline the invention and aid in understanding one or more of the various aspects of the invention, features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof in the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention. However, the method of the invention should not be construed as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as reflected in the corresponding claims, its inventive point lies in solving the corresponding technical problem with fewer features than all of those in a single disclosed embodiment. Therefore, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into that detailed description, wherein each claim itself is a separate embodiment of the invention.
[0088] Those skilled in the art will understand that, apart from the mutual exclusion of features, all features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) and all processes or units of any method or apparatus so disclosed can be combined in any combination. Unless otherwise expressly stated, each feature disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature that serves the same, equivalent, or similar purpose.
[0089] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that although some embodiments herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not others, combinations of features from different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.
[0090] The various component embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in hardware, or as software modules running on one or more processors, or a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will understand that microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs) can be used in practice to implement some or all of the functions of some modules in the article analysis device according to embodiments of the present invention. The present invention can also be implemented as an apparatus program (e.g., a computer program and computer program product) for performing part or all of the methods described herein. Such programs implementing the present invention can be stored on a computer-readable medium, or can be in the form of one or more signals. Such signals can be downloaded from an Internet website, provided on a carrier signal, or provided in any other form.
[0091] It should be noted that the above embodiments are illustrative of the invention and not restrictive, and that those skilled in the art can devise alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses should not be construed as limiting the claims. The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in the claims. The word "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the unit claims enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by the same item of hardware. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc., does not indicate any order. These words can be interpreted as names.
[0092] The above are merely specific embodiments or descriptions of the present invention, and the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.
Claims
1. A strain elastic imaging method, characterized in that, The method includes: The ultrasound probe is controlled to emit ultrasound waves toward the target tissue area of the object being pressed, and the ultrasound echo is received to obtain ultrasound echo data; An ultrasound image is generated based on the ultrasound echo data, and first strain data is obtained based on the ultrasound echo data and / or the ultrasound image. The first strain data is then mapped for strain elastic imaging to obtain a first strain elastic image. The interference region in the first strain elastic image is determined, and the target region is determined based on the interference region, wherein the target region is the region outside the interference region in the first strain elastic image; Obtain the second strain data corresponding to the target region from the first strain data, perform mapping on the second strain data for strain elastic imaging, and obtain and display the second strain elastic image; The step of determining the interference region in the first strain elastic image includes: In the ultrasound image, a first region that interferes with strain elastic imaging is identified, and a region in the first strain elastic image that corresponds to the first region is determined as the interference region. The first region that interferes with strain elastic imaging is identified in the ultrasound image, including at least one of the following: Based on the ultrasound echo data and / or the ultrasound image, a region in the ultrasound image with motion parameters greater than a preset threshold is identified as the first region. The motion parameters include at least one of the following: displacement, velocity, and acceleration. Based on the ultrasonic echo data and / or the ultrasonic image, a region in the ultrasonic image whose motion frequency does not match the pressing frequency is identified as the first region.
2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The interference area includes a motion interference area and / or a liquid dark area interference area.
3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of identifying the first region interfering with strain elastic imaging in the ultrasound image further includes: Based on at least one of the signal strength of the ultrasound echo data, the image grayscale of the ultrasound image, an edge recognition algorithm, and an artificial intelligence algorithm, a target interference region is identified in the ultrasound image, and the identified target interference region is determined as the first region.
4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, When the interference area includes a motion interference area, the target tissue area includes the tissue area of the target organ within the pelvic cavity, and the target interference area includes the intestinal region; When the interference region includes a liquid dark area interference region, the target interference region includes a cyst or blood vessel region.
5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The method further includes displaying at least one of the following: The ultrasound image, the first strain elastic image, the interference region, the target region, and the corresponding regions of the interference region and the target region in the ultrasound image.
6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The display of the interference area and the target area includes: The interference area and the target area are displayed with different display identifiers to differentiate them; and / or, Different display identifiers are used to display the corresponding areas of the interference area and the target area in the ultrasound image, so as to distinguish and display the corresponding areas of the interference area and the target area in the ultrasound image.
7. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Before determining the interference region in the first strain elastic image, a first user input is received, indicating that the interference should be removed; in response to receiving the first user input, the interference region in the first strain elastic image is determined; or... Before determining the interference region in the first strain elastic image, a second user input is received, indicating the region to be divided; in response to receiving the second user input, the interference region in the first strain elastic image is determined; after dividing the interference region and the target region, the interference region and the target region are displayed separately, and a third user input is received, indicating the interference region to be selected and the interference to be removed; in response to receiving the third user input, second strain data corresponding to the target region in the first strain data is obtained.
8. A strain elastic imaging method, characterized in that, The method includes: The ultrasound probe is controlled to emit a first ultrasound wave toward the target tissue area of the target object, and the ultrasound echo is received to obtain the first ultrasound echo data. An ultrasound image is generated based on the first ultrasound echo data; Based on the ultrasound image and / or the first ultrasound echo data, an interference region interfering with strain elastic imaging is identified in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image, and a target region is determined based on the interference region. The target region is the region outside the interference region in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image. The ultrasound probe is controlled to emit a second ultrasound wave toward the pressed tissue area corresponding to the target area, and the ultrasound echo is received to obtain the second ultrasound echo data. Based on the second ultrasonic echo data, strain data is obtained, and the strain data is mapped for strain elastic imaging to obtain and display the strain elastic image of the target area. Wherein, identifying the interfering region in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image that interferes with strain elastic imaging based on the ultrasound image and / or the first ultrasound echo data includes at least one of the following: Based on the first ultrasound echo data and / or the ultrasound image, regions with motion parameters greater than a preset threshold are identified in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image as interference regions. The motion parameters include at least one of the following: displacement, velocity, and acceleration. Based on the first ultrasound echo data and / or the ultrasound image, regions whose motion frequency does not match the pressing frequency are identified in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image as interference regions.
9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The interference area includes a motion interference area and / or a liquid dark area interference area.
10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The method of identifying the interfering region in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image that interferes with strain elastic imaging based on the ultrasound image and / or the first ultrasound echo data further includes: Based on at least one of the echo signal intensity of the first ultrasound echo data, the image grayscale of the ultrasound image, an edge recognition algorithm, and an artificial intelligence algorithm, a target interference region is identified in the ultrasound image or the region of interest of the ultrasound image, and the identified target interference region is determined as the interference region.
11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, When the interference area includes a motion interference area, the target tissue area includes the tissue area of the target organ within the pelvic cavity, and the target interference area includes the intestinal region; When the interference region includes a liquid dark area interference region, the target interference region includes a cyst or blood vessel region.
12. The method according to any one of claims 8-11, characterized in that, The method further includes displaying at least one of the following: The ultrasound image, the interference area, and the target area.
13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The display of the interference area and the target area includes: The interference area and the target area are displayed with different display identifiers to distinguish between them.
14. An ultrasonic imaging device, characterized in that, The ultrasound imaging device includes 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 toward the target object, receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves, and obtain ultrasonic echo data from the echo. The processor is used to control the transmitting and receiving circuit and to execute the strain-elastic imaging method according to any one of claims 1-13 to generate ultrasonic images and strain-elastic images; The display is used to show the ultrasonic image and the strain elastic image.