Ultrasonic elastography method and ultrasonic imaging equipment

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses an ultrasonic elastography method and ultrasonic imaging equipment. The ultrasonic imaging equipment determines a stress result according to the shear wave elasticity reference result and the strain elasticity reference result, and determines a first quantitative elasticity result of the target area according to the stress result and the strain elasticity result corresponding to the target area; and determining a second quantitative elasticity result of the first region of interest according to the shear wave elasticity result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elasticity result of the target region, and displaying the second quantitative elasticity result. Since the shear wave elasticity reference result, the strain elasticity reference result and the strain elasticity result of the target area are accurate, the first quantitative elasticity result and the second quantitative elasticity result calculated according to the above results are more accurate than the results obtained by directly performing shear wave elasticity measurement on the target area; and the hardness condition of the tissue can be described more accurately.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of medical equipment, and specifically to an ultrasonic elastic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging device. Background Art

[0002] Ultrasonic elastography can non-invasively extract and image the elasticity or hardness and softness information of human tissues, making up for the deficiency of traditional ultrasonic medical imaging that cannot extract mechanical information. It plays an increasingly important role in various clinical scenarios such as differentiation of benign and malignant tumors, assessment of liver fibrosis, vascular sclerosis, muscle and nerve damage, etc.

[0003] Shear wave elastography is a relatively high-end ultrasound elastography technology. It generates shear waves inside the tissue based on acoustic radiation force, detects the propagation process of the shear wave through ultrasound, and calculates physical quantities such as the shear wave propagation velocity and Young's modulus for imaging, thereby quantitatively measuring the elastic parameters of the tissue and directly describing the hardness of the tissue. However, since the shear wave source generated inside the tissue is often only at a depth of microns, for example, only ten microns in depth, this has limited penetration for large-area and high-hardness lesions (such as malignant cancer), and accurate measurement results are often unable to be obtained inside the lesions. At the same time, the spatial resolution of shear wave elastic images is insufficient, and it is impossible to accurately display the hardness boundary morphology of the lesion. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide an ultrasonic elastic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging device for obtaining quantitative elastic results of a region to be improved in shear wave elastic results, so as to more accurately describe the tissue hardness condition of the region to be improved.

[0005] A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasonic elastic imaging method, comprising:

[0006] Acquiring a shear wave elastic result of a first region of interest of a target tissue, and acquiring a strain elastic result of a second region of interest of the target tissue, wherein a tissue region corresponding to the first region of interest at least partially overlaps with a tissue region corresponding to the second region of interest;

[0007] determining a shear wave elasticity reference result based on a shear wave elasticity result of a first reference region in the first region of interest, and determining a strain elasticity reference result based on a strain elasticity result of a second reference region in the second region of interest;

[0008] Determine a stress result according to the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result;

[0009] Acquire a target region in the first region of interest where the shear wave elasticity result is to be improved, wherein the at least partially overlapping tissue region includes a tissue region corresponding to the target region;

[0010] Acquire the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region from the strain elastic result of the second region of interest, and determine the first quantitative elastic result of the target region according to the stress result and the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region;

[0011] Determining a second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest according to the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region;

[0012] A second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest is displayed.

[0013] A second aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasonic imaging device, comprising:

[0014] Ultrasound probe;

[0015] A transmitting circuit, used for stimulating the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue of a subject;

[0016] A receiving circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave returned by the target tissue to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

[0017] A processor is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain an ultrasonic image of the target tissue, and to perform the ultrasonic elastic imaging method described in the first aspect based on the ultrasonic image.

[0018] It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the embodiments of the present application have the following advantages:

[0019] Determine the shear wave elastic reference result of the first region of interest and the strain elastic reference result of the second reference region, determine the stress result based on the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result, the tissue region at least partially overlapping the first region of interest and the second region of interest includes the tissue region corresponding to the target region, determine the first quantitative elastic result of the target region based on the stress result and the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region, determine the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest based on the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region, and display the second quantitative elastic result. Since the shear wave elastic reference result, the strain elastic reference result, and the strain elastic result of the target region are all accurate, the first quantitative elastic result and the second quantitative elastic result calculated based on the above results are more accurate than the results obtained by directly measuring the shear wave elasticity of the target region, can more accurately describe the tissue hardness condition of the target region, and can more accurately present the morphology and boundaries of regions such as lesions where the shear wave elasticity results are inaccurate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of the structure of an ultrasonic imaging device in an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of the ultrasonic elastic imaging method in an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a display effect of an ultrasound image showing a first region of interest and its shear wave elasticity result in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a display effect in which the shear wave elastic result of the target area is replaced by the first quantitative elastic result and then the second quantitative elastic result is displayed;

[0024] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of an exemplary positional relationship between the first region of interest and the second region of interest in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of another exemplary positional relationship between the first region of interest and the second region of interest in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The embodiments of the present application provide an ultrasonic elastic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging device for obtaining quantitative elastic results of a region to be improved in shear wave elastic results, so as to more accurately describe the tissue hardness condition of the region to be improved.

[0027] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0028] See also Figure 1 In the embodiment of the present application, the ultrasonic imaging device includes:

[0029] The ultrasonic probe 110 , the transmitting circuit 112 , the receiving circuit 114 , the processor 118 and the display 120 . In addition, the ultrasonic probe 110 , the transmitting circuit 112 , the receiving circuit 114 , the processor 118 and the display 120 , and the transmitting / receiving selection switch 122 , the beamforming module 116 and the memory 124 may also be included.

[0030] The ultrasonic probe 110 can be any probe used for ultrasonic detection, such as a 2D ultrasonic probe and a 3D ultrasonic probe. Among them, the acoustic head part of the ultrasonic probe 110 can be an array composed of multiple array elements, such as multiple array elements arranged in a row to form a linear array, or arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form a surface array, and multiple array elements can also form a convex array. The above-mentioned array elements are used to emit ultrasonic beams according to the excitation electrical signal, or to convert the received ultrasonic echoes into electrical signals. Therefore, each array element can be used to realize the mutual conversion between the electrical pulse signal and the ultrasonic beam, so as to realize the emission of ultrasonic waves to the target tissue of the human body, and can also be used to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave reflected back by the tissue.

[0031] The transmitting circuit 112 is used to generate a transmitting sequence according to the control of the transmitting control module of the processor 118, and the transmitting sequence is used to control part or all of the multiple array elements to transmit ultrasonic waves to biological tissues.

[0032] The receiving circuit 114 is used to receive the electrical signal of the ultrasonic echo from the ultrasonic probe 110 , obtain the ultrasonic echo signal, and send the ultrasonic echo signal to the beamforming module 116 .

[0033] The beamforming module 116 is used to perform corresponding delay, weighted summation and beamforming processing on the signal output by the receiving circuit 114. Since the distances from the ultrasonic receiving point to the receiving array element in the measured tissue are different, the channel data of the same receiving point output by different receiving array elements have delay differences, and it is necessary to perform delay processing, align the phases, and perform weighted summation on the different channel data of the same receiving point to obtain the beamformed data.

[0034] Processor 118, which is connected to beamforming module 116, mainly performs detection, signal enhancement, data conversion and logarithmic compression on the beamformed data to form an ultrasound image. The ultrasound image obtained by processor 118 can be displayed on display 120 or stored in memory 124.

[0035] Optionally, the processor 118 may be at least one of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a digital signal processing device (DSPD), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a central processing unit (CPU), a controller, a microcontroller or a microprocessor, so that the processor 118 can control other components in the ultrasonic imaging device 100 to perform the ultrasonic imaging steps in various embodiments of this specification. The processor 118 may be a component, or may be a general term for a control device and a processing device in an ultrasonic imaging device that can control other components of the ultrasonic imaging device to perform various functions in various embodiments.

[0036] The display 120 is connected to the processor 118, and the display 120 may be a touch screen or a liquid crystal display, etc.; or, the display 120 may be an independent display such as a liquid crystal display or a television set independent of the ultrasound imaging system 100; or, the display 120 may be a display screen of an electronic device such as a smart phone or a tablet computer, etc. The number of the display 120 may be one or more.

[0037] In addition to the above structure, the ultrasonic imaging device 100 may also include a human-computer interaction device. Specifically, the human-computer interaction device may be a display 120. If all functions of the human-computer interaction device are integrated into the display 120, the display 120 may also provide a graphical interface for human-computer interaction to the user when displaying the ultrasonic image. One or more controlled objects are set on the graphical interface, and the user is provided with a human-computer interaction device to input operation instructions to control these controlled objects, thereby performing corresponding control operations. For example, an icon is displayed on the graphical interface, and the icon can be operated using the human-computer interaction device to perform specific functions, such as swapping the position of the image and / or enlarging a specific area for display.

[0038] The human-machine interaction device may also be other human-machine interaction devices other than the display 120. For example, the human-machine interaction device may include an input device, and the input device is used to detect the user's input information, and the input information may be, for example, instructions for editing and marking ultrasound images, or may also include other types of instructions. The input device may include a keyboard, a scroll wheel, a trackball, a mobile input device (such as a mobile device with a touch screen, a mobile phone, etc.), a multi-function knob, etc., or a combination of multiple thereof. The human-machine interaction device may also include an output device such as a printer.

[0039] The ultrasonic imaging device 100 may further include a memory 124, which is used to store instructions for processing execution, to store received ultrasonic echo signals, to store ultrasonic image data, etc. The memory 124 may be a volatile memory, such as a random access memory (RAM); or a non-volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD); or a combination of the above types of memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor.

[0040] It should be understood that Figure 1 The components included in the ultrasonic imaging device 100 shown are only exemplary, and the ultrasonic imaging device 100 may include more or fewer components, and the present application does not impose corresponding limitations on this.

[0041] Based on the specific structural composition of the aforementioned ultrasonic imaging device and the functions of each structure, the following further describes in detail the multiple embodiments and implementation methods of the ultrasonic elastic imaging method performed by the ultrasonic imaging device in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 In the embodiments of the present application, an embodiment of the ultrasound elastic imaging method includes:

[0042] 201. Acquire a shear wave elastic result of a first region of interest of a target tissue, and acquire a strain elastic result of a second region of interest of the target tissue, wherein a tissue region corresponding to the first region of interest at least partially overlaps with a tissue region corresponding to the second region of interest;

[0043] The target tissue may be the subject's liver, spleen, pancreas, kidney and other tissues. The user may use an ultrasonic probe to perform an ultrasonic scan on the subject's target tissue. The ultrasonic imaging device transmits ultrasonic waves to the subject's target tissue based on the ultrasonic probe, receives the echo of the ultrasonic waves, obtains an ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the ultrasonic waves, and the ultrasonic echo signal may be used to generate an ultrasonic image of the target tissue. The ultrasonic elastic imaging method and ultrasonic imaging device provided in the present application may be applicable to the human body or to various animals, that is, the subject may be the human body or to various animals.

[0044] The user can perform shear wave elasticity measurement on a first region of interest of the target tissue to obtain a shear wave elasticity result of the first region of interest; and perform strain elasticity measurement on a second region of interest of the target tissue to obtain a strain elasticity result of the second region of interest. The tissue region corresponding to the first region of interest at least partially overlaps with the tissue region corresponding to the second region of interest, that is, the first region of interest and the second region of interest include the same tissue region.

[0045] 202. Determine a shear wave elasticity reference result based on a shear wave elasticity result of a first reference region in the first region of interest, and determine a strain elasticity reference result based on a strain elasticity result of a second reference region in the second region of interest;

[0046] 203. Determine a stress result according to the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result;

[0047] Some areas in the first region of interest have a weakened shear wave penetration due to their greater depth in the target tissue or greater tissue hardness in these areas, resulting in inaccurate shear wave elasticity results in these areas, affecting the diagnosis of shear wave elasticity measurements. In order to improve the measurement results of such tissue areas so that the measurement results more accurately present the hardness of the tissue, this embodiment determines a shear wave elasticity reference result based on the shear wave elasticity result of a first reference area in the first region of interest. The shear wave elasticity result of the first reference area is more accurate than the shear wave elasticity result of the tissue area with a greater depth in the target tissue or greater tissue hardness, so the calculated shear wave elasticity reference result is also accurate. For example, the shear wave elasticity result of an area with a shallower depth or a non-lesion in the target tissue is used to calculate the shear wave elasticity reference result.

[0048] In addition, the strain elasticity reference result is also determined based on the strain elasticity result of the second reference area in the second region of interest. Since factors such as tissue depth and tissue hardness have relatively little effect on the accuracy of strain elasticity measurement, the second reference area can be any area in the second region of interest, and the strain elasticity result of the second reference area is accurate, and the calculated strain elasticity reference result is also accurate.

[0049] A stress result is determined according to the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result. The stress result is used to improve the inaccurate shear wave elastic result of a part of the tissue area to obtain an accurate measurement result.

[0050] 204. Acquire a target region in the first region of interest where the shear wave elasticity result is to be improved, wherein the at least partially overlapping tissue region includes a tissue region corresponding to the target region;

[0051] 205. Obtain a strain elastic result corresponding to the target region from the strain elastic result of the second region of interest, and determine a first quantitative elastic result of the target region according to the stress result and the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region;

[0052] The target area may be an area in the target tissue where the shear wave elasticity result is inaccurate due to its depth and hardness, such as a focal lesion area of ​​the target tissue, which has a relatively large hardness and the obtained shear wave elasticity result is inaccurate. In addition, the doctor may also determine the target area where the shear wave elasticity result needs to be improved from the shear wave elasticity image of the first region of interest based on his or her own experience in operating shear wave elasticity measurement. The tissue area where the first region of interest at least partially overlaps with the second region of interest includes the tissue area corresponding to the target area.

[0053] The stress corresponding to each point in a tissue region performing strain elasticity measurement is generally the same or approximately unchanged, that is, for the second region of interest, the stress to which each point is subjected when performing strain elasticity measurement is generally the same or approximately unchanged. Based on this, the strain elasticity result corresponding to the target region in the strain elasticity result of the second region of interest can be obtained. Since the stress to which each point in the second region of interest is subjected is the same or approximately unchanged, and the second region of interest includes the target region, the first quantitative elasticity result of the target region can be determined based on the stress result calculated in the above steps and the strain elasticity result corresponding to the target region.

[0054] 206. Determine a second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest according to the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region;

[0055] 207. Display a second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest;

[0056] After the first quantitative elastic result of the target region is calculated, the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest may be determined according to the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region, and the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest may be displayed.

[0057] In this embodiment, the ultrasonic imaging device determines the shear wave elastic reference result of the first region of interest and the strain elastic reference result of the second reference region, determines the stress result based on the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result, the tissue region at least partially overlapping the first region of interest and the second region of interest includes the tissue region corresponding to the target region, determines the first quantitative elastic result of the target region based on the stress result and the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region, determines the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest based on the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region, and displays the second quantitative elastic result. Since the shear wave elastic reference result, the strain elastic reference result, and the strain elastic result of the target region are all accurate, the first quantitative elastic result and the second quantitative elastic result calculated based on the above results are more accurate than the results obtained by directly measuring the shear wave elasticity of the target region, can more accurately describe the tissue hardness condition of the target region, and can more accurately present the morphology and boundaries of regions such as lesions where the shear wave elasticity results are inaccurate.

[0058] The ultrasonic imaging device generates an ultrasonic image based on the ultrasonic scanning operation of the target tissue by the user holding an ultrasonic probe, and determines a first region of interest in the ultrasonic image and performs shear wave elasticity measurement on the first region of interest to obtain a shear wave elasticity result; or, determines a second region of interest in the ultrasonic image and performs strain elasticity measurement on the second region of interest to obtain a strain elasticity result. In this embodiment, the ultrasonic image used to obtain the shear wave elasticity result of the first region of interest and the ultrasonic image used to obtain the strain elasticity result of the second region of interest can be obtained by imaging the same section or the same position of the target tissue. In addition, the above two ultrasonic images can also be obtained by imaging different sections or different positions of the target tissue, but the above two ultrasonic images should at least image the same target area of ​​the target tissue, that is, the above two ultrasonic images should both contain the same target area.

[0059] The first region of interest at least partially overlaps with the second region of interest, and the at least partially overlapping tissue region includes the tissue region corresponding to the above-mentioned target region.

[0060] In a preferred embodiment, the ultrasound image used to obtain the shear wave elasticity result of the first region of interest and the ultrasound image used to obtain the strain elasticity result of the second region of interest are for the same section or the same position of the target tissue, and the first region of interest and the second region of interest completely overlap. The user can achieve the above effect by manually adjusting the probe position and angle or fixing the probe, based on section matching, etc.

[0061] Another means to achieve the above-mentioned effect is that the first region of interest and the second region of interest correspond to the same tissue region in the target tissue, and the ultrasonic imaging device can emit acoustic radiation force pulses to the target tissue to generate shear waves propagating in the same tissue region, and emit ultrasonic waves to the same tissue region to track the shear waves propagating in the same tissue region, and receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave, acquire ultrasonic echo data based on the echo of the ultrasonic wave, generate shear wave elastic results of the first region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo data, and generate strain elastic results of the second region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo data.

[0062] Therefore, in this case, the shear wave elasticity results and the strain elasticity results are obtained simultaneously based on the same ultrasound image and the same region of interest, and the sections corresponding to the ultrasound image are completely consistent, and the regions of interest are also completely consistent.

[0063] Moreover, compared with obtaining the shear wave elasticity results of the first area of ​​interest through shear wave elasticity measurement and obtaining the strain elasticity results of the second area of ​​interest through strain elasticity measurement, this method does not require switching the measurement mode (such as switching from shear wave elasticity measurement to strain elasticity measurement, or from strain elasticity measurement to shear wave elasticity measurement), thereby simplifying the user's operation and improving the efficiency of obtaining shear wave elasticity results and strain elasticity results.

[0064] The above is based on the duplex mode to synchronously obtain the shear wave elastic results of the first region of interest and the strain elastic results of the second region of interest. In addition, they can also be obtained successively in non-duplex mode. Based on the non-duplex mode, the ultrasonic imaging device generates a first shear wave propagating in the first region of interest, and transmits a first ultrasonic wave to the first region of interest to track the first shear wave propagating in the first region of interest, and receives the echo of the first ultrasonic wave to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal, and then obtains the shear wave elastic results of the first region of interest based on the first ultrasonic echo signal. The ultrasonic imaging device also causes the tissue corresponding to the second region of interest to produce displacement or strain, and transmits a second ultrasonic wave at different times to the second region of interest to detect the change in displacement or strain of the tissue corresponding to the second region of interest, and receives the echo of the second ultrasonic wave at different times to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal, and obtains the strain elastic results of the second region of interest based on the second ultrasonic echo signal.

[0065] The displacement or strain of the tissue corresponding to the second region of interest may be induced by mechanical force (such as pressing the part corresponding to the target tissue) or by acoustic radiation force. In the non-duplex mode, this embodiment does not limit the order of executing the shear wave elasticity measurement and the strain elasticity measurement.

[0066] When determining the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest based on the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region, one implementation method may be to replace the shear wave elastic result of each local point in the target region with the first quantitative elastic result of the local point, then the first quantitative elastic result of the target region and the shear wave elastic results of other regions in the first region of interest except the target region constitute the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest.

[0067] like Figure 3 As shown, after obtaining an ultrasound image of the target tissue, a first region of interest (eg, Figure 3 The first region of interest is the region marked by a rectangular frame in the ultrasound image), and the shear wave elasticity measurement is performed on the first region of interest to obtain a shear wave elasticity result, and a target region in the first region of interest where the shear wave elasticity result is to be improved is determined. After obtaining the first quantitative elasticity result of the target region, the shear wave elasticity result of each local point in the target region is replaced with the first quantitative elasticity result of the local point, that is, the target region is displayed as shown in FIG. Figure 4 The first quantitative elastic results shown, and then Figure 4 The shear wave elastic result in the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result constitute the second quantitative elastic result.

[0068] In addition, after the shear wave elastic result of each local point in the target area is replaced by the first quantitative elastic result of the local point, the data at the edge of the target area will have obvious transition marks relative to the shear wave elastic results of the surrounding area. At this time, image smoothing, weighting, median filtering and other processing methods can be used to process the edge data to reduce the transition marks of the boundary.

[0069] When determining the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest based on the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region, another implementation may also be to calculate, for the target region, a weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result of each local point and the first quantitative elastic result of the local point, and then the weighted sum corresponding to the local point in the target region and the shear wave elastic results of other regions in the first region of interest except the target region constitute the second quantitative elastic result.

[0070] For example, based on Figure 3The shear wave elastic result of the target area shown, after obtaining the first quantitative elastic result of the target area, the weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result of each local point in the target area and the first quantitative elastic result of the local point can be calculated, and the weighted sum corresponding to the local points in the target area and the shear wave elastic results of other areas in the first region of interest except the target area constitute the second quantitative elastic result. Wherein, when calculating the weighted sum, the weight corresponding to the shear wave elastic result of each local point in the target area and the weight corresponding to the first quantitative elastic result of the local point, the sum of the weights of the two can be any value, for example, the sum of the weights can be 1, or 100, or any other arbitrary value, which is not limited here. In addition, the weights of the two can also be arbitrarily set by the user. The user can determine the weight according to the reliability or accuracy of the shear wave elastic result of the target area. If the reliability and accuracy are very low, the weight corresponding to the shear wave elastic result of the local point in the target area is set to be smaller.

[0071] In another implementation of the present embodiment, in addition to calculating the first quantitative elastic result of the target area, the strain elastic results of other overlapping areas other than the tissue area corresponding to the target area in at least partially overlapping tissue areas can be obtained from the strain elastic results of the second area of ​​interest, and the first quantitative elastic results of the other overlapping areas can be determined based on the stress results obtained by the above calculation and the strain elastic results of the other overlapping areas.

[0072] For example, Figure 5 As shown, there is an overlapping area between the first region of interest and the second region of interest, and the overlapping area includes a target area where the shear wave elastic result is to be improved. In addition to calculating the first quantitative elastic result of the target area, the first quantitative elastic results of other overlapping areas other than the target area can also be calculated.

[0073] It should be noted that Figure 5 The shapes of the various regions shown and their positional relationships are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of this embodiment. This embodiment only limits the tissue regions corresponding to the first region of interest and the second region of interest to at least partially overlap, and the at least partially overlapping tissue regions include the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and does not limit the shapes of the above-mentioned various regions.

[0074] Furthermore, when determining the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest based on the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region, another implementation method may also be, for the target region, calculating the weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result of each local point and the first quantitative elastic result of the local point; and for the other overlapping areas, calculating the weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result of each local point and the first quantitative elastic result of the local point.

[0075] Therefore, if the tissue region corresponding to the first region of interest partially overlaps with the tissue region corresponding to the second region of interest, the weighted sum corresponding to the local points in the target region, the weighted sum corresponding to the local points in the other overlapping regions, and the shear wave elastic results of other regions in the first region of interest except the at least partially overlapping tissue region (i.e., the region not overlapping with the second region of interest) constitute the second quantitative elastic result. Figure 5 As shown, the shear wave elastic result of the area where the first region of interest does not overlap with the second region of interest, the first quantitative elastic result of the target area, and the first quantitative elastic results of other overlapping areas except the target area constitute the second quantitative elastic result.

[0076] If the tissue region corresponding to the second region of interest completely contains the tissue region corresponding to the first region of interest, the weighted sum corresponding to the local points in the target region and the weighted sum corresponding to the local points in the other overlapping regions constitute the second quantitative elastic result. Figure 6 As shown, the first region of interest completely overlaps with the second region of interest, and the first quantitative elasticity result of the target region and the first quantitative elasticity results of other overlapping regions except the target region constitute the second quantitative elasticity result; Figure 6 Just as an example, the first region of interest and the second region of interest may not be completely overlapping, as long as the tissue area corresponding to the second region of interest can completely contain the tissue area corresponding to the first region of interest. The second region of interest and the first region of interest can be displayed in the same window or in different windows, and there is no limitation here.

[0077] Among them, for the target area, if the weight corresponding to the shear wave elastic result of the local point is set to α; for other overlapping areas except the target area, if the weight corresponding to the shear wave elastic result of the local point is set to β, then α=β or α≠β.

[0078] For example, if the sum of the weights is 1, then for the target area, the weight corresponding to the shear wave elastic result of the local point is α, and the weight corresponding to the first quantitative elastic result of the local point is 1-α, 0<α<1; for other overlapping areas except the target area, the weight corresponding to the shear wave elastic result of the local point is β, and the weight corresponding to the first quantitative elastic result of the local point is 1-β, 0<β<1. α and β can be equal or unequal, and can be set by the user. For example, if the user believes that the shear wave elastic results of other overlapping areas are relatively more reliable and accurate, the user can set a larger value for β; if the user believes that the reliability and accuracy of the shear wave elastic results of the target area are relatively poor, the value of α can be set to be smaller, so that the weight of the first quantitative elastic result of the target area is greater.

[0079] Similarly, after calculating the weighted sum corresponding to the target area or the weighted sum corresponding to other overlapping areas, if the data at the edge of the target area has obvious transition marks relative to the data in the surrounding area, image smoothing, weighting, median filtering and other processing methods can be used to process the edge data to reduce the transition marks at the boundary.

[0080] In this embodiment, the target tissue can be any solid tissue, such as liver tissue, kidney tissue, spleen tissue, pancreatic tissue, etc. If the target tissue is liver tissue, the above-mentioned target area includes the focal lesion area inside the lesion in the liver tissue. The shear wave penetration in such area is limited, and it is difficult to obtain accurate shear wave elasticity results; then the other overlapping areas of the first region of interest and the second region of interest except the target area include the diffuse lesion area outside the lesion of the liver tissue or the non-lesion area outside the lesion. The shear wave penetration in such area is less restricted, and accurate shear wave elasticity results can be obtained.

[0081] Therefore, through this embodiment, the first quantitative elastic result of the lesion area of ​​the tissue can be obtained. Compared with the shear wave elastic result of the lesion area obtained by conventional shear wave elasticity measurement, the first quantitative elastic result is more accurate and reliable, and can more accurately describe the hardness of the lesion area. At the same time, it can also more accurately display the lesion hardness boundary morphology based on the first quantitative elastic result.

[0082] The shear wave elasticity result may include a Young's modulus result. According to Hooke's law, under a certain stress Stress, the strain elasticity result Strain is inversely proportional to the Young's modulus result E, that is, it can be expressed as Stress = Strain * E. In addition, the stress corresponding to each point in a tissue region performing strain elasticity measurement is generally the same or approximately unchanged, that is, for the second region of interest, the stress to which each point is subjected when performing strain elasticity measurement is generally the same or approximately unchanged. Based on this, in a preferred implementation of this embodiment, according to the formula Stress = Strain * E, the product of the shear wave elasticity reference result and the strain elasticity reference result can be calculated, and this product is the stress result, and this stress result represents the stress to which each point in the second region of interest is subjected. Furthermore, according to the formula Stress = Strain * E, for each local point in the target area, the quotient between the stress result and the strain elasticity result of the local point can be calculated, and this quotient is used as the first quantitative elasticity result of the local point, and this first quantitative elasticity result is expressed as the Young's modulus result E.

[0083] Although the calculated first quantitative elastic result is the Young's modulus result E, the Young's modulus result E can also be further converted into physical quantities such as shear wave propagation velocity, shear modulus, etc. that represent the shear wave elastic result. Therefore, the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest can be represented as the shear wave propagation velocity, Young's modulus, or shear modulus, and the first quantitative elastic result can also be represented as the shear wave propagation velocity, Young's modulus, or shear modulus.

[0084] In this embodiment, if other areas in the first region of interest except the target area belong to non-lesion areas or diffuse lesion areas outside the lesion, the shear wave elasticity results of other areas are accurate and reliable. In this case, the shear wave elasticity results of each point in the other area are also uniformly distributed, and the shear wave elasticity reference results corresponding to different areas in the other area are the same or approximately the same, and then the first reference area can be any area in the other area, and then the first reference area and the second reference area can be different areas. In addition, in some preferred embodiments, the first reference area and the second reference area can also partially overlap or completely overlap.

[0085] For example, the situation where the first reference region partially overlaps or completely overlaps with the second reference region may be that the first reference region and the second reference region are both located in the overlapping area of ​​the first interest region and the second interest region, and the first reference region and the second reference region partially overlap or completely overlap with each other.

[0086] The shear wave elastic reference result can be calculated by statistically averaging the shear wave elastic results of multiple local points in the first reference area and using the average as the shear wave elastic reference result; or, by determining the median of the shear wave elastic results of multiple local points in the first reference area and using the median as the shear wave elastic reference result.

[0087] In addition to calculating the mean or median of the shear wave elastic results, other statistical physical quantities that can represent the average level of the shear wave elastic results in the first reference area can also be used, such as the mode of the shear wave elastic results of multiple local points in the first reference area, and so on.

[0088] Similarly, the strain elasticity reference result can be determined by calculating the mean of the strain elasticity results of multiple local points in the second reference area and using the mean as the strain elasticity reference result; or, determining the median of the strain elasticity results of multiple local points in the second reference area and using the median as the strain elasticity reference result.

[0089] In addition to calculating the mean or median of the strain elasticity results, other statistical physical quantities that can represent the average level of the strain elasticity results in the second reference area can also be used, such as the mode of the strain elasticity results of multiple local points in the second reference area, and so on.

[0090] In another preferred implementation of this embodiment, after determining the second quantitative elasticity result of the first region of interest, the second quantitative elasticity results of multiple local points in the target region can also be counted, and the statistical results can be displayed. The statistical results include any one or more of the median, mean, maximum value, minimum value, and standard deviation. Therefore, through the statistical results, the user can know the hardness distribution of the tissue region corresponding to the target region, such as knowing the hardness distribution difference of the tissue region corresponding to the target region through the standard deviation, knowing the local point of minimum hardness or the local point of maximum hardness in the tissue region through the maximum or minimum value, knowing the overall hardness level of the tissue region through the mean value, and so on.

[0091] In addition, the second quantitative elastic results of multiple local points in the first region of interest can also be counted for the entire first region of interest, and the statistical results can be displayed. The statistical results include any one or more of the median, mean, maximum, minimum, and standard deviation. Similarly, through the statistical results, the user can know the hardness distribution of the tissue area corresponding to the first region of interest, such as knowing the hardness distribution difference of the tissue area corresponding to the first region of interest through the standard deviation, knowing the local point of minimum hardness or the local point of maximum hardness in the tissue area through the maximum or minimum value, knowing the overall hardness level of the tissue area through the mean, and so on.

[0092] In a preferred implementation of this embodiment, in addition to displaying the second quantitative elasticity result of the first region of interest, the ultrasonic imaging device can also display an ultrasonic image corresponding to the target tissue, and the second quantitative elasticity result of the first region of interest can be displayed at a position corresponding to the first region of interest in the ultrasonic image, such as Figure 4 shown.

[0093] In addition, the position of the first region of interest and / or the position of the second region of interest may be displayed on the ultrasound image, for example, by using a closed graphic circle of any shape to indicate the position of the first region of interest and / or the position of the second region of interest, such as Figure 3 or Figure 4 As shown, the position of the first region of interest is shown in a box so that the user can confirm the position of the first region of interest and the position of the second region of interest.

[0094] When displaying the second quantitative elastic result of the first area of ​​interest, the shear wave elastic result of the first area of ​​interest can also be displayed, so that the user can compare the difference between the result obtained by the conventional shear wave elasticity measurement method and the second quantitative elastic result obtained by the above quantitative calculation, and compare the differences in tissue hardness and elasticity represented by the two results.

[0095] In addition, the strain elasticity results of the second region of interest can also be displayed, so that users can compare the differences in tissue hardness and elasticity between the strain elasticity measurement method and the above quantitative calculation method.

[0096] In another preferred implementation of this embodiment, when displaying the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest, the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest can be mapped to a quantitative elastic image of a target display effect, and the quantitative elastic image of the target display effect can be displayed. The target display effect can include any one or more display effects of grayscale, pseudo color, and color.

[0097] like Figure 4 As shown, after the shear wave elastic result of the target area is replaced by the first quantitative elastic result, the first quantitative elastic result can be mapped to a quantitative elastic image in any one of grayscale, pseudo-color, and color. At the same time, the shear wave elastic results of other areas of the first region of interest except the target area can also be mapped to elastic images in any one of grayscale, pseudo-color, and color. The quantitative elastic image corresponding to the target area and the elastic images corresponding to other areas constitute the quantitative elastic image of the second quantitative elastic result, and the quantitative elastic image of the second quantitative elastic result can be displayed at the position corresponding to the first region of interest in the ultrasound image.

[0098] Conventional strain elastic images can only qualitatively reflect the relative hardness of tissues. For example, red blocks in strain elastic images represent that the corresponding tissue area is relatively hard, and blue blocks represent that the corresponding tissue area is relatively soft. However, in this embodiment, the first quantitative elastic result and the second quantitative elastic result are obtained by quantitative calculation based on the strain elastic result. The first quantitative elastic result and the second quantitative elastic result can quantitatively reflect the hardness of tissues. For example, different colors represent different Young's moduli, and thus the hardness of tissue areas can be quantitatively described.

[0099] In this embodiment, the first region of interest, the second region of interest, the target region, the first reference region, the second reference region and other regions can be automatically determined by the ultrasonic imaging device. The ultrasonic imaging device can automatically determine the above-mentioned multiple regions based on pre-set rules. For example, if the pre-set rule indicates that the region containing the lesion area is selected as the first region of interest, the ultrasonic imaging device can automatically determine the first region of interest based on this rule; or automatically determine the target region in the first region of interest based on the reliability or quality of the shear wave elasticity result. In addition, the above-mentioned regions can also be manually determined by the user, that is, the user inputs the setting operation for the above-mentioned regions, and the ultrasonic imaging device determines the above-mentioned regions based on the user's setting operation. This embodiment does not limit the method for determining the above-mentioned multiple regions.

[0100] Therefore, through this embodiment and its various preferred implementations, the shear wave elasticity results with low accuracy and reliability obtained by conventional shear wave elasticity measurements can be corrected, and quantitative elasticity results can be calculated based on the shear wave elasticity reference results and strain elasticity reference results with high accuracy and reliability. Compared with the results obtained by conventional shear wave elasticity measurements, they are more accurate and more reliable, and can therefore more accurately describe the tissue hardness and elasticity conditions of areas such as lesions where the shear wave elasticity results are inaccurate, and better depict the morphology and boundaries of areas such as lesions where the shear wave elasticity results are inaccurate.

[0101] Based on the above Figure 1 The specific structural composition of the ultrasonic imaging device and the functions of each structure shown further describe in detail the components of the ultrasonic imaging device and the functions and operations performed by each component.

[0102] In this embodiment, the ultrasonic imaging device includes:

[0103] Ultrasound probe;

[0104] A transmitting circuit, used for stimulating the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue of a subject;

[0105] A receiving circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave returned by the target tissue to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

[0106] A processor is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain an ultrasonic image of the target tissue, and perform the above-mentioned Figure 2 The ultrasonic elasticity imaging method performed by the ultrasonic imaging device in the illustrated embodiment and its multiple preferred implementations.

[0107] The functions and operations performed by the components of the ultrasonic imaging device in this embodiment are similar to those described above. Figure 2 The operations performed by the ultrasonic imaging device in the illustrated embodiment and its multiple preferred implementations are similar and will not be described in detail here.

[0108] In this embodiment, the ultrasonic imaging device determines the shear wave elastic reference result of the first region of interest and the strain elastic reference result of the second reference region, determines the stress result based on the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result, the tissue region at least partially overlapping the first region of interest and the second region of interest includes the tissue region corresponding to the target region, determines the first quantitative elastic result of the target region based on the stress result and the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region, determines the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest based on the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region, and displays the second quantitative elastic result. Since the shear wave elastic reference result, the strain elastic reference result, and the strain elastic result of the target region are all accurate, the first quantitative elastic result of the target region calculated based on the above results is more accurate than the result obtained by directly measuring the shear wave elasticity of the target region, and can more accurately present the morphology and boundaries of regions such as lesions where the shear wave elasticity results are inaccurate.

[0109] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0110] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, 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. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0111] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0112] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0113] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM, read-only memory), random access memory (RAM, random access memory), disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic elastic imaging method, characterized in that: include: Acquiring a shear wave elastic result of a first region of interest of a target tissue, and acquiring a strain elastic result of a second region of interest of the target tissue, wherein a tissue region corresponding to the first region of interest at least partially overlaps with a tissue region corresponding to the second region of interest; determining a shear wave elasticity reference result based on a shear wave elasticity result of a first reference region in the first region of interest, and determining a strain elasticity reference result based on a strain elasticity result of a second reference region in the second region of interest; Determine a stress result according to the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result; Acquire a target region in the first region of interest where the shear wave elasticity result is to be improved, wherein the at least partially overlapping tissue region includes a tissue region corresponding to the target region; Acquire the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region from the strain elastic result of the second region of interest, and determine the first quantitative elastic result of the target region according to the stress result and the strain elastic result corresponding to the target region; Determining a second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest according to the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region; A second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest is displayed.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest according to the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region comprises: The shear wave elastic result of each local point in the target area is replaced by the first quantitative elastic result of the local point; wherein the first quantitative elastic result of the target area and the shear wave elastic results of other areas of the first region of interest except the target area constitute the second quantitative elastic result.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest according to the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region comprises: For the target area, a weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result of each local point and the first quantitative elastic result of the local point is calculated; wherein the weighted sum and the shear wave elastic results of other areas in the first region of interest except the target area constitute the second quantitative elastic result.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: In the strain elasticity results of the second region of interest, obtaining strain elasticity results of other overlapping regions in the at least partially overlapping tissue regions except the tissue region corresponding to the target region; A first quantitative elastic result of the other overlapping area is determined according to the stress result and the strain elastic result of the other overlapping area.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The determining the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest according to the shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest and the first quantitative elastic result of the target region comprises: For the target area, calculating a weighted sum of a shear wave elastic result of each local point and a first quantitative elastic result of the local point; For the other overlapping areas, calculating a weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result of each local point and the first quantitative elastic result of the local point; If the tissue region corresponding to the second region of interest completely includes the tissue region corresponding to the first region of interest, the weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result corresponding to the local point in the target area and the first quantitative elastic result and the weighted sum of the shear wave elastic result corresponding to the local point in the other overlapping areas and the first quantitative elastic result constitute the second quantitative elastic result; If the tissue area corresponding to the first region of interest partially overlaps with the tissue area corresponding to the second region of interest, the weighted sum of the shear wave elastic results corresponding to the local points in the target area and the first quantitative elastic results, the weighted sum of the shear wave elastic results corresponding to the local points in the other overlapping areas and the first quantitative elastic results, and the shear wave elastic results of other areas in the first region of interest except the partially overlapping tissue areas constitute the second quantitative elastic results.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The target tissue includes liver tissue, the target area includes a focal lesion area inside a lesion of the liver tissue, and the other overlapping areas include a diffuse lesion area outside a lesion of the liver tissue or a non-lesion area outside a lesion.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Determining a first quantitative elastic result of the target area according to the stress result and the strain elastic result corresponding to the target area includes: For each local point in the target area, calculating a quotient between the stress result and the strain elastic result of the local point, and using the quotient as a first quantitative elastic result of the local point; The determining of the stress result according to the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result comprises: The product of the shear wave elastic reference result and the strain elastic reference result is calculated, and the product is used as the stress result.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The determining of a shear wave elasticity reference result based on a shear wave elasticity result of a first reference region in the first region of interest comprises: Counting the average value of shear wave elastic results of multiple local points in the first reference area, and taking the average value as the shear wave elastic reference result; or, The median value of the shear wave elastic results of multiple local points in the first reference area is determined, and the median value is used as the shear wave elastic reference result.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The determining of the strain elasticity reference result based on the strain elasticity result of the second reference region in the second region of interest includes: Counting the average value of strain elasticity results of multiple local points in the second reference area, and taking the average value as the strain elasticity reference result; or, The median value of the strain elasticity results of multiple local points in the second reference area is determined, and the median value is used as the strain elasticity reference result.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The first region of interest and the second region of interest correspond to the same tissue region in the target tissue; The step of acquiring a shear wave elastic result of a first region of interest of the target tissue and acquiring a strain elastic result of a second region of interest of the target tissue comprises: transmitting an acoustic radiation force pulse to the target tissue to generate a shear wave that propagates in the same tissue region; Transmitting ultrasonic waves to the same tissue region to track shear waves propagating in the same tissue region, receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and acquiring ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the ultrasonic waves; A shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest is generated based on the ultrasound echo data, and a strain elastic result of the second region of interest is generated based on the ultrasound echo data.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The step of acquiring a shear wave elastic result of a first region of interest of the target tissue and acquiring a strain elastic result of a second region of interest of the target tissue comprises: generating a first shear wave that propagates in the first region of interest; Transmitting a first ultrasonic wave to the first region of interest to track the first shear wave propagating in the first region of interest, and receiving an echo of the first ultrasonic wave to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal; Based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, obtaining a shear wave elasticity result of the first region of interest; Inducing displacement or strain in tissue corresponding to the second region of interest; Transmitting second ultrasonic waves at different times to the second region of interest to detect the change in displacement or the change in strain of the tissue corresponding to the second region of interest, and receiving echoes of the second ultrasonic waves at different times to obtain second ultrasonic echo signals; Based on the second ultrasonic echo signal, a strain elasticity result of the second region of interest is obtained.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Counting the second quantitative elastic results of a plurality of local points in the target area, and displaying the statistical results; and / or, Counting the second quantitative elastic results of a plurality of local points in the first region of interest, and displaying the statistical results; The statistical results include median, mean, maximum, minimum and standard deviation.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The method further comprises: displaying an ultrasound image corresponding to the target tissue, wherein the position of the first region of interest and / or the position of the second region of interest are displayed on the ultrasound image; and / or, displaying the shear wave elasticity result of the first region of interest; And / or, displaying the strain elasticity result of the second region of interest.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The shear wave elastic result of the first region of interest is expressed as a shear wave propagation velocity, Young's modulus or shear modulus, and the first quantitative elastic result is expressed as a shear wave propagation velocity, Young's modulus or shear modulus.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The displaying of the second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest comprises: The second quantitative elastic result of the first region of interest is mapped into a quantitative elastic image of a target display effect, and the quantitative elastic image of the target display effect is displayed; the target display effect includes any one or more display effects of grayscale, pseudo color, and color.

16. An ultrasonic imaging device, characterized in that: include: Ultrasound probe; A transmitting circuit, used for stimulating the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue of a subject; A receiving circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave returned by the target tissue to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal; A processor is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain an ultrasonic image of the target tissue, and to perform the ultrasonic elastic imaging method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 based on the ultrasonic image.

Images