Ultrasonic elastography method, ultrasonic frequency dispersion measurement method and device and storage medium

Abstract

An ultrasonic elastography method (1300), an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method (100, 800, 900, 1200), an apparatus (1000, 1100) and a storage medium, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method (100, 800, 900, 1200) comprising: controlling an ultrasonic probe (1010) to emit a first ultrasonic wave to a target object, receiving an echo of the first ultrasonic wave, and acquiring a first ultrasonic echo signal (S110); generating a first ultrasound image based on the first ultrasound echo signal and acquiring a region of interest on the first ultrasound image (S120); controlling the ultrasound probe (1010) to emit a second ultrasound wave to the region of interest for producing propagation of shear waves in the region of interest (S130); controlling the ultrasonic probe (1010) to transmit a third ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, receiving an echo of the third ultrasonic wave, and acquiring a third ultrasonic echo signal (S140); acquiring shear wave information of the region of interest based on the third ultrasonic echo signal (S150); and extracting shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information, and acquiring and displaying a shear wave dispersion result based on respective propagation speeds of the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components (S160). And information related to shear wave frequency dispersion can be obtained.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application with the application date of May 14, 2020, application number 2020800546921, and the name of the invention being "Ultrasonic elastic imaging method, ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, device and storage medium". Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the technical field of ultrasonic dispersion measurement, and more specifically to an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, device and storage medium. Background Art

[0003] Ultrasonic elastography technology extracts information related to the hardness of tissues for imaging. It is related to the non-invasive auxiliary diagnosis of major diseases such as breast cancer and liver cirrhosis, and has been a research hotspot in the field of ultrasound imaging in the past two decades. After years of development, ultrasound elastography technology has gradually matured. In recent years, it has been more widely used in clinical research and auxiliary diagnosis of various parts of the human body, such as the liver, breast, thyroid, musculoskeletal, blood vessels, prostate, cervix, etc. It can qualitatively reflect the difference in hardness of the lesion relative to the surrounding tissue, or quantitatively reflect the hardness-related physical parameters of the target tissue, such as Young's modulus, shear modulus, etc., and is widely welcomed by doctors.

[0004] Commonly used ultrasound elastic imaging techniques include strain elastic imaging, transient elastic imaging, shear wave elastic imaging, etc. In particular, shear wave elastic imaging is the latest elastic imaging technology. It generates the propagation of shear waves by emitting special pulses into the tissue to form acoustic radiation force, and then detects and records the propagation process of shear waves through ultrasonic waves, and further calculates the propagation speed of shear waves, and finally obtains the elastic modulus parameters reflecting the hardness of tissues, realizing quantitative elastic imaging. This technology has greatly expanded the clinical application field of elastic imaging and aroused great research interest.

[0005] In most current elasticity-related studies, tissues are considered as pure elastic bodies, and elastic imaging technology is mainly based on the assumption of pure elastic bodies for imaging. In particular, quantitative elastic imaging technology only calculates the elastic modulus for display. However, more and more studies have shown that in addition to elasticity, human tissues also have viscosity. Elasticity and viscosity jointly affect the propagation speed of shear waves in tissues, and viscosity can cause the dispersion effect of shear waves in tissues. Therefore, in shear wave elastic imaging, if information related to shear wave dispersion can be extracted, it will have great clinical potential value. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present application provides an ultrasonic dispersion measurement scheme, which generates shear wave propagation in the region of interest of the target object, obtains shear wave information of the region of interest, and extracts shear wave signals of different frequency components in the shear wave information, thereby obtaining information related to shear wave dispersion. The ultrasonic dispersion measurement scheme proposed in the present application is briefly described below, and more details will be described in the specific implementation mode in conjunction with the accompanying drawings later.

[0007] On the one hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, which includes: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to a target object, receiving an echo of the first ultrasonic wave, and acquiring a first ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the first ultrasonic wave; generating and displaying a first ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and acquiring a region of interest on the first ultrasonic image; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the region of interest to generate shear wave propagation in the region of interest; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a third ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, receiving an echo of the third ultrasonic wave, and acquiring a third ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the third ultrasonic wave; acquiring shear wave information of the region of interest based on the third ultrasonic echo signal; and extracting shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information, and acquiring and displaying shear wave dispersion results based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components.

[0008] On the other hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, which includes: acquiring a region of interest of a target object; controlling the propagation of shear waves generated in the region of interest; controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the region of interest, receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and acquiring ultrasonic echo signals based on the echoes of the ultrasonic waves; acquiring shear wave information of the region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo signals; and extracting shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information, and acquiring shear wave dispersion results based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components.

[0009] On the other hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, which includes: obtaining a current shear wave dispersion result obtained by performing ultrasonic dispersion measurement on a target tissue of a target object; obtaining a historical shear wave dispersion result of the target tissue of the target object before the current ultrasonic dispersion measurement; and generating a statistical shear wave dispersion result based on the current shear wave dispersion result and the historical shear wave dispersion result, wherein the statistical shear wave dispersion result reflects the shear wave dispersion results of the target tissue of the target object at different periods.

[0010] On the other hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device, which includes: an ultrasonic probe, a transmit / receive sequence controller, a processor and a display device, wherein: the transmit / receive sequence controller is used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to a target object, receive an echo of the first ultrasonic wave, and obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the first ultrasonic wave; the processor is used to generate a first ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and obtain a region of interest on the first ultrasonic image; the transmit / receive sequence controller is also used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, so as to generate shear wave propagation in the region of interest; the transmit / receive sequence controller is also used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit a third ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, receive an echo of the third ultrasonic wave, and obtain a third ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the third ultrasonic wave; the processor is also used to obtain shear wave information of the region of interest based on the third ultrasonic echo signal, extract at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information, and obtain a shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components; the display device is used to display the first ultrasonic image and the shear wave dispersion result.

[0011] On the other hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device, which includes an ultrasonic probe, a transmit / receive sequence controller, a processor and a display device, wherein: the processor is used to acquire a region of interest of a target object, and control the propagation of shear waves generated in the region of interest; the transmit / receive sequence controller is used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the region of interest, receive echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and acquire ultrasonic echo signals based on the echoes of the ultrasonic waves; the processor is also used to acquire shear wave information of the region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and extract shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information, and acquire shear wave dispersion results based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components; the display device is used to display the shear wave dispersion results.

[0012] On the other hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic elastic imaging method, including: acquiring a region of interest of a target object; controlling the propagation of a shear wave generated in the region of interest; controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit an ultrasonic wave that tracks the shear wave to the region of interest, receiving an echo of the ultrasonic wave, and acquiring an ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the ultrasonic wave; acquiring shear wave information of the region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo signal; and extracting a shear wave signal of at least one frequency component from the shear wave information.

[0013] In yet another aspect of the present application, an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device is provided, the device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory storing a computer program executed by the processor, and the computer program executes the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method when executed by the processor.

[0014] In yet another aspect of the present application, a storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and the computer program executes the above-mentioned ultrasonic dispersion measurement method when running.

[0015] According to the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, device and storage medium of the embodiments of the present application, shear wave propagation is generated in the region of interest of the target object, shear wave information of the region of interest is obtained, and shear wave signals of different frequency components in the shear wave information are extracted, so that information related to shear wave dispersion can be obtained based on the shear wave signals of different frequency components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 A schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0017] Figure 2 Schematic diagram showing the spectrum of broadband shear waves.

[0018] Figure 3A and Figure 3B Schematic diagrams showing shear wave vibration waveforms of the first frequency component and the second frequency component, respectively.

[0019] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing the spectrum of a shear wave signal obtained by extracting a first frequency component from a broadband shear wave according to an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing an example of a shear wave dispersion result obtained by the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B A schematic diagram showing another example of a shear wave dispersion result obtained by the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0022] Figure 7 An example of display results obtained by the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0023] Figure 8 A schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to another embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0024] Fig. 9A schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to another embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0025] Fig.10 A schematic block diagram of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device according to an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0026] Fig.11 A schematic block diagram of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device according to another embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0027] Fig.12 A schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to yet another embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0028] Fig.13 A schematic flowchart of an ultrasound elastography method according to yet another embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more obvious, the example embodiments according to the present application will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application, and it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the example embodiments described herein. Based on the embodiments of the present application described in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0030] In the following description, a large number of specific details are provided to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the present application can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, in order to avoid confusion with the present application, some technical features well known in the art are not described.

[0031] It should be understood that the present application can be implemented in different forms and should not be interpreted as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. On the contrary, providing these embodiments will make the disclosure thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present application to those skilled in the art.

[0032] The purpose of the terms used herein is only to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present application. When used herein, the singular forms "one", "an" and "said / the" are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the terms "consisting of" and / or "comprising", when used in this specification, determine the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups. When used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of the relevant listed items.

[0033] In order to thoroughly understand the present application, detailed steps and detailed structures will be presented in the following description to illustrate the technical solution proposed by the present application. The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, but in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present application may also have other implementation methods.

[0034] Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 100 may include the following steps:

[0035] In step S110 , the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the target object, an echo of the first ultrasonic wave is received, and a first ultrasonic echo signal is acquired based on the echo of the first ultrasonic wave.

[0036] In an embodiment of the present application, the first ultrasonic wave is emitted to the target object in order to obtain an ultrasonic image of a target part or target tissue of the target object, thereby obtaining a region of interest, such as a lesion region, of the target part or target tissue of the target object according to the ultrasonic image. Here, the first ultrasonic wave is named in order to distinguish it from the second ultrasonic wave and the third ultrasonic wave described below, and has no other restrictive meaning. In other embodiments, the target part or the region of interest of the target tissue of the target object may also be directly known, in which case this step and the following step S120 may be omitted.

[0037] In step S120, a first ultrasound image is generated and displayed based on the first ultrasound echo signal, and a region of interest on the first ultrasound image is acquired.

[0038] In an embodiment of the present application, based on the first ultrasonic echo signal acquired in step S110, an ultrasonic image of a target part or target tissue of a target object, i.e., a first ultrasonic image, can be generated. It is named as the first ultrasonic image in this article to reflect that it is generated based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and there is no other limiting meaning. Exemplarily, the first ultrasonic image can be a B image or a C image.

[0039] In step S130, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, so as to generate propagation of shear waves in the region of interest.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present application, the purpose of emitting a second ultrasonic wave to the region of interest of the target object is to generate the propagation of shear waves in the region of interest of the target object, so as to obtain shear wave information for subsequent calculations. Here, the second ultrasonic wave is named in this way to distinguish it from the first ultrasonic wave described above and the third ultrasonic wave to be described below, and has no other restrictive meaning. In the present embodiment, the propagation of shear waves is generated in the region of interest of the target object by means of shear wave elastic imaging (i.e., by acoustic radiation force), for example, by emitting a special ultrasonic push pulse (the push pulse length can generally be greater than 100 microseconds) to the region of interest of the target object. In addition, in order to enhance the intensity and range of the generated shear wave, multiple push pulses can also be emitted. The shear wave generated in the region of interest of the target object using acoustic radiation force is usually a broadband signal, such as Figure 2 As shown, the broadband signal may include many frequency components within 0 to 1000 Hz. In other embodiments, other methods may also be used. Therefore, the shear wave of the region of interest of the target object can be detected, and the shear wave signals of different frequency components can be extracted to obtain the shear wave dispersion result, as described in the following steps.

[0041] In step S140, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit a third ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, an echo of the third ultrasonic wave is received, and a third ultrasonic echo signal is acquired based on the echo of the third ultrasonic wave.

[0042] In the embodiment of the present application, the third ultrasonic wave is emitted to the region of interest of the target object to detect the shear wave propagation of the region of interest of the target object. Here, the third ultrasonic wave is named so as to distinguish it from the first ultrasonic wave and the second ultrasonic wave described above, and has no other limiting meaning.

[0043] In step S150, shear wave information of the region of interest is acquired based on the third ultrasonic echo signal.

[0044] In an embodiment of the present application, based on the third ultrasonic echo signal obtained in step S140, the shear wave information of the region of interest of the target object can be obtained. Specifically, the vibration state of the tissue when the shear wave propagates in the tissue can be calculated based on the third ultrasonic echo signal. According to the wave characteristics, when the shear wave propagates through a certain position in the tissue, the tissue at the corresponding position will vibrate, and when the shear wave propagates away from a certain position, the tissue at that position will return to its original state. Generally, by making a correlation comparison between the ultrasonic echoes obtained at different times, the motion information of the tissue over a period of time can be obtained. The motion information can be the displacement of the tissue relative to a reference time, the movement speed of the tissue, the movement acceleration of the tissue, the strain of the tissue, etc., or it can be data based on the above variables that have been further processed by filtering, differentiation, integration, etc.

[0045] Correlation comparison can be the calculation between ultrasonic echo signals obtained at different adjacent moments, or the calculation between ultrasonic echoes at different moments and echo signals at the same reference moment. The correlation comparison algorithm can use a general algorithm for conventional tissue displacement detection, such as a cross-correlation comparison algorithm based on block matching, a Doppler frequency shift calculation method, a phase shift detection method, etc. Finally, the tissue movement data caused by the shear wave at different moments is taken out to obtain the vibration waveform of the shear wave.

[0046] In step S160, at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components are extracted from the shear wave information, and shear wave dispersion results are acquired and displayed based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0047] In an embodiment of the present application, based on the shear wave information obtained in step S150, shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components can be extracted. Here, a frequency component can be understood as including a main frequency, and the main frequency accounts for a large proportion of energy in the frequency component. In other words, a frequency component can be understood as a frequency band with a preset bandwidth with a frequency point as the main frequency. For example, the frequency point can be the center frequency of the frequency band. Figure 3A and Figure 3B Schematic diagrams of shear wave vibration waveforms of the first frequency component and the second frequency component are shown respectively. Figure 3A is the frequency component with 300Hz as the center frequency, Figure 3B It is a frequency component with 600Hz as the center frequency.

[0048] The shear wave signal of each frequency component extracted does not necessarily include only the single frequency of the center frequency. Taking 300 Hz as an example, its frequency distribution may be a frequency range with 300 Hz as the main frequency, such as 250-350 Hz, or 200-400 Hz. Figure 4FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the spectrum of a shear wave signal obtained by extracting a first frequency component from a broadband shear wave according to an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the shear wave signal has a center frequency of 300 Hz and contains frequency components of a certain bandwidth.

[0049] In an embodiment of the present application, filtering can be used to extract shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information. By changing the filter design used for separation and extraction, the bandwidth of the extracted frequency components can be adjusted. The more concentrated the separated and extracted frequency components are, the more accurate the shear wave motion information at the current frequency can be obtained, but the signal-to-noise ratio of the obtained signal will be reduced, and the energy of the signal will be reduced. Therefore, when extracting frequency components, a trade-off can be made between frequency concentration and signal-to-noise ratio. As mentioned above, a frequency component may include a frequency band with a preset bandwidth with a frequency point as the main frequency. Therefore, in one embodiment, at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components can be extracted from the shear wave information by at least two bandpass filters. In another example, at least one low-pass filter and at least one high-pass filter can be used to extract shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information.

[0050] For pure elastic bodies, the shear wave propagation velocity is mainly affected by the elastic parameters. For viscoelastic bodies, the shear wave propagation velocity is affected by both elasticity and viscosity. Due to the influence of viscosity factors, the shear wave propagation velocity in the tissue will show a dispersion effect, that is, the propagation velocities of shear waves of different frequencies are different. Therefore, the propagation velocities of the shear waves corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components (also described as the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components) can be calculated to reflect the dispersion effect of the shear wave. In one embodiment of the present application, the propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signal of each frequency component can be any of the following of the propagation velocities of the shear wave at each position in the region of interest: mean, median, standard deviation, quartile, maximum or minimum. In another embodiment of the present application, step S150, i.e., the step of obtaining the shear wave information of the region of interest, can be performed at least twice, and the frequency components extracted each time in the at least two times are the same, and the propagation speed corresponding to the shear wave signal of each frequency component in the extracted frequency components can be any one of the following propagation speeds corresponding to the shear wave signal of the same frequency component in the at least two times: mean, median, standard deviation, quartile, maximum or minimum.

[0051] In one embodiment of the present application, the step S160 of acquiring and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components may include: generating and displaying a dispersion curve diagram based on the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components, wherein the dispersion curve diagram reflects the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of different frequency components. In this embodiment, the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of different frequency components is represented by a dispersion curve diagram, which can intuitively reflect the dispersion result of the shear wave.

[0052] Figure 5 FIG. 1 shows an example of a shear wave dispersion result obtained by the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application, namely, a schematic diagram of a dispersion curve. Figure 5 As shown, a dispersion curve diagram can be generated according to the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components, and the dispersion curve diagram may include one or more dispersion curves. When a dispersion curve diagram includes a dispersion curve, the dispersion curve may represent the shear wave dispersion result of a region of interest, that is, the propagation velocity of shear waves of different frequency components in a region of interest varies with frequency. When a plurality of dispersion curves are included in the dispersion curve diagram, they may correspond to the shear wave dispersion results of different regions of interest, the shear wave dispersion results at different positions in the same region of interest, or the shear wave dispersion results of the same region of interest at different times.

[0053] Among them, different regions of interest can be different tissues of the target object or different locations of the same tissue; different locations of the same region of interest can be different locations of the same tissue. The dispersion effects between different target tissues of the same target object or different locations of the same target tissue may be different. Therefore, by generating and displaying a dispersion curve diagram, it is possible to assist in determining the pathological condition of the tissue. The shear wave dispersion results of the same region of interest at different times can reflect the changes in the pathological condition of the same tissue of the target object over time, which helps to assist in determining the development trend of the pathological condition of the tissue. The shear wave dispersion results of the same tissue of the same target object in each period can be generated and stored according to the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method of an embodiment of the present application, and after a shear wave dispersion result is generated a certain time, the previously stored results are obtained for statistics to obtain the shear wave dispersion results of different periods, such as a dispersion curve diagram or other shear wave dispersion results to be described later (hereinafter combined with Fig. 9 further described).

[0054] In another embodiment of the present application, obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components in step S160 may include: calculating the corresponding elastic modulus or calculating the square result of the propagation velocity based on the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components, and generating and displaying a dispersion curve diagram based on the result of the calculation, wherein the dispersion curve diagram reflects the elastic modulus corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of different frequency components or the square result of the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of different frequency components. In this embodiment, the elastic modulus (such as Young's modulus or shear modulus) corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of different frequency components or the square result of the propagation velocity corresponding to each of the shear wave signals are represented by a dispersion curve diagram, which can intuitively reflect the dispersion result of the shear wave, and the dispersion curve diagram is similar to the dispersion curve diagram. Figure 5 Similar to that shown.

[0055] In another embodiment of the present application, obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components in step S160 may include: performing comparative calculations on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components, and displaying the results of the comparative calculations as the shear wave dispersion results. Exemplarily, the comparative calculations on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components may include: calculating the difference, ratio, or slope of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components as a inverse of the frequency. In this embodiment, outputting the comparative calculation results of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components as the dispersion result can more clearly reflect the dispersion result of the shear wave.

[0056] In another embodiment of the present application, obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components in step S160 may include: generating and displaying the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components, each of the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams reflects the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signal of one frequency component at different positions of the region of interest. In this embodiment, a propagation velocity spatial distribution diagram is generated for the propagation velocity of the shear wave signal of each frequency component at different positions of the region of interest, and different image features (such as different colors) are used to represent different propagation velocities in the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagram.

[0057] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B Another example of a shear wave dispersion result obtained by the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, namely, a schematic diagram of a propagation velocity spatial distribution diagram. Fig. 6A and Figure 6B In the figure, different values ​​on the right color bar correspond to different color distributions in the figure. Fig. 6A The spatial distribution diagram of propagation velocity corresponding to the frequency component with 300 Hz as the main frequency is shown. Figure 6B The figure shows the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagram corresponding to the frequency component with 600 Hz as the main frequency. Obviously, due to the existence of dispersion effect, the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams corresponding to different frequency components are different from each other. When the degree of dispersion effect of different tissues is different, the difference between the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams corresponding to the same frequency component will also be different. Therefore, by observing the fixed target frequency components and judging the differences between them, it is possible to conduct auxiliary research and diagnosis on the pathological conditions of the tissue.

[0058] In one embodiment of the present application, the region of interest described above may itself be the target region for dispersion measurement. In this embodiment, the overall process of the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to the embodiment of the present application may be: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the target object, receiving the echo of the first ultrasonic wave, and obtaining a first ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the first ultrasonic wave; generating and displaying a first ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and obtaining the target region for dispersion measurement on the first ultrasonic image; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the target region to generate shear wave propagation in the target region; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a third ultrasonic wave to the target region, receiving the echo of the third ultrasonic wave, and obtaining a third ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the third ultrasonic wave; obtaining shear wave information of the target region based on the third ultrasonic echo signal; and extracting shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information, and obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation speeds corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components.

[0059] In another embodiment of the present application, the region of interest mentioned above may be a region for performing elasticity measurement, and the region of interest is a different region from the target region for performing dispersion measurement, for example, the target region is located within the region of interest or other situations. Based on this, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 100 according to the embodiment of the present application may also include (not shown): calculating the shear wave group velocity based on the shear wave information of the region of interest, and calculating and displaying the elasticity result of the region of interest based on the shear wave group velocity; obtaining the target region for performing dispersion measurement, and obtaining the shear wave information of the target region, wherein the shear wave signal of extracting at least two different frequency components is a shear wave signal of extracting at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information of the target region.

[0060] In this embodiment, the region of interest is a region for elastic measurement, so it is necessary to calculate the elastic measurement results of the region of interest. Since the shear wave information of the region of interest has a wider frequency band information, the calculated shear wave propagation velocity is a comprehensive velocity, which is called the shear wave group velocity. The elastic results of the region of interest can be calculated based on the shear wave group velocity, for example, the elastic modulus of the region of interest can be calculated based on a specific formula. For the target area used for dispersion measurement, the shear wave propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signal of each different frequency component extracted can be called the shear wave phase velocity, and the shear wave dispersion result mentioned above can be calculated based on the shear wave phase velocity.

[0061] Exemplarily, obtaining a target region for performing dispersion measurement may include: obtaining the target region for performing dispersion measurement based on the first ultrasound image and the elasticity result. In this embodiment, the target region for performing dispersion measurement is determined based on the first ultrasound image generated in step S120 and the elasticity result of the region of interest obtained by the above calculation, that is, the target region for performing dispersion measurement is determined based on the elasticity of the region of interest, so that the dispersion measurement is more targeted.

[0062] In this embodiment, the overall process of the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to the embodiment of the present application may be: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the target object, receiving the echo of the first ultrasonic wave, and obtaining a first ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the first ultrasonic wave; generating and displaying a first ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and obtaining an area of ​​interest on the first ultrasonic image for elasticity measurement; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the area of ​​interest to generate shear wave propagation in the area of ​​interest; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a third ultrasonic wave to the area of ​​interest, receiving the echo of the third ultrasonic wave, and obtaining a third ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the third ultrasonic wave; obtaining shear wave information of the area of ​​interest based on the third ultrasonic echo signal; calculating the shear wave group velocity based on the shear wave information of the area of ​​interest, and calculating and displaying the elastic result of the area of ​​interest based on the shear wave group velocity; obtaining a target area for dispersion measurement within the area of ​​interest, and obtaining the shear wave information of the target area, extracting at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information of the target area, and obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result in the target area based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components.

[0063] In another embodiment of the present application, the region of interest for elasticity measurement and the target region for dispersion measurement can be determined together after acquiring the ultrasound image. The two can be exactly the same region or different regions. When the two are different regions, they are usually in an inclusion relationship. In this embodiment, another example of the overall process of the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to the embodiment of the present application may be: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the target object, receiving the echo of the first ultrasonic wave, and obtaining a first ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the first ultrasonic wave; generating and displaying a first ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and obtaining a region of interest for elasticity measurement and a target region for dispersion measurement on the first ultrasonic image; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the region of interest to generate shear wave propagation in the region of interest; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit a third ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, receiving the echo of the third ultrasonic wave, and obtaining a third ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the third ultrasonic wave; obtaining shear wave information of the region of interest based on the third ultrasonic echo signal; calculating the shear wave group velocity based on the shear wave information of the region of interest, and calculating and displaying the elastic result of the region of interest based on the shear wave group velocity; obtaining the shear wave information of the target region, extracting at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information of the target region, and obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result in the target region based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components.

[0064] Wherein, obtaining the target area for dispersion measurement may include: obtaining the target area for dispersion measurement based on the first ultrasound image. In this embodiment, the target area for dispersion measurement in the first ultrasound image generated in step S120 may be automatically obtained by an image processing method, or the target area for dispersion measurement may be specified by a user, that is, the target area for dispersion measurement is obtained by obtaining user input.

[0065] In an embodiment of the present application, the elastic measurement result of the aforementioned region of interest may be a spatial distribution map of elastic results, and the spatial distribution map of elastic results reflects the elastic results corresponding to each other at different positions of the region of interest. In an embodiment of the present application, a group velocity spatial distribution map may also be generated and displayed based on the shear wave group velocity of the region of interest, and the group velocity spatial distribution map reflects the shear wave group velocity corresponding to each other at different positions of the region of interest. In an embodiment of the present application, at least two of the aforementioned first ultrasound image, the elastic result of the region of interest, the group velocity spatial distribution map, and the shear wave dispersion result of the region of interest (or target area) may be displayed on the same interface, thereby assisting doctors in multi-dimensional clinical diagnosis.

[0066] Figure 7 FIG. 2 shows an example of a display result obtained by the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 As shown, in this example, the first ultrasound image, the elasticity result of the region of interest, and the shear wave dispersion result (dispersion curve diagram) of the target region are displayed on the same interface, wherein the region of interest and the target region for dispersion measurement are marked in the first ultrasound image. Such display results provide an intuitive multi-dimensional reference for the doctor's diagnosis.

[0067] The above exemplifies the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to the embodiment of the present application. Based on the above description, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to the embodiment of the present application generates the propagation of shear waves in the region of interest of the target object, obtains the shear wave information of the region of interest, and extracts the shear wave signals of different frequency components in the shear wave information, so that the information related to the shear wave dispersion can be obtained based on the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0068] Refer to the following Figure 8 A method for measuring ultrasonic dispersion according to another embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 8 FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 according to another embodiment of the present application. Figure 8 As shown, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 may include the following steps:

[0069] In step S810, a region of interest of a target object is acquired.

[0070] In step S820, the propagation of the shear wave generated in the region of interest is controlled.

[0071] In step S830, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit ultrasonic waves to the region of interest, an echo of the ultrasonic waves is received, and an ultrasonic echo signal is acquired based on the echo of the ultrasonic waves.

[0072] In step S840, shear wave information of the region of interest is acquired based on the ultrasonic echo signal.

[0073] In step S850, at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components are extracted from the shear wave information, and shear wave dispersion results are acquired and displayed based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0074] The ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 according to the embodiment of the present application is substantially similar to the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 100 according to the embodiment of the present application described above, except that: compared with the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 100 according to the embodiment of the present application described above, the method for obtaining the region of interest of the target object in the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 according to the embodiment of the present application can be arbitrary, and is not limited to being obtained based on an ultrasonic image acquired in real time from the target object; in addition, the method for generating the propagation of shear waves in the region of interest in the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 according to the embodiment of the present application can be arbitrary, and is not limited to generating the propagation of shear waves through acoustic radiation force. For the sake of brevity, the similarities between the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 according to the embodiment of the present application and the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 100 according to the embodiment of the present application are not repeated here.

[0075] Based on the above description, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 according to an embodiment of the present application generates shear wave propagation in the region of interest of the target object, obtains shear wave information of the region of interest, and extracts shear wave signals of different frequency components in the shear wave information, thereby being able to obtain information related to shear wave dispersion based on the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0076] Fig. 9 FIG. 8 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 900 according to another embodiment of the present application. Fig. 9 As shown, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 900 may include the following steps:

[0077] In step S910, a shear wave dispersion result obtained by performing ultrasonic dispersion measurement on a target tissue of a target object is obtained.

[0078] In step S920, a historical shear wave dispersion result of the target tissue of the target object before the current ultrasonic dispersion measurement is obtained.

[0079] In step S930, a statistical shear wave dispersion result is generated based on the current shear wave dispersion result and the historical shear wave dispersion result, wherein the statistical shear wave dispersion result reflects the shear wave dispersion results of the target tissue of the target object at different periods.

[0080] The ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 900 according to the embodiment of the present application realizes displaying to the user the shear wave dispersion results of the same target tissue of the same target object changing over time. As mentioned above, the shear wave dispersion results of the same target tissue of the same target object at different periods can reflect the pathological changes of the same tissue of the target object over time, which helps to assist in judging the pathological development trend of the tissue. Therefore, after generating a shear wave dispersion result once, the historical shear wave dispersion results of the same tissue of the same target object before that can be obtained, and the shear wave dispersion results generated this time can be combined with the previous historical shear wave dispersion results to generate a statistical shear wave dispersion result, so as to obtain the shear wave dispersion results of different periods, and display the shear wave dispersion results of the same target tissue of the same target object changing over time. Among them, the shear wave dispersion results of the same tissue of the same target object in each period can be generated and stored according to the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method of the embodiment of the present application.

[0081] In one embodiment of the present application, the current shear wave dispersion result and the historical shear wave dispersion result can both be dispersion curves, which reflect the propagation velocity, elastic modulus or square of the propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components. Based on this, the generated statistical shear wave dispersion result can be, for example, Figure 5 The dispersion curve diagram shown, each dispersion curve represents the shear wave dispersion result of a period.

[0082] In another embodiment of the present application, the current shear wave dispersion result and the historical shear wave dispersion result may both be the result of comparative calculation of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components. The result of the comparative calculation may include: the difference, ratio or slope of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components as a function of frequency.

[0083] In another embodiment of the present application, the current shear wave dispersion result and the historical shear wave dispersion result can both be spatial distribution diagrams of propagation velocities corresponding to shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, and each of the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams reflects the propagation velocity corresponding to a shear wave signal of a frequency component at different positions of the target tissue.

[0084] Based on the above description, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 900 according to the embodiment of the present application can display to the user the shear wave dispersion results of the same target tissue of the same target object changing over time, which helps to assist in judging the development trend of tissue lesions.

[0085] The above exemplary shows the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to the embodiment of the present application. Figure 10 to Figure 11An ultrasonic dispersion measurement device according to an embodiment of the present application is described, which can be used to implement the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method according to the embodiment of the present application described above.

[0086] Fig.10 FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 As shown, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement apparatus 1000 may include an ultrasonic probe 1010 , a transmit / receive sequence controller 1020 , a processor 1030 , and a display device 1040 .

[0087] When the ultrasonic dispersion measurement device 1000 is used to implement the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the transmit / receive sequence controller 1020 is used to control the ultrasonic probe 1010 to transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the target object, receive the echo of the first ultrasonic wave, and obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the first ultrasonic wave; the processor 1030 is used to generate a first ultrasonic image based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and obtain a region of interest on the first ultrasonic image; the transmit / receive sequence controller 1020 is also used to control the ultrasonic probe 1010 to transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the region of interest, so as to generate a first ultrasonic echo signal in the region of interest. The transmission / reception sequence controller 1020 is also used to control the ultrasound probe 1010 to transmit a third ultrasound wave to the region of interest, receive the echo of the third ultrasound wave, and obtain a third ultrasound echo signal based on the echo of the third ultrasound wave; the processor 1030 is also used to obtain the shear wave information of the region of interest based on the third ultrasound echo signal, extract at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information, and obtain the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation speeds corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components; the display device 1040 is used to display the first ultrasound image and the shear wave dispersion result.

[0088] When the ultrasonic dispersion measurement device 1000 is used to implement the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 800 according to an embodiment of the present invention described above, the processor 1030 is used to acquire the region of interest of the target object and control the propagation of the shear wave generated in the region of interest; the transmit / receive sequence controller 1020 is used to control the ultrasonic probe 1010 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the region of interest, receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves, and acquire an ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the ultrasonic waves; the processor 1030 is also used to acquire the shear wave information of the region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo signal, and extract at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information, and acquire the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components; the display device 1040 is used to display the shear wave dispersion result.

[0089] In an embodiment of the present application, each of the at least two different frequency components may include a frequency band with a preset bandwidth having one frequency point as a main frequency.

[0090] In an embodiment of the present application, the frequency point of each frequency component may be the center frequency of the frequency band.

[0091] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 may extract at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information by using a filtering algorithm.

[0092] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 may include at least two bandpass filters for extracting at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information.

[0093] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 may include at least one low-pass filter and at least one high-pass filter, configured to extract shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information.

[0094] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 obtains the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, which may include: generating a dispersion curve diagram based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, and the dispersion curve diagram reflects the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0095] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 obtains and displays the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, which may include: calculating the corresponding elastic modulus or calculating the square of the corresponding propagation velocity based on the propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, and generating and displaying a dispersion curve based on the calculation result, wherein the dispersion curve reflects the elastic modulus or the square of the corresponding propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0096] In an embodiment of the present application, the generated dispersion curve diagram may include multiple dispersion curves, which correspond to shear wave dispersion results of different regions of interest, shear wave dispersion results at different positions in the same region of interest, or shear wave dispersion results of the same region of interest at different periods.

[0097] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 obtains and displays the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, which may include: performing comparative calculations on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, and displaying the result of the comparative calculation as the shear wave dispersion result by the display device.

[0098] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 compares and calculates the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components, which may include: calculating the difference, ratio or slope of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components as they change with frequency.

[0099] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 obtains the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, which may include: generating propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, each of the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams reflects the propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signal of a frequency component at different positions of the region of interest.

[0100] In an embodiment of the present application, the region of interest may be a target region for performing dispersion measurement.

[0101] In an embodiment of the present application, the region of interest may be a region for performing elastic measurement, and the processor 1030 may also be used to: calculate the shear wave group velocity based on the shear wave information of the region of interest, and calculate the elastic result of the region of interest based on the shear wave group velocity, and display it by the display device; obtain a target region for performing dispersion measurement, and obtain the shear wave information of the target region, and the extraction of the shear wave signal of at least two different frequency components is to extract the shear wave signal of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information of the target region.

[0102] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 obtains the target area for dispersion measurement, which may include: obtaining the target area for dispersion measurement based on the first ultrasound image; or obtaining the target area for dispersion measurement based on the first ultrasound image and the elasticity result.

[0103] In an embodiment of the present application, the target area for performing dispersion measurement may be located within the region of interest.

[0104] In an embodiment of the present application, the elasticity result may be displayed as an elasticity result spatial distribution map, and the elasticity result spatial distribution map reflects the elasticity results corresponding to different positions of the region of interest.

[0105] In an embodiment of the present application, the processor 1030 may also be used to generate a group velocity spatial distribution diagram based on the shear wave group velocity, and display it on the display device, wherein the group velocity spatial distribution diagram reflects the shear wave group velocities corresponding to different positions in the region of interest.

[0106] In an embodiment of the present application, at least two of the first ultrasound image, the elasticity result, the group velocity spatial distribution diagram, and the shear wave dispersion result can be displayed on the same interface.

[0107] In an embodiment of the present application, the first ultrasound image, the elasticity result, and the shear wave dispersion result may be displayed on the same interface, wherein the region of interest and the target region for dispersion measurement may be marked in the first ultrasound image.

[0108] In an embodiment of the present application, the propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signal of each frequency component in the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components can be equal to any one of the following propagation velocities of the shear wave at each location within the region of interest or the target region for dispersion measurement: mean, median, standard deviation, quartile, maximum or minimum.

[0109] In an embodiment of the present application, the step of obtaining the shear wave information of the region of interest in the operation of the processor 1030 can be performed at least twice, and the frequency components extracted by the processor 1030 each time in the at least two times are the same, and the propagation speed corresponding to the shear wave signal of each frequency component in the extracted frequency components can be equal to any one of the following propagation speeds corresponding to the shear wave signal of the same frequency component in the at least two times: mean, median, standard deviation, quartile, maximum or minimum.

[0110] Combine the following Fig.11 A schematic block diagram of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device according to another embodiment of the present application is described. Fig.11 FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement device 1100 according to an embodiment of the present application. The ultrasonic dispersion measurement device 1100 includes a memory 1110 and a processor 1120 .

[0111] The memory 1110 stores a program for implementing the corresponding steps of the ultrasonic dispersion measurement methods 200, 800, and 900 according to the embodiments of the present application. The processor 1120 is used to run the program stored in the memory 1110 to perform the corresponding steps of the ultrasonic dispersion measurement methods 200, 800, and 900 according to the embodiments of the present application.

[0112] According to the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method of the embodiment of the present application, it can be to extract shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components from the shear wave information generated once; or it can be to extract shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information generated at least twice. When extracting shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information generated at least twice, a shear wave signal of one frequency component can be extracted for each shear wave information generated, and the frequency components extracted each time are different; at least two shear wave signals of different frequency components can also be extracted for each shear wave information generated, and the frequency components extracted each time can be the same or different. For example, in one example, taking the generation of three shear wave information as an example, the shear wave signals of the first frequency component and the second frequency component are extracted for the first shear wave information, and the shear wave signals of the first frequency component and the second frequency component are also extracted for the second shear wave information and the third shear wave information. For example, in one example, taking the generation of three shear wave information as an example, the shear wave signals of the first frequency component and the second frequency component are extracted for the first shear wave information, the shear wave signals of the third frequency component and the fourth frequency component are extracted for the second shear wave information, and the shear wave signals of the fifth frequency component and the sixth frequency component are extracted for the third shear wave information.

[0113] Fig.12 FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1200 according to another embodiment of the present application. Fig.12 As shown, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1200 may include the following steps:

[0114] In step S1210, a region of interest of a target object is acquired.

[0115] In step S1220, the propagation of shear waves generated at least twice in the region of interest is controlled, and the shear wave information generated each time in the region of interest is obtained.

[0116] In step S1230, a shear wave signal of at least one frequency component is extracted for each acquired shear wave information, and the frequency components of the shear wave signals extracted for each acquired shear wave information are different.

[0117] In step S1240, a shear wave dispersion result is acquired and displayed based on the propagation speeds corresponding to the shear wave signals extracted from the shear wave information acquired each time.

[0118] The ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1200 according to the embodiment of the present application is substantially similar to the ultrasonic dispersion measurement methods 100 and 800 according to the embodiment of the present application described above, except that: compared with the ultrasonic dispersion measurement methods 100 and 800 according to the embodiment of the present application described above, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1200 according to the embodiment of the present application generates at least two shear waves in the same region of interest, extracts shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear waves generated each time, and obtains the shear wave dispersion result of the region of interest based on the propagation speed corresponding to the extracted shear wave signals of different frequency components. For example, when two shear waves are generated in the region of interest, shear wave signals of the first frequency component and the second frequency component are respectively extracted from the two shear waves generated, and the center frequencies of the first frequency component and the second frequency component are different. For example, when three shear waves are generated in the region of interest, shear wave signals of the first frequency component, the second frequency component and the third frequency component are respectively extracted from the three shear waves generated, and the center frequencies of the first frequency component, the second frequency component and the third frequency component are different; and so on. After extracting the shear wave signals of different frequency components, a dispersion curve diagram can be generated (reflecting the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components, the elastic modulus corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components, or the square results of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components or other calculation results), and the comparative calculation results of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components can be obtained, and the spatial distribution diagram of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components can also be obtained. For the sake of brevity, the similarities between the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1200 according to the embodiment of the present application and the ultrasonic dispersion measurement methods 100 and 800 according to the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated here. In addition, it should be understood that the above-mentioned ultrasonic dispersion measurement devices 1000 and 1100 can be used to perform the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1200 according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0119] Based on the above description, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1200 according to an embodiment of the present application generates at least two shear wave propagations in the region of interest of the target object, and extracts shear wave signals of different frequency components from the shear wave information generated each time, thereby being able to obtain information related to shear wave dispersion based on the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0120] Fig.13 FIG. 1 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasound elastic imaging method 1300 according to another embodiment of the present application. Fig.13 As shown, the ultrasound elastography method 1300 may include the following steps:

[0121] In step S1310, a region of interest of a target object is acquired.

[0122] In step S1320, the propagation of shear waves generated in the region of interest is controlled.

[0123] In step S1330, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit ultrasonic waves that track the shear wave to the region of interest, receive echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and acquire ultrasonic echo signals based on the echoes of the ultrasonic waves.

[0124] In step S1340, shear wave information of the region of interest is acquired based on the ultrasonic echo signal. The shear wave information is usually a signal containing a frequency range.

[0125] In step S1350, a shear wave signal of at least one frequency component is extracted from the shear wave information.

[0126] In one example, a shear wave signal of a frequency component can be extracted from the shear wave information; in another example, shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components can be extracted from the shear wave information. Here, a frequency component, as described above, can be understood as including a main frequency, and the main frequency accounts for a large proportion of the energy in the frequency component.

[0127] In the example of extracting a shear wave signal of a frequency component, the propagation parameters of the shear wave corresponding to the frequency component can be determined based on the shear wave signal of the frequency component. For example, the propagation velocity of the shear wave corresponding to the frequency component, the propagation distance of the shear wave, the propagation time of the shear wave, the displacement of the shear wave when it propagates through a certain position, etc. can be determined. Taking the propagation velocity as an example, the propagation velocity of the shear wave corresponding to the frequency component can be called the phase velocity of the shear wave. In addition, other transformation operations or calculations of elastic moduli can be performed based on the propagation parameters of the shear wave. For example, the elastic modulus can be calculated based on the phase velocity of the shear wave, and the sum of the squares of the phase velocity of the shear wave can be calculated. Exemplarily, the propagation parameters of the shear wave under the frequency component can be output separately; the shear wave group velocity can also be determined based on the shear wave information, and the elastic results of the area of ​​interest can be obtained, and the elastic results (and / or shear wave group velocity) and the propagation parameters of the shear wave under the frequency component can be output synchronously.

[0128] In the example of extracting a shear wave signal of at least two frequency components, the propagation parameters of the shear wave corresponding to different frequency components can be determined based on the extracted shear wave signal. For example, the propagation velocity of the shear wave corresponding to different frequency components, the propagation distance of the shear wave, the propagation time of the shear wave, the displacement of the shear wave when it propagates through a certain position, etc. can be determined. Taking the propagation velocity as an example, the phase velocity of the shear wave can be determined based on the extracted shear wave signal. In addition, other transformation operations or calculations of the elastic modulus can also be performed based on the propagation parameters of the shear wave. For example, the elastic modulus can be calculated based on the phase velocity of the shear wave, and the sum of the squares of the phase velocity of the shear wave can be calculated. Exemplarily, the propagation parameters of the shear wave under different frequency components can be output separately; the shear wave group velocity can also be determined based on the shear wave information, and the elastic results of the area of ​​interest can be obtained, and the elastic results (and / or shear wave group velocity) and the propagation parameters of the shear wave under different frequency components can be output synchronously. For example, the phase velocity of the shear wave under different frequency components can be output.

[0129] When extracting shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, the shear wave dispersion results can also be determined and displayed based on the phase velocities of at least two shear waves. The shear wave dispersion results can be a dispersion curve diagram (reflecting the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components, the elastic modulus corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components, or the square results of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components or other calculation results), and the comparative calculation results of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components can be obtained, and the spatial distribution diagram of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components can also be obtained. For the sake of brevity, the similarities between the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method 1300 according to the embodiment of the present application and the ultrasonic dispersion measurement methods 100 and 800 according to the embodiment of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0130] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present application, a storage medium is also provided, on which program instructions are stored, and when the program instructions are executed by a computer or a processor, the corresponding steps of the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method of the embodiment of the present application are executed. The storage medium may include, for example, a memory card of a smart phone, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a personal computer, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media. The computer-readable storage medium may be any combination of one or more computer-readable storage media.

[0131] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present application, a computer program is also provided, which can be stored in a cloud or local storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a computer or a processor, it is used to execute the corresponding steps of the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method of the embodiment of the present application.

[0132] Based on the above description, the ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, device and storage medium according to the embodiments of the present application generate shear wave propagation in the region of interest of the target object, obtain shear wave information of the region of interest, and extract shear wave signals of different frequency components in the shear wave information, thereby being able to obtain information related to shear wave dispersion based on the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

[0133] Although example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above example embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application to this. Those of ordinary skill in the art may make various changes and modifications therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application. All these changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present application as required by the appended claims.

[0134] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0135] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed.

[0136] In the description provided herein, a large number of specific details are described. However, it is understood that the embodiments of the present application can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques are not shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.

[0137] Similarly, it should be understood that in order to streamline the present application and help understand one or more of the various inventive aspects, in the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present application, the various features of the present application are sometimes grouped together into a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof. However, the method of the present application should not be interpreted as reflecting the following intention: the claimed application requires more features than the features clearly stated in each claim. More specifically, as reflected in the corresponding claims, the inventive point is that the corresponding technical problem can be solved with features less than all the features of a single disclosed embodiment. Therefore, the claims following the specific embodiment are hereby explicitly incorporated into the specific embodiment, wherein each claim itself serves as a separate embodiment of the present application.

[0138] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, except for mutually exclusive features, all features disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) and all processes or units of any method or device disclosed in this specification may be combined in any combination. Unless otherwise expressly stated, each feature disclosed in this specification (including the accompanying claims, abstracts and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature that provides the same, equivalent or similar purpose.

[0139] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that, although some embodiments described herein include certain features included in other embodiments but not other features, the combination of features of different embodiments is meant to be within the scope of the present application and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any one of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

[0140] The various component embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or in software modules running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) can be used in practice to implement some or all functions of some modules according to the embodiments of the present application. The application can also be implemented as a device program (e.g., computer program and computer program product) for executing a part or all of the methods described herein. Such a program implementing the present application can be stored on a computer-readable medium, or can have the form of one or more signals. Such a signal can be downloaded from an Internet website, or provided on a carrier signal, or provided in any other form.

[0141] It should be noted that the above embodiments illustrate rather than limit the present application, and that those skilled in the art may devise alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference symbol between brackets should not be constructed as a limitation to the claims. The present application may be implemented by means of hardware including several different elements and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unit claim that lists several devices, several of these devices may be embodied by the same hardware item. The use of the words first, second, and third, etc. does not indicate any order. These words may be interpreted as names.

[0142] The above is only a specific implementation or description of a specific implementation of the present application, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application shall be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Controlling the propagation of shear waves generated within a region of interest of a target object; Controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the region of interest, receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves, and acquiring ultrasonic echo signals based on the echoes of the ultrasonic waves; Acquire shear wave information of the region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo signal; wherein the shear wave information is broadband shear wave information; and At least two shear wave signals with different frequency components are extracted from the shear wave information, and a shear wave dispersion result is acquired and displayed based on the shear wave signals with at least two different frequency components.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Each of the at least two different frequency components includes a frequency band with a preset bandwidth and a frequency point as a main frequency.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The frequency point of each frequency component is the center frequency of the frequency band.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The extracting of at least two shear wave signals with different frequency components from the shear wave information is achieved by filtering.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The extracting of at least two shear wave signals with different frequency components from the shear wave information is achieved by using at least two bandpass filters.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The extracting of at least two shear wave signals with different frequency components from the shear wave information is achieved by at least one low-pass filter and at least one high-pass filter.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave signal of the at least two different frequency components comprises: A dispersion graph is generated and displayed based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components, wherein the dispersion graph reflects the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the different frequency components.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave signal of the at least two different frequency components comprises: Based on the propagation velocities corresponding to each of the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, the corresponding elastic modulus or the square of the corresponding propagation velocity is calculated, and based on the calculation result, a dispersion curve diagram is generated and displayed, which reflects the elastic modulus or the square of the corresponding propagation velocity of each of the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The generated dispersion curve diagram includes multiple dispersion curves, which correspond to shear wave dispersion results of different regions of interest, shear wave dispersion results at different positions in the same region of interest, or shear wave dispersion results of the same region of interest at different periods.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The step of acquiring and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components comprises: The propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components are compared and calculated, and the result of the comparison and calculation is displayed as a shear wave dispersion result.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The comparing and calculating the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components includes: The difference, ratio or slope varying with frequency of the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components is calculated.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave signal of the at least two different frequency components comprises: Based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, spatial distribution diagrams of propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components are generated and displayed respectively, and each of the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams reflects the propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signal of one frequency component at different positions of the region of interest.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that The region of interest is a target region for performing dispersion measurement.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that: The region of interest is a region for performing elasticity measurement, and the method further includes: Calculating a shear wave group velocity based on the shear wave information of the region of interest, and calculating and displaying an elastic result of the region of interest based on the shear wave group velocity; A target area for dispersion measurement is obtained, and shear wave information of the target area is obtained. The shear wave signal of at least two different frequency components is extracted from the shear wave information of the target area.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The step of acquiring a target area for performing dispersion measurement comprises: Acquiring a first ultrasonic image of the target object; Acquire the target area for dispersion measurement based on the first ultrasound image; or The target region for performing dispersion measurement is acquired based on the first ultrasound image and the elasticity result.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The target region for performing dispersion measurement is located within the region of interest.

17. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The elasticity result is displayed as an elasticity result spatial distribution map, and the elasticity result spatial distribution map reflects the elasticity results corresponding to different positions of the region of interest.

18. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, characterized in that: The method further comprises: A group velocity spatial distribution diagram is generated and displayed based on the shear wave group velocity, wherein the group velocity spatial distribution diagram reflects the shear wave group velocities corresponding to different positions of the region of interest.

19. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, characterized in that At least two of the first ultrasound image, the elasticity result, the group velocity spatial distribution diagram, and the shear wave dispersion result are displayed on the same interface.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The first ultrasound image, the elasticity result, and the shear wave dispersion result are displayed on the same interface, wherein the region of interest and the target region for dispersion measurement are marked in the first ultrasound image.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 20, characterized in that The propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signal of each frequency component in the shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components is equal to any one of the following propagation velocities of the shear wave at each location within the region of interest or the target region for dispersion measurement: mean, median, standard deviation, quartile, maximum or minimum.

22. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that The step of acquiring the shear wave information of the region of interest in the method is performed at least twice, the frequency components extracted each time in the at least two times are the same, and the propagation velocity corresponding to the shear wave signal of each frequency component in the extracted frequency components is equal to any one of the following propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signal of the same frequency component in the at least two times: mean, median, standard deviation, quartile, maximum or minimum.

23. An ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtaining a shear wave dispersion result obtained by performing ultrasonic dispersion measurement on a target tissue of a target object; Acquiring a historical shear wave dispersion result of the target tissue of the target object before the current ultrasonic dispersion measurement; A statistical shear wave dispersion result is generated based on the current shear wave dispersion result and the historical shear wave dispersion result, and the statistical shear wave dispersion result reflects the shear wave dispersion results of the target tissue of the target object at different periods.

24. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The current shear wave dispersion result and the shear wave dispersion result are both dispersion curves, which reflect the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components, the elastic moduli corresponding to the signals or the square of the propagation velocities corresponding to the signals.

25. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The current shear wave dispersion result and the shear wave dispersion result are both results of comparative calculation of propagation velocities corresponding to shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The result of the comparative calculation includes: the difference, ratio or slope of the propagation speed corresponding to the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components that vary with frequency.

27. The method according to claim 23, characterized in that The current shear wave dispersion result and the shear wave dispersion result are both spatial distribution diagrams of propagation velocities corresponding to shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components, and each of the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams reflects the propagation velocity corresponding to a shear wave signal of a frequency component at different positions of the target tissue.

28. An ultrasonic dispersion measurement method, characterized in that: The method comprises: Obtain the region of interest of the target object; Controlling the propagation of at least two shear waves generated in the region of interest, and acquiring the shear wave information generated each time in the region of interest; Extracting a shear wave signal of at least one frequency component for each acquired shear wave information, and the frequency components of the shear wave signal extracted for each acquired shear wave information are different; The shear wave dispersion result is acquired and displayed based on the shear wave signal extracted from the shear wave information acquired at each time.

29. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The method of obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave signal extracted from the shear wave information obtained each time includes: A dispersion graph is generated and displayed based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals extracted from the shear wave information acquired each time. The dispersion graph reflects the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

30. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The method of obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave signal extracted from the shear wave information obtained each time includes: Based on the propagation velocity corresponding to each shear wave signal extracted from the shear wave information acquired each time, the corresponding elastic modulus or the square of the corresponding propagation velocity is calculated, and based on the calculation result, a dispersion curve diagram is generated and displayed. The dispersion curve diagram reflects the elastic modulus or the square of the corresponding propagation velocity of the shear wave signals of different frequency components.

31. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The method of obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave signal extracted from the shear wave information obtained each time includes: A comparison calculation is performed on the propagation speeds corresponding to the shear wave signals extracted from the shear wave information obtained each time, and the result of the comparison calculation is displayed as a shear wave dispersion result.

32. The method according to claim 28, characterized in that The method of obtaining and displaying the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave signal extracted from the shear wave information obtained each time includes: Based on the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals extracted from the shear wave information acquired each time, a spatial distribution diagram of the propagation velocities of the shear wave signals of different frequency components is generated and displayed. Each of the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams reflects the propagation velocities corresponding to the shear wave signals of a frequency component at different positions of the region of interest.

33. An ultrasonic elastic imaging method, characterized in that: include: Controlling the propagation of shear waves generated within a region of interest of a target object; Controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit an ultrasonic wave that tracks the shear wave to the region of interest, receiving an echo of the ultrasonic wave, and acquiring an ultrasonic echo signal based on the echo of the ultrasonic wave; Acquire shear wave information of the region of interest based on the ultrasonic echo signal; wherein the shear wave information is broadband shear wave information; and A shear wave signal of at least one frequency component is extracted from the shear wave information.

34. The method according to claim 33, characterized in that The method further includes determining a propagation parameter of the shear wave corresponding to the frequency component based on the shear wave signal of the at least one different frequency component.

35. The method according to claim 33 or 34, characterized in that The method further includes determining a phase velocity of the shear wave based on the shear wave signal of the at least one different frequency component.

36. The method according to claim 33 or 34, characterized in that The extracting of the shear wave signal of at least one frequency component includes extracting shear wave signals of at least two different frequency components; the method also includes: determining the phase velocity of the shear wave based on the shear wave signals of the at least two different frequency components, and determining the shear wave dispersion result based on the shear wave phase velocity.

37. The method according to claim 36, characterized in that The shear wave dispersion result is determined based on the shear wave phase velocity: generating a dispersion curve diagram based on the phase velocity of the shear wave, wherein the dispersion curve diagram reflects the phase velocity of the shear wave corresponding to different frequency components; Alternatively, a corresponding elastic modulus is calculated based on the phase velocity of the shear wave or the square result of the phase velocity is calculated, and a dispersion curve diagram is generated based on the calculated result, wherein the dispersion curve diagram reflects the elastic modulus or the square result of the phase velocity corresponding to different frequency components; Alternatively, a comparative calculation is performed on the phase velocity of the shear wave, and a result of the comparative calculation is used as a shear wave dispersion result; Alternatively, a propagation velocity spatial distribution diagram corresponding to shear wave signals of different frequency components is generated based on the phase velocity of the shear wave, and each of the propagation velocity spatial distribution diagrams reflects the propagation velocity corresponding to a shear wave signal of a frequency component at different positions of the region of interest.

38. The method according to claim 36, characterized in that The method further includes outputting the at least two phase velocities.

39. The method according to any one of claims 33 to 38, characterized in that A shear wave signal having at least one frequency component is extracted from the shear wave information by filtering.

40. An ultrasonic dispersion measurement device, characterized in that: The device comprises an ultrasound probe, a transmit / receive sequence controller, a processor and a display device, wherein: The transmitting / receiving sequence controller is used to control the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target object / receive the echo of the ultrasonic waves; The processor is configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 39; The display device is used to display the result of the processor execution.

41. An ultrasonic dispersion measurement device, characterized in that: The device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein a computer program executed by the processor is stored in the memory, and the computer program executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 39 when executed by the processor.

42. A storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program, which executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 39 when running.

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