Ultrasonic equipment and space compounding method for ultrasonic imaging

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides ultrasonic equipment and a space compounding method for ultrasonic imaging, which are used for solving the problem of grating lobe artifacts during space compounding. The method comprises the following steps: determining an imaging area and a preset deflection angle when a user selects a target probe for ultrasonic scanning; for each preset deflection angle, the scanning angles of edge beam scanning lines emitted by two edge sub-array elements of the target probe are determined, under each preset deflection angle, the area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and the convergent point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area; based on the rendezvous point, determining scanning angles of middle beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to a plurality of middle sub-array elements of the target probe; ultrasonic data obtained after ultrasonic scanning is carried out on the to-be-detected object based on the beam scanning lines of the scanning angles corresponding to the sub-array elements are obtained; and performing spatial compounding on the image data at the same position in the ultrasonic data to obtain a composite image.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of ultrasound technology, and in particular to an ultrasound device and a spatial compound method for ultrasound imaging. Background Art

[0002] Trapezoidal imaging is to form a trapezoidal imaging area by expanding the scanning angle on the basis of the original linear array rectangular imaging area. Traditional T-shaped imaging is to deflect multiple spatial compound angles on the basis of the original scanning line emission deflection angle. Each scanning position adds the same different deflection angles to the original scanning angle to form images with different deflection angles. Moreover, when the traditional method performs inter-frame compounding of images with multiple spatial compound angles, a splicing gap will be formed at the boundary, which means that grating lobe artifacts are easily formed. In addition, the more the number of composite images, the larger the deflection angle, and the more complex the splicing. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present application provide an ultrasound device and a spatial compounding method for ultrasound imaging, so as to solve the problem of grating lobe artifacts occurring during spatial compounding.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasonic device, comprising:

[0005] The processor is used to determine an imaging area and a preset deflection angle when a user selects the target probe for ultrasonic scanning; for each preset deflection angle, determine a scanning angle of an edge beam scanning line emitted by two edge sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein at each preset deflection angle, an area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and a convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on a center line of the imaging area; based on the convergence point, determine a scanning angle of an intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to a plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein each intermediate beam scanning line converges at the convergence point;

[0006] The target probe is used to perform ultrasonic scanning on the object to be detected based on the beam scanning lines of the determined scanning angles corresponding to each sub-array element, and send the received ultrasonic data to the processor;

[0007] The processor is further used to spatially compound the ultrasound image data at the same position based on the ultrasound data to obtain a compound image of the imaging area;

[0008] The display is used to display the composite image.

[0009] Based on the above scheme, under the premise of determining the imaging area, by adjusting the scanning angles of different scanning lines, the noise suppression ability of the image after spatial compounding can be improved, and the stitching gaps of multiple angles in traditional trapezoidal imaging spatial compounding can be reduced.

[0010] In a possible implementation manner, the imaging area is a trapezoidal imaging area, and the target probe is located above a short side of the trapezoidal imaging area.

[0011] In a possible implementation, before spatially compounding image data at the same position based on the ultrasound data, the processor is further used to: based on a preset conversion relationship, convert the image data at the second deflection angle to a coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle, so as to obtain image data of the second deflection angle in the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle; wherein the first deflection angle is a maximum positive deflection angle among the preset deflection angles, and the second deflection angle is other deflection angles among the preset deflection angles except the maximum positive deflection angle, and at the maximum positive deflection angle, edge beam scanning lines emitted by two edge sub-elements coincide with an edge of the trapezoidal imaging area.

[0012] In a possible implementation, when the processor determines the scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements of the target probe based on each preset deflection angle, it is specifically used to: determine, based on a first deflection angle, an angle corresponding to when the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements overlap with the trapezoidal imaging area as a first scanning angle; the first deflection angle is a maximum positive deflection angle among the preset deflection angles;

[0013] For the second deflection angle, an angle difference between the first deflection angle and the second deflection angle is determined, and a scanning angle obtained by rotating the first scanning angle by the angle difference is used as a second scanning angle of an edge beam scanning line emitted by two edge sub-array elements of the target probe; the second deflection angle is other deflection angles among the preset deflection angles except the maximum positive deflection angle.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner, when the processor determines the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe based on the convergence point, the processor is specifically configured to: use the difference between the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the first angle difference; determine the first scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line respectively corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element according to the convergence point corresponding to the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the first angle difference, and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements; use the difference between the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the second angle difference; and determine the second scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line respectively corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element according to the convergence point corresponding to the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the second angle difference, and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements.

[0015] In one possible implementation, when the processor spatially composites the ultrasound image data of the same position based on the ultrasound data, it is specifically used to: for the image data of the same position in the imaging area, weight the image data of the same position corresponding to the second deflection angle in the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle, and the image data of the same position corresponding to the first deflection angle, to obtain the composite image data of the same position.

[0016] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a spatial compounding method for ultrasound imaging, comprising:

[0017] Determine an imaging area and a preset deflection angle when a user selects a target probe for ultrasound scanning;

[0018] For each preset deflection angle, determining the scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein at each preset deflection angle, the area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and the convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area;

[0019] Based on the convergence point, determining the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe; wherein the intermediate beam scanning lines converge at the convergence point;

[0020] Acquire ultrasonic data obtained by ultrasonically scanning the object to be detected based on the beam scanning line corresponding to the determined scanning angle of each sub-array element;

[0021] The image data at the same position in the ultrasound data are spatially compounded to obtain a compound image of the imaging area.

[0022] In a possible implementation manner, when the second determination unit determines the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe based on the convergence point, it is specifically configured to:

[0023] taking the difference between the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the first angle difference;

[0024] Determine the first scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element according to the convergence point corresponding to the first scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the first angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements;

[0025] taking the difference between the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the second angle difference;

[0026] The second scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element is determined according to the convergence point corresponding to the second scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the second angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements.

[0027] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an execution device, including:

[0028] A memory for storing program instructions;

[0029] The processor is used to call the program instructions stored in the memory, and execute the method described in the second aspect and different implementation methods of the second aspect according to the obtained program instructions.

[0030] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium includes computer instructions, and when the computer program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer executes the method described in the second aspect and different implementation methods of the second aspect.

[0031] In addition, the beneficial effects brought about by the second to fourth aspects and different implementation methods can be found in the first aspect and the different implementation methods of the first aspect, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0033] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a conventional trapezoidal imaging space compounding method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a conventional trapezoidal imaging result provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 3 An application scenario of an optional spatial compounding method for ultrasound imaging provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 4 Another optional application scenario of the spatial compounding method of ultrasound imaging provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 5 A flow chart of a spatial compounding method for ultrasound imaging provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of an edge beam scanning line at a first deflection angle provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of an edge beam scanning line at a second deflection angle provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of another edge beam scanning line at a second deflection angle provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a convergence point provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of a beam scanning line provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Fig.11 A coordinate conversion diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of a spatial compound device for ultrasonic imaging provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0045] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present application described and shown in the drawings here can be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0046] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present application provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the present application for which protection is sought, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0047] It should be noted that relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0048] Linear scanning is a commonly used scanning method in clinical practice because of its good spatial resolution, especially the relatively consistent spatial resolution of the front and back fields. It is especially widely used in the scanning of superficial lesions. However, due to the size of the ultrasound probe and the imaging method, the field of view and range of imaging are limited, so it cannot fully display the full picture of the lesion for larger lesions. In order to solve this problem, trapezoidal imaging is generally used. The so-called trapezoidal imaging is to form a trapezoidal imaging area by expanding the scanning angle on the basis of the original rectangular imaging area.

[0049] Considering the final image quality of trapezoidal imaging, the spatial compounding function is generally turned on at the same time when trapezoidal imaging is turned on. Multi-angle spatial compounding technology is an important technology to improve the quality of B-type ultrasound imaging. The B-ultrasound probe performs multi-angle scanning and receives echo signals from different directions at the front end. The back-end equipment processes the echo signals at different angles to obtain an ultrasound image, and then compounds the ultrasound images at different angles to obtain a new image containing multi-angle information. Since the target signals obtained from different angles have a strong correlation, but the speckle noise has a weak correlation characteristic, the target signal is enhanced after the multiple angle images are compounded, while the speckle noise is weakened, thereby improving the image clarity.

[0050] Traditional spatial compounding technology fuses multiple angle data to obtain a composite frame image. The angle of each beam scanning line of a single frame image in the multi-angle data is fixed, that is, the scanning imaging method is a parallelogram. Since the scanning areas of multiple frame images are different, the number of superimposed frames in different areas of the composite image is different. Therefore, the imaging effects of different areas in the composite image will be different, and there will be obvious splicing marks at the imaging boundary.

[0051] Figure 1It is a traditional trapezoidal imaging spatial compounding method. When the traditional method turns on spatial compounding, the emission line needs to be deflected on the basis of the original trapezoidal imaging expansion angle, and the deflection angle of the spatial compounding of each emission line is the same. Since the angle of spatial compounding is generally set to a positive and negative symmetrical angle, when the coordinate system is converted, images with different deflection angles will form different image imaging areas, and there will be boundary stitching gaps when compounding at different deflection angles. In addition, the more frames of spatial compounding, the larger the deflection angle, the more boundaries are formed, and the greater the impact on image quality, such as Figure 2 The imaging area is formed by different deflection angles of traditional trapezoidal imaging, and there are obvious stitching gaps.

[0052] In response to the above problems, an embodiment of the present application provides a spatial compounding method for ultrasonic imaging, which determines the scanning angles of edge beam scanning lines emitted by two edge sub-array elements according to the imaging area. Among them, the convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area and conforms to the imaging area. Further, based on the convergence point, the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines corresponding to the multiple intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe can be determined. Among them, each intermediate beam scanning line converges at the convergence point. Then, based on the beam scanning lines of the scanning angles corresponding to the determined sub-array elements, an ultrasonic scan is performed on the object to be detected to obtain multiple frames of images; the multiple frames of images are spatially compounded to obtain a composite image of the imaging area. Based on the above scheme, under the premise of determining the imaging area, by adjusting the scanning angles of different scanning lines, the ability of the image after spatial compounding to suppress noise can be improved, and the splicing gaps of multiple angles in the traditional trapezoidal imaging spatial compounding can be reduced.

[0053] The present application embodiment provides a spatial compounding method for ultrasound imaging, which can be applied to ultrasound equipment. The structure of the ultrasound equipment is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Figure 3 The ultrasound device 10 shown includes a touch screen 101, a display screen 102, a processor 103 and at least one probe 104. Among them:

[0054] The touch screen 101 is used to detect the operation of selecting a target probe triggered by the user on the first display interface of the touch screen 101, and to detect the operation of the user on the imaging area, the preset deflection angle, and the composite frame number when performing ultrasound scanning through the target probe;

[0055] The processor 103 is used to respond to the user triggering the first display interface to select a target probe to perform an ultrasonic scanning operation, determine the imaging area and the preset deflection angle, and the number of composite frames; and, for each preset deflection angle, determine the scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements of the target probe, and determine the scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to the multiple intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe based on the convergence point; perform spatial composite based on the image data at the same position in the ultrasonic image data collected by the target probe in at least one probe, to obtain a composite image of the imaging area;

[0056] The display screen 102 is used to display the composite image of the imaging area in the second display interface.

[0057] Optionally, the processor 103 may also be used to respond to an operation of selecting a target part triggered by a user on the first display interface of the touch screen 101, and determine a target probe corresponding to the target part;

[0058] The target probe in the at least one probe 104 is used to collect ultrasound image data of the object to be detected according to the user operation. Exemplarily, the object to be detected may be a target human body part.

[0059] Based on Figure 3 The ultrasound device 10 shown includes a touch screen 101, a display screen 102, a processor 103 and at least one probe 104, wherein: a first display interface can be displayed on the touch screen, and a second display interface can be displayed on the display screen; wherein the touch screen is a display screen that can be operated by the user, and the touch screen displays information that can be selected by the user, and the user can operate the information in the touch screen by touching, or by using a mouse, and the present application does not limit this. For example, the first display interface of the touch screen can be used to show the user at least one composite image corresponding to the target human body part, as well as probe prompt information. The display screen can be used to display the composite image determined during the inspection of the human body part by the probe.

[0060] The present application embodiment also provides an optional application scenario of the ultrasound image processing method, such as Figure 4 As shown, it includes an ultrasound device 10 and a server 21;

[0061] The ultrasound device 10 includes a touch screen 101, a display screen 102 and at least one probe 104;

[0062] The ultrasound device 10 detects the operation of selecting a target probe for ultrasound scanning, determining an imaging area, setting a deflection angle and a composite frame number triggered by the user on the first display interface of the touch screen 101, and sends the selection instruction to the server 21;

[0063] The server 21 determines, according to the selection instruction, for each preset deflection angle, a scanning angle of an edge beam scanning line emitted by two edge sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein at each preset deflection angle, an area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and a convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on a center line of the imaging area;

[0064] Based on the convergence point, determining the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the multiple intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe; wherein the intermediate beam scanning lines converge at the convergence point, and spatially compounding the image data at the same position in the ultrasonic image data collected by the target probe in at least one probe to obtain a composite image of the imaging area;

[0065] The ultrasound device 10 displays the composite image corresponding to the target human body part in the first display interface through the touch screen 101 according to the composite image determined by the server 21 , and saves the composite image of the imaging area determined by the server 21 .

[0066] Of course, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application is not limited to Figure 1 or Figure 2 The application scenario shown can also be used in other possible application scenarios, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0067] The present application embodiment provides a spatial compound method for ultrasound imaging, see Figure 5 As shown, Figure 5 This is a flow chart of the spatial compound method for ultrasound imaging. The specific process is as follows:

[0068] 501 , determining an imaging area and a preset deflection angle when a user selects a target probe for ultrasonic scanning.

[0069] In some embodiments, when the user selects the target probe for ultrasonic scanning, the ultrasound device enters the imaging function. The user can select the imaging area for ultrasonic imaging and the preset deflection angle. In some scenarios, the imaging area is a trapezoidal imaging area, and the target probe is located above the short side of the trapezoidal imaging area. After determining the current trapezoidal imaging area, the user can select the spatial compounding gear. Optionally, the spatial compounding gear generally has 3, 5, 7 and other frame compounding gears. Furthermore, different compounding angles are set. Generally, in order to achieve the best speckle suppression effect, the emission angle will adopt the setting of odd frame symmetric angles. Taking 3-frame compounding as an example, the deflection angle can be set to -β°, 0°, +β°.

[0070] 502 , for each preset deflection angle, determine a scanning angle of an edge beam scanning line emitted by two edge sub-array elements of a target probe.

[0071] Wherein, at each preset deflection angle, the area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and the convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area.

[0072] In some embodiments, based on each preset deflection angle, determining the scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-elements of the target probe includes: based on a first deflection angle, determining that the angle corresponding to when the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-elements coincide with the trapezoidal imaging area is the first scanning angle; the first deflection angle is the maximum positive deflection angle among the preset deflection angles. At the maximum positive deflection angle, the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-elements coincide with the edge of the trapezoidal imaging area.

[0073] As an example, the preset deflection angles are -β°, 0°, and +β°. Then the first deflection angle is +β°. Under the first deflection angle, the first scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements is determined. Figure 6 As shown, the two edge beam scanning lines coincide with the edge of the trapezoidal imaging area. The convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area, which is point O1.

[0074] In some embodiments, for the second deflection angle, the angle difference between the first deflection angle and the second deflection angle is determined, and the scanning angle obtained by rotating the first scanning angle by the angle difference is used as the second scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by two edge sub-elements of the target probe; the second deflection angle is the other deflection angles among the preset deflection angles except the maximum positive deflection angle.

[0075] Continuing with the above example, the second deflection angle is -β° and 0°. Taking 0° as an example, the deflection angle 0° and the deflection angle +β° differ by β°. Then, at the second deflection angle 0°, the first scanning angle can be rotated by β° to obtain the second scanning angle, such as Figure 7 At the second deflection angle of 0°, the convergence point of the two edge scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area, which is point O2.

[0076] Similarly, when the second deflection angle is -β°, the difference between -β° and +β° is 2β°, and the first scanning angle can be rotated by 2β° to obtain the second scanning angle when the second deflection angle is -β°. Figure 8 At the second deflection angle -β°, the convergence point of the two edge scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area, which is point O3.

[0077] 503 , based on the convergence point, determine the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe; wherein the intermediate beam scanning lines converge at the convergence point.

[0078] In some embodiments, based on the convergence point, determining the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the multiple intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe can be achieved in the following manner: taking the difference between the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the first angle difference; and determining the first scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line respectively corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element according to the convergence point corresponding to the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the first angle difference, and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements.

[0079] Similarly, the difference between the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-elements can be used as the second angle difference; the second scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-element is determined according to the convergence point corresponding to the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-elements, the second angle difference, and the number of intermediate sub-elements.

[0080] As an example, Fig. 9 As shown, the angle difference between the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements is Then the position of the convergence point O1O of the two edge beam scanning lines satisfies the conditions shown in the following formula:

[0081]

[0082] Where ProbeWidth is the probe width of the target probe.

[0083] Furthermore, the first scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each sub-array element may be determined according to the convergence point corresponding to the two edge beam scanning lines, the first scanning angle and the number of sub-array elements.

[0084] As an example, assuming that the total number of transmission line positions is LineNum, and 3 frames are spatially composited, each transmission line position can transmit 3 scan lines with different deflection angles, and the transmission intervals are θ1, θ2, and θ3 respectively:

[0085]

[0086]

[0087]

[0088] Above, the scan line angles of each scan line position are:

[0089] 504 , obtaining ultrasonic data obtained by ultrasonically scanning the object to be detected based on the beam scanning lines corresponding to the determined scanning angles of the sub-array elements.

[0090] 505 , spatially compound the image data at the same position in the ultrasound data to obtain a compound image of the imaging area.

[0091] In some embodiments, before spatially compounding the image data at the same position in the ultrasound data to obtain a compound image of the imaging area, the image data at the second deflection angle may be converted to a coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle according to a preset conversion relationship to obtain image data at the second deflection angle in a coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle. The first deflection angle is the maximum positive deflection angle among the preset deflection angles, and the second deflection angle is the other deflection angles among the preset deflection angles except the maximum positive deflection angle.

[0092] Furthermore, when spatially compounding the image data at the same position in the ultrasound data to obtain a composite image of the imaging area, it can be achieved in the following way: for the image data at the same position in the imaging area, the image data at the same position corresponding to the second deflection angle in the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle are weighted with the image data at the same position corresponding to the first deflection angle to obtain composite image data at the same position.

[0093] Among them, after the image data at the same position are weighted, the composite image data meets the conditions described in the following formula:

[0094]

[0095] Wherein, N is the number of frames corresponding to the spatial compounding gear, that is, the total number of angles for compounding, and Imagei is the image data of the position corresponding to different spatial compounding angles.

[0096] In some embodiments, after each beam scan line position transmits a scan line with a different scan angle, each scan angle belongs to a different polar coordinate system. Fig.10 For example, three different scanning angles belong to three polar coordinate images. For example, before performing weighted combination of three frames of images, the three different images need to be normalized to the same coordinate system O1O.

[0097] like Fig.11As shown, assuming that point A is any point in the trapezoidal imaging area, the coordinates of point A in the polar coordinate system of vertex O1O are A(AC, α), AC is the length from point A to the sub-element emission point where point C is located, which can be understood as the ID of the data point, and α is an angle, which is related to the scanning angle of the beam scanning line. In some embodiments, beam scanning lines with different scanning angles are configured with different identification IDs, so α can be considered as the ID of the number of lines, and the data with the other two scanning angles need to be mapped to the coordinate system point A with O1O as the vertex. Assuming that data AB and AD are two other scanning lines passing through point A, the intersection point of the extended line of AB to the axial direction of O1O is taken as O1, and the angle is θ, the intersection point of the extended line of AD to the axial direction of O1O is taken as O2, and the angle is λ. The angle between AB and AC is γ, then the following geometric relationship exists:

[0098]

[0099]

[0100] 0=C+Y

[0101]

[0102] in:

[0103]

[0104] The method of deflecting another set of data (AD, λ) in a coordinate system with O as the vertex is similar to the above and will not be repeated here.

[0105] Based on the same technical concept, see Fig.12 As shown, the embodiment of the present application provides a spatial compounding device 1200 for ultrasound imaging. The device 1200 can perform any step in the spatial compounding method for ultrasound imaging, which will not be described here to avoid repetition. The device 1200 includes a first determining unit 1201, a second determining unit 1202, an acquiring unit 1203, and a compounding unit 1204.

[0106] The first determining unit 1201 is used to determine the imaging area and the preset deflection angle when the user selects the target probe for ultrasonic scanning;

[0107] A second determining unit 1202 is configured to determine, for each preset deflection angle, a scanning angle of an edge beam scanning line emitted by two edge sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein, at each preset deflection angle, an area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and a convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on a center line of the imaging area;

[0108] Based on the convergence point, determining the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe; wherein the intermediate beam scanning lines converge at the convergence point;

[0109] An acquisition unit 1203 is used to acquire ultrasonic data obtained after ultrasonic scanning of the object to be detected based on the beam scanning line corresponding to the determined scanning angle of each sub-array element;

[0110] The compounding unit 1204 is used to spatially compound the image data at the same position in the ultrasound data to obtain a compound image of the imaging area.

[0111] In some embodiments, the imaging area is a trapezoidal imaging area, and the target probe is located above a short side of the trapezoidal imaging area.

[0112] In some embodiments, before spatially compounding the image data at the same position in the ultrasound data to obtain the compound image of the imaging area, the second determining unit 1202 is further configured to:

[0113] Based on a preset conversion relationship, the image data at the second deflection angle is converted into a coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle to obtain the image data of the second deflection angle in the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle;

[0114] Wherein, the first deflection angle is the maximum positive deflection angle among the preset deflection angles, and the second deflection angle is the other deflection angles among the preset deflection angles except the maximum positive deflection angle;

[0115] Wherein, at the maximum positive deflection angle, the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements coincide with the edge of the trapezoidal imaging area.

[0116] In some embodiments, the second determining unit 1202, when determining the scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements of the target probe based on each preset deflection angle, is specifically configured to:

[0117] Based on the first deflection angle, determining an angle corresponding to when edge beam scanning lines emitted by two edge sub-array elements coincide with the trapezoidal imaging area as a first scanning angle;

[0118] For the second deflection angle, the angle difference between the first deflection angle and the second deflection angle is determined, and the scanning angle obtained by rotating the first scanning angle by the angle difference is used as the second scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements of the target probe.

[0119] In some embodiments, when determining the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe based on the convergence point, the second determining unit 1202 is specifically configured to:

[0120] taking the difference between the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the first angle difference;

[0121] Determine the first scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element according to the convergence point corresponding to the first scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the first angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements;

[0122] taking the difference between the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the second angle difference;

[0123] The second scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element is determined according to the convergence point corresponding to the second scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the second angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements.

[0124] In some embodiments, the compounding unit 1204, when spatially compounding the image data at the same position in the ultrasound data to obtain the compound image of the imaging area, is specifically used to:

[0125] For the image data at the same position in the imaging area, the image data at the same position corresponding to the second deflection angle in the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle are weighted with the image data at the same position corresponding to the first deflection angle to obtain composite image data of the same position.

[0126] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented in one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that include computer-usable program code.

[0127] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the processes and / or boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device generate instructions for implementing the processes in the flowchart and / or block diagram. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in a block or multiple blocks.

[0128] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory capable of directing a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture comprising an instruction device, which implements the process Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A function specified in one or more boxes.

[0129] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, thereby providing instructions for implementing the process. Figure 1 A process or multiple processes and / or boxes Figure 1 The steps for the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0130] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic device, characterized in that: Includes a processor, a target probe, and a display screen; The processor is used to determine an imaging area and a preset deflection angle when a user selects the target probe for ultrasonic scanning; for each preset deflection angle, determine a scanning angle of an edge beam scanning line emitted by two edge sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein at each preset deflection angle, an area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and a convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on a center line of the imaging area; based on the convergence point, determine a scanning angle of an intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to a plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein each intermediate beam scanning line converges at the convergence point; The target probe is used to perform ultrasonic scanning on the object to be detected based on the beam scanning line of the scanning angle corresponding to each determined sub-array element, and send the received ultrasonic data to the processor; The processor is further used to spatially compound the ultrasound image data at the same position based on the ultrasound data to obtain a compound image of the imaging area; The display is used to display the composite image.

2. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, characterized in that The imaging area is a trapezoidal imaging area, and the target probe is located above a short side of the trapezoidal imaging area.

3. The ultrasonic device according to claim 2, characterized in that The processor is further configured to: Before spatially compounding the ultrasound image data at the same position based on the ultrasound data to obtain the composite image of the imaging area, the image data at the second deflection angle is converted to the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle based on a preset conversion relationship to obtain the image data of the second deflection angle in the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle; Wherein, the first deflection angle is the maximum positive deflection angle among the preset deflection angles, and the second deflection angle is the other deflection angles among the preset deflection angles except the maximum positive deflection angle; Wherein, at the maximum positive deflection angle, the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements coincide with the edge of the trapezoidal imaging area.

4. The ultrasonic device according to claim 3, characterized in that The processor is specifically used for: Based on the first deflection angle, determining an angle corresponding to when edge beam scanning lines emitted by two edge sub-array elements coincide with the trapezoidal imaging area as a first scanning angle; For the second deflection angle, the angle difference between the first deflection angle and the second deflection angle is determined, and the scanning angle obtained by rotating the first scanning angle by the angle difference is used as the second scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements of the target probe.

5. The ultrasonic device according to claim 1, characterized in that The processor is specifically used for: taking the difference between the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the first angle difference; Determine the first scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element according to the convergence point corresponding to the first scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the first angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements; taking the difference between the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the second angle difference; The second scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element is determined according to the convergence point corresponding to the second scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the second angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements.

6. The ultrasonic device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: The processor is specifically used for: For the image data at the same position in the imaging area, the image data at the same position corresponding to the second deflection angle in the coordinate system corresponding to the first deflection angle are weighted with the image data at the same position corresponding to the first deflection angle to obtain composite image data of the same position.

7. A spatial compounding method for ultrasonic imaging, characterized in that: include: Determine an imaging area and a preset deflection angle when a user selects a target probe for ultrasound scanning; For each preset deflection angle, determining the scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements of the target probe, wherein at each preset deflection angle, the area between the two edge beam scanning lines covers the imaging area, and the convergence point of the two edge beam scanning lines is on the center line of the imaging area; Based on the convergence point, determining the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe; wherein the intermediate beam scanning lines converge at the convergence point; Acquire ultrasonic data obtained by ultrasonically scanning the object to be detected based on the beam scanning line corresponding to the determined scanning angle of each sub-array element; The image data at the same position in the ultrasound data are spatially compounded to obtain a compound image of the imaging area.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The imaging area is a trapezoidal imaging area, and the target probe is located above a short side of the trapezoidal imaging area.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The step of determining the scanning angles of the intermediate beam scanning lines respectively corresponding to the plurality of intermediate sub-array elements of the target probe based on the convergence point includes: taking the difference between the first scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the first angle difference; Determine the first scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element according to the convergence point corresponding to the first scanning angle of the edge beam scanning line emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the first angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements; taking the difference between the second scanning angles of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements as the second angle difference; The second scanning angle of the intermediate beam scanning line corresponding to each intermediate sub-array element is determined according to the convergence point corresponding to the second scanning angle of the edge beam scanning lines emitted by the two edge sub-array elements, the second angle difference and the number of the intermediate sub-array elements.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium comprises computer program instructions, and when the computer program instructions are executed by a computer, the computer is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 7 to 9.

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