Artifact removal method, device and equipment suitable for intravascular ultrasonic imaging and storage medium

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses an artifact removal method and device suitable for intravascular ultrasonic imaging, equipment and a storage medium. The method comprises the steps that an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by conducting intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel is obtained, the intravascular ultrasound image is expressed through three-dimensional data, one-dimensional data in the three-dimensional data has time information, and the other-dimensional data has space information; combining the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data to obtain space-time data with time information and space information at the same time, and converting the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data; and at least coding space-time data in the two-dimensional data to obtain a space-time coding result, and carrying out artifact removal on the intravascular ultrasound image based on the space-time coding result. According to the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention, effective signals can be reserved as much as possible while artifact signals are removed as much as possible.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of ultrasonic imaging technology, and in particular to an artifact removal method, device, equipment and storage medium suitable for intravascular ultrasonic imaging. Background Art

[0002] The intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging system uses catheter technology to deliver a miniature ultrasound transducer into the blood vessel, and uses ultrasound scanning and reflection to generate cross-sectional images of the blood vessel, thereby showing the operator the internal morphology, size, and plaque distribution of the blood vessel wall, thereby guiding the operator's percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

[0003] With respect to the IVUS imaging obtained by the IVUS imaging system, affected by the imaging method of the IVUS imaging system, there is a blind area in the IVUS image. The blind area is the area where the artifact signal is located. The artifact signal will affect the doctor's reading of the IVUS image, which is particularly obvious when the catheter is attached to the wall.

[0004] It can be seen that removing the artifact signal in the blind area is a key step in the IVUS imaging process. At present, the removal of artifact signals is mainly achieved by removing all signals in the blind area. For example, Figure 1a The highlighted part in the red frame is the artifact signal. Figure 1b yes Figure 1a Artifact removal results.

[0005] However, in the blind area, there are not only artifact signals, but also effective signals that can reflect the situation inside the blood vessels. The currently used artifact removal scheme removes both the artifact signals and the effective signals. Figure 1a and Figure 1b It can be seen that Figure 1a The entire signal in the highlighted part is Figure 1b Obviously, this will affect doctors' reading of IVUS images and needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present invention provide an artifact removal method, device, equipment and storage medium applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging, which solves the problem of removing effective signals while removing artifact signals.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for removing artifacts applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging is provided, which may include:

[0008] Acquire an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, one dimension of the three-dimensional data having time information and another dimension of the three-dimensional data having space information;

[0009] Merging the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data;

[0010] At least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data is encoded to obtain a space-time encoding result, and artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image are removed based on the space-time encoding result.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an artifact removal device applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging, which may include:

[0012] An intravascular ultrasound image acquisition module, used to acquire an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, one dimension of the three-dimensional data has time information and another dimension of the three-dimensional data has space information;

[0013] A space-time data acquisition module is used to merge the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data;

[0014] The artifact removal module is used to encode at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data to obtain the space-time encoding result, and remove the artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the space-time encoding result.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an artifact removal device suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging, which may include:

[0016] at least one processor; and

[0017] a memory communicatively connected to at least one processor; wherein,

[0018] The memory stores a computer program that can be executed by at least one processor. The computer program is executed by at least one processor so that the at least one processor implements the artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by any embodiment of the present invention when executing the computer program.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer instructions are stored, and the computer instructions are used to enable a processor to implement the artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by any embodiment of the present invention when executed.

[0020] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is to obtain an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by intravascular ultrasound imaging of a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, wherein one dimension of the three-dimensional data has time information and the other dimension of the three-dimensional data has space information; the one-dimensional data and the other dimension of the data are combined to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data; at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data is encoded to obtain a space-time encoding result, and the artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image is performed based on the space-time encoding result. Compared with encoding in the time dimension or the space dimension alone, the above technical solution, through the combined space-time encoding process, makes the relative proportion of artifact signals and effective signals in the intravascular ultrasound image more stable, so that while removing as many artifact signals as possible, as many effective signals as possible can be retained.

[0021] It should be understood that the contents described in this section are not intended to identify the key or important features of the embodiments of the present invention, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Other features of the present invention will become easily understood through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0023] Figure 1a is a schematic diagram of an intravascular ultrasound image;

[0024] Figure 1b is with Figure 1a Schematic diagram of the corresponding artifact removal results;

[0025] Figure 2 is a flow chart of an artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3a is a schematic diagram of an intravascular ultrasound image in an artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3b According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for removing artifacts suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging is provided. Figure 3a Schematic diagram of the corresponding artifact removal results;

[0028] Figure 4is a flow chart of another artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5 is a flow chart of another artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6 is a flowchart of an optional example of another artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 7 is a structural block diagram of an artifact removal device applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 8 It is a structural schematic diagram of an artifact removal device for implementing an artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the scheme of the present invention, the technical scheme in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present invention described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. The situations of "target", "original", etc. are similar and will not be repeated here. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device comprising a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0035] Before introducing the embodiment of the present invention, the application scenario of the embodiment of the present invention is first exemplified. For example, assuming that the ultrasonic transducer receives an electronic signal of a preset frequency at time t, the piezoelectric ceramic in the ultrasonic transducer can convert the electronic signal into an ultrasonic wave during the period t1-t2 (t1 is later than t), and at a certain moment t3 during the period t1-t2, the ultrasonic transducer changes from the transmitting mode to the receiving mode, so that the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic transducer during the period t3-t2 includes the transmitted ultrasonic wave and the returned ultrasonic wave (i.e., the echo). The transmitted ultrasonic wave is reflected as an artifact signal in the ultrasonic image, and the echo is reflected as a valid signal in the ultrasonic image, and the valid signal is usually blocked by the artifact signal.

[0036] As another example, the catheters used in IVUS imaging systems are mainly straight catheters, and the diameter of the blood vessel is usually significantly larger than the diameter of the catheter, which means that when the catheter is inside the blood vessel, the position of the catheter has a tendency to stick to the wall. At the same time, the catheter is usually a guidewire rapid exchange catheter, that is, the catheter is only guided and positioned by a guidewire in the shorter part of the head end, so the probability of sticking to the wall is greater. In addition, human blood vessels vary greatly from person to person, with different sizes and shapes, which makes it inevitable that the catheter will stick to the wall in the blood vessel. When the catheter is attached to the wall, the blood vessel wall close to the catheter is the focus of the doctor's attention when reading the IVUS image, but it will be blocked by the artifact signal, so the need for artifact removal is even stronger at this time.

[0037] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of an artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment can be applicable to the case of performing artifact removal on intravascular ultrasound images. The method can be executed by an artifact removal device applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The device can be implemented by software and / or hardware. The device can be integrated on an artifact removal device applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging. The artifact removal device can be various user terminals or servers.

[0038] See also Figure 2 The method of the embodiment of the present invention specifically includes the following steps:

[0039] S110, acquiring an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, one dimension of which has time information and another dimension of which has spatial information.

[0040] The target blood vessel may be understood as a blood vessel to be subjected to intravascular ultrasound imaging. The intravascular ultrasound image may be understood as an image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on the target blood vessel. In the embodiment of the present invention, the image is represented by three-dimensional data, one-dimensional data M in the three-dimensional data has time information and another-dimensional data N has space information. As for whether another-dimensional data K in the three-dimensional data other than the one-dimensional data M and the another-dimensional data N has time information and / or space information, no specific limitation is made herein.

[0041] S120, merging the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data.

[0042] The one-dimensional data M and the other-dimensional data N are combined to obtain space-time data MN having both time information and space information, that is, joint space-time space-time data MN.

[0043] Further, based on the space-time data MN, the three-dimensional data is converted into two-dimensional data.

[0044] S130, encode at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data to obtain a space-time encoding result, and remove artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the space-time encoding result.

[0045] Wherein, at least the space-time data MN in the two-dimensional data is encoded to obtain a space-time encoding result, and then artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image can be removed based on the space-time encoding result.

[0046] On this basis, in order to prove that the artifact removal process described in the embodiment of the present invention can retain the valid signal as much as possible while removing the artifact signal, an exemplary description is given below with reference to specific examples.

[0047] For example, see Figure 3a , where the highlighted part in the red frame is the artifact signal, and the valid signal in the red frame is blocked by the artifact signal. After removing the artifact signal, see Figure 3b There is a clear boundary in the red frame on the right, and there are clear bright spots in the red frame on the left. These are valid signals retained while removing artifact signals.

[0048] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention is to obtain an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by intravascular ultrasound imaging of a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, wherein one dimension of the three-dimensional data has time information and the other dimension of the three-dimensional data has space information; the one-dimensional data and the other dimension of the data are combined to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data; at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data is encoded to obtain a space-time encoding result, and the artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image is performed based on the space-time encoding result. Compared with encoding in the time dimension or the space dimension alone, the above technical solution, through the combined space-time encoding process, makes the relative proportion of artifact signals and effective signals in the intravascular ultrasound image more stable, so that while removing as many artifact signals as possible, as many effective signals as possible can be retained.

[0049] Figure 4 It is a flowchart of another artifact removal method suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging provided in an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is optimized based on the above-mentioned technical solutions. In this embodiment, optionally, the space-time data is the data of the intravascular ultrasound image in the space-time dimension, then at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data is encoded to obtain a space-time coding result, including: for each scan line of the intravascular ultrasound image, according to the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension, the scan line is encoded to obtain a scan line coding result; according to the scan line coding results corresponding to all the scan lines, the space-time coding result corresponding to the space-time data is obtained. Among them, the explanation of the terms that are the same or corresponding to the above-mentioned embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0050] See also Figure 4 The method of this embodiment may specifically include the following steps:

[0051] S210. Acquire an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, one dimension of which has time information and another dimension of which has spatial information.

[0052] S220, merging one-dimensional data and another-dimensional data to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data, wherein the space-time data is the data of the intravascular ultrasound image in the space-time dimension.

[0053] Among them, the space-time dimension can be understood as the dimension obtained by combining the space dimension and the time dimension. Correspondingly, the space-time data is the data of the intravascular ultrasound image in this space-time dimension.

[0054] S230 . For each scan line of the intravascular ultrasound image, encode the scan line according to the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension to obtain a scan line encoding result.

[0055] For each scan line in the intravascular ultrasound image, the scan line is encoded according to its position in the space-time dimension to obtain a scan line encoding result. Through this step, a scan line encoding result corresponding to each scan line in the intravascular ultrasound image can be obtained.

[0056] S240 , obtaining space-time coding results corresponding to the space-time data according to the scan line coding results corresponding to all the scan lines, and performing artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the space-time coding results.

[0057] Among them, according to the encoding results of all scan lines obtained through the above steps, the space-time encoding result corresponding to the space-time data can be obtained, and then the artifact removal process is performed based on the space-time encoding result.

[0058] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention performs the encoding process of the scan line through the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension, and then can accurately obtain the space-time coding result corresponding to the space-time data based on the scan line coding result corresponding to each scan line in the intravascular ultrasound image.

[0059] An optional technical solution is to encode the scan line according to the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension to obtain the scan line encoding result, including:

[0060] obtaining the number of scan lines in the intravascular ultrasound image;

[0061] The scan lines are encoded according to the number of scan lines and the positions of the scan lines in the space-time dimension to obtain scan line encoding results.

[0062] The number of scan lines may be understood as the number of all scan lines in the intravascular ultrasound image. The number of scan lines is obtained, and then the encoding process of the scan lines may be performed according to the number and position of the scan lines.

[0063] On this basis, optionally, the scan line encoding process can be performed by the following formula:

[0064]

[0065] Among them, PE1 pos Represents the scan line encoding result, pos represents the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension, that is, pos∈[1,MN] is the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension; N represents the number of scan lines; PRF represents the pulse emission frequency corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image.

[0066] The above technical solution realizes accurate encoding of the scan lines by utilizing the number of all scan lines in the intravascular ultrasound image and combining the positions of the scan lines in the space-time dimension.

[0067] On this basis, optionally, the three-dimensional data is represented by a three-dimensional array of M×N×K, and the two-dimensional data is represented by a two-dimensional array of MN×K;

[0068] Among them, M represents the number of frames, and the M dimension has time information; N represents the number of scan lines, and the N dimension has spatial information; K represents the number of sampling points on each scan line.

[0069] Among them, in the process of intravascular ultrasound imaging of the target blood vessel, each frame of the intravascular ultrasound image is obtained sequentially, so the M dimension is continuous in time, that is, it has time information, but is unknown in space, that is, it lacks spatial information.

[0070] The N scan lines in a frame of intravascular ultrasound image scan different positions in the target blood vessel, so the N dimension has spatial information. It should be noted that in the N dimension, although the spatial information can be linked to the time information through speed, the time information is unstable, so the above technical solution is to obtain the space-time data in the space-time dimension MN by merging the M dimension and the N dimension.

[0071] The number of sampling points K can be understood as the number of sampling points on a scan line. In the present technical solution, the number can be considered as the spatial domain parameter of the blind area of ​​the intravascular ultrasound image before artifact removal. It should be noted that the K dimension does not have time information and space information.

[0072] Figure 5 It is a flowchart of another artifact removal method suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging provided in an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is optimized based on the above-mentioned technical solutions. In this embodiment, optionally, the two-dimensional data is based on the space-time data and another dimensional data in the three-dimensional data except the one-dimensional data and the other dimensional data, and the artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image is performed based on the space-time coding result, which may include: obtaining a coded image based on the space-time coding result and the data coding result of the one-dimensional data; and removing the artifact of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the coded image. Among them, the explanation of the terms that are the same or corresponding to the above-mentioned embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0073] See also Figure 5 The method of this embodiment may specifically include the following steps:

[0074] S310, acquiring an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, one dimension of which has time information and another dimension of which has spatial information.

[0075] S320, merging one-dimensional data and another dimensional data to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data, wherein the two-dimensional data is based on the space-time data and another dimensional data in the three-dimensional data except the one-dimensional data and the another dimensional data.

[0076] Among them, the one-dimensional data K in the two-dimensional data can be encoded to obtain a data encoding result. On this basis, combined with the application scenarios that may be involved in the embodiments of the present invention, the above encoding process can be performed based on a linear chirp encoding method to obtain a data encoding result. The starting frequency and the ending frequency of the linear chirp encoding can be determined based on the amplitude-frequency characteristic curve of the ultrasonic sensor; of course, the above encoding process can also be performed based on other encoding methods, which can be set according to actual needs and is not specifically limited here.

[0077] S330. Encode at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data to obtain a space-time coding result.

[0078] S340, obtaining a coded image based on the space-time coding result and the data coding result of the one-dimensional data, and performing artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the coded image.

[0079] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention obtains a coded image through the coding results corresponding to each dimension of the two-dimensional data, thereby realizing the artifact removal process based on the coded image.

[0080] An optional technical solution for removing artifacts from intravascular ultrasound images based on coded images includes:

[0081] For a blind area in the intravascular ultrasound image, performing artifact removal on an area in the coded image corresponding to the blind area to obtain an artifact removed image, wherein the blind area is an area where an artifact signal in the intravascular ultrasound image is located;

[0082] The artifact-removed image is decoded to complete the artifact removal process of the intravascular ultrasound image.

[0083] The blind area can be understood as the area where the artifact signal in the intravascular ultrasound image is located in the intravascular ultrasound image. In combination with the application scenarios that may be involved in the embodiments of the present invention, usually, the blind area contains not only artifact signals but also effective signals that can reflect the intravascular conditions of the target blood vessel.

[0084] Artifacts are removed from the area in the coded image corresponding to the blind area to obtain an artifact-removed image, which is then decoded, thereby completing the artifact removal process of the intravascular ultrasound image.

[0085] In the above technical solution, after removing the artifact signal in the coded image, the obtained artifact-removed image is decoded to obtain an IVUS image that can be read by a doctor.

[0086] In order to better understand the above-mentioned various technical solutions and their related solutions as a whole, the following is an exemplary description with reference to specific examples. Figure 6 The specific implementation process is as follows:

[0087] 1. For an intravascular ultrasound image reconstructed based on an ultrasound radio frequency signal, obtain the spatial domain parameters of the blind area of ​​the intravascular ultrasound image, that is, the number K of sampling points on each scanning line.

[0088] At this time, the ultrasonic radio frequency signal is represented as a three-dimensional array of M×N×K, wherein M is the number of frames, and N is the number of scan lines in each frame of the intravascular ultrasonic image.

[0089] 2. Joint space-time coding, the optional coding schemes are:

[0090] The M×N×K three-dimensional array is represented as an MN×K two-dimensional array, and the following formula is used for encoding in the first dimension (i.e., the MN dimension):

[0091]

[0092] Among them, pos∈[1,MN] is the position of the scan line in the MN dimension, and PRF is the pulse transmission frequency.

[0093] In the second dimension (ie, K dimension), linear chirp coding is used for encoding, and its starting frequency and ending frequency are determined according to the amplitude-frequency characteristic curve of the ultrasonic sensor.

[0094] A coded image is obtained according to the coding results corresponding to the two dimensions.

[0095] 3. Joint space-time SVD filtering:

[0096] The performance of SVD filtering depends on the singular value λ i In order to remove the artifact signal, it is necessary to set the artifact threshold α. When {λ i, where \(i < n\), and discard them, and based on this, remove the artifact signals. That is, use the encoded image as the input of the SVD filtering algorithm, and combine the artifact threshold \(\alpha\) to filter the area corresponding to the blind area in the encoded image to remove the artifact signals in this area and obtain an artifact-removed image.

[0097] 4. Joint space-time decoding:

[0098] Refer to the joint space-time encoding process to perform joint space-time decoding on the artifact-removed image, thus completing the artifact removal process of the intravascular ultrasound image.

[0099] On this basis, a parameter adjuster can be used to adjust the artifact threshold \(\alpha\) by analyzing the artifact removal effect of the intravascular ultrasound image, and use the adjusted artifact threshold \(\alpha\) for the artifact removal process of the next frame of the intravascular ultrasound image of the intravascular ultrasound image.

[0100] In the above example, on the basis of adjusting the artifact threshold \(\alpha\), by combining the M dimension and the N dimension, the adjustment process of the artifact threshold \(\alpha\) can be made more accurate, so that while removing as many artifact signals as possible, as many effective signals as possible can be retained, thereby improving the artifact removal effect.

[0101] Figure 7 The structure block diagram of the artifact removal device applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by the embodiment of the present invention, this device is used to execute the artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by any of the above embodiments. This device and the artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging in the above embodiments belong to the same inventive concept. For the details not described in detail in the embodiment of the artifact removal device applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging, reference can be made to the embodiment of the artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging. See Figure 7 , this device may specifically include: an intravascular ultrasound image acquisition module 410, a space-time data obtaining module 420, and an artifact removal module 430.

[0102] Among them, the intravascular ultrasound image acquisition module 410 is used to acquire an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel. Among them, the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, and one-dimensional data in the three-dimensional data has time information and the other-dimensional data has spatial information;

[0103] The space-time data obtaining module 420 is used to combine the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data to obtain space-time data with both time information and spatial information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data;

[0104] The artifact removal module 430 is used to encode at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data to obtain a space-time encoding result, and remove artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the space-time encoding result.

[0105] Optionally, the space-time data is data of the intravascular ultrasound image in the space-time dimension, and the artifact removal module 430 may include:

[0106] A scanning line coding result obtaining unit is used to encode each scanning line of the intravascular ultrasound image according to the position of the scanning line in the space-time dimension to obtain a scanning line coding result;

[0107] The space-time coding result obtaining unit is used to obtain the space-time coding result corresponding to the space-time data according to the scan line coding results corresponding to all the scan lines.

[0108] On this basis, optionally, the scan line encoding result obtaining unit may include:

[0109] A scan line number obtaining subunit is used to obtain the scan line number of scan lines in the intravascular ultrasound image;

[0110] The scan line encoding result obtaining subunit is used to encode the scan lines according to the number of scan lines and the positions of the scan lines in the space-time dimension to obtain the scan line encoding results.

[0111] On this basis, optionally, the three-dimensional data is represented by a three-dimensional array of M×N×K, and the two-dimensional data is represented by a two-dimensional array of MN×K;

[0112] Among them, M represents the number of frames, and the M dimension has time information; N represents the number of scan lines, and the N dimension has spatial information; K represents the number of sampling points on each scan line.

[0113] Optionally, the two-dimensional data is composed of the space-time data and another dimensional data in addition to the one-dimensional data and the other dimensional data in the three-dimensional data, and the artifact removal module 430 may include:

[0114] A coded image obtaining unit, used for obtaining a coded image based on the space-time coding result and the data coding result of the one-dimensional data;

[0115] The coded image unit is used for removing artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the coded image.

[0116] On this basis, optionally, the above-mentioned artifact removal device may further include:

[0117] The data encoding result obtaining module is used to encode the one-dimensional data based on the linear chirp encoding method to obtain the data encoding result.

[0118] Alternatively, the coded image unit is specifically used for:

[0119] For a blind area in the intravascular ultrasound image, performing artifact removal on an area in the coded image corresponding to the blind area to obtain an artifact removed image, wherein the blind area is an area where an artifact signal in the intravascular ultrasound image is located;

[0120] The artifact-removed image is decoded to complete the artifact removal process of the intravascular ultrasound image.

[0121] The artifact removal device for intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by the embodiment of the present invention obtains an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel through an intravascular ultrasound image acquisition module, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, wherein one-dimensional data in the three-dimensional data has time information and another-dimensional data has space information; through a space-time data acquisition module, the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data are merged to obtain space-time data having both time information and space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data; through an artifact removal module, at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data is encoded to obtain a space-time encoding result, and then the artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image is performed based on the space-time encoding result. Compared with encoding in the time dimension or the space dimension alone, the above device, through the combined space-time encoding process, makes the relative proportion of artifact signals and effective signals in the intravascular ultrasound image more stable, so that while removing as many artifact signals as possible, as many effective signals as possible can be retained.

[0122] The artifact removal device for intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by the embodiment of the present invention can execute the artifact removal method for intravascular ultrasound imaging provided by any embodiment of the present invention, and has the corresponding functional modules and beneficial effects of the execution method.

[0123] It is worth noting that in the above-mentioned embodiment of the artifact removal device suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging, the various units and modules included are only divided according to functional logic, but are not limited to the above-mentioned division, as long as the corresponding functions can be achieved; in addition, the specific names of the functional units are only for the convenience of distinguishing each other, and are not used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0124] Figure 8A schematic diagram of the structure of an artifact removal device (hereinafter referred to as an artifact removal device) 10 suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging that can be used to implement an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The artifact removal device is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptop computers, desktop computers, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframe computers, and other suitable computers. The artifact removal device can also represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital processing, cellular phones, smart phones, wearable devices (such as helmets, glasses, watches, etc.) and other similar computing devices. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions are merely examples and are not intended to limit the implementation of the present invention described and / or claimed herein.

[0125] like Figure 8 As shown, the artifact removal device 10 may include at least one processor 11, and a memory connected to the at least one processor 11, such as a read-only memory (ROM) 12, a random access memory (RAM) 13, etc., wherein the memory stores a computer program that can be executed by at least one processor, and the processor 11 can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to the computer program stored in the read-only memory (ROM) 12 or the computer program loaded from the storage unit 18 to the random access memory (RAM) 13. In the RAM 13, various programs and data required for the operation of the artifact removal device 10 can also be stored. The processor 11, the ROM 12, and the RAM 13 are connected to each other through a bus 14. An input / output (I / O) interface 15 is also connected to the bus 14.

[0126] A number of components in the artifact removal device 10 are connected to the I / O interface 15, including: an input unit 16, such as a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output unit 17, such as various types of displays, speakers, etc.; a storage unit 18, such as a disk, an optical disk, etc.; and a communication unit 19, such as a network card, a modem, a wireless communication transceiver, etc. The communication unit 19 allows the artifact removal device 10 to exchange information / data with other devices through a computer network such as the Internet and / or various telecommunication networks.

[0127] The processor 11 may be a variety of general and / or special processing components with processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of the processor 11 include, but are not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), various dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) computing chips, various processors running machine learning model algorithms, a digital signal processor (DSP), and any appropriate processor, controller, microcontroller, etc. The processor 11 performs the various methods and processes described above, such as an artifact removal method.

[0128] In some embodiments, the artifact removal method may be implemented as a computer program, which is tangibly contained in a computer-readable storage medium, such as a storage unit 18. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and / or installed on the artifact removal device 10 via the ROM 12 and / or the communication unit 19. When the computer program is loaded into the RAM 13 and executed by the processor 11, one or more steps of the artifact removal method described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the processor 11 may be configured to perform the artifact removal method in any other appropriate manner (e.g., by means of firmware).

[0129] Various implementations of the systems and techniques described above herein can be implemented in digital electronic circuit systems, integrated circuit systems, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application specific standard products (ASSPs), systems on chips (SOCs), load programmable logic devices (CPLDs), computer hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include: being implemented in one or more computer programs that can be executed and / or interpreted on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which can be a special purpose or general purpose programmable processor that can receive data and instructions from a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device, and transmit data and instructions to the storage system, the at least one input device, and the at least one output device.

[0130] Computer programs for implementing the methods of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These computer programs may be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, so that when the computer program is executed by the processor, the functions / operations specified in the flow chart and / or block diagram are implemented. The computer program may be executed entirely on the machine, partially on the machine, partially on the machine as a stand-alone software package and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0131] In the context of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium may be a tangible medium that may contain or store a computer program for use by or in combination with an instruction execution system, device or equipment. A computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, devices or equipment, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Alternatively, a computer-readable storage medium may be a machine-readable signal medium. A more specific example of a machine-readable storage medium may include an electrical connection based on one or more lines, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0132] To provide interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described herein may be implemented on an artifact removal device having: a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user; and a keyboard and pointing device (e.g., a mouse or trackball) through which the user can provide input to the artifact removal device. Other types of devices may also be used to provide interaction with the user; for example, the feedback provided to the user may be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and the input from the user may be received in any form (including acoustic input, voice input, or tactile input).

[0133] The systems and techniques described herein may be implemented in a computing system that includes backend components (e.g., as a data server), or a computing system that includes middleware components (e.g., an application server), or a computing system that includes frontend components (e.g., a user computer with a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with implementations of the systems and techniques described herein), or a computing system that includes any combination of such backend components, middleware components, or frontend components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include: a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a blockchain network, and the Internet.

[0134] A computing system may include a client and a server. The client and the server are generally remote from each other and usually interact through a communication network. The client and server relationship is generated by computer programs running on the corresponding computers and having a client-server relationship with each other. The server may be a cloud server, also known as a cloud computing server or cloud host, which is a host product in the cloud computing service system to solve the defects of difficult management and weak business scalability in traditional physical hosts and VPS services.

[0135] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to reorder, add or delete steps. For example, the steps described in the present invention can be executed in parallel, sequentially or in different orders, as long as the desired results of the technical solution of the present invention can be achieved, and this document does not limit this.

[0136] The above specific implementations do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and substitutions can be made according to design requirements and other factors. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for removing artifacts in intravascular ultrasound imaging, characterized in that: include: Acquire an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, one dimension of which has time information and another dimension of which has spatial information; Merging the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data to obtain space-time data having both the time information and the space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data; At least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data is encoded to obtain a space-time encoding result, and artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image are removed based on the space-time encoding result.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The space-time data is data of the intravascular ultrasound image in the space-time dimension, and the step of encoding at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data to obtain a space-time encoding result includes: For each scan line of the intravascular ultrasound image, encoding the scan line according to the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension to obtain a scan line encoding result; The space-time coding result corresponding to the space-time data is obtained according to the scan line coding results respectively corresponding to all the scan lines.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The step of encoding the scan line according to the position of the scan line in the space-time dimension to obtain a scan line encoding result includes: Obtaining the number of scan lines in the intravascular ultrasound image; The scan lines are encoded according to the number of scan lines and the positions of the scan lines in the space-time dimension to obtain scan line encoding results.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The three-dimensional data is represented by a three-dimensional array of M×N×K, and the two-dimensional data is represented by a two-dimensional array of MN×K; Among them, M represents the number of frames, and the M dimension has the time information; N represents the number of scan lines, and the N dimension has the spatial information; K represents the number of sampling points on each of the scan lines.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The two-dimensional data is composed of the space-time data and another one-dimensional data in the three-dimensional data except the one-dimensional data and the another one-dimensional data, and the artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the space-time coding result includes: Based on the space-time coding result and the data coding result of the one-dimensional data, a coded image is obtained; Artifact removal of the intravascular ultrasound image is performed based on the encoded image.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that Also includes: Based on a linear chirp coding method, the one-dimensional data is encoded to obtain the data encoding result.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The removing artifacts from the intravascular ultrasound image based on the coded image comprises: For a blind area in the intravascular ultrasound image, performing artifact removal on an area in the coded image corresponding to the blind area to obtain an artifact removed image, wherein the blind area is an area in the intravascular ultrasound image where the artifact signal is located; The artifact-removed image is decoded to complete the artifact removal process of the intravascular ultrasound image.

8. An artifact removal device suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging, characterized in that: include: An intravascular ultrasound image acquisition module, used to acquire an intravascular ultrasound image obtained by performing intravascular ultrasound imaging on a target blood vessel, wherein the intravascular ultrasound image is represented by three-dimensional data, one dimension of which has time information and another dimension of which has space information; A space-time data obtaining module, used for combining the one-dimensional data and the other-dimensional data to obtain space-time data having both the time information and the space information, so as to convert the three-dimensional data into two-dimensional data based on the space-time data; The artifact removal module is used to encode at least the space-time data in the two-dimensional data to obtain a space-time encoding result, and remove artifacts of the intravascular ultrasound image based on the space-time encoding result.

9. An artifact removal device suitable for intravascular ultrasound imaging, characterized in that: include: at least one processor; as well as a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein, The memory stores a computer program executable by the at least one processor, and the computer program is executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor performs the artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, and the computer instructions are used to enable a processor to implement the artifact removal method applicable to intravascular ultrasound imaging as described in any one of claims 1 to 7 when executed.

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