Ultrasonic imaging system and method

Abstract

According to the ultrasonic imaging system and method, ultrasonic waves are emitted to tissue of interest containing the uterus, and corresponding ultrasonic echo signals are received; and acquiring three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus according to the ultrasonic echo signal, acquiring left-right direction information of the uterus with the left-right direction of the human body as reference in the three-dimensional ultrasonic data, and displaying the left-right direction information of the uterus. According to the invention, the user can intuitively obtain the left-right direction information of the uterus with the left-right direction of the human body as the reference in the three-dimensional ultrasonic data, which is very convenient and particularly very friendly to new users.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of ultrasonic imaging, and in particular to an ultrasonic imaging system and method. Background Art

[0002] Gynecological uterine examination based on three-dimensional ultrasound can easily check the uterine lesions, especially in the coronal imaging of the three-dimensional ultrasound uterus, which can more intuitively show the location and condition of the lesions, such as Figure 1 The figure shows an example, in which boxes 1 and 2 intuitively display the location and condition of the lesion.

[0003] After collecting 3D data and obtaining the imaging results, the ultrasound doctor needs to determine the location of the lesion structure in the uterus. Figure 1 For example, Figure 1 Middle lesion 2 is located on the right side of the middle of the uterine cavity. However, when judging the actual position and direction, the doctor can better judge the position of the cervix and the fundus of the uterus through the ultrasound image. However, for the left and right direction of the uterine cavity, due to the influence of factors such as the image acquisition direction, the rendering imaging direction and the display method settings of different manufacturers, the left and right of the ultrasound tissue in the ultrasound image is not necessarily consistent with the actual left and right of the patient's body. This makes the doctor often confused, hesitant and wrong when judging the left and right of the uterus or uterine cavity shown in the ultrasound image and the actual left and right of the patient's body. This is more obvious in inexperienced doctors or doctors who are new to new three-dimensional ultrasound imaging equipment. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an ultrasonic imaging system and method, which are described in detail below.

[0005] According to a first aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0006] An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to tissue of interest including the uterus, and receiving corresponding ultrasound echo signals;

[0007] A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals;

[0008] a processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus; and

[0009] A display; wherein:

[0010] The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus;

[0011] The processor obtains left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body according to the position information of the uterus and the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging;

[0012] The processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus.

[0013] In one embodiment, the processor obtains the position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, including:

[0014] The processor obtains the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression; or,

[0015] The processor segments the target tissue using a segmentation algorithm, and obtains the position information of the uterus based on the morphology of the segmented target tissue, wherein the target tissue is the uterus or the endometrium.

[0016] In one embodiment, the position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the fundus or the uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal os of the cervix.

[0017] In one embodiment, the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

[0018] In one embodiment, the processor:

[0019] When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0020] When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0021] When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0022] When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0023] In one embodiment, the processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus, including:

[0024] The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and the processor controls the display to display the coronal plane image and marks the left-right direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image; or,

[0025] The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the processor mirrors the coronal plane image along the left-right central axis, and controls the display to display the mirrored coronal plane image.

[0026] According to a second aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0027] An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to tissue of interest including the uterus, and receiving corresponding ultrasound echo signals;

[0028] A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals;

[0029] A processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus;

[0030] A display; wherein:

[0031] The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus;

[0032] The processor obtains direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the direction of the human body as a reference according to the direction information of the uterus and the direction information of the ultrasound probe during imaging;

[0033] The processor controls the display to display the direction information of the uterus.

[0034] According to a third aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0035] An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to a tissue of interest including a uterus, and receiving a corresponding ultrasound echo signal; the ultrasound probe has a first mark and / or a first structure for indicating a first position of the ultrasound probe;

[0036] A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals;

[0037] a processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus; and

[0038] A display; wherein:

[0039] The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus;

[0040] The processor obtains left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body according to the position information of the uterus;

[0041] The processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus.

[0042] In one embodiment, the processor obtains the position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, including:

[0043] The processor obtains the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression; or,

[0044] The processor segments the target tissue using a segmentation algorithm, and obtains the position information of the uterus based on the morphology of the segmented target tissue, wherein the target tissue is the uterus or the endometrium.

[0045] In one embodiment, the position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the fundus or the uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal os of the cervix.

[0046] In one embodiment, the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

[0047] In one embodiment, the processor:

[0048] When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line, the direction in which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0049] When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line, the direction toward which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0050] In one embodiment, the processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus, including:

[0051] The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and the processor controls the display to display the coronal plane image and marks the left-right direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image; or,

[0052] The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the processor mirrors the coronal plane image along the left-right central axis, and controls the display to display the mirrored coronal plane image.

[0053] In one embodiment, the processor further executes:

[0054] Output first reminder information, where the first reminder information is used to remind the operator to determine whether the orientation of the ultrasound probe during imaging is forward or reverse based on the first identifier and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe.

[0055] In one embodiment, the processor further executes:

[0056] Output second reminder information, where the second reminder information is used to remind the operator to hold the ultrasound probe in a forward direction during use of the ultrasound probe based on the first mark and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe.

[0057] According to a fourth aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0058] An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to a tissue of interest including a uterus, and receiving a corresponding ultrasound echo signal; the ultrasound probe has a first mark and / or a first structure for indicating a first position of the ultrasound probe;

[0059] A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals;

[0060] a processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus; and

[0061] A display; wherein:

[0062] The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus;

[0063] The processor obtains direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the direction of the human body as a reference according to the position information of the uterus;

[0064] The processor controls the display to display the direction information of the uterus.

[0065] According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound display method, including:

[0066] transmitting ultrasound waves to tissue of interest including the uterus;

[0067] receiving corresponding ultrasonic echo signals;

[0068] Acquiring three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus according to the ultrasound echo signal;

[0069] Acquire left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0070] The left and right direction information of the uterus is displayed.

[0071] In one embodiment, the step of obtaining the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body includes:

[0072] Obtaining information about the position of the uterus;

[0073] The left-right direction information of the uterus is determined at least based on the position information of the uterus.

[0074] In one embodiment, the obtaining of left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body includes: also obtaining position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging;

[0075] Determining the left-right direction information of the uterus at least based on the position information of the uterus includes: determining the left-right direction information of the uterus based on the position information of the uterus and the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging.

[0076] In one embodiment, the obtaining of the position information of the uterus includes:

[0077] Acquiring the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression; or,

[0078] The target tissue is segmented by a segmentation algorithm, and the position information of the uterus is obtained on the segmented target tissue according to its morphology, and the target tissue is the uterus or the endometrium.

[0079] In one embodiment, the position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the fundus or the uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal os of the cervix.

[0080] In one embodiment, the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

[0081] In one embodiment:

[0082] When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line, the direction in which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0083] When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line, the direction toward which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0084] In one embodiment:

[0085] When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0086] When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0087] When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body;

[0088] When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0089] In one embodiment, the display of the left-right direction information of the uterus includes:

[0090] Determine and display a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and mark the left-right direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image; or,

[0091] A coronal plane image of the uterus is determined from the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the coronal plane image is mirrored along the left-right central axis, and the mirrored coronal plane image is displayed.

[0092] According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment provides an ultrasound imaging system, comprising:

[0093] An ultrasonic probe, used for transmitting ultrasonic waves to the tissue of interest and receiving corresponding ultrasonic echo signals;

[0094] a transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals; and

[0095] A processor is used to execute the method described in any embodiment of the present invention.

[0096] According to an eighth aspect, an embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium, comprising a program, wherein the program can be executed by a processor to implement a method as described in any embodiment herein.

[0097] According to the ultrasound imaging system, method and computer-readable storage medium of the above-mentioned embodiments, three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus is acquired according to the ultrasonic echo signal, direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the direction of the human body as a reference is acquired, and the direction information of the uterus is displayed, so that the user can intuitively obtain the direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the direction of the human body as a reference, which is very convenient and especially friendly to new users. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0098] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound image;

[0099] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasound image;

[0100] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic imaging system in an embodiment;

[0101] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic imaging system in an embodiment;

[0102] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix in one embodiment;

[0103] FIG6(a) and FIG6(b) are two schematic diagrams showing left-right direction information of the uterus;

[0104] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of obtaining the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix based on two-dimensional section or three-dimensional data target positioning or direct regression;

[0105] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of obtaining the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix through a segmentation algorithm based on two-dimensional sections or three-dimensional data;

[0106] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a flow chart of an ultrasound display method in an embodiment;

[0107] Fig.10 It is a schematic diagram of a process of obtaining direction information of the uterus in three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the direction of the human body in one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0108] The present invention is further described in detail below by specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Wherein similar elements in different embodiments adopt associated similar element numbers. In the following embodiments, many detailed descriptions are for making the present application better understood. However, those skilled in the art can easily recognize that some features can be omitted in different situations, or can be replaced by other elements, materials, methods. In some cases, some operations related to the present application are not shown or described in the specification, this is to avoid the core part of the present application being overwhelmed by too much description, and for those skilled in the art, it is not necessary to describe these related operations in detail, and they can fully understand the related operations according to the description in the specification and the general technical knowledge in the art.

[0109] In addition, the features, operations or characteristics described in the specification can be combined in any appropriate manner to form various implementations. At the same time, the steps or actions in the method description can also be interchanged or adjusted in a manner that is obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the various sequences in the specification and the drawings are only for the purpose of clearly describing a certain embodiment and are not meant to be a required sequence, unless otherwise specified that a certain sequence must be followed.

[0110] The serial numbers of the components in this document, such as "first", "second", etc., are only used to distinguish the objects described and do not have any order or technical meaning. The "connection" and "coupling" mentioned in this application, unless otherwise specified, include direct and indirect connections (couplings).

[0111] When doctors judge the actual left and right direction of the uterus in ultrasound images, the left and right of the ultrasound tissue in the ultrasound image may not be consistent with the actual left and right of the patient's body due to factors such as the image acquisition direction, rendering imaging direction and display method settings of different manufacturers. When judging the location of the lesion, experienced doctors need to combine the probe direction, the uterus direction and the imaging method of the equipment to comprehensively judge the actual direction of the uterus in the ultrasound image, such as the front-to-back direction or the left-to-right direction, so as to further judge whether the lesion position in the ultrasound image corresponds to the actual position of the patient. Inexperienced doctors or doctors who are new to new three-dimensional ultrasound imaging equipment often become confused, hesitant and make mistakes in this link.

[0112] For example, in a three-dimensional ultrasound imaging device, the imaging result will not be marked with the position of the patient's body, but only the direction of the imaging. Figure 2 is a common example. Figure 2 Point 1 on the A surface and point 3 on the D surface represent the same direction; point 2 on the B surface and point 4 on the D surface represent the same direction; however, the direction on the D surface rendering image is not necessarily consistent with the left and right direction of the human body. Therefore, the doctor needs to infer the actual direction corresponding to the human body based on the correspondence between the probe direction, the rendering image and the 3D data direction, and the 3D data and the human body direction.

[0113] In some embodiments of the present application, based on the position information of the uterus, such as the position information of the fundus of the uterus relative to the cervix and the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging, the direction information of the uterus with reference to the human body in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is automatically determined and the information is intuitively displayed, such as the left and right direction information with reference to the left and right directions of the human body and the information is intuitively displayed.

[0114] Please refer to Figure 3 The ultrasound imaging system of some embodiments of the present invention includes an ultrasound probe 10, a transmission and reception control circuit 20, a processor 30 and a display 40, which are described in detail below.

[0115] The ultrasonic probe 10 is used to transmit ultrasonic waves to an area of ​​interest, such as an area of ​​interest including a uterus, and to receive corresponding ultrasonic echo signals. In some specific embodiments, the ultrasonic probe 10 includes a plurality of array elements, which are used to realize the mutual conversion between electrical pulse signals and ultrasonic waves, so as to realize the transmission of ultrasonic waves to an area of ​​interest including a uterus, for example, and to receive ultrasonic echoes reflected by the tissue, so as to obtain ultrasonic echo signals. In some embodiments, the plurality of array elements included in the ultrasonic probe 10 can be arranged in a row to form a linear array. In some embodiments, the plurality of array elements included in the ultrasonic probe 10 are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form a planar array. The array element can transmit ultrasonic waves according to an excitation electrical signal, or convert the received ultrasonic waves into electrical signals. Therefore, each array element can be used to transmit ultrasonic waves to an area of ​​interest, and can also be used to receive ultrasonic echoes returned by the tissue. When performing ultrasonic testing, which array elements are used to transmit ultrasonic waves and which array elements are used to receive ultrasonic waves can be controlled by a transmission sequence and a reception sequence, or the array elements can be controlled to transmit ultrasonic waves or receive ultrasonic echoes in time slots. All array elements participating in ultrasonic emission may be excited by electrical signals simultaneously, thereby simultaneously emitting ultrasonic waves; or array elements participating in ultrasonic emission may also be excited by a number of electrical signals with a certain time interval, thereby continuously emitting ultrasonic waves with a certain time interval.

[0116] In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 may be a one-dimensional ultrasound probe provided with a mechanical arm, and the mechanical arm is used to drive the one-dimensional ultrasound probe to move in space. In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 may be a volume probe. In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 may be a planar array probe.

[0117] Please refer to Figure 4 In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 is provided with a direction sensor 11, and the direction sensor 11 is used to obtain the orientation information of the ultrasound probe. The direction sensor 11 can be implemented in many ways, for example, by a gyroscope.

[0118] In some embodiments, the ultrasound probe 10 has a first mark and / or a first structure for indicating a first orientation of the ultrasound probe. The first orientation may be the forward or reverse orientation of the ultrasound probe. The first mark may be, for example, text, an image, or a prompt, which is disposed on the front of the ultrasound probe to prompt the user how to hold the ultrasound probe 10 in a standard forward orientation without mistakenly holding the ultrasound probe 10 upside down.

[0119] The transmitting and receiving control circuit 20 is used to control the ultrasonic probe 10 to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals. For example, the transmitting and receiving control circuit 20 is used to control the ultrasonic probe 10 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the tissue of interest, such as the uterus, and to control the ultrasonic probe 10 to receive ultrasonic echoes reflected by the tissue. In some specific embodiments, the transmitting and receiving control circuit 20 is used to generate a transmitting sequence and a receiving sequence, and output them to the ultrasonic probe 10. The transmitting sequence is used to control part or all of the multiple array elements in the ultrasonic probe 10 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the tissue of interest, such as the uterus. The parameters of the transmitting sequence include the number of array elements used for transmission and ultrasonic transmission parameters (such as amplitude, frequency, number of wave transmissions, transmission interval, transmission angle, waveform and / or focus position, etc.). The receiving sequence is used to control part or all of the multiple array elements to receive the echo of the ultrasonic wave after passing through the tissue. The parameters of the receiving sequence include the number of array elements used for reception and the receiving parameters of the echo (such as reception angle, depth, etc.). The ultrasonic parameters in the transmitting sequence and the echo parameters in the receiving sequence are different depending on the use of the ultrasonic echo or the image generated according to the ultrasonic echo.

[0120] The processor 30 is used to process the ultrasonic echo signal received by the ultrasonic probe 10. In some embodiments, the ultrasonic probe 10 transmits ultrasonic waves to the tissue of interest including the uterus, and receives the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal, and the processor 30 processes the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus. In some embodiments, the processor 30 processes the ultrasonic echo signal (i.e., the ultrasonic echo signal), and can perform one or more links of data processing, such as analog-to-digital conversion, signal demodulation, amplification, filtering, downsampling, and beamforming of the ultrasonic echo signal.

[0121] The display 40 may be used to display information, such as parameters and images calculated by the processor 40 .

[0122] The above is some description of the ultrasound imaging system.

[0123] In some embodiments, the processor 30 obtains the position information of the uterus based on the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, obtains the direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the direction of the human body based on the position information of the uterus and the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging, and controls the display 40 to display the direction information of the uterus with reference to the direction of the human body (which may be referred to as the direction information of the uterus), such as the front-back direction information with reference to the front-back direction of the human body (which may be referred to as the front-back direction information of the uterus), and the left-right direction information with reference to the left-right direction of the human body (which may be referred to as the left-right direction information of the uterus). Through the front-back direction information of the uterus, the user can also judge the left-right direction information of the uterus more intuitively.

[0124] Taking the left and right directions as an example, in some embodiments, the processor 30 obtains the position information of the uterus based on the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right directions of the human body based on the position information of the uterus, and controls the display 40 to display the left and right direction information of the uterus with reference to the left and right directions of the human body (which may be simply referred to as the left and right direction information of the uterus).

[0125] In some embodiments, the processor 30 defaults to the user holding the ultrasound probe 10 in a certain holding direction for imaging, for example, it defaults to the user holding the ultrasound probe 10 in a forward holding manner for imaging - the user can easily and correctly hold the ultrasound probe 10 (i.e., forward holding) without holding the ultrasound probe 10 upside down and performing imaging through the first mark and / or first structure on the ultrasound probe 10 for indicating the first orientation of the ultrasound probe.

[0126] In some embodiments where the ultrasound probe 10 is provided with a direction sensor 11 , the orientation information of the direction sensor 11 can be used to prompt the user whether the ultrasound probe 10 is held forward or backward.

[0127] Therefore, in some embodiments, the processor 30 obtains the orientation information of the ultrasound probe 10 during imaging through the direction sensor 11. When it is determined that the orientation information of the ultrasound probe 10 during imaging does not match the first orientation information, the processor 30 issues a prompt message. When it is determined that the orientation information of the ultrasound probe 10 during imaging matches the first orientation information, the processor 30 obtains the orientation information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the human body direction as a reference based on the orientation information of the uterus, such as the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix, for example, obtaining the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the left and right directions of the human body as a reference; wherein the processor 30 obtains the orientation information of the uterus, such as the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix, based on the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus; the processor 30 controls the display 40 to display the orientation information of the uterus with the human body direction as a reference, such as the left and right direction information of the uterus with the left and right directions of the human body as a reference (which may be referred to as the left and right direction information of the uterus). In some embodiments, the first orientation information is the forward direction of the ultrasound probe.

[0128] In some embodiments, the processor 30 is further configured to output a first reminder message, wherein the first reminder message is used to remind the operator / user to determine whether the orientation of the ultrasound probe during imaging is forward or reverse based on the first mark and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe. For example, the first reminder message is displayed by the display 40 to remind the user that the user can determine the current holding direction based on the first mark and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe.

[0129] In some embodiments, the processor 30 outputs a second reminder message, and the second reminder message is used to remind the operator to hold the ultrasound probe forwardly during use of the ultrasound probe based on the first mark and / or the first structure of the first position of the ultrasound probe. For example, after the processor 30 starts ultrasound imaging, the display 40 continuously displays the second reminder message during the imaging process to guide the user / operator to hold the ultrasound probe forward during the imaging process.

[0130] In some embodiments, the position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the uterine fundus or uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal os of the cervix. For example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine fundus relative to the internal os of the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine horn relative to the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine horn relative to the internal os of the cervix.

[0131] The fundus is the muscle layer at the bottom of the uterus. The uterine horns are where the end of the endometrium connects to the fallopian tubes. The cervix is ​​the part of the structure that connects the uterus to the vagina. The endocervical os is where the endometrium connects to the cervix.

[0132] In some embodiments, the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

[0133] In some embodiments, the reference point of the cervix and the internal cervical os can be the same point.

[0134] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is the fundus, the first uterine tissue being located on the left side of the reference line means that the fundus is located on the left side of the reference line as a whole, and the first uterine tissue being located on the right side of the reference line means that the fundus is located on the right side of the reference line as a whole. Figure 5 The figure shows a schematic diagram of the position information of the fundus relative to the second uterine tissue (cervix or internal cervical os) in two cases: anterior uterus and posterior uterus. In the figure, the black solid dots represent the reference points of the cervix or internal cervical os, and the dotted line represents the reference line, that is, a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through the reference points of the cervix or internal cervical os. It can be seen that in the example of the anterior uterus, the fundus is located on the left side of the reference line, and in the example of the posterior uterus, the fundus is located on the left side of the reference line.

[0135] The uterus includes two uterine horns. Therefore, in some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is a uterine horn, the first uterine tissue being located on the left side of the reference line means that both uterine horns are located on the left side of the reference line, and the first uterine tissue being located on the right side of the reference line means that both uterine horns are located on the right side of the reference line. For example Figure 5The figure shows a schematic diagram of the position information of the uterine horns relative to the second uterine tissue (cervix or internal cervical os) in two cases: anterior uterus and posterior uterus. In the figure, the black solid dots represent the reference points of the cervix or internal cervical os, and the dotted line represents the reference line, that is, a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through the reference points of the cervix or internal cervical os. It can be seen that in the example of the anterior uterus, the two uterine horns are located on the left side of the reference line, and in the example of the posterior uterus, the two uterine horns are located on the left side of the reference line.

[0136] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line, the processor 30 takes the direction of the first uterine tissue as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0137] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line, the processor 30 takes the direction of the first uterine tissue as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0138] It can be understood that the directions defined by the two house angles and the direction of the house fundus are in the same direction. Figure 5 In a mid-anterior uterus, the uterine fundus is oriented to the left in the diagram, and the uterine horns are also oriented to the left in the diagram; Figure 5 In a mid-posterior uterus, the fundus is facing to the right in the figure, and the two uterine horns are also facing to the right in the figure.

[0139] In some examples, a portion of the uterus tissue including the first uterine tissue may be regarded as a curved surface (in a three-dimensional state) or a curve (in a two-dimensional state), and the convex direction of the curved surface or the curve is regarded as the orientation of the first uterine tissue.

[0140] In some embodiments, the user may also use input tools (such as a mouse or keyboard, etc.) to inform that the ultrasound probe 10 is held in a certain holding direction for imaging, that is, the processor 30 obtains the orientation information of the ultrasound probe during imaging through the user's input.

[0141] In some embodiments where the ultrasound probe 10 is provided with a direction sensor 11, the processor 30 can obtain the orientation information of the ultrasound probe 10 during imaging through the direction sensor 11, and combine the orientation information of the uterus, such as the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix, to obtain the orientation information of the uterus with reference to the direction of the human body, such as the left-right direction information of the uterus with reference to the left-right direction of the human body, or the front-back direction information of the uterus with reference to the front-back direction of the human body.

[0142] Therefore, in some embodiments, the processor 30 obtains the position information of the uterus based on the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, and obtains the direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the direction of the human body, such as the left-right direction information of the uterus with reference to the left-right direction of the human body, and the front-to-back direction information of the uterus with reference to the front-to-back direction of the human body; the processor 30 controls the control display 40 to display the direction information of the uterus with reference to the direction of the human body, such as the left-right direction information of the uterus with reference to the left-right direction of the human body (which may be referred to as the left-right direction information of the uterus), and the front-to-back direction information of the uterus with reference to the front-to-back direction of the human body (which may be referred to as the front-to-back direction information of the uterus).

[0143] In some embodiments, the position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the uterine fundus or uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal os of the cervix. For example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine fundus relative to the internal os of the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine horn relative to the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine horn relative to the internal os of the cervix.

[0144] In some embodiments, the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

[0145] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe 10 is facing forward during imaging (i.e., the user is holding the ultrasound probe 10 forward during imaging), the processor 30 takes the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0146] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe 10 is reversed during imaging (i.e., the user holds the ultrasound probe 10 in reverse during imaging), the processor 30 takes the direction of the first uterine tissue as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0147] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe 10 is facing forward during imaging (i.e., the user is holding the ultrasound probe 10 forward during imaging), the processor 30 takes the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0148] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe 10 is reversed during imaging (i.e., the user holds the ultrasound probe 10 in reverse during imaging), the processor 30 takes the direction of the first uterine tissue as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0149] The above involves displaying the left-right direction information of the uterus with reference to the left-right direction of the human body (which may be referred to as the left-right direction information of the uterus). In some embodiments, the processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus, including at least one of the following methods:

[0150] (1) The processor 30 determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, and the processor 30 controls the display 40 to display the coronal plane image and marks the left-right direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image; for example, FIG. 6(a) and FIG. 6(b) are two examples. The left-right direction information of the uterus is marked in FIG. 6(a), indicating that the left in the image is the left of the actual human body, and the right in the image is the right of the actual human body, while in FIG. 6(b), it is the opposite, that the left in the image is the right of the actual human body, and the right in the image is the left of the actual human body.

[0151] (2) The processor 30 determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the processor 30 performs mirror processing on the coronal plane image along the left-right middle axis, and controls the display 40 to display the mirrored coronal plane image. In this way, in the displayed coronal plane image of the uterus, the left in the image is always the left of the actual human body, and the right in the image is always the right of the actual human body, and the user can intuitively judge the left and right of the human body based on the left and right of the image.

[0152] (3) The processor 30 controls the display 40 to display a human body model, and displays the left and right direction information of the uterus through the orientation information of the human body model. For example, the processor 30 determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and the processor 30 controls the display 40 to display the coronal plane image and a human body model. When the human body model is facing the user with its back, it means that the left in the image is the left side of the actual human body, and the right in the image is the right side of the actual human body. When the human body model is facing the user with its front, it means that the left in the image is the right side of the actual human body, and the right in the image is the left side of the actual human body.

[0153] The above involves displaying the front-to-back direction information of the uterus with reference to the front-to-back direction of the human body (which may be referred to as the front-to-back direction information of the uterus). In some embodiments, the processor controls the display to display the front-to-back direction information of the uterus, including multiple methods, a few of which are listed below.

[0154] For example, the processor 30 determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and the processor 30 controls the display 40 to display the coronal plane image, and marks the front-back direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image. The user can also intuitively judge whether the left and right of the coronal plane image is the same as or opposite to the left and right of the actual human body through the front-back direction information.

[0155] For another example, the processor 30 controls the display 40 to display a human body model, and displays the front-to-back direction information of the uterus through the orientation information of the human body model. For example, the processor 30 determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and the processor 30 controls the display 40 to display the coronal plane image and displays a human body model. Through the orientation of the human body model, the user can more intuitively judge whether the left and right sides of the coronal plane image are the same as or opposite to the left and right sides of the actual human body.

[0156] The above also involves obtaining the position information of the uterus through the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, which can be done in a variety of ways. For example, the processor 30 obtains the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression; for another example, the processor 30 segments the target tissue through a segmentation algorithm, the target tissue is the uterus or the endometrium, and obtains the position information of the uterus based on the morphology of the segmented target tissue. The following is a detailed description.

[0157] Please refer to Figure 7 The position information of the uterus can be obtained by target positioning or direct regression, which can be implemented on ultrasonic two-dimensional data or ultrasonic three-dimensional data.

[0158] (I) Implementation on Ultrasound 3D Data

[0159] In some embodiments, the position information of the uterus is obtained based on target positioning, which can be achieved by positioning the first uterine tissue and the second uterine tissue area; the first uterine tissue is the uterine fundus or the uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal cervical os. In some embodiments, in the direct regression scheme, it can be achieved by using a regression algorithm model to learn the mapping relationship between two-dimensional or three-dimensional image features and corresponding position information (position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix, position information of the uterine horn relative to the internal cervical os, position information of the uterine horn relative to the cervix, position information of the uterine horn relative to the cervix, position information of the uterine horn relative to the cervix, etc.).

[0160] (II) Implementation on Ultrasonic Two-Dimensional Data

[0161] For the solution implemented on ultrasonic two-dimensional data, a longitudinal section or coronal section of the uterus can be taken in the three-dimensional data. After obtaining the two-dimensional section, the specific target positioning and regression algorithms used are similar to those used in the three-dimensional implementation and will not be repeated here.

[0162] Therefore, in some embodiments, the position information of the uterus, such as the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue, can be obtained by using algorithms based on machine learning or deep learning. For example, it can be implemented using algorithms such as key point position regression and target detection. The key point position regression model extracts features from the input data, and then learns and maps the features to the key point positions; the detection model learns to locate the position and size of a specific target by extracting features from the input data, usually learning the bounding box of a target. In combination with the present application, in order to obtain the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue, the implementation process is to extract features from the two-dimensional section or three-dimensional volume data, and the algorithm model learns to locate the cervix and fundus.

[0163] The detection method based on machine learning is mainly divided into the following three steps:

[0164] 1) First, the region is selected by setting sliding windows of different scales and aspect ratios;

[0165] 2) Then extract relevant features (such as Harr features, HOG features, etc.) based on the image blocks in the region;

[0166] 3) Finally, the extracted features are sent to a classifier (such as SVM, Adaboost, etc.) for classification to determine whether the current window position is the detection target and the category of the target.

[0167] Another solution is a target detection method based on deep learning. The main steps of this method are:

[0168] 1) Database construction steps: The algorithm requires a large amount of data and its corresponding data calibration results. The data calibration results are generated through manual participation, marking the target area or target point that needs to be located in the data in the database, and generating marking information, such as marking boxes or marking point coordinates.

[0169] 2) Construction of detection algorithm: that is, constructing an end-to-end two-dimensional / three-dimensional detection algorithm, whose structure is usually a hierarchical network. In some embodiments, the target detection network is mainly divided into two types, one is a target detection method of candidate region plus deep learning classification, which mainly extracts candidate regions and then performs deep learning-based classification schemes on the corresponding regions, such as R-CNN (Selective Search + CNN + SVM), SPP-Net (ROIPooling), Fast R-CNN (SelectiveSearch + CNN + ROI), Faster R-CNN (RPN + CNN + ROI), R-FCN, etc.; the other is a regression method based on deep learning, the main steps of which are to first divide the image into N × N grids, and then let each grid be responsible for detecting the object whose center falls on this grid, and finally the network outputs the coordinates of each position of the object (such as the center point coordinates and length and width, etc.) and the probability of the category to which the object belongs, such as YOLO series (YOLO V1, YOLO V2, YOLO V3), SSD, DenseBox and other algorithms.

[0170] 3) Use the database built in the previous steps to optimize the detection model, and use the optimized detection model to calculate the target location, size and category.

[0171] The regression-based method can not only regress the positions of the cervix and the fundus (the coordinate values ​​in the three-dimensional data), but also directly regress the direction information (the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue). For example, the direction of the first uterine tissue on the left is defined as "0", and that on the right is defined as "1". The regression model only needs to learn the correspondence between the image features and "0" and "1" to use the regression model to determine the direction.

[0172] The specific regression algorithm model can use both machine learning methods and deep learning methods. It is similar to the previous detection-based algorithm construction steps. For machine learning algorithms, it also includes 1) extracting features; 2) using classifiers or regressors (such as logistics regression) to output specific regression values. For regression models based on deep learning algorithms, it also includes three steps: 1) building a database; 2) building a deep learning network; 3) model learning and use. The only difference is that the final learning goals are different. The learning goals of the detection algorithm are position and size, while the regression task is to learn specific values.

[0173] Based on the segmentation algorithm, the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue is obtained. Figure 8As shown, the core is to segment the endometrium or uterus from the ultrasound image through a segmentation algorithm, and obtain the orientation information of the uterus, such as the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue, according to the segmented target shape. Similar to the direction judgment scheme based on target positioning, the orientation judgment scheme based on the segmentation algorithm can also be implemented based on two or three dimensions. Similarly, the description here is based on the three-dimensional segmentation description. The two-dimensional segmentation process is a special case of three-dimensional segmentation and will not be repeated. It should be noted that two-dimensional segmentation can also be implemented based on two sections: the longitudinal section or the coronal section of the uterus.

[0174] The step of segmenting the uterus and / or endometrium from the ultrasound data can be implemented based on a traditional image processing algorithm or a deep learning algorithm.

[0175] Traditional image processing segmentation algorithms such as level set segmentation algorithm, random walk, graph cut, snake and other methods can achieve three-dimensional segmentation based on the gray value statistical information, gray difference information, gradient information and so on of uterine three-dimensional ultrasound data.

[0176] The main steps of the deep learning-based image segmentation algorithm are similar to those of the deep learning-based detection model described above, including:

[0177] 1) Database construction steps: The algorithm requires a large amount of data and its corresponding data calibration results. The data calibration results are generated by manually marking the target area to be segmented in the database. For example, a mask is used to indicate the category of each pixel in the image data.

[0178] 2) Segmentation algorithm construction: that is, to build an end-to-end 2D / 3D segmentation algorithm, whose structure is usually a hierarchical network, which is divided into two stages. The first stage extracts features from the input data and maps the data to the feature space. The second stage decodes the features obtained in the first stage and maps them to the classifiable space. Finally, the decoded features are used to classify each point of the input data. This method is a supervised learning method. The commonly used methods in the two stages are stacked convolution calculation and nonlinear calculation. Common networks include FCN, U-Net, Mask R-CNN, Transformer, etc.

[0179] 3) Optimize the segmentation model using the database, and use the optimized segmentation model to calculate the segmentation results.

[0180] After the uterus and / or endometrial region is segmented using a segmentation algorithm, the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix can be obtained based on the segmented tissue morphology. The judgment method can be directly based on the segmented uterus or endometrial morphology, such as Figure 8 As shown, on the coronal plane, the wider side of the endometrium is usually the uterine fundus, while the narrower side is the cervix. After obtaining the segmentation result of the endometrium, the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix can be obtained based on this information.

[0181] In addition, based on the segmented uterus or endometrium, the target positioning or regression-based method described above can be used to obtain the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix, except that the input becomes the segmented uterus or endometrium contour. The specific details are very similar to the previous ones and will not be repeated here.

[0182] Some embodiments of the present invention also disclose an ultrasound display method. Fig. 9 , the ultrasound display method in some embodiments comprises the following steps:

[0183] Step 100: Transmit ultrasound waves to tissue of interest including the uterus.

[0184] Step 110: Receive corresponding ultrasonic echo signals.

[0185] Step 120: Acquire three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus according to the ultrasound echo signal.

[0186] Step 130: Obtaining direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the direction of the human body. For example, step 130 obtains left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; for another example, step 130 obtains front-back direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the front-back direction of the human body.

[0187] Please refer to Fig.10 In some embodiments, step 130 of obtaining the direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the direction of the human body as a reference includes the following steps:

[0188] Step 131: Obtaining the position information of the uterus.

[0189] In some embodiments, there are multiple ways to implement step 131 of obtaining the position information of the uterus. For example, step 131 obtains the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression. For another example, step 131 segments the target tissue through a segmentation algorithm, where the target tissue is the uterus or endometrium, and obtains the position information of the uterus based on the morphology of the segmented target tissue.

[0190] In some embodiments, the position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the uterine fundus or uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal os of the cervix. For example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine fundus relative to the internal os of the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine horn relative to the cervix; for another example, the position information of the uterus includes the position of the uterine horn relative to the internal os of the cervix.

[0191] In some embodiments, the position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

[0192] Step 133: Determine the direction information of the uterus at least based on the position information of the uterus.

[0193] In some embodiments, step 133 determines the direction information of the uterus, such as front-back direction information, such as left-right direction information, according to the orientation information of the uterus; in some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line, step 133 uses the direction of the first uterine tissue as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, obtains the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the left-right direction of the human body as a reference; in some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line, step 133 uses the direction of the first uterine tissue as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, obtains the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the left-right direction of the human body as a reference. In such an embodiment, the system defaults to a default direction when the user holds the ultrasound probe for imaging, for example, the system defaults to the user holding the ultrasound probe in a standard forward direction.

[0194] Therefore, in some embodiments, the ultrasound probe involved in transmitting ultrasound to the tissue of interest including the uterus and receiving the corresponding ultrasound echo signal in step 100 and step 110 may have a first mark and / or a first structure for indicating the first position of the ultrasound probe - for example, the user can easily and correctly hold the ultrasound probe (i.e., holding it forward) without holding the ultrasound probe upside down and performing imaging by virtue of the first mark and / or the first structure for indicating the first position of the ultrasound probe on the ultrasound probe.

[0195] In some embodiments, the first reminder information is output to remind the operator / user to determine whether the orientation of the ultrasound probe during imaging is forward or reverse based on the first mark and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe. For example, the first reminder information is displayed on the display 40 to remind the user that the first mark and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe can be used to determine the current holding direction.

[0196] In some embodiments, the second reminder information is output to remind the operator to hold the ultrasound probe forwardly during use of the ultrasound probe based on the first mark and / or the first structure of the first position of the ultrasound probe. For example, after ultrasound imaging is started, the second reminder information is continuously displayed on the display 40 during the imaging process to guide the user / operator to hold the ultrasound probe forward during the imaging process.

[0197] In some embodiments, the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging can also be obtained. When it is determined that the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging does not match the first position information, a prompt message is issued. When it is determined that the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging matches the first position information, step 133 obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body according to the position information of the uterus. In some embodiments, the first position information is the forward direction of the ultrasound probe.

[0198] In some embodiments, the orientation information of the ultrasound probe during imaging can also be obtained. Step 133 determines the direction information of the uterus, such as front-to-back direction information, such as left-to-right direction information, based on the orientation information of the uterus and the orientation information of the ultrasound probe during imaging.

[0199] In some embodiments, the user may also use an input tool (such as a mouse or keyboard, etc.) to inform that the ultrasound probe is held in a certain holding direction for imaging, that is, step 133 obtains the orientation information of the ultrasound probe during imaging through the user's input.

[0200] In some embodiments where the ultrasound probe 10 is provided with a direction sensor 11, step 133 can obtain the orientation information of the ultrasound probe 10 during imaging through the direction sensor 11, and combine the orientation information of the uterus, such as the position information of the uterine fundus relative to the cervix, to obtain the orientation information of the uterus with reference to the direction of the human body, such as the left-right direction information of the uterus with reference to the left-right direction of the human body, or the front-back direction information of the uterus with reference to the front-back direction of the human body.

[0201] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is facing forward during imaging (i.e., the user is holding the ultrasound probe forward during imaging), step 133 takes the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0202] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is reversed during imaging (i.e., the user holds the ultrasound probe in reverse during imaging), step 133 takes the direction of the first uterine tissue as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0203] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is facing forward during imaging (i.e., the user is holding the ultrasound probe forward during imaging), step 133 takes the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0204] In some embodiments, when the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is reversed during imaging (i.e., the user holds the ultrasound probe in reverse during imaging), step 133 takes the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, obtains the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

[0205] Step 140: Display the direction information of the uterus, such as front-to-back direction information, such as left-to-right direction information.

[0206] In some embodiments, step 140 determines and displays a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and marks the directional information of the uterus, such as the left-right directional information, on the coronal plane image; for example, FIG. 6(a) and FIG. 6(b) above are two examples, and the left-right directional information of the uterus is marked in FIG. 6(a), indicating that the left in the image is the left of the actual human body, and the right in the image is the right of the actual human body, while in FIG. 6(b), on the contrary, the left in the image is the right of the actual human body, and the right in the image is the left of the actual human body.

[0207] In some embodiments, step 140 determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the coronal plane image is mirrored along the left-right middle axis, and the mirrored coronal plane image is displayed. In this way, in the displayed coronal plane image of the uterus, the left in the image is always the left of the actual human body, and the right in the image is always the right of the actual human body, and the user can intuitively judge the left and right of the human body based on the left and right of the image.

[0208] This document is described with reference to various exemplary embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the scope of this document. For example, various operating steps and components for performing the operating steps may be implemented in different ways (e.g., one or more steps may be deleted, modified, or incorporated into other steps) depending on the specific application or considering any number of cost functions associated with the operation of the system.

[0209] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. In addition, as understood by those skilled in the art, the principles of this article can be reflected in a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium, which is pre-installed with a computer-readable program code. Any tangible, non-temporary computer-readable storage medium can be used, including magnetic storage devices (hard disks, floppy disks, etc.), optical storage devices (CD to ROM, DVD, Blu Ray disks, etc.), flash memory and / or the like. These computer program instructions can be loaded onto a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer or other programmable data processing device to form a machine, so that these instructions executed on a computer or other programmable data processing device can generate a device that implements a specified function. These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory, which can instruct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory can form a manufactured product, including an implementation device that implements a specified function. Computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device, so that a series of operating steps are performed on a computer or other programmable device to generate a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on a computer or other programmable device can provide steps for implementing a specified function.

[0210] Although the principles of this invention have been shown in various embodiments, many modifications of structures, arrangements, proportions, elements, materials and components particularly suitable for specific environments and operational requirements can be used without departing from the principles and scope of this invention. The above modifications and other changes or amendments will be included in the scope of this invention.

[0211] The foregoing specific description has been described with reference to various embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the consideration of the present disclosure will be illustrative rather than restrictive, and all these modifications will be included in its scope. Similarly, the advantages, other advantages and solutions to the problems of various embodiments have been described above. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to the problems and any elements that can produce these, or make them more clear, should not be interpreted as critical, necessary or necessary. The term "include" and any other variants used in this article are all non-exclusive inclusions, so that the process, method, article or device including the list of elements not only includes these elements, but also includes other elements that are not explicitly listed or do not belong to the process, method, system, article or device. In addition, the term "coupled" and any other variants used in this article refer to physical connections, electrical connections, magnetic connections, optical connections, communication connections, functional connections and / or any other connections.

[0212] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the basic principles of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be determined solely by the claims.

Claims

1. An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that: include: An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to tissue of interest including the uterus, and receiving corresponding ultrasound echo signals; A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals; a processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus; and A display; wherein: The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus; The processor obtains left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body according to the position information of the uterus and the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging; The processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus.

2. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1, wherein: The processor obtains the position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, including: The processor obtains the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression; or, The processor segments the target tissue using a segmentation algorithm, and obtains the position information of the uterus based on the morphology of the segmented target tissue, wherein the target tissue is the uterus or the endometrium.

3. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the uterine fundus or uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal cervical os.

4. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

5. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The processor: When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

6. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1, wherein: The processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus, including: The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and the processor controls the display to display the coronal plane image and marks the left-right direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image; or, The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the processor mirrors the coronal plane image along the left-right central axis, and controls the display to display the mirrored coronal plane image.

7. An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that: include: An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to tissue of interest including the uterus, and receiving corresponding ultrasound echo signals; A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals; a processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus; and A display; wherein: The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus; The processor obtains direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the direction of the human body as a reference according to the direction information of the uterus and the direction information of the ultrasound probe during imaging; The processor controls the display to display the direction information of the uterus.

8. An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that: include: An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to a tissue of interest including a uterus, and receiving a corresponding ultrasound echo signal; the ultrasound probe has a first mark and / or a first structure for indicating a first position of the ultrasound probe; A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals; a processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus; and A display; wherein: The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus; The processor obtains left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body according to the position information of the uterus; The processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus.

9. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The processor obtains the position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, including: The processor obtains the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression; or, The processor segments the target tissue using a segmentation algorithm, and obtains the position information of the uterus based on the morphology of the segmented target tissue, wherein the target tissue is the uterus or the endometrium.

10. The ultrasonic imaging system according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the uterine fundus or uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal cervical os.

11. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 10, wherein: The position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

12. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 11, wherein: The processor: When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line, the direction in which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line, the direction toward which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

13. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The processor controls the display to display the left-right direction information of the uterus, including: The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and the processor controls the display to display the coronal plane image and marks the left-right direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image; or, The processor determines a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the processor mirrors the coronal plane image along the left-right central axis, and controls the display to display the mirrored coronal plane image.

14. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 8, wherein: The processor further executes: outputting first reminder information, wherein the first reminder information is used to remind the operator to determine whether the orientation of the ultrasound probe during imaging is forward or reverse based on the first identifier and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe.

15. The ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 8, wherein: The processor further executes: outputting second reminder information, where the second reminder information is used to remind the operator to hold the ultrasound probe in a forward direction during use of the ultrasound probe based on the first mark and / or the first structure of the first orientation of the ultrasound probe.

16. An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that: include: An ultrasound probe, used for transmitting ultrasound to a tissue of interest including a uterus, and receiving a corresponding ultrasound echo signal; the ultrasound probe has a first mark and / or a first structure for indicating a first position of the ultrasound probe; A transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals; a processor, configured to process the corresponding ultrasonic echo signal to obtain three-dimensional ultrasonic data including the uterus; and A display; wherein: The processor obtains position information of the uterus according to the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus; The processor obtains direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with the direction of the human body as a reference according to the position information of the uterus; The processor controls the display to display the direction information of the uterus.

17. An ultrasound display method, characterized in that: include: transmitting ultrasound waves to tissue of interest including the uterus; receiving corresponding ultrasonic echo signals; Acquiring three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus according to the ultrasound echo signal; Acquire left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; The left and right direction information of the uterus is displayed.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The obtaining of left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body includes: Obtaining information about the position of the uterus; The left-right direction information of the uterus is determined at least based on the position information of the uterus.

19. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The obtaining of the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data with reference to the left-right direction of the human body includes: also obtaining the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging; Determining the left-right direction information of the uterus at least based on the position information of the uterus includes: determining the left-right direction information of the uterus based on the position information of the uterus and the position information of the ultrasound probe during imaging.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The step of obtaining the position information of the uterus includes: Acquiring the position information of the uterus by target positioning or direct regression; or, The target tissue is segmented by a segmentation algorithm, and the position information of the uterus is obtained on the segmented target tissue according to its morphology, and the target tissue is the uterus or the endometrium.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that The position information of the uterus includes position information of a first uterine tissue relative to a second uterine tissue; the first uterine tissue is the uterine fundus or uterine horn, and the second uterine tissue is the cervix or the internal cervical os.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The position information of the first uterine tissue relative to the second uterine tissue includes: information that the first uterine tissue is located on the left or right side of a reference line, where the reference line is a straight line parallel to the vertical axis of the human body and passing through a reference point of the second uterine tissue.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein: When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line, the direction in which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line, the direction toward which the first uterine tissue faces is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein: When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the left side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in a forward direction during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the back side of the human body, and based on the determined back side of the human body, the left-right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left-right direction of the human body; When the first uterine tissue is located on the right side of the reference line and the ultrasound probe is in reverse during imaging, the direction in which the first uterine tissue is facing is taken as the front side of the human body, and based on the determined front side of the human body, the left and right direction information of the uterus in the three-dimensional ultrasound data is obtained with reference to the left and right direction of the human body.

25. The method of claim 17, wherein: The display of the left-right direction information of the uterus includes: Determine and display a coronal plane image of the uterus from the three-dimensional ultrasound data containing the uterus, and mark the left-right direction information of the uterus on the coronal plane image; or, A coronal plane image of the uterus is determined from the three-dimensional ultrasound data including the uterus, and when the left-right direction of the uterus in the coronal plane image is opposite to the left-right direction of the human body, the coronal plane image is mirrored along the left-right central axis, and the mirrored coronal plane image is displayed.

26. An ultrasonic imaging system, characterized in that: include: An ultrasonic probe, used for transmitting ultrasonic waves to the tissue of interest and receiving corresponding ultrasonic echo signals; a transmitting and receiving control circuit, used for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves and receive ultrasonic echo signals; and A processor for executing the method according to any one of claims 17 to 25.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The method comprises a program which can be executed by a processor to implement the method as claimed in any one of claims 17 to 25.

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