Ultrasound apparatus and ultrasound imaging method

Abstract

The application discloses an ultrasonic device and an ultrasonic imaging method. The ultrasonic device comprises a probe and a host computer. The probe comprises an array element and a filtering module corresponding to the array element. The host computer comprises a control unit, a transmitting module and a receiving module. The control unit controls whether the filtering module in the probe is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module according to a current imaging mode. When a continuous wave Doppler mode is entered, the control unit controls the filtering module in the probe to be connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module. The application can reduce harmonic interference of an electric signal, thereby reducing the local heating degree of the probe. Compared with the related art which reduces the local heating degree of the probe by reducing the transmitting voltage, the sensitivity of the probe can be improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of ultrasonic equipment, and particularly relates to an ultrasonic equipment and an ultrasonic imaging method. BACKGROUND

[0002] The ultrasonic equipment usually comprises a host equipment and a probe connected with the host equipment, and the ultrasonic imaging technology is to scan a to-be-detected part of a human body by using an ultrasonic wave beam with a set frequency emitted by the ultrasonic equipment, and to obtain an image of the to-be-detected part by receiving and processing an ultrasonic wave reflection signal.

[0003] The probe is a kind of wideband response device, and a wider bandwidth response is usually applied to a gray-scale imaging mode (B mode) and a color blood flow imaging mode (C mode), and a narrower bandwidth response is usually applied to a continuous wave Doppler imaging mode (CW mode). In the CW mode, a part of elements in the probe continuously emits ultrasonic waves to realize narrowband emission, and another part of elements continuously receives ultrasonic waves to realize narrowband response.

[0004] The greater the transmission voltage is in the CW mode, the higher the sensitivity of the ultrasonic equipment is, but the increase of the transmission voltage leads to the stronger energy of high-frequency harmonics exceeding the corresponding bandwidth of the probe, and most of the energy of the high-frequency harmonics is converted into heat in the probe, leading to the local temperature of the probe being too high in the continuous transmission process. Therefore, compared with the B mode and the C mode, the ultrasonic equipment improves the heating condition of the probe by reducing the transmission voltage in the CW mode, but the reduction of the transmission voltage reduces the strength of the echo signal, and further reduces the sensitivity of the ultrasonic equipment. SUMMARY

[0005] The application aims to provide an ultrasonic equipment and an ultrasonic imaging method to solve the problems of how to weaken the local heating of the probe and how to improve the sensitivity of the probe.

[0006] In a first aspect, the application provides an ultrasonic equipment comprising a probe and a host; wherein the probe comprises elements and filter modules corresponding to the elements, and the host comprises a control unit, a transmission module and a receiving module;

[0007] The transmission module is configured to generate an electrical signal with a set waveform.

[0008] The control unit is configured to control whether the filter modules are connected to the elements corresponding to the filter modules according to a current imaging mode.

[0009] The filter modules are configured to perform filter processing on electrical signals received by the elements and / or echo electrical signals emitted by the elements when the control unit controls the filter modules to be connected to the elements.

[0010] The array element is configured to convert the received electrical signal into ultrasonic waves and emit the ultrasonic waves, and / or convert the received echo signal into an echo electrical signal, wherein the received electrical signal includes an electrical signal filtered by the filtering module or an electrical signal not filtered by the filtering module.

[0011] The receiving module is configured to process the received echo electrical signal and output ultrasonic imaging information, wherein the received echo electrical signal includes an echo electrical signal filtered by the filtering module or an echo electrical signal not filtered by the filtering module.

[0012] In a second aspect, the present application provides an ultrasonic imaging method applied to an ultrasonic device, wherein the ultrasonic device includes a probe and a host; the probe includes an array element and a filtering module corresponding to the array element, and the host includes a control unit, a transmitting module and a receiving module; the method includes the following steps:

[0013] The control unit controls whether the filtering module is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module according to a current imaging mode, and the transmitting module generates an electrical signal with a set waveform.

[0014] The array element converts the received electrical signal into ultrasonic waves and emits the ultrasonic waves, and / or converts the received echo signal into an echo electrical signal, wherein the received electrical signal includes an electrical signal filtered by the filtering module when the control unit controls the filtering module to be connected to the array element, or an electrical signal not filtered by the filtering module.

[0015] The receiving module processes the received echo electrical signal and outputs ultrasonic imaging information, wherein the received echo electrical signal includes an echo electrical signal filtered by the filtering module when the control unit controls the filtering module to be connected to the array element, or an echo electrical signal not filtered by the filtering module.

[0016] The embodiments of the present application at least have the following beneficial effects:

[0017] The ultrasonic device and the ultrasonic imaging method provided by the present application add a controllable filtering module in the probe, control whether the filtering module in the probe is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module by the control unit according to the current imaging mode, and when the filtering module in the probe is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module, the harmonic interference of the electrical signal can be reduced, so that the local temperature rise of the probe is weakened, and compared with the related art which reduces the transmission voltage to weaken the local temperature rise of the probe, the sensitivity of the probe can be improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the drawings to be introduced below only some of the embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0019] Figure 1 The block schematic diagram of the ultrasonic equipment provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0020] Figure 2 The filter circuit structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 1 ;

[0021] Figure 3 The first circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 1 ;

[0022] Figure 4 The first circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 2 ;

[0023] Figure 5 The second circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 1 ;

[0024] Figure 6 The second circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 2 ;

[0025] Figure 7 The third circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 1 ;

[0026] Figure 8 The third circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 2 ;

[0027] Figure 9 The fourth circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 1 ;

[0028] Figure 10 The fourth circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 2 ;

[0029] Figure 11 The fifth circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 1 ;

[0030] Figure 12 The fifth circuit topology structure schematic provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure. Figure 2 ;

[0031] Figure 13 A schematic diagram of an array element multiplexing topology is provided for embodiments of the present application.

[0032] Figure 14 A schematic diagram of a first circuit topology of multiple frequency points is provided for embodiments of the present application.

[0033] Figure 15 A schematic diagram of an LC filter type transmit filter module structure is provided for embodiments of the present application.

[0034] Figure 16 A schematic diagram of a passive filter type receive filter module structure is provided for embodiments of the present application.

[0035] Figure 17 A schematic diagram of an active filter type receive filter module structure is provided for embodiments of the present application.

[0036] Figure 18 A flowchart of an ultrasonic imaging method is provided for embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. The described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, rather than all embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0038] Also, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, “ / ” represents the meaning of or, for example, A / B can represent A or B; “and / or” in the text only describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent the three cases of A alone, A and B together, and B alone. In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present application, “multiple” means two or more than two.

[0039] Hereinafter, the terms “first” and “second” are only used for description purposes, and cannot be understood as implying or suggesting relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with “first” and “second” can explicitly or implicitly include one or more features, and in the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of “multiple” is two or more than two.

[0040] Ultrasound imaging technology is to use the ultrasound equipment to emit the set frequency of the ultrasonic beam to scan the human body to be detected part, and through the receiving and processing of the ultrasonic reflection signal, the imaging information of the part to be detected is obtained. The ultrasonic equipment usually includes two parts of host computer and probe, the probe is a kind of broadband response device, for different ultrasonic imaging modes, the frequency range and mode of emitting ultrasonic beam are different, wider bandwidth response is often applied to gray scale imaging mode (B mode) and color blood flow imaging mode (C mode), narrower bandwidth response is often applied to continuous wave Doppler imaging mode (CW mode), in CW mode, a part of the array elements in the probe continuously emit ultrasonic waves, realize narrowband emission, another part of the array elements continuously receive ultrasonic waves, realize narrowband response.

[0041] In CW mode, the greater the transmission voltage, the higher the sensitivity of the ultrasonic equipment, but the increase of transmission voltage will lead to the stronger energy of the high frequency harmonic beyond the corresponding bandwidth of the probe, the more energy of the high frequency harmonic converted into heat in the probe, resulting in the local temperature of the probe being too high in the process of continuous emission, for example, if the probe bandwidth is 1-6 MHZ, when emitting 2 MHZ CW wave, most of the energy of the harmonic in the spectrum of 6 MHZ and above becomes heat, resulting in the temperature rise of the probe, so compared with B mode and C mode, the ultrasonic equipment in CW mode will reduce the transmission voltage to improve the heating condition of the probe, but the reduction of transmission voltage will reduce the strength of echo signal, and further reduce the sensitivity of the ultrasonic equipment.

[0042] In view of the above problems, the present application provides an ultrasonic equipment and an ultrasonic imaging method, a controllable filter module is added in the probe, and whether the filter module is connected to the array element corresponding to the filter module is controlled by the control unit according to the current imaging mode, when the filter module in the probe is connected to the array element corresponding to the filter module, the harmonic interference of the electric signal can be reduced, thereby weakening the local temperature rise degree of the probe, compared with the related art which reduces the transmission voltage to weaken the local temperature rise degree of the probe, the sensitivity of the probe can be improved.

[0043] The embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0044] As Figure 1 shown, a block schematic diagram of the ultrasonic equipment provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. The ultrasonic equipment includes a probe 10 and a host computer 20; wherein, the probe 10 includes an array element 101 and a filter module 102 corresponding to the array element 101, the host computer 20 includes a control unit 201, a transmission module 202 and a receiving module 203; wherein:

[0045] The control unit 201 is used for controlling whether the filter module 102 is connected to the array element 101 corresponding to the filter module 102 according to the current imaging mode;

[0046] Transmitting module 202 is used to generate an electrical signal with a set waveform;

[0047] The filtering module 102 is used to filter the electrical signals received by the array element 101 and / or the echo electrical signals emitted by the array element 101 when the control unit 201 controls the filtering module 102 to access the array element.

[0048] Array element 101 is used to convert the received electrical signal into an ultrasonic wave and transmit it, and / or convert the received echo signal into an echo electrical signal, wherein the electrical signal received by array element 101 includes an electrical signal filtered by filter module 102, or an electrical signal not filtered by filter module 102.

[0049] The receiving module 203 is used to process the received echo electrical signals and output ultrasound imaging information. The echo electrical signals received by the receiving module 203 include echo electrical signals filtered by the filtering module 102 or echo electrical signals that are not filtered by the filtering module 102.

[0050] Based on the ultrasound device provided in the embodiments of this application, a controllable filtering module is added to the probe. According to the current imaging mode, the control unit controls whether the filtering module in the probe is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module. When the filtering module in the probe is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module, the harmonic interference of the electrical signal can be reduced, thereby reducing the local temperature rise of the probe. Compared with the related technology that reduces the local temperature rise of the probe by reducing the transmission voltage, the sensitivity of the probe can be improved.

[0051] like Figure 1 As shown, the control unit 201 can control the connection between the transmitting module 202 and the receiving module 203 and the array element 101, that is, the control unit 201 controls the filtering module 102 not to connect to the array element 101 corresponding to the filtering module 102; the control unit 201 can also control the connection between the transmitting module 202 and the receiving module 203 and the filtering module 102 and the array element 101, that is, the control unit 201 controls the filtering module 102 to connect to the array element 101 corresponding to the filtering module 102.

[0052] If the control unit 201 controls the conduction of the paths between the transmitting module 202, the receiving module 203 and the array element 101, the electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module 202 is not filtered by the filtering module 102, and is directly sent to the array element 101, and the echo electrical signal sent by the array element 101 is not filtered by the filtering module 102, and is directly sent to the receiving module 203; if the control unit 201 controls the conduction of the paths between the transmitting module 202, the receiving module 203 and the filtering module 102, the array element 101, the electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module 202 is filtered by the filtering module 102 and then sent to the array element 101, and the echo electrical signal sent by the array element 101 is filtered by the filtering module 102 and then sent to the receiving module 203.

[0053] In one or more embodiments, as shown in Figure 2 The ultrasonic device provided by the embodiments of the present application can further include an ultrasonic channel 30 connected to the probe 10 and the host 20, and the probe 10 further includes a switching module 103.

[0054] In some embodiments, the switching module 103 can include a first branch and a second branch, and the control unit 201 controls whether the filtering module 102 is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module 102 by controlling the conduction state of the first branch and the second branch according to the current imaging mode.

[0055] The control unit 201 is specifically configured to: if the imaging mode is a non-continuous wave Doppler mode, control the first branch of the switching module 103 to be conductive to conduct the path between the array element and the ultrasonic channel, and if the imaging mode is a continuous wave Doppler mode, control the second branch of the switching module 103 to be conductive to conduct the path between the array element, the filtering module and the ultrasonic channel.

[0056] When it is determined that the current imaging mode is a continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, in order to avoid the problem of excessive local temperature rise of the probe caused by continuous emission of ultrasonic waves, the control unit 201 is used to control the second branch of the switching module 103 to be conductive to conduct the path between the array element, the filtering module and the ultrasonic channel, so that the filtering module is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module, and the electrical signal received by the array element and / or the echo electrical signal emitted by the array element is filtered and processed;

[0057] When it is determined that the current imaging mode is not a continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the control unit 201 is used to control the first branch of the switching module 103 to be conductive to conduct the path between the array element and the ultrasonic channel, so that the filtering module is not connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module, and the electrical signal received by the array element and / or the echo electrical signal emitted by the array element is not filtered and processed.

[0058] Specifically, as shown in Figure 2As shown in the figure, the filter circuit structure provided by the embodiment of the present application Figure 1 Figure 2 The switching module 103 can include controllable switches S1031, S1032 and S1033. When the controllable switch S1031 is closed and the controllable switches S1032 and S1033 are both disconnected, the first branch of the switching module 103 is conducted. When the controllable switches S1032 and S1033 are both closed and the controllable switch S1031 is disconnected, the second branch of the switching module 103 is conducted.

[0059] It should be noted that the controllable switches are arranged on both sides of the filter module to avoid crosstalk caused by the filter module to other circuits of the ultrasonic device in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode.

[0060] Further, the controllable switches in the embodiment of the present application are in communication connection with the control unit 201 in the host 20.

[0061] Therefore, in the non-continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit 201 controls the controllable switch S1032 to be closed and the controllable switches S1032 and S1033 to be disconnected, conducts the path between the array element and the ultrasonic channel, and makes the filter module not access the array element corresponding to the filter module. Correspondingly, in the continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit 201 controls the controllable switches S1032 and S1033 to be closed and the controllable switch S1031 to be disconnected, conducts the path between the array element, the filter module and the ultrasonic channel, and makes the filter module access the array element corresponding to the filter module.

[0062] It should be noted that the controllable switches in the embodiment of the present application can be any type of controllable switches. For example, they can be controllable switches formed by diodes, triodes, metal oxide semiconductor transistors (MOS tubes) and / or special controllable switch chips, etc. They can also be or other suitable switch circuits that meet the requirements of blocking high voltage and conducting low voltage.

[0063] In the case that the same set of transmitting module and receiving module is shared by the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode and other modes, the present application controls whether to perform filter processing on the electrical signals received by the array element and / or the echo electrical signals emitted by the array element by arranging the switching module and the filter module in the probe and controlling the state change of the switching module according to the imaging mode, without changing the circuit structure of the host. Instead, the parameters of the switching module and the filter module in the probe are changed according to the required continuous wave Doppler imaging mode parameters, so that the probe is adapted to the host.

[0064] ​Furthermore, in continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the filtering module filters the electrical signal received by the array element, removing excess harmonics and noise from other circuits to achieve narrowband transmission, thereby improving the probe's transmission efficiency and reducing probe heating. Simultaneously, the filtering module filters the echo electrical signal emitted by the array element to reduce high-frequency noise and aliasing noise, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the receiving link.

[0065] In this embodiment of the application, the probe may include multiple array elements 101, for example, N, defined as array element 1, array element 2, ... array element N. The host may include multiple ultrasonic channels 30, for example, M, defined as channel 1, channel 2, ... channel M. One end of each ultrasonic channel 30 is connected to the corresponding transmitting module and receiving module, and the other end is connected to the corresponding switching module. The number of array elements N is not greater than the number of ultrasonic channels M.

[0066] In continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, two groups are formed from N array elements, each group having at least one element. One group of elements is used to convert the electrical signal received from the ultrasound channel into an ultrasonic wave for transmission, while the other group of elements is used to receive the echo signal, convert the received echo signal into an echo electrical signal, and output the echo electrical signal to the receiving module through the ultrasound channel connected to the array elements. Therefore, in some embodiments, the aforementioned filtering module 102 includes a transmission filtering module and / or a reception filtering module.

[0067] The transmitting filter module is used to filter out high-order harmonics, ensuring that the transmitting frequency of the probe is a single narrowband signal within the probe's bandwidth response range, thereby reducing probe heating by minimizing energy dissipation outside the probe's bandwidth range; the receiving filter module is used to filter out second-order harmonic noise, thereby reducing the mixing noise of high-order harmonics generated by the host during the mixing stage.

[0068] The circuit topology provided in the embodiments of this application is described below based on the possible circuit topologies of the switching module and filtering module in the probe.

[0069] like Figure 3 The diagram shown is a schematic of the first circuit topology provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 1 . Reference Figure 3 The switching module 103 includes a first switching module 1031, which has six terminals for connecting to the array element, the filtering module, and the ultrasonic channel 30. The filtering module 102 includes a transmitting filtering module 1021a and a receiving filtering module 1022a.

[0070] The first end a1 of the first switching module 1031 is connected with the array element 101, the second end a2 of the first switching module 1031 is connected with the second end of the ultrasonic channel 30, the third end a3 of the first switching module 1031 is connected with the first end of the transmitting filter module 202, the fourth end a4 of the first switching module 1031 is connected with the second end of the transmitting filter module 1021a, the fifth end a5 of the first switching module 1031 is connected with the first end of the receiving filter module 1022a, and the sixth end a6 of the first switching module 1031 is connected with the second end of the receiving filter module 1022a;

[0071] In the first circuit topology, the first switching module 1031 includes a first branch and a second branch, and the second branch includes a first sub-branch and a second sub-branch;

[0072] The first branch is located between the first end a1 of the first switching module 1031 and the second end a2 of the first switching module 1031.

[0073] The first sub-branch is located between the first end a1 of the first switching module 1031 and the third end a3 of the first switching module 1031, and between the fourth end a4 of the first switching module 1031 and the second end a2 of the first switching module 1031.

[0074] The second sub-branch is located between the first end a1 of the first switching module 1031 and the fifth end a5 of the first switching module 1031, and between the sixth end a6 of the first switching module 1031 and the second end a2 of the first switching module 1031.

[0075] It should be noted that, Figure 3 Only one set of first circuit topologies is shown, and in actual ultrasonic equipment, multiple sets of first circuit topologies should be included.

[0076] In the first circuit topology, the transmitting filter module 1021a and the receiving filter module 1022a are arranged for the array element 101, and the control unit 201 controls the conduction state of the first branch and the second branch of the first switching module 1031 according to different imaging modes, so as to control whether the transmitting filter module 1021a or the receiving filter module 1022a is connected to the array element 101. In some embodiments, for the first circuit topology, in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0077] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the array element through the ultrasonic channel does not need to be filtered by the transmitting filter module 1021a, and the echo electrical signal transmitted by the array element 101 to the receiving module through the ultrasonic channel also does not need to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022a, so the control unit 201 controls the first branch of the first switching module 1031 to be conductive, and controls the second branch of the first switching module 1301 to be disconnected, so that neither the transmitting filter module 1021a nor the receiving filter module 1022a is connected to the array element 101.

[0078] In an embodiment, the array element can include a transmitting array element for transmitting ultrasonic waves and a receiving array element for receiving echo signals.

[0079] In some embodiments, for the first circuit topology, in a continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0080] For the transmitting array element for transmitting ultrasonic waves, the electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the transmitting array element through the ultrasonic channel needs to be filtered by the transmitting filter module, so the control unit 201 controls the first branch in the first switching module 1031 to be disconnected, and controls the first sub-branch of the first switching module 1031 to be conductive and the second sub-branch to be disconnected, so that the transmitting filter module 1021a is connected to the transmitting array element.

[0081] For the receiving array element for receiving echo signals, the echo electrical signal transmitted by the receiving array element to the receiving module through the ultrasonic channel also needs to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022a, so the control unit 201 controls the first branch of the first switching module 1031 to be disconnected, and controls the first sub-branch of the first switching module 1031 to be disconnected and the second sub-branch to be conductive, so that the receiving filter module 1022a is connected to the receiving array element.

[0082] As a feasible implementation manner, as shown in Figure 4 , a schematic diagram of the first circuit topology provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 2 For the first circuit topology, the first branch can include a first switch S1, the first sub-branch includes a second switch S2 and a third switch S3, and the second sub-branch includes a fourth switch S4 and a fifth switch S5; wherein the first switch S1 to the fifth switch S5 are controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0083] Specifically, the first end of the first switch S1, the first end of the second switch S2, and the first end of the fourth switch S4 serve as the first end a1 of the first switching module 1031.

[0084] The second end of the first switch S1, the second end of the third switch S3, and the second end of the fifth switch S5 serve as the second end a2 of the first switching module 1031.

[0085] The second terminal of the second switch S2 serves as the third terminal a3 of the first switching module 1031;

[0086] The first end of the third switch S3 serves as the fourth end a4 of the first switching module 1031;

[0087] The second terminal of the fourth switch S4 serves as the fifth terminal a5 of the first switching module 1031;

[0088] The first end of the fifth switch S5 serves as the sixth end a6 of the first switching module 1031.

[0089] In this embodiment of the application, the control unit 201 is specifically used for:

[0090] Turn on the first switch S1 to turn on the first branch of the first switching module 1031; or

[0091] Both the second switch S2 and the third switch S3 are turned on to control the first sub-branch of the first switching module 1031 to be turned on; or

[0092] Both the fourth switch S4 and the fifth switch S5 are turned on to control the second sub-branch of the first switching module 1031 to be turned on.

[0093] exist Figure 4 In the first circuit topology shown, in the discontinuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit controls the first switch S1 to close and controls the second switch S2, the third switch S3, the fourth switch S4 and the fifth switch S5 to open, so as to connect the array element 101 and the ultrasonic channel, so that neither the transmitting filter module 1021a nor the receiving filter module 1022a are connected to the array element 101 corresponding to the filter module.

[0094] exist Figure 4 In the first circuit topology shown, in continuous wave Doppler mode, for the transmitting array element 101 that emits ultrasonic waves, the control unit controls the first switch S1, the fourth switch S4 and the fifth switch S5 to open, and controls the second switch S2 and the third switch S3 to close, so as to connect the array element 101, the transmitting filter module 1021a and the ultrasonic channel, so that the transmitting filter module 1021a is connected to the transmitting array element 101 corresponding to the transmitting filter module 1021a.

[0095] exist Figure 4In the first circuit topology shown, in the continuous wave Doppler mode, for the receiving array element 101 receiving the ultrasonic wave, the control unit controls the first switch S1, the second switch S2 and the third switch S3 to be open, and controls the fourth switch S4 and the fifth switch S5 to be closed, to turn on the path between the array element 101, the receiving filter module 1022a and the ultrasonic channel, so that the receiving filter module 1022a is connected to the receiving array element 101 corresponding to the receiving filter module 1022a.

[0096] The first circuit topology provided in the present application can realize the transmitting and receiving functions in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode in any ultrasonic channel by controlling the conduction states of the first branch, the first sub-branch and the second sub-branch of the first switching module 1031, thereby reducing the influence of long-time transmission on the temperature increase of the probe, and realizing the adjustment of the transmitting aperture and the receiving aperture. The size of the transmitting aperture is positively correlated with the number of the transmitting array elements used for transmitting the ultrasonic wave, the more the number of the transmitting array elements, the larger the transmitting aperture, and the larger the radiation range of the ultrasonic wave emitted by the probe. The receiving aperture is the same, the size of the receiving aperture is positively correlated with the number of the receiving array elements used for receiving the echo, the more the number of the receiving array elements, the larger the receiving aperture, and the larger the receiving range of the ultrasonic wave by the probe.

[0097] As shown in Figure 5 , the second circuit topology provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown in Figure 1 . Referring to Figure 5 , the switching module includes a second switching module 1032, the second switching module 1032 is connected to four ends of the array element 101, the filter module and the ultrasonic channel 30, the filter module includes a transmitting filter module 1021b; wherein the first end b1 of the second switching module 1032 is connected to the array element 101, the second end b2 of the second switching module 1032 is connected to the second end of the ultrasonic channel, the third end b3 of the second switching module 1032 is connected to the first end of the transmitting filter module 1021b, and the fourth end b4 of the second switching module 1032 is connected to the second end of the transmitting filter module 1021b;

[0098] In the second circuit topology, the second switching module 1032 includes a first branch and a second branch;

[0099] The first branch is located between the first end b1 of the second switching module 1032 and the second end b2 of the second switching module 1032;

[0100] The second branch is located between the first end b1 of the second switching module 1032 and the third end b3 of the second switching module 1032, and between the fourth end b4 of the second switching module 1032 and the second end b2 of the second switching module 1032.

[0101] It should be noted that,Figure 5 Only one set of second circuit topologies is shown, in actual ultrasonic devices, multiple sets of second circuit topologies should be included, and in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the array elements 101 in the second circuit topology can act as transmitting array elements or receiving array elements; in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the array elements 101 in the second circuit topology act as transmitting array elements.

[0102] In the second circuit topology, a separate transmitting filter module 1021b is provided for the array element 101, and the control unit 201 controls the conduction states of the first branch and the second branch of the second switching module 1032 according to different imaging modes, thereby controlling whether the transmitting filter module 1021b is connected to the array element 101.

[0103] In some embodiments, for the second circuit topology, in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0104] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the array element 101 through the ultrasonic channel does not need to be filtered by the transmitting filter module 1021b, and the echo electrical signal transmitted by the array element 101 to the receiving module through the ultrasonic channel also does not need to be filtered by the receiving filter module, so the control unit 201 controls the first branch of the second switching module 1032 to be conductive, and controls the second branch of the second switching module 1032 to be disconnected, so that the transmitting filter module 1021b is not connected to the array element 101.

[0105] In some embodiments, for the second circuit topology, in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0106] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the array element 101 through the ultrasonic channel needs to be filtered by the transmitting filter module 1021b, so the control unit 201 controls the first branch of the second switching module 1032 to be disconnected, and controls the second branch to be conductive, so that the transmitting filter module 1021b is connected to the array element 101.

[0107] As a feasible implementation, for the second circuit topology, the first branch includes a sixth switch S6, a seventh switch S7, and an eighth switch S8; wherein the sixth switch S6 to the eighth switch S8 are controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0108] Specifically, the first end of the sixth switch S6 and the first end of the seventh switch S7 serve as the first end b1 of the second switching module 1032;

[0109] The second end of the sixth switch S6 and the second end of the eighth switch S8 serve as the second end b2 of the second switching module 1032;

[0110] The second end of the seventh switch S7 is the third end b3 of the second switching module 1032;

[0111] The first end of the eighth switch S8 is the fourth end b4 of the second switching module 1032.

[0112] In the embodiment of the present application, the control unit 201 is specifically configured to:

[0113] control the sixth switch S6 to be conductive to control the first branch of the second switching module 1032 to be conductive; or

[0114] control the seventh switch S7 and the eighth switch S8 to be conductive to control the second branch of the second switching module 1032 to be conductive.

[0115] As a feasible implementation manner, as shown in Figure 6 , a schematic diagram of the second circuit topology provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in Figure 2 . As shown in Figure 6 , in the second circuit topology shown, the first branch includes the sixth switch S6, and the second branch includes the seventh switch S7 and the eighth switch S8; wherein the sixth switch S6 to the eighth switch S8 are all controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0116] In the non-continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit 201 controls the sixth switch S6 to be closed, and controls the seventh switch S7 and the eighth switch S8 to be opened, to make the path between the array element 101 and the ultrasonic channel conductive, so that the transmission filter module 1021b is not connected to the array element 101 corresponding to the transmission filter module 1021b.

[0117] In the continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit 201 controls the sixth switch S6 to be opened, and controls the seventh switch S7 and the eighth switch S8 to be closed, to make the path between the array element 101, the transmission filter module 1021b and the ultrasonic channel conductive, so that the transmission filter module 1021b is connected to the array element 101 corresponding to the transmission filter module 1021b.

[0118] As shown in Figure 7 , a schematic diagram of the third circuit topology provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown in Figure 1 . Referring to Figure 7 , the switching module includes a third switching module 1033, the third switching module 1033 is used to be connected with four ends of the array element 101, the filter module and the ultrasonic channel, and the filter module includes a receiving filter module 1022c; wherein the first end c1 of the third switching module 1033 is connected with the array element 101, the second end c2 of the third switching module 1033 is connected with the second end of the ultrasonic channel, the third end c3 of the third switching module 1033 is connected with the first end of the receiving filter module 1022c, and the fourth end c4 of the third switching module 1033 is connected with the second end of the receiving filter module 1022c;

[0119] In the third circuit topology, the third switch module 1033 includes a first branch and a second branch;

[0120] The first branch is located between the first end cl of the third switch module 1033 and the second end c2 of the third switch module 1033;

[0121] The second branch is located between the first end cl of the third switch module 1033 and the third end c3 of the third switch module 1033, and between the fourth end c4 of the third switch module 1033 and the second end c2 of the third switch module 1033.

[0122] It should be noted that, Figure 7 Only one set of third circuit topologies is shown, and in actual ultrasonic devices, multiple sets of third circuit topologies should be included. Meanwhile, in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the array element 101 in the third circuit topology can serve as a transmitting array element or a receiving array element; in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the array element 101 in the third circuit topology serves as a receiving array element.

[0123] In the third circuit topology, a separate receiving filter module 1022c is provided for the array element 101, and the control unit 201 controls the conduction states of the first branch and the second branch of the third switch module 1033 according to different imaging modes, thereby controlling whether the receiving filter module 1022c is connected to the array element 101.

[0124] In some embodiments, for the third circuit topology, in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0125] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the array element 101 through the ultrasonic channel does not need to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022c, and the echo electrical signal transmitted by the array element 101 to the receiving module through the ultrasonic channel also does not need to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022c, so the control unit 201 controls the first branch of the third switch module 1033 to be conductive, and controls the second branch of the third switch module 1033 to be non-conductive, so that the receiving filter module 1022c is not connected to the array element 101.

[0126] In some embodiments, for the third circuit topology, in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0127] The echo electrical signal transmitted by the array element 101 to the receiving module through the ultrasonic channel needs to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022c, so the control unit 201 controls the first branch of the third switch module 1033 to be non-conductive, and controls the second branch of the third switch module 1033 to be conductive, so that the receiving filter module 1022c is connected to the array element 101.

[0128] As a feasible implementation, for the third circuit topology, the first branch includes a ninth switch S9, a tenth switch S10 and an eleventh switch S11; wherein the ninth switch S9 to the eleventh switch S11 are all controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0129] Specifically, the first end of the ninth switch S9 and the first end of the tenth switch S10 serve as the first end c1 of the third switching module 1033;

[0130] The second end of the ninth switch S9 and the second end of the eleventh switch S11 serve as the second end c2 of the third switching module 1033;

[0131] The second end of the tenth switch S10 serves as the third end c3 of the third switching module 1033;

[0132] The first end of the eleventh switch S11 serves as the fourth end c4 of the third switching module 1033.

[0133] In the embodiments of the present application, the control unit 201 is specifically configured to:

[0134] control the ninth switch S9 to be turned on to control the first branch of the third switching module 1033 to be turned on; or

[0135] control the tenth switch S10 and the eleventh switch S11 to be turned on to control the second branch of the third switching module 1033 to be turned on.

[0136] As a feasible implementation, as shown in Figure 8 , the third circuit topology provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in Figure 2 . In Figure 8 the third circuit topology shown, the first branch includes a ninth switch S9, the second branch includes a tenth switch S10 and an eleventh switch S11; wherein the ninth switch S9 to the eleventh switch S11 are all controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0137] In the non-continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit 201 controls the ninth switch S9 to be closed, and controls the tenth switch S10 and the eleventh switch S11 to be disconnected, to turn on the path between the array element 101 and the ultrasonic channel, so that the receiving filter module 1022c is not connected to the array element 101 corresponding to the receiving filter module 1022c.

[0138] In the continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit 201 controls the ninth switch S9 to be open, and controls the tenth switch S10 and the eleventh switch S11 to be closed, to turn on the path between the array element 101, the receiving filter module 1022c and the ultrasonic channel, so that the receiving filter module 1022c accesses the array element 101 corresponding to the receiving filter module 1022c.

[0139] For the second and third circuit topologies provided in the present application, by controlling the conduction states of the first branch and the second branch of the second and third switching modules, the transmission function in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode is realized in a part of the ultrasonic channels, and the receiving function in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode is realized in another part of the ultrasonic channels, compared with the first circuit topology, the number of switches and the number of transmission filter modules or receiving filter modules are reduced, which is more conducive to the integration of modules in the probe, but the transmission aperture and the receiving aperture are respectively subject to the number of the second circuit topology and the third circuit topology in the probe.

[0140] For example, if the number of array elements in the probe is 2N, where N is a positive integer, the number of ultrasonic channels corresponding to the array elements is 2N, one end of each ultrasonic channel is connected to the corresponding transmission module and receiving module, and the other end is connected to an array element, A array elements in the probe correspond to the second circuit topology, and the other B array elements correspond to the third circuit topology, when the first branch of the second circuit topology corresponding to the A array elements is all open and the second branch is all conductive, the transmission aperture is maximum, and when the first branch of the third circuit topology corresponding to the B array elements is all open and the second branch is all conductive, the receiving aperture is maximum.

[0141] As shown in Figure 9 , the fourth circuit topology provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown in Figure 1 . Referring to Figure 9 , the switching module includes a fourth switching module 1034, the ultrasonic channel includes a first ultrasonic channel 301 and a second ultrasonic channel 302 corresponding to each array element 101, the fourth switching module 1034 is used to connect four ends of the array element 101, the filter module, the first ultrasonic channel 301 and the second ultrasonic channel 302, and the filter module includes a transmission filter module 1021d; wherein the first end d1 of the fourth switching module 1034 is connected with the array element 101, the second end d2 of the fourth switching module 1034 is connected with the second end of the first ultrasonic channel 301, the third end d3 of the fourth switching module 1034 is connected with the first end of the transmission filter module 1021d, and the second end of the transmission filter module 1021d is connected with the second end of the second ultrasonic channel 302;

[0142] In the fourth circuit topology, the fourth switching module 1034 includes a first branch and a second branch;

[0143] The first branch is located between the first end d1 of the fourth switching module 1034 and the second end d2 of the fourth switching module 1034.

[0144] The second branch is located between the first end d1 of the fourth switching module 1034 and the third end d3 of the fourth switching module 1034.

[0145] It should be noted that, Figure 9 Only one set of fourth circuit topologies is shown, and in actual ultrasonic equipment, multiple sets of fourth circuit topologies should be included. Meanwhile, in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the elements 101 in the fourth circuit topology can serve as transmitting elements or receiving elements; in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the elements 101 in the fourth circuit topology serve as transmitting elements.

[0146] In the fourth circuit topology, the same element 101 is multiplexed to two ultrasonic channels, and the same element 101 corresponds to two sets of transmitting modules and receiving modules. A separate transmitting filter module 1021d is arranged between the element 101 and one of the two ultrasonic channels, and the control unit controls the conduction states of the first branch and the second branch according to different imaging modes, thereby controlling whether the element 101 is connected to one set of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the first ultrasonic channel 301 or connected to another set of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the second ultrasonic channel 302 via the transmitting filter module 1021d.

[0147] In some embodiments, for the fourth circuit topology, in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0148] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the element 101 through the ultrasonic channel does not need to be filtered by the transmitting filter module 1021d, and the echo electrical signal transmitted by the element 101 to the receiving module through the ultrasonic channel also does not need to be filtered by the receiving filter module. Therefore, the control unit controls the first branch to be conductive and controls the second branch to be disconnected, so that the element 101 is connected to one set of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the first ultrasonic channel 301, and the transmitting filter module 1021d is not connected to the element 101.

[0149] In some embodiments, for the fourth circuit topology, in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0150] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the element 101 through the ultrasonic channel needs to be filtered by the transmitting filter module 1021d. Therefore, the control unit controls the first branch in the fourth circuit topology where the element 101 is located to be disconnected and controls the second branch to be conductive, so that the element 101 is connected to one set of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the second ultrasonic channel 302, and the transmitting filter module 1021d is connected to the element 101.

[0151] As a feasible implementation, for the fourth circuit topology, the first branch includes a twelfth switch and a thirteenth switch S13; wherein the twelfth switch S12 and the thirteenth switch S13 are both controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0152] Specifically, the first end of the twelfth switch S12 and the first end of the thirteenth switch S13 serve as the first end d1 of the fourth switching module 1034.

[0153] The second end of the twelfth switch S12 serves as the second end d2 of the fourth switching module 1034.

[0154] The second end of the thirteenth switch S13 serves as the third end d3 of the fourth switching module 1034.

[0155] In the embodiments of the present application, the control unit is specifically configured to:

[0156] control the twelfth switch S12 to be conductive to control the first branch of the fourth switching module 1034 to be conductive; or

[0157] control the thirteenth switch S13 to be conductive to control the second branch of the fourth switching module 1034 to be conductive.

[0158] As a feasible implementation, as shown in Figure 10 , a schematic diagram of the fourth circuit topology provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. Figure 2 In the fourth circuit topology shown in Figure 10 , the first branch includes a twelfth switch S12, and the second branch includes a thirteenth switch S13; wherein the twelfth switch S12 and the thirteenth switch S13 are both controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0159] In the non-continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit controls the twelfth switch S12 to be closed and the thirteenth switch S13 to be opened, to make the path between the array element 101 and the first ultrasonic channel 301 conductive, so that the transmission filter module 1021d is not connected to the array element 101 corresponding to the transmission filter module 1021d.

[0160] In the continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit controls the twelfth switch S12 to be opened and the thirteenth switch S13 to be closed, to make the path between the array element 101, the transmission filter module 1021d and the second ultrasonic channel 302 conductive, so that the transmission filter module 1021d is connected to the array element 101 corresponding to the transmission filter module 1021d.

[0161] As shown in Figure 11 , a schematic diagram of the fifth circuit topology provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. Figure 1 .Figure 11 The switching module includes a fifth switching module 1035, the ultrasonic channel includes a first ultrasonic channel 301 and a second ultrasonic channel 302 corresponding to each array element 101, the fifth switching module 1035 is used for connecting four ends of the array element 101, the filtering module, the first ultrasonic channel 301 and the second ultrasonic channel 302, and the filtering module includes a receiving filtering module 1022e; wherein the first end e1 of the fifth switching module 1035 is connected with the array element 101, the second end e2 of the fifth switching module 1035 is connected with the second end of the first ultrasonic channel 301, the third end e3 of the fifth switching module 1035 is connected with the first end of the receiving filtering module 1022e, and the second end of the receiving filtering module 1022e is connected with the second end of the second ultrasonic channel 302;

[0162] In the fifth circuit topology, the fifth switching module 1035 includes a first branch and a second branch;

[0163] The first branch is located between the first end e1 of the fifth switching module 1035 and the second end e2 of the fifth switching module 1035;

[0164] The second branch is located between the first end e1 of the fifth switching module 1035 and the third end e3 of the fifth switching module 1035.

[0165] It should be noted that, Figure 11 Only one set of fifth circuit topologies is shown, and in actual ultrasonic equipment, multiple sets of fifth circuit topologies should be included, and in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the array element 101 in the fifth circuit topology can be used as a transmitting array element 101 or a receiving array element 101; in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, the array element 101 in the fifth circuit topology is used as a receiving array element 101.

[0166] In the fifth circuit topology, the same array element 101 is multiplexed to two ultrasonic channels, the same array element 101 corresponds to two sets of transmitting modules and receiving modules, a separate receiving filtering module 1022e is arranged between the array element 101 and one of the ultrasonic channels, and the conduction states of the first branch and the second branch are controlled according to different imaging modes by the control unit, so as to control whether the array element 101 is connected with one set of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the first ultrasonic channel 301 or connected with another set of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the receiving filtering module 1022e and the second ultrasonic channel 302.

[0167] In some embodiments, for the fifth circuit topology, in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0168] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the array element 101 through the ultrasonic channel does not need to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022e, and the echo electrical signal transmitted by the array element 101 to the receiving module through the ultrasonic channel also does not need to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022e, so the control unit controls the first branch of the fifth switching module 1035 to be conductive, and controls the second branch to be disconnected, so that the array element 101 is connected with a group of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the first ultrasonic channel 301, and the receiving filter module 1022e is not connected to the array element 101.

[0169] In some embodiments, for the fifth circuit topology, in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode:

[0170] The electrical signal transmitted by the transmitting module to the array element 101 through the ultrasonic channel needs to be filtered by the receiving filter module 1022e, so the control unit controls the first branch of the fifth switching module 1035 to be disconnected, and controls the second branch to be conductive, so that the array element 101 is connected with a group of transmitting modules and receiving modules through the second ultrasonic channel 302, and the receiving filter module 1022e is connected to the array element 101.

[0171] As a feasible implementation manner, for the fifth circuit topology, the first branch includes a fourteenth switch S14 and a fifteenth switch S15; wherein the fourteenth switch S14 and the fifteenth switch S15 are both controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0172] Specifically, the first end of the fourteenth switch S14 and the first end of the fifteenth switch S15 serve as the first end e1 of the fifth switching module 1035;

[0173] The second end of the fourteenth switch S14 serves as the second end e2 of the fifth switching module 1035;

[0174] The second end of the fifteenth switch S15 serves as the third end e3 of the fifth switching module 1035.

[0175] In the embodiments of the present application, the control unit is specifically used for:

[0176] controlling the fourteenth switch S14 to be conductive to control the first branch of the fifth switching module 1035 to be conductive; or

[0177] controlling the fifteenth switch S15 to be conductive to control the second branch of the fifth switching module 1035 to be conductive.

[0178] As a feasible implementation manner, as shown in Figure 12 the fifth circuit topology provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown in Figure 2 In Figure 12In the fifth circuit topology shown, the first branch includes the fourteenth switch S14, and the second branch includes the fifteenth switch S15; wherein the fourteenth switch S14 and the fifteenth switch S15 are both controllable switches or controllable switch circuits.

[0179] In the continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit controls the fourteenth switch S14 to be open and the fifteenth switch S15 to be closed, to turn on the path between the array element 101, the receiving filter module 1022e and the second ultrasonic channel 302, so that the receiving filter module 1022e accesses the array element 101 corresponding to the receiving filter module 1022e.

[0180] In the continuous wave Doppler mode, the control unit controls the fourteenth switch S14 to be open and the fifteenth switch S15 to be closed, to turn on the path between the array element 101, the receiving filter module 1022e and the second ultrasonic channel 302, so that the receiving filter module 1022e accesses the array element 101 corresponding to the receiving filter module 1022e.

[0181] For the fourth and fifth circuit topologies provided in the present application, since the array elements are multiplexed, the number of ultrasonic channels is required to be greater than the number of array elements, which is suitable for the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode of the phased array probe. Compared with the first, second and third circuit topologies, the number of switches in the switching module in the probe is further reduced, which is more conducive to the integration of modules in the probe, but the transmit aperture and the receive aperture are respectively subject to the number of the fourth circuit topology and the fifth circuit topology in the probe.

[0182] For example, referring to Figure 13 For the array element multiplexing topology provided in the embodiments of the present application, a high-performance phased array probe generally has 96 array elements, and a high-performance host has 192 ultrasonic channels. The first branch is used to connect the 1~96 ultrasonic channels to the 1~96 array elements, the second branch is used to connect the 97~144 ultrasonic channels to the 1~48 array elements through the transmit filter module, and the second branch is used to connect the 145~196 ultrasonic channels to the 49~96 array elements through the receive filter module, so as to realize the function of transmitting by the maximum of the first 48 array elements and receiving by the maximum of the last 48 array elements in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode. When the first branch of the fourth circuit topology of the first 48 array elements is all open and the second branch is all closed, the transmit aperture is maximum, and when the first branch of the fifth circuit topology of the last 48 array elements is all open and the second branch is all closed, the receive aperture is maximum.

[0183] It should be noted that in the same probe, one or more of the first to fifth circuit topologies provided in the present application can be used to control the filter module not to access the corresponding array element in the non-continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, and to control the filter module to access the corresponding array element in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode, thereby improving the heating condition of the probe and improving the transmission efficiency of the probe.

[0184] In some embodiments, the same circuit topology can correspond to one or more groups of transmit filter modules and receive filter modules with different filtering frequencies. For the case of requiring multiple frequency filtering, the switching of filter modules with different frequencies can be realized by controlling the conduction states of the first branch and the second branch in the switching module. Generally, the number of frequency points at which a probe works in the continuous wave Doppler imaging mode is 1-3. Taking the first circuit topology and two frequency points as an example, as shown in FIG. 2, the first circuit topology provided in the embodiments of the present application can realize two kinds of transmission frequency requirements. Figure 14

[0185] It should be noted that the use of multi-frequency filter modules will increase the number of filter modules and switches, greatly increasing the volume of the probe. The first to fifth circuit topologies described above can be used to reduce the number of modules and switches and reduce the volume of the probe.

[0186] The filter modules used in the embodiments of the present application are described below.

[0187] The main function of the transmit filter module is to filter out high harmonics, ensure that the transmission frequency is a single narrowband signal, and be within the bandwidth response range of the probe, thereby reducing the dissipation of energy outside the bandwidth range of the probe (energy causing the probe to heat up). In one or more embodiments, the transmit filter module used in the present application can use single-inductor L-type filtering, capacitor-inductor LC-type filtering, or π-type filtering, as shown in FIG. 3, which is a structure diagram of an LC filter type transmit filter module provided in the embodiments of the present application. Figure 15 Figure 15 The transmit filter module includes a transmit module for generating a set waveform, an inductor L1, capacitors C1 and C2, a transmit array element Y1, and a ground terminal GND1.

[0188] The main function of the receive filter module is to filter out noise of the second harmonic, thereby reducing the mixing noise of high harmonics generated in the subsequent IQ mixing stage, and also improving the fundamental energy to some extent. In the embodiments of the present application, the receive filter module can be selected according to the integration level, and the implementation method of the receive filter module is divided into two types:

[0189] One is a passive filtering method, which has low area requirement, simple filtering, and low circuit requirement, and is more suitable for being placed in the probe. The passive filter is composed of LC devices, as shown in FIG. 4, which is a structure diagram of a passive filter type receive filter module provided in the embodiments of the present application. Figure 16 ​​The diagram shown is a schematic representation of the passive filter-type receiving filter module provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 16 The passive filtering receiver module includes a receiver module for receiving echo electrical signals, inductors L2 and L3, capacitors C3 and C4, a receiver array element Y1, and a ground terminal GND2. In some embodiments, Figure 16 L3, C3, and C4 are optional.

[0190] Another approach is active filtering, which uses an active filter and adds an LNA (noise floor amplifier) ​​stage to achieve bandpass or low-pass filtering. Figure 17 The diagram shown is a schematic of the active filter receiving filter module provided in an embodiment of this application. The active filter receiving filter module is composed of resistors R1, R2 and R3, capacitors C5 and C6, a noise floor amplifier LNA, and a ground terminal GND3. This module can also be built using other similar RC or LC bandpass / lowpass filters or multi-order filters, and this application does not limit it.

[0191] It should be noted that the transmit filtering module and receive filtering module used in the embodiments of this application are not limited to... Figure 15 , 16 The structure shown in Figure 17 can also be other circuit structures that can filter out high-frequency harmonics, and this application does not limit them.

[0192] Based on the ultrasonic device provided in this application, a controllable filtering module is added to the probe. According to the current imaging mode, the control unit controls whether the filtering module in the probe is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module. When entering the continuous wave Doppler mode, the filtering module in the probe can be controlled to connect to the array element corresponding to the filtering module to reduce harmonic interference of electrical signals and avoid the problem of excessive local temperature of the probe. At the same time, it allows the sensitivity of the probe to be improved by increasing the intensity of the transmission voltage.

[0193] Based on the same inventive concept, this application also provides an ultrasound imaging method, such as... Figure 18 The diagram shown is a flowchart of an ultrasound imaging method provided in an embodiment of this application, applied to an ultrasound device. The ultrasound device includes a probe and a main unit; the probe includes array elements and a filtering module corresponding to the array elements; the main unit includes a control unit, a transmitting module, and a receiving module; the method includes:

[0194] In step S1801, the control unit controls whether the filtering module is connected to the array element corresponding to the filtering module according to the current imaging mode, and generates an electrical signal with a set waveform through the transmission module.

[0195] In step S1802, the received electrical signals are converted into ultrasonic waves by the array elements and emitted, and / or the received echo signals are converted into echo electrical signals;

[0196] The received electrical signals include electrical signals filtered by the filtering module when the control unit controls the filtering module to access the array elements, or electrical signals not filtered by the filtering module.

[0197] In step S1803, the received echo electrical signals are processed by the receiving module to output ultrasonic imaging information.

[0198] The received echo electrical signals include echo electrical signals filtered by the filtering module when the control unit controls the filtering module to access the array elements, or echo electrical signals not filtered by the filtering module.

[0199] In one or more embodiments, the control unit controls whether the filtering module accesses the array elements corresponding to the filtering module according to a current imaging mode, including:

[0200] If the imaging mode is a non-continuous wave Doppler mode, the filtering module is controlled not to access the array elements;

[0201] If the imaging mode is a continuous wave Doppler mode, the filtering module is controlled to access the array elements.

[0202] Various modifications and changes can be made to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the application. Accordingly, it is intended that all such modifications and changes be included within the scope of the application as set forth in the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An ultrasound apparatus, characterized by, The probe and the host are included; wherein the probe includes an array element and a filter module corresponding to the array element, the host includes a control unit, a transmitting module and a receiving module; The transmitting module is used for generating an electrical signal of a set waveform; The control unit is used for controlling whether the filter module accesses the array element corresponding to the filter module according to a current imaging mode; The filter module is used for performing filtering processing on the electrical signal received by the array element and / or the echo electrical signal received by the array element when the control unit controls the filter module to access the array element; The array element is used for converting the received electrical signal into an ultrasonic wave and emitting, and / or converting the received echo signal into an echo electrical signal, wherein the received electrical signal includes the electrical signal filtered by the filter module or the electrical signal not filtered by the filter module; The receiving module is used for processing the received echo electrical signal and outputting ultrasonic imaging information, wherein the received echo electrical signal includes the echo electrical signal filtered by the filter module or the echo electrical signal not filtered by the filter module.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein, An ultrasonic channel is further included, and the probe further includes a switching module, and a first end of the ultrasonic channel is connected to the transmitting module and the receiving module; The control unit is specifically used for controlling a first branch of the switching module to be conducted if the imaging mode is a non-continuous wave Doppler mode, so as to conduct a path between the array element and the ultrasonic channel, and controlling a second branch of the switching module to be conducted if the imaging mode is a continuous wave Doppler mode, so as to conduct a path among the array element, the filter module and the ultrasonic channel.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The filter module includes a transmitting filter module and a receiving filter module, the second branch includes a first sub-branch and a second sub-branch, and the switching module includes a first switching module; A first end of the first switching module is connected to the array element, a second end of the first switching module is connected to a second end of the ultrasonic channel, a third end of the first switching module is connected to a first end of the transmitting filter module, a fourth end of the first switching module is connected to a second end of the transmitting filter module, a fifth end of the first switching module is connected to a first end of the receiving filter module, and a sixth end of the first switching module is connected to a second end of the receiving filter module; The first branch is located between the first end of the first switching module and the second end of the first switching module; The first sub-branch is located between the first end of the first switching module and the third end of the first switching module, and between the fourth end of the first switching module and the second end of the first switching module; The second sub-branch is located between the first end of the first switching module and the fifth end of the first switching module, and between the sixth end of the first switching module and the second end of the first switching module.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein, The first branch includes a first switch, the first sub-branch includes a second switch and a third switch, and the second sub-branch includes a fourth switch and a fifth switch; A first end of the first switch, a first end of the second switch and a first end of the fourth switch serve as the first end of the first switching module; a second end of the first switch, a second end of the third switch, and a second end of the fifth switch serve as a second end of the first switching module; a second end of the second switch serves as a third end of the first switching module; a first end of the third switch serves as a fourth end of the first switching module; a second end of the fourth switch serves as a fifth end of the first switching module; a first end of the fifth switch serves as a sixth end of the first switching module; the control unit is specifically configured to: control the first switch to be turned on, so as to control a first branch of the first switching module to be turned on; or control the second switch and the third switch to be both turned on, so as to control a first sub-branch of the first switching module to be turned on; or control the fourth switch and the fifth switch to be both turned on, so as to control a second sub-branch of the first switching module to be turned on. the filtering module comprises a transmitting filtering module or a receiving filtering module; 5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, if the filtering module comprises the transmitting filtering module, the switching module comprises a second switching module; a first end of the second switching module is connected with an array element, a second end of the second switching module is connected with a second end of an ultrasonic channel, a third end of the second switching module is connected with a first end of the transmitting filtering module, and a fourth end of the second switching module is connected with a second end of the transmitting filtering module; the first branch is located between the first end of the second switching module and the second end of the second switching module; the second branch is located between the first end of the second switching module and the third end of the second switching module, and between the fourth end of the second switching module and the second end of the second switching module; if the filtering module comprises the receiving filtering module, the switching module comprises a third switching module; a first end of the third switching module is connected with an array element, a second end of the third switching module is connected with a second end of an ultrasonic channel, a third end of the third switching module is connected with a first end of the receiving filtering module, and a fourth end of the third switching module is connected with a second end of the receiving filtering module; the first branch is located between the first end of the third switching module and the second end of the third switching module; and the second branch is located between the first end of the third switching module and the third end of the third switching module, and between the fourth end of the third switching module and the second end of the third switching module. the second switching module comprises a sixth switch, a seventh switch, and an eighth switch; 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein, a first end of the sixth switch and a first end of the seventh switch serve as a first end of the second switching module; a second end of the sixth switch and a second end of the eighth switch serve as a second end of the second switching module; a second end of the seventh switch serves as a third end of the second switching module; a first end of the eighth switch serves as a fourth end of the second switching module; the third switching module comprises a ninth switch, a tenth switch, and an eleventh switch; a first end of the ninth switch and a first end of the tenth switch serve as a first end of the third switching module; ​ A second end of the ninth switch and a second end of the eleventh switch serve as a second end of the third switching module; A second end of the tenth switch serves as a third end of the third switching module; A first end of the eleventh switch serves as a fourth end of the third switching module; The control unit is specifically configured to: control the sixth switch and the ninth switch to be conductive, so as to control the first branch to be conductive; or control the seventh switch, the eighth switch, the ninth switch and the tenth switch to be conductive, so as to control the second branch to be conductive.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein, The ultrasonic channel includes a first ultrasonic channel and a second ultrasonic channel corresponding to each array element, and the filter module includes a transmitting filter module or a receiving filter module; If the filter module includes the transmitting filter module, the switching module includes a fourth switching module; A first end of the fourth switching module is connected with an array element, a second end of the fourth switching module is connected with a second end of the first ultrasonic channel, a third end of the fourth switching module is connected with a first end of the transmitting filter module, and a second end of the transmitting filter module is connected with a second end of the second ultrasonic channel; The first branch is located between the first end of the fourth switching module and the second end of the fourth switching module; The second branch is located between the first end of the fourth switching module and the third end of the fourth switching module; If the filter module includes the receiving filter module, the switching module includes a fifth switching module; A first end of the fifth switching module is connected with an array element, a second end of the fifth switching module is connected with a second end of the first ultrasonic channel, a third end of the fifth switching module is connected with a first end of the receiving filter module, and a second end of the receiving filter module is connected with a second end of the second ultrasonic channel; The first branch is located between the first end of the fifth switching module and the second end of the fifth switching module; The second branch is located between the first end of the fifth switching module and the third end of the fifth switching module.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein, The fourth switching module includes a twelfth switch and a thirteenth switch; A first end of the twelfth switch and a first end of the thirteenth switch serve as a first end of the fourth switching module; A second end of the twelfth switch serves as a second end of the fourth switching module; A second end of the thirteenth switch serves as a third end of the fourth switching module; The fifth switching module includes a fourteenth switch and a fifteenth switch; A first end of the fourteenth switch and a first end of the fifteenth switch serve as a first end of the fifth switching module; A second end of the fourteenth switch serves as a second end of the fifth switching module; A second end of the fifteenth switch serves as a third end of the fifth switching module; The control unit is specifically configured to: control the twelfth switch and the fourteenth switch to be conductive, so as to control the first branch to be conductive; or control the thirteenth switch and the fifteenth switch to be conductive, so as to control the second branch to be conductive.

9. An ultrasound imaging method, characterized by, The application is applied to an ultrasonic device, which comprises a probe and a host; the probe comprises an array element and a filter module corresponding to the array element, the host comprises a control unit, a transmitting module and a receiving module, and the method comprises: controlling, by the control unit, whether the filter module is connected to the array element corresponding to the filter module according to a current imaging mode, and generating, by the transmitting module, an electrical signal with a set waveform; converting, by the array element, a received electrical signal into an ultrasonic wave and emitting, and / or converting a received echo signal into an echo electrical signal, wherein the received electrical signal comprises an electrical signal filtered by the filter module when the control unit controls the filter module to be connected to the array element, or an electrical signal not filtered by the filter module; processing, by the receiving module, the received echo electrical signal to output ultrasonic imaging information, wherein the received echo electrical signal comprises an echo electrical signal filtered by the filter module when the control unit controls the filter module to be connected to the array element, or an echo electrical signal not filtered by the filter module.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The controlling, by the control unit, whether the filter module is connected to the array element corresponding to the filter module according to a current imaging mode comprises: if the imaging mode is a non-continuous wave Doppler mode, controlling the filter module not to be connected to the array element; if the imaging mode is a continuous wave Doppler mode, controlling the filter module to be connected to the array element.

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