Vascular exploration system, electronic device, storage medium and computer program product

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a blood vessel detection system, an electronic device, a storage medium and a computer program product. The system comprises a catheter and a host. The catheter is provided with a first signal collector and a second signal collector. The first signal collector is used to collect intravascular ultrasound echo signals, and the second signal collector is used to collect blood flow source signals. The host is used to generate an intravascular ultrasound image according to the intravascular ultrasound echo signals of a blood vessel to be detected, determine blood flow information of the blood vessel to be detected according to the blood flow source signals of the blood vessel to be detected, register the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in the collection time, determine first blood flow information matched by a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum expansion state and second blood flow information matched by a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to a registration result, and calculate a blood flow reserve characteristic value according to the determined blood flow information. In this way, comprehensive evaluation of blood vessel morphology and function can be achieved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of medical equipment, in particular to a blood vessel detection system, an electronic device, a storage medium and a computer program product. BACKGROUND

[0002] In recent years, the incidence of cardiovascular disease is increasing, and has become one of the diseases with the highest mortality rate. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT) and other intraluminal imaging technologies are of great significance for the identification of vascular lesions, the development of treatment methods and the evaluation of treatment effects. IVUS is a clinical application of ultrasonic imaging in blood vessels. According to the difference in acoustic impedance of tissues, the echoes reflected by the tissues are received and analyzed to generate a gray-scale image of the cross section of the blood vessel. However, IVUS is limited to evaluating the morphological changes of the blood vessel and cannot reflect the functional changes such as changes in blood supply capacity caused by morphological changes of the blood vessel. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application is proposed in consideration of the above problems. The embodiments of the present application provide a blood vessel detection system, an electronic device, a storage medium and a computer program product. By adopting this scheme, the signal collector required for collecting IVUS images and the signal collector required for measuring blood flow reserve characteristic values can be integrated on the same catheter. In this way, the same blood vessel detection system can be used to realize the functions of collecting IVUS images and measuring blood flow reserve characteristic values, to realize comprehensive evaluation of the morphology and functionality of the blood vessel, and to improve the accuracy of blood flow reserve characteristic value measurement and other technical effects at the same time.

[0004] According to an aspect of the present application, a blood vessel detection system is provided, comprising a catheter and a host computer, the catheter being provided with a first signal collector and a second signal collector, the first signal collector being configured to collect intravascular ultrasound echo signals, and the second signal collector being configured to collect blood flow source signals, the blood flow source signals being signals used to determine blood flow; the host computer being communicatively connected with the first signal collector and the second signal collector, and being configured to: generate an intravascular ultrasound image of a blood vessel to be detected based on the intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the blood vessel to be detected collected by the first signal collector, determine blood flow information of the blood vessel to be detected based on the blood flow source signals of the blood vessel to be detected collected by the second signal collector, register the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in time, determine first blood flow information matched with a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum expansion state and second blood flow information matched with a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state based on a registration result, and calculate a blood flow reserve characteristic value of the blood vessel to be detected based on the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, the blood flow information comprising blood flow of the blood vessel to be detected and / or intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel to be detected used to determine blood flow.

[0005] Exemplarily, the blood flow information comprises the intermediate blood flow information, the intermediate blood flow information comprises blood flow velocity or comprises blood flow velocity and blood flow direction, the blood flow source signals comprise ultrasonic Doppler signals, and the second signal collector comprises a first ultrasonic transducer configured to collect the ultrasonic Doppler signals; or, the intermediate blood flow information comprises blood flow velocity, the blood flow source signals comprise blood flow temperature signals, and the second signal collector comprises a temperature sensor; or, the intermediate blood flow information comprises blood flow pressure, the blood flow source signals comprise blood flow pressure signals, and the second signal collector comprises a pressure sensor.

[0006] Exemplarily, the first signal collector comprises a second ultrasonic transducer configured to collect the intravascular ultrasound echo signals, an element plane of the second ultrasonic transducer is parallel to an axis of the catheter, and an element plane of the first ultrasonic transducer is at a preset angle with the axis of the catheter.

[0007] Exemplarily, the first ultrasonic transducer is further configured to emit pulsed ultrasonic waves and receive corresponding echo signals as the blood flow source signals, and the intermediate blood flow information further comprises blood flow direction.

[0008] Exemplarily, when the intermediate blood flow information comprises blood flow velocity or comprises blood flow velocity and blood flow direction, the blood vessel detection system further comprises a display, the host computer is communicatively connected with the display, and the host computer is further configured to color code the intermediate blood flow information, superimpose a color coding result on the intravascular ultrasound image matched with the intermediate blood flow information based on the registration result, and output the color coding result to the display for display.

[0009] Exemplarily, the host specifically registers the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in the acquisition time by: determining an actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information according to at least the distance between the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter and the withdrawal speed of the catheter; matching the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the blood flow information according to the actual acquisition time difference, to determine the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information corresponding to the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time, so as to obtain a registration result, the registration result including a matching relationship between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information, and the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information corresponding to the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time being the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information matched with each other.

[0010] Exemplarily, the host specifically determines the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information by: determining the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information according to the preset included angle between the element plane of the first ultrasonic transducer and the axis of the catheter, the distance between the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter, and the withdrawal speed of the catheter.

[0011] Exemplarily, the host specifically matches the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the blood flow information by: aligning the scanned first blood vessel scanning region corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the scanned second blood vessel scanning region corresponding to the blood flow information in the time axis according to the actual acquisition time difference; deleting the non-overlapping regions in the aligned first blood vessel scanning region and the second blood vessel scanning region, and determining each blood vessel position in the overlapping region in the aligned first blood vessel scanning region and the second blood vessel scanning region as the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time, so as to determine the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information corresponding to the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time.

[0012] Exemplarily, the host is further configured to: determine a target blood vessel position in response to user input information, or determine a blood vessel position with the smallest lumen area as the target blood vessel position according to the intravascular ultrasound image; and select the first intravascular ultrasound image and the second intravascular ultrasound image from the intravascular ultrasound images acquired at the target blood vessel position.

[0013] The conduit comprises a base body and a rotatable transmission shaft, a first signal collector is arranged on the transmission shaft, and a second signal collector is arranged on the base body.

[0014] According to another aspect of the present application, an electronic device is also provided, which comprises a processing device and a storage device, and the storage device stores computer program instructions, which are used to perform the following operations when executed by the processing device: generating an intravascular ultrasound image of a to-be-detected blood vessel according to intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the to-be-detected blood vessel collected by a first signal collector of a blood vessel detection system; determining blood flow information of the to-be-detected blood vessel according to blood flow source signals of the to-be-detected blood vessel collected by a second signal collector of the blood vessel detection system; performing registration on the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in the collection time; determining first blood flow information matched by a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum expansion state and second blood flow information matched by a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to a registration result, and calculating a blood flow reserve characteristic value of the to-be-detected blood vessel according to the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, wherein the blood flow information comprises blood flow of the to-be-detected blood vessel and / or intermediate blood flow information of the to-be-detected blood vessel used to determine the blood flow, and the blood flow source signals are signals used to determine the blood flow.

[0015] According to another aspect of the present application, an electronic device is also provided, which comprises a processing device and a storage device, and the storage device stores computer program instructions, which are used to perform the following operations when executed by the processing device: generating an intravascular ultrasound image of a to-be-detected blood vessel according to intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the to-be-detected blood vessel collected by a first signal collector of a blood vessel detection system; determining blood flow information of the to-be-detected blood vessel according to blood flow source signals of the to-be-detected blood vessel collected by a second signal collector of the blood vessel detection system; performing registration on the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in the collection time; determining first blood flow information matched by a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum expansion state and second blood flow information matched by a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to a registration result, and calculating a blood flow reserve characteristic value of the to-be-detected blood vessel according to the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, wherein the blood flow information comprises blood flow of the to-be-detected blood vessel and / or intermediate blood flow information of the to-be-detected blood vessel used to determine the blood flow, and the blood flow source signals are signals used to determine the blood flow.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present application, there is also provided a computer program product comprising computer program instructions for, when executed, performing the following operations: generating an intravascular ultrasound image of a blood vessel under test according to intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a first signal collector of a blood vessel exploration system; determining blood flow information of the blood vessel under test according to blood flow source signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a second signal collector of the blood vessel exploration system; registering the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in time; determining first blood flow information matched by a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum dilatation state and second blood flow information matched by a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to a registration result, and calculating a flow reserve characteristic value of the blood vessel under test according to the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, the blood flow information comprising blood flow of the blood vessel under test and / or intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel under test used for determining the blood flow, the blood flow source signals being signals used for determining blood flow.

[0017] With the above technical solution, the signal collector required for collecting the IVUS image and the signal collector required for measuring the flow reserve characteristic value can be integrated on the same catheter, so that the same blood vessel exploration system can be used to realize the functions of collecting the IVUS image and measuring the flow reserve characteristic value, to realize comprehensive evaluation of the morphology and function of the blood vessel, so as to provide more comprehensive information for evaluating the lesion and improve the accuracy of cardiovascular disease diagnosis. At the same time, the two types of detection can be completed simultaneously in the process of single catheter entering, so that the operation time can be shortened, the patient's pain can be alleviated, and the operation risk can be reduced. In addition, through this measurement method, the change of the blood vessel lumen area detected by the IVUS can be combined with the stage change of the blood flow information, that is, the accuracy of the blood flow when the blood vessel reaches the required state for calculating the flow reserve characteristic value can be more accurately determined, thereby helping to improve the accuracy of the flow reserve characteristic value measurement.

[0018] The above description is only a summary of the technical solution of the present application. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present application, the contents of the specification can be implemented, and in order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific embodiments of the present application are described below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present application will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the figures. The drawings provided are for illustrative purposes only and, therefore, should not be considered to be limiting of the present application. In the drawings:

[0020] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a blood vessel exploration system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2 and Figure 3 shows two different exemplary arrangement of a first signal collector and a second signal collector on a catheter according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 4 shows an exemplary block diagram of a blood vessel exploration system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the following will describe exemplary embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all embodiments of the present application, and it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described herein. Based on the embodiments of the present application described in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort should fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0024] The blood flow reserve characteristic value measurement is a functional evaluation method for blood vessels. This method can evaluate the coronary artery lesion from a different perspective than IVUS and is a good supplement to IVUS. The blood flow reserve characteristic value can be a characteristic value for indicating the degree of influence of the stenosis of the blood vessel on the blood supply, such as coronary flow reserve (CFR) and the like. The following will be described taking CFR as an example. CFR is a measurement technique for determining whether the coronary artery stenosis is functionally significant, defined as the ratio between the blood flow when the coronary artery is close to the maximum expansion state and the blood flow in the resting state. CFR is a good indicator for evaluating the function of the coronary microvessels and is considered a strong predictor of fatal cardiovascular events. CFR measurement techniques include positron emission tomography (PET), transthoracic ultrasound coronary flow imaging, cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging, intracoronary Doppler ultrasound, and the like. The present application proposes a blood vessel detection scheme, which can integrate the signal collector required for collecting IVUS images and the signal collector required for measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value on the same catheter. In this way, the same blood vessel detection system can be used to realize the functions of collecting IVUS images and measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value, to realize the comprehensive evaluation of the morphology and functionality of the blood vessel, and can also improve the accuracy of the blood flow reserve characteristic value measurement and other technical effects.

[0025] To at least partially solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present application provides a blood vessel detection system. Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a blood vessel detection system 100 according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the blood vessel detection system 100 includes a blood vessel detection device 1000 and a display device 2000. Figure 1As shown, the blood vessel exploration system 100 includes a catheter 110 and a host 120. The catheter 110 is provided with a first signal collector 112 and a second signal collector 114, the first signal collector 112 is configured to collect intravascular ultrasound echo signals of a blood vessel under test, and the second signal collector 114 is configured to collect blood flow source signals of the blood vessel under test, the blood flow source signals being signals used to determine blood flow. The host 120 is communicatively connected with the first signal collector 112 and the second signal collector 114. The communicative connection described herein can be connected in any type of wired communicative connection and / or wireless communicative connection. The wired communicative connection can include electrical connection or include both electrical connection and mechanical connection. The host 120 is configured to perform the following target processing operation: generating an intravascular ultrasound image of the blood vessel under test according to the intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the blood vessel under test collected by the first signal collector 112, determining blood flow information of the blood vessel under test according to the blood flow source signals of the blood vessel under test collected by the second signal collector 114, registering the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in time, determining first blood flow information matched with a first intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum dilatation state and second blood flow information matched with a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to the registration result, and calculating a blood flow reserve characteristic value of the blood vessel under test according to the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, the blood flow information including blood flow of the blood vessel under test and / or intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel under test used to determine blood flow. The blood vessel under test can be any type of blood vessel, including but not limited to coronary artery blood vessel, i.e., although the blood vessel under test and the corresponding blood flow reserve characteristic value are described above by taking coronary artery and CFR as examples, the blood vessel exploration technology described herein can be applied on other blood vessels similar to coronary artery as needed and can be applied to measure blood flow reserve characteristic values similar to CFR of other blood vessels. Exemplarily, the host can include a processing device, the processing device can be communicatively connected with the first signal collector and the second signal collector, and the target processing operation described above can be performed by the processing device of the host.

[0026] The first signal collector is configured to collect intravascular ultrasound echo signals, which can include a second ultrasound transducer, i.e., an IVUS transducer. The IVUS transducer can be a single-element ultrasound transducer or a multi-element ultrasound transducer. When the IVUS transducer is a single-element ultrasound transducer or can not scan the whole angle (e.g., 360 degrees) at the same time although it is a multi-element ultrasound transducer, the IVUS transducer can rotate during the catheter withdrawal. When the IVUS transducer is a multi-element ultrasound transducer and can scan the whole angle (e.g., 360 degrees) at the same time, the IVUS transducer can not rotate during the catheter withdrawal. It can be understood that the IVUS transducer can enter the blood vessel along with the catheter, emit ultrasound waves towards the blood vessel wall and collect the corresponding echo signals (referred to herein as intravascular ultrasound echo signals). Those skilled in the art can understand the structure and working principle of the IVUS transducer, which will not be described herein.

[0027] The second signal collector is configured to collect blood flow source signals of the blood vessel, which are signals used to determine blood flow. The blood flow source signals can be any signal that can be used to determine blood flow. Exemplarily, the blood flow source signals of the blood vessel to be measured can be used to determine the blood flow information of the blood vessel to be measured. In one embodiment, the blood flow information of the blood vessel can include the blood flow of the blood vessel to be measured, which can be directly based on the blood flow when performing registration and other operations. In another embodiment, the blood flow information of the blood vessel can include intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel to be measured used to determine the blood flow, based on which the blood flow can be further determined, which can be based on the intermediate blood flow information when performing registration and other operations, and the blood flow reserve characteristic value can be calculated based on the intermediate blood flow information in the first blood flow information and the intermediate blood flow information in the second blood flow information after the blood flow corresponding to each of the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information is calculated. The intermediate blood flow information can be information such as blood flow velocity, blood flow pressure, etc.

[0028] In one embodiment, the blood flow can be measured using ultrasound Doppler technique. For example, the vessel blood flow information includes intermediate blood flow information, the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity or includes blood flow velocity and blood flow direction, the blood flow source signal includes ultrasound Doppler signal, and the second signal collector includes a first ultrasound transducer for collecting the ultrasound Doppler signal. The first ultrasound transducer can emit ultrasound waves towards the blood vessel wall and collect the returned echo signal (herein referred to as ultrasound Doppler signal). Based on the ultrasound Doppler signal, the blood flow velocity can be determined, and based on the blood flow velocity, the blood flow can be determined. In another embodiment, the blood flow can also be measured using thermal dilution method. For example, the vessel blood flow information includes intermediate blood flow information, the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity, the blood flow source signal includes blood flow temperature signal, and the second signal collector includes a temperature sensor. Thermal dilution method is a technique for measuring blood flow velocity and cardiac output, which is based on the principle of physics that when a liquid of known temperature is injected into the blood, it will cause a local temperature change, and there is a certain mathematical relationship between the change and the blood flow. Therefore, a temperature sensor can be provided on the catheter to measure the blood temperature, and then determine the blood flow. Exemplarily, the temperature sensor can include one or more of, but not limited to, a thermistor, a thermocouple, and an optical fiber temperature sensor. In yet another embodiment, the blood flow can also be measured using fractional flow reserve (FFR) technique. For example, the vessel blood flow information includes intermediate blood flow information, the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow pressure, the blood flow source signal includes blood flow pressure signal, and the second signal collector includes a pressure sensor. Based on the FFR technique, the blood flow pressure in the blood vessel can be measured, and there is a certain relationship between the blood flow pressure and the blood flow, so the blood flow can be determined based on the blood flow pressure. For ease of understanding, the second signal collector is taken as an example of the first ultrasound transducer in the following description, and the setting mode of other types of signal collectors and the image registration mode with the IVUS image can refer to the first ultrasound transducer. The principle of determining the blood flow based on the blood flow source signal collected by the corresponding signal collector and the blood flow reserve characteristic value can be realized by using the determination mode in the related art.

[0029] Figure 2 and Figure 3 respectively show two different exemplary setting modes of the first signal collector and the second signal collector on the catheter according to embodiments of the present application. In Figure 2 and Figure 3 , the left view of the catheter is shown on the leftmost side, the top view of the catheter is shown on the right side, and the front view of the catheter is shown on the right side. Figure 2 and Figure 3 , the end of the left side of the catheter is the distal end of the catheter, and the end of the right side of the catheter is the proximal end of the catheter. In Figure 2 andFigure 3 In some embodiments, UT1 represents a first signal collector, and UT2 represents a second signal collector. UT1 and UT2 can be arranged offset in the direction along the axis of the catheter. In some embodiments, Figure 2 In some embodiments, UT1 is closer to the proximal end of the catheter than UT2. In some embodiments, Figure 3 In some embodiments, UT1 is closer to the distal end of the catheter than UT2. The relative positions of UT1 and UT2 can be set as desired, and the present application is not limited in this regard. By way of example, UT1 can be a second ultrasound transducer (i.e., an IVUS transducer) for collecting intravascular ultrasound echo signals, and UT2 can be a first ultrasound transducer for collecting ultrasound Doppler signals. UT1 can be arranged laterally, i.e., with the element plane of UT1 arranged parallel to the axis of the catheter. It will be appreciated that an IVUS transducer is a type of ultrasound transducer, and the element plane of an ultrasound transducer can be perpendicular to the direction of ultrasound wave emission of the ultrasound transducer. As noted above, the IVUS transducer can be a single-element ultrasound transducer, or a multi-element ultrasound transducer. Figure 2 and Figure 3 UT1 is a single-element ultrasound transducer, in which case UT1 can be fixed to the drive shaft of the catheter, and UT1 can rotate with the drive shaft of the catheter (with the axis of the catheter as the axis of rotation) so as to perform 360-degree scanning of the blood vessel. UT1 can be responsible for both emitting ultrasound waves and receiving intravascular ultrasound echo signals, and the received intravascular ultrasound echo signals can be reconstructed to obtain a cross-sectional image of the blood vessel (i.e., an intravascular ultrasound image as described herein) after signal and image processing.

[0030] UT2 is a first ultrasonic transducer for collecting ultrasonic Doppler signals, the excitation and receiving module of UT2 can be completely independent of UT1. Illustratively, UT2 can be a single-element ultrasonic transducer, or a multi-element ultrasonic transducer, the number of elements in the multi-element ultrasonic transducer can be two or more. If UT2 is more than two elements, it can support both continuous ultrasonic waves (which can be referred to as continuous waves) and pulsed ultrasonic waves (which can be referred to as pulse waves), if it is a single-element ultrasonic transducer, it only supports pulse waves and does not support continuous waves. Taking a two-element ultrasonic transducer as an example, element 1 can be responsible for transmitting ultrasonic waves, and element 2 can be responsible for receiving echo signals (i.e. ultrasonic Doppler signals). When UT2 is a single-element ultrasonic transducer, UT2 can be responsible for both transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving echo signals, so UT2 can only transmit pulse waves and cannot transmit continuous waves. When the number of elements of UT2 is greater than 2, by reasonably allocating the function (transmission or reception) of each element and assigning a corresponding delay to each element, simple transmission focusing or reception focusing can be achieved to improve the signal-to-noise ratio. When UT1 and UT2 are single-element ultrasonic transducers, the structures of UT1 and UT2 can be similar, except for size and shape. However, the multi-element ultrasonic transducers corresponding to UT1 and UT2 are not the same and will have structural differences. The multi-element of UT1 can be a planar distribution into a ring-shaped distribution compared to a single element. The multi-element of UT2 can still maintain a planar distribution compared to a single element, but the single element is divided into multiple coplanar elements. When UT2 is a first ultrasonic transducer for collecting ultrasonic Doppler signals, it can be forwardly placed, and the element plane of UT2 and the axis of the catheter can form an arbitrary angle (i.e. a preset angle). UT2 can not rotate during the withdrawal process. It can be understood that when UT2 is replaced by a temperature sensor or a pressure sensor, it can still be arranged offset from UT1 along the axis direction of the catheter, and the orientation of UT1 can be set according to the technical requirements of the corresponding technology.

[0031] Due to the limited installation position, the first signal collector and the second signal collector have different scanned blood vessel regions at the same actual acquisition time, so that the first signal collector and the second signal collector can have a common scanned blood vessel region through retraction. Exemplarily, the host can include a retraction device mechanically connected with the catheter, through which the catheter can be driven to retract. The retraction device can include a processor inside or be connected with the processing device of the host, through which the retraction speed and the like can be controlled. During retraction, after the first signal collector and the second signal collector respectively complete the acquisition of the intravascular ultrasound echo signal and the blood flow source signal at a single blood vessel position within a preset time period (based on the two kinds of information, the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel flow information can be obtained respectively, so the acquisition process can also be regarded as the acquisition of the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel flow information), the catheter can be retracted to the next blood vessel position under the drive of the retraction device. The above-mentioned preset time period can be, for example, at least one complete cardiac cycle. The blood vessel position described herein can be understood as the position of any blood vessel cross section distributed along the direction of the axis of the catheter, that is, different blood vessel positions are staggered along the direction of the axis of the catheter. The retraction mode can include but is not limited to continuous retraction, step retraction and the like. During continuous retraction, the retraction speed can be controlled so that the retraction speed is less than a certain preset speed, so that the retraction distance within the preset time period required to stay at a single blood vessel position can be ignored, that is, it is considered that the retraction distance of the catheter within the preset time period will not affect the acquisition accuracy and registration accuracy of the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel flow information at the single blood vessel position. During retraction, the continuous retraction mode is relatively optional, which can speed up the measurement speed. The above-mentioned retraction and signal acquisition process can be repeated until the acquisition of the intravascular ultrasound echo signal and the blood flow source signal corresponding to the entire blood vessel to be measured is completed.

[0032] Since the intravascular ultrasound echo signals and the blood flow source signals are collected separately, i.e., the intravascular ultrasound images and the blood flow information of the blood vessels are collected separately, after all the data collection is completed, the measured series of blood flow information and intravascular ultrasound images can be matched one by one, i.e., registered in the collection time (which can be referred to as information registration). The information registration can be based on the following basic assumptions: 1. the basic stability of the cardiac cycle during the entire withdrawal process; 2. since the coronary artery has fewer branches and fewer factors affecting blood flow, the blood flow is relatively stable, so it can be considered that the change pattern of the blood flow distribution, blood flow velocity, etc. at the same position in each cardiac cycle remains unchanged in a short period of time, i.e., it can be considered that the blood flow information measured at the t time of the N cardiac cycle and the t time of the N+1 cardiac cycle is consistent. Therefore, the intravascular ultrasound images and the blood flow information collected at the same blood vessel position at the same actual collection time of different cardiac cycles can be corresponded. In this paper, the time corresponding to the same cardiac state of different cardiac cycles is referred to as the same theoretical collection time. Since the system is collecting intravascular ultrasound images at the same time as collecting blood flow information, the intravascular ultrasound images and the blood flow information are strictly one-to-one corresponding in the actual collection time, which facilitates more accurate information registration.

[0033] After the information registration is completed, the first intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen reaches the maximum expansion state and the second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in the resting state at any target blood vessel position can be selected. When the blood flow information includes intermediate blood flow information, the lumen area corresponding to the above two images can be combined with the intermediate blood flow information to calculate the respective blood flow, and then the blood flow reserve characteristic value such as CFR is obtained. When the blood flow information includes blood flow, the blood flow reserve characteristic value such as CFR can be directly determined according to the blood flow corresponding to the above two images respectively. Exemplarily, the target blood vessel position can be selected by the host according to a preset rule by default, for example, the minimum lumen area of the entire to-be-measured blood vessel is calculated as the target blood vessel position by default. Alternatively, the target blood vessel position can also be manually selected by the user, for example, any blood vessel position is manually selected as the target blood vessel position according to the intravascular ultrasound image. Exemplarily, the frame with the largest lumen area (due to the contraction and relaxation of the heart, the lumen area at the same blood vessel position will also increase and decrease) can be selected as the first intravascular ultrasound image and the frame with the smallest lumen area can be selected as the second intravascular ultrasound image from the intravascular ultrasound image corresponding to the target blood vessel position.

[0034] The blood vessel detection system can integrate the signal collector required for collecting the IVUS image and the signal collector required for measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value on the same catheter, so that the blood vessel detection system can realize the functions of collecting the IVUS image and measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value, and comprehensively evaluate the morphology and function of the blood vessel to provide more comprehensive information for evaluating the lesion and improve the accuracy of cardiovascular disease diagnosis. Meanwhile, the two types of detection can be completed at the same time in the process of single catheter entering, so that the operation time can be shortened, the pain of the patient can be reduced, and the operation risk can be reduced. In addition, through the measurement method, the change of the blood vessel lumen area detected by the IVUS can be combined with the stage change of the blood flow information, that is, the accuracy of the blood flow when the blood vessel reaches the state required for calculating the blood flow reserve characteristic value can be more accurately determined, and then the accuracy of the blood flow reserve characteristic value measurement can be improved.

[0035] According to the embodiment of the present application, the blood flow information of the blood vessel includes intermediate blood flow information, the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity or includes blood flow velocity and blood flow direction, the blood flow source signal includes an ultrasonic Doppler signal, and the second signal collector includes a first ultrasonic transducer for collecting the ultrasonic Doppler signal; or the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity, the blood flow source signal includes a blood flow temperature signal, and the second signal collector includes a temperature sensor; or the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow pressure, the blood flow source signal includes a blood flow pressure signal, and the second signal collector includes a pressure sensor.

[0036] The above has described several implementation schemes for measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value and the corresponding second signal collector, intermediate blood flow information and blood flow source signal, which will not be repeated here. According to the above scheme, the measurement of the blood flow reserve characteristic value can be realized by using various different hardware. The scheme for measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value by ultrasonic Doppler technology is relatively mature in technology, low in hardware cost and high in accuracy. The scheme for measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value by thermal dilution method is high in accuracy and convenient for measuring other important hemodynamic parameters at the same time, such as stroke volume (SV), systemic vascular resistance (SVR) and the like. The scheme for measuring the blood flow reserve characteristic value by FFR is convenient for further combining the FFR index to evaluate the blood vessel condition of the patient.

[0037] According to the embodiment of the present application, the first signal collector includes a second ultrasonic transducer for collecting the intravascular ultrasonic echo signal, the array element plane of the second ultrasonic transducer is parallel to the axis of the catheter, and the array element plane of the first ultrasonic transducer is at a preset angle with the axis of the catheter.

[0038] Reference Figure 2 and Figure 3, the array plane of the second ultrasonic transducer is parallel to the axis of the catheter, and the array plane of the first ultrasonic transducer is at a preset angle with the axis of the catheter. Those skilled in the art can understand that, in order to realize measurement, an angle between the sound beam axis of the first ultrasonic transducer and the axis of the catheter is needed, and the angle is a non-90-degree angle. The sound beam axis is perpendicular to the array plane of the first ultrasonic transducer, that is, an angle between the array plane of the first ultrasonic transducer and the axis of the catheter is also needed, and the angle is a non-0-degree angle. As shown in Figure 3 For the case that the first ultrasonic transducer is closer to the proximal end of the catheter than the second ultrasonic transducer, the first ultrasonic transducer and the second ultrasonic transducer can be arranged as follows: the second ultrasonic transducer is arranged on the catheter side surface close to the distal end of the catheter, the catheter side surface is a surface on the catheter parallel to the axis direction of the catheter, and the first ultrasonic transducer is arranged in a groove closer to the proximal end of the catheter. Specifically, the groove is provided with two groove side surfaces in the axis direction of the catheter (that is, one of the two groove side surfaces is closer to the proximal end or the distal end of the catheter than the other), and the first ultrasonic transducer is arranged on the groove side surface closer to the proximal end of the catheter. Exemplarily, each of the two groove side surfaces of the groove arranged in the axis direction of the catheter can be arranged such that a plane passing through the normal line of the groove side surface and the axis of the catheter is perpendicular to the groove side surface. Further, the catheter main body structure can be arranged to not hinder the scanning of the first ultrasonic transducer. Exemplarily, the length of the groove in the catheter axis direction is greater than a set value, so that the groove side surface closer to the distal end of the catheter is not in the scanning field of view of the first ultrasonic transducer. Still further, the length of the groove can also be reasonably arranged in combination with the size of the angle between the array plane of the first ultrasonic transducer and the axis of the catheter, so that the first ultrasonic transducer can completely scan and the length of the groove is not too long to shorten the overall length of the catheter. As described above, the second ultrasonic transducer can be designed to be rotatable or non-rotatable during catheter withdrawal. For the first ultrasonic transducer, it can be kept non-rotatable during catheter withdrawal, so that when the blood flow source signal at a certain blood vessel position is collected, the first ultrasonic transducer can repeatedly collect multiple times, for example, about 8 to 10 times, at the same blood vessel position, so that single-frame blood vessel flow information can be obtained through the data collected multiple times.

[0039] Through the above scheme, the second ultrasonic transducer and the first ultrasonic transducer can be arranged in a suitable direction, and this arrangement is helpful for accurately collecting intravascular ultrasound images and blood vessel flow information.

[0040] According to the embodiment of the present application, the first ultrasonic transducer is also used to emit pulsed ultrasonic waves and receive corresponding echo signals as blood flow source signals.

[0041] The second signal collector comprises a first ultrasonic transducer for collecting the ultrasonic Doppler signal, and the intermediate blood flow information can comprise blood flow velocity or both blood flow velocity and blood flow direction. In addition to blood flow velocity, the additional blood flow direction can provide more information to the user, which can help the user better evaluate the blood vessel condition of the patient. In the case of continuous ultrasonic wave emission by the first ultrasonic transducer (which can be referred to as continuous Doppler technology), the blood flow velocity and the blood flow direction can be determined based on the blood flow source signal. The continuous wave Doppler technology has the advantage of high signal-to-noise ratio, but requires multiple elements to achieve, and has high system complexity. In the case of pulsed ultrasonic wave emission by the first ultrasonic transducer (which can be referred to as pulsed Doppler technology), the blood flow velocity and the blood flow direction can also be determined based on the blood flow source signal. The pulsed Doppler technology only requires a single element to achieve, has low system complexity, and has low hardware cost, so the pulsed Doppler technology can be preferred.

[0042] The host can process the ultrasonic Doppler signal received from the first ultrasonic transducer by the following signal processing method to calculate the blood flow velocity or both the blood flow velocity and the blood flow direction: according to the principle of Doppler effect, the blood flow velocity or both the blood flow velocity and the blood flow direction are determined based on the sound speed of ultrasonic wave in blood flow medium, the Doppler shift of the ultrasonic Doppler signal, the center frequency of the emitted ultrasonic wave, and the included angle between the sound beam axis and the axis of the catheter.

[0043] The above signal processing method for the ultrasonic Doppler signal can be expressed by the following formula:

[0044]

[0045] wherein V is the blood flow velocity, f d is the Doppler shift of the ultrasonic Doppler signal, f0 is the center frequency of the emitted ultrasonic wave, c is the sound speed of ultrasonic wave in blood flow medium, is the included angle between the sound beam axis and the axis of the catheter. f0, c and are preset parameters. V can optionally have a positive or negative sign, which can represent the blood flow direction, for example, any one of the positive and negative signs represents approaching the catheter, i.e. flowing from the distal end to the proximal end of the catheter, and the other represents moving away from the catheter, i.e. flowing from the proximal end to the distal end of the catheter.

[0046] In the case of pulsed ultrasonic wave emission by the first ultrasonic transducer, the upper limit of the blood flow velocity measurement is affected by the pulse repetition frequency, and the two satisfy the following relationship:

[0047]

[0048] wherein V maxFor the maximum measurable blood flow velocity, PRF is the pulse repetition frequency, f0 is the center frequency of the emitted ultrasound wave, c is the sound speed in the blood flow medium, and θ is the included angle between the element plane of the first ultrasound transducer and the axis of the catheter. There is no such restriction for the first ultrasound transducer to emit continuous ultrasound waves, and thus if the blood flow velocity is greater than the velocity range that can be measured when the first ultrasound transducer emits pulsed ultrasound waves, the user can manually select to use continuous ultrasound waves for measurement according to needs.

[0049] According to the embodiments of the present application, when the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity or includes blood flow velocity and blood flow direction, the blood vessel detection system further comprises a display, and the host is in communication connection with the display. The host can be used to control the visual display of the intermediate blood flow information. The visual display can display the intermediate blood flow information in the display, for example, by means of text, graphics, adding pseudo-color, etc. Illustratively, when the intermediate blood flow information is visually displayed, the intermediate blood flow information can be fused on the intravascular ultrasound image matching the intermediate blood flow information and output to the display for display.

[0050] Further, the host is further used to color code the intermediate blood flow information, and superimpose the color coding result on the intravascular ultrasound image matching the intermediate blood flow information according to the registration result and output to the display for display. If the intravascular ultrasound image is displayed frame by frame, the color coding result of the corresponding intermediate blood flow information can also be displayed correspondingly. For example, when a video containing the intravascular ultrasound image is played, each time a frame of the intravascular ultrasound image is refreshed, the corresponding intermediate blood flow information is also updated in real time.

[0051] Illustratively, in the case of determining blood flow velocity or determining blood flow velocity and blood flow direction by the blood flow source signal collected by the first ultrasound transducer, the host can color code the determined blood flow velocity or the blood flow velocity and the blood flow direction and superimpose the color coding result on the intravascular ultrasound image for display. Illustratively, different blood flow directions can be represented by different colors, and different blood flow velocities can be represented by different color depths of the same color. For example, red can represent approaching the catheter, i.e. flowing along the distal end of the catheter to the proximal end, and blue can represent moving away from the catheter, i.e. flowing along the proximal end of the catheter to the distal end. Illustratively, the deeper the color, the faster the blood flow velocity. Since the information registration between the blood vessel blood flow information and the intravascular ultrasound image has been completed, the host can directly superimpose the color coding result on the corresponding intravascular ultrasound image and output the intravascular ultrasound image with the superimposed color coding result to the display for display. Illustratively, the target processing operation can include the above-mentioned operation of color coding the intermediate blood flow information and superimposing the color coding result on the intravascular ultrasound image matching the intermediate blood flow information according to the registration result and outputting to the display for display.

[0052] Through the above scheme, the intermediate blood flow information can be color-coded and the color-coded result is superimposed on the corresponding intravascular ultrasound image for display, so that the user can view the intravascular ultrasound image while viewing the intermediate blood flow information, and the user experience is good.

[0053] According to the embodiment of the present application, the host specifically registers the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel blood flow information in the collection time by the following way: at least according to the distance between the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter and the withdrawal speed of the catheter, the actual collection time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel blood flow information is determined; according to the actual collection time difference, the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the blood vessel blood flow information are matched to determine the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel blood flow information corresponding to the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical collection time, so as to obtain the registration result, the registration result includes the matching relationship between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel blood flow information, and the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel blood flow information corresponding to the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical collection time are the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood vessel blood flow information matched with each other.

[0054] The distance between the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter can be represented by the distance between any first preset feature point on the first signal collector and any second preset feature point on the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter. The first preset feature point and the second preset feature point can be, for example, geometric center points, barycenters, etc. The distance between the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter can be measured in advance after the catheter is assembled and stored in the storage device of the host. The withdrawal speed of the catheter can be a default speed, or can be determined according to the speed set by the user on the host during actual measurement.

[0055] If the scanned blood vessel regions of the first signal collector and the second signal collector are completely overlapped when the first signal collector and the second signal collector are located at the same blood vessel position, the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel can be determined according to the distance of the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter and the withdrawal speed of the catheter. The absolute value of the actual acquisition time difference can be equal to the ratio between the distance of the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter and the withdrawal speed. If the scanned blood vessel regions of the first signal collector and the second signal collector are not completely overlapped when the first signal collector and the second signal collector are located at the same blood vessel position, the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel can be determined according to the distance of the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter and the withdrawal speed of the catheter, and further combined with the scanning directions of the first signal collector and the second signal collector. The relative position relationship between the first signal collector and the second signal collector can determine the order of the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel in the actual acquisition time. For example, if the first signal collector is closer to the proximal end of the catheter than the second signal collector, the actual acquisition time of the intravascular ultrasound image can be before the blood flow information of the blood vessel, and the actual acquisition time difference between the two can be positive. If the first signal collector is closer to the distal end of the catheter than the second signal collector, the actual acquisition time of the intravascular ultrasound image can be after the blood flow information of the blood vessel, and the actual acquisition time difference between the two can be negative.

[0056] After determining the actual acquisition time difference, the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the blood flow information of the blood vessel can be matched to determine the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel corresponding to the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time. For example, either of the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the blood flow information of the blood vessel can be moved on the time axis to align with the other, for example, if the intravascular ultrasound image is collected Δt seconds earlier than the blood flow information of the blood vessel, the intravascular ultrasound image collected at each time t can be aligned with the blood flow information of the blood vessel collected at t-Δt, and considered that the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image collected at t and the scanned blood vessel position corresponding to the blood flow information of the blood vessel collected at t-Δt are matched, that is, considered that they are the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel corresponding to the same blood vessel position scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time.

[0057] According to the scheme, the matching relationship between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel can be determined based on the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel. Since the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel are arranged on the same catheter, the actual acquisition time of the two is strictly corresponding. Therefore, the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel can be registered very quickly and accurately through the actual acquisition time difference.

[0058] According to the embodiment of the present application, the host specifically determines the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel by the following way: according to the preset angle between the element plane of the first ultrasonic transducer and the axis of the catheter, the distance between the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter, and the withdrawal speed of the catheter, the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information of the blood vessel is determined.

[0059] The first ultrasound transducer emits ultrasound waves along a preset direction when scanning at each blood vessel position, and a frame of ultrasound Doppler signals can be acquired for the same scan line (i.e., the ultrasound beam line of each emission), and the host can correspondingly acquire a frame of blood vessel flow information based on the frame of ultrasound Doppler signals. As described above, each blood vessel position is a position of the blood vessel cross section distributed along the direction of the axis of the catheter, i.e., different blood vessel positions are staggered along the direction of the axis of the catheter. Exemplarily, each blood vessel position can include a plurality of position points distributed along a direction perpendicular to the axis of the catheter, i.e., different position points included in the same blood vessel position are staggered along the direction perpendicular to the axis of the catheter. A frame of ultrasound Doppler signals can include ultrasound Doppler signals acquired at different depths of the same scan line (i.e., at the position points where the depths are located), and accordingly, a frame of blood vessel flow information can include blood vessel flow information corresponding to each depth (i.e., the position point where the depth is located) determined one-to-one based on the ultrasound Doppler signals acquired at different depths of the same scan line. Since there is a preset angle (which can be referred to as a first preset angle) between the array plane of the first ultrasound transducer and the axis of the catheter, i.e., there is a preset angle (which can be referred to as a second preset angle) between the beam axis of the first ultrasound transducer and the axis of the catheter, and the sum of the first preset angle and the second preset angle is 90 degrees, when calculating the actual acquisition time difference between the blood vessel flow information acquired by the first ultrasound transducer at each depth of the scan line and the intravascular ultrasound image acquired by the second ultrasound transducer at the same time, the position point corresponding to the blood vessel flow information acquired at each depth of the scan line can be mapped to the direction of the axis of the catheter according to the trigonometric function relationship, and then summed with the distance between the first ultrasound transducer and the second ultrasound transducer in the direction of the axis of the catheter. The result of the summation can be regarded as the distance difference between the blood vessel position to which the position point corresponding to the blood vessel flow information acquired at each depth of the scan line belongs and the blood vessel position corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image acquired at the same time. Subsequently, the ratio of the summation result and the withdrawal speed can be calculated, and the ratio is taken as the actual acquisition time difference. For example, assuming that the angle between the array plane of the first ultrasound transducer and the axis of the catheter is θ, the distance between the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter is L, and the withdrawal speed of the catheter is v, then for the blood vessel flow information acquired by the first ultrasound transducer at depth d of the same scan line (i.e., the ultrasound beam line of each emission), the actual acquisition time difference between it and the corresponding intravascular image is:

[0060] It can be understood that the scan line has different depths, and for each emitted scan line, the closer to the array plane of the first ultrasound transducer, the smaller the depth d.

[0061] During the registration, since at least one cardiac cycle of information is completely collected at each blood vessel position, the host can first automatically calculate the lumen area of all collected intravascular ultrasound images, and match the intravascular ultrasound images collected at different blood vessel positions according to a preset algorithm according to the state in the cardiac cycle to determine which cardiac phase each intravascular ultrasound image belongs to. Subsequently, the host can calculate the actual acquisition time difference of the first signal collector and the second signal collector scanning the same blood vessel position through a trigonometric relationship and a distance / speed formula based on the preset angle between the element plane of the first ultrasonic transducer and the axis of the catheter, the distance of the first signal collector and the second signal collector in the direction of the axis of the catheter, and the withdrawal speed of the catheter. Subsequently, the registration result of the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information can be determined in combination with the actual acquisition time difference.

[0062] Through the above scheme, when the second signal collector includes the first ultrasonic transducer, the preset angle between the element plane of the first ultrasonic transducer and the axis of the catheter can be considered in the registration process of the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information, which helps to improve the accuracy of registration.

[0063] According to the embodiment of the application, the host specifically registers the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in the acquisition time by: aligning the first blood vessel scanning area corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the second blood vessel scanning area corresponding to the blood flow information on the time axis according to the acquisition time difference; deleting the non-overlapping area in the first blood vessel scanning area and the second blood vessel scanning area after alignment, and determining each position point of the overlapping area in the first blood vessel scanning area and the second blood vessel scanning area after alignment as the position point of the intravascular ultrasound image and the position point of the blood flow information obtained at the same time.

[0064] The blood vessel scanning areas of the first signal collector and the second signal collector do not necessarily coincide. The following is described by taking the first signal collector as the second ultrasonic transducer and the second signal collector as the first ultrasonic transducer. The projection of the area scanned by the second ultrasonic transducer on the cross-sectional image along the withdrawal direction in a period of time is a rectangular area, the projection of the area scanned by the first ultrasonic transducer on the cross-sectional image along the withdrawal direction in the same period of time is a parallelogram area, and the overlapping area of the two is the common scanning area. Therefore, the first blood vessel scanning area corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the second blood vessel scanning area corresponding to the blood flow information can be aligned on the time axis, the area not overlapping after alignment can be deleted, and the overlapping area can be matched. Each position point of the overlapping area in the first blood vessel scanning area and the second blood vessel scanning area after alignment is the position point of the intravascular ultrasound image and the position point of the blood flow information obtained at the same time.

[0065] By the above scheme, the non-overlapping regions in the first and second blood vessel scanning regions can be deleted during registration, so that unnecessary information can be omitted, the amount of subsequent information processing can be reduced, and the accuracy of the registration result can be improved.

[0066] According to the embodiment of the application, the host is further configured to: determine the target blood vessel position in response to user input information, or determine the blood vessel position with the smallest lumen area from the intravascular ultrasound images as the target blood vessel position; and select the first and second intravascular ultrasound images from the intravascular ultrasound images collected at the target blood vessel position.

[0067] As described above, the target blood vessel position can be selected by the host according to a preset rule by default, or can be manually selected by the user. The preset rule can include, for example, determining the blood vessel position with the smallest lumen area from the intravascular ultrasound images as the target blood vessel position. For example, any existing or future possible lumen and adventitia extraction algorithm (such as deep learning U-Net algorithm or other algorithm) can be used to determine the lumen area corresponding to each intravascular ultrasound image. For example, the blood vessels and background in the intravascular ultrasound image can be segmented by binaryzation, and then the number of pixels corresponding to the blood vessels can be calculated. Since the spatial area corresponding to each pixel is known in advance, the lumen area can be obtained by multiplying the number of pixels by the spatial area corresponding to each pixel. The host can include or be communicatively connected to any type of input device, which can include but is not limited to a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc. The host can receive user input information through the input device. After determining the target blood vessel position, the first and second intravascular ultrasound images can be selected from the intravascular ultrasound images collected at the target blood vessel position, for example, the intravascular ultrasound image with the largest lumen area can be selected as the first intravascular ultrasound image and the intravascular ultrasound image with the smallest lumen area can be selected as the second intravascular ultrasound image from the intravascular ultrasound images corresponding to the target blood vessel position.

[0068] The above target processing operation can include the operation of "determining the target blood vessel position in response to user input information, or determining the blood vessel position with the smallest lumen area from the intravascular ultrasound images as the target blood vessel position; and selecting the first and second intravascular ultrasound images from the intravascular ultrasound images collected at the target blood vessel position".

[0069] According to the above scheme, the host can automatically select or the user can select the target blood vessel position and obtain the corresponding first and second intravascular ultrasound images. The automatic selection of the host can improve the automation and intelligence of the system, save user operation, and provide a better user experience. The user can select the target blood vessel position according to the needs and patient conditions to observe the appropriate blood vessel position.

[0070] According to the embodiment of the present application, the catheter comprises a base body and a rotatable transmission shaft, the first signal collector is arranged on the transmission shaft, the second signal collector is arranged on the base body, the host computer comprises a retracting device and a rotating device, the retracting device is mechanically connected with the base body and the transmission shaft, and is used to drive the base body and the transmission shaft to retract, and the rotating device is mechanically connected with the transmission shaft, and is used to drive the transmission shaft to rotate during the retracting process.

[0071] As described above, the first signal collector can rotate or not rotate during the retracting process of the catheter, and the second signal collector is preferably not rotated during the retracting process of the catheter. In the case that the first signal collector can rotate and the second signal collector does not rotate, the first signal collector and the second signal collector can be arranged separately. For example, the catheter comprises a base body and a rotatable transmission shaft. The base body does not rotate during the retracting process, and the second signal collector is arranged on the base body. The first signal collector is arranged on the transmission shaft. The base body can be, for example, a shell of the catheter, and the transmission shaft can be arranged inside the shell. In addition, the retracting device can be mechanically connected with the base body and the transmission shaft, i.e., connected with the whole catheter, so as to drive the whole catheter to retract.

[0072] Through the above scheme, the first signal collector and the second signal collector can be arranged separately, and this separate arrangement scheme is helpful to realize independent control of the rotation of the first signal collector and the second signal collector during the retracting process.

[0073] Figure 4 An exemplary structural diagram of a blood vessel exploration system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. As shown in the figure, the host computer can comprise a rotating device and a retracting device, and the rotating device and the retracting device are mechanically connected with the catheter. Figure 4 As shown in the figure, the host computer can comprise a rotating device and a retracting device, and the rotating device and the retracting device are mechanically connected with the catheter. Figure 4 It is shown in the figure that the rotating device and the retracting device can be connected (at least including communication connection), which is optional, and the two can also be independent of each other. In addition, as shown in the figure, the rotating device and the retracting device can be connected with each other through a communication connection. Figure 4As shown, the host can include a processing device, which can include an IVUS imaging excitation module, an IVUS signal processing module, an image processing module, a lumen area calculation module, an ultrasound Doppler excitation module, an ultrasound Doppler signal processing module, a blood flow velocity and direction calculation module, an information registration module, and a required frame extraction and CFR calculation module. Any one or more of the above modules in the processing device can be implemented by independent hardware, such as independent FPGA or MCU processing chips and their peripheral circuits, or by software algorithm modules. The IVUS imaging excitation module can excite the first signal processor (i.e., the IVUS transducer) to emit ultrasound waves. The IVUS signal processing module can receive intravascular ultrasound echo signals from the first signal processor and perform signal processing. The image processing module can reconstruct an IVUS image based on the signal processing result of the IVUS signal processing module. The lumen area calculation module can calculate the lumen area corresponding to the IVUS image. The ultrasound Doppler excitation module can excite the second signal processor (i.e., the first ultrasound transducer) to emit ultrasound waves. The ultrasound Doppler signal processing module can receive ultrasound Doppler signals from the second signal processor and perform signal processing. The blood flow velocity and direction calculation module can calculate the blood flow velocity and direction based on the signal processing result of the ultrasound Doppler signal processing module to obtain intermediate blood flow information. The information registration module can register the intermediate blood flow information and the IVUS image. The required frame extraction and CFR calculation module can determine, according to the registration result, the first vascular blood flow information matched with the first intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen reaches the maximum expansion state and the second vascular blood flow information matched with the second intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen is in a resting state, and calculate the CFR of the to-be-tested blood vessel according to the first vascular blood flow information and the second vascular blood flow information.

[0074] According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided an electronic device comprising a processing apparatus and a storage apparatus, the storage apparatus storing computer program instructions which, when executed by the processing apparatus, cause the processing apparatus to perform operations of: generating an intravascular ultrasound image of a blood vessel under test according to intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a first signal collector of a blood vessel exploration system; determining blood flow information of the blood vessel under test according to blood flow source signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a second signal collector of the blood vessel exploration system; registering the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in collection time; determining first blood flow information matched by a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum expansion state and second blood flow information matched by a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to a registration result, and calculating a blood flow reserve characteristic value of the blood vessel under test according to the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, the blood flow information comprising blood flow of the blood vessel under test and / or intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel under test used to determine the blood flow, the blood flow source signals being signals used to determine the blood flow. The electronic device can be the host described above.

[0075] According to still another aspect of the present application, there is provided a storage medium storing program instructions which, when executed by a computer or a processor, cause the computer or the processor to perform operations of: generating an intravascular ultrasound image of a blood vessel under test according to intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a first signal collector of a blood vessel exploration system; determining blood flow information of the blood vessel under test according to blood flow source signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a second signal collector of the blood vessel exploration system; registering the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in collection time; determining first blood flow information matched by a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum expansion state and second blood flow information matched by a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to a registration result, and calculating a blood flow reserve characteristic value of the blood vessel under test according to the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, the blood flow information comprising blood flow of the blood vessel under test and / or intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel under test used to determine the blood flow, the blood flow source signals being signals used to determine the blood flow. The storage medium may, for example, include a memory card of a smart phone, a storage component of a tablet computer, a hard disk of a personal computer, a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), a portable compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media. The computer readable storage medium can be any combination of one or more computer readable storage media.

[0076] According to a further aspect of the present application, there is also provided a computer program product comprising computer program instructions for, when executed, performing operations of: generating an intravascular ultrasound image of a blood vessel under test according to intravascular ultrasound echo signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a first signal collector of a blood vessel exploration system; determining blood flow information of the blood vessel under test according to blood flow source signals of the blood vessel under test collected by a second signal collector of the blood vessel exploration system; registering the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in time; determining first blood flow information matched with a first intravascular ultrasound image when a blood vessel lumen reaches a maximum dilatation state and second blood flow information matched with a second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state according to a registration result, and calculating a blood flow reserve characteristic value of the blood vessel under test according to the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, the blood flow information comprising blood flow of the blood vessel under test and / or intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel under test used for determining the blood flow, the blood flow source signals being signals used for determining the blood flow.

[0077] Those skilled in the art can understand the specific implementation and advantages of the above-mentioned electronic device, storage medium and computer program product by reading the above specific description of the blood vessel exploration system, and for brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0078] Although the example embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the example embodiments are only exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present application as claimed in the appended claims.

[0079] Those skilled in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized in electronic hardware, or in a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0080] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative, for example, the division of units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed.

[0081] In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the application can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

[0082] Similarly, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein, and not otherwise specifically defined herein, is for the purpose of description only and not of limitation. The use of particular descriptive terminology nor limitation. The use of particular descriptive terminology by employees of the present application is intended only to educate the public and judges as to the nature and extent of their contribution to the field. The use of "including" and "comprising" and variations thereof as used in this description is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents or alternatives of those items. The use of "consisting of" and variations thereof as used in this description is meant to encompass only the items listed thereafter. The use of "consisting essentially of and variations thereof as used in this description is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents or alternatives of those items, provided that the resulting composition or process does not differ in any substantial or material way from the compositions or processes described in the claims.

[0083] One skilled in the art will appreciate that, aside from specific features being mutually exclusive, all of the features disclosed in this specification (including the claims, abstract, and drawings) and all of the steps or elements of any method or apparatus so disclosed can be combined in any combination, save for any expressly stated to the contrary. Unless otherwise stated, each feature disclosed in this specification (including the claims, abstract, and drawings) can be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or a similar purpose.

[0084] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that references in the specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "an example embodiment", and the like are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the presence and / or use of other embodiments and / or examples thereof. Furthermore, although embodiments of the application have been described in some detail for the purpose of clarity and the example provided is not intended to be limiting in any manner, various well-known or conventional details are omitted so as to not obscure the description of the embodiments of the application.

[0085] The various component embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware, or as software modules running in one or more processors, or in combinations thereof. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) can be used in practice to implement some or all of the functions of some of the modules in the blood vessel exploration system according to the embodiments of the present application. The present application can also be implemented as a program (e.g., computer program and computer program product) for executing part or all of the methods described herein. Such a program implementing the present application can be stored on a computer readable medium, or can have one or more signals. Such signals can be downloaded from an Internet website, or provided on a carrier medium, or in any other form.

[0086] It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the application, and that one skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The word 'comprising' does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim. The word 'a' or 'an' preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The application can be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In a unitary claim, several of the devices, apparatuses or means, if more than one is recited, can be implemented by one and the same item of hardware. The use herein of the term implying a certain order should not be construed as implying any order. Such terms can be interpreted as nouns.

[0087] The above merely illustrates the specific embodiments of the present application, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any skilled person in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present application, and all of them should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A blood vessel detection system, characterized in that, It includes a catheter and a main unit. The catheter is equipped with a first signal acquisition device and a second signal acquisition device. The first signal acquisition device is used to acquire intravascular ultrasound echo signals, and the second signal acquisition device is used to acquire blood flow source signals. The blood flow source signals are signals used to determine blood flow. The host is communicatively connected to the first signal acquisition device and the second signal acquisition device, respectively, and is used to: generate an intravascular ultrasound image of the blood vessel under test based on the intravascular ultrasound echo signal of the blood vessel under test acquired by the first signal acquisition device; determine the blood flow information of the blood vessel under test based on the blood flow source signal of the blood vessel under test acquired by the second signal acquisition device; register the intravascular ultrasound image and the blood flow information in terms of acquisition time; determine the first blood flow information matched by the first intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen reaches its maximum expansion state and the second blood flow information matched by the second intravascular ultrasound image when the blood vessel lumen is in a resting state based on the registration result; and calculate the blood flow reserve characteristic value of the blood vessel under test based on the first blood flow information and the second blood flow information, wherein the blood flow information includes the blood flow of the blood vessel under test and / or the intermediate blood flow information of the blood vessel under test used to determine the blood flow.

2. The blood vessel detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vascular blood flow information includes the intermediate blood flow information, wherein... The intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity or includes both blood flow velocity and direction; the blood flow source signal includes an ultrasound Doppler signal; and the second signal acquisition device includes a first ultrasound transducer for acquiring the ultrasound Doppler signal; or... The intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity, the blood flow source signal includes blood flow temperature signal, and the second signal acquisition device includes a temperature sensor; or... The intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow pressure, the blood flow source signal includes blood flow pressure signal, and the second signal acquisition device includes a pressure sensor.

3. The blood vessel detection system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first signal acquisition device includes a second ultrasonic transducer for acquiring the intravascular ultrasound echo signal. The array element plane of the second ultrasonic transducer is parallel to the axis of the catheter, and the array element plane of the first ultrasonic transducer forms a preset angle with the axis of the catheter.

4. The blood vessel detection system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first ultrasonic transducer is also used to emit pulsed ultrasonic waves and receive corresponding echo signals as the blood flow source signal.

5. The blood vessel detection system according to claim 2, characterized in that, When the intermediate blood flow information includes blood flow velocity or includes both blood flow velocity and blood flow direction, the vascular detection system further includes a display, and the host computer is communicatively connected to the display. The host computer is also used to color encode the intermediate blood flow information, and to overlay the color encoding result onto the intravascular ultrasound image that matches the intermediate blood flow information according to the registration result and output it to the display for display.

6. The blood vessel detection system according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The host computer specifically registers the intravascular ultrasound image and the vascular blood flow information in terms of acquisition time in the following manner: The actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the vascular blood flow information is determined based at least on the distance between the first signal acquisition device and the second signal acquisition device in the direction of the axis of the catheter and the retraction speed of the catheter. Based on the actual acquisition time difference, the scanned vessel locations corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound images and the scanned vessel locations corresponding to the vascular blood flow information are matched to determine the intravascular ultrasound images and vascular blood flow information corresponding to the same vessel location scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time, thereby obtaining the registration result. The registration result includes the matching relationship between the intravascular ultrasound images and the vascular blood flow information. The intravascular ultrasound images and vascular blood flow information corresponding to the same vessel location scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time are mutually matched intravascular ultrasound images and vascular blood flow information.

7. The blood vessel detection system according to claim 6 of claim 3, characterized in that, The host computer determines the actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the vascular blood flow information in the following manner: The actual acquisition time difference between the intravascular ultrasound image and the vascular blood flow information is determined based on the preset angle between the array element plane of the first ultrasound transducer and the axis of the catheter, the distance between the first signal acquisition device and the second signal acquisition device in the direction of the axis of the catheter, and the retraction speed of the catheter.

8. The blood vessel detection system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The host computer specifically matches the scanned blood vessel locations corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound images with the scanned blood vessel locations corresponding to the blood flow information in the following manner: Based on the actual acquisition time difference, the first blood vessel scanning area corresponding to the intravascular ultrasound image and the second blood vessel scanning area corresponding to the blood flow information are aligned on the time axis. The non-overlapping areas in the aligned first and second vascular scanning areas are deleted, and the vascular positions in the overlapping areas of the aligned first and second vascular scanning areas are determined as the same vascular positions scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time, so as to determine the intravascular ultrasound image and vascular blood flow information corresponding to the same vascular positions scanned at the same theoretical acquisition time.

9. The blood vessel detection system according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The host is also used for: In response to user input, the location of the target blood vessel is determined, or the location of the blood vessel with the smallest lumen area is determined based on the intravascular ultrasound image. Select the first intravascular ultrasound image and the second intravascular ultrasound image from the intravascular ultrasound images acquired at the target blood vessel location.

10. The blood vessel detection system according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The catheter includes a base and a rotatable drive shaft, with the first signal acquisition device mounted on the drive shaft and the second signal acquisition device mounted on the base. The main unit includes a retraction device and a rotation device. The retraction device is mechanically connected to the base and the drive shaft and is used to drive the base and the drive shaft to retract. The rotation device is mechanically connected to the drive shaft and is used to drive the drive shaft to rotate during the retraction process.

11. An electronic device comprising a processing unit and a storage unit, characterized in that, The storage device stores computer program instructions, which, when executed by the processing device, are used to perform the following operations: An intravascular ultrasound image of the blood vessel under test is generated based on the intravascular ultrasound echo signal acquired by the first signal acquisition device of the blood vessel detection system. The blood flow information of the blood vessel to be tested is determined based on the blood flow source signal of the blood vessel to be tested collected by the second signal collector of the blood vessel detection system. The intravascular ultrasound images and the vascular blood flow information are registered in terms of acquisition time; Based on the registration results, the first vascular blood flow information matched by the first intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen reaches its maximum expansion state and the second vascular blood flow information matched by the second intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen is in a resting state are determined. The blood flow reserve characteristic value of the vessel to be tested is calculated based on the first vascular blood flow information and the second vascular blood flow information. The vascular blood flow information includes the blood flow rate of the vessel to be tested and / or the intermediate blood flow information of the vessel to be tested used to determine the blood flow rate. The blood flow source signal is a signal used to determine the blood flow rate.

12. A storage medium on which program instructions are stored, characterized in that, The program instructions are used to perform the following operations during runtime: An intravascular ultrasound image of the blood vessel under test is generated based on the intravascular ultrasound echo signal acquired by the first signal acquisition device of the blood vessel detection system. The blood flow information of the blood vessel to be tested is determined based on the blood flow source signal of the blood vessel to be tested collected by the second signal collector of the blood vessel detection system. The intravascular ultrasound images and the vascular blood flow information are registered in terms of acquisition time; Based on the registration results, the first vascular blood flow information matched by the first intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen reaches its maximum expansion state and the second vascular blood flow information matched by the second intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen is in a resting state are determined. The blood flow reserve characteristic value of the vessel to be tested is calculated based on the first vascular blood flow information and the second vascular blood flow information. The vascular blood flow information includes the blood flow rate of the vessel to be tested and / or the intermediate blood flow information of the vessel to be tested used to determine the blood flow rate. The blood flow source signal is a signal used to determine the blood flow rate.

13. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions, characterized in that, The computer program instructions are used to perform the following operations when the program is run: An intravascular ultrasound image of the blood vessel under test is generated based on the intravascular ultrasound echo signal acquired by the first signal acquisition device of the blood vessel detection system. The blood flow information of the blood vessel to be tested is determined based on the blood flow source signal of the blood vessel to be tested collected by the second signal collector of the blood vessel detection system. The intravascular ultrasound images and the vascular blood flow information are registered in terms of acquisition time; Based on the registration results, the first vascular blood flow information matched by the first intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen reaches its maximum expansion state and the second vascular blood flow information matched by the second intravascular ultrasound image when the vascular lumen is in a resting state are determined. The blood flow reserve characteristic value of the vessel to be tested is calculated based on the first vascular blood flow information and the second vascular blood flow information. The vascular blood flow information includes the blood flow rate of the vessel to be tested and / or the intermediate blood flow information of the vessel to be tested used to determine the blood flow rate. The blood flow source signal is a signal used to determine the blood flow rate.

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