System and method for assessing muscle quality using ultrasound

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound, and more particularly to a system and method for measuring an ultrasound signal of a subject using a low-cost A-mode ultrasound probe and evaluating muscle quality based thereon. The muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an ultrasound transceiver unit for transmitting ultrasound to a subject and receiving a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the subject, a signal processor for implementing a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds, a peak extractor for extracting peaks from the reflected signal, and an analyzer for calculating a ratio of materials constituting the subject using the peaks and evaluating muscle quality based thereon. According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is an advantage that the cost required for muscle quality evaluation is reduced while having the same accuracy as muscle quality evaluation using a B-mode ultrasound device.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system and method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound, and more particularly to a system and method for measuring a subject's ultrasound signal using a low-cost A-mode ultrasound probe and evaluating muscle quality based on the measured signal. [Background technology]

[0002] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining muscle quality according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0003] Referring to Fig. 1, muscle quality according to the present invention means the degree of muscle fattening. The phenomenon of fat accumulating in muscles, like fatty liver, is called myosteatosis (or muscle fattening), and the more muscle fattening progresses, the lower the muscle quality becomes. Fig. 1(a) shows a state where muscle quality is relatively low, and Fig. 1(b) shows a state where muscle quality is relatively high.

[0004] Research has shown that people with more high-quality muscle have a lower risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure, and are more likely to be metabolically healthy. This has led to a demand for the development of a system that can measure and evaluate muscle quality as an indicator of whether an individual is metabolically healthy.

[0005] Ultrasound refers to sound waves with frequencies higher than the audible frequency range that humans can hear. Ultrasonography is a method of transmitting pulse waves through tissues with different acoustic impedances in the human body, amplifying and converting the reflected signals using a computer, and displaying them as images.

[0006] An ultrasound imaging device is a device that transmits and receives ultrasound to a target part of a subject's body and visualizes the reflected signal obtained. It is classified into A (amplitude)-mode, B (brightness)-mode, M (motion)-mode, and D (doppler)-mode according to the image display method.

[0007] A-mode is less accurate than B-mode, and so B-mode image display methods have been mainly used in conventional ultrasound imaging devices.

[0008] However, the B-mode ultrasound imaging device requires a configuration for outputting an image, and such an image output unit is often expensive equipment. Therefore, in order to analyze the condition of the human muscle using ultrasound, the subject must purchase expensive equipment or visit a hospital where it is relatively easy to purchase expensive equipment, which is a problem in that diagnosis of the muscle condition using ultrasound is possible only when the subject purchases expensive equipment. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a system and method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound, which is capable of evaluating muscle quality using an A-mode ultrasound device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In one embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasound-based muscle quality assessment system is provided.

[0011] A muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an ultrasound transceiver unit that transmits ultrasound to a target object and receives a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the target object, a signal processor that realizes a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds, a peak extractor that extracts peaks from the reflected signal, and an analyzer that calculates a proportion of materials that constitute the target object using the peaks and evaluates muscle quality based on the calculated proportion.

[0012] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasound transmitter / receiver may be at least one.

[0013] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing unit may be characterized in that it represents a reflected signal by displaying the intensities of the plurality of reflected sounds as amplitude magnitude on a time axis.

[0014] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing unit may further include a filtering unit that filters the reflected signal, and a smoothing processing unit that smoothes the reflected signal.

[0015] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the filtering unit may be characterized by removing a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasound transceiver unit and the subject.

[0016] In the system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the material may be characterized as including muscle, bone, or fat.

[0017] In the system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analysis unit may be characterized by extracting intervals between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal, and calculating a thickness of fat or muscle based on the intervals.

[0018] In the system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analysis unit may further include a Fourier transform unit that performs a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal, and a fat formation level calculation unit that analyzes the reflected signal after the short time Fourier transform process to calculate a fat formation level of the muscle.

[0019] In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for assessing muscle quality using ultrasound is provided.

[0020] A method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an ultrasound transmission / reception step in which an ultrasound transmission / reception unit transmits ultrasound to a target object and receives a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the target object, a signal processing step in which a signal processing unit realizes a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds, a peak extraction step in which a peak extraction unit extracts peaks from the reflected signal, and an analysis step in which an analysis unit calculates a proportion of materials constituting the target object using the peaks and evaluates muscle quality based on the calculated proportion.

[0021] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasound transmitting / receiving unit may be at least one.

[0022] In a method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the reflected signal may be realized by displaying the intensity of the reflected sounds as amplitude on a time axis.

[0023] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing step may further include a filtering step in which a filtering unit filters the reflected signal, and a smoothing step in which a smoothing processing unit smooths the reflected signal.

[0024] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the filtering step may be characterized by removing a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasound transceiver unit and the subject.

[0025] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the material may include muscle, bone, or fat.

[0026] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analyzing step may further include extracting intervals between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal, and calculating a thickness of fat or muscle based on the intervals.

[0027] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analyzing step may further include a Fourier transform step in which a Fourier transform unit performs a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal, and a fat formation level calculation step in which a fat formation level calculation unit analyzes the reflected signal that has been subjected to the short time Fourier transform process to calculate a fat formation level of the muscle.

[0028] As an embodiment of the present invention, a computer readable recording medium having a program for implementing the above-mentioned method recorded thereon is provided. Effect of the Invention

[0029] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is an advantage that the cost required for muscle quality evaluation is reduced while having the same accuracy as that of muscle quality evaluation using a B-mode ultrasound device.

[0030] The effects obtained by the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains from the description below. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0031] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining muscle quality according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 shows the difference in image display method between a B-mode ultrasonic imaging device and an A-mode ultrasonic imaging device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a signal processing unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a signal processing process of a signal processor 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a muscle quality evaluation process of the analysis unit 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an analysis unit 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a short-time Fourier transform process of the Fourier transform unit 410 according to still another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0032] BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENT In one embodiment of the present invention, an ultrasound-based muscle quality assessment system is provided.

[0033] A muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an ultrasound transceiver unit that transmits ultrasound to a target object and receives a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the target object, a signal processor that realizes a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds, a peak extractor that extracts peaks from the reflected signal, and an analyzer that calculates a proportion of materials that constitute the target object using the peaks and evaluates muscle quality based on the calculated proportion.

[0034] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasound transmitter / receiver may be at least one.

[0035] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing unit may be characterized in that it represents a reflected signal by displaying the intensities of the plurality of reflected sounds as amplitude magnitude on a time axis.

[0036] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing unit may further include a filtering unit that filters the reflected signal, and a smoothing processing unit that smoothes the reflected signal.

[0037] In the muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the filtering unit may be characterized by removing a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasound transceiver unit and the subject.

[0038] In the system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the material may be characterized as including muscle, bone, or fat.

[0039] In the system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analysis unit may be characterized by extracting intervals between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal, and calculating a thickness of fat or muscle based on the intervals.

[0040] In the system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analysis unit may further include a Fourier transform unit that performs a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal, and a fat formation level calculation unit that analyzes the reflected signal after the short time Fourier transform process to calculate a fat formation level of the muscle.

[0041] In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for assessing muscle quality using ultrasound is provided.

[0042] A method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an ultrasound transmission / reception step in which an ultrasound transmission / reception unit transmits ultrasound to a target object and receives a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the target object, a signal processing step in which a signal processing unit realizes a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds, a peak extraction step in which a peak extraction unit extracts peaks from the reflected signal, and an analysis step in which an analysis unit calculates a proportion of materials constituting the target object using the peaks and evaluates muscle quality based on the calculated proportion.

[0043] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasound transmitting / receiving unit may be at least one.

[0044] In a method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the reflected signal may be realized by displaying the intensity of the reflected sounds as amplitude on a time axis.

[0045] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing step may further include a filtering step in which a filtering unit filters the reflected signal, and a smoothing step in which a smoothing processing unit smooths the reflected signal.

[0046] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention, the filtering step may be characterized by removing a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasound transceiver unit and the subject.

[0047] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the material may include muscle, bone, or fat.

[0048] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analyzing step may further include extracting intervals between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal, and calculating a thickness of fat or muscle based on the intervals.

[0049] In the method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention, the analyzing step may further include a Fourier transform step in which a Fourier transform unit performs a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal, and a fat formation level calculation step in which a fat formation level calculation unit analyzes the reflected signal that has been subjected to the short time Fourier transform process to calculate a fat formation level of the muscle.

[0050] As an embodiment of the present invention, a computer readable recording medium having a program for implementing the above-mentioned method recorded thereon is provided.

[0051] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. However, the present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In addition, in order to clearly explain the present invention in the drawings, parts that are not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are designated by similar reference numerals throughout the specification.

[0052] The terms used in this specification will be briefly explained, and the present invention will be specifically explained.

[0053] The terms used in the present invention are selected as general terms currently widely used as much as possible while taking into consideration the functions in the present invention, but this may change depending on the intentions or precedents of engineers in the field, the emergence of new technologies, etc. In addition, in certain cases, the applicant may arbitrarily select terms, and in this case, the meanings thereof will be described in detail in the description of the invention. Therefore, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meanings of the terms and the overall content of the present invention, rather than simply the names of the terms.

[0054] Throughout the specification, when a part "includes" a certain component, this does not mean excluding other components, but may further include other components, unless otherwise specified to the contrary. In addition, the terms "module" and "unit" described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be embodied in hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software. In addition, when a part is "connected" to another part throughout the specification, this includes not only "directly connected" but also "connected with other elements between them." The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] FIG. 2 shows the difference in image display method between a B-mode ultrasonic imaging device and an A-mode ultrasonic imaging device.

[0056] 2, a B-mode ultrasound imaging device transmits and receives ultrasound to a target object, converts the reflected signal obtained, and outputs the signal as an image as shown in Fig. 2(a). On the other hand, an A-mode ultrasound imaging device transmits and receives ultrasound to a target object, converts the reflected signal obtained, and outputs the signal as shown in Fig. 2(b).

[0057] The muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention evaluates muscle quality using a signal output of a sound reflected from a target object as shown in Fig. 2(b). The process of evaluating muscle quality by the system according to the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0058] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0059] Referring to FIG. 3, a system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an ultrasound transmitting / receiving unit 100, a signal processing unit 200, a peak extraction unit 300, and an analysis unit 400.

[0060] The ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 100 can transmit ultrasonic waves to a target object and receive a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the target object. That is, the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 100 simultaneously transmits and receives ultrasonic waves. According to an embodiment, the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 100 can be made of quartz, alumina, ceramics, etc.

[0061] According to an embodiment, there may be at least one ultrasound transmitter / receiver 100. For example, the ultrasound transmitter / receiver 100 may be implemented as three A-mode ultrasound probes, each of which transmits and receives ultrasound at a target point for evaluating muscle quality, or may be arranged at regular intervals at a specific location (e.g., the subject's shoulder, etc.) and transmit and receive ultrasound.

[0062] The signal processor 200 may implement a reflected signal using a plurality of reflected sounds. In this case, the reflected signal may be implemented by displaying the intensities of a plurality of reflected sounds as amplitudes on a time axis.

[0063] The peak extraction unit 300 can extract a peak from the reflected signal. Here, a peak means that the intensity of a reflected sound at a particular time point is relatively larger than the intensity of reflected sound at surrounding times, and the intensity of the reflected sound is directly proportional to the difference in impedance of the material through which the ultrasound passes.

[0064] At this time, the impedance difference between the materials constituting the body is such that the intensity of the reflected sound is greatest at the interface between muscle and fat. Therefore, by extracting a point where the intensity of the reflected sound is relatively high in the reflected signal, i.e., a point where a peak occurs, the position of the interface between muscle and fat can be found. According to an embodiment, the peak extraction unit 300 can be implemented using a Savizky-Golay filter.

[0065] The analysis unit 400 may use the peak to calculate the ratio of the material constituting the subject, and may evaluate the quality of the muscle based on the calculated ratio. Here, the material may include muscle, bone, or fat. However, the material is not limited thereto, and may include any material constituting the human body.

[0066] FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a signal processing unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0067] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a signal processing process of a signal processor 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0068] 4 and 5, a signal processing unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a filtering unit 210 and a smoothing unit 220.

[0069] The filtering unit 210 may filter the reflected signal. That is, the filtering unit 210 may filter the reflected signal to remove noise contained in the reflected signal or amplify the signal. Here, noise may refer to all information except information regarding the boundary between fat and muscle (see FIG. 5(a) to FIG. 5(c)). According to an embodiment, the filtering unit 210 may be implemented as a band-pass filter or a squared filter.

[0070] According to an embodiment, the filtering unit 210 may remove a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving unit 100 and the target object. The smoothing processing unit 220 may smooth the reflection signal. Here, the smoothing process refers to extracting only a signal corresponding to a main pattern included in the reflection signal, and may refer to removing small peaks included in the reflection signal (see FIG. 5(d)).

[0071] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a muscle quality evaluation process of the analysis unit 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0072] 6, the analysis unit 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention may extract intervals between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal and calculate the thickness of fat or muscle based on the intervals. For example, the analysis unit 400 may detect a muscle layer based on the interval between a first peak (a) and a second peak (b) and calculate the muscle thickness, and may calculate muscle quality (MQ) based on the muscle thickness relative to the total volume of the subject.

[0073] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an analysis unit 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0074] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a short-time Fourier transform process of the Fourier transform unit 410 according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[0075] Referring to FIG. 7, the analysis unit 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include a Fourier transform unit 410 and a fat content calculation unit 420.

[0076] FIG. 8(a) shows a reflected signal generated by the signal processing unit 200 using the reflected sound received by the ultrasonic transceiver unit 100, FIG. 8(b) shows a reflected signal that has been filtered by the filtering unit 210 to remove noise, and FIG. 8(c) shows a reflected signal that has been subjected to short-time Fourier transform processing by the Fourier transform unit 410.

[0077] Referring to FIG. 8, the Fourier transform unit 410 may perform a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal.

[0078] Here, Fourier transform (FT) means transforming a time domain signal into a frequency domain signal. That is, the analysis unit 400 according to the present invention can convert the reflected signal in the time domain into a frequency domain by Fourier transform processing, and observe the reflected signal in the frequency domain. This is because A-mode ultrasound measures the energy of the reflected ultrasound, and therefore observes the power of the power spectral density, which is an energy observation means.

[0079] The short-time Fourier transform (STFT) refers to dividing a time domain signal into short time units and then performing a Fourier transform process. The short-time Fourier transform observes the power in the time domain and the frequency domain, and since ultrasonic waves are time-series data that have a time meaning, the analysis unit 400 according to the present invention can observe in which time period the reflected signal changes for each frequency.

[0080] The fat formation degree calculation unit 420 may calculate the fat formation degree of the muscle by analyzing the reflected signal that has been subjected to a short-time Fourier transform.

[0081] According to an embodiment, the fat degree calculation unit 420 may normalize the reflection signal subjected to the short-time Fourier transform, and may evaluate the muscle quality (MQ) by dividing the sum of the amplitude values ​​of the muscles in the normalized reflection signal by the sum of the amplitude values ​​of the normalized reflection signal. Here, the amplitude value of the muscle may be determined based on data accumulated through experiments.

[0082] The method according to an embodiment of the present invention may be applied to the above-described system, and therefore, in the following description, the same content as that of the above-described system will not be repeated.

[0083] FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0084] Referring to FIG. 9, a method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an ultrasound transmission / reception step (S100), a signal processing step (S200), a peak extraction step (S300) and an analysis step (S400).

[0085] In the ultrasonic transmission / reception step (S100), the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 100 transmits ultrasonic waves to a target object and receives a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the target object. According to an embodiment, the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 100 may be embodied as at least one unit.

[0086] In the signal processing step (S200), the signal processor 200 may implement a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds. According to an embodiment, the reflected signal may be implemented by displaying the intensities of the plurality of reflected sounds as amplitudes on a time axis.

[0087] According to an embodiment, the signal processing step (S200) may further include a filtering step (S210) in which a filtering unit 210 filters the reflected signal, and a smoothing step (S220) in which a smoothing processor 220 smooths the reflected signal.

[0088] According to an embodiment, the filtering step (S210) may be characterized by removing a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasound transmitting / receiving unit 100 and the object.

[0089] In the peak extraction step (S300), a peak extraction section 300 can extract a peak from the reflected signal.

[0090] In the analysis step (S400), the analysis unit 400 calculates the ratio of the material constituting the object using the peaks, and can evaluate the quality of the muscle based on the calculated ratio. According to an embodiment, the material may include muscle, bone, or fat.

[0091] According to an embodiment, the analyzing step (S400) may further include a step of extracting an interval between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal (S411) and a step of calculating a thickness of fat or muscle based on the interval (S412).

[0092] In another embodiment, the analyzing step (S400) may further include a Fourier transform step (S421) in which a Fourier transform unit 410 performs a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal, and a fat formation level calculation step (S422) in which a fat formation level calculation unit 420 analyzes the reflected signal that has been subjected to the short time Fourier transform process and calculates the fat formation level of the muscle.

[0093] Meanwhile, the above-mentioned method can be created as a program executable by a computer, and can be embodied in a general-purpose digital computer that operates the program using a computer-readable recording medium. Also, the data structure used in the above-mentioned method can be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium by various means. The computer-readable recording medium includes storage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, RAM, USB, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.) and optically readable media (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD, etc.).

[0094] The above description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be easily modified in other specific forms without changing the technical idea or essential features of the present invention. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all respects and are not limiting. For example, each component described as a single form can be implemented in a distributed form, and similarly, each component described as a distributed form can be implemented in a combined form.

[0095] The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims set forth below rather than by the above detailed description, and all modifications and variations derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be interpreted as being included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. an ultrasonic transceiver that transmits ultrasonic waves to a target object and receives a plurality of reflected sounds from the target object; a signal processor for implementing a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds; A peak extracting unit that extracts a peak from the reflected signal; and an analysis unit that uses the peak to calculate the proportion of substances that make up the subject and evaluates the muscle quality based on this.

2. The muscle quality evaluation system using ultrasound according to claim 1 , wherein the ultrasound transmitting / receiving unit is at least one.

3. The signal processing unit includes:

2. The system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to claim 1, wherein the reflected signals are realized by displaying the intensities of the reflected sounds as amplitudes on a time axis.

4. The signal processing unit includes: A filtering unit that filters the reflected signal; The system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to claim 1 , further comprising: a smoothing processing unit that smoothes the reflected signal.

5. The filtering unit includes:

5. The system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to claim 4, wherein a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasound transmitting / receiving unit and the subject is removed.

6. The system for assessing muscle quality using ultrasound according to claim 1 , wherein the material includes muscle, bone or fat.

7. The analysis unit includes:

2. The system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to claim 1, further comprising: extracting intervals between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal; and calculating a thickness of fat or muscle based on the intervals.

8. The analysis unit includes: a Fourier transform unit that performs a Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal; The system for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to claim 1 , further comprising a fat concentration calculation unit for calculating a fat concentration level of the muscle by analyzing the reflected signal that has been subjected to the short-time Fourier transform processing.

9. an ultrasonic transmission / reception step in which an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit transmits ultrasonic waves to a target object and receives a plurality of reflected sounds reflected from the target object; a signal processing step of implementing a reflected signal using the plurality of reflected sounds by a signal processing unit; a peak extraction step in which a peak extraction unit extracts a peak from the reflected signal; An analysis step in which an analysis unit uses the peaks to calculate the proportion of substances that make up the subject, and evaluates the muscle quality based on this.

10. The method for evaluating muscle quality using sound waves according to claim 9, wherein the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving unit is at least one.

11. The reflected signal is 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the intensities of the plurality of reflected sounds are represented as amplitudes on a time axis.

12. The signal processing step includes: a filtering step in which a filtering unit filters the reflected signal; The method for evaluating muscle quality using ultrasound according to claim 9 , further comprising a smoothing step in which a smoothing processor smoothes the reflected signal.

13. The filtering step includes:

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a contact-reflection signal embodied by a reflected sound generated at a contact surface between the ultrasound transceiver unit and the subject is removed.

14. The method for evaluating muscle quality using sound waves according to claim 9, wherein the material includes muscle, bone or fat.

15. The analyzing step includes: extracting intervals between a plurality of peaks included in the reflected signal; and The method for assessing muscle quality using ultrasound waves according to claim 9, further comprising the step of calculating fat or muscle thickness based on the interval.

16. The analyzing step includes: a Fourier transform step in which a Fourier transform unit performs a short time Fourier transform (STFT) process on the reflected signal; The method for evaluating muscle quality using sound waves according to claim 9, further comprising a fat formation degree calculation step of a fat formation degree calculation unit analyzing the reflected signal subjected to the short-time Fourier transform process to calculate a fat formation degree of the muscle.

17. A computer readable recording medium having a program recorded thereon for implementing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 16.

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