The present disclosure relates to elastography, and more particularly to elasticity imaging methods, systems and storage media.
Ultrasound elasticity imaging has been more widely used in clinical research and diagnosis in recent years. It can qualitatively reflect the degree of hardness or softness of lesions relative to surrounding tissues or quantitatively reflect the degree of hardness or softness of lesions and surrounding tissues; accordingly, it is used clinically in thyroid, breast, musculoskeletal system, liver, vascular elasticity and so on at present. Judging the degree of hardness or softness of tissues can effectively assist in the diagnosis and evaluation of cancer lesions, benign and malignant tumors, and postoperative recovery.
Conventional elasticity imaging (compression elasticity imaging) is implemented by pressing tissue with a probe, calculating the displacement and strain of the tissue in real time to reflect parameters related to the elasticity of the tissue in a region of interest (ROI) and performing imaging, which also indirectly represents the degree of hardness or softness of various tissues. However, due to the operation of pressing on the tissue conducted by a human each time, it is difficult to keep the pressure transmitted by the probe consistent. The pressing degree and frequencies of different operators may also be different; so the repeatability and stability of strain elasticity imaging are hard to guarantee.
Shear wave elasticity imaging is implemented by exciting a focused ultrasound beam by a conventional ultrasonic probe to form an acoustic radiation force to make a shear wave source in the tissue and generate transversely propagating shear waves, recognizing and detecting the shear waves and propagation parameters thereof (such as a propagation velocity or Young's modulus that can be calculated from a propagation velocity and a density), and performing imaging on the parameters, thereby quantitatively and visually obtaining the hardness difference in the tissue. Since the excitation of the shear waves is from the acoustic radiation force generated by the focused ultrasound beam without depending on the pressure exerted by an operator, the mode of shear wave elasticity imaging is thus improved in stability and repeatability compared with strain elasticity imaging. In addition, such quantitative measurement for shear waves also make a doctor's diagnosis more objective; accordingly, it is an elasticity imaging method that doctors currently use more frequently. However, shear wave elasticity imaging is inferior to strain elasticity imaging in the delineation of lesion morphology and image resolution. At present, there is no technology on the market that combines the advantages of shear wave elasticity imaging with the advantages of strain elasticity imaging to simultaneously achieve high resolution and quantitative measurement.
The present disclosure provides an elasticity imaging solution, in which strain elasticity data can be calculated based on shear wave detection data, thereby realizing the combination of shear wave elasticity imaging and strain elasticity imaging. The elasticity imaging solution proposed by the present disclosure is briefly described below, and more details are described in the specific embodiments later in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging method is provided. The method may include: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track the shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves; generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data, and generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; and displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging method is provided. The method may include: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave; generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; controlling the ultrasonic probe to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; generating a strain elasticity image based on the third ultrasonic echo data; and displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging method is provided. The method may include: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave; generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; controlling the ultrasonic probe to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data; and displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging system is provided. The system may include an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving sequence controller, a processor and a display device, wherein: the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is configured for controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track the shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves; the processor is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data, and generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; and the display device is configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging system is provided. The system may include an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving sequence controller, a processor and a display device, wherein: the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is configured for controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave; the processor is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; the processor is also configured for generating a strain elasticity image based on the third ultrasonic echo data; and the display device is configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging system is provided. The system may include an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving sequence controller, a processor and a display device, wherein: the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is configured for controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave; the processor is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; the processor is also configured for generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data; and the display device is also configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging system is provided. The system may include an ultrasonic probe, a transmitting/receiving sequence controller, a processor and a display device, wherein: the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is configured for controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track the shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves; the processor is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; the processor is also configured for generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and/or the third ultrasonic echo data; and the display device is configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an elasticity imaging system is provided. The system may include: a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon a computer program executed by the processor, and the computer program executing the elasticity imaging method mentioned above when being executed by the processor.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a storage medium having stored thereon a computer program executing the elasticity imaging method mentioned above when being executed is provided.
With the elasticity imaging method, system and storage medium according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the process of shear wave elasticity imaging, the strain elasticity data is calculated based on the shear wave detection data, so that the shear wave elasticity imaging and the strain elasticity imaging can be combined and the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image can be displayed in real time, thus both qualitative judgment and quantitative measurement of the region of interest of the target object can be realized by users.
In order to make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present disclosure clearer, example embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Apparently, the described embodiments are merely some rather than all of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the example embodiments described herein do not constitute any limitation to the present disclosure. All other embodiments derived by those skilled in the art without creative efforts on the basis of the embodiments of the present disclosure described in the present disclosure shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure.
In the following description, a large number of specific details are given to provide a more thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it would be understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure can be implemented without one or more of these details. In other examples, to avoid confusion with the present disclosure, some technical features known in the art are not described.
It should be understood that the present disclosure can be implemented in different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments presented herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to make the disclosure thorough and complete, and to fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.
The terms used herein are intended only to describe specific embodiments and do not constitute a limitation to the present disclosure. When used herein, the singular forms of “a”, “an”, and “said/the” are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be appreciated that the terms “comprise” and/or “include”, when used in the specification, determine the existence of described features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or units, but do not exclude the existence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, units, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of relevant listed items.
For a thorough understanding of the present disclosure, detailed steps and detailed structures will be provided in the following description to explain the technical solutions proposed by the present disclosure. The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail as follows. However, in addition to these detailed descriptions, the present disclosure may further have other implementations.
The elasticity imaging scheme provided by the present disclosure combines shear wave elasticity imaging with strain elasticity imaging.
step S210: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest (ROI) of the target object;
step S220: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track the shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves;
step S230: generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; and
step S240: displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to the target object is to generate shear waves; and a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest is to detect the shear waves. Accordingly, the second ultrasonic echo data, which can be used to generate the shear wave elasticity image, can be acquired according to the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves. In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the strain elasticity image can be generated based on the second ultrasonic echo data. That is, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the echo data that is used for the calculation of strain elasticity is the echo data of the ultrasonic waves that is used for the detection of the shear waves. Based on this, with the embodiment of the present disclosure, shear wave elasticity imaging together with strain elasticity imaging can be realized simultaneously, thus the combination of the advantages of the two can be implemented. Here, it should be noted that “simultaneous” realization of shear wave elasticity imaging together with strain elasticity imaging does not necessarily mean that the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image are generated at the same time; it may also mean that both the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image can be generated in the process of the elasticity imaging method of the present disclosure, thus both providing users with diagnostic criteria.
In the embodiment of the present disclosure, generating the strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data in step S230 may include: acquiring echo data of at least two different moments from the second ultrasonic echo data; and generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments. As mentioned above, strain elasticity is implemented by calculating the displacement and strain between echo data of two frames (or two moments) at each position of the tissue by comparing the echo data of the two frames (or two moments); accordingly, the echo data of at least two different moments can be acquired from the second ultrasonic echo data, and at least one frame of strain elasticity image can be generated based on the echo data of at least two different moments. The generation of the strain elasticity image will be schematically described below in conjunction with
Here, in the example shown in
In addition, in the example shown in
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to strengthen the influence of minute displacement and improve the accuracy of strain elasticity calculation, it is possible to select echo data at two moments with a long time interval (for example select echo data at the first and last moments of the same group of SWD waves in the examples shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, speckle tracking can be used to calculate the strain elasticity based on the echo data of at least two moments, which will be described in conjunction with
Specifically, several positions may be selected in the ROI of the reference frame, and the displacement of these selected special positions in the current frame may be measured in sequence. As shown in
In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the calculation of strain elasticity based on echo data of at least two moments in time may also be performed by other ways.
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the method 200 may also include the following steps (not shown in
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after obtaining the shear wave elasticity image and strain elasticity image, it may, of course, also include: determining a first measuring frame in the shear wave elasticity image and a second measuring frame in the strain elasticity image; acquiring a shear wave elasticity parameter in the first measuring frame and a strain elasticity parameter in the second measuring frame; and displaying at least one of the shear wave elasticity parameter and the strain elasticity parameter. That is, after determining the measuring frames in the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image, the elasticity parameters in the corresponding measuring frames may further be calculated, wherein the shear wave elasticity parameter may be Young's modulus and the like, and the strain elasticity parameter may be strain variables and the like. Of course, the first and second measuring frames may be determined according to the features of tissues automatically recognized by the system, or be determined according to a user instruction by the system. A third measuring frame may certainly be determined in the ultrasound image, and the first measuring frame and/or the second measuring frame may be automatically matched based on the third measuring frame. The sizes of the first measuring frame, the second measuring frame and the third measuring frame may be the same or different. In addition, the first measuring frame, the second measuring frame and the third measuring frame may be displayed, and they may be displayed in different colors.
It should be noted that the shear wave elasticity image and/or the shear wave elasticity parameter, as well as the strain elasticity image and/or the strain elasticity parameter, may be displayed on a finally presented display interface in a specific display mode that is not specifically limited herein.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image generated above may be displayed independently via different display windows. Alternatively, at least two of the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image may be displayed via one display window in a superposed manner. The display scheme adopted in the elasticity imaging method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to
Based on the above description, with the elasticity imaging method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the strain elasticity data is calculated based on the shear wave detection data during shear wave elasticity imaging, so that the shear wave elasticity imaging can be combined with the strain elasticity imaging to display the shear wave elasticity image together with the strain elasticity image in real time; thereby realizing both qualitative judgment and quantitative measurement on the ROI of the target object for users.
The elasticity imaging method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in combination with
step S710: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object;
step S720: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave;
step S730: generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data;
step S740: controlling the ultrasonic probe to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves;
step S750: generating a strain elasticity image based on the third ultrasonic echo data; and
step S760: displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to the target object is to generate shear waves; a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest is to detect the shear waves; and a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest is to calculate strain elasticity. Accordingly, the second ultrasonic echo data, which can be used to generate the shear wave elasticity image, can be acquired according to the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves; and the third ultrasonic echo data, which can be used to generate the ultrasound image of the tissue (e.g. B-mode ultrasound image), can be acquired according to the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves. In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the strain elasticity image can be generated according to the third ultrasonic echo data. That is, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the echo data used for the calculation of strain elasticity is the detection data of the tissue (e.g. B-mode echo data). Based on this, with the embodiment of the present disclosure, shear wave elasticity imaging together with strain elasticity imaging can be simultaneously realized so as to achieve the combination of the advantages of the two. Here, it should be noted that “simultaneous” realization of shear wave elasticity imaging together with strain elasticity imaging does not necessarily mean that the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image are generated at the same time; it may also mean that both the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image can be generated in the process of the elasticity imaging method of the present disclosure, thus both providing users with diagnostic criteria.
In the embodiment of the present disclosure, generating the strain elasticity image based on the third ultrasonic echo data in step S750 may include: acquiring echo data of at least two different moments from the third ultrasonic echo data; and generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments. As mentioned above, strain elasticity is implemented by calculating the displacement and strain between echo data of two frames (or two moments) at each position of the tissue by comparing the echo data of the two frames (or two moments); accordingly, the echo data of at least two different moments can be acquired from the third ultrasonic echo data, and at least one frame of strain elasticity image can be generated based on the echo data of at least two different moments. The generation of the strain elasticity image will be schematically described below in conjunction with
In the example shown in
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to strengthen the influence of minute displacement and improve the accuracy of strain elasticity calculation, it is possible to select echo data at two moments with a long time interval (for example select two frames of B-mode echo data with a long time interval in the examples shown in
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after obtaining the shear wave elasticity image and strain elasticity image, it may, of course, also include: determining a first measuring frame in the shear wave elasticity image and a second measuring frame in the strain elasticity image; acquiring a shear wave elasticity parameter in the first measuring frame and a strain elasticity parameter in the second measuring frame; and displaying at least one of the shear wave elasticity parameter and the strain elasticity parameter. That is, after determining the measuring frames in the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image, the elasticity parameters in the corresponding measuring frames may further be calculated, wherein the shear wave elasticity parameter may be Young's modulus and the like, and the strain elasticity parameter may be strain variables and the like. Of course, the first and second measuring frames may be determined according to the features of tissues automatically recognized by the system, or be determined according to a user instruction by the system. A third measuring frame may certainly be determined in the ultrasound image, and the first measuring frame and/or the second measuring frame may be automatically matched based on the third measuring frame. The sizes of the first measuring frame, the second measuring frame and the third measuring frame may be the same or different. In addition, the first measuring frame, the second measuring frame and the third measuring frame may be displayed, and they may be displayed in different colors.
It should be noted that the shear wave elasticity image and/or the shear wave elasticity parameter, as well as the strain elasticity image and/or the strain elasticity parameter, may be displayed on a finally presented display interface in a specific display mode that is not specifically limited herein.
In the embodiment of the present disclosure, speckle tracking may be used to calculate the strain elasticity based on the echo data of at least two moments, and the process thereof can be referred to in combination with the description in
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the method 700 may also include the following steps (not shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image generated above may be displayed independently via different display windows, or at least two of the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image may be displayed via one display window in a superposed manner. The display scheme in the elasticity imaging method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can be understood with reference to the above description in combination with
Based on the above description, with the elasticity imaging method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, during shear wave elasticity imaging, the strain elasticity data is calculated based on the detection data of the tissue, so that it is able to combine shear wave elasticity imaging with strain elasticity imaging to display the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image in real time; thereby both qualitative judgment and quantitative measurement on the region of interest of the target object can be realized for users.
The elasticity imaging method according to another embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in combination with
step S1010: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object;
step S1020: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave;
step S1030: generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data;
step S1040: controlling the ultrasonic probe to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves;
step S1050: generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data; and
step S1060: displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to the target object is to generate shear waves; a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest is to detect the shear waves; and a purpose of controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest is to calculate strain elasticity. Accordingly, the second ultrasonic echo data, which can be used to generate the shear wave elasticity image, can be acquired according to the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves; and the third ultrasonic echo data, which can be used to generate the ultrasound image of the tissue (e.g. B-mode ultrasound image), can be acquired according to the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves. In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the strain elasticity image can be generated according to the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data. That is, in this embodiment of the present disclosure, the echo data used for the calculation of strain elasticity is the detection data of the tissue (e.g. B-mode echo data) and the echo data of ultrasonic waves used for detecting shear waves. Based on this, with the embodiment of the present disclosure, shear wave elasticity imaging together with strain elasticity imaging can be simultaneously realized so as to achieve the combination of the advantages of the two. Here, it should be noted that “simultaneous” realization of shear wave elasticity imaging together with strain elasticity imaging does not necessarily mean that the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image are generated at the same time; it may also mean that both the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image can be generated in the process of the elasticity imaging method of the present disclosure, thus both providing users with diagnostic criteria.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data in step S1050 may comprise: acquiring echo data of at least a first moment from the second ultrasonic echo data; acquiring echo data of at least a second moment from the third ultrasonic echo data; and generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments acquired respectively from the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data. As mentioned above, strain elasticity is implemented by calculating the displacement and strain between echo data of two frames (or two moments) at each position of the tissue by comparing the echo data of the two frames (or two moments); accordingly, the echo data of at least one moment can be acquired from the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data respectively, and at least one frame of strain elasticity image can be generated based on the echo data of at least two different moments.
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, in order to strengthen the influence of minute displacement and improve the accuracy of strain elasticity calculation, it is possible to select echo data at two moments with a long time interval (for example select B-mode echo data and the echo data of ultrasonic waves detecting the shear waves with a long time interval). For example, a threshold is preset such that the time interval between the extracted echo data at two moments is greater than the threshold. In addition, in order to strengthen the influence of small displacement, after receiving the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves for the last time, the ultrasonic probe is controlled to at least press the region of interest (target tissue) to acquire echo data of at least two different moments from the third ultrasonic echo data, and a strain elasticity image is generated based on the echo data of at least two different moments, thereby improving the accuracy of strain elasticity calculation.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, after obtaining the shear wave elasticity image and strain elasticity image, it may, of course, also include: determining a first measuring frame in the shear wave elasticity image and a second measuring frame in the strain elasticity image; acquiring a shear wave elasticity parameter in the first measuring frame and a strain elasticity parameter in the second measuring frame; and displaying at least one of the shear wave elasticity parameter and the strain elasticity parameter. That is, after determining the measuring frames in the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image, the elasticity parameters in the corresponding measuring frames may further be calculated, wherein the shear wave elasticity parameter may be Young's modulus and the like, and the strain elasticity parameter may be strain variables and the like. Of course, the first and second measuring frames may be determined according to the features of tissues automatically recognized by the system, or be determined according to a user instruction by the system. A third measuring frame may certainly be determined in the ultrasound image, and the first measuring frame and/or the second measuring frame may be automatically matched based on the third measuring frame. The sizes of the first measuring frame, the second measuring frame and the third measuring frame may be the same or different. In addition, the first measuring frame, the second measuring frame and the third measuring frame may be displayed, and they may be displayed in different colors.
It should be noted that the shear wave elasticity image and/or the shear wave elasticity parameter, as well as the strain elasticity image and/or the strain elasticity parameter, may be displayed on a finally presented display interface in a specific display mode that is not specifically limited herein.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments acquired respectively from the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data may comprise: performing speckle tracking on the echo data of at least two different moments acquired respectively from the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data to generate the strain elasticity image. The process thereof can be referred to in combination with the description in
In a further embodiment of the present disclosure, the method 1000 may also include the following steps (not shown in
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image generated above may be displayed independently via different display windows, or at least two of the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image may be displayed via one display window in a superposed manner. The display scheme in the elasticity imaging method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure can be understood with reference to the above description in combination with
Based on the above description, with the elasticity imaging method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, during shear wave elasticity imaging, the strain elasticity data is calculated based on the detection data of the tissue and the shear wave detection data, so that it is able to combine shear wave elasticity imaging with strain elasticity imaging to display the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image in real time; thereby both qualitative judgment and quantitative measurement on the region of interest of the target object can be realized for users.
The above examples show the elasticity imaging methods according to embodiments of the present disclosure. An elasticity imaging system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
Specifically, when the elasticity imaging system 1100 is used to realize the elasticity imaging method 200 described above according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1100 is configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit first ultrasonic waves to the target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of a target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1100 is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track the shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves; the processor 1130 is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data, and generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; and the display device 1140 is configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1130 generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data may comprise: acquiring echo data of at least two different moments from the second ultrasonic echo data; and generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the echo data of at least two different moments that is configured for generating one frame of strain elasticity image is the echo data of at least two different moments that is configured for generating one same frame of shear wave elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the echo data of at least two different moments that is configured for generating one frame of strain elasticity image is echo data of a first moment and echo data of a last moment that are configured for generating one same frame of shear wave elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the echo data of at least two different moments that is configured for generating one frame of strain elasticity image is the echo data of two moments that is configured for generating different frames of shear wave elasticity images.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1130 generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments may comprise: performing speckle tracking based on the echo data of at least two different moments to generate the strain elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 may also be configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; the processor 1130 may also be configured for generating an ultrasound image reflecting the tissue of at least the region of interest of the target object based on the third ultrasonic echo data; and the display device 1140 may also be configured for generating the ultrasound image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image may be displayed independently via different display windows. Alternatively, at least two of the shear wave elasticity image, the strain elasticity image and the ultrasound image may be displayed via one display window in a superimposed manner.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1130 may also be configured for, after receiving the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves for the last time, controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to at least press the region of interest to acquire echo data of at least two different moments from the third ultrasonic echo data, and generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a time interval between the echo data of at least two different moments is greater than a preset threshold.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1130 may also be configured for determining a first measuring frame in the shear wave elasticity image and a second measuring frame in the strain elasticity image, and acquiring a shear wave elasticity parameter in the first measuring frame and a strain elasticity parameter in the second measuring frame; and the display device may also be configured for displaying at least one of the shear wave elasticity parameter and the strain elasticity parameter.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first measuring frame and the second measuring frame are determined based on an automatic identification by the system; alternatively, the first measuring frame and the second measuring frame are determined based on an instruction operation by a user.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor may also be configured for determining a third measuring frame in the ultrasound image, and automatically determining the first measuring frame and/or the second measuring frame based on matching with the third measuring frame.
When the elasticity imaging system 1100 is used to realize the elasticity imaging method 700 described above according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is configured for controlling an ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave; the processor 1130 is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; the processor 1130 is also configured for generating a strain elasticity image based on the third ultrasonic echo data; and the display device 1140 is configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
When the elasticity imaging system 1100 is used to realize the elasticity imaging method 1000 described above according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is configured for controlling an ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic wave; the processor 1130 is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to at least transmit third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; the processor 1130 is also configured for generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data; and the display device 1140 is also configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1130 generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data may comprise: acquiring echo data of at least a first moment from the second ultrasonic echo data; acquiring echo data of at least a second moment from the third ultrasonic echo data; and generating a strain elasticity image based on the echo data of at least two different moments acquired respectively from the second ultrasonic echo data and the third ultrasonic echo data.
It should be noted that when the elasticity imaging system 1100 is used to realize the elasticity imaging methods 200, 700 and 1000 of the embodiment of the present disclosure described above, and specific execution steps thereof can be referred to the description of the corresponding embodiments of the above methods 200, 700 and 1000, which will not be repeated here.
In general, the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is configured for controlling an ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target object to generate shear waves propagating in a region of interest of the target object; the transmitting/receiving sequence controller 1110 is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe 1120 to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the region of interest to track the shear waves propagating in the region of interest and receive echoes of the second ultrasonic waves to acquire second ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the second ultrasonic waves; the processor 1130 is configured for generating a shear wave elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data; and the transmitting/receiving sequence controller is also configured for controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit at least third ultrasonic waves to the region of interest and receive echoes of the third ultrasonic waves to acquire third ultrasonic echo data based on the echoes of the third ultrasonic waves; the processor 1130 is also configured for generating a strain elasticity image based on the second ultrasonic echo data and/or the third ultrasonic echo data; and the display device 1140 is configured for displaying the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image.
A schematic block diagram of the elasticity imaging system of another embodiment of the present disclosure is described with reference to
The memory 1210 stores a program for implementing the corresponding steps in the elasticity imaging methods 200, 700 and 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The processor 1220 is used to run the program stored in the memory 1210 to execute the corresponding steps of the elasticity imaging methods 200, 700 and 1000 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
In addition, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, a storage medium is also provided, on which program instructions are stored, and when the program instructions are run by a computer or a processor, corresponding steps of the elasticity imaging methods 200, 700 and 1000 of the embodiment of the present disclosure are executed. The storage medium may include, for example, 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 disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a USB memory, or any combination of the above storage media. The computer-readable storage medium may be any combination of one or more computer-readable storage media.
In addition, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, there is also provided a computer program, which can be stored on the cloud or local storage medium. When the computer program is run by a computer or processor, it is used to execute the corresponding steps of the elasticity imaging method of the embodiment of the present disclosure.
Based on the above description, with the elasticity imaging method, the system and the storage medium according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the process of shear wave elasticity imaging, the strain elasticity data is calculated based on the shear wave detection data, so that the shear wave elasticity imaging and the strain elasticity imaging can be combined, and the shear wave elasticity image and the strain elasticity image can be displayed in real time, thus both qualitative judgment and quantitative measurement of the region of interest of the target object can be realized by users.
While exemplary embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the above example embodiments are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure thereto. Those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included in the scope of the disclosure as claimed in the appended claims.
A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, units and algorithm steps may be implemented by using electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on particular applications and design constraint conditions of the technical solutions. Those skilled in the art could use different methods to implement the described functions for each particular application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of the disclosure.
In several embodiments provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely exemplary. For example, the division of units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementations, there may be other division methods. For example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted or not implemented.
A large number of specific details are explained in this specification provided herein. However, it can be understood that the embodiments of the disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures, and technologies are not shown in detail, so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.
Similarly, it should be understood that in order to simplify the disclosure and help to understand one or more of various aspects of the disclosure, in the description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, various features of the disclosure are sometimes together grouped into an individual embodiment, figure or description thereof. However, the method of the disclosure should not be construed as reflecting the following intention, namely, the disclosure set forth requires more features than those explicitly stated in each claim. More precisely, as reflected by the corresponding claims, the inventive point thereof lies in that features that are fewer than all the features of an individual embodiment disclosed may be used to solve the corresponding technical problem. Therefore, the claims in accordance with the particular embodiments are thereby explicitly incorporated into the particular embodiments, wherein each claim itself serves as an individual embodiment of the disclosure.
Those skilled in the art should understand that, in addition to the case where features are mutually exclusive, any combination may be used to combine all the features disclosed in this specification (along with the appended claims, abstract, and drawings) and all the processes or units of any of methods or devices as disclosed. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed in this specification (along with the appended claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by an alternative feature that provides the same, equivalent, or similar object.
Furthermore, those skilled in the art should understand that although some of the embodiments described herein comprise some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the disclosure, and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any one of the embodiments set forth thereby can be used in any combination.
Various embodiments regarding components in the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, or implemented by software modules running on one or more processors, or implemented in a combination thereof. It should be understood for those skilled in the art that a microprocessor or a digital signal processor (DSP) may be used in practice to implement some or all of the functions of some modules according to the embodiments of the disclosure. The disclosure may further be implemented as an apparatus program (e.g. a computer program and a computer program product) for executing some or all of the methods described herein. Such a program for implementing the disclosure may be stored on a computer-readable medium, or may be in the form of one or more signals. Such a signal may be downloaded from an Internet website, or provided on a carrier signal, or provided in any other form.
It should be noted that the description of the disclosure made in the above-mentioned embodiments is not to limit the disclosure, and those skilled in the art may design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses should not be construed as limitation on the claims. The word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps not listed in a claim. The word “a” or “an” preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The disclosure may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several different elements and by means of an appropriately programmed computer. In unit claims listing several ultrasound devices, several of these ultrasound devices may be specifically embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The use of the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. does not indicate any order. These terms may be interpreted as names.
The above is only the specific embodiment of the present disclosure or the description of the specific embodiment, and the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions should be included within the protection scope of the present disclosure. The protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
This is a continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2020/087701 filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on Apr. 29, 2020. The entire content of the above-identified application is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2020/087701 | Apr 2020 | US |
Child | 17968640 | US |