WO2020113397A1

WO2020113397A1 - Ultrasonic imaging method and ultrasonic imaging system

Info

Publication number: WO2020113397A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/119040
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李双双; 何绪金
Original assignee: 深圳迈瑞生物医疗电子股份有限公司
Priority date: 2018-12-04
Filing date: 2018-12-04
Publication date: 2020-06-11
Also published as: CN113081054A; CN111655154A; CN111655154B; CN113081054B

Abstract

An ultrasonic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging system for improving the observability of images. The ultrasonic imaging method comprises: transmitting a first ultrasonic wave to a target tissue, receiving a first ultrasonic echo wave returned from the target tissue, and acquiring a first ultrasonic echo signal (501); according to the first ultrasonic echo signal, acquiring an ultrasonic image of the target tissue (502); acquiring a sound attenuation image of a first region of the target tissue (503); transmitting a shear wave to the target tissue, transmitting a second ultrasonic wave to a second region of the target tissue, receiving a second ultrasonic echo wave returned from the second region, and acquiring a second ultrasonic echo signal, the shear wave being used to vibrate the target tissue (504); according to the second ultrasonic echo signal, determining an elastic parameter of the second region of the target tissue (505); displaying the ultrasonic image, the sound attenuation image and the elastic parameter (506).

Description

Ultrasound imaging method and ultrasound imaging system

Technical field

The present application relates to the field of medical devices, in particular to an ultrasound imaging method and an ultrasound imaging system.

Background technique

Ultrasound elastography is one of the hotspots of clinical research in recent years. It mainly reflects the elasticity or hardness of tissues. It has been used more and more in the auxiliary detection of tissue cancer lesions, discrimination of benign and malignant, and evaluation of prognosis recovery.

Ultrasound elastography mainly images the elasticity-related parameters in the region of interest to reflect the softness and hardness of the tissue. In the past two decades, many different methods of elastography have emerged, such as quasi-static elastography based on strain caused by the probe pressing on the tissue, shear wave elastography or elastic measurement based on the generation of shear waves based on acoustic radiation force, based on external vibration Instantaneous elastography to generate shear waves, etc. Among them, ultrasonic transient elastography is mainly designed by designing a special probe to emit ultrasonic waves to detect the internal displacement of the tissue while generating vibration, so as to determine the instantaneous elastic parameters of the tissue. It is received by doctors in clinical liver disease detection, especially the auxiliary diagnosis of liver fibrosis Is widely welcomed. In addition, in actual clinical applications, it is also necessary to combine other information, for example, sound attenuation parameters, to comprehensively reflect the nature of the tissue and facilitate comprehensive diagnosis. Different amounts of fat in tissues usually cause differences in sound attenuation parameters.

However, in the existing scheme, the determined instantaneous elastic parameters and sound attenuation parameters are a global average estimation result of the target tissue, and cannot reflect the tissue properties within the target tissue, so that the operator obtains the instantaneous elastic parameters and sound attenuation parameters according to the determination. , And can not get accurate observation results of the target organization.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides an ultrasound imaging method and an ultrasound imaging system for improving the intuitiveness of an image.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging method, including: transmitting a first ultrasound wave to a target tissue, and receiving a first ultrasound echo returned from the target tissue, to obtain a first ultrasound echo signal; The first ultrasound echo signal acquires an ultrasound image of the target tissue; acquires an acoustic attenuation image of a first area in the target tissue; transmits a shear wave to the target tissue, and sends a second wave to the target tissue The area emits a second ultrasonic wave, and receives a second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal, and the shear wave is used to vibrate the target tissue; according to the second ultrasonic wave The echo signal determines the elastic parameters of the second region in the target tissue; displaying the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image, and the elastic parameters.

A second aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging method, including: transmitting a first ultrasound wave to a target tissue, and receiving a first ultrasound echo returned from the target tissue, to obtain a first ultrasound echo signal; The first ultrasound echo signal acquires an ultrasound image of the target tissue; acquires an acoustic attenuation image of a first region in the target tissue; and displays the ultrasound image and the acoustic attenuation image.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, including: a probe, a transmission/reception sequence circuit, a vibrator, a processor, and a display;

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is used to excite the probe to generate the first ultrasonic wave;

The probe is used to transmit the first ultrasonic wave to the target tissue, and receive the first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain the first ultrasonic echo signal;

The processor is configured to acquire an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal, and acquire an acoustic attenuation image of a first area in the target tissue;

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is also used to excite the probe to generate second ultrasonic waves;

The probe is also used to transmit a shear wave to the target tissue, and to emit the second ultrasonic wave to a second area in the target tissue and receive a second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area To obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal, and the shear wave is used to vibrate the target tissue;

The processor is further configured to determine the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue according to the second ultrasound echo signal;

The display is used to display the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image, and the elasticity parameter.

A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, including: a probe, a transmit/receive sequence circuit, a processor, and a display;

The display is used to display the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image.

A fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed on a computer, causes the computer to execute the first aspect or the second aspect Imaging method.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the target tissue, and the first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue is received to obtain the first ultrasonic echo signal. Then acquire an acoustic attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue, and acquire an ultrasound image according to the first ultrasound echo signal. Transmit the shear wave to the target tissue, and emit the second ultrasonic wave to the second area in the target tissue, and receive the second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area to obtain the second ultrasonic echo signal, according to the second ultrasonic echo The signal determines the elastic parameters of the second region in the target tissue; the displayed ultrasound image, sound attenuation image, and elastic parameters are displayed. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, on the basis of displaying the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image and the elasticity parameter are simultaneously displayed. In addition, the elastic parameter is a parameter of the second region in the target tissue. Therefore, based on the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image, the local elastic parameter within the target tissue can be more accurately and intuitively reflected. So that the operator can observe the local part of the target tissue by combining the ultrasonic image, the sound attenuation image and the elastic parameter, and improve the intuitiveness of displaying the local elastic parameter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

1 is a schematic structural block diagram of a possible ultrasound imaging system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

2 is a schematic structural diagram of a possible probe provided by an embodiment of the present application;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of another possible probe provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a possible probe transmitting ultrasound scene provided by an embodiment of the present application;

5 is a schematic flowchart of a possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

6 is an ultrasound display diagram of a possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

7 is an ultrasound display diagram of another possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

8 is an ultrasound energy attenuation diagram of a possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

9 is an ultrasonic energy attenuation diagram of another possible ultrasonic imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

10 is a gain diagram of an ultrasound echo signal of a possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

11 is an ultrasound echo signal gain diagram of another possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

12 is a timing diagram of ultrasound transmission of a possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

13 is an ultrasonic transmission timing chart of another possible ultrasonic imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

14 is a timing diagram of ultrasound transmission of another possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

15 is a second area selection diagram of a possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

16 is a shear wave propagation trajectory diagram of a possible ultrasonic imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

17 is a shear wave propagation curve diagram of another possible ultrasonic imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

18 is an ultrasound display diagram of another possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

19 is a schematic structural block diagram of another possible ultrasound imaging system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

20 is a schematic flowchart of another possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

21 is an ultrasound display diagram of another possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 22 is an ultrasound display diagram of another possible ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application.

detailed description

The present application provides an ultrasound imaging method and an ultrasound imaging system for improving the intuitiveness of ultrasound elastography.

The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the description and claims of this application and the above drawings are used to distinguish similar objects without using To describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in an order other than what is illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, processes, methods, systems, products or devices that contain a series of steps or units need not be limited to those clearly listed Those steps or units, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products, or equipment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system 10 in an embodiment of the present application. The ultrasound imaging system 10 may include a probe 100, wherein the probe 100 may be an ultrasound probe, a transmission/reception selection switch 101, a transmission/reception sequence controller 102, a processor 103, and a display 104. The transmission/reception sequence controller 102 can excite the ultrasound probe 100 to transmit ultrasound waves to the target tissue, and can also control the ultrasound probe 100 to receive the ultrasound echo returned from the target tissue, thereby obtaining ultrasound echo signals/data. The processor 103 processes the ultrasound echo signal/data to obtain tissue-related parameters and ultrasound images of the target tissue. The ultrasound images obtained by the processor 103 may be stored in the memory 105, and these ultrasound images may be displayed on the display 104. In some possible implementations, the ultrasound imaging system 10 further includes a vibrator 106, which may be installed inside the probe 100 or may be arranged outside the probe 100. The vibrator 106 can be used to generate a specific waveform of vibration, that is, a shear wave, and vibrate the probe 100. Of course, in some possible implementations, the ultrasonic imaging system 10 does not require a vibrator, and directly generates a shear according to the acoustic radiation force. wave.

In the embodiment of the present application, the display 104 of the foregoing ultrasound imaging system 10 may be a touch display screen, a liquid crystal display screen, etc., or may be an independent display device independent of the ultrasound imaging system 10, such as a liquid crystal display, a television, or the like. It is a display screen on electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, a sensor may also be provided inside the probe 100, and the sensor is used to feed back the vibration force strength of the vibrator or the pressing force of the probe 100 on the target tissue. According to the feedback of the sensor, the vibration generated by the vibrator 106 can be controlled to make the shear wave generated by the vibrator 106 more stable. In addition, according to the feedback of the sensor, the pressing force of the probe 100 against the target tissue can be adjusted, so that the shear wave can be transmitted to the target tissue with high quality, thereby improving the detection accuracy of instantaneous elasticity.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the acoustic head portion of the probe 100 may be an array composed of a plurality of array elements, and the plurality is two or more. The array element can be used to convert electrical signals into ultrasonic waves, send ultrasonic waves, and receive the returned ultrasonic echoes, and convert the ultrasonic echoes into electrical signals to obtain ultrasonic echo data/signals. The shape of the array may be a linear arrangement, a fan arrangement, etc., which may be adjusted according to actual application scenarios. Exemplarily, the linear arrangement may be as shown in FIG. 2, and the multiple array elements are arranged in a linear manner. Exemplarily, the fan-shaped arrangement may be as shown in FIG. 3, and a plurality of array elements are arranged in a fan-shape. Each array element performs the transmission of ultrasonic waves or the reception of ultrasonic echoes by receiving the transmission signal of the transmission circuit and the reception signal sent by the reception circuit. Specifically, the scene in which the probe 100 emits ultrasound may be as shown in FIG. 4, the array element inside the probe 100 transmits ultrasound to the target tissue, and receives the ultrasound echo returned from the target tissue.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the foregoing memory 105 of the ultrasound imaging apparatus 10 may be a flash memory card, a solid-state memory, a hard disk, or the like.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a plurality of program instructions. After the plurality of program instructions are called and executed by the processor 103, the present application can be executed. Part or all of the steps in the ultrasound imaging method in various embodiments or any combination of steps therein.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the computer-readable storage medium may be the memory 105, which may be a non-volatile storage medium such as a flash memory card, solid state memory, or hard disk.

In an alternative embodiment of the present application, the aforementioned processor 103 of the ultrasound imaging apparatus 10 may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof, and may use circuits, single or multiple application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuits, ASIC ), single or multiple general-purpose integrated circuits, single or multiple microprocessors, single or multiple programmable logic devices, or a combination of the aforementioned circuits or devices, or other suitable circuits or devices, so that the processor 103 can The corresponding steps of the ultrasound imaging method in various embodiments of the present application are performed.

The ultrasound imaging method in the present application is described in detail below, please refer to FIG. 5, an ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application is applied to the ultrasound imaging system 10, and is particularly suitable for an ultrasound imaging system 10 including a touch screen , For touch screen operation can be used to enter touch screen operations. The ultrasound imaging system 10 may use ultrasound echo data to generate an elastic image, or may use ultrasound echo data to generate a conventional ultrasound B image or a Doppler image, and so on. Embodiments of the ultrasound imaging method in this application include:

501: Transmit first ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, and receive the first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal.

First, the first ultrasonic wave can be transmitted to the target tissue through the probe. Under the excitation of the first ultrasonic wave, the target tissue generates an ultrasonic echo, which is received by the probe and converted into an electrical signal to obtain the first ultrasonic echo signal . The target tissue can be any human tissue.

In an embodiment of the present application, based on the aforementioned ultrasound imaging system 10, the processor controls to open the transmit/receive selection switch 101, and through the transmit/receive sequence controller, the probe 100 is excited to generate the first ultrasonic wave according to the parameters of the ultrasonic image, And send to the target organization. And the ultrasound echo returned from the target tissue is received by the probe 100 to obtain a first ultrasound echo signal, and is transmitted to the processor 103, and the processor 103 processes the first ultrasound echo signal to obtain an ultrasound image. Wherein, the first ultrasound echo may include echoes returned from the target tissue at different depths.

In an embodiment of the present application, the transmit/receive sequence controller may generate a first sequence for exciting the probe to generate the first ultrasonic wave. The first sequence may include the transmission of one or more sets of ultrasound waves and the reception of ultrasound echoes. For example, the first sequence may include transmitting a group of first ultrasound waves and receiving the first ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the first ultrasound waves after 1 ms.

In one embodiment of the present application, the probe 100 can transmit the first ultrasonic wave to the target tissue from different angles, and the area where the first ultrasonic wave is emitted covers the area of the target tissue. And the first ultrasonic wave can penetrate the preset depth of the target tissue. Therefore, the ultrasound image acquired according to the first ultrasound echo signal can completely cover the range of the target tissue.

502. Acquire an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal.

After acquiring the first ultrasound echo signal, imaging is performed according to the parameters of the first ultrasound echo signal to obtain an ultrasound image of the target tissue.

In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the first ultrasonic echo signal, the noise in the first ultrasonic echo signal may be removed. After the ultrasonic echo signal undergoes beam synthesis processing through a beam synthesis circuit, it is transmitted to the processor 105, and the processor 105 processes the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain an ultrasound image of the target tissue.

In an embodiment of the present application, the ultrasound image may be a grayscale image, a color Doppler blood flow image, or other images, which is not specifically limited herein. And, the grayscale image or color Doppler blood flow image can be displayed on the display 104.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first ultrasound echo may include echoes returned from different depths of the target tissue, then, the first ultrasound echo signal may obtain return information of tissues of different depths of the target tissue. Therefore, when generating an ultrasound image, ultrasound images of tissues of different depths in the target tissue can be obtained.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the ultrasound image may be a grayscale image. A specific ultrasound image acquisition method may be that, after the first ultrasound echo signal is obtained, noise in the first ultrasound echo signal may be removed. After the ultrasonic echo signal is beam-synthesized, it is transmitted to the processor 103. The processor 103 processes the ultrasonic echo signal, including determining the corresponding target tissue according to the amplitude value of the first ultrasonic echo signal and preset weight information Each pixel value of, and according to each pixel value, get the grayscale image of the target organization.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the ultrasound image may include a color Doppler blood flow image. Through color Doppler blood flow imaging, color Doppler blood flow images are obtained. The specific manner may be that, after the first ultrasonic echo signal is obtained, the noise in the first ultrasonic echo signal may be removed. After the ultrasound echo signal is beam-synthesized, it is transmitted to the processor 103. The processor 103 processes the ultrasound echo signal, including determining the target tissue according to the amplitude value of the first ultrasound echo signal and the preset blood flow parameters Corresponding to each pixel value, and according to each pixel value, a color Doppler blood flow image of the target tissue is obtained. The color Doppler blood flow image can reflect the direction and velocity of the blood flow of the target tissue. Moreover, the color Doppler blood flow image may be obtained by superimposing blood flow information on the basis of the gray-scale image. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, in addition to displaying the ultrasound image of the target tissue, it can also display the color Doppler blood flow image, and further display the blood flow information inside the target tissue, so as to facilitate the observation of the target tissue.

503. Acquire the sound attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue.

In the embodiment of the present application, the sound attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue can be obtained. Specifically, it may be that the sound attenuation parameter of the first area is first obtained, and then the pixel value of each pixel of the sound attenuation image is determined according to the sound attenuation parameter to obtain the sound attenuation image.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution order of step 502 and step 503. Step 502 may be executed first, or step 503 may be executed first, which may be adjusted according to actual application scenarios.

It should also be noted that, on the basis of displaying the ultrasound image, the embodiments of the present application may also display only the sound attenuation image, the sound attenuation image and the sound attenuation parameter, or only the sound attenuation parameter, depending on the actual application. Scene adjustment is not limited here.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the sound attenuation image may be obtained by color coding the sound attenuation parameters of the first area. Specifically, it may be to determine the distribution of the sound attenuation value in the first area, and then convert the sound attenuation value into the pixel value of each pixel in the sound attenuation image according to the preset correspondence according to the distribution of the sound attenuation value , The pixel value includes: brightness value, gray value, color value and so on. The pixel values of each pixel are combined to obtain the sound attenuation image. The preset correspondence may be the correspondence between the sound attenuation value and the pixel value, for example, the pixel value may be N times the sound attenuation value, or the pixel value may be the sound attenuation value calculated according to a preset formula get. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, the color attenuation can be used to make the sound attenuation image more reflect the distribution of the sound attenuation parameters, and the sound attenuation of the first region of the target tissue can be more conveniently observed.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, after the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image are obtained, they can be displayed on the display 104. Among them, the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image may be displayed separately, or the sound attenuation image may be superimposed on the ultrasound image for display. Exemplarily, the superimposed display image of the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image may be as shown in FIG. 6, wherein the ultrasound image 601 and the sound attenuation image 602 are superimposed. It can be understood that the sound attenuation image is fused with the ultrasound image to obtain and display the first fusion image. The first fusion image is the superimposition of the ultrasound image 601 and the sound attenuation image 602 shown in FIG. 6. In addition, the sound attenuation image and the ultrasound image can also be displayed separately, that is, 601 and 602 in FIG. 6 are displayed separately, and details are not described here. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the sound attenuation image can be superimposed on the ultrasound image, and the sound attenuation characteristics of the first region in the target tissue can be displayed more intuitively.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, when the sound attenuation image and the ultrasound image are fused to obtain the first fused image, and the first fused image is displayed, the sound attenuation parameter may also be displayed at the same time. Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 7, "Sound attenuation parameter: XXX" may be displayed in the display. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, in addition to displaying the sound attenuation image, the sound attenuation parameters may be directly displayed to directly reflect the sound attenuation characteristics of the first region of the target tissue.

It should be understood that the positions and sizes of the first regions in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are only exemplary illustrations. The first region is located in the target tissue, and the size of the first region may be all or part of the target tissue.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the first area may be an area arbitrarily determined from the target organization. It may also be obtained by the user inputting the target tissue after displaying the ultrasound image on the display. It can also be obtained according to the target tissue displayed in the ultrasound image according to a preset rule. The preset rule can be to use the area where the difference between the pixel value and the surrounding pixel value is greater than the threshold as the first area, or the pixel value distribution can be Area as the first area and so on. It can be adjusted according to the actual application scenario.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the sound attenuation parameter of the first area may be obtained according to the first ultrasonic echo signal. First, the signal corresponding to the first area is determined from the first ultrasonic echo signal, and then the sound attenuation parameter of the first area is determined according to the amplitude of the signal corresponding to the first area at each preset depth. Generally, the amplitudes of the ultrasonic echo signals returned from different depths are different. The depth is the distance between the tissue in the first region and the probe. The deeper the tissue, the lower the amplitude of the ultrasonic echo signal. Moreover, the nature of the tissue is different, which usually causes the amplitude of the ultrasonic echo signal to change. Therefore, the sound attenuation parameter of the first area is determined according to the amplitude of the signal corresponding to the first area at each preset depth, the rate of change of the amplitude of each preset depth can be determined, and the sound attenuation parameter can be obtained more accurately. Accordingly, when the transmission/reception sequence controller generates a sequence corresponding to the first ultrasonic wave, the sequence includes parameters common to the ultrasonic image and the sound attenuation parameters, for example, the transmission frequency, the transmission waveform length, the receiving lateral position range, and the receiver amplification Remarks, receiving filter parameters, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the sound attenuation parameter of the first area may be obtained according to the first ultrasonic echo signal. Therefore, the resources of the first ultrasonic wave can be efficiently used to avoid repeated transmission of ultrasonic waves.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the sound attenuation parameter of the first area may be obtained according to the third ultrasonic echo signal. Specifically, the third ultrasonic wave may be sent to the first area through the probe, and the ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue may be received to obtain the third ultrasonic echo signal. The third ultrasonic wave is a third sequence generated by the transmission/reception sequence controller according to the sound attenuation related information in the first area, and is excited by the probe. Similar to determining the acoustic attenuation parameter of the first area based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, the third ultrasonic echo signal includes the amplitude of each preset depth corresponding to the first area, and The amplitude determines the sound attenuation parameters of the first area. Correspondingly, when the transmission/reception sequence controller generates a sequence corresponding to the third ultrasonic wave, the sequence includes only the parameters related to the sound attenuation parameters, for example, the transmission frequency, the transmission waveform length, the receiving lateral position range, the receiver's amplification remarks, Receive filter parameters, etc. In the embodiment of the present application, the third ultrasonic wave may be directly sent to the first area to obtain the third ultrasonic echo signal, and the sound attenuation parameter of the first area may be determined according to the third ultrasonic echo signal. It is possible to make the acoustic attenuation parameter of the first area obtained more accurate.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, when determining the sound attenuation parameter according to the first ultrasonic echo signal or the third ultrasonic echo signal, generally, the amplitude of the ultrasonic echo signal decreases with increasing depth, and the amplitude is converted When the unit is dB, the amplitude can be determined to decrease with increasing depth. As shown in Figure 8, the slope of the energy attenuation of the ultrasonic echo can be understood as the sound attenuation value. Generally, the characteristics of the tissue will also affect the sound attenuation parameters, and the sound attenuation parameters at different depth values may be different. Therefore, the depth can be divided into multiple preset depth ranges, as shown in FIG. 9. Then determine the change rate of each preset depth range according to the amplitude value of each preset depth range, and then calculate the change rate of each preset depth range, for example, weighted operation, average calculation, etc., to calculate the first area Sound attenuation parameters. Alternatively, the rate of change of each preset depth range can be calculated directly to obtain the sound attenuation value of each preset depth range. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the first area can be divided into multiple preset depth ranges for calculation, so that the calculated sound attenuation parameter is more accurate. It is to avoid that the calculated sound attenuation parameters cannot reflect the tissue characteristics of the first area due to the different internal characteristics of the tissue in the first area. In the embodiment of the present application, when determining the sound attenuation parameter, it is not necessary to amplify and enhance the amplitude value in the first ultrasonic echo signal or the third ultrasonic echo signal and use it directly. In addition, the sound attenuation parameters at different depths are calculated in sections to avoid inaccurate sound attenuation parameters caused by different characteristics within the target tissue. Therefore, the obtained sound attenuation parameter can be made more accurate.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, when acquiring ultrasound images and sound attenuation parameters according to the first ultrasound echo signal, it is generally necessary to perform different processing on the parameters included in the first ultrasound echo signal. When acquiring an ultrasound image according to the first ultrasound echo signal, in general, in order to make the ultrasound image clearer, different magnifications are used to enlarge and enhance the parameters included in the first ultrasound echo signal according to different depths. In addition to the magnification, other parameters may also be different. For example, if the ultrasound image includes a color Doppler blood flow image, it is also necessary to determine color-related values. When acquiring the sound attenuation parameter according to the first ultrasonic echo signal, it is generally necessary to maintain the difference between the values of the various depths in the first ultrasonic echo signal. For another example, when acquiring an ultrasound image, the harmonic frequency component is usually extracted from the first ultrasound echo signal for calculation, and when performing the sound attenuation parameter, in order to improve the penetration force, the fundamental frequency is usually extracted for calculation. Exemplarily, the gain between the pixel value in the ultrasound image and the amplitude in the first ultrasound echo signal can refer to FIG. 10, and as the depth increases, the gain also increases. When determining the sound attenuation parameter, the gain for the amplitude of the first ultrasonic echo signal is shown in FIG. 11, and as the depth increases, the gain does not need to change. In this embodiment, determining the sound attenuation parameter and the ultrasound image requires different processing of the first ultrasound echo signal, which can improve the utilization rate of the first ultrasound echo signal, and can more accurately acquire the sound attenuation parameter and the ultrasound image .

In an optional embodiment of the present application, after determining the sound attenuation parameter, the ultrasound image may be obtained according to the sound attenuation parameter, or the ultrasound image may be adjusted according to the sound attenuation parameter. Specifically, if an ultrasound image is obtained according to the sound attenuation parameter, after obtaining the first ultrasound echo signal, according to each amplitude of the first ultrasound echo signal, combined with the sound attenuation parameter, the pixel of each pixel of the target tissue is determined Value, and the corresponding gain for each pixel. Then, according to the pixel value of each pixel and the corresponding gain of each pixel, the final pixel value of each pixel is determined to obtain an ultrasound image. If the ultrasound image is adjusted according to the sound attenuation parameter, the gain of the pixel value of each pixel in the ultrasound image can be directly determined according to the sound attenuation parameter, and then each of the ultrasound image can be determined according to the gain and pixel value of each pixel The final pixel value of the pixel is the adjusted ultrasound image. In the embodiment of the present application, the ultrasound image may be acquired through the sound attenuation parameter, and the sound attenuation parameter may reflect the characteristics of tissues at different depths. Therefore, the acquisition or adjustment of the ultrasound image in combination with the sound attenuation parameters can make the ultrasound image more accurate and better reflect the characteristics of the target tissue.

It should be understood that if an ultrasound image is obtained according to the sound attenuation parameter, then before or after the first ultrasound is transmitted to the target tissue, before the ultrasound image is obtained, the third ultrasound is sent to the target tissue and the ultrasound echo is received to obtain the third Ultrasound echo signal. Alternatively, if the sound attenuation parameter is determined according to the first ultrasound echo signal, the ultrasound image is acquired after the sound attenuation parameter is determined.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the sound attenuation parameter may include one or more of an average sound attenuation value, a maximum sound attenuation value, or a minimum sound attenuation value in the first region.

504. Transmit the shear wave to the target tissue, and transmit the second ultrasonic wave to the second area in the target tissue, and receive the second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area to obtain the second ultrasonic echo signal.

In the embodiment of the present application, the shear wave may be generated by external vibration to perform instantaneous elastic imaging, or the shear wave may be generated based on the acoustic radiation force, which is used for shear wave elastic imaging. Specifically, taking the vibrator for generating shear waves as an example, the vibrator in the ultrasound imaging system in FIG. 1 may be vibrated to vibrate the probe, and the shear wave generated by the vibration may be transmitted to the target tissue through the probe. And, the second ultrasonic wave is sent to the second area in the target tissue, and the second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area is received to obtain the second ultrasonic echo signal.

Specifically, the target tissue generates a rebound under the influence of the shear wave. At this time, the second ultrasound echo signal returned by the target tissue can be used to record the state change of the target tissue under the influence of the shear wave, and according to the state change The elastic parameters of the second region are determined, where the elastic parameters may be instantaneous elastic parameters or shear wave elastic parameters. Therefore, by combining the second ultrasonic wave and the shear wave, the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue can be accurately determined.

In an embodiment of the present application, the transmit/receive sequence controller may generate a second sequence for exciting the probe to generate the second ultrasonic wave. The second sequence may include the transmission of one or more sets of ultrasound waves and the reception of ultrasound echoes. For example, the second sequence may include transmitting multiple groups of second ultrasound waves, each group of second ultrasound waves being radiated at intervals of 2 ms, and receiving a second ultrasound echo signal corresponding to the second ultrasound waves after every 2 ms interval.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the first ultrasonic wave or the third ultrasonic wave may be sent first, or the shear wave and the second ultrasonic wave may be transmitted first, which may be adjusted according to actual application scenarios.

Exemplarily, the following uses the time axis as the abscissa to explain more vividly. The first ultrasonic wave or the third ultrasonic wave can be sent first as shown in FIG. The shear wave is transmitted while the second ultrasonic wave is emitted. The scenario where the shear wave is first transmitted and the second ultrasonic wave is transmitted may be as shown in FIG. 13. The vibrator is first vibrated, and the probe is driven to vibrate, and the shear wave is transmitted to the target tissue through the probe. Simultaneously transmit the second ultrasonic wave. After that, the first ultrasonic wave or the third ultrasonic wave is transmitted.

In general, to avoid the impact of vibration on the target tissue, the first ultrasonic wave or the third ultrasonic wave can be sent first, or the target tissue transmits the shear wave and the second ultrasonic wave is transmitted at the same time, and the second time can be preset before sending the second For an ultrasonic wave or a second ultrasonic wave, the preset second duration may be a longer duration to avoid the influence of vibration on the target tissue.

In addition, in order to improve the accuracy of instantaneous elastography, multiple vibrations and second ultrasonic waves can be emitted. Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 14, a third duration may be preset between each vibration, and the preset third duration may be set to a longer duration to avoid the impact of vibration on the target tissue. Of course, in addition to repeating the vibration and transmitting the second ultrasonic wave, the transmission of the first ultrasonic wave or the third ultrasonic wave can also be repeated multiple times, so that the resulting ultrasonic image and sound attenuation image can better reflect the characteristics of the target tissue.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the second area may be determined by receiving an input to the target tissue. For example, after displaying the ultrasound image of the target tissue, the user may input according to the displayed ultrasound image to select a part of the target tissue The area serves as the second area. The transmission/reception sequence controller generates corresponding sequence parameters according to the determined position and size of the second area, so as to excite the probe to generate the corresponding second ultrasonic wave, and transmit the second ultrasonic wave to the second area. At the same time, the vibrator generates vibrations, driving the probe to transmit shear waves to the second area. The state of the target tissue under the shear wave is recorded by the second ultrasonic wave. Exemplarily, a schematic diagram of the second area in the target tissue may be as shown in FIG. 15, the second area is in the target tissue, the position, size, and shape of the second area are selected by the user and input through an input device. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the size, position and shape of the second area may be input by the user. The area where the elastic parameter needs to be calculated can be more directly determined to facilitate observation of the second area.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the second area may also be determined according to preset rules. For example, the second area may be an area where the difference between the pixel value in the ultrasound image and the surrounding pixel value is greater than a threshold after acquiring the ultrasound image, or an area where the pixel values are all distributed as the second area, and so on. In addition, the second area may also be any area in the target tissue randomly determined in the ultrasound image. In the embodiment of the present application, the second area may be determined according to a preset rule. For some areas with differences, the elasticity parameters of the areas may be obtained, which may better reflect the characteristics of the areas with differences. The characteristics of the target organization can be analyzed more comprehensively.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the first area and the second area may be the same area, or the first area may include the second area, or the second area may include the first area, or the first area The area and the second area are independent of each other, and can be specifically adjusted according to actual application scenarios.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, the marker image of the second area may also be displayed in the ultrasound image. First, a marker map corresponding to the second area is generated. For example, the marker map may be a marker frame that coincides with the boundary of the second area, or may be a shape consistent with the shape of the second area. The marked image is fused into the ultrasound image to obtain a second fused image, and the second fused image is displayed. When the ultrasound image is displayed, the second region where the elastic parameter is measured is further displayed. The operator can observe the characteristics of the target organization more clearly and accurately. Moreover, if the second area is determined by user input, it can be determined more accurately whether the second area corresponding to the elastic parameter is correct.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, after obtaining the second ultrasonic echo signal, a propagation trajectory graph or a propagation curve graph of the shear wave may be obtained according to the second ultrasonic echo signal, and the propagation trajectory graph or Propagation graph. Exemplarily, the propagation trajectory diagram may be as shown in FIG. 16, and may show the propagation process of the shear wave in the target tissue. The propagation curve may be as shown in FIG. 17 and may show the propagation direction and path of the shear wave in the target tissue. In the embodiment of the present application, a shear wave propagation trajectory graph or a propagation curve graph can be displayed, a shear wave propagation path in a target tissue can be visually observed, and it can be determined whether the shear wave affects an area where elastic parameters need to be determined , So that the obtained elastic parameters can better reflect the characteristics of the second area of the target tissue.

505. Determine the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue according to the second ultrasound echo signal.

After obtaining the second ultrasonic echo signal, the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue is determined according to the second ultrasonic echo signal.

Specifically, the target tissue rebounds under the influence of shear waves. The parameters included in the second ultrasonic echo signal can record the state of the target tissue before receiving the shear wave and the state after receiving the shear wave, and calculate the displacement value generated by the target tissue between the two states And determine the elastic parameters of the target tissue according to the displacement value. Furthermore, the elastic parameters of the target tissue may include elastic coefficients. Under the same shear wave, the larger the elastic coefficient, the smaller the displacement of the target tissue; conversely, the smaller the elastic coefficient, the larger the displacement of the target tissue.

In an embodiment of the present application, based on the aforementioned ultrasonic imaging system 10, the shear wave vibrator 106 vibrates, and then drives the probe 100 to vibrate, which is a wave perpendicular to the probe 100. When the probe 100 contacts the target tissue, the target tissue can transmit the shear wave. The shear wave can provide thrust to the target tissue along the propagation direction. The target tissue moves or deforms under the thrust, and due to the elasticity of the target tissue, it rebounds after the movement or deformation. Therefore, based on this shear wave, the second ultrasonic waves are simultaneously emitted. The rebound of the target tissue under the influence of shear waves can be obtained, thereby determining the elastic parameters of the target tissue. In the embodiment of the present application, the vibrator vibrates to drive the probe to vibrate, and the shear wave generated by the vibration is transmitted to the target tissue. At the same time, the second ultrasonic wave is transmitted and the second ultrasonic echo signal is received. Therefore, the shape change of the target tissue driven by the shear wave can be recorded by the second ultrasonic echo signal, and the elastic parameter of the second area of the target tissue can be accurately determined. Of course, you can also send a push pulse to the target tissue to generate a shear wave according to the acoustic radiation force. Further, send a second ultrasonic wave to the target tissue to track the shear wave propagating in the target area and receive the second ultrasonic echo Signal, the elastic parameter of the second region of the target tissue is determined according to the second echo signal.

506. Display an ultrasound image, an acoustic attenuation image, and elastic parameters.

After obtaining the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation map and the elastic parameters, the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image and the elastic parameters can be displayed on the display.

Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 18, the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image, and the elasticity parameter are simultaneously displayed in the display. Optionally, the sound attenuation parameters can also be displayed. Optionally, a marker image of the second area may also be displayed.

In the present application, the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image and the elasticity parameter may be displayed at the same time, and the elasticity parameter may be the parameter of the second region in the target tissue. Therefore, the elasticity of the local elastic parameters of the target tissue can be more intuitively displayed based on the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image. The operator can make a more accurate observation of the target tissue according to the displayed ultrasound image, sound attenuation image and elastic parameters.

The foregoing describes the ultrasound imaging system and ultrasound imaging method provided in this application in detail, and this application also provides another ultrasound imaging system and ultrasound imaging method. Please refer to FIG. 19, which is a schematic structural block diagram of another possible ultrasound imaging system provided by an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 19 is a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system 190 in an embodiment of the present application. The ultrasound imaging system 190 may include a probe 1900, wherein the probe 1900 may be an ultrasound probe, a transmission/reception selection switch 1901, a transmission/reception sequence controller 1902, a processor 1903, and a display 1904. In some embodiments, the ultrasound imaging system 190 further includes a vibrator 1906. The transmit/receive sequence controller 1902 can excite the ultrasound probe 1900 to transmit ultrasound waves to the target tissue, and can also control the ultrasound probe 1900 to receive the ultrasound echo returned from the target tissue, thereby obtaining ultrasound echo signals/data. The processor 1903 processes the ultrasound echo signal/data to obtain tissue-related parameters and ultrasound images of the target tissue. The ultrasound images obtained by the processor 1903 may be stored in the memory 1905, and these ultrasound images may be displayed on the display 1904.

Among them, the vibrator 1906 is an optional component. The vibrator 1906 may be installed inside the probe 1900 or may be installed outside the probe 1900. The vibrator 1906 can be used to generate a specific waveform of vibration, that is, a shear wave, and cause the probe 1900 to vibrate. The vibrator 1906 can be used to generate vibration when acquiring elastic parameters and drive the probe 1900 to vibrate. In some embodiments, there is no need for a vibrator to generate a shear wave, and the shear wave is directly generated according to the acoustic radiation force, which is used for shear wave elastic imaging or elastic measurement.

The components and the functions of the components included in the ultrasound imaging system provided in the embodiments of the present application are similar to the ultrasound imaging system in FIG. 1 described above, and details are not described herein again.

Next, based on the aforementioned ultrasound imaging system of FIG. 19, another ultrasound imaging method provided by the present application will be described in detail. Please refer to FIG. 20. An ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application is applied to the ultrasound imaging system 190. It is particularly suitable for an ultrasound imaging system 190 that includes a touch display screen, and can be used to input touch screen operations using a touch touch display screen. The ultrasound imaging system 190 may use ultrasound echo data to generate an elastic image, or may use ultrasound echo data to generate a conventional ultrasound B image or a Doppler image, and so on. Embodiments of the ultrasound imaging method in this application include:

In 2001, the first ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the target tissue, and the first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue is received to obtain the first ultrasonic echo signal.

2002. Acquire an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal.

2003. Acquire the sound attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue.

It should be noted that steps 2001 to 2003 in the embodiment of the present application are similar to steps 501 to 503 in FIG. 5 described above, and will not be repeated here.

2004, display ultrasound image and sound attenuation image.

In the embodiment of the present application, after acquiring the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image, the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image are displayed on the display.

Specifically, the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image displayed in the embodiment of the present application may be as shown in FIG. 21, which includes the ultrasound image 2101 and the sound attenuation image 2102. It can be understood that the sound attenuation image and the ultrasound image are fused to obtain and display the first fusion image, and the first fusion image is the superimposition of the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image shown in FIG. 21. In addition, the sound attenuation image and the ultrasound image can also be displayed separately, that is, 2101 and 2102 in FIG. 21 are displayed separately, and details are not described here.

In the embodiment of the present application, on the basis of the ultrasound image, an acoustic attenuation image is further acquired and displayed. Compared with displaying only the acoustic attenuation parameters, the present application can more intuitively display the acoustic attenuation characteristics of the target tissue in the form of an acoustic attenuation image. And based on the ultrasound image, the operator can more clearly observe the sound attenuation image and ultrasound image of the target tissue.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, when the sound attenuation image and the ultrasound image are fused to obtain the first fused image, and the first fused image is displayed, the sound attenuation parameter may also be displayed at the same time. Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 22, "Sound attenuation parameter: XXX" may be displayed in the display.

In an optional embodiment of the present application, in addition to acquiring and displaying ultrasound images and sound attenuation images, elastic parameters can also be acquired and displayed. The elastic parameter may be an instantaneous elastic parameter or a shear wave elastic parameter. Taking the instantaneous elastic parameter as an example, specifically, the vibrator vibrates and drives the probe to vibrate, and generates a shear wave. The shear wave is transmitted to the target tissue, and the second ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the second area in the target tissue, and the second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area is received to obtain the second ultrasonic echo signal. Obtain the elastic parameters of the second area according to the second ultrasonic echo signal, and display the elastic parameters of the second area on the display.

More specifically, the steps of acquiring elastic parameters, and displaying ultrasound images, sound attenuation images, and elastic parameters are similar to steps 504 to 506 in FIG. 5 described above, and are not repeated here. In the embodiment of the present application, the elastic parameters are further displayed on the basis of displaying the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image. Therefore, the sound attenuation image and the elastic parameter can be displayed more intuitively, and combined with the ultrasound image, it is more conducive to the target tissue Observe the sound attenuation image and elastic parameters.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device, and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, there may be other divisions, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or Can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored, or not implemented. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional unit.

If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application essentially or part of the contribution to the existing technology or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, the computer software product is stored in a storage medium , Including several instructions to enable a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage media include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and other media that can store program code .

It should be noted that in practical applications, the target tissue may be a human body, an animal, or the like. The target tissue may be the face, spine, heart, uterus, or pelvic floor, or other parts of the human tissue, such as the brain, bones, liver, or kidney, which is not specifically limited in this application.

The above is only the specific implementation of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited to this, any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in this application. It should be covered by the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

An ultrasound imaging method, characterized in that it includes:

Transmitting a first ultrasonic wave to a target tissue, and receiving a first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue, to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal;

Acquiring an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal;

Acquiring an acoustic attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue;

Transmitting a shear wave to the target tissue, and transmitting a second ultrasonic wave to a second area in the target tissue, and receiving a second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal, The shear wave is used to vibrate the target tissue;

Determining the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue according to the second ultrasonic echo signal;

The ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image, and the elasticity parameter are displayed.
The method according to claim 1, wherein before the acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue, the method further comprises:

Determining the sound attenuation parameter of the first region in the target tissue according to the amplitude values of the first preset echo range of the first ultrasound echo signal in the first region;

The acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue includes:

Color coding the sound attenuation parameters to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The method according to claim 1, wherein before the acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue, the method further comprises:

Sending a third ultrasonic wave to the first area, and receiving a third ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain a third ultrasonic echo signal;

Determine the sound attenuation parameter of the first area according to the amplitude value of each preset depth range of the third ultrasonic echo signal in the first area;

The acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue includes:

Color coding the sound attenuation parameters to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the acquiring an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal includes:

Determine each pixel value of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal;

Determine the gain to each pixel value of the target tissue according to the sound attenuation parameter;

According to each pixel value of the target tissue and the corresponding gain, the ultrasound image is obtained.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the ultrasound image is a grayscale image, and the acquiring the ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal includes:

Determine each pixel value of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal and preset weight information;

According to each pixel value of the target tissue, the gray-scale image is obtained.
The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the ultrasound image includes a color Doppler blood flow image, and the acquiring the ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal includes:

Perform color Doppler blood flow imaging according to the first ultrasound echo signal to obtain the color Doppler blood flow image.
The method according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the method further comprises:

Fuse the sound attenuation image with the ultrasound image to obtain a first fusion image;

The first fusion image is displayed.
The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that before the second ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the target tissue and the shear wave is transmitted to the target tissue, the method further comprises:

Receiving input parameters to the target tissue, and determining the second region in the target tissue according to the input parameters;

or,

According to a preset rule, the second area is determined from the target organization.
The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the method further comprises:

Generating a mark map corresponding to the second area;

Fuse the marked image to the ultrasound image to obtain a second fused image;

The second fusion image is displayed.
The method according to any one of claims 1-9, wherein the sound attenuation parameter comprises: at least one of an average sound attenuation value, a maximum sound attenuation value, or a minimum sound attenuation value of the first region .
The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the method further comprises:

According to the second ultrasonic echo signal, acquire a propagation trajectory graph or a propagation route curve graph of the shear wave, and display the propagation trajectory graph or the propagation route curve graph.
An ultrasound imaging method, characterized in that it includes:

Transmitting a first ultrasonic wave to a target tissue, and receiving a first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue, to obtain a first ultrasonic echo signal;

Acquiring an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal;

Acquiring an acoustic attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue;

Displaying the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image.
The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises:

Transmitting a shear wave to the target tissue, and transmitting a second ultrasonic wave to a second area in the target tissue, and receiving a second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area to obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal, The shear wave is used to vibrate the target tissue;

Determining the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue according to the second ultrasonic echo signal;

The elasticity parameter is displayed.
The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein before the acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue, the method further comprises:

Determining the sound attenuation parameter of the first region in the target tissue according to the amplitude values of the first preset echo range of the first ultrasound echo signal in the first region;

The acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue includes:

Color coding the sound attenuation parameter to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein before the acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue, the method further comprises:

Sending a third ultrasonic wave to the first area, and receiving a third ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain a third ultrasonic echo signal;

Determine the sound attenuation parameter of the first area according to the amplitude value of each preset depth range of the third ultrasonic echo signal in the first area;

The acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue includes:

Color coding the sound attenuation parameters to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The method according to claim 14 or 15, the acquiring the ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal includes:

Determine each pixel value of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal;

Determine the gain to each pixel value of the target tissue according to the sound attenuation parameter;

According to each pixel value of the target tissue and the corresponding gain, the ultrasound image is obtained.
The method according to any one of claims 12-16, wherein the ultrasound image includes a color Doppler blood flow image, and the ultrasound of the target tissue is acquired according to the first ultrasound echo signal Images, including:

Perform color Doppler blood flow imaging according to the first ultrasound echo signal to obtain the color Doppler blood flow image.
An ultrasound imaging system is characterized by comprising: a probe, a transmission/reception sequence circuit, a processor and a display;

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is used to excite the probe to generate the first ultrasonic wave;

The probe is used to transmit the first ultrasonic wave to the target tissue, and receive the first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain the first ultrasonic echo signal;

The processor is configured to acquire an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal, and acquire an acoustic attenuation image of a first area in the target tissue;

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is also used to excite the probe to generate second ultrasonic waves;

The probe is also used to transmit a shear wave to the target tissue, and to emit the second ultrasonic wave to a second area in the target tissue and receive a second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area To obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal, and the shear wave is used to vibrate the target tissue;

The processor is further configured to determine the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue according to the second ultrasound echo signal;

The display is used to display the ultrasound image, the sound attenuation image, and the elasticity parameter.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 18, characterized in that

The processor is further configured to, according to the amplitude of each preset depth range in the first area of the first ultrasound echo signal, before acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue Value determines the sound attenuation parameter of the first region in the target tissue;

The processor is specifically configured to color-code the sound attenuation parameter to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 18, characterized in that

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is also used to excite the probe to generate a third ultrasonic wave;

The probe is also used to send a third ultrasonic wave to the first area and receive a third ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain a third ultrasonic echo signal;

The processor is further configured to determine the sound attenuation parameter of the first area according to the amplitude value of each preset depth range of the third ultrasonic echo signal in the first area;

The processor is specifically configured to color-code the sound attenuation parameter to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

Determine each pixel value of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal;

Determine the gain to each pixel value of the target tissue according to the sound attenuation parameter;

According to each pixel value of the target tissue and the corresponding gain, the ultrasound image is obtained.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the ultrasound image is a grayscale image, and the processor is specifically configured to:

Determine each pixel value of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal and preset weight information;

According to each pixel value of the target tissue, the gray-scale image is obtained.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the ultrasound image includes a color Doppler blood flow image, and the processor is specifically configured to:

Perform color Doppler blood flow imaging according to the first ultrasound echo signal to obtain the color Doppler blood flow image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to any one of claims 18 to 23, characterized in that

The processor is further configured to fuse the sound attenuation image and the ultrasound image to obtain a first fusion image;

The display is also used to display the first fusion image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to any one of claims 18-24, characterized in that

The processor is further configured to receive an input parameter to the target tissue before the second ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the target tissue and the shear wave is transmitted to the target tissue, according to the input parameter in the The second area is determined in the target organization;

or,

According to a preset rule, the second area is determined from the target organization.
The ultrasound imaging system according to any one of claims 18-25, wherein

The processor is further configured to generate a marker map corresponding to the second area, and fuse the marker map to the ultrasound image to obtain a second fusion image;

The display is also used to display the second fusion image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to any one of claims 18-26, characterized in that

The sound attenuation parameter includes: at least one of an average sound attenuation value, a maximum sound attenuation value, or a minimum sound attenuation value of the first region.
The ultrasound imaging system according to any one of claims 18-27, characterized in that

The processor is further configured to obtain a propagation trajectory graph or a propagation route curve graph of the shear wave according to the second ultrasonic echo signal;

The display is also used to display the propagation trajectory graph or the propagation route curve graph.
An ultrasound imaging system is characterized by comprising: a probe, a transmission/reception sequence circuit, a processor and a display;

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is used to excite the probe to generate the first ultrasonic wave;

The probe is used to transmit the first ultrasonic wave to the target tissue, and receive the first ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain the first ultrasonic echo signal;

The processor is configured to acquire an ultrasound image of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal, and acquire an acoustic attenuation image of a first area in the target tissue;

The display is used to display the ultrasound image and the sound attenuation image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 29, characterized in that

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is also used to excite the probe to generate second ultrasonic waves;

The probe is also used to transmit a shear wave to the target tissue, and to emit the second ultrasonic wave to a second area in the target tissue and receive a second ultrasonic echo returned from the second area To obtain a second ultrasonic echo signal, and the shear wave is used to vibrate the target tissue;

The processor is further configured to determine the elastic parameter of the second region in the target tissue according to the second ultrasound echo signal;

The display is also used to display the elastic parameter.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that

The processor is further configured to, according to the amplitude of each preset depth range in the first area of the first ultrasound echo signal, before acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first area in the target tissue Value determines the sound attenuation parameter of the first region in the target tissue;

The processor is specifically configured to color-code the sound attenuation parameter to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 29 or 30, wherein before acquiring the sound attenuation image of the first region in the target tissue,

The transmit/receive sequence circuit is also used to excite the probe to generate third ultrasonic waves;

The probe is also used to send a third ultrasonic wave to the first area and receive a third ultrasonic echo returned from the target tissue to obtain a third ultrasonic echo signal;

The processor is further configured to determine the sound attenuation parameter of the first area according to the amplitude value of each preset depth range of the third ultrasonic echo signal in the first area, and to convert the sound attenuation parameter Color coding is performed to obtain the sound attenuation image.
The ultrasound imaging system according to claim 29 or 30, wherein the processor is specifically configured to:

Determine each pixel value of the target tissue according to the first ultrasound echo signal;

Determine the gain to each pixel value of the target tissue according to the sound attenuation parameter;

According to each pixel value of the target tissue and the corresponding gain, the ultrasound image is obtained.
The ultrasound imaging system according to any one of claims 29 to 33, wherein the ultrasound image includes a color Doppler blood flow image,

The processor is specifically configured to perform color Doppler blood flow imaging based on the first ultrasound echo signal to obtain the color Doppler blood flow image.