CN116807511B

CN116807511B - Functional ultrasound imaging method, apparatus and readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN116807511B
Application number: CN202310872282.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 丘志海; 朱杰君; 李娜; 陈子浩
Original assignee: Guangdong Institute Of Intelligent Science And Technology
Current assignee: Guangdong Institute Of Intelligent Science And Technology
Priority date: 2023-07-14
Filing date: 2023-07-14
Publication date: 2024-09-27
Anticipated expiration: 2043-07-14
Also published as: CN116807511A

Abstract

The application is applicable to the technical field of ultrasonic medicine, and provides a functional ultrasonic imaging method, a functional ultrasonic imaging device and a readable storage medium. The functional ultrasonic imaging method comprises the following steps: determining a first frequency of a first subarea and a second frequency of a second subarea in the imaging area, wherein the resolution requirements of the functional ultrasonic imaging diagrams of the two subareas are different; controlling an ultrasonic transduction array element array to transmit ultrasonic signals to an imaging area and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generating an ultrasonic synthetic image according to the echo signals; acquiring M ultrasonic synthetic images according to a first frequency, and performing energy Doppler calculation to generate a first functional ultrasonic imaging image; acquiring N ultrasonic synthetic images according to a second frequency, and performing energy Doppler calculation to generate a second functional ultrasonic imaging image; the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map are displayed. When the imaging areas have regional different resolution requirements, the functional ultrasonic imaging effect and the imaging flexibility are improved.

Description

Functional ultrasound imaging method, apparatus and readable storage medium

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of ultrasonic medicine, and particularly relates to a functional ultrasonic imaging method, a functional ultrasonic imaging device and a readable storage medium.

Background

Ultrasound (US) medicine is a discipline of combined acoustic, medical, optical and electronic science. In recent years, with the development of ultrasonic imaging technology, the sensitivity of ultrasound to weak blood flow detection is greatly improved, and functional ultrasonic imaging (function ultrasonic imaging, fUS) is derived. The fUS can generate a vascular blood flow change chart, realize the detection of the functional activity of the central nervous system with high space-time resolution and high sensitivity, can be applied to the fields of brain functional imaging, heart functional imaging and the like of animals, and has great application potential.

Currently, in the fUS technique, an ultrasound probe is typically used to transmit and receive ultrafast plane waves, thereby generating a vascular flow pattern. The rate at which the ultrafast plane waves are transmitted is such that the resolution of the whole blood flow pattern is fixed. When the imaging areas have regional different resolution requirements, the imaging effect of the functional ultrasound is poor and the flexibility is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a functional ultrasonic imaging method, a functional ultrasonic imaging device and a readable storage medium, which improve the functional ultrasonic imaging effect and the imaging flexibility when imaging areas have regional different resolution requirements.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a functional ultrasound imaging method, including:

Determining a first subarea and a second subarea in an imaging area, wherein the resolution requirements of functional ultrasonic imaging graphs of the first subarea and the second subarea are different;

Determining a first frequency corresponding to the first subarea and a second frequency corresponding to the second subarea;

controlling an ultrasonic transduction array element array to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging region and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generating an ultrasonic synthetic image according to the echo signals;

Acquiring M ultrasonic synthetic images according to the first frequency to perform energy Doppler calculation, and generating a first functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region; acquiring N ultrasonic synthetic images according to the second frequency, performing energy Doppler calculation, and generating a second functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region; wherein M and N are positive integers;

displaying the first functional ultrasonic imaging map and the second functional ultrasonic imaging map.

Optionally, the first frequency is smaller than the second frequency, and the displaying the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map includes:

Replacing the part corresponding to the first subarea in the second functional ultrasonic imaging diagram with the part corresponding to the first subarea in the first functional ultrasonic imaging diagram according to the second frequency to obtain a third functional ultrasonic imaging diagram;

and displaying the third functional ultrasonic imaging map in a first window according to the second frequency.

Optionally, the displaying the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map includes:

displaying the first functional ultrasound imaging map in a first window according to the first frequency;

And displaying the second functional ultrasonic imaging map in a second window according to the second frequency.

Optionally, the determining the first sub-region and the second sub-region in the imaging region includes:

Displaying the imaging region;

and acquiring the first subarea and the second subarea which are set when the user operates the imaging area.

identifying a first tissue structure and a second tissue structure in the imaging region;

And determining the first subarea according to the first organization structure, and determining the second subarea according to the second organization structure.

Optionally, the determining the first frequency corresponding to the first sub-region and the second frequency corresponding to the second sub-region includes:

Displaying a setting interface;

Acquiring the first frequency and the second frequency input by a user in the setting interface;

Or alternatively

And determining the first frequency and the second frequency according to the corresponding relation between the preset subareas and the frequencies.

Optionally, the controlling the ultrasonic transducer array to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging region and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generating an ultrasonic synthetic map according to the echo signals includes:

Determining a plurality of transmission and reception group pairs in a plurality of sparse arrays, wherein each transmission and reception group pair comprises a transmission sparse array and a reception sparse array; the plurality of sparse arrays are obtained by randomly dividing the ultrasonic transduction array element arrays, and the transmission sparse arrays and/or the reception sparse arrays in different transmission and reception group pairs are different;

for each transmitting and receiving group pair, controlling a transmitting sparse array in the transmitting and receiving group pair to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging area according to a plurality of preset angles, and receiving echo signals through a receiving sparse array in the transmitting and receiving group pair;

And generating an ultrasonic synthetic image for echo signals respectively received at the preset angles according to the transmission and reception groups.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a functional ultrasound imaging apparatus, including:

The first determining module is used for determining a first subarea and a second subarea in the imaging area, and the resolution requirements of the functional ultrasonic imaging graphs of the first subarea and the second subarea are different;

the second determining module is used for determining a first frequency corresponding to the first subarea and a second frequency corresponding to the second subarea;

The initial ultrasonic synthesis module is used for controlling the ultrasonic energy conversion array element array to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging area and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generating an ultrasonic synthesis image according to the echo signals;

the functional ultrasonic imaging module is used for acquiring M ultrasonic synthetic images according to the first frequency to perform energy Doppler calculation and generating a first functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging area; acquiring N ultrasonic synthetic images according to the second frequency, performing energy Doppler calculation, and generating a second functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region; wherein M and N are positive integers;

And the display module is used for displaying the first functional ultrasonic imaging image and the second functional ultrasonic imaging image.

Optionally, the first frequency is smaller than the second frequency, and the display module is configured to:

Optionally, the display module is configured to:

Optionally, the first determining module is configured to:

Displaying the imaging region;

Optionally, the first determining module is configured to:

Optionally, the second determining module is configured to:

Displaying a setting interface;

Or alternatively

Optionally, the initial ultrasonic synthesis module is configured to:

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a functional ultrasound imaging apparatus, including: a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, the processor implementing the method according to the first aspect described above when executing the computer program.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements a method as described in the first aspect above.

According to the functional ultrasonic imaging method provided by the application, the imaging region comprises the first subarea and the second subarea with different resolution requirements, and the quantity of ultrasonic synthetic images used for carrying out energy Doppler calculation on the first subarea and the second subarea is different by determining the first frequency corresponding to the first subarea and the second frequency corresponding to the second subarea. Thus, the functional ultrasound imaging map of the first sub-region and the functional ultrasound imaging map of the second sub-region may have different resolutions. When the imaging areas have regional different resolution requirements, the imaging effect of the functional ultrasound is improved, and the flexibility of the functional ultrasound imaging is improved.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are needed in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a functional ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIGS. 2A-2C are a set of schematic diagrams of a first sub-region and a second sub-region provided by embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a setup interface provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIGS. 4A-4B are schematic diagrams of display functional ultrasound imaging diagrams provided by embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 5 is another schematic illustration of a display function ultrasound imaging diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is another flow chart of a functional ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an array of ultrasonic transducer elements according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of the sparse array of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a functional ultrasound imaging device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of a functional ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as the particular system architecture, techniques, etc., in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present application. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present application may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the present application with unnecessary detail.

It should be understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification and the appended claims, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It should also be understood that the term "and/or" as used in the present specification and the appended claims refers to any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items, and includes such combinations.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like in the description of the present specification and in the appended claims, are used for distinguishing between descriptions and not necessarily for indicating or implying a relative importance.

The functional ultrasonic imaging method provided by the application can be applied to functional ultrasonic imaging equipment. The functional ultrasound imaging device may include an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display device. An ultrasound probe, also called a transducer, is made up of regularly arranged array elements that can transmit or receive ultrasound signals. The application does not limit the number of array elements and the arrangement mode of the array elements, for example, 512 array elements are arranged in a matrix form, and the rows and the columns are 512. When the array elements send or receive ultrasonic signals, each array element corresponds to a channel. The application is not limited to this name, as channels are also called excitation channels, for example 256 channels. The processor may generate a functional ultrasound imaging map from the echo signals received by the array elements. In the present application, the functional ultrasound imaging map is also called a vascular flow change map, which reflects the change in blood flow rate at different times. The display device may display a functional ultrasound imaging map.

It should be noted that the specific structure and shape of the functional ultrasound imaging apparatus are not limited by the present application.

In the related art, functional ultrasonic imaging is based on transmitting and receiving ultra-fast plane waves, the method comprises the steps of acquiring multi-angle plane waves, synthesizing to obtain an initial ultrasonic image, and performing energy Doppler calculation according to a plurality of initial ultrasonic images to obtain a functional ultrasonic imaging image. Because the rate of acquiring plane waves in functional ultrasonic imaging is fixed, the time resolution and the space resolution of the finally obtained functional ultrasonic imaging image are kept fixed on the whole image due to factors such as the number of plane waves, the number of initial ultrasonic images during the synthesis of energy Doppler, the acquisition depth, the speed of system equipment and the like. Temporal resolution may be understood as the time dimension reflecting the change in blood flow velocity, e.g. the faster the blood flow velocity, the higher the temporal resolution requirement. The spatial resolution is used for indicating the number of initial ultrasonic images used in the energy Doppler calculation and can be expressed as definition or signal-to-noise ratio of the functional ultrasonic imaging images, and the higher the spatial resolution is, the clearer the functional ultrasonic imaging images are, the higher the signal-to-noise ratio is, and the more accurate the observed and reflected blood flow velocity changes are. The time resolution and the spatial resolution are generally inversely proportional, and the spatial resolution is directly proportional to the number of initial ultrasound images used in the energy doppler calculation. Thus, when imaging areas have regional different resolution requirements, the imaging effect of functional ultrasound is poor and the flexibility is poor.

According to the functional ultrasonic imaging method provided by the application, different frequencies can be set for areas with different requirements on resolution in an imaging area, and the frequencies are used for determining the number of ultrasonic synthetic images used for energy Doppler calculation. The first sub-region corresponds to the first frequency, and the second sub-region corresponds to the second frequency, so that the functional ultrasonic imaging image of the first sub-region and the functional ultrasonic imaging image of the second sub-region can have different resolutions, and the resolution can refer to the spatial resolution, the temporal resolution or the temporal resolution and the spatial resolution, and when the imaging regions have regional different resolution requirements, the imaging effect of the functional ultrasonic is improved, and the flexibility of the functional ultrasonic imaging is improved.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart of a functional ultrasound imaging method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the functional ultrasound imaging method provided in the present embodiment, the execution subject may be a functional ultrasound imaging apparatus or a functional ultrasound imaging device. The present application is illustratively described with respect to a functional ultrasound imaging device. As shown in fig. 1, the functional ultrasound imaging method provided in this embodiment may include:

S101, determining a first subarea and a second subarea in an imaging area, wherein the resolution requirements of the functional ultrasonic imaging diagrams of the first subarea and the second subarea are different.

The resolution may include a temporal resolution and/or a spatial resolution, and the meanings of the temporal resolution and the spatial resolution refer to the above description of the present application, which is not repeated herein.

A user of the functional ultrasound imaging device (which may be referred to as a user) may hold the ultrasound probe to determine the imaging region, and thus the functional ultrasound imaging device may acquire the imaging region. For example, the imaging region may comprise blood vessels of a mouse brain, the blood vessels may be capillaries, or the imaging region may comprise a mouse heart, or the imaging region may comprise both a mouse heart and brain.

In the present embodiment, the size of the imaging area is not limited, and may be different according to the actual application. For example, when the mouse is unborn, the imaging region may include both the heart and brain of the mouse, and the imaging region may be smaller in size.

The first sub-region and the second sub-region can be any region in the imaging region, can be set by a user of the ultrasonic imaging device, and can be automatically identified and determined by the ultrasonic imaging device. The present embodiment does not limit the size and number of the areas of the first sub-area and the second sub-area, and the number may be at least one.

Optionally, in one implementation, determining the first sub-region and the second sub-region in the imaging region in S101 may include:

The imaging region is displayed.

And acquiring a first subarea and a second subarea which are set when a user operates the imaging area.

In this implementation, displaying the imaging region may be accomplished by common ultrasound imaging techniques, such as B-ultrasound, or by functional ultrasound imaging techniques. The user can perform touch operation on the imaging area to set the first sub-area and the second sub-area, or the user can perform operation on the imaging area through a control device such as a mouse to set the first sub-area and the second sub-area. The first subarea and the second subarea are set by the user, so that the method is closer to the actual demand, and the method is simple and easy to realize.

Alternatively, in another implementation, determining the first sub-region and the second sub-region in the imaging region in S101 may include:

First and second tissue structures in the imaging region are identified.

The first sub-region is determined from the first organization and the second sub-region is determined from the second organization.

In this implementation, the determination is automatically identified by the ultrasound imaging device. The ultrasound imaging device may identify different tissue structures in the imaging region to determine the first sub-region and the second sub-region. For example, the first tissue structure is the heart and the second tissue structure is the brain; or the first tissue structure is an artery and the second tissue structure is a capillary vessel.

Optionally, in still another implementation, determining the first sub-region and the second sub-region in the imaging area in S101 may include:

A functional ultrasound imaging map of the imaging region is acquired.

And calculating signal-to-noise ratios of different areas in the functional ultrasonic imaging diagram, and determining two areas with different signal-to-noise ratios as a first subarea and a second subarea.

In this implementation, a functional ultrasound imaging map is first obtained using existing functional ultrasound imaging techniques, and different regions of the functional ultrasound imaging map will have the same resolution. The signal to noise ratios of different regions in the functional ultrasound imaging map are calculated. If the imaging region has regional different resolution requirements, the imaging region is assumed to comprise the heart and the brain of the mouse, and the imaging region has high time resolution due to the high blood flow rate of the heart part and low blood flow rate of the brain part and low time resolution, so that the signal to noise ratio of the corresponding region of the heart and the brain in the functional ultrasonic imaging map is different, and the signal to noise ratio of the region of the heart is higher than that of the region of the brain. Thus, two regions of different signal-to-noise ratio may be determined as a first sub-region and a second sub-region.

The first and second sub-regions are exemplarily illustrated by fig. 2A to 2C, but are not limited thereto.

For example, as shown in fig. 2A, the imaging region 11 includes 1 first sub-region and 1 second sub-region. The first sub-region 21 is the heart and the second sub-region 31 is the brain.

For example, as shown in fig. 2B, the imaging region 11 includes 1 first sub-region and 1 second sub-region. The first sub-region 21 is a first brain region and the second sub-region 31 is a second brain region. In this example, the functional ultrasound imaging map is a brain map of the brain, and the first and second sub-regions are different brain regions in the brain.

For example, as shown in fig. 2C, the imaging region 11 includes 2 first sub-regions and 1 second sub-region. The first sub-area 21 and the first sub-area 22 are capillaries and the second sub-area 31 is an artery.

S102, determining a first frequency corresponding to the first subarea and a second frequency corresponding to the second subarea.

It will be appreciated that the greater the frequency, the fewer the ultrasound composite images used in subsequent energy doppler calculations, the greater the time resolution and the lesser the time resolution of the functional ultrasound imaging images. Conversely, the smaller the frequency, the more sonograms are used in the subsequent energy doppler calculations, the smaller the time resolution and the greater the time resolution of the functional ultrasound imaging map.

Optionally, in an implementation manner, determining the first frequency corresponding to the first sub-region and the second frequency corresponding to the second sub-region may include:

and displaying a setting interface.

And acquiring a first frequency and a second frequency which are input by a user in the setting interface.

The present embodiment is not limited to the specific contents and layout in the setting interface. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a setting interface according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, in the setting interface 40, the first frequency of the first sub-region set by the user is 20Hz, and the second frequency of the second sub-region set by the user is 10Hz. Optionally, the setting interface 40 may further include description information of a first sub-region and a second sub-region, for example, a region name of the first sub-region is a heart, and a region name of the second sub-region is a brain. The present embodiment is not limited to the content included in the description information.

The first frequency and the second frequency are set by the user, so that the method is closer to the actual demand, and the method is simple and easy to realize.

Optionally, in another implementation, determining the first frequency corresponding to the first sub-region and the second frequency corresponding to the second sub-region may include:

and determining a first frequency and a second frequency according to the corresponding relation between the preset subareas and the frequencies.

Optionally, the corresponding relationship between the preset sub-region and the frequency may include: and (3) presetting a corresponding relation between the tissue structure type and the frequency and/or presetting a corresponding relation between a signal-to-noise ratio range and the frequency. Accordingly, the functional ultrasound imaging device may determine the first frequency and the second frequency according to the tissue structure types included in the first sub-region and the second sub-region, respectively, or the functional ultrasound imaging device may determine the first frequency and the second frequency according to the signal-to-noise ratio requirements of the first sub-region and the second sub-region, respectively.

S103, controlling the ultrasonic transduction array element array to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging area and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generating an ultrasonic synthetic image according to the echo signals.

It will be appreciated that the process of transmitting and receiving ultrasound signals is a continuous process, and that the processing of echo signals to generate a composite ultrasound image is also a real-time process.

An ultrasound synthetic map may be generated from a preset frequency. For example, the preset frequency is 1000Hz, i.e., 1000 sonograms are generated per second.

S104, acquiring M ultrasonic synthetic images according to a first frequency to perform energy Doppler calculation, and generating a first functional ultrasonic imaging image of an imaging region; and acquiring N ultrasonic synthetic images according to the second frequency to perform energy Doppler calculation, and generating a second functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region. Wherein M and N are positive integers.

For example.

The first sub-region comprises the heart and the first frequency is 20Hz. Then M is 50. And performing energy Doppler calculation according to the 50 ultrasonic synthetic images to generate a first functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region.

The second sub-region comprises the brain and the second frequency is 10Hz. Then N is 100. And performing energy Doppler calculation according to the 100 ultrasonic synthetic images to generate a first functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region.

Therefore, the functional ultrasonic imaging images with different time resolutions or different spatial resolutions can be generated for different subareas in the imaging area because the frequencies corresponding to the first subarea and the second subarea are different and the ultrasonic synthesis images used in the energy Doppler calculation are different.

Optionally, the functional ultrasound imaging method provided in this embodiment may further include, after generating the ultrasound synthetic image according to the echo signal in S104:

and filtering the ultrasonic synthetic image to obtain a filtered ultrasonic synthetic image.

Correspondingly, in S104, the energy doppler calculation is performed by acquiring M ultrasonic composite images according to the first frequency, and the generating a first functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region may include:

And performing energy Doppler calculation according to the ultrasonic synthetic image after M Zhang Lv waves to generate a first functional ultrasonic imaging image.

In S104, acquiring N ultrasonic composite images according to the second frequency to perform energy doppler calculation, and generating a second functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region may include:

And performing energy Doppler calculation according to the ultrasonic synthetic image after the N Zhang Lv wave to generate a second functional ultrasonic imaging image.

In the implementation manner, by filtering the ultrasonic synthetic image, signals with the tissue immobilized can be filtered out, for example, functional ultrasonic imaging is performed on cerebral blood vessels of a mouse, and by filtering the ultrasonic synthetic image, signals of bone parts in an imaging area can be filtered out, so that the filtered ultrasonic synthetic image is obtained, and the accuracy of blood flow velocity data of the cerebral blood vessels of the mouse is improved. Subsequently, the energy Doppler calculation is performed by using the filtered ultrasonic synthetic images, so that the accuracy of data processing is further improved, the blood flow velocity change of blood vessels in an imaging area is more accurate, and the effect of functional ultrasonic imaging is further improved.

S105, displaying a first functional ultrasonic imaging image and a second functional ultrasonic imaging image.

The functional ultrasound imaging diagrams of the first sub-region and the second sub-region can be displayed simultaneously in one window, and the functional ultrasound imaging diagrams of the first sub-region and the second sub-region can be displayed respectively in different windows.

Optionally, in one implementation, if the first frequency is less than the second frequency, displaying the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map may include:

and replacing the part corresponding to the first subarea in the second functional ultrasonic imaging image with the part corresponding to the first subarea in the first functional ultrasonic imaging image according to the second frequency to obtain a third functional ultrasonic imaging image.

And displaying the third functional ultrasonic imaging map in the first window according to the second frequency.

The following is an example with reference to fig. 4A to 4B.

The first subarea comprises a brain, the first frequency is 10Hz, M is 100, and the energy Doppler calculation is carried out according to 100 ultrasonic synthetic images to obtain a first functional ultrasonic imaging image.

The second sub-region comprises the heart, the second frequency is 20Hz, N is 50, and the second functional ultrasonic imaging map is obtained by carrying out energy Doppler calculation according to the 50 ultrasonic synthetic maps.

The first frequency is less than the second frequency, and the second functional ultrasound imaging map is generated at a greater speed than the first functional ultrasound imaging map. The speed at which the first functional ultrasound imaging map is generated is related to the first frequency and the speed at which the second functional ultrasound imaging map is generated is related to the second frequency. Assume that a second functional ultrasound imaging map is generated every 0.1 seconds and a first functional ultrasound imaging map is generated every 0.2 seconds.

As shown in fig. 4A, at 0.3 seconds, the portion corresponding to the first sub-region in the second functional ultrasound imaging map c is replaced with the portion corresponding to the first sub-region in the first functional ultrasound imaging map a, and a third functional ultrasound imaging map is obtained. As shown in fig. 4B, a third functional ultrasound imaging map is displayed in the first window 50.

As shown in fig. 4A, at 0.4 seconds, the portion corresponding to the first sub-region in the second functional ultrasound imaging map d is replaced with the portion corresponding to the first sub-region in the first functional ultrasound imaging map B, and a third functional ultrasound imaging map is obtained. As shown in fig. 4B, a third functional ultrasound imaging map is displayed in the first window 50.

In the implementation mode, the first functional ultrasonic imaging image and the second functional ultrasonic imaging image are cut, spliced and combined to form a complete third functional ultrasonic imaging image. The third functional ultrasonic imaging image simultaneously comprises functional ultrasonic imaging images corresponding to the first subarea and the second subarea respectively, and the time resolution and the space resolution are different. The functional ultrasonic imaging image is displayed in one window, and the first subarea and the second subarea with different resolutions are displayed at the same time, so that the display effect is good, and the user experience is good.

It should be noted that the above description is given by taking the first frequency smaller than the second frequency as an example, and the principle is similar if the first frequency is larger than the second frequency.

Alternatively, in another implementation, displaying the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map may include:

And displaying the first functional ultrasonic imaging map in a first window according to the first frequency.

And displaying a second functional ultrasonic imaging map in a second window according to the second frequency.

In the implementation mode, the first functional ultrasonic imaging image and the second functional ultrasonic imaging image are respectively displayed through different windows, the blood flow velocity change of the first subarea can be reflected through the first functional ultrasonic imaging image, the blood flow velocity change of the second subarea can be reflected through the second functional ultrasonic imaging image, and the implementation mode is simple.

Fig. 5 is another schematic diagram of a display function ultrasound imaging diagram according to an embodiment of the present application. It is assumed that the first sub-region comprises the brain and the second sub-region comprises the heart. As shown in fig. 5, in the display area 60, a first functional ultrasound imaging map is displayed in a first window 61, mainly reflecting the blood flow velocity variation of the first sub-area "brain". A second functional ultrasound imaging map is displayed in a second window 62, reflecting primarily the blood flow rate variation of the second sub-region "heart".

It can be seen that, in the functional ultrasound imaging method provided by the embodiment, the imaging area includes a first sub-area and a second sub-area with different resolution requirements, the first sub-area corresponds to a first frequency, the second sub-area corresponds to a second frequency, and the number of ultrasound synthetic images used for performing energy doppler calculation is different by setting a non-passing frequency. Thus, the functional ultrasound imaging map of the first sub-region and the functional ultrasound imaging map of the second sub-region may have different resolutions. When the imaging areas have regional different resolution requirements, the imaging effect of the functional ultrasound is improved, and the flexibility of the functional ultrasound imaging is improved.

In the following S103, an implementation manner of controlling the array of ultrasonic transducer elements to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging region and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles and generating an ultrasonic composite image according to the echo signals is described.

Alternatively, in one implementation, the ultrasound composite map may be generated based on transmitting and receiving ultrafast plane waves in a related art manner.

In this implementation, since ultra-fast plane waves are transmitted and received, a larger number of channels of the functional ultrasound imaging apparatus is required, but the effect of functional ultrasound imaging is better.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 6, in another implementation manner, in S103, controlling the array of ultrasonic transducer elements to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging area and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generating an ultrasonic composite image according to the echo signals may include:

S601, determining a plurality of sending and receiving group pairs in a plurality of sparse arrays, wherein each sending and receiving group pair comprises a sending sparse array and a receiving sparse array. The plurality of sparse arrays are obtained by randomly dividing the ultrasonic transduction array element arrays, and the transmission sparse arrays and/or the reception sparse arrays in different transmission and reception group pairs are different.

The array elements in the ultrasonic probe may be referred to as an ultrasonic transducer array. The number of array elements in the ultrasonic probe and the arrangement mode of the ultrasonic transduction array elements are not limited in this embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an ultrasonic transducer array according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the number of array elements in the ultrasound probe is 14×14. The ultrasonic transduction array element array comprises 1 area, wherein the area comprises 14 x 14 array elements.

It should be noted that fig. 7 is only an example, and is not limited to the number of array elements and the arrangement of the array of ultrasonic transducer elements.

In this embodiment, the array of ultrasonic transducer elements may be randomly divided to obtain a plurality of sparse arrays, so as to form a sparse array set. By sparse array, it is meant that the number of 0 elements with a value of 0 is much greater than the number of non-0 elements in the matrix, and the distribution of non-0 elements is irregular. In this embodiment, the element other than 0 may be understood as an element that needs to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves, and the element 0 is an element that does not need to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves.

Note that, the method of randomly dividing the sparse array is not limited in this embodiment.

An exemplary description is provided below in connection with fig. 7 and 8. Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of the sparse array of fig. 7. As shown in fig. 8, the array of ultrasonic transducer elements may be divided into 4 regions, each region comprising 7*7 elements. The array elements of the sparse array in each region are represented by black, and each sparse array comprises 9 array elements. In fig. 8, 4 sparse arrays are included, identified as A1, A2, A3, A4. It will be appreciated that when transmitting and receiving ultrasound through array elements in a sparse array, each array element corresponds to a channel, the number of channels may be greater than or equal to 9, and the minimum may be 9.

A plurality of transmit receive set pairs may be determined among the plurality of sparse arrays, each transmit receive set pair comprising 2 sparse arrays. The sparse array for transmitting ultrasonic waves is referred to as a transmit sparse array, and the sparse array for receiving ultrasonic waves is referred to as a receive sparse array.

Optionally, in order to make the array elements in the ultrasonic transduction array element arrays of the multiple transmitting and receiving sets form uniform coverage as many as possible, the functional ultrasonic imaging effect is improved, and the transmitting sparse arrays and/or the receiving sparse arrays in different transmitting and receiving sets are different.

For example, as shown in fig. 8, 3 transmission-reception group pairs may be determined among 4 sparse arrays (A1, A2, A3, A4). The transmission-reception group pair 1 includes a transmission sparse array A1 and a reception sparse array A2. The transmission-reception group pair 2 includes a transmission sparse array A1 and a reception sparse array A3. The transmission-reception group pair 3 includes a transmission sparse array A4 and a reception sparse array A1. Wherein, the transmitting and receiving group pair 1 and the transmitting and receiving group pair 2 have the same transmitting sparse array A1.

The ultrasonic transducer array is divided randomly to obtain a plurality of sparse arrays, a plurality of transmitting and receiving group pairs are determined in the plurality of sparse arrays, so that plane waves can be prevented from being transmitted in the process of functional ultrasonic imaging, the transmitting sparse arrays and the receiving sparse arrays in the transmitting and receiving group pairs are used, the number of array elements for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves each time is reduced, namely the number of channels is reduced, and therefore the complexity and the cost of equipment of the functional ultrasonic imaging equipment can be reduced. In addition, as a plurality of transmitting and receiving group pairs are determined, through the transmission and the reception for a plurality of times, the array elements for transmitting the ultrasonic waves and the array elements for receiving the ultrasonic waves are covered on the ultrasonic transduction array element array as far as possible, and a larger imaging range is obtained without losing the functional ultrasonic imaging resolution.

Optionally, in an implementation manner, the ultrasonic transducer array may be randomly divided in advance according to the maximum number of channels to obtain a plurality of sparse arrays, and the plurality of sparse arrays are stored. The sparse array includes fewer than or equal to the maximum number of channels.

In the implementation mode, the plurality of sparse arrays are divided and stored in advance, and the implementation mode is simple.

Optionally, in another implementation, before determining the plurality of transmitting-receiving group pairs in the plurality of sparse arrays, the method may further include:

And randomly dividing the ultrasonic transduction array element array according to the imaging area and the maximum number of channels to obtain a plurality of sparse arrays. Wherein the sparse array comprises fewer than or equal to the maximum number of channels.

In the implementation mode, a plurality of sparse arrays can be obtained through dividing according to the imaging area and the maximum number of channels, the implementation mode is more flexible, and the obtained sparse arrays are more reasonable. For example, if the size of the imaging area is smaller, the array elements in the sparse array can be located at the center of the ultrasonic transduction array element as much as possible, so that the accuracy and the effectiveness of ultrasonic transmission and reception are improved.

S602, for each transmitting and receiving group pair, controlling a transmitting sparse array in the transmitting and receiving group pair to transmit ultrasonic signals to an imaging area according to a plurality of preset angles, and receiving echo signals through a receiving sparse array in the transmitting and receiving group pair.

For example. It is assumed that the plurality of preset angles includes-6 °, -3 °, 0 °,3 ° and 6 °. The number of the sending and receiving group pairs is 2, and the sending and receiving group pairs are identified as sending and receiving group pair 1 and sending and receiving group pair 2. Then, for the transmission-reception group pair 1, the transmission sparse array in the transmission-reception group pair 1 is controlled to sequentially transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging region at-6 °, -3 °, 0 °,3 ° and 6 °, and echo signals are sequentially received at-6 °, -3 °, 0 °,3 ° and 6 ° by the reception sparse array in the transmission-reception group pair 1. Similarly, for the transmitting-receiving group pair 2, the transmitting sparse array in the transmitting-receiving group pair 2 is controlled to sequentially transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging region at-6 °, -3 °, 0 °,3 ° and 6 °, and echo signals are sequentially received at-6 °, -3 °, 0 °,3 ° and 6 ° by the receiving sparse array in the transmitting-receiving group pair 2.

Through confirming a plurality of sending and receiving group pairs, through setting up a plurality of preset angles, different sending and receiving group pairs of different angles can be accomplished and ultrasonic signals are sent and received to the effect of plane wave can be sent in a simulated manner, the resolution ratio of functional ultrasonic imaging has been guaranteed. Moreover, since the direct transmission of plane waves is avoided, a larger imaging range is obtained without losing functional ultrasound imaging resolution.

S603, generating an ultrasonic synthetic image according to the echo signals respectively received by the multiple sending and receiving groups under multiple preset angles.

Optionally, in S603, generating an ultrasound synthetic map according to the plurality of transmitting and receiving groups for echo signals received at a plurality of preset angles respectively may include:

and for each preset angle, performing global channel processing on echo signals respectively received under the preset angles according to a plurality of sending and receiving groups to generate a first single-angle synthetic image.

And generating an ultrasonic synthetic image according to the first single-angle synthetic images respectively corresponding to the plurality of preset angles.

As illustrated in connection with fig. 8.

Assume that the transmission/reception group pair (transmission sparse array, reception sparse array) is 4 pairs, specifically: transmitting and receiving group pair 1 (A1, A2), transmitting and receiving group pair 2 (A1, A3), transmitting and receiving group pair 3 (A2, A3), and transmitting and receiving group pair 4 (A4, A1). The plurality of preset angles includes-6 °, -3 °,0 °,3 ° and 6 °.

And for a preset angle of minus 6 degrees, controlling the transmission sparse arrays of the transmission and reception group pairs 1 to 4 to transmit ultrasonic waves according to minus 6 degrees, correspondingly, receiving echo signals by the reception sparse arrays of the transmission and reception group pairs 1 to 4, and carrying out global channel processing on the echo signals respectively received by the transmission and reception group pairs 1 to 4 at minus 6 degrees to generate a first single-angle synthetic graph which is shown as a graph B (-6 degrees). Because the number of the array elements in the transmission sparse array and the receiving sparse array in the transmission and receiving group pair 1-4 is small, through global channel processing, the array elements in the ultrasonic transduction array element array of the transmission and receiving group pair 1-4 can form global coverage, so that the effect of transmitting plane waves can be simulated, and the resolution of functional ultrasonic imaging is ensured.

Alternatively, the graph a can be generated according to the echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 1 at-6 degrees, the graph B can be generated according to the echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 2 at-6 degrees, the graph c can be generated according to the echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 3 at-6 degrees, the graph d can be generated according to the echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 4 at-6 degrees, and the graphs a-d are spliced to generate a first single-angle composite graph B (-6 degrees), so that global channel processing is realized.

Similarly, a first single-angle synthesized map B (-3 °), a first single-angle synthesized map B (0 °), a first single-angle synthesized map B (3 °), a first single-angle synthesized map B (6 °), a first single-angle synthesized map B (-6 °), a map B (-3 °), a map B (0 °), a map B (3 °) and a map B (6 °) corresponding to the preset angle of-3 ° may also be obtained, and an ultrasonic synthesized map may be generated from the map B (-6 °), the map B (-3 °), the map B (0 °), the map B (3 °) and the map B (6 °).

Alternatively, the plurality of transceiver group pairs may include a first transceiver group pair and a second transceiver group pair, where the first transceiver group pair and the second transceiver group pair have the same transmit sparse array.

Performing global channel processing on echo signals respectively received under a preset angle according to a plurality of sending and receiving groups to generate a first single-angle synthetic image, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

and generating a first sending and receiving group pair single-angle synthetic diagram and a second sending and receiving group pair single-angle synthetic diagram according to echo signals respectively received by the first sending and receiving group pair and the second sending and receiving group pair under a preset angle.

And performing global channel processing on the single-angle synthesized image according to the first sending and receiving group and the second sending and receiving group, and generating an intermediate single-angle synthesized image.

And performing global channel processing according to echo signals respectively received by the transmission and reception group pairs except the first transmission and reception group pair and the second transmission and reception group pair in the plurality of transmission and reception group pairs under a preset angle and the intermediate single-angle synthetic graph, and generating a first single-angle synthetic graph.

Also exemplified above. Assume that the transmission/reception group pair (transmission sparse array, reception sparse array) is 4 pairs, specifically: transmitting and receiving group pair 1 (A1, A2), transmitting and receiving group pair 2 (A1, A3), transmitting and receiving group pair 3 (A2, A3), and transmitting and receiving group pair 4 (A4, A1). The plurality of preset angles includes-6 °, -3 °, 0 °,3 ° and 6 °. The first transmitting and receiving group pair is a transmitting and receiving group pair 1, the second transmitting and receiving group pair is a transmitting and receiving group pair 2, and the same transmitting sparse array A1 is provided.

For the preset angle of minus 6 degrees, a first transmitting and receiving group pair single-angle synthesized image is generated according to echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 1 at minus 6 degrees, the first transmitting and receiving group pair single-angle synthesized image is identified as an image x, a second transmitting and receiving group pair single-angle synthesized image is generated according to echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 2 at minus 6 degrees, the second transmitting and receiving group pair single-angle synthesized image is identified as an image y, and the images x and y are spliced to generate an intermediate single-angle synthesized image C (-6 degrees). Generating a graph p according to echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 3 at-6 degrees, generating a graph q according to echo signals received by the transmitting and receiving group pair 4 at-6 degrees, and splicing the middle single-angle composite graph C (-6 degrees), the graph p and the graph q to generate a first single-angle composite graph B (-6 degrees).

In the implementation manner, the transmission sparse arrays of the first transmission receiving group pair and the second transmission receiving group pair are the same, and due to the fact that the transmission sparse arrays are the same, the intermediate single-angle synthetic graph is generated according to echo signals received by the first transmission receiving group pair and the second transmission receiving group pair respectively under a preset angle, so that accuracy of data processing is improved, and further, the effect of functional ultrasonic imaging is improved.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural view of a functional ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application, and only parts related to the embodiment of the present application are shown for convenience of explanation.

Referring to fig. 9, the apparatus includes:

A first determining module 901, configured to determine a first sub-region and a second sub-region in an imaging region, where resolution requirements of functional ultrasound imaging maps of the first sub-region and the second sub-region are different;

A second determining module 902, configured to determine a first frequency corresponding to the first sub-region and a second frequency corresponding to the second sub-region;

the initial ultrasonic synthesis module 903 is configured to control an ultrasonic transducer array to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging region and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generate an ultrasonic synthesis map according to the echo signals;

The functional ultrasonic imaging module 904 is configured to acquire M ultrasonic synthetic images according to the first frequency to perform energy doppler calculation, and generate a first functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region; acquiring N ultrasonic synthetic images according to the second frequency, performing energy Doppler calculation, and generating a second functional ultrasonic imaging image of the imaging region; wherein M and N are positive integers;

And a display module 905, configured to display the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map.

Optionally, the first frequency is smaller than the second frequency, and the display module 905 is configured to:

Optionally, the display module 905 is configured to:

Optionally, the first determining module 901 is configured to:

Displaying the imaging region;

Optionally, the first determining module 901 is configured to:

Optionally, the second determining module 902 is configured to:

Displaying a setting interface;

Or alternatively

Optionally, the initial ultrasound synthesis module 903 is configured to:

It should be noted that, because the content of information interaction and execution process between the above devices/units is based on the same concept as the method embodiment of the present application, specific functions and technical effects thereof may be referred to in the method embodiment section, and will not be described herein.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, only the above-described division of the functional units and modules is illustrated, and in practical application, the above-described functional distribution may be performed by different functional units and modules according to needs, i.e. the internal structure of the apparatus is divided into different functional units or modules to perform all or part of the above-described functions. The functional units and modules in the embodiment may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit, where the integrated units may be implemented in a form of hardware or a form of a software functional unit. In addition, the specific names of the functional units and modules are only for distinguishing from each other, and are not used for limiting the protection scope of the present application. The specific working process of the units and modules in the above system may refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, which is not described herein again.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural view of a functional ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 10, the functional ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes: at least one processor 20, a memory 21 and a computer program 22 stored in the memory 21 and executable on the at least one processor 20, the processor 20 implementing the steps of any of the various method embodiments described above when executing the computer program 22.

The Processor may be a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU), which may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (DIGITAL SIGNAL Processor, DSP), application SPECIFIC INTEGRATED Circuit (ASIC), off-the-shelf Programmable gate array (Field-Programmable GATE ARRAY, FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The memory may include non-volatile and/or volatile memory. The nonvolatile memory can include Read Only Memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include Random Access Memory (RAM) or external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in a variety of forms such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double Data Rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link (SYNCHLINK) DRAM (SLDRAM), memory bus (Rambus) direct RAM (RDRAM), direct memory bus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and memory bus dynamic RAM (RDRAM), among others.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer readable storage medium storing a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements steps for implementing the various method embodiments described above.

Embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product which, when run on a mobile terminal, causes the mobile terminal to perform steps that enable the implementation of the method embodiments described above.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above-described integrated units, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the present application may implement all or part of the flow of the method of the above embodiments, and may be implemented by a computer program to instruct related hardware, where the computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program may implement the steps of each of the method embodiments described above. Wherein the computer program comprises computer program code which may be in source code form, object code form, executable file or some intermediate form etc. The computer readable medium may include at least: any entity or device capable of carrying computer program code to a photographing device/terminal apparatus, recording medium, computer Memory, read-Only Memory (ROM), random access Memory (RAM, random Access Memory), electrical carrier signals, telecommunications signals, and software distribution media. Such as a U-disk, removable hard disk, magnetic or optical disk, etc. In some jurisdictions, computer readable media may not be electrical carrier signals and telecommunications signals in accordance with legislation and patent practice.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in the foregoing embodiments, the descriptions of the various embodiments are emphasized, and that in some instances, reference is made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and are intended to be included in the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of functional ultrasound imaging comprising:

Displaying the first functional ultrasonic imaging map and the second functional ultrasonic imaging map;

The controlling the ultrasonic transduction array element array to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging region and receive echo signals according to a plurality of preset angles, and generating an ultrasonic synthetic image according to the echo signals comprises the following steps:

2. The functional ultrasound imaging method of claim 1, wherein the first frequency is less than the second frequency, the displaying the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map comprising:

3. The functional ultrasound imaging method of claim 1, wherein the displaying the first functional ultrasound imaging map and the second functional ultrasound imaging map comprises:

4. A functional ultrasound imaging method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determining the first and second sub-regions in the imaging region comprises:

Displaying the imaging region;

5. A functional ultrasound imaging method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determining the first and second sub-regions in the imaging region comprises:

6. A functional ultrasound imaging method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said determining a first frequency corresponding to the first sub-region and a second frequency corresponding to the second sub-region comprises:

Displaying a setting interface;

Or alternatively

7. A functional ultrasound imaging apparatus, comprising:

The display module is used for displaying the first functional ultrasonic imaging image and the second functional ultrasonic imaging image;

The initial ultrasonic synthesis module is further used for determining a plurality of sending and receiving group pairs in a plurality of sparse arrays, and each sending and receiving group pair comprises a sending sparse array and a receiving sparse array; the plurality of sparse arrays are obtained by randomly dividing the ultrasonic transduction array element arrays, and the transmission sparse arrays and/or the reception sparse arrays in different transmission and reception group pairs are different; for each transmitting and receiving group pair, controlling a transmitting sparse array in the transmitting and receiving group pair to transmit ultrasonic signals to the imaging area according to a plurality of preset angles, and receiving echo signals through a receiving sparse array in the transmitting and receiving group pair; and generating an ultrasonic synthetic image for echo signals respectively received at the preset angles according to the transmission and reception groups.

8. A functional ultrasound imaging device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor implements the method of any of claims 1 to 6 when the computer program is executed.

9. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program, characterized in that the computer program when executed by a processor implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.