CN112386276A

CN112386276A - Shear wave elastography method, ultrasonic imaging system and computer readable storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN112386276A
Application number: CN201910748928.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李双双; 兰帮鑫
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-14
Filing date: 2019-08-14
Publication date: 2021-02-23

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a shear wave elastography method, a shear wave elastography system and a computer readable storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: controlling the probe to emit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue; receiving an ultrasonic echo returned by the tested tissue, and controlling the probe to convert the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal; acquiring a reference image of the tested tissue in a first state based on the ultrasonic echo signal; acquiring a contrast image of the tested tissue in a second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal in a shear wave imaging mode; determining the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe in the second state according to the reference image and the comparison image; and controlling and displaying prompt information corresponding to the pressure state. According to the embodiment of the application, the pressure state between the probe and the tested tissue is determined through the ultrasonic image, and corresponding prompt information is output, so that a user can conveniently determine the accuracy of the obtained elastic information of the tested tissue according to the prompt information.

Description

Shear wave elastography method, ultrasonic imaging system and computer readable storage medium

Technical Field

The present application relates to the medical field, and in particular, to a shear wave elastography method, an ultrasound imaging system, and a computer-readable storage medium.

Background

Shear wave elastography creates acoustic radiation forces by transmitting focused ultrasound beams, creating a shear wave source within the tissue and producing laterally propagating shear waves. The hardness difference of the tissue is obtained quantitatively and visually by identifying and detecting the shear wave generated inside the tissue and the propagation parameters thereof and imaging the parameters. Since the excitation of the shear wave is from the acoustic radiation force generated by the focused ultrasound beam and is no longer dependent on the pressure applied by the operator, the mode of shear wave elastography is improved in terms of stability and repeatability compared to conventional elastography. However, in clinical applications of shear wave elasticity, the measured value of tissue elasticity may become unstable/inaccurate due to changes in tissue elasticity caused by differences in the degree of tightness of the probe in tissues such as thyroid, breast, muscle, etc. How to regulate the range of probe pressure application is not similar in the market at present, but depends on the operation experience of doctors, so that the elasticity measurement results obtained by different operators can be greatly different.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a shear wave elastography method, an ultrasonic imaging system and a computer readable storage medium, and an operator can determine whether the pressure between a probe and a tested tissue is proper or not through the prompt information of the pressure state between the probe and the tested tissue, so that the stability of ultrasonic imaging is improved, and the accuracy of diagnosis and evaluation is improved.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present application provides a shear wave elastography method, including:

controlling the probe to emit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue;

controlling a probe to receive an ultrasonic echo returned by the tested tissue, and converting the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

acquiring a reference image of the tested tissue in a first state based on the ultrasonic echo signal;

acquiring a contrast image of the tested tissue in a second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal in a shear wave imaging mode;

determining the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe in the second state according to the reference image and the contrast image;

and controlling and displaying prompt information corresponding to the pressure state.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides a shear wave elastography method, including:

controlling the probe to emit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue;

controlling a probe to receive an ultrasonic echo returned by the tested tissue, and performing beam processing on the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

and selectively controlling the probe to acquire the elastic information of the shear wave propagated in the tested tissue based on the pressure state of the probe.

A third aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, including:

the probe is used for generating shear waves in a tested tissue, transmitting ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue and receiving ultrasonic echoes returned by the tested tissue to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

the processor is connected with the probe and used for acquiring a reference image when the tested tissue is in a first state based on the ultrasonic echo signal and acquiring a contrast image when the tested tissue is in a second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal in a shear wave imaging mode; the processor also determines the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe when in the second state according to the reference image and the contrast image;

and the display is connected with the processor and used for displaying the prompt information corresponding to the pressure state.

A fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present application provides an ultrasound imaging system, including:

the processor is connected with the probe and used for acquiring a reference image when the tested tissue is in a first state based on the ultrasonic echo signal and acquiring a contrast image when the tested tissue is in a second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal in a shear wave imaging mode; the processor also determines the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe when in the second state according to the reference image and the contrast image; the processor also selectively controls the probe to acquire images of shear waves propagating within the tissue under test based on the pressure state of the probe.

A fifth aspect of embodiments of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program for electronic data exchange, wherein the computer program causes a computer to perform some or all of the steps as described in any of the methods of the first or second aspects of embodiments of the present application.

According to the embodiment of the application, the ultrasonic image of the tested tissue is acquired, the pressure state between the probe and the tested tissue is determined through the ultrasonic image, corresponding prompt information is output, the user is assisted to carry out shear wave elastic imaging examination according to the prompt information, and the user can conveniently determine the accuracy of the acquired elastic information of the tested tissue according to the prompt information.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a method for shear wave elastography in an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a shear wave elastography system in an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of an ultrasound image of a tissue under test in a first state according to an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of an ultrasound image of a tissue under test in a second condition according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of change information of the position of the target area in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of change information of the position of a target area in a further embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a pressure level grading display in an embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the steps of a method of shear wave elastography in a further embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of change information of the position of a target area in a further embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of a pressure class grouping display in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of prompt information corresponding to the level information of the partition in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic diagram of prompt information corresponding to the grade information of the partition in another embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 13 is a schematic illustration of a pressure rating grouping display in a further embodiment of the present application.

Figure 14 is a block diagram schematic of an ultrasound imaging system in yet another embodiment of the present application.

FIG. 15 is a flow chart of a method of shear wave elastography in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the technical solutions of the present application better understood, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of the present application and in the above-described drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "include" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to only those steps or elements listed, but may alternatively include other steps or elements not listed, or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of the phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by one skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

Shear wave elastic imaging is used for generating shear waves in tested tissues to cause the tested tissues to generate certain displacement; the displacement field produced by the tissue under test is then monitored by transmitting ultrasound images to the tissue under test and the softness or hardness of the tissue under test is assessed by measuring, for example, the propagation velocity of shear waves in the tissue under test. In the imaging process, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the tested tissue in a conventional B imaging mode to determine a target region, then a shear wave imaging mode is entered to generate shear waves in the target region of the tested tissue, and the ultrasonic waves are further transmitted to obtain elasticity information of the target region of the tested tissue. The shear wave imaging mode can be further divided into an acquisition preparation stage and a real-time acquisition stage, shear waves are not generated in a target area in the acquisition preparation stage, at the moment, the shear wave elastography can be set and adjusted, and after real-time acquisition, the probe generates shear waves in the target area and acquires real-time images to obtain measurement information of the shear waves. The measurement information of the shear wave is, for example, but not limited to, shear wave propagation distance, shear wave propagation velocity, young's modulus of the target region, and the like.

Shear wave elastography relies on shear wave to arouse the tissue displacement, though need not the user and press the tissue and obtain the tissue displacement, the user grips the probe and carries out the shear wave elastography in-process, because the probe contacts with the body surface that receives the tissue, and the user can habitually sweep the in-process at the formation of image and exert pressure to the probe in addition, can make the probe still can exert a certain amount of pressure to receiving the tissue, cause certain deformation displacement, if the improper accuracy that can influence shear wave elastography of pressure that the user applied to receiving on the tissue equally. This application is through monitoring shear wave elasticity formation of image in-process probe and the pressure state of being surveyed between the tissue, ensures the probe to the pressure that is applyed by the tissue that is surveyed, can not influence final elasticity measurement accuracy. For example, the present application may extract a frame of B image (hereinafter, an ultrasound image obtained based on a first ultrasound wave in a first state) between the probe and the tissue to be measured in a state of appropriate pressure as a reference image, after entering a shear wave elastography mode, take a currently acquired frame of B image (hereinafter, an ultrasound image obtained based on a second ultrasound wave in a second state) as a comparison image, obtain a pressure state between the probe and the tissue to be measured by comparing displacement changes of the reference image and the comparison image, and give prompt information based on the pressure state, so that a user may conveniently perform shear wave elastography information acquisition or select a reliable shear wave elastography result according to the prompt information.

The following describes embodiments of the present application in detail.

Referring to fig. 1, a flowchart illustrating steps of a method for shear wave elastography in accordance with an embodiment of the present application is shown. The shear wave elastography method comprises the following steps:

and step 130, controlling the probe to emit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue.

Referring to fig. 2, a block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. The ultrasound imaging system 10 includes a probe 100, a transmitting circuit 102 connected to the probe 100, a receiving circuit 104 connected to the probe 100, a beam forming module 106, a signal processing module 108, an imaging processing module 110, and a display 112, wherein the receiving circuit 104, the beam forming module 106, the signal processing module 108, the imaging processing module 110, and the display 112 may be electrically connected in sequence.

In the present embodiment, the pressure state between the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40 is determined when acquiring the elasticity information of the tissue under test 40 (shown in fig. 3) to determine the stability of the elasticity imaging based on the pressure state between the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40. The ultrasound imaging system 10 may determine the pressure state between the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40 based on the displacement information of the target region of the tissue under test 40 under different conditions.

Transmit circuitry 102 of ultrasound imaging system 10 may transmit a first ultrasound wave through probe 100 to tissue under test 40 (shown in fig. 3) to acquire an ultrasound image corresponding to tissue under test 40, such as to acquire a reference image. When entering the shear wave elastography mode, if the elasticity information of the tissue under test 40 is to be acquired, the transmitting circuit 102 in the ultrasound imaging system 10 may transmit a second ultrasonic wave to the tissue under test through the probe to acquire additional ultrasound images corresponding to the tissue under test 40, such as acquiring a contrast image and an intermediate image between the reference image and the contrast image, and tracking the shear wave transmitted in the tissue under test 40 based on the acquired ultrasound images. The emission scanning parameters of the first ultrasonic wave and the second ultrasonic wave can be the same, and the emission scanning parameters of the first ultrasonic wave can be adjusted according to the requirement of obtaining the reference image so as to be different from the second ultrasonic wave.

In this embodiment, the probe 100 may transmit a first ultrasonic wave to the tested tissue 40, and determine the target region to generate the shear wave according to the subsequently received ultrasonic echo, i.e. transmit the ultrasonic wave in the conventional B mode before the shear wave imaging mode.

In this embodiment, the probe 100 may transmit the first ultrasonic wave and/or the second ultrasonic wave to the tissue 40 to be tested in the acquisition preparation stage after entering the shear wave imaging mode, i.e. without generating a shear wave in the target region, i.e. transmit the ultrasonic waves in the acquisition preparation stage of the shear wave imaging mode.

In this embodiment, the shear waves in the tissue 40 being measured may be generated in the tissue 40 being measured by the probe emitting acoustic radiation force pulses (ARFI) into the tissue 40 being measured. And transmitting a second ultrasonic wave to the tested tissue through the probe in a shear wave imaging mode to obtain an ultrasonic image of the tested tissue when the shear wave is transmitted in the ultrasonic image, so that the shear wave propagated in the tested tissue can be collected to obtain the measurement information of the shear wave.

And 132, controlling the probe to receive the ultrasonic echo returned by the tested tissue, and converting the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal.

In this embodiment, after the probe 100 transmits the first ultrasonic wave to the tissue under test 40, the probe 100 may receive the first ultrasonic echo with the information of the test object reflected from the tissue under test 40 after a certain delay time, and convert the first ultrasonic echo into an electrical signal. The receiving circuit 104 receives the electrical signals generated by the probe 100, obtains first ultrasonic echo signals, and sends the first ultrasonic echo signals to the beam forming module 106. The beam synthesis module 106 performs focusing delay, weighting, channel summation and other processing on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and then sends the beam-synthesized first ultrasonic echo signal to the signal processing module 108 for related signal processing. The first ultrasound echo signal processed by the signal processing module 108 is sent to the imaging processing module 110, the imaging processing module 110 performs different processing on the signal according to different imaging modes required by a user to obtain tissue image data in different modes, and then ultrasonic tissue images in different modes are formed through log compression, dynamic range adjustment, digital scan conversion and other processing and are displayed on the display 112, wherein the ultrasonic tissue images in different modes may include an M image, a B image, a C image and the like, or other types of two-dimensional ultrasonic tissue images or three-dimensional ultrasonic tissue images.

In one embodiment, the probe 100 may receive a second ultrasonic echo corresponding to a second ultrasonic wave returned from the tissue under test 40 after the shear wave is generated, and convert the second ultrasonic echo into an electrical signal. The receiving circuit 104 receives the electrical signals generated by the conversion to obtain second ultrasonic echo signals, and sends the second ultrasonic echo signals to the beam forming module 106, and then sequentially passes through the signal processing module 108 and then sends the second ultrasonic echo signals to the imaging processing module 110, and the imaging processing module 110 calculates measurement information (including but not limited to the speed of shear wave propagation, young's modulus, and shear modulus) corresponding to the shear wave propagating in the tested tissue 40, so as to obtain a corresponding elasticity calculation result, and can generate an elasticity image.

Step 134, a reference image of the measured tissue in the first state is obtained. The reference image may be an ultrasound image obtained in advance before the real-time acquisition of shear wave imaging with reference to the conditions described below, and is directly acquired from the system when a pressure determination between the tissue to be measured and the probe is required. The reference image may also be acquired during the real-time acquisition phase, with reference to the conditions described below. And the first state probe receives the ultrasonic echo returned by the tested tissue and the pressure between the probe and the tested tissue meets the preset condition. That is, on the one hand, the pressure between the probe and the tested tissue is proper (i.e. within the preset pressure range), and at this time, the probe has little influence on the elasticity of the tested tissue, and the elasticity of the tested tissue cannot be obviously changed. On the other hand, the pressure between the probe and the tested tissue is in a state of balance at the left side and the right side/two ends, so that the tested tissue cannot be changed in an unequal manner.

In the present embodiment, when determining the pressure state between the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40 based on the displacement information of the target region of the tissue under test 40 under different conditions, the ultrasound imaging system 10 may determine a reference image 400 (shown in fig. 3) and a contrast image 410 (shown in fig. 4) according to the ultrasound echo signals to determine the pressure state of the tissue under test 40 relative to the probe 100 according to the reference image and the contrast image.

In acquiring reference images of the tissue under test 40, the user may bring the probe 100 close to the tissue under test 40 and contact the body surface portion corresponding to the tissue under test 40 without pressing to obtain one or more reference images. The reference image 400 is an ultrasonic image obtained when the tissue under test 40 is in a first state, where the first state may be a state where the probe 100 receives a first ultrasonic echo returned by the tissue under test 40 and has a small influence on the elasticity of the tissue under test 40. That is, in the first state, the probe 100 contacts the tissue 40 to be tested in a non-pressing manner, so that the pressure on the tissue 40 to be tested does not change the elasticity of the tissue 40 to be tested significantly, the pressure on the tissue 40 to be tested by the probe 100 is in a state of relatively balanced left and right ends, the probe 100 makes good contact with the tissue 40 to be tested, and the first ultrasonic echo returned by the tissue 40 to be tested can be received. In one embodiment, the reference image 400 may be a frame of the ultrasound image of the probe 100 just contacted with the tissue 40 under test.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of an ultrasound image of an examined tissue under a first condition according to an embodiment of the present application. In acquiring the elasticity information of the tissue under test 40, the user may apply the coupling agent 30 between the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40. In the case where the couplant 30 is filled between the tissue 40 to be measured and the probe 100, the pressure between the probe 100 and the tissue 40 to be measured is small and the contact is good. At this time, the elasticity of the tested tissue 40 is not changed by the pressure of the probe 100. Therefore, the imaging processing module 110 may use the ultrasonic image obtained when the probe 100 and the tested tissue 40 are filled with the coupling agent 30 in the first state as the reference image 400.

Corresponding to the flow of shear wave elastography, in a conventional B mode before information acquisition in the shear wave elastography mode, a B image of the measured tissue may be displayed on the display 112, and the imaging processing module 110 acquires an ultrasound image of the measured tissue in the first state as a reference image; or in the real-time acquisition process after the information acquisition in the shear wave elastography mode is performed, the display 112 may display a B image of the tissue under test and an elastic image of the tissue under test, and the imaging processing module 110 uses a frame of ultrasound image of the tissue under test 40 in the first state as a reference image; alternatively, in the acquisition preparation stage after the information acquisition in the shear wave elastography mode is performed, the B image of the tissue under test may be displayed on the display 112, but the elastic image region of the tissue under test does not display an image, and the imaging processing module 110 uses a frame of the ultrasound image of the tissue under test 40 in the first state as a reference image.

Step 136, obtaining a contrast image of the measured tissue in the second state. The contrast image may be an ultrasound image obtained during a preparatory phase to acquisition in which a shear wave front is generated, with reference to the conditions described below, or may be acquired during a real-time acquisition phase of a shear wave imaging mode, with reference to the conditions described below.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of an ultrasound image of an examined tissue under a second condition according to an embodiment of the present application. In acquiring the elasticity information (for example, the measurement information of the shear wave) of the tissue under test 40, the user places the probe 100 on the body surface portion corresponding to the tissue under test 40, and at this time, the probe 100 applies a certain pressure to the tissue under test 40 due to the user's habitual pressing of the tissue under test, and the tissue under test 40 is in the second state. The ultrasound imaging system 10 may use the ultrasound image of the tissue under test 40 in the second state as the contrast image 410, wherein the contrast image may be the ultrasound image of the current frame.

Corresponding to the flow of shear wave elastography, a frame of ultrasound image acquired in real time can be used as a contrast image in the real-time acquisition process after the information acquisition in the shear wave elastography mode is carried out, and the contrast image is compared with a reference image. Or in an acquisition preparation stage after information acquisition in the shear wave elastography mode, taking a frame of ultrasound image acquired in real time as a contrast image. Contrast images may also be acquired during both the acquisition preparation phase and the real-time acquisition phase.

FIG. 15 shows a stage in a shear wave elastography procedure where reference and contrast images may be acquired.

And step 138, determining the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe in the second state according to the reference image and the contrast image.

In this embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 of the ultrasound imaging system 10 can determine the pressure state of the probe 100 relative to the tissue 40 according to the variation information of the position of the target region in the tissue 40 within the reference image 400 and the contrast image 410.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating variation information of the position of the target area according to an embodiment of the present application. The imaging processing module 110 may determine a first position of the target region in the tissue under test 40 in the reference image 400 and a second position in the contrast image 410, and determine variation information of the target region under the condition that the probe applies pressure to the tissue according to the variation position information of the second position and the first position, and the imaging processing module 110 may determine a pressure state between the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40 based on the variation information.

In this embodiment, the image processing module 110 can determine the variation information of the position of the target region in the reference image 400 and the comparison image 410 by a speckle tracking method. For example, as shown in fig. 5(a), the reference image 400 includes a first predetermined number of reference data points (or blobs) 402 corresponding to the target region. As shown in fig. 5(b), the imaging processing module 110 may acquire the contrast data points 412 in the contrast image 410 corresponding to the reference data points 402 of the reference image 400 to obtain a first predetermined number of reference contrast data point pairs 450, wherein each reference contrast data point pair 450 includes one reference data point 402 and one contrast data point 412, and the first predetermined number may be one or more. In one embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the contrast data point 412 in the contrast image 410 corresponding to each reference data point based on the correlation between the reference image 400 and the contrast image 410, wherein the correlation may be the sum of the absolute values of the differences between the pixels located in the data blocks in the two frames of ultrasound images, the square of the differences, or the normalized correlation coefficient.

For example, the imaging processing module 110 may select a reference region 470 (or block) in the reference image 400 that contains the reference data point 402; when finding a contrast data point 412 in the contrast image 410 that corresponds to the reference data point 402, the imaging processing module 110 may find a contrast region 490 (or data block) within the search region 480 in the contrast image 410 that is most relevant to the reference region 470) The reference region 470 and the comparison region 490 have the same number of rows and columns of pixels, wherein the comparison data points 412 are located in the comparison region 490. When the absolute value of the difference between the correlations is summed, the pixel values of the N pixels included in the reference region 470 are represented as X_iWherein i is an integer from 1 to N; the imaging processing module 110 selects an mth preset box in the search area 480, and the pixel values of N pixels in the mth preset box are represented as Y_jMWhere j is an integer from 1 to N, and M is an integer, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the contrast region 490 based on the above formula:

that is, when M is a positive integer, the imaging processing module 110 selects the preset frame corresponding to the minimum of the sum of the absolute values of the pixel value differences between the reference region 470 and each pixel point in the preset frame as the contrast region 490.

In other embodiments, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the variation information of the positions of the target area in the reference image and the comparison image in other manners.

Upon obtaining a first predetermined number of reference contrast data point pairs 450, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the pressure state of the probe 100 according to the corresponding reference data points 402 and contrast data points 412 in the reference contrast data point pairs 450.

In this embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 obtains displacement information of the reference data point pair 450, in which the displacement information of the reference data point 412 is in a preset direction relative to the reference data point 402, to obtain displacement information of the reference data point pair 450 in the preset direction, so as to determine the pressure state between the probe 100 and the measured tissue 40 according to the displacement information of the reference data point pair 450.

As shown in fig. 5, the lower left corner of the ultrasound image is taken as the origin of the coordinate axis, the upward direction is taken as the X-axis of the coordinate axis, and the vertical X-axis and the rightward direction are taken as the Y-axis of the coordinate axis. The coordinates of the reference data point 402 in the reference image 400 may be represented as (xa, ya), the coordinates of the contrast data point 412 in the contrast image 410 may be represented as (xb, yb), and the position information of the reference contrast data point pair 450 in the X-axis direction may be represented as: (xb-xa). Here, the position information of the reference contrast data point pair 450 in the X-axis direction has information such as size and direction. The imaging processing module 110 can determine the pressure of the probe 100 relative to the measured tissue 40 according to the magnitude and direction of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair 450, wherein the larger the displacement information in the positive direction of the X-axis indicates the larger the pressure of the probe 100 on the measured tissue 40, and the smaller or negative the displacement information in the positive direction of the X-axis indicates the smaller the pressure of the probe 100 on the measured tissue 40.

In an embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may obtain the position information of each of the first preset number of reference contrast data point pairs 450, calculate an average value of the displacement information corresponding to the target region according to the position information of each of the reference contrast data point pairs, and use the calculated average value as the displacement information of the target region.

In one embodiment, to improve the accuracy of the elastic information of the tested tissue 40, the imaging processing module 110 determines a first average amplitude value of the data block where the reference data point is located in each reference contrast data point pair 450 and a second average amplitude value of the data block where the contrast data point is located, and selects a second preset number of reference data points from the first preset number of reference contrast data point pairs 450, where both the first average amplitude value and the second average amplitude value are greater than a preset value, to determine the pressure state of the probe 100. The second preset number is not greater than the first preset number, the first average amplitude value is an average value of pixel values of pixel points included in the data block where the reference data point is located, and the second average amplitude value is an average value of pixel values of pixel points included in the data block where the comparison data point is located. When the first average amplitude value or the second average amplitude value in the reference contrast data point pair 450 is not greater than the preset value, the imaging processing module 110 discards the reference contrast data point pair 450. The imaging processing module 110 may calculate an average value of the position information of the second preset number of reference contrast data point pairs, and use the calculated average value as the displacement information of the target region. Since the pixel values of each pixel in the reference image 400 and the contrast image 410 are represented as the ultrasonic signal amplitudes, the imaging processing module 110 can determine the second predetermined number according to the ultrasonic signal amplitudes of the reference contrast data points 450 of the first predetermined number.

In one embodiment, also to improve the accuracy of the elastic information of the tested tissue 40, the imaging processing module 110 determines a first average amplitude value of the data block where the reference data point of each reference contrast data point pair 450 is located, and selects a second preset number of reference data points, of which the first average amplitude value is greater than the preset value, from the reference data points of the first preset number of reference contrast data point pairs 450 to form the second preset number of reference contrast data point pairs, so as to determine the pressure state of the probe 100. The second preset number is not larger than the first preset number, and the first average amplitude value is an average value of pixel values of pixel points included in a data block where the reference data point is located. When the first average amplitude value of the reference data point of the reference contrast data point pair 450 is not greater than the preset value, the imaging processing module 110 discards the reference contrast data point pair 450. The imaging processing module 110 may calculate an average value of the position information of the second preset number of reference contrast data point pairs, and use the calculated average value as the displacement information of the target region.

Since the reference image 400 is determined, the contrast image 410 increases as the detection duration increases when acquiring the elasticity information of the measured tissue 40, thus resulting in a plurality of intermediate images 430 between the contrast image 410 and the reference image 400. If the imaging processing module 110 obtains the contrast data points in the contrast image 410 corresponding to the reference data points of the reference image 400 by a speckle tracking method, the imaging processing module 110 may need to spend a lot of time searching a larger area of the contrast image 410, and the accuracy of the searched contrast data points may also have a certain effect. Since the ultrasound images of the tissue 40 to be tested are continuously obtained by the imaging processing module 410, the imaging processing module 410 can determine the change information of the target region at the positions of the comparison image 410 and the reference image 400 through the intermediate image 430, so as to determine the displacement information corresponding to the target region according to the accumulated change information, and further determine the pressure state of the probe 100 on the tissue 40 to be tested.

When there is a frame of intermediate image 430 between the reference image 400 and the contrast image 410, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the intermediate data points 422(xc, yc) in the intermediate image 430 that correspond to the reference data points 402(xa, ya) of the reference image 430. Thereafter, the image processing module 110 can acquire the contrast data point 412(xb, yb) in the contrast image 410 corresponding to the intermediate data point 422(xc, yc) of the intermediate image 430, wherein the reference contrast data point pair 450 comprises the reference data point 402, the intermediate data point 422 and the contrast data point 412. In determining the displacement information corresponding to the target region, the imaging processing module 110 may determine first displacement information (xc-xa) of the intermediate data point 422(xc, yc) relative to the reference data point 402(xa, ya) in the predetermined direction (e.g., X-axis). The imaging processing module 110 also determines second displacement information (xb-xc) of the contrast data point 412(xb, yb) relative to the intermediate data point 422(xc, yc) in a predetermined direction (e.g., the X-axis). At this time, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the pressure state of the probe 100 based on the first displacement information (xc-xa) and the second displacement information (xb-xc). For example, the pressure state of the probe 100 may be represented as (xb-xa). In other embodiments, the imaging processing module 110 can also determine the pressure state of the probe 100 directly according to the coordinate values of the comparison data point 412 and the coordinate values of the reference data point 40, such as directly determining the pressure state of the probe 100 as (xb-xa).

In one embodiment, there are two or more frames of intermediate image 430 between reference image 400 and contrast image 410. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating variation information of the position of a target area according to another embodiment of the present application. For example, if there are two frames of intermediate images 430 (first and second intermediate images, respectively) between reference image 400 and contrast image 410, the imaging processing module 110 may determine first intermediate data points 422(xc, yc) in the first intermediate image that correspond to the reference data points 402(xa, ya) of the reference image 430, and thereafter, the imaging processing module 110 may re-acquire the second intermediate data point 432(xd, yd) in the second intermediate image corresponding to the first intermediate data point 422(xc, yc) of the first intermediate image, and the imaging processing module 110 may re-acquire the contrast data point 412(xb, yb) in the contrast image 410 corresponding to the second intermediate data point 432(xd, yd) of the second intermediate image, at which time, reference contrast data point pair 450 includes reference data point 402, first intermediate data point 422, second intermediate data point 432, and contrast data point 412.

In determining the displacement information corresponding to the target region, the imaging processing module 110 may determine third displacement information (xc-xa) of the first intermediate data point 422(xc, yc) in the predetermined direction (e.g., X-axis) relative to the reference data point 402(xa, ya). The imaging processing module 110 may determine fourth displacement information (xd-xc) of the second intermediate data point 432(xd, yd) relative to the first intermediate data point 422(xa, ya) in the predetermined direction (e.g., X-axis). The imaging processing module 110 also determines fifth displacement information (xb-xd) of the contrast data point 412(xb, yb) relative to the second intermediate data point 432(xd, yd) in a predetermined direction (e.g., X-axis). At this time, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the pressure state of the probe 100 based on the third displacement information (xc-xa), the fourth displacement information (xd-xc), and the fifth displacement information (xb-xd). For example, the pressure state of the probe 100 may be represented as (xb-xa). In other embodiments, the imaging processing module 110 can also determine the pressure state of the probe 100 directly according to the coordinate values of the comparison data point 412 and the coordinate values of the reference data point 40.

And 140, controlling to display prompt information corresponding to the pressure state.

In this embodiment, the pressure state of the probe 100 or the pressure state of the probe 100 relative to the measured tissue 40 includes pressure information and balance information. The pressure information indicates the magnitude of the pressure of the probe 100 against the tissue 40 to be measured, and the balance information indicates whether the pressures on the left and right sides of the probe 100 are balanced.

In one embodiment, if the force exerted by the probe 100 on the tissue 40 being measured is relatively balanced, the ultrasound imaging system 10 may default to determining that the pressure on both sides of the probe 100 is in equilibrium. At this time, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the pressure of the probe 100 relative to the measured tissue 40 according to the displacement information of the target region, and display a prompt message corresponding to the pressure.

In one embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 determines the grading information corresponding to the displacement information of the target area, and controls the display screen 112 to display the prompt information corresponding to the determined displacement information.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a pressure level grading display according to an embodiment of the present application. For example, the imaging processing module 110 determines that the displacement information corresponding to the target region belongs to a hierarchical category, where the hierarchical category includes one of the first to fifth hierarchical levels, and each hierarchical level includes a corresponding threshold range. As shown in fig. 7, 5 semicircular bars from top to bottom can represent the prompt messages corresponding to the first to fifth levels. The imaging processing module 110 determines the corresponding ranking information by determining the threshold range of the ranking in which the displacement information corresponding to the target region is located. In this embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the pressure of the probe 100 relative to the tissue 40 to be measured according to the magnitude and direction of the displacement information corresponding to the target region, where the larger the displacement information in the positive direction of the X axis is, the larger the pressure of the probe 100 on the tissue 40 to be measured is, and the smaller the displacement information in the positive direction of the X axis is, or is a negative number, the smaller the pressure of the probe 100 on the tissue 40 to be measured is. When the value of the displacement information of the target region is in the vicinity of 0, it indicates that the pressure of the probe 100 against the tissue 40 to be measured is relatively close to the pressure state of the probe 100 against the tissue 40 to be measured in the reference image.

In one embodiment, since the imaging processing module 110 also acquires the ultrasound image of the tissue under test 40 when acquiring the elasticity information of the tissue under test 40, the imaging processing module 110 determines the pressure state of the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40 according to the ultrasound image. Therefore, the imaging processing module 100 can associate the pressure state when the probe 100 collects the shear wave with the measurement information of the shear wave in real time, and can store the pressure state and the measurement information of the shear wave in an associated manner, so that a subsequent user can retrieve the elasticity information of the tested tissue 40 and the pressure state at the corresponding moment.

In an embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 is further configured to determine whether the pressure states of the probe 100 and the measured tissue 40 are within a preset level range (e.g., a first level to a third level), and when the pressure states of the probe 100 and the measured tissue 40 are within the preset level range, it indicates that the accuracy of the elasticity information obtained by the ultrasound imaging system 10 is higher at this time. At this time, the imaging processing module 110 may control the display 112 to display an elastic image of the shear wave corresponding to the pressure information between the probe 100 and the measured tissue 40 within the preset grade range. When the pressure state of the probe 100 and the tested tissue 40 is not within the preset level range, it indicates that the accuracy of the elasticity information acquired by the ultrasonic imaging system 10 is low at this time. At this time, the imaging processing module 110 may not display the acquired elastic image of the corresponding shear wave, or may prompt the user that the pressure state between the probe 100 and the measured tissue 40 does not reach a preset level when displaying the elastic image of the shear wave.

According to the shear wave elastic imaging method, the ultrasonic image of the tested tissue is obtained, the pressure state between the probe and the tested tissue is determined through the ultrasonic image, and corresponding prompt information is output, so that a user can conveniently determine the accuracy of the obtained elastic information of the tested tissue according to the prompt information.

Referring to FIG. 8, a flowchart illustrating steps of a method for shear wave elastography in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present application is shown. The shear wave elastography method comprises the following steps:

and step 810, controlling the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue.

In this embodiment, step 810 can refer to the content of step 130 in the above embodiments, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

And step 812, controlling the probe to receive the ultrasonic echo returned by the tested tissue, and converting the ultrasonic echo to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal.

In this embodiment, the content of step 132 in the above embodiment can be referred to in step 812, and thus is not described herein again.

And 814, acquiring a reference image of the tested tissue in a first state based on the ultrasonic echo signal.

In this embodiment, step 814 can refer to the content of step 134 in the above embodiments, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

And 816, acquiring a contrast image of the tested tissue in the second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal.

In this embodiment, step 816 can refer to the content of step 136 in the above embodiment, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

At step 818, pressure conditions corresponding to different regions of the target area of the tissue under test are obtained.

In one embodiment, the reference image may be partitioned, and the pressure state of each partition may be determined according to the partitioned reference image and the partitioned comparison image.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating variation information of the position of a target area according to another embodiment of the present application. Compared to step 138 of the above embodiment, step 818 of the present embodiment may divide the reference image 400 into partitions, for example, the reference image 400 may be divided into a third predetermined number of partitions, each of which includes a plurality of reference data points, and the number of the reference data points included in each partition may be the same or different. When the target region is divided into 2 partitions, the reference image 400 may include a first partition 407 and a second partition 409, the contrast image 410 may include a third partition 417 and a fourth partition 419, the first partition 407 may include the reference data points 402, and the second partition 409 may include the reference data points 404. When the imaging processing module 110 determines a contrast data point in the contrast image 410 corresponding to a reference data point in the reference image 400 by way of blob tracking, the imaging processing module 110 may determine that a contrast data point 412 corresponding to the reference data point 402 in the first partition 407 is located in the third partition 417 and determine that the first reference contrast data point pair is the reference data point 402 and the contrast data point 412; a contrast data point 414 corresponding to the reference data point 404 within the second partition 409 is located within the fourth partition 419 and the second reference contrast data point pair is determined to be the reference data point 404 and the contrast data point 414.

The imaging processing module 110 may calculate an average value of displacement information of the reference contrast data point pairs corresponding to each partition in the preset direction to obtain the displacement information of each partition, where the reference contrast data point pairs corresponding to each partition include reference contrast data point pairs in the reference image where the reference data points are located in the corresponding partition. For example, the coordinate value of the reference data point 402 is represented by (x1, y1), and the coordinate value of the contrast data point 412 is represented by (x2, y2), at which time the imaging processing module 110 may calculate the displacement information of the first partition as (x2-x 1); the coordinate values of the reference data point 404 are represented as (x3, y3) and the coordinate values of the comparison data point 414 are represented as (x4, y4), and at this time, the imaging processing module 110 may calculate the displacement information of the second partition as (x4-x 3).

In an embodiment, since the contrast data point 412 corresponding to the reference data point 402 within the first partition 407 may not be located within the third partition 417, the contrast data point 414 corresponding to the reference data point 404 within the second partition 409 may also not be located within the fourth partition 419. Therefore, the imaging processing module 110 may first partition the reference image 400 without partitioning the contrast image 410, such as obtaining the first partition 407 and the second partition 409, where the reference data points 402 are located in the first partition 407 and the reference data points 404 are located in the second partition 409. As such, upon acquiring contrast data points 412 corresponding to the reference data points 402 within the first partition 407 of the reference image 400, the imaging processing module 110 may search through the contrast image 410 based on the correlation to obtain corresponding contrast data points 412; upon acquiring contrast data points 414 corresponding to the reference data points 404 within the second partition 409 of the reference image 400, the imaging processing module 110 may search through the contrast image 410 based on the correlation to obtain corresponding contrast data points 414. Therefore, when acquiring the pressure states of different partitions corresponding to the target region of the measured tissue, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the difference between the coordinate values of the reference data point 402 and the corresponding contrast data point 412 in the first partition 407 on the X axis as the displacement information of the first partition 407, and may determine the difference between the coordinate values of the reference data point 404 and the corresponding contrast data point 414 in the second partition 409 on the X axis as the displacement information of the second partition 409. In the embodiment, the reference image is partitioned before the displacement information is acquired, and the obtained displacement information result of each partition can reflect the pressure state of different partitions of the target area.

In an embodiment, since the contrast data point 412 corresponding to the reference data point 402 within the first partition 407 may not be located within the third partition 417, the contrast data point 414 corresponding to the reference data point 404 within the second partition 409 may also not be located within the fourth partition 419. Therefore, the imaging processing module 110 may not partition the reference image 400 and the contrast image 410. As such, upon acquiring contrast data points 412 corresponding to the reference data points 402 in the reference image 400, the imaging processing module 110 may search through the contrast image 410 based on the correlation to obtain corresponding contrast data points 412; upon acquiring contrast data points 414 corresponding to the reference data points 404 in the reference image 400, the imaging processing module 110 may search through the contrast image 410 based on the correlation to obtain corresponding contrast data points 414. Therefore, when acquiring the pressure state of the target region corresponding to the measured tissue, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the difference between the coordinate values of the reference data point 402 and the corresponding contrast data point 412 on the X axis as the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair, and may determine the difference between the coordinate values of the reference data point 404 and the corresponding contrast data point 414 on the X axis as the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair; and the like. The obtained displacement information may then be partitioned, for example, the displacement information of the target region may be partitioned into a first partition and a second partition, and the pressure states of different partitions of the target region of the tissue under test may be determined based on the displacement information of each partition. In the embodiment, the partition division is performed after the displacement information of all data points of the reference image is obtained, and the obtained displacement information result of each partition can also reflect the pressure states of different partitions of the target area.

And step 820, controlling and displaying prompt information corresponding to the pressure state of each partition.

When the imaging processing module 110 determines the displacement information of each partition, the imaging processing module 110 may further determine a pressure state of the corresponding partition according to the displacement information of each partition, wherein the pressure state of each partition corresponds to the displacement information of the partition.

Please refer to fig. 10, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a pressure level grouping display according to an embodiment of the present application. The imaging processing module 110 may provide grade information corresponding to the displacement information of each partition, where the grade information may include first to fifth grades, and each grade has corresponding prompt information. As shown in fig. 10, the prompt messages corresponding to the first to fifth levels of information are shown from left to right.

Please refer to fig. 11, which is a schematic diagram illustrating prompt information corresponding to the grade information of the partition according to an embodiment of the present application. For example, when the imaging processing module 110 may calculate the level corresponding to the displacement information (x2-x1) of the first partition as the second level and calculate the level corresponding to the displacement information (x4-x3) of the second partition as the fourth level, the imaging processing module 110 may control the display 112 to display the prompt information as shown in fig. 11. In this manner, the user can determine pressure information of the probe 100 relative to the tissue 40 being tested based on the prompt.

In other embodiments, it may be further determined whether the displacement information corresponding to each partition is within a predetermined range. When the displacement information corresponding to each partition is in a preset range, controlling and displaying attribute information with a third color of prompt information corresponding to the grading information of each partition; and when the displacement information corresponding to at least one partition exists in the third preset number of partitions and is not in the preset range, controlling and displaying that the prompt information corresponding to the grading information of each partition has attribute information of a fourth color. The display mode is distinguished, so that whether the pressure between the probe and the tested tissue is improper or not can be known quickly.

In other embodiments, it may be further determined whether the displacement information corresponding to each partition is within a preset range. For example, when the displacement information of the first division area is within the preset range, the prompt information corresponding to the grading information of the first division area is controlled to be displayed and has the attribute information of the third color. And when the displacement information of the second partition is not in the preset range, controlling and displaying that the prompt information corresponding to the grading information of the second partition has attribute information of a fourth color. The different display of each subarea is beneficial to knowing whether the pressure between the probe and the tested tissue is improper or not and also beneficial to knowing which subarea has the pressure which is improper.

Please refer to fig. 12, which is a schematic diagram illustrating a prompt message corresponding to the grade information of the partition according to another embodiment of the present application. For example, when the imaging processing module 110 may calculate that the level corresponding to the displacement information (x2-x1) of the first partition is the third level and calculate that the level corresponding to the displacement information (x4-x3) of the second partition is the third level, the imaging processing module 110 may control the display 112 to display the prompt information as shown in fig. 12.

In this embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the balance information of the probe 100 according to the displacement information corresponding to each partition. When the probe 100 is in the equilibrium state, the imaging processing module 110 may control the prompt message to have the attribute information of the first color (as shown in fig. 11 and 12). Referring to fig. 13, a schematic diagram of a pressure level grouping display in another embodiment of the present application is shown. When the probe 100 is in the non-equilibrium state, the imaging processing module 110 may control the prompt message to have the attribute information of the second color (as shown in fig. 13).

The attribute information of the first color and the attribute information of the second color may be different colors, different luminances of the same color, different shades of gray tone, different presentation modes (filling positions, color patterns, etc.) of colors. The attribute information of the third color and the attribute information of the fourth color may be different colors, different luminances of the same color, different shades of gray tone, different presentation modes (filling positions, color patterns, etc.) of colors, and the like.

In one embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 determining whether the probe 100 is in a balanced state includes: whether the grades corresponding to the partitions on the first side and the second side of the probe 100 are different or not is judged, or whether the difference between the displacement information of the partitions on the first side and the second side is not within a certain range or exceeds a preset threshold value is judged. For example, when the imaging processing module 110 determines that the pressure levels of the first side and second side partitions of the probe are different, the probe 100 may be considered to be in an unbalanced state and the control prompt may have second color information. For example, when the difference between the displacement information of the partitions of the first side and the partitions of the second side exceeds a preset threshold, the probe 100 may be considered to be in an unbalanced state, and the prompt information may be controlled to have the second color information.

In this embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may determine the balance information of the probe based on an average value of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point corresponding to each partition in the preset direction.

In one embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may determine a first rank type corresponding to displacement information of a partition (e.g., a first partition) on a first side of the probe 100 and determine a second rank type corresponding to displacement information of a partition (e.g., a second partition) on a second side of the probe 100. The imaging processing module 110 determines balance information of the probe 100 according to the first grade type and the second grade type, wherein when the first grade type is the same as the second grade type, the imaging processing module 110 determines that the probe is in a balanced state; when the first hierarchical type is not the same as the second hierarchical type, the imaging processing module 110 determines that the probe 100 is in an unbalanced state.

In one embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 determines the difference between the displacement information (x2-x1) of the reference contrast data point pairs corresponding to a partition (e.g., a first partition) on a first side of the probe 100 and the displacement information (x4-x3) of the reference contrast data point pairs corresponding to a partition (e.g., a second partition) on a second side of the probe 100. The imaging processing module 110 determines whether the difference is greater than a preset threshold. When the difference is greater than the preset threshold, the imaging processing module 110 determines that the probe 100 is in an unbalanced state; when the difference is not greater than the preset threshold, the imaging processing module 110 determines that the probe 100 is in a balanced state.

In one embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may determine whether the overall pressure of the probe on the measured tissue is appropriate based on the average value of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair corresponding to each divisional area in the preset direction. For example, the imaging processing module 110 may determine whether the displacement information corresponding to each partition is within a preset range. When the displacement information corresponding to each partition is within the preset range, the imaging processing module 110 may display a prompt of the pressure level corresponding to each partition, so that the user may determine whether the pressure state between the probe and the measured tissue is appropriate according to the prompt of the pressure level of each partition.

In one embodiment, the imaging processing module 110 may determine whether the overall pressure of the probe on the measured tissue is appropriate according to the average value of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair corresponding to each divisional area in the preset direction, and determine whether the balance information of each divisional area of the probe 100 is in a balanced state. When the probe 100 is in the unbalanced state, the imaging processing module 110 controls to display attribute information that the prompt information corresponding to the grading information of each of the divisional areas has a second color; when the probe 100 is in the equilibrium state, the imaging processing module 110 controls to display the attribute information in which the cue information corresponding to the gradation information of each divisional area has the first color.

In one embodiment, imaging processing module 110 may selectively control probe 100 to acquire elastic information of shear waves propagating within the tissue under test based on the pressure state of probe 100. For example, when the probe 100 is in an equilibrium state and the pressure information between the probe 100 and the tissue under test 40 is within a preset level range, the imaging processing module 110 controls the probe 100 to acquire the elasticity information of the shear wave propagating in the tissue under test 40 or to display an elasticity image corresponding to the tissue under test 40.

In other embodiments, the method of shear wave elastography may also include both

steps

140 and 820 described above. That is, the ultrasonic imaging system not only indicates the pressure of the target region of the tissue to be tested relative to the probe, but also indicates whether the pressure states on both sides of the target region are in a balanced state.

According to the shear wave elastography method, the balance information of the probe is determined by obtaining the displacement information of different partition areas, and the corresponding prompt information is output, so that a user can obtain the elastic information of the tested tissue when the probe is in a balance state, the stability of ultrasonic imaging is improved, and the accuracy of diagnosis and evaluation is improved. In addition, by displaying the grade information of the pressure information corresponding to each partition, the user can conveniently determine whether the pressure for pressing the tested tissue is appropriate according to the pressure prompt information.

Referring to fig. 14, a block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system 50 in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present application is shown. As shown in fig. 14, the ultrasound imaging system 50 may apply the above embodiments, and the ultrasound imaging system 50 provided in the present application is described below, the ultrasound imaging system 50 may include a processor 500, a storage device 502, a probe 100, a control circuit 504, and a display 112, and a computer program (instructions) stored in the storage device 502 and executable on the processor 500, and the ultrasound imaging system 50 may further include other hardware parts, such as a communication device, a key, a keyboard, and the like, which are not described herein again. The processor 500 may exchange data with the probe 100, the control circuitry 504, the memory device 502, and the display 112 via signal lines 508.

The Processor 500 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), other general purpose Processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other Programmable logic device, discrete Gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, etc. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like, and the processor 500 is the control center of the ultrasound imaging system 50 and connects the various parts of the entire ultrasound imaging system 50 using various interfaces and lines. In this embodiment, the processor 500 may be configured to implement all functions of the image processing module 110, or may be integrated with the functions of the beam forming module 106 and the signal processing module 108, which may refer to the foregoing embodiments.

The control circuit 504 may include the functions of the transmitting circuit 102, the receiving circuit 104, the beam forming module 106 and/or the signal processing module 108 in the above embodiments, which can be referred to in detail.

The storage device 502 may be used to store the computer programs and/or modules, and the processor 500 may implement the functions of the shear wave elastography method by operating or executing the computer programs and/or modules stored in the storage device 502 and calling the data stored in the storage device 502. The storage device 502 may mainly include a storage program area and a storage data area, wherein the storage program area may store an operating system, an application program required for at least one function, and the like. In addition, the storage device 502 may include a high speed random access memory device, and may also include a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk, a memory, a plug-in hard disk, a Smart Media Card (SMC), a Secure Digital (SD) Card, a Flash memory Card (Flash Card), at least one piece of magnetic disk storage, a Flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device.

The display 112 may display a User Interface (UI), a Graphical User Interface (GUI), a B-image of a target under test, and/or an elastic image, the ultrasound imaging system 504 may also serve as an input device and an output device, and the display 112 may include at least one of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a thin film transistor LCD (TFT-LCD), an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) touch display, a flexible touch display, a three-dimensional (3D) touch display, and the like.

The processor 500 executes a program corresponding to the executable program code stored in the storage device 502 by reading the executable program code for performing the shear wave elastography method in any of the foregoing embodiments.

In the foregoing embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus may be implemented in other manners. For example, the above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one type of division of logical functions, and there may be other divisions when actually implementing, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or may be integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not implemented. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection of some interfaces, devices or units, and may be an electric or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

The foregoing detailed description of the embodiments of the present application has been presented to illustrate the principles and implementations of the present application, and the above description of the embodiments is only provided to help understand the method and the core concept of the present application; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present application, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

Claims

1. A method of shear wave elastography, comprising:

determining a target area of the tissue under test;

entering a shear wave imaging mode, and controlling a probe to generate shear waves in a target area of a tested tissue and emit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue;

controlling the probe to receive ultrasonic echoes returned by the tested tissue, and converting the ultrasonic echoes to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

acquiring a reference image of the tested tissue in a first state;

acquiring a contrast image of the tested tissue in a second state;

performing a calculation based on the ultrasonic echo signal to obtain measurement information of shear waves, and associating the pressure state with the measurement information of the shear waves; and

2. A method of shear wave elastography, comprising:

controlling the probe to emit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue;

determining the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe in the second state according to the reference image and the contrast image; and

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

and controlling the probe to acquire shear waves propagating in the tested tissue based on the ultrasonic waves in a shear wave imaging mode so as to obtain measurement information of the shear waves, and associating the pressure state of the probe in the acquisition of the shear waves with the measurement information of the shear waves.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said determining the pressure state of the tissue under test relative to the probe in the second state from the reference image and the contrast image comprises:

and determining the pressure state of the probe according to the change information of the positions of the target area in the tested tissue in the reference image and the comparison image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the pressure state of the probe based on the information about the changes in the position of the target region in the measured tissue within the reference image and the contrast image comprises:

determining a first preset number of reference data points corresponding to the target area in the reference image;

acquiring contrast data points corresponding to the reference data points of the reference image in the contrast image to obtain a first preset number of reference contrast data point pairs, wherein each reference contrast data point pair comprises a reference data point and a contrast data point;

and determining the pressure state of the probe according to the corresponding reference data point and the corresponding contrast data point in the reference contrast data point pair.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said acquiring contrast data points in said contrast image corresponding to reference data points of said reference image comprises:

a contrast data point in the contrast image corresponding to each reference data point is determined based on the correlation of the reference image and the contrast image.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein said determining a pressure state of said probe from corresponding reference and contrast data points of said pair of reference and contrast data points comprises:

acquiring displacement information of a contrast data point in the reference contrast data point pair relative to a reference data point in a preset direction to obtain displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair in the preset direction;

and determining the pressure state of the probe according to the displacement information of the reference comparison data point pair.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein said pressure state includes pressure information of said probe in contact with said tissue under test, and said determining said pressure state of said probe from displacement information of said reference contrast data point pair comprises:

acquiring an average value of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pairs in the preset direction, or acquiring an average value of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pairs in a second preset number in the preset direction;

determining pressure information for the probe based on the average.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein before obtaining the average value of the displacement information of the second preset number of reference contrast data point pairs in the preset direction, further comprises:

determining a first average amplitude value of a data block where the reference data point in each reference comparison data point pair is located; controlling to select a second preset number of reference contrast data point pairs of which the first average amplitude value is larger than a preset value from the first preset number of reference contrast data point pairs;

or determining a first average amplitude value of the data block where the reference data point is located in each reference comparison data point pair and a second average amplitude value of the data block where the comparison data point is located; controlling to select a second preset number of reference contrast data point pairs from the first preset number of reference contrast data point pairs, wherein the first average amplitude value and the second average amplitude value are both larger than the preset value,

wherein the second preset number is not greater than the first preset number.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the controlling displaying a prompt corresponding to the pressure state comprises:

determining the grading information corresponding to the average value;

and controlling to display prompt information corresponding to the grading information.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the obtaining an average value of the second preset number of reference contrast data points for the displacement information in the preset direction comprises:

determining a third preset number of divided partitions corresponding to the target area in the reference image;

calculating an average value of displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair corresponding to each partition in the preset direction to obtain displacement information of each partition, wherein the reference contrast data point pair corresponding to each partition comprises a reference contrast data point pair of which the reference data point in the reference image is located in the corresponding partition;

the control display of the prompt information corresponding to the pressure state comprises the following steps:

and controlling to display prompt information corresponding to the displacement information of each partition.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the controlling of displaying the hint information corresponding to the displacement information of each partition includes:

determining grade information corresponding to the displacement information of each partition;

and controlling to display prompt information corresponding to the grade information of each partition.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the controlling displays a hint information corresponding to the grade information of each of the divisional areas, further comprising:

judging whether the displacement information corresponding to each partition is within a preset range;

when the displacement information corresponding to each partition is in the preset range, controlling and displaying attribute information with a third color of prompt information corresponding to the grading information of each partition;

and when the displacement information corresponding to at least one partition exists in the third preset number of partitions and is not in the preset range, controlling and displaying that the prompt information corresponding to the grading information of each partition has attribute information of a fourth color.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the pressure state includes balance information of the probe, and after calculating an average value of displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair in the preset direction corresponding to each partition, the method further comprises:

and determining balance information of the probe based on the average value of the reference contrast data point corresponding to each partition on the displacement information in the preset direction.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the probe comprises a first side and a second side, and the determining the balance information of the probe based on the average value of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair corresponding to each partition in the preset direction comprises:

determining a first grade type corresponding to the displacement information of the partition on the first side of the probe;

determining a second grade type corresponding to the displacement information of the partition of the second side of the probe;

determining balance information for the probe from the first tier type and the second tier type, wherein:

determining that the probe is in an equilibrium state when the first class type is the same as the second class type; when the first grade type is different from the second grade type, determining that the probe is in an unbalanced state.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the probe comprises a first side and a second side, and after calculating the average value of the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair in the preset direction corresponding to each partition, the method further comprises:

determining a difference value between the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair corresponding to the partition area on the first side of the probe and the displacement information of the reference contrast data point pair corresponding to the partition area on the second side of the probe;

judging whether the difference value is larger than a preset threshold value or not;

when the difference value is larger than the preset threshold value, determining that the probe is in an unbalanced state;

and when the difference value is not greater than the preset threshold value, determining that the probe is in a balanced state.

17. The method of any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the controlling to display the hint information corresponding to the displacement information of each partition includes:

when the probe is in a balanced state, controlling and displaying prompt information corresponding to the pressure information of each partition to have attribute information of a first color;

when the probe is in an unbalanced state, the prompt message corresponding to the pressure information of each partition is controlled to be displayed to have attribute information of a second color.

18. The method of claim 1 or 3, wherein the pressure state of the probe includes pressure information and balance information, the method further comprising:

and controlling and displaying the image of the corresponding shear wave when the balance information of the probe is in a balance state and the pressure information between the probe and the tested tissue reaches a preset level.

19. The method of claim 7, further comprising an intermediate image between the reference image and the contrast image, wherein determining the pressure state of the probe based on information about changes in the position of the target region in the tissue under test within the reference image and the contrast image further comprises:

and determining the pressure state of the probe according to the change information of the positions of the target area in the reference image, the intermediate image and the contrast image.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said obtaining contrast data points in said contrast image corresponding to reference data points of said reference image to obtain a first predetermined number of pairs of reference contrast data points comprises:

acquiring an intermediate data point in the intermediate image corresponding to the reference data point of the reference image;

and acquiring a contrast data point corresponding to the middle data point of the middle image in the contrast image, wherein the reference contrast data point pair comprises the reference data point, the middle data point and the contrast data point.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein said determining a pressure state of said probe based on displacement information of said reference contrast data point pair comprises:

determining first displacement information of the intermediate data point relative to a reference data point in the preset direction;

determining second displacement information of the contrast data point relative to the middle data point in the preset direction;

determining a pressure state of the probe based on the first displacement information and the second displacement information.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the reference image and the contrast image include at least a first intermediate image and a second intermediate image therebetween, and wherein acquiring intermediate data points in the intermediate image corresponding to reference data points in the reference image to obtain corresponding pairs of reference intermediate data points further comprises:

acquiring a first intermediate data point in the first intermediate image corresponding to a reference data point of the reference image;

acquiring a second intermediate data point in the second intermediate image corresponding to the first intermediate data point of the first intermediate image;

the obtaining of the contrast data point corresponding to the middle data point of the middle image in the contrast image to obtain a corresponding middle contrast data point pair includes:

and acquiring a contrast data point in the contrast image corresponding to a second intermediate data point of the second intermediate image, wherein the reference contrast data point pair comprises the reference data point, a first intermediate data point, a second intermediate data point and a contrast data point.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said determining a pressure state of said probe based on displacement information of said reference contrast data point pair comprises:

determining third displacement information of the first intermediate data point relative to the reference data point in the preset direction;

determining fourth displacement information of the second intermediate data point relative to the first intermediate data point in the preset direction;

determining fifth displacement information of the contrast data point relative to the second intermediate data point in the preset direction

Determining a pressure state of the probe based on the third displacement information, the fourth displacement information, and the fifth displacement information.

24. The method of any one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the pressure status includes pressure information indicative of the amount of pressure between the probe and the tissue being tested, and wherein the controlling displays a prompt corresponding to the pressure status, including:

determining classification information corresponding to the pressure;

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the pressure status further includes balance information indicating whether the pressures between the sides of the probe and the tissue under test are balanced;

the controlling and displaying the prompt information corresponding to the pressure state further comprises:

and controlling to display prompt information corresponding to the grading information in different modes according to whether the pressures between the two sides of the probe and the tested tissue are balanced.

26. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first state is a state in which the probe receives an ultrasonic echo returned by the tissue under test and a pressure between the probe and the tissue under test meets a preset condition; the second state is a state when the probe presses the tested tissue.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the reference image is obtained at a first state corresponding to a moment when the probe contacts the tissue under test, or the reference image is obtained at a first state corresponding to a coupling agent filled between the probe and the tissue under test.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the shear wave imaging mode includes an acquisition preparation phase and a real-time acquisition phase; the method comprises acquiring the reference image in the acquisition preparation phase, the real-time acquisition phase or before entering a shear wave imaging mode, the method comprising acquiring the contrast image in the acquisition preparation phase or the real-time acquisition phase.

29. A method of shear wave elastography, comprising:

controlling the probe to emit ultrasonic waves to the tested tissue;

receiving an ultrasonic echo returned by the tested tissue, and controlling the ultrasonic echo to be subjected to beam processing to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

acquiring a contrast image of the tested tissue in a second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal;

and selectively controlling the probe to acquire measurement information of the shear wave propagating in the tested tissue based on the pressure state of the probe.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the pressure state of the probe includes pressure information and balance information, and wherein selecting control of the probe to acquire measurement information for shear waves propagating within the tissue under test based on the pressure state of the probe comprises:

and when the balance information of the probe is in a balance state and the pressure information between the probe and the tested tissue reaches a preset level, controlling the probe to acquire the measurement information of the shear wave propagated in the tested tissue.

31. An ultrasound imaging system, characterized in that the ultrasound imaging system comprises:

the processor is connected with the probe and is used for acquiring a reference image when the tested tissue is in a first state, acquiring a contrast image when the tested tissue is in a second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal in a shear wave imaging mode, and acquiring an elastic image of the tested tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signal in the shear wave imaging mode; the processor also determines the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe when in the second state according to the reference image and the contrast image, and correlates the pressure state when the probe acquires the elastic image of the tested tissue with the elastic image of the tested tissue;

32. An ultrasound imaging system, characterized in that the ultrasound imaging system comprises:

the processor is connected with the probe and used for acquiring a reference image when the tested tissue is in a first state and acquiring a contrast image when the tested tissue is in a second state based on the ultrasonic echo signal in a shear wave imaging mode; the processor also determines the pressure state of the tested tissue relative to the probe when in the second state according to the reference image and the contrast image; the processor also selectively controls the probe to acquire images of shear waves propagating within the tissue under test based on the pressure state of the probe.

33. The ultrasound imaging system of claim 32, wherein the pressure state of the probe includes pressure information and balance information, the ultrasound imaging system further comprising:

the display is connected with the processor and used for displaying prompt information corresponding to the pressure state; when the balance information of the probe is in a balance state and the pressure information between the probe and the tested tissue reaches a preset level, the processor controls the probe to acquire an image of shear waves propagated in the tested tissue.

34. A computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions which, when executed by a processor, carry out a method of shear wave elastography as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 30.