CN116077092A

CN116077092A - Duplex measuring method and measuring equipment for sound velocity and sound attenuation

Info

Publication number: CN116077092A
Application number: CN202111307913.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李双双
Original assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen Mindray Bio Medical Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-05
Filing date: 2021-11-05
Publication date: 2023-05-09

Abstract

According to the duplex measuring method and measuring equipment for sound velocity and sound attenuation, a primary duplex ultrasonic transmitting and receiving sequence is triggered by selecting a primary target area, so that a synchronous sound velocity/sound attenuation measuring result can be obtained, and the sound velocity measuring result and the sound attenuation measuring result are displayed on the same screen, so that not only can a more accurate sound attenuation measuring result be obtained, but also the characteristics of the target area can be evaluated more comprehensively, and meanwhile, the operation is simple and convenient.

Description

Duplex measuring method and measuring equipment for sound velocity and sound attenuation

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of ultrasonic imaging, in particular to a duplex measuring method and measuring equipment for sound velocity and sound attenuation.

Background

When the ultrasonic wave propagates in human tissue, attenuation of acoustic energy occurs due to diffusion, scattering, reflection, absorption, etc. Generally, the deeper the propagation depth, the higher the ultrasound frequency, the faster the attenuation. Different tissues have different degrees of acoustic attenuation. If the attenuation coefficient in water is smaller, the attenuation coefficient in adipose tissue is larger, so that the propagation distance of the same ultrasonic wave in water is larger than that in adipose tissue. For soft tissue, the degree of sound attenuation may increase as the fat content increases. Therefore, after the ultrasonic echo signal is acquired, the relevant parameters of the sound attenuation of the tissue are extracted, and the degree of the fat of the tissue, such as the degree of fatty liver, can be reflected. Currently, the acoustic attenuation parameters are mainly calculated by the differences between the ultrasonic echo signals at different depths.

In addition, when the tissue composition is different, the sound velocity value of the other ultrasonic propagation characteristic is also changed at the same time. The speed of sound refers to the speed of propagation of ultrasonic waves in a medium. For human tissue, the propagation sound speed of ultrasound waves is different for different tissues. For example, the speed of sound in human soft tissue is about 1540m/s, while the speed of sound in fat is relatively smaller, about 1500m/s, and the speed of sound in muscle is relatively larger, about 1580m/s. On the one hand, in the ultrasonic imaging process, information from tissues at various target positions needs to be estimated through ultrasonic echo signals, and the sound velocity is a key influencing factor. If the speed of sound is used inaccurately, the calculated tissue location information is inaccurate, further resulting in inaccuracy in the estimation of the acoustic attenuation parameters. On the other hand, many clinical studies have also found that the progress of diseases such as fatty liver, thyroid nodule and the like is accompanied by a significant change in sound velocity, so that doctors can evaluate the extent of the progress of the disease by the sound velocity value of tissues. For example, the lower the sound velocity value, the more severe the fatty liver.

At present, the influence of the sound velocity value is not considered in the calculation process of the sound attenuation parameter, so that the accuracy of the sound attenuation parameter is insufficient; meanwhile, the prior art lacks a method for synchronously estimating the sound attenuation parameter and the sound velocity parameter, and a user can only independently enter the sound velocity calculation function or independently enter the sound attenuation calculation function, so that the change condition of the target tissue is difficult to comprehensively describe, and a doctor is difficult to make more accurate evaluation. Even if two functions are provided integrally on a single machine for the user to choose to enter, the target of interest is easy to change because the two inspections are performed separately, and it is difficult to ensure that the sound velocity result and the sound attenuation result come from the same tissue target.

Disclosure of Invention

In the summary, a series of concepts in a simplified form are introduced, which will be further described in detail in the detailed description. The summary of the invention is not intended to define the key features and essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

A first aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the method including:

controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image;

receiving an operation instruction for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement of the target area;

in response to the operation instruction, controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by utilizing a target transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals;

Determining an acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region based on the sound speed measurement and the first ultrasonic echo signal;

and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

A second aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the method including:

acquiring a transmitting and receiving sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement;

controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the transmitting and receiving sequence, and receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region;

determining a sound velocity measurement and a sound attenuation measurement of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal;

and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result.

A third aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the method including:

determining a first transmit receive sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and a second transmit receive sequence suitable for sound attenuation measurement;

in response to the operation instruction, controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the first transmission and reception sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals;

controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the second transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding second ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining an acoustic attenuation measurement result of the target region based on the second ultrasonic echo signals;

And controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

A fourth aspect of the embodiment of the present invention provides a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the method including:

controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image, wherein the target area comprises a first area and a second area; wherein the first region partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second region;

acquiring a first transmitting and receiving sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and a second transmitting and receiving sequence suitable for sound attenuation measurement;

controlling the ultrasonic probe in response to the operation instruction, transmitting first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the first region by adopting the first transmission and reception sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the first region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the first region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals;

Controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the second region by adopting the second transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding second ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the second region, and determining an acoustic attenuation measurement result of the second region based on the second ultrasonic echo signals;

and controlling the on-screen display of the sound velocity measurement result of the first area and the sound attenuation measurement result of the second area.

A fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the method including:

controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue by utilizing a transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, and generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals;

determining a sound velocity measurement of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signal;

determining an acoustic attenuation measurement of the target tissue based on the sound speed measurement and the ultrasonic echo signal;

A sixth aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the method including:

determining a sound velocity measurement and a sound attenuation measurement of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals;

A seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the method including:

an ultrasonic probe;

a transmission/reception circuit for exciting the ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue based on a transmission/reception sequence, and receiving corresponding ultrasonic echo signals returned from the target tissue;

a processor configured to perform the method according to any one of the first to sixth aspects of the embodiments of the present invention;

a memory for storing a program executed by the processor;

and the display is used for displaying the execution result of the processor.

According to the duplex measuring method and the measuring equipment for sound velocity and sound attenuation, the synchronous sound velocity/sound attenuation measuring result can be obtained by selecting the primary target area and triggering the primary duplex ultrasonic transmitting and receiving sequence, and the sound velocity measuring result and the sound attenuation measuring result are displayed on the same screen, so that not only can the more accurate sound attenuation measuring result be obtained, but also the characteristics of the target area can be evaluated more comprehensively, and meanwhile, the operation is simple and convenient.

Drawings

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

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a duplex measurement device of sound velocity and sound attenuation in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a transmit receive sequence according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a transmit receive sequence according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a transmit receive sequence according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a transmit receive sequence according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 shows a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a display interface according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 shows a schematic diagram of a display interface according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 shows a schematic diagram of a display interface according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, exemplary embodiments according to the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application and not all of the embodiments of the present application, and it should be understood that the present application is not limited by the example embodiments described herein. Based on the embodiments of the present application described herein, all other embodiments that may be made by one skilled in the art without the exercise of inventive faculty are intended to fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present application. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present application may be practiced without one or more of these details. In other instances, some features well known in the art have not been described in order to avoid obscuring the present application.

It should be understood that the present application may be embodied in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the application to those skilled in the art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of the associated listed items.

For a thorough understanding of the present application, detailed structures will be presented in the following description in order to illustrate the technical solutions presented herein. Alternative embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, however, the present application may have other implementations in addition to these detailed descriptions.

Next, a duplex measuring apparatus of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention is described first with reference to fig. 1, fig. 1 showing a schematic block diagram of a duplex measuring apparatus 100 of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the present aspect.

As shown in fig. 1, a duplex measurement apparatus 100 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes an ultrasonic probe 110, a transmission/reception circuit 120, a memory 130, a processor 140, and a display 150. The transmit/receive circuit 120 may include a transmit controller for exciting the ultrasound probe 110 to transmit ultrasound waves to the target tissue and a receive controller for receiving ultrasound echoes returned from the target tissue by the ultrasound probe 110. The processor 140 may obtain ultrasound echo data based on the ultrasound echo, and process the ultrasound echo data to obtain an ultrasound image of the target tissue. For example, the ultrasonic echo data is subjected to beam forming processing by a beam forming circuit. The ultrasound images obtained by the processor 140 may be stored in the memory 130. Also, the ultrasound image may be displayed on the display 150.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the probe types of the ultrasonic probe 110 may include a convex array probe, a linear array probe, a phased array probe, and the like, and specifically, the probe types are selected according to practical situations, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited in particular.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of array elements (also referred to as a plurality of transducers or a plurality of transducer array elements, a plurality including at least two) are disposed in the ultrasonic probe 110, for transmitting ultrasonic waves according to electrical signals or converting received ultrasonic echoes into electrical signals. In the present embodiment, the ultrasonic probe 110 has a plurality of array elements, so that ultrasonic waves can be transmitted and received in a wide frequency band without switching the probe. The plurality of array elements can be arranged in a row to form a linear array or arranged in a two-dimensional matrix to form an area array, or can form a convex array, a phased array and the like. The array elements may emit ultrasound waves based on the excitation electrical signals or may convert received ultrasound waves into electrical signals, so that each array element may be used to emit ultrasound waves to tissue of the target area or may be used to receive ultrasound echoes returned through the tissue. In making ultrasonic measurements, it is possible to control which elements are used to transmit ultrasound waves, which elements are used to receive ultrasound waves, or to control the element slots are used to transmit ultrasound waves or receive ultrasound echoes by the transmit/receive circuit 112. All array elements participating in ultrasonic wave transmission can be excited by the electric signals at the same time, so that ultrasonic waves are transmitted at the same time; or the array elements participating in the ultrasonic wave transmission can be excited by a plurality of electric signals with a certain time interval, so that the ultrasonic wave with a certain time interval can be continuously transmitted.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting/receiving circuit 120 is further configured to acquire a transmitting/receiving sequence, and based on the transmitting/receiving sequence, the transmitting controller excites the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue, and the receiving controller receives the ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue through the ultrasonic probe 110. The processor 140 may calculate sound velocity measurements and sound attenuation measurements of the ultrasound waves in the target region based on the ultrasound echo data, as described in more detail in subsequent embodiments of the present specification.

Alternatively, the memory 130 may be a flash memory card, a solid state memory, a hard disk, or the like. Which may be volatile memory and/or nonvolatile memory, removable memory and/or non-removable memory, and the like.

Alternatively, the processor 140 may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof, using a circuit, a single or multiple application specific integrated circuits (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a single or multiple general purpose integrated circuits, a single or multiple microprocessors, a single or multiple programmable logic devices, or any combination of the foregoing circuits and/or devices, or other suitable circuits or devices, such that the processor 140 may perform the corresponding steps of the methods in the various embodiments in this specification.

Alternatively, the display 150 may be a touch display screen, a liquid crystal display screen, or the like; or the display 150 may be a stand-alone display device such as a liquid crystal display, television, or the like that is independent of the ultrasound device 100; or the display 150 may be a display screen of an electronic device such as a smart phone, tablet, etc. Wherein the number of displays 150 may be one or more.

In addition to displaying the ultrasonic image, the sound velocity measurement result, and the sound attenuation measurement result, the display 150 may provide a graphical interface for the user to perform man-machine interaction, set one or more controlled objects on the graphical interface, and provide the user with an operation instruction input by the man-machine interaction device to control the controlled objects, so as to perform a corresponding control operation. For example, icons are displayed on the graphical interface, and the icons may be manipulated using a human-machine interaction device to perform a particular function.

It should be understood that the components included in the measurement device 100 shown in fig. 1 are illustrative only and may include more or fewer components. For example, the measurement device 100 may also include input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, scroll wheel, trackball, etc., and/or output devices such as a printer in addition to the display 150. The corresponding external input/output port may be a wireless communication module, a wired communication module, or a combination of both. The external input/output ports may also be implemented based on USB, bus protocols such as CAN, and/or wired network protocols, among others. The invention is not limited in this regard.

Next, a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is applied to the duplex measurement apparatus 100 of sound velocity and sound attenuation, will be described with reference to fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method 200 of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 2, the duplex measurement method 200 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes the following steps:

s210: controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image;

s220: receiving an operation instruction for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement of the target area;

s230: in response to the operation instruction, controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by utilizing a target transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals;

s240: determining an acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region based on the sound speed measurement and the first ultrasonic echo signal;

S250: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

First, step S210 is performed: and controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to target tissues, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissues based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the target tissue may be any tissue organ of a human or animal, such as liver, kidney, etc., and according to the measuring apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1, the transmission controller of the transmission/reception circuit 120 excites the ultrasonic probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue, and the reception controller of the transmission/reception circuit 120 receives ultrasonic echoes returned from the target tissue through the ultrasonic probe 110. The processor 140 obtains ultrasonic echo data based on the ultrasonic echo, and processes the ultrasonic echo data to obtain an ultrasonic image of the target tissue. For example, the ultrasonic echo data is subjected to beam forming processing by a beam forming circuit. The ultrasound images obtained by the processor 140 may be stored in the memory 130. Also, the ultrasound image may be displayed on the display 150. The measuring device can determine a target area on the ultrasonic image by receiving a user instruction, and can also automatically identify the target area, wherein the target area is determined from the ultrasonic image and is further required to be measured, for example, sound velocity and sound attenuation are measured.

Illustratively, the ultrasound image comprises a B-mode ultrasound image and/or a C-mode ultrasound image.

In the embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic image generation process comprises the signal processing process of the common imaging modes such as B-type imaging, color ultrasonic imaging, elastography and the like, and various general links such as beam forming, gain compensation, orthogonal demodulation and the like are included, and are not described in detail herein.

Next, step S220 is performed: and receiving an operation instruction for carrying out sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement on the target area.

Aiming at the situation that in the prior art, operation instructions for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement are respectively received and independently enter a sound velocity calculation function or independently enter a sound attenuation calculation function, two times of inspection are respectively carried out, an interested target is easy to change, and sound velocity results and sound attenuation results are difficult to ensure to come from the same tissue target.

Next, step S230 is performed: and responding to the operation instruction, controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by utilizing a target transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals.

Illustratively, determining a sound speed measurement within the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal includes:

acquiring a plurality of preset sound velocity values;

respectively carrying out beam synthesis on the first ultrasonic echo signal based on the plurality of preset sound velocity values to obtain a plurality of enhanced signals reflecting the target area;

and comparing the plurality of enhancement signals reflecting the target area, and selecting a sound speed value corresponding to the optimal enhancement signal as the sound speed measurement result.

In the embodiment of the invention, a plurality of sound velocity values are preset, and beam synthesis is performed on the first ultrasonic echo signal based on the different preset sound velocity values respectively to obtain a plurality of enhanced signals (for example, signals after beam synthesis) reflecting the target area. The process of obtaining the enhancement signal needs to perform weighted superposition on echo signals received by a plurality of array elements, and on the other hand, the echo signals of each array element during weighted superposition must come from the same local position of the target tissue as far as possible, so that the final result is accurate in position and highest in signal-to-noise ratio. When determining whether or not echo signals of each array element are from the same local position in space, it is necessary to calculate the time for the local position signals to reach each array element based on the sound velocity value. Therefore, if the sound velocity value is inaccurate, the effect of enhancing the signal is affected, and finally, the problems of inaccurate position signal correspondence or unclear spatial resolution, poor image quality and the like of the target tissue are caused. And comparing the obtained enhanced signals under different preset sound velocity values, and selecting a sound velocity value corresponding to an optimal result as the sound velocity measurement result.

Illustratively, prior to the determining the sound speed measurement of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, the method further comprises:

acquiring a preset sound velocity value of a superficial area in the ultrasonic image, wherein the depth of the superficial area is smaller than that of the target area;

the determining a sound speed measurement of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal includes:

and processing the first ultrasonic echo signal according to the sound velocity value of the superficial area to obtain a sound velocity measurement result of the target area.

In the embodiment of the invention, since the propagation path of the sound wave always passes from the shallowest position to the deepest position, in order to increase the accuracy of the sound velocity measurement result in the target depth region, sound velocity determination may also be performed in sections at different depths. For example, an optimal sound velocity result in a shallow depth range is determined first, and then an optimal sound velocity result in a deep depth range is determined based on the sound velocity result.

In an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in connection with fig. 12, the region between the ultrasound probe and the target region may be referred to as a superficial region, and the sound velocity measurement within the superficial region may be determined based on the ultrasound echo signal according to a similar method before the sound velocity measurement within the target region is determined based on the first ultrasound echo signal according to the method described above.

In the embodiment of the invention, a plurality of preset sound velocity values of a superficial area in an ultrasonic image are firstly obtained, and the sound velocity values of the superficial area are determined according to the method; and then processing the first ultrasonic echo signal according to the sound velocity value of the superficial area to obtain a sound velocity measurement result of a target area which is positioned below the superficial area and has a depth greater than that of the superficial area.

determining a plurality of lateral positions in the target area;

respectively obtaining sound velocity values of the plurality of transverse positions based on the first ultrasonic echo signals;

and determining sound velocity measurement results of the target area according to sound velocity values of the plurality of transverse positions.

In the embodiment of the invention, the sound velocity determination can be performed according to different transverse ranges, and respective sound velocity results in different transverse ranges are finally obtained, so that the distribution conditions of different local areas of the sound velocity measurement results in the target tissue are obtained. It is noted that the sound velocity estimation process does not affect each other when estimating each of the different lateral ranges.

Next, step S240 is performed: an acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region is determined based on the sound speed measurement and the first ultrasonic echo signal.

Illustratively, the determining the acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region based on the sound speed measurement and the first ultrasonic echo signal comprises:

processing the first ultrasonic echo signal according to the sound velocity measurement result to obtain an echo processing signal;

and carrying out sound attenuation calculation on the echo processing signals to obtain sound attenuation measurement results of the target area.

In the embodiment of the invention, the first ultrasonic echo signal is subjected to beam synthesis according to the sound velocity measurement result to obtain beam synthesis signals of different positions of the target area, and the beam synthesis signals are used as the echo processing signals. It should be noted that, the echo processing signals include, but are not limited to, beam forming signals, and the processing of the first ultrasonic echo signal includes any processing manner capable of obtaining an echo processing signal for acoustic attenuation calculation, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the invention, a sound velocity measurement result of the target area is determined based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, and a sound attenuation measurement result of the target area is further determined based on the sound velocity measurement result and the first ultrasonic echo signal, wherein the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result are both determined based on the first ultrasonic echo of a target transmitting and receiving sequence, and the target transmitting and receiving sequence used for determining the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result is the same transmitting and receiving sequence.

Illustratively, the performing acoustic attenuation calculation on the echo processing signal to obtain an acoustic attenuation measurement result of the target area includes:

amplitude values of a plurality of preset depths in the target area are obtained from the echo processing signals;

and determining the sound attenuation measurement result of the target area according to the amplitude values of the preset depths.

In the embodiment of the invention, amplitude values in echo processing signals corresponding to different depths are respectively extracted, and then an acoustic attenuation coefficient is fitted according to an attenuation formula. For ultrasonic waves with the same frequency, the dB number of the acoustic energy and the propagation depth of the ultrasonic waves are approximately in linear relation, the slope of the straight line can reflect the sound attenuation degree, and the larger the absolute value of the slope is, the faster the sound attenuation is. And more simply, the echo amplitude corresponding to certain two preset depths can be directly extracted, the difference value of the amplitudes is calculated, and the larger the difference value is, the faster the sound attenuation is indicated. The acoustic attenuation coefficient can only consider the change along with the depth, for example, the unit is dB/mm, and can also simultaneously consider the change along with the depth and the frequency, for example, the unit is dB/mm/MHz, and even can be obtained by fitting and calculating ultrasonic signals obtained under the conditions of different frequencies, different depths, different focuses and the like in other nonlinear fitting relations, and the acoustic attenuation coefficient can be collectively called as an acoustic attenuation parameter.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the acoustic attenuation measurement result may be a global acoustic attenuation measurement parameter in the target area, or may be an attenuation distribution result (a local acoustic attenuation measurement parameter for different local positions) in the target area, or further obtained acoustic attenuation statistical parameters in the target area (for example, an average attenuation result, a standard deviation, a median value, etc. in a certain area range are calculated according to the distribution result), or at least one of gray-scale or color-coded acoustic attenuation images.

In the calculation of the acoustic attenuation parameters, the positional correspondence of the ultrasonic signals thereof needs to be as accurate as possible because the corresponding ultrasonic intensities or amplitudes at different depths or different positions need to be known. In the embodiment of the present invention, based on the sound velocity result obtained in step S230, an optimal enhancement signal (such as a signal after beam synthesis) capable of accurately reflecting different position information of the target tissue is obtained, an echo processing signal is formed, and then, based on the echo processing signal, calculation of the acoustic attenuation parameter is performed, so that the acoustic attenuation calculation is more accurate.

Next, step S250 is performed: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

In the embodiment of the invention, the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result are displayed on an ultrasonic image of the target area in a same screen in a numerical value and/or image mode; further, when the sound velocity measurement result and/or the sound attenuation measurement result is an image, it is displayed superimposed with the ultrasound image of the target region.

In the embodiment of the invention, the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result of the target tissue are synchronously obtained, so that the two results (including parameters or images) can be simultaneously displayed for diagnosis and reference of doctors to obtain more comprehensive information. The sound velocity measurement result/sound attenuation measurement result can be displayed on the same screen as a conventional image (such as a B mode/C mode image) and can also simultaneously display a position mark (such as a position of a target region) of a target tissue region on the conventional image, so that the reference of a user is facilitated, as shown in fig. 12. When the display result is an image, the image may be displayed in a color coding manner, superimposed with the conventional image, and generally displayed at a position corresponding to the target tissue region on the conventional image. If the sound velocity and sound attenuation are both images, two superimposed images may be displayed simultaneously, as shown in FIG. 13; if one result is an image and the other result is a parameter, only one superimposed image is displayed, and the other directly outputs the result, and then the corresponding statistical result (such as average value) in the image distribution can be further simultaneously output, as shown in fig. 14.

According to the duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, which is provided by the embodiment of the invention, an ultrasonic image of a target area is acquired, a duplex ultrasonic transmitting and receiving sequence is triggered, a sound velocity and sound attenuation result is determined, and the sound velocity and sound attenuation result is displayed. The determination of the sound attenuation measurement result is affected by the sound velocity measurement result, and the obtained sound attenuation parameter is more accurate. By the measuring method, a user can obtain synchronous sound velocity/sound attenuation measuring results only by selecting a target area once, and the two results come from the same target area and reflect the characteristics of multiple dimensions of target tissues.

Next, a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method 300 of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 3, the duplex measurement method 300 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes the following steps:

s310: controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image;

S320: acquiring a transmitting and receiving sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement;

s330: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the transmitting and receiving sequence, and receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region;

s340: determining a sound velocity measurement and a sound attenuation measurement of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal;

s350: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result.

First, step S310 is performed: and controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S310 is identical to the description of step S210, and will not be repeated here.

Next, step S320 is performed: a transmit-receive sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement is acquired.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a transmitting-receiving sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the transmitting-receiving sequence for sound velocity measurement and the transmitting-receiving sequence for sound attenuation measurement are the same transmitting-receiving sequence, which may also be referred to as a common transmitting-receiving sequence.

Illustratively, the transmit receive sequence includes one or more of the following parameters: transmit waveform, frequency, focus, transmit interval, scan range.

In the embodiment of the invention, the transmitting and receiving sequence for sound velocity measurement and the transmitting and receiving sequence for sound attenuation measurement are the same transmitting and receiving sequence, so that parameters such as transmitting waveform, frequency, focusing, transmitting interval, scanning range and the like are all the same group.

Next, steps S330 to S350 are performed.

Step S330: and controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to the tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the transmitting and receiving sequence, and receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region.

Step S340: a sound velocity measurement and a sound attenuation measurement of the target region are determined based on the first ultrasonic echo signal.

Step S350: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S330 is consistent with the description of step S230, the description of step S340 is consistent with the description of step S240, and the description of step S350 is consistent with the description of step S250, which will not be repeated here.

Illustratively, the method further comprises:

generating a comprehensive evaluation parameter for evaluating tissue characteristics of the target tissue from the sound velocity measurement and the sound attenuation measurement;

and controlling and displaying the comprehensive evaluation parameters.

In the embodiment of the invention, the actual use of the sound attenuation measurement result in the clinic is mainly the evaluation of fatty liver, the quality optimization of B image, or the evaluation of fat content of other tissues (such as body surface tissues).

Illustratively, a big data model is utilized to establish an association between sound velocity measurements and sound attenuation measurements and tissue property results.

Further, determining a tissue characteristic result of the target tissue according to the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the association relation;

and controlling and displaying the tissue characteristic result of the target tissue.

In the embodiment of the invention, taking the evaluation of fatty liver as an example, through the comparison study of big data and clinical gold standard results, the sound velocity measurement result can be converted into a Score-spd of 0-5 according to the fatty liver degree, the sound attenuation measurement result can also be converted into a Score-att of 0-5 according to the fatty liver degree, and then a new comprehensive evaluation parameter FLQ =a (1-a) Score-att is calculated, wherein a is a weighting coefficient between 0 and 1, and the weighting coefficient can be preset by a system according to the big data result. The integrated evaluation parameter is displayed on a display.

In the embodiment of the invention, through the comparison and research of big data and clinical gold standard results, the system can also directly establish the corresponding relation between the distribution range of sound velocity and sound attenuation results and the liver fat content, and the system displays the fat content range. Such as:

sound velocity range a1-a2, and sound attenuation results b1-b2, fat content <10%;

sound speed range a3-a4, and sound attenuation results b3-b4, fat content > = 10% and <34%;

sound speed range a5-a6, and sound attenuation results b5-b6, fat content > = 34% and <67%;

sound velocity range a7-a8, and sound attenuation results b7-b8, fat content >67%

Wherein, a1-a8, b1-b8 can be preset according to big data result.

Next, a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method 800 of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 8, the duplex measurement method 800 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes the following steps:

step S810: controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image;

Step S820: determining a first transmit receive sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and a second transmit receive sequence suitable for sound attenuation measurement;

step S830: receiving an operation instruction for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement of the target area;

step S840: in response to the operation instruction, controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the first transmission and reception sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals;

step S850: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the second transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding second ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining an acoustic attenuation measurement result of the target region based on the second ultrasonic echo signals;

step S860: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

First, step S810 is performed: and controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S810 is identical to the description of step S210, and will not be repeated here.

Next, step S820 is performed: a first transmit receive sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and a second transmit receive sequence suitable for sound attenuation measurement are determined.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first transmission and reception sequence and the second transmission and reception sequence include at least one of the following parameters: transmit waveform, frequency, focus, transmit interval, scan range.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the frequency of the first transmitting and receiving sequence is smaller than the frequency of the second transmitting and receiving sequence; alternatively, the wavelength of the first transmit receive sequence is greater than the wavelength of the second transmit receive sequence.

In the embodiment of the invention, the execution of the first transmitting and receiving sequence and the second transmitting and receiving sequence is triggered simultaneously through a single triggering operation.

The first transmission/reception sequence and the second transmission/reception sequence are transmitted automatically and continuously, wherein the first transmission/reception sequence is followed by the second transmission/reception sequence or the second transmission/reception sequence is followed by the first transmission/reception sequence.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a transmitting-receiving sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which signals for sound velocity calculation and for sound attenuation calculation are respectively from two sets of sequences, whose parameters of transmission waveform, frequency, focusing, transmission interval, scanning range, etc. are independently controlled, and may be identical or different, but the two sets of sequences are automatically continuously transmitted without requiring the user to perform additional triggering processing or to reselect a target region of interest, etc.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the order of the two sets of transmission and reception sequences shown in fig. 5 may be that the first transmission and reception sequence is followed by the second transmission and reception sequence, or that the second transmission and reception sequence is followed by the first transmission and reception sequence. In this case, the time of the transmit sequence is relatively long, sacrificing acquisition time and frame rate, but providing more flexibility, the respective more matched parameters can be selected based on the different sound speed calculation and sound attenuation calculation requirements. For example, the sound velocity calculation may require more balanced signal energy at each depth and deeper penetration, so that the signal-to-noise ratio of far-field signals can be improved by selecting lower frequency or longer waveform emission, and in addition, the energy uniformity of echo signals at different depths can be improved by amplifying deeper signals by a larger multiple. But the acoustic attenuation calculation is more focused on the attenuation of the acoustic signal energy and therefore it is possible to use slightly higher transmit frequencies or to maintain the same amplification at different depths to maintain true attenuation at different depths. Furthermore, the requirements for focusing by the sound velocity calculation and the sound attenuation calculation may also be different, so that the two sets of sequences may also take different focusing parameters.

The first transmission and reception sequence and the second transmission and reception sequence are transmitted in a crossing manner, wherein the first transmission and reception sequence comprises a plurality of first sub-transmission and reception sequences, and the second transmission and reception sequence comprises a plurality of second sub-transmission and reception sequences, and the first sub-transmission and reception sequences and the second sub-transmission and reception sequences are transmitted in a crossing manner.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a transmitting-receiving sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which signals for sound velocity calculation and for sound attenuation calculation still come from two sets of sequences, respectively, whose parameters of transmission waveform, frequency, focusing, transmission interval, scanning range, etc. are independently controlled, and may be identical or different, but the two sets of sequences are automatically cross-transmitted, without requiring the user to perform additional triggering processing or to reselect a target region of interest, etc.

In the embodiment of the invention, because the target area has a certain transverse range, in order to acquire complete transverse range information, the transverse positions pointed by the ultrasonic emission may be different for each time, so as to form a scanning effect. The two sets of transmit-receive sequences of cross-transmit shown in fig. 6 differ from the two sets of transmit-receive sequences of tandem transmit shown in fig. 5 in that for each lateral position the transmissions for sound velocity and for sound attenuation are as close in time as possible so that the results of sound velocity estimation in the respective local lateral regions can be more matched to sound attenuation estimation, but for a single same type of transmission (such as a sound velocity sequence) the total time to acquire a frame scan of the full lateral range is longer and therefore more susceptible to noise and must wait until all transmissions are completed to make a calculation. Of course, the crossing method is not necessarily limited to the 1 st sound velocity 1 st sound attenuation emission method, and may be the 2 nd sound velocity 1 st sound attenuation emission method, the 2 nd sound velocity 2 nd sound attenuation emission method, or the like.

The first transmit receive sequence and the second transmit receive sequence are transmitted simultaneously, for example.

The ultrasound probe may include a plurality of array elements, the first transmit receive sequence being completed by a first array element group of the ultrasound probe and the second transmit receive sequence being completed by a second array element group of the ultrasound probe when the first transmit receive sequence and the second transmit receive sequence are transmitted simultaneously, there being no overlapping region between the different transmit array element groups and the receive array element groups.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a transmitting-receiving sequence according to an embodiment of the present invention, where signals for sound velocity calculation and for sound attenuation calculation still come from two sets of sequences, respectively, whose parameters such as transmission waveform, frequency, focusing, transmission interval, scanning range, etc. are controlled independently, and may be the same or different, but each transmitting-receiving in the two sets of sequences is performed simultaneously, and is performed by different array element groups in the probe.

In the embodiment of the invention, for example, sound velocity transmitting and receiving are completed by the array element group A, sound attenuation transmitting and receiving are completed by the array element group B, and different transmitting and receiving array element groups have no overlapping area and can be separated by a certain distance, for example, the sound velocity transmitting and receiving array element groups can be respectively arranged at the left side and the right side of the probe. After reception, two different sets of echo signals may be obtained. The advantages of this transmission mode are short sequence, high frame rate, and independent control of the transmission parameters, but the energy of the sound field transmitted each time may be limited. At the same time, the interference between the two sets of acoustic energy needs to be avoided as much as possible, so that each transmission needs to be separated as much as possible in the arrangement of the transmit/receive array elements.

Next, step S830 is performed: receiving an operation instruction for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement of the target area;

in the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S830 is identical to the description of step S220, and will not be repeated here.

Next, step S840 is performed: and responding to the operation instruction, controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit first ultrasonic waves to the tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the first transmission and reception sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S840 is identical to the description of step S230, and will not be repeated here.

Next, step S850 is performed: and controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to the tissue region corresponding to the target region by adopting the second transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding second ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the target region, and determining an acoustic attenuation measurement result of the target region based on the second ultrasonic echo signals.

Illustratively, determining an acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region based on the second ultrasonic echo signal comprises:

An acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region is determined based on the sound speed measurement and the second ultrasonic echo signal.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the method for determining the sound attenuation measurement result of the target area based on the sound velocity measurement result and the second ultrasonic echo signal is similar to the method for determining the sound attenuation measurement result of the target area based on the sound velocity measurement result and the first ultrasonic echo signal in step S240, and the specific process may refer to step S240, and will not be repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present invention, for the first transmission and reception sequence and the second transmission and reception sequence that are automatically and continuously transmitted as shown in fig. 4, the first transmission and reception sequence may be followed by the second transmission and reception sequence, or the second transmission and reception sequence may be followed by the first transmission and reception sequence. For the situation that the sound velocity sequence is behind the sound attenuation sequence before, the sound velocity sequence can immediately calculate the sound velocity link after the sound velocity sequence is transmitted and received, and the calculation is carried out without the condition that all the sequences are transmitted and received, so that the whole calculation time is saved as much as possible. Of course, it is also possible to wait until all sequences have been transmitted and received before uniformly entering the calculation. For the cross transmission of the first transmission reception sequence and the second transmission reception sequence shown in fig. 5, it is necessary to wait until all transmissions are completed.

Next, step S860 is performed: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S860 is identical to the description of step S250, and will not be repeated here.

According to the duplex measuring method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, which is provided by the embodiment of the invention, an ultrasonic image of a target area is acquired, a duplex ultrasonic transmitting and receiving sequence is triggered, a sound velocity and sound attenuation measuring result is determined, and the sound velocity and sound attenuation measuring result is displayed. By the measuring method, a user only needs to select a target area once, and trigger a one-time duplex ultrasonic transmitting and receiving sequence, so that synchronous sound velocity/sound attenuation measuring results can be obtained, and the two results come from the same target and reflect the characteristics of multiple dimensions of the target tissue.

Next, a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method 900 of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 9, the duplex measurement method 900 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes the following steps:

step S910: controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining a target area in the ultrasonic image, wherein the target area comprises a first area and a second area; wherein the first region partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second region;

Step S920: acquiring a first transmitting and receiving sequence suitable for sound velocity measurement and a second transmitting and receiving sequence suitable for sound attenuation measurement;

step S930: receiving an operation instruction for sound velocity measurement and sound attenuation measurement of the target area;

step S940: controlling the ultrasonic probe in response to the operation instruction, transmitting first ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the first region by adopting the first transmission and reception sequence, receiving corresponding first ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the first region, and determining a sound velocity measurement result of the first region based on the first ultrasonic echo signals;

step S950: controlling the ultrasonic probe to transmit second ultrasonic waves to a tissue region corresponding to the second region by adopting the second transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving corresponding second ultrasonic echo signals returned from the tissue region corresponding to the second region, and determining an acoustic attenuation measurement result of the second region based on the second ultrasonic echo signals;

step S960: and controlling the on-screen display of the sound velocity measurement result of the first area and the sound attenuation measurement result of the second area.

Firstly, executing step S910, namely controlling an ultrasonic probe to emit ultrasonic waves to target tissues, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, generating ultrasonic images of the target tissues based on the ultrasonic echo signals, and determining target areas in the ultrasonic images, wherein the target areas comprise a first area and a second area; wherein the first region partially overlaps or does not overlap with the second region.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of "controlling the ultrasound probe to transmit ultrasound waves to the target tissue and receive the returned corresponding ultrasound echo signals, generating an ultrasound image of the target tissue based on the ultrasound echo signals", and determining the target area in the ultrasound image "is consistent with the description of step S250, which is not repeated herein.

In the embodiment of the present invention, although only one duplex ultrasound transmitting and receiving sequence needs to be triggered, the target area of interest (or the range of ultrasound scanning) corresponding to the sound velocity and sound attenuation result may be different, which is equivalent to selecting 2 target areas of interest simultaneously (2 different target areas may be selected by the user, or 1 target area may be selected by the user, the system automatically sets another 1 target area according to a preset rule, for example, another 1 target area is in the middle 50% of the 1 target area, or the 2 target areas are all preset by the system), at this time, the synchronous sound velocity/sound attenuation result calculation may still be obtained, but the targets of the two results are not identical, but the operation of the user is simplified. For example, 1 region of interest is inside another 1 region of interest, which can reduce the amount of calculation data received by 1 ultrasonic emission and reduce the scanning time.

Next, steps S920 to S960 are performed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S920 is identical to the description of step S820, and the description of step S930 is identical to the description of step S830, which is not repeated here.

Illustratively, determining an acoustic attenuation measurement of the second region based on the second ultrasonic echo signal comprises:

an acoustic attenuation measurement of the second region is determined based on the sound speed measurement of the first region and the second ultrasonic echo signal.

In the embodiment of the present invention, regarding the steps S940 to S950, although the first region and the second region in the steps S940 and S950 are partially overlapped or not overlapped and the target region in the steps S840 and S850 are completely overlapped, the method for determining the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result is similar, and the specific process may refer to the steps S840 to S850, and will not be repeated here.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S960 is identical to the description of step S860, and will not be repeated here.

In the embodiment of the invention, the first ultrasonic echo signal can be used for determining not only the sound velocity measurement result of the first area, but also the sound attenuation measurement result of the first area; the second ultrasonic echo signal can be used for determining not only the sound attenuation measurement result of the second area, but also the sound velocity measurement result of the second area; and controlling the on-screen display of the sound attenuation measurement result of the first region and the sound velocity measurement result of the second region.

Next, a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method 1000 of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 10, the duplex measurement method 1000 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes the following steps:

step S1010: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue by utilizing a transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, and generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals;

step S1020: determining a sound velocity measurement of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signal;

step S1030: determining an acoustic attenuation measurement of the target tissue based on the sound speed measurement and the ultrasonic echo signal;

step S1040: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

First, step S1010 is executed: the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue by utilizing a transmitting and receiving sequence, and receives corresponding ultrasonic echo signals returned, and an ultrasonic image of the target tissue is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signals.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the one transceiver sequence includes a transceiver sequence as shown in fig. 4, where the transceiver sequence for generating the ultrasound image of the target tissue is the same transceiver sequence as the transceiver sequence for sound velocity measurement and the transceiver sequence for sound attenuation measurement.

Next, steps S1020 to S1040 are performed.

In the embodiment of the present invention, step S1020 to step S1030 are similar to the method of "determining the sound velocity measurement result of the target area based on the first ultrasonic echo signal" and "determining the sound attenuation measurement result of the target area based on the sound velocity measurement result and the first ultrasonic echo signal" in step S230 to step S240, and the specific process may refer to step S230 to step S240, and the description of step S1040 is identical to the description of step S250, which is not repeated herein.

Next, a duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 11. Fig. 11 is a schematic flow chart of a duplex measurement method 1100 of sound velocity and sound attenuation according to an embodiment of the invention.

As shown in fig. 11, the duplex measurement method 1100 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes the following steps:

Step S1110: controlling an ultrasonic probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target tissue by utilizing a transmitting and receiving sequence, receiving returned corresponding ultrasonic echo signals, and generating an ultrasonic image of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals;

step S1120: determining a sound velocity measurement and a sound attenuation measurement of the target tissue based on the ultrasonic echo signals;

step S1130: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

First, step S1110 is performed: the ultrasonic probe is controlled to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target tissue by utilizing a transmitting and receiving sequence, and receives corresponding ultrasonic echo signals returned, and an ultrasonic image of the target tissue is generated based on the ultrasonic echo signals.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S1110 is identical to the description of step S1010, and will not be repeated here.

Next, step S1120 is performed: a sound velocity measurement and a sound attenuation measurement of the target tissue are determined based on the ultrasound echo signals.

In the embodiment of the present invention, step S1120 is similar to the method of determining the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result of the target area based on the first ultrasonic echo signal in step S240, and the specific process may refer to step S240, which is not described herein.

Next, step S1130 is performed: and controlling the same screen to display the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the ultrasonic image.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the description of step S1130 is identical to the description of step S1040, and will not be repeated here.

Referring back to fig. 1, the duplex measurement apparatus 100 of sound velocity and sound attenuation includes an ultrasonic probe 110, a transmit/receive circuit 120, a memory 130, a processor 140, and a display 150. The processor 140 shown in fig. 1 can be used to implement the steps of the foregoing

methods

200, 300, 800, 900, 1000, or 1100, respectively, and for avoiding repetition, a detailed description is omitted herein.

Based on the above description, according to the duplex measurement method and the measurement device for sound velocity and sound attenuation of the embodiment of the invention, by selecting the target area once and triggering the duplex ultrasonic transmitting and receiving sequence once, the synchronous sound velocity/sound attenuation measurement result can be obtained, and the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result are displayed on the same screen, so that not only can the more accurate sound attenuation measurement result be obtained, but also the characteristics of the target area can be evaluated more comprehensively, and the operation is simple and convenient.

Although the illustrative embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the above illustrative embodiments are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application thereto. Various changes and modifications may be made therein by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present application. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present application as set forth in the appended claims.

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

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the elements is merely a logical functional division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple elements or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted or not performed.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the present application may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in order to streamline the application and aid in understanding one or more of the various inventive aspects, various features of the application are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof in the description of exemplary embodiments of the application. However, the method of this application should not be construed to reflect the following intent: i.e., the claimed application requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this application.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and all of the processes or units of any method or apparatus so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where the features are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while some embodiments described herein include some features but not others included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the present application and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the application, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The application may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed acquisition machine. In the unit claims enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The use of the words first, second, third, etc. do not denote any order. These words may be interpreted as names.

Claims

1. A duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region based on the sound speed measurement and the first ultrasonic echo signal comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein processing the first ultrasonic echo signal according to the sound speed measurement results in an echo processed signal comprises:

and carrying out wave beam synthesis on the first ultrasonic echo signal according to the sound velocity measurement result to obtain wave beam synthesis signals of different positions of the target area, and taking the wave beam synthesis signals as the echo processing signals.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein performing an acoustic attenuation calculation on the echo processed signal to obtain an acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region comprises:

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining a sound speed measurement of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal comprises:

Acquiring a plurality of preset sound velocity values;

6. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to determining the sound speed measurement of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, the method further comprises:

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to determining the sound speed measurement of the target region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal, the method further comprises:

Determining a plurality of lateral positions in the target area;

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the acoustic attenuation measurements comprise at least one of global acoustic attenuation measurement parameters, local acoustic attenuation measurement parameters, acoustic attenuation statistical parameters, and acoustic attenuation images.

9. A duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, comprising:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the sound speed measurement and the sound attenuation measurement are displayed on screen in the form of values and/or images.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein when the sound speed measurement and/or the sound attenuation measurement is an image, it is displayed superimposed with the ultrasound image.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

and controlling and displaying the comprehensive evaluation parameters.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises:

and establishing an association relation between the sound velocity measurement result and the sound attenuation measurement result and the tissue characteristic result by using the big data model.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

Determining a tissue characteristic result of the target tissue according to the sound velocity measurement result, the sound attenuation measurement result and the association relation;

15. A duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, comprising:

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first transmit receive sequence and the second transmit receive sequence are transmitted automatically in succession, wherein the first transmit receive sequence is preceded by the second transmit receive sequence or the second transmit receive sequence is preceded by the first transmit receive sequence;

or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the first transmitting and receiving sequence and the second transmitting and receiving sequence are transmitted in a crossing mode, wherein the first transmitting and receiving sequence comprises a plurality of first sub-transmitting and receiving sequences, the second transmitting and receiving sequence comprises a plurality of second sub-transmitting and receiving sequences, and the first sub-transmitting and receiving sequences and the second sub-transmitting and receiving sequences are transmitted in a crossing mode;

or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the first transmit receive sequence and the second transmit receive sequence are transmitted simultaneously.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the calculation of the sound velocity measurement is performed immediately after the first transmit receive sequence is transmitted and received when the first transmit receive sequence is transmitted and received before the second transmit receive sequence is transmitted and received, or wherein the calculation of the sound velocity measurement and the sound attenuation measurement is performed in unison after the first transmit receive sequence and the second transmit receive sequence are transmitted and received.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the ultrasound probe comprises a plurality of array elements, the first transmit receive sequence being completed by a first array element group of the ultrasound probe and the second transmit receive sequence being completed by a second array element group of the ultrasound probe when the first transmit receive sequence and the second transmit receive sequence are transmitted simultaneously, there being no overlapping region between different transmit receive array element groups.

19. The method according to any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the frequency of the first transmit receive sequence is less than the frequency of the second transmit receive sequence; alternatively, the wavelength of the first transmit receive sequence is greater than the wavelength of the second transmit receive sequence.

20. The method of any of claims 15 to 18, wherein the first transmit receive sequence and the second transmit receive sequence comprise at least one of the following parameters: transmit waveform, frequency, focus, transmit interval, scan range.

21. The method of any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the determining the acoustic attenuation measurement of the target region based on the second ultrasound echo signal comprises:

22. A duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, comprising:

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the determining the acoustic attenuation measurement of the second region based on the second ultrasonic echo signal comprises:

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises:

determining an acoustic attenuation measurement of the first region based on the first ultrasonic echo signal;

determining a sound speed measurement of the second region based on the second ultrasonic echo signal;

and controlling the on-screen display of the sound attenuation measurement result of the first area and the sound velocity measurement result of the second area.

25. A duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, comprising:

26. A duplex measurement method of sound velocity and sound attenuation, comprising:

27. A duplex measurement device of sound velocity and sound attenuation, the device comprising:

an ultrasonic probe;

a processor for performing the method of any one of claims 1-26;

a memory for storing a program executed by the processor;

and the display is used for displaying the execution result of the processor.