KR101348768B1 - Ultrasound system and method for enhancing quality of ultrasound spatial compound image based on image magnification ratio information and beam profile - Google Patents

Ultrasound system and method for enhancing quality of ultrasound spatial compound image based on image magnification ratio information and beam profile Download PDF

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KR101348768B1
KR101348768B1 KR1020100111371A KR20100111371A KR101348768B1 KR 101348768 B1 KR101348768 B1 KR 101348768B1 KR 1020100111371 A KR1020100111371 A KR 1020100111371A KR 20100111371 A KR20100111371 A KR 20100111371A KR 101348768 B1 KR101348768 B1 KR 101348768B1
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ultrasound
ultrasonic
pixel value
window
image
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KR1020100111371A
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KR20120050054A (en
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김정식
한송이
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삼성메디슨 주식회사
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Priority to EP11187789A priority patent/EP2453257A3/en
Priority to EP13158377.5A priority patent/EP2605035B1/en
Priority to US13/290,691 priority patent/US9008383B2/en
Priority to JP2011245802A priority patent/JP2012101074A/en
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Abstract

An ultrasonic system for providing an ultrasonic spatial composite image that compensates for the spread of the ultrasonic beam and blurring due to scan conversion based on the image magnification ratio information and the beam profile according to scan conversion; and The method is disclosed. According to the ultrasound system, an ultrasound beam corresponding to an ultrasound image of each steering angle is transmitted by transmitting an ultrasound beam to an object using a convex probe and receiving an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object. An ultrasonic data acquiring unit operable to acquire data; A storage unit for storing image magnification ratio information indicating a ratio of the ultrasound image being enlarged by a scan profile and a beam profile indicating a degree of spread of the ultrasonic beam according to a depth based on a focal point; And an amount of blurring corresponding to the spread and scan conversion of the ultrasound beam according to depth for the ultrasound image based on the beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information, connected to the ultrasound data acquisition unit and the storage unit, and the ultrasound And a processor operative to form an ultrasonic spatial composite image that compensates for blurring due to spreading and scan transformation of the ultrasonic beam based on the data and the blurring amount.

Description

ULTRASOUND SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENHANCING QUALITY OF ULTRASOUND SPATIAL COMPOUND IMAGE BASED ON IMAGE MAGNIFICATION RATIO INFORMATION AND BEAM PROFILE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasound system, and more particularly, to an ultrasound system and method for improving image quality of an ultrasound image based on image magnification ratio information and beam profile by scan conversion.

Ultrasound systems have non-invasive and non-destructive properties and are widely used in the medical field for obtaining information inside an object. Without the need for a surgical operation to directly incise and observe a subject, an ultrasound system is very important in the medical field because it can provide a doctor with a high-resolution image of the inside of a subject in real time.

The ultrasound system transmits an ultrasound signal to an object through an ultrasound probe, particularly a convex probe. The ultrasonic signal transmitted from the ultrasonic probe is transmitted to the object as an ultrasonic beam. Meanwhile, the ultrasound system receives an ultrasound signal (that is, an ultrasound echo signal) reflected from the object through an ultrasound probe and forms an ultrasound image of the object based on the received ultrasound echo signal. Recently, in order to improve the resolution of an ultrasound image, an ultrasound system forms a spatial compound of a plurality of frames to form an ultrasound spatial composite image.

In general, the ultrasonic beam has a shallower depth and a deeper spread of the beam based on the focal point FP. As a result, blurring may occur for the point targets having the same size in the object, in which the size of the point targets differs depending on the depth in the ultrasound image. On the other hand, when acquiring ultrasound data using a convex probe, the size of the point target becomes different toward the bottom of the ultrasound image due to the characteristics of scan conversion in which relatively few scan lines are implemented in a large area. The ring is bad. When spatially synthesizing an ultrasound image in which blurring occurs, there is a problem in that an ultrasonic spatial synthesis image corresponding to the original shape and size of an object cannot be provided.

The present invention provides an ultrasonic spatial composite image that compensates for the spread of the ultrasonic beam and blurring due to scan conversion based on image magnification ratio information and beam profile according to scan conversion. An ultrasound system and method are provided.

The ultrasound system according to the present invention transmits an ultrasound beam to an object by using a convex probe, receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object, and corresponds to an ultrasound image of each steering angle. An ultrasonic data acquiring unit operable to acquire ultrasonic data; A storage unit for storing image magnification ratio information indicating a ratio of the ultrasound image being enlarged by a scan profile and a beam profile indicating a degree of spread of the ultrasonic beam according to a depth based on a focal point; And an amount of blurring connected to the ultrasound data acquisition unit and the storage unit and corresponding to the spread and scan conversion of an ultrasound beam according to depth for an ultrasound image based on the beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information. And a processor operative to form an ultrasound spatial composite image which compensates for blurring due to spreading and scan conversion of an ultrasound beam based on the ultrasound data and the blurring amount.

In addition, the ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improving method according to the present invention, a) by using a convex probe (convex probe) to transmit the ultrasonic beam to the object and to receive the ultrasonic echo signal reflected from the object by a plurality of ultrasonic waves of each steering angle Obtaining ultrasound data corresponding to an image; b) the spread of the ultrasound beam according to depth on the ultrasound image based on the beam profile indicating the degree of spread of the ultrasound beam according to depth based on the focal point and the image magnification ratio information indicating the rate at which the ultrasound image is enlarged by the scan conversion; And setting a blurring amount corresponding to the scan conversion. And c) forming an ultrasound spatial composite image which compensates for blurring due to spreading and scan conversion of an ultrasound beam based on the ultrasound data and the blurring amount.

The present invention can compensate for the blurring due to the spread and scan conversion of the ultrasound beam based on the image profile ratio information by the beam profile and the scan conversion of the ultrasound image, corresponding to the original shape and size of the object An ultrasound spatial composite image may be provided.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasound system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic data acquisition unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exemplary view showing a plurality of ultrasound images corresponding to a plurality of steering angles according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an exemplary view showing a beam profile according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an exemplary view showing image magnification ratio information indicating a ratio in which an ultrasound image is magnified by a scan transformation according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of improving image quality of an ultrasonic spatial composite image based on beam profile and image enlargement ratio information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
7 is an exemplary view showing a blurring amount according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
8 is an exemplary view showing an ultrasonic spatial composite image according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart showing a procedure of improving the image quality of an ultrasonic spatial composite image based on the beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
10 is an exemplary view showing a window according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
11 is an exemplary view showing a pixel value change according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasound system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, an ultrasound system 100 includes an ultrasound data acquisition unit 110, a storage unit 120, a processor 130, and a display unit 140.

The ultrasound data acquisition unit 110 transmits an ultrasound signal to the object, and receives ultrasound signal (that is, an ultrasound echo signal) reflected from the object to obtain ultrasound data.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic data acquisition unit 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the ultrasound data acquisition unit 110 includes an ultrasound probe 210, a transmission signal forming unit 220, a beam former 230, and an ultrasound data forming unit 240.

The ultrasonic probe 210 includes a plurality of transducer elements (not shown) that operate to mutually convert an electrical signal and an ultrasonic signal. The ultrasound probe 210 transmits an ultrasound signal along each of the plurality of scan lines, receives an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object, and forms a received signal. The received signal is an analog signal. The ultrasound probe 210 includes a convex probe.

The transmission signal forming unit 220 controls the transmission of the ultrasonic signal. Thus, the ultrasonic signal transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 210 is transmitted in the object as an ultrasonic beam. In addition, the transmission signal forming unit 220 forms a transmission signal for obtaining an ultrasound image corresponding to each of the steering angles in consideration of the conversion element, the focal point, and the steering angle. The ultrasound image includes a brightness mode image. However, the ultrasound image is not necessarily limited thereto.

In this embodiment, the transmission signal formation section 220 (not shown), a plurality of scan lines as shown in FIG. 3, the non-steering (that is, the steering angle is 0 ° in) the first ultrasound image (F 1 To form a first transmission signal. Therefore, when the first transmission signal is provided from the transmission signal forming unit 220, the ultrasound probe 210 converts the first transmission signal into an ultrasound signal and transmits the ultrasound signal to the object, and receives the ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object. 1 form a received signal. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the transmission signal forming unit 220 forms a second transmission signal for obtaining a second ultrasound image F 2 , which is steered through a plurality of scan lines at a first steering angle θ 1 . do. Therefore, when the second transmission signal is provided from the transmission signal forming unit 220, the ultrasound probe 210 converts the second transmission signal into an ultrasound signal and transmits the ultrasound signal to the object, and receives the ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object. 2 form a received signal. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the transmission signal forming unit 220 forms a third transmission signal for obtaining a third ultrasound image F 3 , which is obtained by steering a plurality of scan lines at a second steering angle θ 2 . do. Therefore, when the third transmission signal is provided from the transmission signal forming unit 220, the ultrasound probe 210 converts the third transmission signal into an ultrasound signal and transmits the ultrasound signal to the object, and receives the ultrasound echo signal reflected from the object. 3 Form a receive signal.

The beam former 230 converts a received signal provided from the ultrasonic probe 210 into analog and digital to form a digital signal. In addition, the beam former 230 focuses the digital signal in consideration of the conversion element, the focal point, and the steering angle to form the reception focus signal.

In the present embodiment, when the first received signal is provided from the ultrasonic probe 210, the beam former 230 converts the first received signal into analog and digital to form a first digital signal. The beam former 230 receives and focuses the first digital signal in consideration of the conversion element, the focusing point, and the steering angle to form the first reception focusing signal. In addition, when the second received signal is provided from the ultrasonic probe 210, the beam former 230 converts the second received signal into analog and digital to form a second digital signal. The beam former 230 receives and focuses the second digital signal in consideration of the conversion element, the focal point, and the steering angle to form the second reception focused signal. In addition, when the third received signal is provided from the ultrasound probe 210, the beam former 230 converts the third received signal into analog and digital to form a third digital signal. The beam former 230 concentrates the third digital signal in consideration of the conversion element, the focal point, and the steering angle to form a third received focused signal.

The ultrasound data forming unit 240 forms ultrasound data corresponding to ultrasound images of each of the plurality of steering units by using the reception focus signal provided from the beamformer 230. The ultrasound data includes radio frequency (RF) data. However, the ultrasonic data is not necessarily limited thereto. In addition, the ultrasound data forming unit 240 may perform various signal processing (e.g., gain adjustment, etc.) necessary to form ultrasound data on the receive focusing signal.

In the present embodiment, when the first reception focusing signal is provided from the beamformer 230, the ultrasound data forming unit 240 uses the first reception focusing signal to correspond to the first ultrasound image F 1 . Form the data. In addition, when the second reception focus signal is provided from the beamformer 230, the ultrasound data forming unit 240 forms second ultrasound data corresponding to the second ultrasound image F 2 using the second reception focus signal. do. In addition, when the third reception focus signal is provided from the beam former 230, the ultrasound data forming unit 240 forms third ultrasound data corresponding to the third ultrasound image F 3 by using the third reception focus signal. do.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the storage unit 120 stores a beam profile indicating a degree of spread of the ultrasonic beam according to depth based on a focusing point. As an example, the storage unit 120 stores a beam profile indicating the degree of spread of the ultrasonic beam according to depth based on the focal point FP as shown in FIG. 4. The shallower the depth and the deeper the depth of focusing of the focusing point FP, the deeper the spread of the ultrasound beam. As shown in FIG. 4, the point of the ultrasound image UI is the same for the same point target PT in the object. An artifact that causes the size of the target PT to be different, that is, blurring in which the ultrasound image UI is not clear occurs. In addition, the storage unit 130 stores image magnification ratio information indicating a ratio in which the ultrasound image is enlarged by scan conversion, as shown in FIG. 5.

The processor 130 is connected to the ultrasound data acquisition unit 110 and the storage unit 120. The processor 130 sets the blurring corresponding to the spread and scan conversion of the ultrasonic beam according to the depth for the ultrasonic image based on the beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information, and the ultrasonic data and the blurring. Based on the amount, an ultrasonic spatial composite image is formed to compensate for blurring due to spreading and scanning of the ultrasonic beam. The processor 130 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphic processing unit (GPU), and the like.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of improving the image quality of an ultrasound spatial composite image based on beam profile and image enlargement ratio information according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the processor 130 extracts beam profile and image magnification ratio information from the storage 120 (S602).

The processor 130 sets the blurring amount corresponding to the spread of the ultrasound beam and the image enlargement according to the depth of the ultrasound image based on the extracted beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information (S604). In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the processor 130 multiplies the beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information according to the depth, and sets the blurring amount corresponding to the spread of the ultrasound beam and the image enlargement according to the depth. Since the first to third ultrasound images F 1 to F 3 differ only in the steering angle of the scan line, and the beam profiles are the same, the amount of blurring for each of the first to third ultrasound images F 1 to F 3 is same. Therefore, the processor 130 may set one blurring amount for the first to third ultrasound images F 1 to F 3 .

The processor 130 performs data processing for compensating for blurring due to spreading and scan conversion of the ultrasonic beam on each of the plurality of ultrasonic data provided from the ultrasonic data obtaining unit 110 based on the set blurring amount ( S606). Data processing to compensate for blurring includes blind deconversion, inverse filtering, and the like. In the present embodiment, the processor 130 blurs the spread of the ultrasound beam and the scan conversion to each of the first to third ultrasound data provided from the ultrasound data acquisition unit 110 based on the set blurring amount. Perform data processing to compensate

The processor 130 performs scan conversion on the data processed ultrasound data to form an ultrasound image corresponding to each of the plurality of steering angles (S608), and spatially synthesizes the ultrasound images corresponding to each of the plurality of steering angles. An image is formed (S610). The ultrasonic spatial composite image may be formed using various known methods and thus will not be described in detail in this embodiment. In the present embodiment, the processor 130 uses the first to third ultrasound data processed by the data, as shown in FIG. 8, from the first ultrasound image F 1 to the third ultrasound image F 3 . Next, the first ultrasound image F 1 to the third ultrasound image F 3 are spatially synthesized to form an ultrasound spatial synthesized image SCI.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of improving the image quality of an ultrasound spatial composite image based on beam profile and image enlargement ratio information according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 9, the processor 130 extracts beam profile and image enlargement ratio information from the storage 120 (S902), and based on the extracted beam profile and image enlargement ratio information according to the depth of the ultrasound image. A blurring amount corresponding to spreading and scan conversion of the ultrasonic beam is set (S904). The blurring amount can be set in the same manner as the method for setting the blurring amount in the first embodiment, and thus will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

The processor 130 performs scan conversion on the plurality of ultrasound data provided from the ultrasound data acquisition unit 110 to form an ultrasound image corresponding to each of the plurality of steering angles (S906).

The processor 130 performs a filtering process for compensating for blurring due to spreading and scan conversion of the ultrasound beam on each of the plurality of ultrasound images to form an ultrasound image for compensating for blurring due to spreading and scan conversion of the ultrasound beam. (S908).

In the present embodiment, the processor 130 sets a window W having a preset size based on the pixels P 0 and 1 of the first ultrasound image F 1 , as shown in FIG. 10. The window may have a size of 1 × 3. The processor 130 detects a pixel corresponding to the window (W) (P 0, 0 , P 0, 1, P 0,2) pixel value (that is, the brightness values) for each. The processor 130 detects a change in pixel values of pixels corresponding to the window W by comparing the detected pixel values. If it is determined that the detected pixel value change is a pixel value increase (solid line of PC1) or pixel value decrease (solid line of PC2), the processor 130 corresponds to the pixel P 0 , 1 . A filtering process (dashed line of PC1 E or PC2) is performed to reduce the pixel value of the pixel P 0 , 1 based on the blurring amount of the depth. On the other hand, the pixel at the center among the detected pixel value variation, the pixel corresponding to the window (W) as shown in Fig. 10 (P 0, 0, P 0, 1, P 0, 2) (P 0, 1 ) of a pixel value for when it is determined that the pixel value is the maximum (solid line in PC3), processor 130 pixels (P 0, 1) based on the blurring amount in the depth corresponding to the pixels (P 0, 1) The filtering process (dashed line of PC3) to increase is performed. On the other hand, the pixel at the center among the detected pixel value variation, the pixel corresponding to the window (W) as shown in Fig. 10 (P 0, 0, P 0, 1, P 0, 2) (P 0, 1 ) of a pixel value for when it is determined that the pixel value is the minimum (solid line in PC4), processor 130 pixels (P 0, 1) based on the blurring amount in the depth corresponding to the pixels (P 0, 1) A filtering process (dashed line of PC4) is performed to reduce. Meanwhile, the detected pixel value change is 0 (ie, pixel values of pixels P 0 , 0 , P 0 , 1 , P 0 , 2 corresponding to the window W are the same) as shown in FIG. 10. If determined to be (PC5), the processor 130 does not perform the filtering process on the pixel P 0 , 1 . The processor 130 performs the filtering process as described above on each pixel of each of the first to third ultrasound images F 1 to F 3 while moving the window W by one pixel.

The processor 130 spatially synthesizes the filtered ultrasound images to form an ultrasound spatial composite image (S910).
As described above, by integrating a plurality of ultrasonic images subjected to inverse blurring to form an ultrasonic spatial composite image, the size of the point target of the ultrasonic spatial composite image is similar to that of the original point target, so that the ultrasonic space is The image quality of the synthesized image may be improved.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the display 140 displays the ultrasound spatial composite image formed by the processor 130. In addition, the display 140 displays a plurality of ultrasound images formed by the processor 130.

While the invention has been described and illustrated by way of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

As an example, in the above-described embodiment, the beam profile is stored in the storage unit 120, but in another embodiment, the blurring amount corresponding to the beam profile may be stored in the storage unit 120.

100: ultrasound system 110: ultrasound data acquisition unit
120: storage unit 130: processor
140: display unit 210: ultrasound probe
220: transmission signal forming unit 230: beam former
240: ultrasound data forming unit F 1 , F 2 , F 3 : ultrasound image
S 1 , S 2 ... S N : Scanline FP: Focusing Point
PT: Point Target W: Window

Claims (18)

As an ultrasound system,
Ultrasonic waves operated to transmit ultrasonic beams to an object using a convex probe and to receive ultrasonic echo signals reflected from the object to obtain ultrasonic data corresponding to ultrasound images of each of a plurality of steering angles. A data acquisition unit;
A storage unit for storing image magnification ratio information indicating a ratio of the ultrasound image being enlarged by a scan profile and a beam profile indicating a degree of spread of the ultrasonic beam according to a depth based on a focal point; And
A blurring amount connected to the ultrasound data acquisition unit and the storage unit and corresponding to a spread and scan conversion of an ultrasound beam according to depth for an ultrasound image based on the beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information And forming an ultrasonic spatial composite image that compensates for blurring due to spreading and scan conversion of an ultrasonic beam based on the ultrasonic data and the blurring amount.
. The ultrasound system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to set the blurring amount by multiplying the beam profile and the image enlargement ratio information according to a depth. 2. The apparatus of claim 1,
Performing data processing for compensating for the blurring due to the spread of the ultrasound beam and the scan conversion to each of the plurality of ultrasound data based on the blurring amount,
Forming a plurality of ultrasound images corresponding to the plurality of steering angles by performing the scan conversion on the data processed ultrasound data;
And spatially synthesizing the plurality of ultrasonic images to form the ultrasonic spatial composite image. The ultrasound system of claim 3, wherein the data processing includes blind deconversion or inverse filtering. 2. The apparatus of claim 1,
Performing a scan conversion on the plurality of ultrasound data to form a plurality of ultrasound images corresponding to the plurality of steering angles,
Performing a filtering process to remove the blur due to the spread of the ultrasound beam and the scan conversion on each of the plurality of ultrasound images based on the blurring amount,
And spatially synthesize the plurality of filtered ultrasound images to form the spatial composite image. 6. The apparatus of claim 5,
A window having a preset size is set for each of the plurality of ultrasound images based on each of the plurality of pixels.
Detecting a pixel value corresponding to each pixel corresponding to the window;
Comparing the detected pixel values to detect pixel value changes of pixels corresponding to the window;
And perform filtering processing on each of the plurality of pixels according to the detected pixel value change based on the blurring amount. The plurality of pixels of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to determine that the detected pixel value change is a pixel value increase or a pixel value decrease, based on a blurring amount of a depth corresponding to each of the plurality of pixels. And an ultrasonic system operative to perform the filtering process to decrease each pixel value. The method of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a blurring amount of a depth corresponding to the pixel at the center of the window if the detected pixel value is determined to be the maximum pixel value of the pixel at the center of the window. And perform the filtering process of increasing a pixel value of a pixel at the center of the window based on the result. The method of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a blurring amount of a depth corresponding to the pixel at the center of the window if the detected pixel value is determined to be the minimum pixel value of the pixel at the center of the window. And perform the filtering process to reduce a pixel value of a pixel at the center of the window based on the result. Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method,
a) transmitting ultrasound beams to an object using a convex probe and receiving ultrasound echo signals reflected from the object to obtain ultrasound data corresponding to ultrasound images of each of a plurality of steering angles;
b) the spread of the ultrasound beam according to depth on the ultrasound image based on the beam profile indicating the degree of spread of the ultrasound beam according to depth based on the focal point and the image magnification ratio information indicating the rate at which the ultrasound image is enlarged by the scan conversion; And setting a blurring amount corresponding to the scan conversion. And
c) forming an ultrasonic spatial composite image which compensates for blurring due to spreading and scan conversion of an ultrasonic beam based on the ultrasonic data and the blurring amount
Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method comprising a. The method of claim 10, wherein the blurring amount is equal to the beam profile. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein step c)
Performing data processing on each of the plurality of ultrasound data based on the blurring amount to compensate for blurring due to the spread of the ultrasound beam and the scan conversion;
Forming a plurality of ultrasound images corresponding to the plurality of steering angles by performing scan conversion on the data processed ultrasound data; And
Spatially synthesizing the plurality of ultrasonic images to form the ultrasonic spatial composite image
Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method comprising a. The method of claim 12, wherein the data processing includes blind deconversion or inverse filtering. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein step c)
c1) forming a plurality of ultrasound images corresponding to the plurality of steering angles by performing the scan conversion on the plurality of ultrasound data;
c2) performing filtering processing to remove the blur due to the spread of the ultrasound beam and the scan transformation on each of the plurality of ultrasound images based on the blurring amount; And
c3) spatially synthesizing the plurality of filtered ultrasound images to form the spatial composite image
Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method comprising a. The method of claim 14, wherein step c2),
c21) setting a window having a predetermined size based on each of the plurality of pixels for each of the plurality of ultrasound images;
c22) detecting a pixel value corresponding to each of the pixels corresponding to the window;
c23) comparing the detected pixel values to detect pixel value changes of pixels corresponding to the window; And
c24) performing a filtering process on each of the plurality of pixels according to the detected pixel value change based on the blurring amount
Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method comprising a. The method of claim 15, wherein step c24),
If it is determined that the detected change in pixel value is an increase in pixel value or a decrease in pixel value, the filtering process of reducing the pixel value of each of the plurality of pixels based on the blurring amount of a depth corresponding to each of the plurality of pixels. Steps to perform
Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method comprising a. The method of claim 15, wherein step c24),
If the detected pixel value change determines that the pixel value of the pixel at the center of the window is maximum, the pixel value at the center of the window is based on the blurring amount of the depth corresponding to the pixel at the center of the window. Performing the filtering process of increasing the pixel value
Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method comprising a. The method of claim 15, wherein step c24),
If the detected pixel value change determines that the pixel value of the pixel at the center of the window is minimum, the pixel value at the center of the window is based on the blurring amount of the depth corresponding to the pixel at the center of the window. Performing the filtering process to reduce the pixel value
Ultrasonic spatial composite image quality improvement method comprising a.
KR1020100111371A 2010-11-10 2010-11-10 Ultrasound system and method for enhancing quality of ultrasound spatial compound image based on image magnification ratio information and beam profile KR101348768B1 (en)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
KR1020100111371A KR101348768B1 (en) 2010-11-10 2010-11-10 Ultrasound system and method for enhancing quality of ultrasound spatial compound image based on image magnification ratio information and beam profile
EP11187789A EP2453257A3 (en) 2010-11-10 2011-11-04 Enhancing quality of ultrasound image in ultrasound system
EP13158377.5A EP2605035B1 (en) 2010-11-10 2011-11-04 Enhancing quality of ultrasound image in an ultrasound system via image filtering
US13/290,691 US9008383B2 (en) 2010-11-10 2011-11-07 Enhancing quality of ultrasound image in ultrasound system
JP2011245802A JP2012101074A (en) 2010-11-10 2011-11-09 Ultrasonic system and method for improving image quality of ultrasonic video

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Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5339282A (en) 1992-10-02 1994-08-16 University Of Utah Research Foundation Resolution enhancement for ultrasonic reflection mode imaging
JP2003190157A (en) 2001-12-28 2003-07-08 Aloka Co Ltd Ultrasonic diagnostic system
KR20080060625A (en) * 2006-12-27 2008-07-02 주식회사 메디슨 Ultrasound diagnostic system and method for acquiring ultrasound images based on motion of a target object

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5339282A (en) 1992-10-02 1994-08-16 University Of Utah Research Foundation Resolution enhancement for ultrasonic reflection mode imaging
JP2003190157A (en) 2001-12-28 2003-07-08 Aloka Co Ltd Ultrasonic diagnostic system
KR20080060625A (en) * 2006-12-27 2008-07-02 주식회사 메디슨 Ultrasound diagnostic system and method for acquiring ultrasound images based on motion of a target object

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