US-12616376-B2 - Apparatus for inputting combined image of photoacoustic image and ultrasonic image and method thereof

US12616376B2US 12616376 B2US12616376 B2US 12616376B2US-12616376-B2

Abstract

Disclosed is an apparatus for inputting a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image, which generates 3D image information for a object by performing 2D scanning on the object by a first linear motion of a photoacoustic probe and an ultrasonic probe, and a second linear motion perpendicular to the first linear motion, the apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that move the photoacoustic probe and the ultrasonic probe with respect to the object in the first and/or second direction; a photoacoustic unit that outputs a laser to the object, receives a first ultrasound from the object by the laser, and generates a photoacoustic image signal; an ultrasonic unit that outputs an ultrasound to the object, receives a second ultrasound from the object by the ultrasound, and generates an ultrasonic image signal; and a main controller that combines photoacoustic image and ultrasonic image to generate a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image.

Inventors

Jung Hwan Oh

Assignees

PUKYONG NATIONAL UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COOPERATION FOUNDATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20230724
Priority Date: 20221114

Claims (17)

1 . An apparatus for inputting a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which generates three-dimensional (3D) image information for a to-be-examined object by performing two-dimensional (2D) scanning on the to-be-examined object by a first-direction linear motion of a photoacoustic probe and an ultrasonic probe, and a second-direction linear motion that is perpendicular to the first-direction linear motion, the apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that linearly moves the photoacoustic probe and the ultrasonic probe with respect to the to-be-examined object in a first direction or a second direction; a photoacoustic input unit that outputs a laser pulse output to the to-be-examined object, receives a first ultrasound input from the to-be-examined object by the laser pulse output, and generates a photoacoustic image signal; an ultrasonic input unit that outputs an ultrasonic output to the to-be-examined object, receives a second ultrasonic input from the to-be-examined object by the ultrasonic output, and generates an ultrasonic image signal; an analog/digital (A/D) converter that receives the photoacoustic image signal and the ultrasonic image signal and converts each into a digital image signal; and a main controller that receives the digital image signal, generates photoacoustic image information and ultrasonic image information for the to-be-examined object, and combines the photoacoustic image information and ultrasonic image information to generate a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image; a pulse signal generator that generates and outputs a reference pulse signal at a set interval; a linear encoder that generates a linear motion information according to the first-direction linear motion and the second-direction linear motion of the photoacoustic probe and the ultrasonic probe; and a trigger controller that generates an output trigger signal at a set interval based on the reference pulse signal and the linear motion information, wherein the photoacoustic input unit comprises a laser generator that outputs a laser pulse at a set interval to the to-be-examined object based on the reference pulse signal and the linear motion information, wherein a first position at which the laser pulse output is focused and a second position at which the ultrasonic output is focused are spaced apart by a set separation distance.
2 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the photoacoustic input unit further comprises a laser probe that outputs the laser pulse output to the to-be-examined object and a first ultrasonic probe that receives the first ultrasonic input, and the ultrasonic input unit comprises a second ultrasonic probe that outputs the ultrasonic output to the to-be-examined object and receives the second ultrasonic input.
3 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the laser probe and the first ultrasonic probe are arranged to be staggered at an angle greater than 45 degrees, and the second ultrasonic probe is arranged to be staggered at an angle less than 45 degrees or parallel to either one of the laser probe and the first ultrasonic probe.
4 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the laser probe, the first ultrasonic probe, and the second ultrasonic probe are installed in one housing and transferred together.
5 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first position and the second position are spaced apart from each other in the first direction or the second direction.
6 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, with respect to the set laser and ultrasonic output conditions or input conditions, the set separation distance is set in advance by extracting the best image quality of the photoacoustic image and the ultrasound image or the shortest distance without image quality degradation from a plurality of pieces of photoacoustic image information and ultrasonic image information input while varying the separation distance.
7 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set separation distance is set in real time as the shortest distance by determining the quality of the photoacoustic image and the ultrasound image from the input photoacoustic image information and the ultrasonic image information.
8 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the set separation distance is controlled by moving the second ultrasonic probe that receives the second ultrasonic input rotating about a reference axis.
9 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the photoacoustic image information or the ultrasonic image information is shifted by the set separation distance and combined.
10 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the ultrasonic input comprises an ultrasonic transceiving unit that generates an ultrasonic output signal (output channel) for generating the ultrasonic output, receives the first ultrasonic input and the second ultrasonic input, and generates a photoacoustic image signal and an ultrasonic image signal, respectively, the ultrasonic transceiving unit includes a first input channel and a second input channel, the photoacoustic image signal may be generated by inputting the first ultrasound input to the first input channel, and the ultrasound image signal may be generated by inputting the second ultrasound input to the second input channel.
11 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the ultrasonic transceiving unit generates the photoacoustic image signal and the ultrasonic image signal corresponding to a linear motion information according to the first-direction linear motion of the photoacoustic probe and the ultrasonic probe, respectively, according to an output trigger signal which is generated by a trigger controller based on a reference pulse signal and the linear motion information.
12 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the second ultrasonic probe outputs an ultrasonic output corresponding to an output trigger signal generated by a trigger controller and receives the ultrasonic input corresponding to the linear motion information according to the output trigger signal.
13 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, in the main controller: photoacoustic image information for the to-be-examined object is generated by sequentially combining the photoacoustic digital image signal with the photoacoustic image information corresponding to each trigger pulse of the output trigger signal in the positive or negative direction of the first direction in units of scan lines; and ultrasonic image information for the to-be-examined object is generated by sequentially combining the ultrasonic digital image signal with the ultrasonic image information corresponding to each trigger pulse of the output trigger signal in the positive or negative direction of the first direction in units of scan lines.
14 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the laser pulse output and the ultrasonic output are simultaneously output.
15 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the reference pulse signal is output to the trigger controller and the laser generator.
16 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a 3D image information for the to-be-examined object is generated by performing 2D scanning on the to-be-examined object by the housing which includes the laser probe, the first ultrasonic probe and the second ultrasonic probe, and, within each scanning line, the first ultrasonic input and the second ultrasonic input are alternately performed.
17 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising: a memory for storing plane coordinate values of the photoacoustic probe, determined by the linear motion information, photoacoustic image information at the plane coordinate values, and ultrasonic image information for the plane coordinate values of the photoacoustic probe and the to-be-examined object at the plane coordinate values.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0151226 filed on Nov. 14, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND 1. Field The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for inputting a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image and a method thereof. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for inputting a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image and a method thereof, in which a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image in which photoacoustic and ultrasonic images for the inside of a to-be-examined object (subject) are combined can be generated, while integrally moving a photoacoustic probe and an ultrasonic probe at high speed. 2. Description of the Related Art When light having very high energy is irradiated to a to-be-examined object, the to-be-examined object that absorbs the light energy thermally expands elastically. Due to this elastic expansion, a pressure wave is generated, and the generated pressure wave takes the form of an ultrasonic wave. This phenomenon is called a “photo-acoustic effect”, and an ultrasonic signal generated by this expansion is called a photoacoustic signal. Recently, a technique for acquiring state information of an object, particularly the inside of the to-be-examined object, by using a photoacoustic effect, and generating the same as image information, has been spotlighted. Particularly in the medical field, a lot of research on this is being done. In the medical field, during a disease treatment process, it is often necessary to visually check state information about the inside of a living body. Currently, tools that are widely used as a method for generating image information about the inside of a living body include X-ray, CT, MRI, etc., as is well known. However, it has been reported that these methods are accompanied by various problems, including expensive equipment, an extremely low resolution of a generated image, a narrow field of view (FOV), an extended time required to implement the image, or possibility of harming the human body due to continuous use. A method for generating a photoacoustic image of an internal state of a living body by using a photoacoustic effect is attracting attention as an alternative to these methods. In particular, the photoacoustic image can show blood vessel-related information concerning the inside of the human body, and thus can be an important technology in the medical field. Meanwhile, an ultrasonic system may generate an ultrasonic image by outputting an ultrasonic signal to a to-be-examined object and receiving an ultrasonic signal output from the to-be-examined object. In particular, the ultrasonic system has non-invasive and non-destructive properties for an object, and is widely used in various fields. Recently, an ultrasonic system is used to generate a 2D or 3D image of the internal shape of an object. In particular, ultrasonic images can show information related to the structure of a human body. A photoacoustic image can mainly show only blood vessel-related information, and an ultrasonic image can mainly show only structure-related information. Accordingly, there is a need for a technology capable of simultaneously displaying structure-related information and blood vessel-related information for the inside of a human body. SUMMARY The present disclosure provides an apparatus for inputting a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image and a method thereof, in which a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image in which the photoacoustic and ultrasonic images for the outside and/or the inside of a to-be-examined object are combined can be generated, while integrally moving a photoacoustic probe and an ultrasonic probe at high speed. Provided is an apparatus for inputting a combined photoacoustic/ultrasonic image, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which generates three-dimensional (3D) image information for a to-be-examined object by performing two-dimensional (2D) scanning on the to-be-examined object by first-direction linear motions of a photoacoustic probe and an ultrasonic probe and a second-direction linear motion that is substantially perpendicular to the first-direction linear motion, the apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that linearly relatively move the photoacoustic probe and the ultrasonic probe with respect to the to-be-examined object in the first direction and/or the second direction; a photoacoustic input unit that outputs a laser pulse output to the to-be-examined object, receives a first ultrasound input from the to-be-examined object by the laser pulse output, and generates a photoacoustic image signal; an ultrasonic input unit that outputs an ultrasonic output to the to-be-examined object, receives a second ultrasonic input from the to-be-examined object by the ultrasonic output, and generates an ultras