US-12616449-B2 - Ultrasonic imaging system, and non-transitory computer-readable medium

US12616449B2US 12616449 B2US12616449 B2US 12616449B2US-12616449-B2

Abstract

An ultrasonic imaging method, including: during movement of a first ultrasonic transducer, receiving, over a period of time, an ultrasonic echo signal from tissue to be imaged; generating a first ultrasonic image set on the basis of the ultrasonic echo signals, the first ultrasonic image set including a plurality of ultrasonic images; identifying outer contours of a structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; and overlapping the outer contours of the structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images to acquire a reconstructed image. Further provided in the present application are an ultrasonic imaging system and a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

Inventors

Minyu Gu
Ke Tao
Gang Liu
Zhiwen Wang
Shangjie Du
Junjun Chen

Assignees

GE Precision Healthcare LLC

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20231211
Priority Date: 20221223

Claims (14)

1 . An ultrasonic imaging system, comprising: a probe, comprising a stem portion and a first ultrasonic transducer provided at an end of the stem portion and extending in a peripheral direction of the stem portion to form a curved shape; a second ultrasonic transducer extending in a lengthwise direction of the stem portion and oriented substantially perpendicular to a plane where the curved shape of the first ultrasonic transducer; is located; a memory storing instructions; a processor configured to execute the instructions to: during movement of the first ultrasonic transducer, receive, over a period of time, an ultrasonic echo signal from tissue to be imaged; generate a first ultrasonic image set based on the received ultrasonic echo signal, the first ultrasonic image set comprising a plurality of ultrasonic images; identify outer contours of a structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; and overlap the outer contours of the structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images to acquire a reconstructed image; and a display device, configured to receive a signal from the processor and perform display, further comprising: a driving device, connected to the probe and configured to drive the probe to move.
2 . An ultrasonic imaging method, comprising: during movement of a first ultrasonic transducer array, receiving, over a period of time, an ultrasonic echo signal from tissue to be imaged, wherein the first ultrasonic transducer array is rotated generally about a straight-line direction parallel to a first plane; generating a first ultrasonic image set comprising a plurality of ultrasonic images that are parallel to the first plane based on the received ultrasonic echo signal; identifying outer contours of a structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; acquiring a reconstructed image based on the outer contours of the structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; establishing a two-dimensional coordinate system on the reconstructed image and determining at least one target coordinate point surrounded by the outer contour; and performing imaging during movement of a second ultrasonic transducer to generate a second ultrasonic image set by controlling a second ultrasound array to rotate generally about a straight-line direction perpendicular to the first plane to image the at least one target coordinate point surrounded by the outer contour.
3 . The method according to claim 2 , further comprising: identifying outer contours of the tissue in the plurality of ultrasonic images; and overlapping the outer contours of the tissue in the plurality of ultrasonic images.
4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the first ultrasonic transducer is moved in a straight-line direction perpendicular to the first plane.
5 . The method according to claim 3 , further comprising: displaying the reconstructed image; and in response to a target coordinate point of the at least one target coordinate point being selected, simultaneously displaying the ultrasonic image in the second ultrasonic image set which passes through the selected target coordinate point.
6 . The method according to claim 5 , further comprising: displaying, on the ultrasonic image passing through the selected target point, depth information of the structure of interest.
7 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the second ultrasonic transducer is rotated generally about a straight-line direction perpendicular to the first plane.
8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium, having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program having at least one code segment, and the at least one code segment being executable by a machine to enable the machine to: during movement of a first ultrasonic transducer array, receive, over a period of time, an ultrasonic echo signal from tissue to be imaged, wherein the first ultrasonic transducer array is rotated generally about a straight-line direction parallel to a first plane; generate a first ultrasonic image set based on the received ultrasonic echo signal, the first ultrasonic image set comprising a plurality of ultrasonic images; identify outer contours of a structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; acquire a reconstructed image based on the outer contours of the structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; in response to a user selection of a coordinate point on the reconstructed image, display a corresponding ultrasonic image from a second image set that intersects the selected point and includes depth information of the structure of interest; and perform imaging during movement of a second ultrasonic transducer to generate a second ultrasonic image set by controlling a second ultrasound array to rotate generally about a straight-line direction perpendicular to the first plane to image the at least one target coordinate point surrounded by the outer contour.
9 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein each ultrasonic image in the first ultrasonic image set is parallel to a first plane.
10 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 8 , wherein the at least one code segment is executable by the machine to enable the machine to: identify outer contours of the tissue to be imaged in the plurality of ultrasonic images; and overlap the outer contours of the tissue to be imaged in the plurality of ultrasonic images.
11 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 9 , wherein the first ultrasonic transducer is moved in a straight-line direction perpendicular to the first plane.
12 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one code segment is executable by the machine to enable the machine to: establish a two-dimensional coordinate system on the reconstructed image, the two-dimensional coordinate system comprising a plurality of coordinate points; and determine at least one target coordinate point in coordinate points surrounded by the outer contour of the structure of interest.
13 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 12 , wherein any ultrasonic image in the second ultrasonic image set is perpendicular to the first plane and passes through at least one of the target coordinate points.
14 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one code segment is executable by the machine to enable the machine to: display the reconstructed image; and in response to a target coordinate point being selected, simultaneously display the ultrasonic image in the second ultrasonic image set which passes through the selected target coordinate point.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202211664422.X, filed on Dec. 23, 2022. The entire contents of the above-listed application are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the field of ultrasonic imaging and, in particular, to an ultrasonic imaging method, an ultrasonic imaging system, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium. BACKGROUND Ultrasonic imaging technology is a real-time, lossless imaging technology that utilizes a probe to receive an ultrasonic echo signal from a site to be imaged, and then processes the ultrasonic echo signal to perform imaging. In some application scenarios, ultrasonic imaging can assist determination of the position of a lesion in an interventional operation (e.g., a biopsy or treatment) in real time. For example, in an interventional operation on the prostate, a physician may use a probe running through a cavity (the rectum) to image the prostate and a lesion in the prostate in real time, so as to assist the physician in determining the position of the lesion, thereby performing sampling and/or treatment accurately. The probe used in an interventional operation typically performs imaging to acquire a two-dimensional ultrasonic image. However, tissue to be imaged (e.g., the prostate) and a lesion therein have three-dimensional structures. In order to fully acquire the position and topology of a lesion, an operator needs to move the probe during imaging and performs manual observation, to determine the position of a sampling point or a treatment point. The outer contour of the lesion is typically irregular, so that repeated operation may be required during observation. Such a method relies to a great extent on the experience of an operator, and is time consuming. SUMMARY The aforementioned defects, deficiencies, and problems are solved herein, and these problems and solutions will be understood through reading and understanding the following description. Provided in some embodiments of the present application is an ultrasonic imaging method, comprising: during movement of a first ultrasonic transducer, receiving, a plurality of times, an ultrasonic echo signal from tissue to be imaged; generating an ultrasonic image set on the basis of the ultrasonic echo signals, the ultrasonic image set comprising a plurality of ultrasonic images; identifying outer contours of a structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; and overlapping the outer contours of the structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images to acquire a reconstructed image. Provided in some embodiments of the present application is an ultrasonic imaging system, comprising: a probe, comprising a first ultrasonic transducer; a processor; and a display device, configured to receive a signal from the processor and perform a display operation. The processor is configured to perform the following method: during movement of a first ultrasonic transducer, receiving, a plurality of times, an ultrasonic echo signal from tissue to be imaged; generating an ultrasonic image set on the basis of the ultrasonic echo signals, the ultrasonic image set comprising a plurality of ultrasonic images; identifying outer contours of a structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; and overlapping the outer contours of the structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images to acquire a reconstructed image. Provided in some embodiments of the present application is a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program having at least one code segment, and the at least one code segment being executable by a machine to perform the following method steps: during movement of a first ultrasonic transducer, receiving, a plurality of times, an ultrasonic echo signal from tissue to be imaged; generating an ultrasonic image set on the basis of the ultrasonic echo signals, the ultrasonic image set comprising a plurality of ultrasonic images; identifying outer contours of a structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images; and overlapping the outer contours of the structure of interest in the plurality of ultrasonic images to acquire a reconstructed image. It should be understood that the brief description above is provided to introduce, in a simplified form, concepts that will be further described in the detailed description. The brief description above is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter. The scope is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any deficiencies raised above or in any section of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present application will be better understood by readin