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US 12,594,051 B2Granted
Ultrasound microvasculature super-resolution imaging acquisition
AssigneeFujifilm Sonosite, Inc.
InventorChristopher White
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for microvasculature imaging acquisition are disclosed. In aspects, a full frame corresponding to a field of view of an ultrasound scanner is divided into small portions, each of which is individually scanned for a desired period of time at a higher frame rate than the ultrasound scanner is capable of using to scan the full frame. These ultrasound data acquisition techniques enable super-resolution image processing or high-sensitivity microvascular-doppler image processing to be used to track low-intensity, slow-flow microvasculature of an anatomy of a subject.
Claims21
A method comprising:
- generating first ultrasound data based on reflections of first ultrasound signals transmitted by an ultrasound scanner of an ultrasound system at an anatomy of a subject, the ultrasound scanner having a predefined pulse repetition frequency (PRF) for emitting the first ultrasound signals, the ultrasound scanner having a maximum frame rate for producing multiple frames of image data from the first ultrasound data over a sector corresponding to a full field of view (FOV) of the ultrasound scanner, the sector having a width corresponding to an image width of the multiple frames, the maximum frame rate being based on the predefined PRF and a number of acquisition lines corresponding to each frame of the image data;
- responsive to an input, increasing a temporal resolution of the ultrasound system by:
- dividing the sector into a plurality of portions that each have fewer acquisition lines than the sector;
- causing the ultrasound scanner to transmit second ultrasound signals within a respective portion of the plurality of portions repeatedly for a duration of a line-time and at the predefined PRF to achieve a greater frame rate for the respective portion than the maximum frame rate for the sector, wherein the second ultrasound signals are transmitted repeatedly within a first portion of the plurality of portions for the duration of the line-time prior to being transmitted repeatedly within a second portion of the plurality of portions for the duration of the line-time;
- generating second ultrasound data based on reflections of the second ultrasound signals;
- and
- between acquisition of two respective portions of the plurality of portions, acquiring a scout image of the full FOV of the ultrasound scanner and inserting the scout image into a frame sequence of the acquisition of the two respective portions;
- tracking slow-flow microvasculature of the anatomy in each portion by executing super-resolution image processing or microvascular-doppler image processing on the second ultrasound data for each portion;
- compounding results of the super-resolution image processing or the microvascular-doppler image processing for each portion to provide compounded results for the sector;
- and
- generating, based on the compounded results, the image data for rendering an image representing the slow-flow microvasculature of the anatomy over the sector.
8 more elements
An ultrasound system comprising:
- an ultrasound scanner having a predefined pulse repetition frequency (PRF) for emitting ultrasound signals and a maximum frame rate for producing multiple frames of image data from detected reflections of the ultrasound signals emitted over a sector corresponding to a full field of view (FOV) of the ultrasound scanner, the sector having a width corresponding to an image width of the multiple frames, the maximum frame rate being based on the predefined PRF and a number of acquisition lines corresponding to each frame of the image data, the ultrasound scanner configured to, in response to an input:
- divide the sector into a plurality of portions;
- transmit, at an anatomy of a subject, the ultrasound signals within a respective portion of the plurality of portions repeatedly for a duration of a line-time using the predefined PRF to achieve a frame rate for the respective portion that is greater than the maximum frame rate for the sector, the ultrasound signals transmitted repeatedly within a first portion of the plurality of portions for the duration of the line-time prior to being transmitted repeatedly within a second portion of the plurality of portions for the duration of the line-time;
- generate ultrasound data for the respective portion of the plurality of portions based on detected reflections of the ultrasound signals transmitted within the respective portion;
- and
- between acquisition of two respective portions of the plurality of portions, acquire a scout image of the full FOV of the ultrasound scanner and insert the scout image into a frame sequence of the acquisition of the two respective portions;
- one or more computer processors;
- and
- one or more computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by the one or more computer processors, implement one or more modules, the one or more modules configured to:
- execute super-resolution image processing or microvascular-doppler image processing on the ultrasound data for each portion to provide image-processing results for tracking slow-flow microvasculature of the anatomy;
- and
- generate the image data for rendering an image representing the slow-flow microvasculature of the anatomy over the sector based on a combination of the image-processing results of the ultrasound data for each portion.
9 more elements
A method comprising:
- acquiring, by an ultrasound system having an ultrasound scanner with a fixed pulse repetition frequency (PRF) for emitting ultrasound signals, a first subset of a full set of data acquisition lines corresponding to a frame of image data, the first subset acquired repeatedly for a first line-time using a first frame rate and the fixed PRF to generate first ultrasound data, the ultrasound data representing reflections of the ultrasound signals transmitted by the ultrasound scanner at an anatomy of a subject, the first subset having fewer data acquisition lines than the full set;
- after acquiring the first subset of the full set of data acquisition lines, acquiring a scout image of the full set of data acquisition lines;
- after acquiring the scout image, acquiring, by the ultrasound system and independent of the first subset of the data acquisition lines, a second subset of the full set of data acquisition lines corresponding to the frame of image data, the second subset acquired repeatedly for a second line-time period using a second frame rate and the fixed PRF to generate second ultrasound data, the second subset having fewer data acquisition lines than the full set;
- inserting the scout image into a frame sequence of the first subset and the second subset;
- tracking slow-flow microvasculature of the anatomy by executing super-resolution image processing or microvascular-doppler image processing on the first ultrasound data and the second ultrasound data;
- and
- generating image data representing the slow-flow microvasculature of the anatomy based on a combination of image-processing results for the first ultrasound data and the processed second ultrasound data.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.