PROVIDING COLOR DOPPLER IMAGE BASED ON QUALIFICATION CURVE INFORMATION IN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM

• US 20120130249A1
• Filed: 11/17/2011
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Medison Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Medison Co., Ltd. (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: LEE, Hyeong Do, Lee, Jae Keun
• Granted Patent: US 9,261,485 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/454
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/06 Measuring blood flow measuring volume flow in general G01F, e.g. G01F1/66, G01F1/72; measuring speed of fluids in general G01P5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/488 involving Doppler signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/017 Doppler techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/02466 Biological material, e.g. blood
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/024 by measuring propagation velocity or propagation time of acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 29/0654 Imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8981 Discriminating between fixed and moving objects or between objects moving at different speeds, e.g. wall clutter filter
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/8988 Colour Doppler imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52071 Multicolour displays; using colour coding; Optimising colour or information content in displays, e.g. parametric imaging

Abstract

There are provided embodiments for providing a color Doppler image based on qualification curve information. In one embodiment, an ultrasound system comprises: an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to acquire ultrasound data corresponding to a living body including a moving target object; a storage unit for storing qualification curve information for determining blood flow signals of the target object, clutter signals and noise based on velocity and power components of Doppler signals; and a processing unit configured to form first Doppler signals based on the ultrasound data, perform a clutter filtering process upon the first Doppler signals to form second Doppler signals, calculate velocity and power components of the second Doppler signals, form a color Doppler image based on the calculated velocity and power components, and perform a blending process upon the color Doppler image based on the calculated velocity and power components and the qualification curve information.

Claims

1. An ultrasound system, comprising:

an ultrasound data acquisition unit configured to acquire ultrasound data corresponding to a living body including a moving target object;

a storage unit for storing qualification curve information for determining blood flow signals of the target object, clutter signals and noise based on velocity and power components of Doppler signals; and

a processing unit configured to form first Doppler signals based on the ultrasound data, perform a clutter filtering process upon the first Doppler signals to form second Doppler signals, calculate velocity and power components of the second Doppler signals, form a color Doppler image based on the calculated velocity and power components, and perform a blending process upon the color Doppler image based on the calculated velocity and power components and the qualification curve information.

2. The ultrasound system of claim 1, wherein the qualification curve information includes a qualification curve for determining a first region corresponding to the blood flow signals, a second region corresponding to the clutter signals, a third region corresponding to the noise, a fourth region that the blood flow signals and the clutter signals intermingle, and a fifth region that the blood flow signals and the noise intermingle.

3. The ultrasound system of claim 2, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

detect a region corresponding to the calculated velocity and power components among the first to fifth regions of the qualification curve information;

form qualification analysis information including the detected region; and

perform the blending process based on the qualification analysis information.

4. The ultrasound system of claim 3, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

set transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information; and

perform the blending process for performing a transparency process upon the color Doppler image based on the transparency.

5. The ultrasound system of claim 4, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

set first transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the first region;

set second transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the second region or the third region; and

set third transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the fourth region or the fifth region.

6. The ultrasound system of claim 5, wherein the first transparency is 0, the second transparency is 1, and the third transparency is a transparency between the first transparency and the second transparency.

7. The ultrasound system of claim 6, wherein the processing unit is configured to:

set the third transparency close to the first transparency as the calculated velocity and power components are closer to the first region, and set the third transparency close to the second transparency as the calculated velocity and power components are closer to the second region or the third region, based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the fourth or fifth region.

8. A method of providing a color Doppler image, comprising:

a) acquiring ultrasound data corresponding to a living body including a moving target object;

b) forming first Doppler signals based on the ultrasound data;

c) performing a clutter filtering process upon the first Doppler signals to form second Doppler signals;

d) calculating velocity and power components of the second Doppler signals;

e) forming a color Doppler image based on the calculated velocity and power components; and

f) performing a blending process upon the color Doppler image based on the calculated velocity and power components and qualification curve information for determining blood flow signals of the target object, clutter signals and noise.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the qualification curve information includes a qualification curve for determining a first region corresponding to the blood flow signals, a second region corresponding to the clutter signals, a third region corresponding to the noise, a fourth region that the blood flow signals and the clutter signals intermingle, and a fifth region that the blood flow signals and the noise intermingle.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step f) comprises:

f1) detect a region corresponding to the calculated velocity and power components among the first to fifth regions of the qualification curve information;

f2) forming qualification analysis information including the detected region; and

f3) performing the blending process based on the qualification analysis information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step f3) comprises:

f31) setting transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information; and

f32) performing the blending process for performing a transparency process upon the color Doppler image based on the transparency.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step f31) comprises:

f311) setting first transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the first region;

f312) setting second transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the second region or the third region; and

f313) setting third transparency of the color Doppler image based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the fourth region or the fifth region.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first transparency is 0, the second transparency is 1 and the third transparency is a transparency between the first transparency and the second transparency.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the step f313) comprises:

setting the third transparency close to the first transparency as the calculated velocity and power components are closer to the first region, and setting the third transparency close to the second transparency as the calculated velocity and power components are closer to the second region or the third region, based on the qualification analysis information that the detected region is the fourth or fifth region.