Method and apparatus for detecting a gas pocket using ultrasound
First Claim
1. An ultrasound system comprising:
- an ultrasound probe configured to transmit an ultrasound signal toward a Region-of-Interest and acquire an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the Region-of-Interest along a plurality of scanning lines;
an obtaining unit configured to receive the ultrasound echo signal and to obtain a second harmonic component of the ultrasound echo signal for each depth of a plurality of depths along each scanning line of the plurality of scanning lines;
a deriving unit configured to;
receive the second harmonic component;
derive a change in a center frequency of the second harmonic component at the plurality of depths; and
a detecting unit configured to;
receive the derived change in the center frequency of the second harmonic component at the plurality of depths; and
detect a gas pocket based on the change in the center frequency at a depth of the plurality of depths, wherein the gas pocket is detected at the depth if an amount of the change in the center frequency at the depth exceeds a first predetermined threshold at the depth; and
a display unit coupled to the detecting unit and configured to display, in an ultrasound image, an indicator for indicating the detected gas pocket.
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Abstract
Existing gas pocket detection approaches are based on visual observations of B-mode ultrasound images showing comparisons between normal soft tissue and gas pockets, which are time-consuming and dependent on operator experience. The present invention proposes an ultrasound system and a method of detecting a gas pocket. The ultrasound system comprises: an ultrasound probe (110) for transmitting an ultrasound signal toward the ROI and acquiring an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the ROI along a plurality of scanning lines; an obtaining unit (130) for obtaining a second harmonic component of the ultrasound echo signal for each depth of a plurality of depths along each scanning line of the plurality of scanning lines; and a deriving unit (140) for deriving a change in a center frequency of the second harmonic component along with the depth.
13 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An ultrasound system comprising:
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an ultrasound probe configured to transmit an ultrasound signal toward a Region-of-Interest and acquire an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the Region-of-Interest along a plurality of scanning lines; an obtaining unit configured to receive the ultrasound echo signal and to obtain a second harmonic component of the ultrasound echo signal for each depth of a plurality of depths along each scanning line of the plurality of scanning lines; a deriving unit configured to; receive the second harmonic component; derive a change in a center frequency of the second harmonic component at the plurality of depths; and a detecting unit configured to; receive the derived change in the center frequency of the second harmonic component at the plurality of depths; and detect a gas pocket based on the change in the center frequency at a depth of the plurality of depths, wherein the gas pocket is detected at the depth if an amount of the change in the center frequency at the depth exceeds a first predetermined threshold at the depth; and a display unit coupled to the detecting unit and configured to display, in an ultrasound image, an indicator for indicating the detected gas pocket. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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6. The ultrasound system according to claim l, further comprising:
a display unit configured to generate an ultrasound image representing the derived change in the center frequency along with the depth and displaying the ultrasound image.
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12. A method of detecting a gas pocket in a Region-of-Interest, comprising steps of:
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transmitting, by an ultrasound probe, an ultrasound signal toward the Region-of-Interest and acquiring, by the ultrasound probe, an ultrasound echo signal reflected from the Region-of-Interest along a plurality of scanning lines; obtaining, by an obtaining unit, a second harmonic component of the acquired ultrasound echo signal for each depth of a plurality of depths along each scanning line of the plurality of scanning lines; and deriving, by a deriving unit, a change in a center frequency of the obtained second harmonic component at the plurality of depths; detecting, by a detecting unit, a gas pocket at a depth of the plurality of depths at which an amount of the derived change in the center frequency exceeds a threshold at the depth; generating an ultrasound image based on the derived change in the center frequency at the depth; and displaying the ultrasound image including an indicator for indicating the detected gas pocket.
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Specification