CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2015-0124775, filed Sep. 3, 2015, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an ultrasound system, and more particularly, to an ultrasound system and method for generating an elastic image.

BACKGROUND ART

Ultrasound systems have been widely used in the medical field to obtain information of interest in a target object. Using high-frequency sound waves, ultrasound systems can provide high-resolution images of the target object in real time without requiring an invasive surgical operation on the target object. Due to the non-invasive nature as well as quality of images, ultrasound systems have become an important tool for diagnosing and treating various medical conditions.

Conventional ultrasound systems typically provide a brightness mode image (“B-mode image”) in which reflection coefficients of ultrasound signals (i.e., ultrasound echo signals) reflected from the interested objects in the target object are shown as a two-dimensional image. In such B-mode image, the reflection coefficients of the ultrasound signals on a display are displayed as brightness of pixels. However, since reflection coefficients of anomalous tissues such as a tumor, a cancerous tumor, a diseased tissue, etc. are not different from those of normal tissues, it may be difficult to observe the anomalous tissues with B-mode imaging.

Some ultrasound systems may employ an elastic imaging technique that visualizes the mechanical characteristics of anomalous tissues, which may not be observed in a B-mode image. The elastic imaging technique is often effective in diagnosing anomalous tissue since the elasticity of such tissue is generally different from normal tissue. For example, anomalous tissues such as a tumor, a cancerous tissue, etc. are typically harder than normal tissue. Accordingly, such anomalous tissue is deformed less than normal tissue when a same compression force is applied thereto. As such, the elastic imaging technique uses the phenomenon that hard tissues are less deformed than soft tissues when the same compression forces are applied thereto.

In such conventional elastic imaging technique, displacements between adjacent frames are generally calculated by using ultrasound data acquired during a plurality of time intervals. The period of movement of the ultrasound probe that applies compression force to the target object is then determined by using the calculated displacements. However, such conventional elastic imaging technique typically requires a substantial amount of computation resources for calculating the displacements between adjacent frames. Further, it may be difficult to accurately track movement of a quickly moving ultrasound probe.

The present invention provides an ultrasound system and method for determining a period of movement of an ultrasound probe based on ultrasound data in a Doppler gate that is set at a predetermined location in an image of a target object, and generating an elastic image based on the determined period.

TECHNICAL SOLUTION

In one embodiment, an ultrasound system includes an ultrasound probe, a processor, and a display unit. The ultrasound probe is configured to transmit ultrasound signals to a target object and receive ultrasound echo signals from the target object while a variable compression force is applied on the target object. The processor is configured to set a Doppler gate at a predetermined location in an image of the target object, generate a plurality of frames of B-mode ultrasound data while the variable compression force is applied on the target object based on the ultrasound echo signals, generate a plurality of frames of Doppler-mode ultrasound data based on the Doppler gate while the variable compression force is applied on the target object based on the ultrasound echo signals, determine a period for a cycle of the variable compression force based on the Doppler-mode ultrasound data, select two frames of the B-mode ultrasound data based on the period, and generate an elastic image of the target object based on the selected frames of the B-mode ultrasound data. The display unit is configured to display the elastic image.

In another embodiment, a method for generating an elastic image of a target object in an ultrasound system includes setting a Doppler gate at a predetermined location in an image of the target object, acquiring a plurality of frames of B-mode ultrasound data from the target object while a variable compression force is applied on the target object by an ultrasound probe, acquiring a plurality of frames of Doppler-mode ultrasound data from the target object based on the Doppler gate while the variable compression force is applied on the target object by the ultrasound probe, determining a period for a cycle of the variable compression force based on the Doppler-mode ultrasound data, selecting two frames of the B-mode ultrasound data based on the period, and generating the elastic image of the target object based on the selected frames of the B-mode ultrasound data.

According to the present disclosure, two frames of ultrasound data may be selected based on a period of movement of an ultrasound probe. The selected frames of ultrasound data may then be used to generate an elastic image. By using the selected frames, the amount of computing displacements for generating the elastic image can be substantially reduced.

Further, since an elastic image can be generated by using the selected frames of ultrasound data based on the period of movement of the ultrasound probe, the elastic image may be generated in an efficient manner.

Furthermore, a movement of the ultrasound probe may be traced even when the ultrasound probe is quickly moving. Accordingly, the elastic image can be generated based on the traced movement of the ultrasound probe.

