[ background of the invention ]
The video signal of the traditional ultrasonic medical device is originated from a processor platform (such as a PC platform, an ARM platform, an embedded platform, etc.) inside the device, and the video parameters (such as resolution or data encoding format, etc.) of the video signal are fixed. When the external device is required to view the video of the ultrasound device, the video parameters supported by the external device must be adapted to the video parameters of the video signal of the ultrasound device, or an additional device is required to convert the video parameters of the video signal of the ultrasound device, otherwise, the video parameters cannot be played. The ultrasound device cannot adaptively adjust the video parameters of the generated video according to the external device. This makes it inconvenient to play the video signal of the ultrasound device with an external device.
For example, the resolution of the video signal (such as LVDS or VGA) is fixed. The resolution of the external output is mostly not adjusted, but only various interface extensions are made (such as LVDS to VGA, LVDS to DVI, LVDS to HDMI and the like); or to another fixed resolution (such as PAL and NTSC standards), the resolution cannot be adjusted at will. Video encoding devices also compression encode from these video signals, generating video files, again limited to an already fixed resolution.
When the external device is required to view the video of the ultrasound device, the resolution supported by the external device needs to be compatible with the fixed resolution of the ultrasound device. If the resolution of the external device is low, since the resolution of the image generated by the ultrasound device is generally high, for example, 1280 × 720, 1920 × 1080 or even higher, the external device may not support such high resolution, and thus cannot play; or even if the external device can support playing, because the high-resolution file is large, the decoding workload is large, the decoding time is long, the playing may not be smooth, and the user experience is affected.
The method for solving the problems is to adjust the resolution of the output video signal of the ultrasonic equipment to a smaller fixed resolution, usually the PAL and NTSC standards, which have lower resolutions and can meet most of the requirements of broadcasting. If the user uses a device with a resolution higher than the fixed resolution, but the fixed resolution of the video output by the ultrasound device is low (e.g., PAL and NTSC standards), the user may still not be able to view the high resolution image even though the user can support the high resolution, losing the image information that should be viewable.
For another example, when the ultrasound device generates ultrasound video data, the ultrasound device generates the video data in accordance with a certain data encoding format. Because the data coding formats of the current video are more, the external device which needs to play the video data of the ultrasonic device at present may not support the data coding format of the video data of the current ultrasonic device, so that the video data cannot be played, and an additional conversion device is needed to convert the video data of the ultrasonic device into the data coding format which is supported by the current external device. This increases the complexity of the operation and the time required, as well as increasing the cost.
[ detailed description ] embodiments
Please refer to fig. 1 and 3. FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a block diagram of an ultrasound imaging system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in fig. 3, the ultrasound imaging system of one embodiment of the present invention includes a probe 1, a signal processing unit 12, a display 8, a video encoder 9, and a controller 10. Wherein the probe 1 and its supporting circuits (including the transmitting circuit 2, the transmitting/receiving selection switch 3 and the receiving circuit 4) are used for transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving ultrasonic echoes, and the signal processing unit 12 obtains ultrasonic images according to the ultrasonic echoes. The signal processing unit 12 includes a beam synthesis module 5, a signal processing module 6, and an image processing module 7.
Referring to fig. 1 and 3, an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:
s110: and transmitting ultrasonic waves and receiving ultrasonic echoes, and obtaining an ultrasonic image according to the ultrasonic echoes. The specific process is as follows: a group of pulses which are subjected to delay focusing are sent to a probe 1 through a transmitting/receiving selection switch 3, the probe 1 transmits ultrasonic waves to the tissues of a tested body, ultrasonic echoes with tissue information which are reflected from the tissues of the tested body are received after a certain time delay, and the ultrasonic echoes are converted into electric signals again. The receiving circuit 4 receives these electrical signals and sends these ultrasound echo signals to the beam forming module 5. The ultrasonic echo signals are focused, delayed, weighted and summed in the beam forming module 5, and then processed in the signal processing module 6. The signals processed by the signal processing module 6 are sent to the image processing module 7 for processing. According to different imaging modes, the image processing module 7 performs different processing on the signals to obtain image data of different modes, and then performs processing such as logarithmic compression, dynamic range adjustment, digital scan conversion and the like to form ultrasonic images of different modes, such as a B image, a C image, a D image and the like. The ultrasound images of different modes obtained by the image processing module 7 are sent to the display 8 for displaying.
S120: ultrasound video data is generated based on the ultrasound image. The ultrasound images obtained by the image processing module 7 can also be transmitted to the video encoder 9, and the video encoder 9 generates the ultrasound images into ultrasound video data according to certain video parameters. The video parameters may include the resolution of the video data and/or the encoding format of the video data, and may also include other relevant parameters for generating the video data. These parameters are collectively referred to herein as "video parameters". In the embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasound image used for generating the ultrasound video data may be ultrasound image data subjected to digital scan conversion, or may be an ultrasound image including a menu to be displayed on a display, patient information, various prompt information, operation information of a physician on the image, and the like.
S130: parameter information of an external device is received. The controller 10 receives parameter information of an external device. In the embodiment of the invention, the following modes can be adopted: the controller 10 transmits an inquiry signal to an external device connected to the ultrasonic imaging system, requests the external device to respond and transmit parameter information, and then the controller 10 receives the parameter information transmitted from the external device. In the embodiment of the present invention, the controller 10 may also directly send out a prompt message prompting the user to input the parameter information (or, for example, when the external device does not feedback the parameter information after sending the query signal), and then receive the parameter information of the external device input by the user from a human interface device (not shown in the figure) of the ultrasound imaging system. In the embodiment of the present invention, the parameter information of the external device may also be obtained and received in other manners, for example, the parameter information of the external device input by other devices is received through the network interface.
The received parameter information of the external device may be directly video parameters supported by the external device, such as a resolution supported by the external device or a data encoding format of video data supported by the external device or may also be a range of resolutions supported by the external device, and so on. The received parameter information of the external device may also be indirect information that can be used to determine the video parameters supported by the external device, such as the type of the external device and/or the model of the external device, and then determine the video parameters supported by the external device according to the type and/or model of the external device in step S140. Herein, the information of these external devices is collectively referred to as "parameter information" of the external devices.
S140: and determining video parameters supported by the external equipment according to the received parameter information, and adjusting the video parameters of the generated ultrasonic video data to be the video parameters supported by the external equipment. In an embodiment of the present invention, the controller 10 determines video parameters supported by the external device according to the received parameter information of the external device, and sends the determined video parameters supported by the external device to the video encoder 9, so that the video encoder 9 generates the ultrasound video data according to the sent video parameters supported by the external device. In this way, the video parameters of the generated ultrasonic video data are adjusted to the video parameters supported by the external equipment.
For example, the controller 10 transmits a query signal to an external device connected to the ultrasound imaging system, the external device responds by returning parameter information, the controller 10 determines that the resolution supported by the external device is 1024 × 768 based on the returned parameter information, and then the controller 10 transmits the resolution supported by the external device (i.e., 1024 × 768) to the video encoder 9. Subsequently, the video encoder 9 generates ultrasound video data at a resolution of 1024 × 768.
As described above, the parameter information received by the controller 10 may be directly the video parameters supported by the external device, and the video parameters supported by the external device are determined directly; the received parameter information of the external device may also be indirect information, such as the type of the external device and/or the model of the external device, and in this case, the video parameters supported by the external device may be determined according to the indirect information.
For example, in an embodiment of the present invention, a lookup table may be pre-constructed, where the lookup table includes types and/or models of commonly used external devices and video parameters supported by the corresponding external devices of the types and/or models. The look-up table may be stored in a memory unit (not shown in the figure) of the ultrasound imaging system. When the parameter information of the external device received by the controller 10 is the type and/or model of the external device, the controller 10 searches the lookup table for the video parameters supported by the external device of the type and/or model according to the received type and/or model.
In embodiments of the present invention, the lookup table may be editable, and the ultrasound imaging system provides an editing interface or editing tool for the user to add or delete content in the lookup table. When the user inputs the parameter information of the external device through the man-machine interface or the controller 10 receives the parameter information fed back by the external device, the information can be automatically added to the lookup table.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the following manner may also be adopted to determine that the external device supports the video parameters according to the received parameter information (for example, when there are various options for the received parameter information), as shown in fig. 2:
s141: displaying the optional parameter information. The controller 10 receives a plurality of parameter information of the external device, and at this time, the controller 10 lists the selectable parameter information and sends the selectable parameter information to the display 8 for displaying, and provides a parameter selection mode, such as checking, clicking, and the like.
S142: and sending prompt information for prompting the user to select the optional parameter information. The controller 10 issues a prompt to the display 8 and displays on the display 8 prompting the user to select the listed selectable parameter. Of course, the prompt message issued may also be an audio message not to be displayed on the display 8, at which time the prompt is sent to an audio playback device in the ultrasound imaging system. The manner of such prompts may be a variety of manners, such as highlighting, flashing, pop-up dialog boxes, beeping, dripping, pre-recorded prompts, and the like. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, this step may also be omitted, and when the parameter information is listed and displayed, it is considered that the user may already be prompted. But the addition of the treatment of this step can make the process more process friendly.
S143: receiving a selection signal of a user, and determining selected parameter information according to the selection signal. After the user selects the parameters, a selection signal is generated, and the controller 10 receives the selection signal of the user and accordingly determines which parameter information is selected according to the selection signal.
S144: and determining the video parameters supported by the external equipment according to the selected parameter information. The controller 10 determines the video parameters supported by the external device based on the selected parameter information in the manner described above (either directly or via a look-up table, etc.).
S150: outputting the adjusted video data to an external device. The video encoder 9 generates ultrasonic video data according to video parameters supported by the external device, and outputs the ultrasonic video data (including a video file and a video data stream) to the external device. In the embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic video data can be output to an external device or can be output to a storage device for storage. When output to the storage device, the video encoder 9 may generate the ultrasound video data in a maximum resolution or most commonly used data encoding format.
In the embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic video data is generated according to the video parameters supported by the external equipment by receiving the parameter information of the external equipment connected to the ultrasonic imaging system and determining the video parameters supported by the external equipment according to the parameter information. Therefore, the ultrasonic imaging system can adaptively adjust the video parameters of the generated ultrasonic video data according to the external equipment connected to the ultrasonic imaging system, so that the generated ultrasonic video data can be matched with the external equipment and can be played on the external equipment without conversion by additional conversion equipment, and meanwhile, the ultrasonic video data generated by the ultrasonic imaging system can be optimally matched with the video parameters supported by the external equipment, such as resolution and the like, so that the performance of the external equipment is utilized to the maximum extent, and unnecessary loss of image quality is avoided.
The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.