阅读说明：本技术 超声成像方法和超声成像设备 (Ultrasonic imaging method and ultrasonic imaging apparatus ) 是由 温博 安兴 付政鹏 于 2021-09-03 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种超声成像方法和超声成像设备,该方法包括：响应于启动超声切面自动扫查工作流的协议,显示多个待扫查的标准切面标识,协议中包含标准切面标识以及与之关联的参考图库；当从多个待扫查的标准切面标识中确定对目标对象进行扫查的第一标准切面标识时,从参考图库中确定与第一标准切面标识对应的第一参考图库；其中,第一参考图库包含有多帧与第一标准切面对应的且与病例相关的超声图像；向目标对象发射超声波,并接收目标对象返回的超声波的回波,以获得超声回波信号；根据超声回波信号获得目标对象的第一标准切面对应的超声图像；显示第一参考图库以及第一标准切面对应的超声图像。本方案能够根据当前扫查的标准切面自动提供相关的参考库。(An ultrasound imaging method and an ultrasound imaging apparatus, the method comprising: responding to a protocol for starting an ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow, and displaying a plurality of standard section identifications to be scanned, wherein the protocol comprises the standard section identifications and a reference gallery related to the standard section identifications; when a first standard section identifier for scanning the target object is determined from the plurality of standard section identifiers to be scanned, determining a first reference map library corresponding to the first standard section identifier from the reference map library; the first reference image library comprises a plurality of ultrasonic images which correspond to the first standard section and are related to the case; transmitting ultrasonic waves to a target object and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to a first standard tangent plane of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal; and displaying the first reference gallery and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard section. The scheme can automatically provide a relevant reference library according to the currently scanned standard tangent plane.)

1. A method of ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:

responding to a protocol for starting an ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow, and displaying a plurality of standard section identifications to be scanned, wherein the protocol comprises the standard section identifications and a reference map library associated with the standard section identifications;

when a first standard section identifier for scanning a target object is determined from the plurality of standard section identifiers to be scanned, determining a first reference map library corresponding to the first standard section identifier from the reference map library; the first reference image library comprises a plurality of frames of ultrasonic images which correspond to the first standard section and are related to the case;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to a first standard tangent plane of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal;

and displaying the first reference gallery and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard section.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

matching the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane with the ultrasonic image in the first reference gallery;

and outputting and displaying a reference image matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane.

3. The method of claim 2,

the reference map matched with the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane is the ultrasound image with the highest similarity of the ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard tangent plane in the first reference map library.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the multiple frames of ultrasonic images which correspond to the first standard section and are related to the case;

and selecting a reference image matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane from the ultrasonic images of multiple frames, and displaying the reference image.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first reference gallery corresponding to the first standard cut plane identifier and the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane comprises:

and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane and the first reference gallery are displayed on the same display interface or different display interfaces.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first reference gallery and the standard cut plane identifier comprises:

and displaying the standard section mark and the first reference gallery on the same display interface or different display interfaces.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of frames of the ultrasound images in the first reference gallery have a first display form and/or a second display form;

under the first display form, at least two frames of the multi-frame ultrasonic images are displayed in a thumbnail form on the same display interface;

and under the second display form, displaying an image list of a plurality of frames of the ultrasonic images on the same display interface, and switching and displaying between different ultrasonic images by switching the image list.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first display form and the second display form are switchable to each other when a plurality of frames of the ultrasound image in the first reference gallery have the first display form and the second display form.

9. The method of claim 3 or 5, further comprising:

displaying attribute information corresponding to a reference map matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane, wherein the attribute information comprises at least one of the following items: image features, image markers, text descriptions.

10. The method according to claim 3 or 5, wherein the obtaining an ultrasound image corresponding to a first standard cut plane of the target object according to the ultrasound echo signal comprises:

obtaining an ultrasonic image sequence of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal;

obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to a first standard tangent plane of the target object from the ultrasonic image sequence;

the method further comprises the following steps:

and using the reference image as a guide to obtain an ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard section from the ultrasonic image sequence again.

11. The method according to claim 3 or 5, characterized in that the method further comprises:

taking the reference image as a guide, re-transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object after adjusting the position of the probe, and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

and obtaining an ultrasonic image sequence of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal, and obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane from the ultrasonic image sequence again.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining a reference gallery associated with the standard cut face identification from at least one of an ultrasound device local, a cloud server, or an external storage medium.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

and performing read-only operation and/or modification operation on the ultrasonic image in the reference gallery associated with the standard section identifier according to the user authority.

14. A method of ultrasound imaging, the method comprising:

displaying a plurality of standard image identifications to be scanned, wherein each standard image identification is associated with a corresponding reference gallery;

when a first standard image identifier for scanning a target object is determined from the plurality of standard image identifiers to be scanned, determining a first reference gallery corresponding to the first standard image identifier from the reference gallery; wherein the first reference gallery comprises a plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard image and related to the case;

transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain ultrasonic echo signals;

obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to a first standard image of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal;

and displaying the first reference gallery and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard image.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

displaying the plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard image and related to the case;

and selecting a reference image matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard image from a plurality of frames of the ultrasonic images, and displaying the reference image.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein a plurality of frames of the ultrasound images in the first reference gallery have a first display form and/or a second display form;

under the first display form, at least two frames of the multi-frame ultrasonic images are displayed in a thumbnail form on the same display interface;

and under the second display form, displaying an image list of a plurality of frames of the ultrasonic images on the same display interface, and switching and displaying between different ultrasonic images by switching the image list.

17. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 16,

the standard image corresponding to the standard image identification comprises a two-dimensional standard image or a three-dimensional standard image, and the ultrasonic image comprises a two-dimensional ultrasonic image or a three-dimensional ultrasonic image.

18. An ultrasound imaging apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus comprises:

a probe;

the transmitting circuit excites the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target object;

a receiving circuit which controls the probe to receive an ultrasonic echo returned from the target object to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

a processor that processes the ultrasound echo signals to obtain an ultrasound image of the target object and performs the method of any one of claims 1 to 17.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of ultrasound imaging technology, and more particularly, to an ultrasound imaging method and an ultrasound imaging apparatus.

Background

The ultrasonic imaging device is generally used for a doctor to observe internal tissue structures of a human body, and the doctor places a probe on the surface of the skin corresponding to a part of the human body to obtain an ultrasonic image of the part. Ultrasonic imaging has become a main auxiliary means for diagnosis of doctors because of its characteristics of safety, convenience, no damage, low price, etc.

The basic method of ultrasonic imaging is to emit ultrasonic waves into the human body, receive and record ultrasonic echo signals reflected, scattered or transmitted by various organs and tissue interfaces in the body, and obtain tissue information according to the characteristics of the ultrasonic echo signals. The accuracy of an ultrasound diagnosis depends on how well the diagnostician knows this physical characteristic. Due to the complex structure of human body, the anatomical variation is also common, so the ultrasound image varies. The diagnostic level of sonographers often depends on the experience of positive cases, and the more the experience of abnormal cases is, the higher the accuracy of the examination diagnosis is.

The low-grade doctors are low in seniority and lack of experience in abnormal case diagnosis, and are easy to be tensed and misdiagnosed when encountering unusual cases, and under the condition, the shallow-seniority doctors can turn over reference case books or ask experienced doctors for help; on the other hand, the work of experienced doctors is interrupted by the education of low-age funders, so that the work efficiency is reduced; in addition, the problems of the teaching also can be repeated, and the problem of 'doctor resource waste' exists to a certain extent.

Disclosure of Invention

In this summary, concepts in a simplified form are introduced that are further described in the detailed description. This summary of the invention is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

An aspect of an embodiment of the present invention provides an ultrasound imaging method, where the method includes: responding to a protocol for starting an ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow, and displaying a plurality of standard section identifications to be scanned, wherein the protocol comprises the standard section identifications and a reference map library associated with the standard section identifications; when a first standard section identifier for scanning a target object is determined from the plurality of standard section identifiers to be scanned, determining a first reference map library corresponding to the first standard section identifier from the reference map library; the first reference image library comprises a plurality of frames of ultrasonic images which correspond to the first standard section and are related to the case; transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to a first standard tangent plane of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal; and displaying the first reference gallery and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard section.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: matching the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane with the ultrasonic image in the first reference gallery; and outputting and displaying a reference image matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane.

In one embodiment, the reference map matched with the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane is the ultrasound image with the highest similarity of the ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard cut plane in the first reference map library.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: displaying the multiple frames of ultrasonic images which correspond to the first standard section and are related to the case; and selecting a reference image matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane from the ultrasonic images of multiple frames, and displaying the reference image.

In one embodiment, displaying a first reference gallery corresponding to the first standard cut plane identifier and an ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane includes: and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane and the first reference gallery are displayed on the same display interface or different display interfaces.

In one embodiment, a plurality of frames of the ultrasound images in the first reference gallery have a first display form and/or a second display form; under the first display form, at least two frames of the multi-frame ultrasonic images are displayed in a thumbnail form on the same display interface; and under the second display form, displaying an image list of a plurality of frames of the ultrasonic images on the same display interface, and switching and displaying between different ultrasonic images by switching the image list.

In one embodiment, when a plurality of frames of the ultrasound images in the first reference gallery have the first display form and the second display form, the first display form and the second display form can be switched with each other.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: displaying attribute information corresponding to a reference map matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane, wherein the attribute information comprises at least one of the following items: image features, image markers, text descriptions.

In one embodiment, the obtaining an ultrasound image corresponding to a first standard tangent plane of the target object according to the ultrasound echo signal includes: obtaining an ultrasonic image sequence of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal; obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to a first standard tangent plane of the target object from the ultrasonic image sequence; the method further comprises the following steps: and using the reference image as a guide to obtain an ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard section from the ultrasonic image sequence again.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: taking the reference image as a guide, re-transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object after adjusting the position of the probe, and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; and obtaining an ultrasonic image sequence of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal, and obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane from the ultrasonic image sequence again.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: obtaining a reference gallery associated with the standard cut face identification from at least one of an ultrasound device local, a cloud server, or an external storage medium.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: and performing read-only operation and/or modification operation on the ultrasonic image in the reference gallery associated with the standard section identifier according to the user authority.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides an ultrasound imaging method, including: displaying a plurality of standard image identifications to be scanned, wherein each standard image identification is associated with a corresponding reference gallery; when a first standard image identifier for scanning a target object is determined from the plurality of standard image identifiers to be scanned, determining a first reference gallery corresponding to the first standard image identifier from the reference gallery; wherein the first reference gallery comprises a plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard image and related to the case; transmitting ultrasonic waves to the target object and receiving echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain ultrasonic echo signals; obtaining an ultrasonic image corresponding to a first standard image of the target object according to the ultrasonic echo signal; and displaying the first reference gallery and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard image.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: displaying the plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard image and related to the case; and selecting a reference image matched with the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard image from a plurality of frames of the ultrasonic images, and displaying the reference image.

In one embodiment, a plurality of frames of the ultrasound images in the first reference gallery have a first display form and/or a second display form; under the first display form, at least two frames of the multi-frame ultrasonic images are displayed in a thumbnail form on the same display interface; and under the second display form, displaying an image list of a plurality of frames of the ultrasonic images on the same display interface, and switching and displaying between different ultrasonic images by switching the image list.

In one embodiment, the standard image comprises a two-dimensional standard image or a three-dimensional standard image, and the ultrasound image comprises a two-dimensional ultrasound image or a three-dimensional ultrasound image.

A third aspect of embodiments of the present invention provides an ultrasound imaging apparatus, including: a probe; the transmitting circuit excites the probe to transmit ultrasonic waves to a target object; a receiving circuit which controls the probe to receive an ultrasonic echo returned from the target object to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal; a processor that processes the ultrasound echo signals to obtain an ultrasound image of the target object, and performs the method as described above.

According to the ultrasonic imaging method and the ultrasonic imaging equipment provided by the embodiment of the invention, when the ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow is executed, the ultrasonic image corresponding to the currently scanned standard section in the reference image library can be automatically displayed for the reference of a doctor, and the ultrasonic imaging method and the ultrasonic imaging equipment have great significance for the quality improvement, the personnel cultivation and the business exchange of ultrasonic doctors.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art to obtain other drawings based on these drawings without inventive labor.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic flow diagram of an ultrasound imaging method according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a standard section marker according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a display interface displaying a reference gallery in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a display interface displaying a reference gallery in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram showing a reference gallery and standard cut plane identification, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a schematic diagram showing a reference gallery and standard cut plane identification, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 shows a schematic flow diagram of an ultrasound imaging method according to another embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, exemplary embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely a subset of embodiments of the invention and not all embodiments of the invention, with the understanding that the invention is not limited to the example embodiments described herein. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments of the invention described herein without inventive step, shall fall within the scope of protection of the invention.

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in order to avoid obscuring the invention.

It is to be understood that the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of the associated listed items.

In order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, a detailed structure will be set forth in the following description in order to explain the present invention. Alternative embodiments of the invention are described in detail below, however, the invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details.

The current ultrasound academic communication is generally carried out in the modes of teaching and training, academic conferences, publishing articles or books and recording videos, the sources of the contents are scattered and can not be centralized for learners, and some contents can also relate to copyright problems. Some ultrasound imaging devices package section-related help or instructional information into a single functional module. The functional module focuses on the teaching of the scanning method, and is not aimed at teaching diagnosis, the content which can be provided by the functional module is generally a standard ultrasonic image of a normal person, various paradigms of abnormal performance are lacked, the help of doctors with a certain foundation is limited, and the content in the functional module can be provided only by manufacturers and has no expansibility.

In addition, the functional module cannot acquire the current scanning target of the doctor, so that the targeted help cannot be provided; when a doctor scans or exercises, the doctor needs to enter the module to search for related contents, and the related contents cannot be acquired immediately, so that time and labor are wasted. The functional module also cannot provide a proper platform for the communication of the doctor.

Based on this, the embodiment of the invention provides an ultrasonic imaging method and an ultrasonic imaging device, which can automatically provide a relevant reference library according to a currently scanned standard section.

Next, an ultrasound imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is first described with reference to fig. 1, and fig. 1 shows a schematic structural block diagram of an ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the ultrasound imaging device 100 includes a probe 110, transmit circuitry 112, receive circuitry 114, a processor 116, and a display 118. Further, the ultrasound imaging apparatus may further include a transmit/receive selection switch 120 and a beam forming module 122, and the transmit circuit 112 and the receive circuit 114 may be connected to the probe 110 through the transmit/receive selection switch 120.

The probe 110 includes a plurality of transducer elements, which may be arranged in a line to form a linear array, or in a two-dimensional matrix to form an area array, or in a convex array. The transducer elements are used for transmitting ultrasonic waves according to the excitation electric signals or converting the received ultrasonic waves into electric signals, so that each transducer element can be used for realizing the mutual conversion of the electric pulse signals and the ultrasonic waves, thereby realizing the transmission of the ultrasonic waves to tissues of a target area of a measured object and also receiving ultrasonic wave echoes reflected back by the tissues. In ultrasound detection, which transducer elements are used for transmitting ultrasound waves and which transducer elements are used for receiving ultrasound waves can be controlled by a transmitting sequence and a receiving sequence, or the transducer elements are controlled to be time-slotted for transmitting ultrasound waves or receiving echoes of ultrasound waves. The transducer elements participating in the ultrasonic wave transmission can be simultaneously excited by the electric signals, so that the ultrasonic waves are transmitted simultaneously; alternatively, the transducer elements participating in the ultrasound beam transmission may be excited by several electrical signals with a certain time interval, so as to continuously transmit ultrasound waves with a certain time interval.

During ultrasound imaging, the transmit circuitry 112 sends delay-focused transmit pulses to the probe 110 through the transmit/receive select switch 120. The probe 110 is excited by the transmission pulse to transmit an ultrasonic beam to the tissue of the target region of the object to be measured, receives an ultrasonic echo with tissue information reflected from the tissue of the target region after a certain delay, and converts the ultrasonic echo back into an electrical signal. The receiving circuit 114 receives the electrical signals generated by the conversion of the probe 110, obtains ultrasonic echo signals, and sends the ultrasonic echo signals to the beam forming module 122, and the beam forming module 122 performs processing such as focusing delay, weighting, channel summation and the like on the ultrasonic echo data, and then sends the ultrasonic echo data to the processor 116. The processor 116 performs signal detection, signal enhancement, data conversion, logarithmic compression, and the like on the ultrasonic echo signal to form an ultrasonic image. The ultrasound images obtained by the processor 116 may be displayed on the display 118 or may be stored in the memory 124.

Alternatively, the processor 116 may be implemented as software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof, and may use single or multiple Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), single or multiple general purpose Integrated circuits, single or multiple microprocessors, single or multiple programmable logic devices, or any combination of the preceding, or other suitable circuits or devices. Also, the processor 116 may control other components in the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 to perform the respective steps of the methods in the various embodiments herein.

The display 118 is connected with the processor 116, and the display 118 may be a touch display screen, a liquid crystal display screen, or the like; alternatively, the display 118 may be a separate display, such as a liquid crystal display, a television, or the like, separate from the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100; alternatively, the display 118 may be a display screen of an electronic device such as a smartphone, tablet, etc. The number of the displays 118 may be one or more.

The display 118 may display the ultrasound image obtained by the processor 116. In addition, the display 118 can provide a graphical interface for human-computer interaction for the user while displaying the ultrasound image, and one or more controlled objects are arranged on the graphical interface, so that the user can input operation instructions by using the human-computer interaction device to control the controlled objects, thereby executing corresponding control operation. For example, an icon is displayed on the graphical interface, and the icon can be operated by the man-machine interaction device to execute a specific function, such as drawing a region-of-interest box on the ultrasonic image.

Optionally, the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 may further include a human-computer interaction device other than the display 118, which is connected to the processor 116, for example, the processor 116 may be connected to the human-computer interaction device through an external input/output port, which may be a wireless communication module, a wired communication module, or a combination thereof. The external input/output port may also be implemented based on USB, bus protocols such as CAN, and/or wired network protocols, etc.

The human-computer interaction device may include an input device for detecting input information of a user, for example, control instructions for the transmission/reception timing of the ultrasonic waves, operation input instructions for drawing points, lines, frames, or the like on the ultrasonic images, or other instruction types. The input device may include one or more of a keyboard, mouse, scroll wheel, trackball, mobile input device (e.g., mobile device with touch screen display, cell phone, etc.), multi-function knob, and the like. The human-computer interaction device may also include an output device such as a printer.

Ultrasound imaging device 100 may also include memory 124 for storing instructions executed by the processor, storing received ultrasound echoes, storing ultrasound images, and so forth. The memory may be a flash memory card, solid state memory, hard disk, etc. Which may be volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory, removable memory and/or non-removable memory, etc.

It should be understood that the components included in the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1 are merely illustrative and that more or fewer components may be included. The invention is not limited in this regard.

An ultrasound imaging method proposed by an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 2, and fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method 200 of an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the ultrasound imaging method 200 of the embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

in step S210, in response to a protocol for starting an ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow, displaying a plurality of standard section identifiers to be scanned, where the protocol includes the standard section identifiers and a reference gallery associated with the standard section identifiers;

in step S220, when a first standard section identifier for scanning a target object is determined from the plurality of standard section identifiers to be scanned, determining a first reference gallery corresponding to the first standard section identifier from the reference gallery; the first reference image library comprises a plurality of frames of ultrasonic images which correspond to the first standard section and are related to the case;

in step S230, transmitting an ultrasonic wave to the target object, and receiving an echo of the ultrasonic wave returned by the target object to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

in step S240, an ultrasound image corresponding to a first standard tangent plane of the target object is obtained according to the ultrasound echo signal;

in step S250, the first reference gallery and the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane are displayed.

The ultrasonic imaging method 200 of the embodiment of the invention provides an ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow with a reference map library, the reference map library is associated with a standard section to be scanned in the workflow, when the ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow is executed, an ultrasonic image corresponding to the currently scanned standard section in the reference map library can be automatically displayed for a doctor to refer to, and the ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow has great significance for improving the qualification of ultrasonic doctors, culturing personnel and exchanging services.

The automatic ultrasonic section scanning workflow is a working mode for automatic ultrasonic scanning. With the release of various ultrasonic examination guidelines and specifications, doctors are required to complete scanning of a series of standard sections in various ultrasonic examinations as a diagnostic basis. The standard section is generally an important section which is selected in the industry and can relatively find more abnormalities. Ultrasound examinations typically require a sliding scan of multiple standard slices to avoid missing abnormal tissue or structures. The ultrasonic section automatic scanning workflow can organize the standard sections to be scanned together in a certain sequence or form by providing a template protocol, and part of work is automatically completed by ultrasonic imaging equipment, so that the working efficiency of doctors is improved, and the operation flow of the doctors is standardized. As ultrasound technology has evolved, the set of standard slices may also change in various examinations.

Responding to a protocol for starting an automatic ultrasonic section scanning workflow, and displaying a plurality of standard section identifications to be scanned corresponding to the current inspection part on a display interface by the ultrasonic imaging equipment. As shown in fig. 3, for the current examination site, the protocol presets a set of standard slices to be scanned by the doctor, specifically including a thalamus horizontal cross-section, a lateral ventricle horizontal cross-section, a cerebellum horizontal cross-section, a nasolabial coronal cross-section, and the like. Each standard section in the initial state is represented by a standard section mark, and the standard section mark can be a figure, a character or a combination of the two which represents the type of the standard section.

When scanning, doctors can scan the standard sections one by one according to a preset standard section sequence in an automatic scanning workflow, or scan the standard sections one by one according to a user-defined sequence according to the condition of patients or habits of the doctors. Specifically, after a first standard section to be scanned is determined, a doctor places a probe at a scanning position corresponding to the first standard section, an ultrasonic imaging device transmits ultrasonic waves to a target object through the probe and receives echoes of the ultrasonic waves returned by the target object to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal, and an ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard section of the target object is obtained according to the ultrasonic echo signal; the ultrasonic imaging device displays at least one frame of ultrasonic image in the first reference image library and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane obtained by scanning on the display. After scanning the standard section, the doctor needs to actively freeze the ultrasonic image, select the standard section from a group of ultrasonic image sequences, measure and store the image. After saving the map, the standard section mark is switched to the completed state, for example, the thumbnail of the ultrasound image replaces the original standard section mark, see the horizontal thalamic section and the horizontal ventricles section in fig. 3. Meanwhile, the ultrasonic imaging equipment can automatically unfreeze the ultrasonic image after the image is stored, so that a doctor can conveniently scan the next standard section.

The embodiment of the invention combines a reference gallery in the automatic scanning workflow, and the protocol of the automatic scanning workflow comprises the reference gallery associated with the standard tangent plane identifier. Specifically, each standard section identifier in at least part of standard section identifiers in the protocol is respectively configured with a corresponding reference map library, when a first standard section identifier for scanning the target object is determined from a plurality of standard section identifiers to be scanned, a first reference map library corresponding to the first standard section identifier is determined from the reference map libraries, and the first reference map library comprises a plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard section and related to a case, so as to be referred by a doctor. The first standard tangent plane identifier in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to any standard tangent plane identifier in a protocol, and the first reference gallery refers to a reference gallery corresponding to the standard tangent plane identifier.

Further, the reference gallery may include ultrasound images corresponding to the standard cut planes and related to the case, and may also include ultrasound images corresponding to the standard cut planes and related to non-case, for example, ultrasound images with normal features or symptoms.

Furthermore, in addition to the ultrasound images corresponding to the standard tangent planes and related to the case, the reference gallery may also store some or all of the ultrasound images therein with corresponding attribute information such as image features, image markers, text descriptions, and the like, so as to assist the doctor in understanding the related information of the ultrasound images. The reference gallery of the embodiment of the invention can be pre-configured by a manufacturer of the ultrasonic imaging equipment before delivery, and can also be supplemented and expanded by a doctor using the ultrasonic imaging equipment according to sharing or teaching requirements after delivery. Exemplary ways of expanding the reference image include, but are not limited to, the following: saving the ultrasound images to a reference gallery, importing from a local historical exam record of the ultrasound imaging device, and importing from an external medium while performing an ultrasound sectional automated scanning workflow.

Illustratively, the reference gallery associated with the standard cut plane identification may be obtained from at least one of an ultrasound device local, a cloud server, or an external storage medium. The external storage medium includes a usb disk, a mobile hard disk, and the like. The protocol with the reference gallery can be shared among different ultrasonic imaging devices through exporting and importing of external storage media such as a USB flash disk, and is particularly convenient for small-scale sharing of the same department or hospitals which do not support networking. The doctor can upload the protocol with the reference gallery to the cloud server in stages through the local area network or the internet, backup work is accumulated, the doctor can also disclose or authorize other users to view, exchange and download, and meanwhile, the doctor can cooperate with other doctors to enrich the reference gallery. The user identity and permission definition for the reference gallery may be implemented by an application or otherwise. The ultrasound image in the reference gallery associated with the standard section identifier can be edited according to the user authority, for example, the ultrasound image is subjected to read-only operation, modification operation and the like. Some of the ultrasound images can also be deleted according to the user's right.

Generally, an experienced doctor who creates or maintains the protocol expands the reference gallery, and the accumulated results are continuously enriched into the protocol for uniform management. Physicians using the reference gallery are generally young, low-age physicians with poor diagnostic experience. Thus, the teaching of experience of experienced doctors to low-age doctors can be realized by referring to the gallery.

In one embodiment, the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard section currently acquired by the doctor and the first reference gallery can be displayed on the same display interface, so that the doctor can compare and analyze the ultrasound image obtained by the current scanning with the first reference gallery conveniently. In another embodiment, the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard section and the first reference gallery are displayed on different display interfaces, so that the details of the ultrasound image can be more clearly displayed.

In displaying the first reference gallery, a plurality of frames of ultrasound images may be displayed therein, and the plurality of frames of ultrasound images may have at least one of a first display form and a second display form. Under a first display form, at least two frames of the multi-frame ultrasonic images are displayed in a thumbnail form on the same display interface; FIG. 4 illustrates a display interface displaying a first reference gallery in a first display format. Under a second display form, displaying an image list of multiple frames of ultrasonic images on the same display interface, and switching and displaying different ultrasonic images by switching the image list; FIG. 5 illustrates a display interface displaying a first reference gallery in a second display format.

Further, when the plurality of frames of ultrasound images in the first reference gallery have the first display form and the second display form, the first display form and the second display form can be switched with each other. Referring to fig. 4 and 5, an option of switching a display form is displayed below the ultrasound images of the first reference gallery, when the user selects to turn on the detail mode, the first reference gallery is displayed in the second display form, an image list of a plurality of frames of ultrasound images and a large image of the currently selected ultrasound image are displayed on the display interface, and the large image of the ultrasound image can clearly present details of the ultrasound image. When the user selects to close the detail mode, the first reference gallery is displayed in a first display form, and thumbnails of the multi-frame ultrasonic images are displayed on the display interface, so that the user can conveniently and quickly browse the multi-frame ultrasonic images in the first reference gallery.

In some embodiments, after the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut is generated, the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut may be matched with the multi-frame ultrasound images in the first reference map library to obtain a reference map matched with the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut obtained by the current scanning, and the reference map may be output and displayed. The matching of the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard section and the multi-frame ultrasound image in the first reference library means that the currently acquired ultrasound image is associated with the multi-frame ultrasound image in the corresponding first reference library, and the ultrasound image most likely to be adapted is pushed to the doctor as the reference image.

For example, the reference map matched with the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane may be at least one frame of ultrasound image in the first reference map library, which has the highest similarity to the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane. Optionally, the reference map matched with the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane may also be at least one frame of ultrasound image in the first reference map library, where the similarity of the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane is higher than a preset threshold. Displaying the reference image matched with the currently acquired ultrasound image can save the time required by a doctor for screening the ultrasound images in the reference image library, and directly present the reference image most relevant to the ultrasound image obtained by the current scanning.

Illustratively, when the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane is matched with the multi-frame ultrasound image in the first reference gallery, if an obvious anatomical structure exists in the first standard cut plane, the target anatomical structure in the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane may be positioned first, so as to define the range of the ultrasound image to be matched in the subsequent steps, and improve the matching accuracy. The method of locating the target anatomy may include a target detection method common in image processing.

The target detection algorithm comprises deep learning, machine learning, traditional image processing and other algorithms. The deep learning requires training a deep learning network in advance based on the collected ultrasound images and the labeling result of the target anatomical structure region by the senior physician, and the deep learning network includes, but is not limited to, RCNN, fasternn, SSD, YOLO, and the like. And in the network training stage, calculating the error between the detection result and the labeling result of the target anatomical structure region in the iterative process, continuously updating the weight in the network with the aim of minimizing the error, and continuously repeating the process to ensure that the detection result gradually approaches to the true value of the target anatomical structure region to obtain a trained deep learning model. The deep learning model may enable automated identification of target anatomical regions.

The traditional image processing and machine learning combined target inspection algorithm mainly comprises the following steps: firstly, determining a region to be selected in an ultrasonic image based on a traditional image processing method such as Select Search; converting the area to be selected to a fixed size, and extracting the characteristics of the gradient, texture and the like of the image by using an image processing mode, such as a Sift operator, a HoG operator, a GLCM gray level co-occurrence matrix and the like; secondly, training the feature vectors of the to-be-selected area through a traditional machine learning algorithm to obtain a classification model of the to-be-selected frame; finally, a target anatomical region is obtained by a regression method.

If the first standard section contains the target anatomical structure, after the target anatomical structure region is detected, image matching is subsequently performed based on the target anatomical structure region. If the first standard section does not contain the target anatomy, then image matching is subsequently performed based on the full image of the ultrasound image.

In image matching, the ultrasound image may also be image preprocessed first. The main purpose of image preprocessing is to transform the input ultrasonic image by image processing methods such as scaling, clipping, image filtering and the like, enhance image information and improve the performance of the subsequent image feature extraction step.

And after the ultrasonic image is preprocessed, extracting the image characteristics of the ultrasonic image. The main purpose of the step is to process the real-time acquired ultrasound images and the ultrasound images in the reference library to obtain the feature vectors used in matching for subsequent image matching.

When the image features are extracted, traditional feature extraction methods such as SIFT, SURF, ORB and the like can be adopted, and a deep learning-based method can also be adopted. For example, 4096-dimensional features of the AlexNet full-link layer are employed as image features. Compared with the traditional feature extraction method, the method based on deep learning has higher response speed. In addition, the traditional feature extraction method and the deep learning method can be combined to perform feature extraction, so that the accuracy of feature extraction is improved.

It should be noted that besides the image features, other relevant features, such as keywords of the target anatomical structure existing in the first standard cut plane, ultrasound echo feature description keywords included in the first standard cut plane, and the like, may be extracted from the ultrasound image, and feature fusion is performed.

After the image features are extracted, image matching, also called image retrieval, is performed based on the image features. The main purpose of this step is to compare the feature vectors of the ultrasound images acquired in real time with the feature vectors of all the ultrasound images in the reference library, and to find the ultrasound image closest to the ultrasound images acquired in real time as a reference image.

In order to increase the search efficiency and improve the search accuracy, the extracted feature vectors may be further processed, for example, using PCA (Principal Component Analysis) dimensionality reduction or DBA (DTW Barycenter Averaging) enhancement. Based on the feature vectors of the real-time acquired ultrasound images and the ultrasound images in the reference library, the similarity between the real-time acquired ultrasound images and the ultrasound images in the reference library can be obtained.

Because the feature dimension of the image is often large, it is time-consuming to adopt brute force search, and it is difficult to meet the real-time requirement of retrieval. Therefore, search methods such as a tree-structure-based image search method (KD tree), a hash-based image search method (HE), and a vector quantization-based image search method (PQ) can be employed to reduce the spatial complexity and temporal complexity of image search. The similarity measure method adopted by different feature vectors is different. For example: simple methods may use euclidean distances, cosine similarities, and hamming distances when using hash code retrieval.

And for the retrieved result, secondary reordering can be performed according to a certain rule or user feedback. For example, the similarity metric distances calculated according to all the feature vectors are sorted, or the sorting is performed based on one-dimensional features in the similarity metric distances. This part of the operation is used as a post-processing operation of the retrieval, and the aim is to improve the retrieval accuracy. Finally, one or more frames of ultrasound images with the highest similarity to the ultrasound images acquired in real time in the reference library can be output to the user as reference images.

Further, when the reference map is displayed, attribute information corresponding to the reference map may also be displayed at the same time, where the attribute information includes at least one of: image features, image markers, text descriptions. Wherein the image features may include ultrasound features such as hyperechoic, hypoechoic, and the like; image marking may include marking of a lesion location in an ultrasound image; the textual description may include a description of the case, and what disease may be considered for the homogeneous ultrasound image, etc. Displaying the attribute information corresponding to the reference map is advantageous to assist the user in understanding the reference map.

After the reference image is displayed, the user can also judge whether the ultrasound image corresponding to the currently acquired first standard tangent plane is accurate or not by referring to the reference image. Specifically, in step S240, when the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane of the target object is obtained according to the ultrasound echo signal, the ultrasound imaging device obtains an ultrasound image sequence of the target object according to the ultrasound echo signal, and obtains an ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane of the target object from the ultrasound image sequence. If the corresponding relationship between the ultrasound image and the first standard section is not accurate, the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard section can be reselected from the ultrasound image sequence by taking the reference image as a guide after the reference image is obtained.

If the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard section which meets the requirement does not exist in the ultrasound image sequence, the ultrasound image sequence can be regenerated and the ultrasound image can be selected. Specifically, the reference image is used as a guide, the ultrasonic wave is re-emitted to the target object after the position of the probe is adjusted, the echo of the ultrasonic wave returned by the target object is received to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal, an ultrasonic image sequence of the target object is obtained according to the ultrasonic echo signal, and an ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard tangent plane is re-obtained from the ultrasonic image sequence.

In some embodiments, when displaying the first reference gallery, a plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard cut plane and related to the case may be displayed, and a reference map matching the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard cut plane may be selected from the plurality of frames of ultrasound images and displayed. In one example, displaying the plurality of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard cut plane and related to the case and displaying the reference image may be performed simultaneously. In another example, a plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard section and related to the case may be displayed first, and then a reference image in which the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard section matches is determined and displayed in response to a user instruction. When multiple frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard cut plane and related to the case in the first reference gallery are displayed, the ultrasound images can be sorted from high similarity to low similarity of the currently scanned ultrasound images. If there are no adaptable ultrasound images in the first reference gallery, the reference map may not be recommended or associated prompts may be given.

For example, when the first reference gallery corresponding to the first standard section identifier and the standard section identifier to be scanned are displayed, the first reference gallery and the standard section identifier may be displayed on the same display interface or on different display interfaces.

For example, referring to fig. 6 and 7, fig. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams illustrating displaying a first reference gallery and a standard cut plane identifier on the same display interface. In fig. 6, a list of standard section identifiers is displayed on the left side of the display interface, and thumbnails of multiple frames of ultrasound images in the first reference image library are displayed on the right side of the display interface;

fig. 7 shows a list of standard section identifiers on the left side of the display interface, and shows the reference map selected in the first reference map library and the attribute information corresponding to the reference map on the right side of the display interface.

Displaying the first reference gallery and the standard section identifier on different interfaces can include the following two implementation modes: the first is to display the first reference gallery and the standard section mark on different displays, and the second is to display the first reference gallery and the standard section mark on different label pages of the same display as shown in fig. 4 and 5: when the user selects the 'iWorks' label above the display interface, the standard section identification is displayed, and when the user selects the 'reference gallery' label above the display interface, the first reference gallery is displayed, so that the user can switch the display content of the display interface as required.

In summary, the ultrasonic imaging method 200 of the embodiment of the present invention provides a protocol of an automatic ultrasonic section scanning workflow with a reference map library, and the protocol of the automatic ultrasonic section scanning workflow and the reference map library are integrated into a teaching tool that integrates a scanning process and an actual case into a whole, for learning and use by inexperienced doctors. The doctors with rich experience can complete the work with education, the experience inheritance and the public praise harvesting while completing the learning accumulation. Especially, the method is beneficial to co-building a learning atmosphere which helps each other and helps each other in hospital departments, so that low-age medical doctors can stand on the shoulders of the giant, the knowledge storage and diagnosis experience can be rapidly improved, the growth can be obtained, and the method has great significance to personnel cultivation and business exchange of ultrasonic doctors.

An ultrasound imaging method proposed by another embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to fig. 8, and fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of an ultrasound imaging method 800 of an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the ultrasound imaging method 800 of the embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

in step S810, displaying a plurality of standard image identifiers to be scanned, wherein each standard image identifier is associated with a corresponding reference gallery;

in step S820, when a first standard image identifier for scanning a target object is determined from the plurality of standard image identifiers to be scanned, determining a first reference gallery corresponding to the first standard image identifier from the reference gallery; wherein the first reference gallery comprises a plurality of frames of ultrasound images corresponding to the first standard image and related to the case;

in step S830, transmitting an ultrasonic wave to the target object, and receiving an echo of the ultrasonic wave returned by the target object to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal;

in step S840, obtaining an ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard image of the target object according to the ultrasound echo signal;

in step S850, the first reference gallery and the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard image are displayed.

The ultrasound imaging method 800 of the present embodiment is substantially similar to the ultrasound imaging method 200 above, except that the standard image identification in the ultrasound imaging method 800 of the present embodiment is not limited to the standard sectional identification. The standard image corresponding to the standard image identifier of this embodiment includes a two-dimensional standard image or a three-dimensional standard image, and accordingly, the ultrasound images in the reference library and the currently acquired ultrasound images also include a two-dimensional ultrasound image or a three-dimensional ultrasound image. In the two-dimensional ultrasound imaging mode, the standard image identifier to be scanned is a two-dimensional standard image identifier, the ultrasound image in the reference gallery is a two-dimensional ultrasound image, and the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard image obtained in step S240 is also a two-dimensional ultrasound image. In the three-dimensional ultrasonic imaging mode, the standard image identifier to be scanned is a three-dimensional standard image identifier, the ultrasonic image in the reference gallery is a three-dimensional ultrasonic image, and the ultrasonic image corresponding to the first standard image obtained in step S240 is also a three-dimensional ultrasonic image.

In some embodiments, the ultrasound imaging method 800 further comprises: and displaying a plurality of frames of ultrasonic images which correspond to the first standard image and are related to the case in the first reference image library, wherein the first standard image is the standard image corresponding to the first standard image identification. Furthermore, a reference image matched with the ultrasound image corresponding to the first standard image can be selected from the multi-frame ultrasound images of the first reference image library, and the reference image is displayed, so that the reference image most relevant to the ultrasound image currently scanned is directly presented to a user, and the scanning efficiency is improved.

Further, the multi-frame ultrasound images in the first reference gallery have at least one of a first display form and a second display form. Under a first display form, at least two frames in a multi-frame ultrasonic image are displayed in a thumbnail form on the same display interface; in the second display form, an image list of multiple frames of ultrasonic images is displayed on the same display interface, and the switching display between different ultrasonic images is realized by switching the image list. Illustratively, the user can switch between the first display form and the second display form as desired.

When the ultrasonic scanning is performed according to the standard image identifier, the ultrasonic imaging method 800 according to the embodiment of the invention can automatically display the ultrasonic image corresponding to the currently scanned standard image in the reference image library for the reference of a doctor, and has great significance for the quality improvement, the personnel cultivation and the business exchange of the ultrasonic doctor.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an ultrasonic imaging device, which is used for realizing the ultrasonic imaging method 200. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus includes a probe, a transmission circuit, a reception circuit, a processor, and a display. Referring back to fig. 1, the ultrasound imaging apparatus may be implemented as the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 shown in fig. 1, the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 may include a probe 110, a transmitting circuit 112, a receiving circuit 114, a processor 116, and a display 118, optionally, the ultrasound imaging apparatus 100 may further include a transmitting/receiving selection switch 120 and a beam forming module 122, the transmitting circuit 112 and the receiving circuit 114 may be connected to the probe 110 through the transmitting/receiving selection switch 120, and the description of each component may refer to the above description, which is not repeated herein.

The transmitting circuit 112 is used for exciting the probe 110 to transmit ultrasonic waves to the target object; the receiving circuit 114 is used for controlling the probe to receive the ultrasonic echo returned from the target object to obtain an ultrasonic echo signal; the processor 116 is configured to process the ultrasound echo signals to obtain an ultrasound image of the target object, and to perform the steps of the ultrasound imaging method 200 or the ultrasound imaging method 800. Only the main functions of the components of the ultrasound imaging apparatus are described above, and for more details, reference is made to the related description of the ultrasound imaging method 200 and the ultrasound imaging method 800, which is not described herein again.

Although the illustrative embodiments have been described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the foregoing illustrative embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention thereto. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one of ordinary skill in the pertinent art without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

In the embodiments provided in the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical functional division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another device, or some features may be omitted, or not executed.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. It is understood, however, that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the invention and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. However, the method of the present invention should not be construed to reflect the intent: that the invention as claimed requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and all of the processes or elements of any method or apparatus so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where such features are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, rather than other features, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention and form different embodiments. For example, in the claims, any of the claimed embodiments may be used in any combination.

The various component embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware, or in software modules running on one or more processors, or in a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP) may be used in practice to implement some or all of the functionality of some of the modules according to embodiments of the present invention. The present invention may also be embodied as apparatus programs (e.g., computer programs and computer program products) for performing a portion or all of the methods described herein. Such programs implementing the present invention may be stored on computer-readable media or may be in the form of one or more signals. Such a signal may be downloaded from an internet website or provided on a carrier signal or in any other form.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements, and by means of a suitably programmed computer. In the unit claims enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The usage of the words first, second and third, etcetera do not indicate any ordering. These words may be interpreted as names.

The above description is only for the specific embodiment of the present invention or the description thereof, and the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and the changes or substitutions should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.