Image processing system and method

1. A method of processing ultrasound data using a graphic processing unit (GPU) including a video memory, comprising:

acquiring an image frame including a plurality of pixels representative of a target object;

receiving setting information from an input unit, the setting information including information on filters, filter coefficients and vertex movement, wherein the filters are represented by a Toeplitz matrix and the filter coefficients satisfy the Toeplitz matrix's requirements, wherein the information on vertex movement determines a shifting direction of a texture which the filters are applied to, wherein the shifting direction is selected from the group consisting of upper-shifted, lower-shifted, left-shifted, and right-shifted;

analyzing the ultrasound data to form frame information including size information of the image frame;

forming a texture based on the frame information, the texture comprising vertexes in the video memory;

uploading the ultrasound data to the texture formed in the video memory;

forming texture information about the texture, to which the ultrasound data are uploaded, by using the setting information;

rearranging the texture by moving the vertexes based on the setting information and the texture information to form multiple rearranged textures, wherein the rearranged textures are shifted according to a shifting direction specified by the information on vertex movement, wherein the number of the rearranged textures equals to the number of the filter coefficients, wherein the rearranging of the texture is processed by the GPU at one time for more than one rearranged texture;

multiplying each of the rearranged textures by a respective one of the filter coefficients; and adding the rearranged textures multiplied by the filter coefficients to thereby perform filtering on the ultrasound data according to the filters.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the texture information includes data related to size and vertexes of the texture, the number of textures to be processed in the GPU at a time, a loop count and filter coefficients.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the forming of a texture includes:

forming vertex movement information including a direction of the vertex movement and a location of a starting pixel of the vertex movement, based on the setting information and the texture information; and

forming vertex location information of the texture by moving a vertex of the texture based on the texture information and the vertex movement information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image frame comprises ultrasound data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the acquiring the image frame comprises:

converting multiple transmitting signals into multiple ultrasound signals;

transmitting the multiple ultrasound signals to the target object;

receiving multiple ultrasound echo signals reflected by the target object;

receive-focusing the multiple ultrasound echo signals into multiple receive-focused signals; and

generating the ultrasound data using the multiple receive-focused signals.

6. A system of processing ultrasound data, comprising:

a graphic processing unit (GPU) including a video memory comprising multiple blocks;

a data acquisition unit configured to acquire an image frame including a plurality of pixels representative of a target object;

an input unit configured to receive setting information as a user input for processing the image frame, the setting information including information on filters, filter coefficients and vertex movement, wherein the filters are represented by a Toeplitz matrix and the filter coefficients satisfy the Toeplitz matrix's requirements, wherein the information on vertex movement determines a shifting direction of a texture which the filters are applied to, wherein the shifting direction is selected from the group consisting of upper-shifted, lower shifted, left-shifted, and right-shifted; and

a processor configured to:

analyze the ultrasound data to form frame information including size information of the image frame,

form a texture based on the frame information, the texture having vertexes in the video memory,

upload the ultrasound data to the texture formed in the video memory, and

form texture information about the texture, to which the ultrasound data are uploaded, by using the setting information;

wherein the GPU is configured to:

rearrange the texture based on the setting information and the texture information by moving the vertexes of the texture to form multiple rearranged textures, wherein the rearranged textures are shifted according to a shifting direction specified by the information on vertex movement, wherein the number of the rearranged textures equals to the number of the filter coefficients, wherein the rearranging of the texture is processed by the GPU at one time for more than one rearranged texture,

multiply each of the rearranged textures by a respective one of the filter coefficients, and

add the rearranged textures multiplied by the filter coefficients to thereby perform filtering on the ultrasound data according to the filters.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the texture information includes data related to size and vertexes of the texture, the number of textures to be processed in the GPU at a time, a loop count and filter coefficients.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the GPU includes:

a vertex movement determining unit configured to form vertex movement information including a direction of a vertex movement and a location of a starting pixel of the vertex movement, based on the setting information and the texture information;

a vertex movement unit configured to form vertex location information of the texture by moving a vertex of the texture based on the texture information and the vertex movement information; and

a filtering unit configured to perform filtering of the ultrasound data based on the texture information and the vertex location information,

wherein the setting information further includes data related to direction information of the vertex movement.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the image frame comprises ultrasound data.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the data acquisition unit comprises:

a transmitting signal forming unit configured to generate multiple transmitting signals;

an ultrasound probe configured to:

convert the multiple transmitting signals for acquiring the ultrasound data into multiple ultrasound signals,

transmit the multiple ultrasound signals to the target object, and

receive multiple ultrasound echo signals reflected from the target object to form multiple received signals;

a beam former configured to receive-focus the multiple ultrasound echo signals into multiple receive-focused signals; and

an ultrasound data forming unit configured to generate the ultrasound data using the multiple receive-focused signals.