AUTOMATIC ADJUSTMENT OF SCAN ANGLE, SCAN DEPTH AND SCAN SPEED IN AN ULTRASOUND SYSTEM

1 . An ultrasound system, comprising:

an ultrasound data acquisition unit responsive to predetermined scan angle, scan depth and scan speed, the ultrasound data acquisition unit being configured to repeatedly transmit an ultrasound signal to a target object and receive an ultrasound echo reflected from the target object in sequential manner and form a plurality of ultrasound frame data sets based on the receive ultrasound echo; and

an processing unit configured to form a plurality of volume data sets each having a plurality of frames based on the plurality of ultrasound frame data sets and form at least two 2-dimensional ultrasound images based on the volume data sets, the processing unit being further configured to detect contours of the target object from the 2-dimensional ultrasound images and adjust the predetermined scan angle, scan depth and scan speed based on the detected contours.

2 . The ultrasound system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit includes:

a volume data forming section configured to form the plurality of volume data sets based on the plurality of ultrasound frame data sets;

a ultrasound image forming section configured to determine at least two specific frames from each of the volume data sets and form the at least two 2-dimensional ultrasound images corresponding to the at least two specific frames;

a contour detecting section configured to perform contour detection upon the 2-dimensional ultrasound images to detect the contours of the target object; and

a determining section configured to adjust the predetermined scan angle, scan depth and scan speed based on the detected contours.

3 . The ultrasound system of claim 2 , wherein the ultrasound image forming section is configured to determine first and last frames from each of the volume data sets and form 2-dimensional ultrasound images corresponding to the first and last frames.

4 . The ultrasound system of claim 3 , wherein the determining section is configured to check whether the contours of the target object are detected in the contour detecting section and decrease, when the contours are not detected, the scan angle by a predetermined angle.

5 . The ultrasound system of claim 4 , wherein the image forming section is configured to, when the contours of the target object are detected in the contour detecting section, determine a frame perpendicular to the first and last frames and form a 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the perpendicular frame,

wherein the contour detecting section is configured to detect a contour of the target object from the 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the perpendicular frame, and

wherein the determining section is configured to check connectivity between the contours of the target object on the 2-dimensional ultrasound images corresponding to the first and last frames and the 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the perpendicular frame, and increase, when the connectivity exists, the scan angle or the scan depth.

6 . The ultrasound system of claim 5 , wherein the determining section is configured to check whether the scan angle can be increased based on a max scan angle range, increase, when increase of the scan angle is allowable, the scan angle by a predetermined angle, and increase, when increase of the scan angle is not allowable, the scan depth by a predetermined length.

7 . The ultrasound system of claim 2 , wherein the image forming section is configured to determine a specific plane positioned at an identical location in each of the volume data sets and form a 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the specific plane.

8 . The ultrasound system of claim 7 , wherein the determining section is configured to compute variation between the 2-dimensional ultrasound image included in an N th volume data set and the 2-dimensional ultrasound image included in an (N+1) th volume data, wherein N is a positive integer equal to or greater than 1, the determining section being further configured to increase, when the variation is equal to or greater than a threshold, the scan speed and decrease, when the variation is less than threshold, the scan speed.

9 . The ultrasound system of claim 8 , wherein the variation include an area difference or a gradient difference of the contours.

10 . A method of adjusting a scan angle, a scan depth and a scan speed in forming an ultrasound image in an ultrasound system, comprising:

a) responsive to predetermined scan angle, scan depth and scan speed, repeatedly transmitting an ultrasound signal to a target object and receiving an ultrasound echo reflected from the target object in sequential manner to form a plurality of ultrasound frame data sets;

b) forming a plurality of volume data sets each having a plurality of frames based on the plurality of ultrasound frame data sets;

c) forming at least two 2-dimensional ultrasound images based on the volume data sets; and

d) detecting contours of the target object from the 2-dimensional ultrasound images to adjust the predetermined scan angle, scan depth and scan speed based on the detected contours.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the step c) includes:

determining first and last frames from each of the volume data sets; and

forming 2-dimensional ultrasound images corresponding to the first and last frames.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the step d) includes:

d1) detecting the contours of the target object from the 2-dimensional ultrasound images corresponding to the first and last frames;

d2) checking whether the contours are detected at the d1); and

d3) decreasing, when the contours are not detected, the scan angle by a predetermined angle.

13 . The method of claim 12 , when the contours are detected at d2, further comprising:

e) determining a frame perpendicular to the first and last frames in the volume data sets;

f) forming a 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the perpendicular frame;

g) detecting a contour of the target object from the 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the perpendicular frame;

h) checking connectivity between the contours of the target object on the 2-dimensional ultrasound images corresponding to the first and last frames and the 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the perpendicular frame; and

i) increasing, when the connectivity exists, the scan angle or the scan depth.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the step i) includes:

checking whether the scan angle can be increased based on a max scan angle range;

increasing, when the increase of the scan angle is allowable, the scan angle by a predetermined angle; and

increasing, when the increase of the scan angle is not allowable, the scan depth by a predetermined length.

15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the step c) includes:

determining a specific plane positioned at an identical location in each of the volume data sets; and

forming a 2-dimensional ultrasound image corresponding to the specific plane.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the step d) includes:

detecting a contour of the target object from the 2-dimensional ultrasound image for each of the volume data sets;

computing variation between the 2-dimensional ultrasound image included in an N th volume data set and the 2-dimensional ultrasound image included in an (N+1) th volume data, wherein N is a positive integer equal to or greater than 1;

comparing the variation with a threshold;

increasing, when the variation is equal to or greater than the threshold, the scan speed and decreasing, when the variation is less than threshold, the scan speed.

17 . The method of claim 16 , where the variation include an area difference or a gradient difference of the contours.

18 . A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to provide a method of adjusting a scan angle, a scan depth and a scan speed in forming an ultrasound image in an ultrasound system, the method comprising:

a) forming a plurality of volume data sets each having a plurality of frames based on a plurality of ultrasound frame data sets acquired from a target objet;

b) forming at least two 2-dimensional ultrasound images based on the volume data sets; and

c) detecting contours of the target object from the 2-dimensional ultrasound images to adjust the predetermined scan angle, scan depth and scan speed based on the detected contours.