JP2001299749A - Ultrasonographic instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonographic instrument capable of efficiently selecting an examination function in response to an examining content and having good operability. SOLUTION: A content of a TCS menu display to be displayed on an operator console 9 by a TCS control unit 10 is selected based on the examining content input by an operator and only a necessary inspecting function is displayed. The ultrasonographic instrument comprises a network connecting port 11. Thus, an examination item is inputted from a terminal input unit 13 installed in a separate, for example, hospital reception, or the like. Only the necessary examination function is displayed on the TCS menu based on the input item.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus having an inspection function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to obtain image information for examining a region of interest in a patient's body tissue as a subject, an ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus has been widely used because of its low invasiveness and ease of operation. I have. With respect to these ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatuses, further improvements in convenience and operability are demanded by doctors and clinical laboratory technicians who are operators.

To meet these demands, various techniques have been applied to conventional ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatuses. Especially with the rapid spread of ultrasonic diagnostic imaging equipment in recent years,
Ultrasound imaging has come to be used routinely in medical settings. In particular, diagnostic methods based on blood flow information by the ultrasonic Doppler measurement method are rapidly spreading with the spread of ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatuses having a Doppler measurement function.

[0004] As one of the diagnostic methods based on the ultrasonic Doppler measurement method, a B-mode image of a diagnostic site is displayed, and a position to be measured on an ultrasonic tomographic image in the B-mode is designated. There is a measurement function to measure the cardiac output at a specified position.

[0005] This measurement function is performed as one of so-called ultrasonic echo examinations.
The inspection function is selected via the display panel of FIG. In the TCS, the inspection function is displayed as a menu so that the operator can select it, and is called a TCS menu. When the operator touches the name of a desired inspection function in the displayed TCS menu with a finger, the contact is electrically detected and the inspection function is selected.

FIG. 5 shows a TC provided in an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus.
FIG. 5A shows an example of the S menu display, and FIG. 5A shows the LV function (Left V) of the TCS menu screen 18.
inspection function of entricular branch) 17
FIG. 10 is a TCS menu display for selecting “!”. Where L
In order to select the V function 17, the function selection is electrically detected by touching the TCS menu displayed as LV with a finger, and the detection switches to the TCS menu screen 18 shown in FIG. 5B. On this screen, a menu is displayed with detailed measurement functions related to the LV function 17 and related inspection functions. The menu display item settings are registered and fixed as initial settings in advance.

[0007]

However, the prior art has the following problems to be solved.

[0008] Since the item display of the inspection function in the TCS menu is fixed and initialized, for example, even if the LV function 17 is selected, a function menu that is not so necessary for the selected inspection function is displayed, and as a result, the TC menu is displayed.
The S menu display becomes complicated, and the number of screens for switching the TCS menu display increases.

[0009] Further, although there is a function of arbitrarily registering the TCS menu by the operator, it is possible to select a combination of examination functions covering all individuals who visit the ultrasonic echo examination when the TCS menu is displayed. Not only did the number of inspection items increase, the appearance became complicated, but in some cases, it could not fit on one TCS menu screen.

[0010] Further, it is inevitable that a higher-performance and multifunctional ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus will appear with the technical progress in the future, and the number of inspection functions will be further increased. It is expected that the number of SWs will increase and the TCS menu operation will become more complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus capable of efficiently selecting an inspection function according to an inspection content and having excellent operability. I do.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic image having a plurality of inspection functions for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to obtain medical information. In the diagnostic apparatus, input means capable of inputting a test item for obtaining the medical information, selecting means for selecting a test function corresponding to the input by the input means from among a plurality of test functions, and selecting means And a display means for displaying the selected inspection function.

Further, according to the present invention described in claim 2,
2. An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said input means includes an input terminal connected via a network, and said test item can be input from said input terminal.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe 1 that transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave to and from a patient as a subject to obtain acoustic information, and provides a drive signal to the ultrasonic probe 1 to provide an ultrasonic signal. A transmission / reception circuit 2 for transmitting a sound wave and receiving an ultrasonic echo to detect a signal such as a Doppler shift signal.
A DSC circuit 3 that performs hardware processing such as zooming on received data based on a received signal based on set viewing conditions and the like, and an image collecting circuit 5 that collects images from the DSC circuit 3
A collected image recording memory 6 for storing images collected by the image collecting circuit 5, a recorded image display circuit 7 for extracting and displaying the collected images, and outputs from the DSC circuit 3 and the recorded image display circuit 7. An output signal switching circuit 4 for switching an image signal to be output to the monitor 8;
The console comprises a console 9 having S menu display means and capable of inputting a command signal by a switch operation, a TCS control unit 10 for controlling the TCS menu display, and a network connection port 11 for connecting to a network.

A terminal input device 13 connected to the network connection port 11 via the network and a network connection port 12 connecting the terminal input device 13 to the network are provided by the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. Are combined.

FIG. 2 shows a display example of an inspection item input screen displayed on the monitor 8 or the terminal input device 13. The reception input screen 14 is displayed on a monitor screen of the terminal input device 13 installed at a reception in a hospital, for example. As the terminal input device 13, a general personal computer can be used. Further, the display may be displayed on the monitor 8 and the input operation of necessary items may be performed from the console 5. The reception input screen 14 is provided with a column for inputting a patient ID 15, and an ID number or the like for identifying a patient is input here. The input ID number establishes a one-to-one correspondence between the examination item and the patient.

Next, an examination item to be performed on the patient is input to the medical care area menu 16. The input of the inspection item is performed by an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse of the terminal input device 13. In the medical care area menu 16 of FIG. 2, "Obstetrics area (OB: Obstric
s) ”for the fetal growth measurement from“ middle to late trimester (2nd
This is an example in which an inspection item of “-3nd trimester)” and “Doppler measurement (Doppler)” are selected. In this way, the items to be performed at the time of receiving the inspection are registered. The contents of the examination include, for example, “Cardiac”, “abdominal (Abdomi)
nal), "obstetrics", or "left ventricle (LV: Left Ve)".
The registration is performed for each part such as “nature” and “liver”.

The test items thus input are input to the network connection port 11 of the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus via the network by the network connection port 12. Receiving this input, network connection port 1
1 sends an inspection item to the TCS control unit 10. In this way, the contents of the test items can be pre-loaded into the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus before the test. The input of the test items of the test content may be performed on the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. In that case, the input is performed on the console 9 and the reception input screen 14 shown in FIG.

In this way, the inspection item is input before the inspection, and the inspection function corresponding to the inspection item is selected in the TCS control unit 10 according to the input item. In this selection, only the inspection function frequently used in the input inspection item is selected from many types of inspection functions stored in advance. The frequency serving as one of the selection criteria is determined and input according to the design intention.

When the operator inputs the ID of the patient to be examined on the console 9, the TCS menu display changes to a TCS menu screen 19 as shown in FIG. This TCS menu screen 19 hides unnecessary TCS menu displays according to the contents of the examination. The TCS menu display itself is an electric operation input SW by contact detection. If the display content of the TCS menu changes, the position of the operation input SW also changes accordingly. If the operation input SW hidden in this way is used, for example, when performing an examination such as fetal growth measurement in obstetrics (OB), the TCS menu display related to the circulatory organ, that is, the corresponding operation input SW is hidden. I do.

The TCS menu screen 20 shown in FIG.
Then, as a test content, the "early pregnancy (1s
t trimester) "and the examination of cardiac function are selected at the same time, the operation input S required for the examination is selected.
W is displayed collectively. In this display, operation input SWs such as left ventricular function measurement, flow velocity measurement, valve opening area measurement, and flow rate measurement performed in the examination of the circulatory organ are displayed on the TCS menu. At this time, for example, if the measurement to be performed for each hospital is determined, the item can be registered and the displayed item can be customized.

According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the contents of a test input at the time of receiving a test at a hospital or the like are obtained via a network or the like, and only the test function selection SW corresponding to the test item of the patient is obtained. The number of SWs on the TCS menu can be reduced by displaying the initial setting values, or the number of menu switching operations can be reduced by collecting necessary SWs into one menu.

Further, items other than the inspection items input at the time of receiving the inspection can be performed by switching the TCS menu.

[0024] In addition, by deleting SWs that are not required for the specified inspection, S is displayed on one TCS menu.
The number of W can be reduced, and a simple and easy-to-understand TCS menu can be displayed.

Further, by collecting and displaying SWs required for a designated inspection in one TCS menu, necessary inspection items can be confirmed on a single screen TCS menu.
You can also save the trouble of switching menus.

The embodiments described above are described for facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and are not described for limiting the present invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

[0027]

According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently select an examination function according to examination contents, and to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus having good operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows one example of a screen for inputting inspection items according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a TCS menu display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a TCS menu display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5A and 5B are views for explaining a conventional TCS menu display, and FIG. 5A shows an LV function selection screen;
(B) shows a screen display after the selection of the LV function.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasonic probe, 2 ... Transmission / reception circuit, 3 ... DSC circuit,
4 output signal switching circuit, 5 image collection circuit, 6 collected image recording memory, 7 recorded image display circuit, 8 monitor, 9 console, 10 TCS control unit,
11: network connection port, 13: terminal input device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus having a plurality of inspection functions for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to obtain medical information, comprising: an input unit capable of inputting an inspection item for obtaining the medical information; Ultrasonic diagnostic imaging, comprising: selecting means for selecting an inspecting function corresponding to the input by the input means from among the inspecting functions, and display means for displaying the inspecting function selected by the selecting means. apparatus. 2. An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said input means includes an input terminal connected via a network, and said test item can be input from said input terminal.