JP2002336254A - Ultrasonic image diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic image diagnostic equipment reducing a burden on operator's operation by sticking and displaying an ultrasonic diagnostic image displayed on a monitor such that the ultrasonic diagnostic image does not overlap the image displayed with a measurement result and executing correspondence between the measurement result displayed on the image and a measurement target portion. SOLUTION: This ultrasonic image diagnostic device has an ultrasonic probe 1, a wave transmission/reception circuit 2, a DSC circuit 3, an image processing part 4, a measurement processing part 5, a graphics display memory 6, the monitor 7, a console 8, and a database 9. A signal transmitted from the image processing part 4 is stored in the graphics display memory 6, and a signal transmitted from the measurement processing part 5 is also stored in the graphics display memory 6. By receiving a signal from the graphics display memory 6, the measurement result and the ultrasonic diagnostic image can be displayed in a corresponding state.

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 a display function related to a measurement function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatuses have been widely used to obtain image information for examining a region of interest in a patient's body tissue as a subject 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 such an 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. This measurement function is performed as one of so-called ultrasonic echo examinations. For example, the periphery of a measurement target portion displayed on a monitor by using an input device such as a trackball or a keyboard provided in a console of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus. The measurement of each part was performed by tracing, for example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a monitor image on which a B-mode image is displayed.

A monitor image 2 on which a B-mode image is displayed
8 is a field of view 29, a measurement marker 30, and a measurement target site 3
1 and a measurement result display area 32.

[0007] The visual field 29 is a visual field for measuring a medical treatment object. The measurement marker 30 is a marker drawn on a monitor for measurement purposes. Measurement target part 31
Is a medical treatment object displayed on the monitor. The measurement result display area 32 is an area provided for displaying a measured value of the medical treatment target on a monitor.

As a specific example, a marker is displayed on a monitor using the measurement marker 30 or the like to measure the length of the measurement target part 31. The measurement result corresponding to the displayed marker is obtained, and the obtained measurement result is displayed in the measurement result display area 32.

[0009]

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

Since the measurement result is displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic image displayed on the monitor, when the measurement result increases,
Since the measurement result is displayed on the entire screen of the monitor, there has been an adverse effect such that the measurement target portion displayed on the monitor is difficult to see due to the display of the measurement result.

Further, since the ultrasonic diagnostic image displayed on the monitor and the image displaying the measurement result can be displayed only separately, it is necessary to associate the measurement target portion displayed on the monitor with the measurement result. Therefore, there is a problem in that it takes time and effort to edit the measurement result.

In view of these problems, the present invention displays an ultrasonic diagnostic image displayed on a monitor by pasting it so as not to overlap the image on which the measurement result is displayed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus capable of reducing the burden on the operation of an operator by associating target sites.

[0013]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for measuring medical information on an ultrasonic image formed by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to obtain medical information. In an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus having a measurement function to perform, an image display means for displaying the ultrasonic image including a measurement site by the measurement function, and a plurality of measurements obtained by performing measurement with the measurement function The measurement value display means for displaying the value together with the ultrasonic image on the image display means, the measurement value and the measurement site are associated with each other, and the other corresponding by selecting one of the An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus comprising: an association display unit that is displayed on an ultrasonic image is a solution.

Further, according to the present invention described in claim 2,
The association display means blinks at least the measurement site corresponding to the measurement value as the association, shading,
The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display is emphasized by any one or more of discoloration and position symbol display.

[0015]

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, an image processing unit 4 that collects and displays signals sent from the DSC circuit 3, and performs measurement. A measurement processing unit 5 to be executed, a graphics display memory 6 for displaying a report screen,
A monitor 7 for displaying images and graphics together,
It comprises a console 8 for inputting command signals by switch operation and a database 9 for storing past measurement data.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the processing procedure of the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In step S1, a report screen is displayed on a monitor. The report screen referred to here is a display screen of a monitor which enables operations such as storage, call display, external storage, and printout in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus. Specifically, the moving speed and direction of the cross-sectional area of the region of interest and the blood flow extracted by the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus are quantified and summarized as medical information, and blood flow observation using the ultrasonic Doppler method, etc. This is a screen on which the final result of the medical information obtained from the mobile wall and the valve tissue is displayed in an editable manner.

In step S2, data to be edited is specified. The specified edit data is a measurement item name related to measurement or a ROI (Region of Internet).
st) is specified.

If the specified edit data is a measurement item name (Yes), the process proceeds to step S3.

If the specified edit data is not a measurement item name (No), the process proceeds to step S5.

In step S3, a list related to the measurement item names is displayed. The measurement item name here is a list displaying names required for measurement.

The measurement item name is an item name called to perform measurement of a measurement target portion.
Item names such as cross-sectional area and moving speed correspond to these.

In step S4, the ROI of the report screen is
Is displayed. The ROI referred to here is a measurement target part diagnosed by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

In step S5, a list related to the ROI is displayed. The list related to the ROI is a list of the ROIs described in step S4 as a list of display screens.

Although the display screen created in the B mode is shown as a list here, the display screen created in the A mode or the M mode may be used.

In step S6, the measurement item names on the report screen are displayed. The measurement item name here is a list displaying names required for measurement, as described in step S3.

In step S7, a report screen displaying the measurement item name and the ROI is made editable. Here, the editable state is a state in which the ultrasonic diagnostic image and the image on which the measurement result is displayed can be displayed in association with each other. Specifically, the measurement target part is displayed, and when an operation such as displaying the length of the measurement target part is performed, the measurement result corresponding to the length of the measurement target part is displayed on the same screen. Is done. Further, it is possible to perform the highlight display in which the ultrasonic diagnostic image and the image of the measurement result are associated with each other.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

On the monitor screen 10 displaying the result of the ultrasonic image diagnosis, an ultrasonic diagnostic image 11 and a measurement result display screen 12 are displayed.

In the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11, a field of view 13, a measurement marker 14, and a measurement target portion 15 are displayed. The visual field 13 is a visual field for measuring a medical treatment target. The measurement marker 14 is a marker used when measuring a medical treatment target. Measurement target part 1
5 is the medical treatment object to be measured. The value obtained by the measurement is displayed on the measurement result display image 12 as the measurement result 16.

Various inputs are made to the displayed measurement target portion 15 using an input device such as a trackball or an operation panel, and measurement results corresponding to the various inputs are highlighted. Specifically, the character of the measurement result 16 corresponding to the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11 is displayed in bold, the character of the measurement result 16 corresponding to the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11 is displayed in a shining state, or the ultrasonic wave is displayed. The character of the measurement result 16 corresponding to the diagnostic image 11 is displayed in a blinking state, or the character of the measurement result 16 corresponding to the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11 is displayed in a colored state.

Further, there is an example in which the character of the measurement result 16 is displayed normally, and the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11 corresponding to the character of the measurement result 16 is highlighted. Specifically, the marker of the measurement marker 14 displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11 is displayed thick, shines around a line, is displayed as a dotted line, or is colored.

Further, it is possible to display an arrow cursor on the measurement target portion 15 displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11, and to highlight a trace line specifying the region of the measurement target portion 15. More specifically, the trace line specifying the area of the measurement target portion 15 is displayed thick, the area around the line is illuminated, the dotted line is displayed, or
A position symbol indicating the position and a color can be added.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display screen of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

On the monitor screen 17 for displaying the results of the ultrasonic image diagnosis, ultrasonic diagnostic images 18 and 19 and a measurement result display screen 20 are displayed.

The ultrasonic diagnostic image 18 displays a visual field 21, a measurement marker 22, and a measurement target part 23, and the ultrasonic diagnostic image 19 displays a visual field 24, a measurement marker 25,
The measurement target part 26 is displayed, and the measurement result display screen 20 is displayed.
Displays the measurement result 27.

The ultrasonic diagnostic image 18 is the ultrasonic diagnostic image 1
9, the measurement target part 23 is displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic image 18, and the measurement target part 23 displayed from a different direction is displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic image 19 as the measurement target part 26. be able to. For example,
When the measurement target portion 23 displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic image 18 is a tumor, a front image of the tumor is displayed, and at the same time, a side image of the tumor is displayed as the measurement target portion 26 on the ultrasonic diagnostic image 19. You. Thereby, the measurement target part 2
If you want to measure the volume of 3, 26,
Since the vertical, horizontal, and depth can be understood by the display of 3, 26, the close relationship between the measurement result 27 and the measurement target parts 23, 26 can be systematically understood.

When it is necessary to follow the progress of the fetal growth measurement and the tumor, etc., the ultrasonic diagnostic image 18
The past measurement target part 23 is displayed, and the ultrasonic diagnostic image 19 is displayed.
, The current measurement target portion 26 can be displayed. Specifically, when the measurement target site is a fetus,
Diagnosis of the developmental status of the fetus at predetermined intervals is stored in the database as image data, called up for each patient's individual ID as necessary, and the ultrasound diagnostic image 18 is used as the past measurement target part 23 as the past measurement target site 23. Display image data.
Further, the current developmental state of the fetus is displayed as the measurement target part 26 on the ultrasonic diagnostic image 19. Similarly, when the measurement target site is a tumor, the progress of treatment of the tumor is diagnosed at predetermined intervals, stored in a database, and if necessary, included in the ultrasonic diagnostic image 18 as a past measurement target site 23. The ultrasonic diagnostic image 19 is displayed and the current measurement target part 26 is displayed.
Is displayed.

As described above, the past measurement target part and the current measurement target part can be simultaneously displayed, so that the medical treatment process from the past medical condition to the current medical condition can be easily understood. Become.

According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, the ultrasonic diagnostic image 11 and the measurement result display image 12 are simultaneously displayed on the monitor 7 screen of the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus, so that the ultrasonic diagnostic image is displayed. A display in which the measurement target portion 15 displayed in 11 and the measurement result 16 displayed in the measurement result display image 12 are associated with each other can be displayed. as a result,
It is possible to reduce the operation burden on the operator when editing the measurement result 16.

Further, by highlighting the measurement result 16 corresponding to the measurement target portion 15, the measurement result 16 corresponding to the predetermined measurement target portion 15 can be easily edited. As a result, it is possible to further reduce the operation burden on the operator when editing the measurement result.

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.

For example, recently, DICOM (Dig)
ital Imaging andCommunica
According to a common medical image standard called “tions in Medicine”, it is expected to improve diagnostic accuracy by simultaneously obtaining diagnostic information based on a plurality of images. According to this common standard, the same data format can be transferred to another computer, and the image signal input portion is configured to be compatible with this DICOM, so that a diagnostic image obtained from another image diagnostic apparatus can be displayed on a monitor. It can also be displayed.

Further, not only image information but also other useful data for treatment can be simultaneously displayed on the monitor of the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to the present invention from the computer network, or utilized as treatment data. You can also.

[0045]

According to the present invention, the ultrasonic diagnostic image displayed on the monitor is pasted and displayed so as not to overlap the image on which the measurement result is displayed, and the measurement result and the measurement result displayed on the image are displayed. By associating the target parts, it is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus capable of reducing the burden on the operation of the operator.

[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 is a schematic diagram illustrating a processing procedure of the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display screen of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasonic probe, 2 ... Transceiver circuit, 3 ... DSC circuit,
4 ... Image processing unit, 5 ... Measurement processing unit, 6 ... Graphics display memory, 7 ... Monitor, 8 ... Operation console, 9 ... Database, 10 ... Monitor image, 11 ... Ultrasonic diagnostic image, 12 ...
Measurement result display image, 13 ... visual field, 14 ... measurement marker, 1
5 ... measurement target part, 16 ... measurement result, 17 ... monitor image, 18 ... ultrasonic diagnostic image, 19 ... ultrasonic diagnostic image, 2
0: measurement result display screen, 21: visual field, 22: measurement marker, 23: measurement target part, 24: visual field, 25: measurement marker, 26: measurement target part, 27: measurement result

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4C301 AA01 CC04 CC05 DD01 DD02 EE13 JC16 KK02 KK08 KK24 KK27 KK30 KK40 LL04 LL05 LL20 5B057 AA07 BA05 CH01 CH11 DA16

Claims (2)

[Claims] An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus having a measurement function for performing measurement for obtaining medical information on an ultrasonic image formed by transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves, the measurement apparatus including a measurement site by the measurement function Image display means for displaying the ultrasonic image, Measurement value display means for displaying a plurality of measurement values obtained by measuring with the measurement function together with the ultrasonic image on the image display means, The measurement value and the measurement site are associated with each other, and an association display unit is provided which displays one of the corresponding ones by selecting one of them, on the ultrasonic image. Diagnostic imaging device. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the associating display means emphasizes and displays at least one of the blinking, shading, discoloration, and position symbol display of the measurement site corresponding to the measurement value as the association. The ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: