JP2007135994A - Ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus and method for generating ultrasonic image data - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve real-time performance and operability in stress echo method using three-dimensional image data. <P>SOLUTION: A volume data generator 5a generates volume data on the basis of received signals obtained by three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning for a subject before receiving a drug. Additionally, a three-dimensional image data generator 7 generates three-dimensional image data by rendering the volume data which a clipping part 6 has extracted from its given interested area, the data are provided with ECG signal and preserved in an image data memory 8. Subsequently, in the same procedure, three-dimensional image data in the interested area of the volume data acquired from the subject after receiving the drug is generated. A stress image data generator 9 synthesizes three-dimensional image data before and after receiving the drug in a simultaneous time phase to generate stress image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasonic image data generation method, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and ultrasonic image data generation that generate stress image data based on an ultrasonic reception signal obtained from a subject. Regarding the method.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus radiates an ultrasonic pulse generated from an ultrasonic transducer incorporated in an ultrasonic probe into a subject, and generates an ultrasonic reflected wave generated by a difference in acoustic impedance of the subject tissue. It is received by the child and generates and displays image data and the like. This diagnostic method is widely used for morphological diagnosis and functional diagnosis of living organs because a real-time two-dimensional image (ultrasound tomographic image) can be easily observed with a simple operation by simply bringing an ultrasonic probe into contact with the body surface. ing.

  Ultrasound diagnostic methods for obtaining biological information from reflected waves from tissues or blood cells in a living body have made rapid progress with the development of two major technologies, the ultrasonic pulse reflection method and the ultrasonic Doppler method. The obtained B-mode image and color Doppler image are indispensable in today's ultrasonic image diagnosis.

  By the way, in the cardiac function diagnosis, so-called so-called myocardial function is evaluated using ultrasonic image data collected in a state where a patient (hereinafter referred to as a subject) is subjected to exercise load or drug load. The “stress echo method” is widely used. In the stress echo method, for example, B-mode image data and color Doppler image data are collected in time series while sequentially changing the position of the scanning section based on a preset stress echo protocol, and different load states or different A method of displaying these image data obtained in a scanning section in synchronization with the heartbeat is generally performed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, in recent years, an ultrasonic diagnostic method using three-dimensional image data has also been put into practical use, and in particular, using a so-called two-dimensional array probe in which ultrasonic transducers are two-dimensionally arranged, three-dimensional image data or arbitrary An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that enables real-time display of image data (hereinafter referred to as multi-plane image data) in a plurality of cross sections has been studied.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-285066

  3D image data or multiplane image data is collected for subjects before and after exercise load or drug load using an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that enables real-time display of 3D image data or multiplane image data. By displaying in synchronization with the heart rate, a stress echo method capable of acquiring a wider range of detailed information than in the case of two-dimensional image data can be expected.

  However, when the stress echo method is performed using three-dimensional image data, it is necessary to process a large volume of data obtained in a predetermined period before and after the load to generate three-dimensional image data, which is used for this image data processing. If the processing speed of the arithmetic circuit to be performed is not sufficiently high, the real-time property is deteriorated. On the other hand, a method has been adopted in which an operator performs setting of an image cross section when displaying multiplane image data in real time. For these reasons, in the stress echo method using three-dimensional image data or multi-plane image data, the diagnostic accuracy deteriorates due to the lack of effective diagnostic information (especially movement information), and operability and diagnostic efficiency are further reduced. It had the problem of decreasing.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide real-time characteristics when performing stress echo using three-dimensional image data or multi-plane image data obtained on a subject. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an ultrasonic image data generation method that enable a stress echo method with excellent operability.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a transmission unit that drives an ultrasonic transducer and transmits ultrasonic waves to a subject before and after exercise load or before and after drug load. Receiving means for receiving a reflected signal from the subject obtained by transmitting the ultrasonic wave, and scanning for three-dimensionally scanning one or a plurality of scanning regions in the subject by controlling a transmission / reception direction of the ultrasonic wave. Control means, volume data generation means for generating volume data based on a reception signal obtained by transmission / reception of the ultrasonic wave, and in the region of interest from among the volume data based on information of a preset region of interest Clipping means for extracting volume data and 3D image data generation for processing the extracted volume data to generate 3D image data And stage is characterized by having a stress image data generating means for said three-dimensional image data before and after the before and after exercise or pharmacological stress combined to generate stress image data.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, in which an ultrasonic transducer is driven to transmit ultrasonic waves to a subject before and after exercise load or drug load, and the transmission of the ultrasonic wave. Receiving means for receiving the reflected signal from the subject obtained by the above, scanning control means for controlling the ultrasound transmission / reception direction to scan the scanning area of the subject three-dimensionally, and transmission / reception of the ultrasound Volume data generating means for generating volume data based on the received signal obtained, and clipping means for extracting two-dimensional data in each of a plurality of image slices from the volume data based on preset image slice information Multi-plane image data generating means for generating multi-plane image data based on the extracted two-dimensional data, before and after exercise load The multi-plane image data before and after drug loading synthesized and is characterized by having a stress image data generating means for generating stress image data.

  On the other hand, in the ultrasonic image data generation method of the present invention according to claim 11, the volume data generation means is based on the received signal obtained by three-dimensionally scanning the scanning region in the subject before the exercise load or before the drug load. Generating the first volume data; clipping means extracting the region of interest of the first volume data based on information of the region of interest set in advance corresponding to the scanning region; An image data generating unit that processes the extracted first volume data to generate first three-dimensional image data; and the volume data generating unit includes the subject after exercise or drug loading. Generating second volume data based on a received signal obtained by three-dimensionally scanning the scanning area in Means for extracting the region of interest of the second volume data based on the information of the region of interest; and the three-dimensional image data generating means processing the extracted second volume data to obtain a second Generating the three-dimensional image data, and the stress image data generating means generating the stress image data by combining the first three-dimensional image data and the second three-dimensional image data. It is a feature.

  In the ultrasonic image data generation method of the present invention according to claim 12, the volume data generation means is based on the received signal obtained by three-dimensionally scanning the scanning region in the subject before the exercise load or before the drug load. A step of generating first volume data, and a clipping means, based on information of a plurality of image slices preset for the scanning region, a first 2 in each of the image slices of the first volume data. A step of extracting dimensional data; a step of generating multi-plane image data by means of multi-plane image data generating means based on the extracted first two-dimensional data; and Based on the received signal obtained by three-dimensionally scanning the scanning region in the subject after loading or after loading the drug, Generating a second volume data; extracting the second two-dimensional data in each of the image slices of the second volume data based on the information of the plurality of image slices; and the multi-plane image A data generating unit generating second multi-plane image data based on the extracted second two-dimensional data; and a stress image data generating unit including the first multi-plane image data and the second multi-plane image data. A step of generating stress image data by combining the multi-plane image data.

  According to the present invention, when the stress echo method is performed using the three-dimensional image data or multi-plane image data obtained for the subject, the stress echo method excellent in real-time property and operability is possible.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In the first embodiment described below, typical four scanning regions (long-axis region, short-axis region, two-chamber region, and four-chamber region) set for the subject before and after drug administration (drug loading) are used. The B-mode volume data and the color Doppler volume data are generated in FIG. 3, and the three-dimensional B-mode image data and the three-dimensional color Doppler image data before and after the drug administration generated based on these volume data are the accompanying information. Although a case where stress image data is generated by synthesis based on a heartbeat time phase of a biological signal will be described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, stress image data may be generated based on volume data collected for a subject before and after exercise load, and either one of 3D B-mode image data or 3D color Doppler image data is obtained. It may be used to generate stress image data.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention first performs volumetric data (B-mode volume data and color Doppler volume data) by performing three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on a predetermined scanning region in a subject before drug administration. Is generated. Then, the volume data extracted (clipped) from a predetermined area (region of interest) of these volume data is rendered to generate 3D image data (3D B-mode image data and 3D color Doppler image data), and the heartbeat Temporary information is added and saved once.

  Next, the same three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning and processing are performed on the scanning region in the subject after drug administration to generate three-dimensional image data after drug administration. Then, stress image data is generated by synthesizing the three-dimensional image data before drug administration and the three-dimensional image data after drug administration in the same time phase.

(Device configuration)
The configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a transmission / reception unit and a data generation unit included in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

  An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 transmits an ultrasonic pulse to an ultrasonic probe 3 that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from a subject before and after drug administration, and a predetermined scanning region of the subject. A transmission / reception unit 2 for supplying a driving signal to the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 3 and phasing and adding reception signals of a plurality of channels obtained from the ultrasonic transducer, and a reception obtained from the transmission / reception unit 2 A data generation unit 4 that processes signals to generate B-mode data and color Doppler data, and sequentially stores the B-mode data and color Doppler data of the scanning area obtained in the scanning direction unit in the data generation unit 4 Volume data generation unit 5a for generating data (B-mode volume data and color Doppler volume data), and scanning direction in the data generation unit 4 Generation of two-dimensional image data for generating normal two-dimensional image data (two-dimensional B-mode image data and two-dimensional color Doppler image data) by sequentially storing B-mode data and color Doppler data of a predetermined scanning section obtained at the position A portion 5b is provided.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 uses a clipping unit 6 that extracts (clipping) volume data in a region of interest set in advance from the volume data based on the stress echo method protocol, and uses the extracted volume data. 3D image data generation unit 7 for generating 3D image data (3D B-mode image data and 3D color Doppler image data), and 3D image data generated by the 3D image data generation unit 7 before drug administration Is combined with the image data storage unit 8 for storing the drug, the three-dimensional image data after the drug administration generated by the three-dimensional image data generation unit 7 and the three-dimensional image data before the drug administration stored in the image data storage unit 8 And a stress image data generation unit 9 for generating stress image data.

  Furthermore, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 includes a display unit 10 that displays the stress image data generated by the stress image data generation unit 9 and the two-dimensional image data generated by the two-dimensional image data generation unit 5b, and subject information (patient information). ), Setting a region of interest, inputting various command signals, etc., a reference signal generator 1 for generating a reference signal, and a biological signal measurement for measuring an ECG signal (electrocardiographic waveform) of the subject. A unit 12 and a system control unit 13 that controls the above-described units in an integrated manner are provided.

  The ultrasonic probe 3 has N ultrasonic transducers arranged two-dimensionally at its tip, and transmits / receives ultrasonic waves by bringing the tip into contact with the subject. Each of the ultrasonic transducers of the ultrasonic probe 3 is connected to the transmission / reception unit 2 via an N-channel multi-core cable (not shown). The ultrasonic transducer is an electroacoustic transducer, which converts an electric pulse (driving signal) into an ultrasonic pulse (transmitting ultrasonic wave) at the time of transmission, and electrically converts an ultrasonic reflected wave (received ultrasonic wave) at the time of reception. It has a function of converting to a received signal.

  The ultrasonic probe 3 has a sector scan support, a linear scan support, a convex scan support, and the like, and the operator can arbitrarily select according to the diagnosis part. In the present embodiment, the case where the ultrasonic probe 3 for sector scanning in which N ultrasonic transducers are two-dimensionally arranged is used will be described. However, even an ultrasonic probe compatible with linear scanning or convex scanning can be used. I do not care.

  The transmission / reception unit 2 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes a transmission unit 21 that generates a drive signal for radiating transmission ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic probe 3 and a reception unit that performs phasing addition on the reception signals from the ultrasonic probe 3. 22 is provided.

  The transmission unit 21 includes a rate pulse generator 211, a transmission delay circuit 212, and a pulsar 213. The rate pulse generator 211 supplies a rate pulse for determining a repetition period of transmission ultrasonic waves from the reference signal generation unit 1. Generated by dividing the continuous wave or rectangular wave. The transmission delay circuit 212 is composed of an N-channel independent delay circuit, and transmits a transmission ultrasonic wave in a predetermined direction and a delay time for focusing the transmission ultrasonic wave to a predetermined depth in order to obtain a narrow beam width in transmission. A delay time for emission is given to the rate pulse. The pulser 213 has an N-channel independent drive circuit, and generates a drive pulse for driving the ultrasonic transducer built in the ultrasonic probe 3 based on the rate pulse.

  On the other hand, the receiving unit 22 includes a preamplifier 221 composed of N channels, an A / D converter 222, a reception delay circuit 223, and an adder 224. The preamplifier 221 amplifies a minute signal converted into an electrical reception signal by the ultrasonic transducer to ensure sufficient S / N, and the N-channel reception signal amplified by the preamplifier 221 is A / D converted. It is converted into a digital signal by the device 222. The reception delay circuit 223 outputs, from the A / D converter 222, a delay time for focusing the ultrasonic reflected wave from a predetermined depth and a delay time for setting the reception directivity with respect to a predetermined direction. The adder 224 adds the reception signals supplied from the reception delay circuit 223 to the N-channel reception signals. That is, the reception delay circuit 223 and the adder 224 perform phasing addition (addition after phase matching) for the reception signal obtained from a predetermined direction.

  FIG. 3 shows orthogonal coordinates (Xo-Yo-Zo) with the center of the ultrasonic probe 3 in which the ultrasonic transducers are two-dimensionally arranged as the Zo axis and the scanning direction (ultrasonic transmission / reception direction) D (θp, φq). The delay times in the transmission delay circuit 212 of the transmission unit 21 and the reception delay circuit 222 of the reception unit 22 are controlled by the system control unit 13 and are subjected to two-dimensional ultrasonic scanning or three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on the subject. A sonic scan is performed.

  Referring back to FIG. 2, the data generation unit 4 includes a B-mode data generation unit 41 that performs signal processing for generating B-mode data on the reception signal output from the adder 224 of the reception unit 22, and the reception signal. A Doppler signal detection unit 42 that performs quadrature detection to detect a Doppler signal, and a color Doppler data generation unit 43 that generates color Doppler data reflecting blood flow information in blood vessels and heart chambers based on the detected Doppler signal. It has. The B-mode data generation unit 41 includes an envelope detector 411 that performs envelope detection on the received signal after phasing addition supplied from the adder 224 of the reception unit 22, and a logarithmic converter that performs logarithmic conversion on the envelope detection signal. 412. However, the envelope detector 411 and the logarithmic converter 412 may be configured by changing the order.

  On the other hand, the Doppler signal detection unit 42 includes a π / 2 phase shifter 421, mixers 422-1 and 422-2, and LPFs (low-pass filters) 423-1 and 423-2, and an adder 224 of the reception unit 22. Quadrature phase detection is performed on the received signal supplied from, and a Doppler signal is detected. The color Doppler data generation unit 43 excludes a Doppler signal storage circuit 431 that temporarily stores the Doppler signal detected by the Doppler signal detection unit 42 and a component (clutter component) caused by myocardial tissue movement or the like in the stored Doppler signal. An MTI filter 432 that extracts a blood flow component, and an autocorrelation calculator 433 that performs autocorrelation calculation on the extracted blood flow component and generates color Doppler data reflecting blood flow velocity and the like based on the calculation result. It has.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the volume data generation unit 5a associates the B-mode data and the color Doppler data generated by the data generation unit 4 with the scanning direction based on the reception signal obtained by the three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on the subject. Save and generate volume data. The two-dimensional image data generation unit 5b stores the B mode data and the color Doppler data generated by the data generation unit 4 based on the received signal obtained by the two-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on the subject in correspondence with the scanning direction. Then, normal two-dimensional image data is generated. The volume data generation unit 5a and the two-dimensional image data generation unit 5b described above include a B mode data storage area for storing B mode data and a color Doppler data storage area for storing color Doppler data.

  Next, the clipping unit 6 extracts volume data in the region of interest from volume data stored in each storage region of the volume data generation unit 5a based on information on the region of interest set in advance. FIG. 4 shows the volume data extracted by the clipping unit 6 based on the information on the region of interest supplied from the system control unit 13, and the quadrangular pyramid B0 shown by the broken lines in FIGS. The volume data in the predetermined scanning region generated by the volume data generation unit 5a based on the received signal obtained by sequentially changing the scanning direction D (θp, φq) shown in FIG. 3 within the predetermined range in the θ direction and the φ direction. is there.

  On the other hand, the quadrangular pyramid B1 shown by the solid line in FIG. 4A is the volume data extracted in the region of interest (type 1 region of interest) from which both end regions in the θ direction in the scanning region are removed, FIG. The quadrangular pyramid B2 shown by the solid line in b) is the volume data extracted in the region of interest (type 2 region of interest) excluding both end regions in the φ direction in the scanning region, and is the solid line in FIG. The shown quadrangular frustum B3 is volume data extracted in a region of interest (region of interest of type 3) from which a neighboring region (upper quadrangular pyramid) and a far region (lower quadrangular pyramid) in the scanning region are removed, and The quadrangular pyramid B4 shown by the solid line in FIG. 4D is the volume data extracted in the region of interest (type 4 region of interest) from which both end regions and far regions in the θ direction and φ direction in the scanning region are removed. Is shown.

  Next, the three-dimensional image data generation unit 7 of FIG. 1 includes an opacity / color tone setting unit (not shown) and a rendering processing unit. The opacity / color tone setting unit reads volume data in the region of interest extracted by the clipping unit 6, and sets opacity and color tone based on pixel values (voxel values) of these volume data. In addition, the rendering processing unit processes the volume data based on the opacity and color tone information set by the opacity / color tone setting unit, and 3D image data before drug administration and 3D image after drug administration. Generate data.

  The image data storage unit 8 stores three-dimensional image data for a predetermined period (for example, one heartbeat cycle) generated by the three-dimensional image data generation unit 7 based on volume data collected from a subject before drug administration. . In this case, an ECG signal supplied from a later-described biological signal measurement unit 12 is also stored in the image data storage unit 8 as supplementary information of the three-dimensional image data.

  The stress image data generating unit 9 includes a heartbeat time phase detecting unit and an image data synthesizing unit (not shown), and the heartbeat time phase detecting unit 3 after drug administration supplied from the three-dimensional image data generating unit 7 in substantially real time. The heartbeat time phase of the three-dimensional image data is detected based on the ECG signal supplied from the biological signal measurement unit 12 in parallel with the three-dimensional image data, and then the same heartbeat time phase as the detected heartbeat time phase is detected. The three-dimensional image data before drug administration is read based on the ECG signal which is the accompanying information.

  Then, the image data synthesizing unit converts the three-dimensional image data after the drug administration supplied from the three-dimensional image data generation unit 7 and the three-dimensional image data before the drug administration read from the image data storage unit 8 into a predetermined format. To generate stress image data.

  Next, the display unit 10 includes a display data generation circuit, a conversion circuit, and a monitor (not shown). The display data generation circuit includes the stress image data generated by the stress image data generation unit 9 and the two-dimensional image data generation unit 5b. The generated two-dimensional image data is subjected to processing such as scan conversion corresponding to the display form to generate display image data. The conversion circuit performs D / A conversion and television format conversion on the display image data and displays the display image data on the monitor.

  The input unit 11 is an interactive interface including an input device such as a display panel, a keyboard, a trackball, a mouse, and a selection button on the operation panel, and various conditions for generating and displaying two-dimensional image data and stress image data. Setting and selection, and input of command signals are performed.

  Specifically, input of object information, selection of image data acquisition mode, setting of region of interest based on stress echo method protocol, selection of image data display mode, setting of volume data acquisition time Δτ, input of various command signals Etc. FIG. 5 shows a specific example of the region-of-interest setting screen used in the region-of-interest setting performed by the input unit 11 described above. The region-of-interest setting screen is based on a display program stored in advance. Is displayed on the display panel provided in the input unit 11, but may be displayed on the monitor of the display unit 10.

  The region-of-interest setting screen of FIG. 5 displayed on the display panel of the input unit 11 includes a REST / POST selection column A1 for selecting before and after drug administration (Post), and four chamber regions (4 Chambers). ) / 2-chamber region (2 Chamber) / long-axis region (Long Axis) / short-axis region (Short Axis) scanning region selection field A2 for selecting a scanning region, and Type 1 (Type 1) to FIG. A region of interest type selection column A3 for selecting a region of interest of type 4 (Type 4), and a region of interest display column A4 for displaying the shape of the region for the purpose of confirming the selected region of interest and correcting the shape. .

  Then, for example, “Rest” in the REST / POST selection column A1 on the region of interest setting screen and “Long Axis” in the scanning region selection column A2 are selected by the input device of the input unit 11, and further in the region of interest type selection column A3. When the region of interest of “Type 3” is selected, the shape of the region of interest of type 3 (see FIG. 4) is displayed in the region of interest display field A4.

  In addition, if necessary, the shape of the region of interest displayed in the region-of-interest display field A4 using the input device is corrected by changing the range of the θ direction or φ direction, the size of the nearby region or the far region, etc. Then, the corrected region of interest information is stored in the storage circuit of the system control unit 13.

  On the other hand, the biological signal measurement unit 12 in FIG. 1 includes an ECG electrode and an A / D converter (not shown). The ECG electrode detects an ECG signal at a predetermined part of the attached subject, and the A / D converter converts the ECG signal supplied in time series from the ECG electrode into a digital signal to generate image data. The data is supplied to the storage unit 8 and the stress image data generation unit 9. In the present embodiment, the biological signal measuring unit 12 that measures an ECG signal has been described. However, a biological signal measuring unit that measures other biological signals such as a cardiac sound waveform (PCG waveform) may be used.

  Next, the system control unit 13 includes a CPU and a storage circuit (not shown), and various information input / selected / set in the input unit 11 is stored in the storage circuit. FIG. 6 shows the types of regions of interest set in the input unit 11 and stored in the storage circuit prior to the ultrasonic examination. For example, scan regions before and after drug administration (four chambers). The types of regions of interest (Type 1 to Type 4) are set for the region (4 Chamber) / 2 chamber region (2 Chamber) / long axis region (Long Axis) / short axis region (Short Axis)).

  On the other hand, the CPU performs overall control of each unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 100 based on the above-described information input from the input unit 11 to generate and display two-dimensional image data and stress image data. For example, the CPU controls the delay time in the transmission delay circuit 212 of the transmission unit 21 and the reception delay circuit 222 of the reception unit 22 to perform two-dimensional ultrasonic scanning and three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on the subject. Based on the region-of-interest information, the clipping unit 6, the three-dimensional image data generation unit 7, and the stress image data generation unit 9 are controlled, and the volume of a predetermined region of interest is selected from the volume data obtained by the three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning. Data is extracted to generate three-dimensional image data before and after drug administration, and stress image data is generated using these three-dimensional image data.

(Stress image data generation procedure)
Next, a procedure for generating stress image data in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In order to simplify the explanation, three-dimensional B-mode image data is generated based on the B-mode volume data collected by three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on the subject before and after the drug administration. Although the case where the stress image data is generated using the B-mode image data will be described, the stress image data based on the color Doppler volume data can be generated by the same procedure. A detailed description regarding generation of color Doppler volume data is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-143733.

  Prior to the generation of the stress image data, the operator inputs the subject information with the input unit 11 and then sets the B-mode image data collection mode as the image data collection mode and the stress image data as the image data display mode. Each display mode is selected, and a B-mode volume data collection time Δτ is set. Next, in the region-of-interest setting screen displayed on the display panel of the input unit 11 in accordance with the display request signal of the region-of-interest setting screen input from the input unit 11, before drug administration / after drug administration and four-chamber region / 2-chamber region / The type of the region of interest in each case of combining the long axis region / short axis region is set, and the region shape is corrected as necessary (see FIGS. 5 and 6). Then, the set information on the region of interest is stored in the storage circuit of the system control unit 13 together with the above-described input information and selection information (step S1 in FIG. 7).

  At this time, the operator inputs a confirmation request signal for the region of interest from the input unit 11, for example, with respect to the scanning region before drug administration (four chamber region / 2 chamber region / long axis region / short axis region). The type of region of interest set (see FIG. 8) and the type of region of interest set for the scan region after drug administration (not shown) are displayed on the display panel. The initially set region of interest can be confirmed.

  When the above initial setting is completed, the operator attaches the ECG electrode provided in the biological signal measurement unit 12 to a predetermined part of the subject, and then the subject corresponds to the first scanning region (four-cavity region). The tip of the ultrasonic probe 3 is fixed at the position of the body surface and ultrasonic transmission / reception is started.

  When transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from the subject, the rate pulse generator 211 of the transmission unit 21 shown in FIG. 2 sets a repetition cycle (rate cycle) of transmission ultrasonic waves radiated into the subject according to a control signal from the system control unit 13. A rate pulse to be determined is generated and supplied to the transmission delay circuit 212. The transmission delay circuit 212 has a delay time for focusing the ultrasonic wave to a predetermined depth to obtain a narrow beam width in transmission, and a delay for transmitting the ultrasonic wave in the first scanning direction D (θ1, φ1). Time is given to the rate pulse, and this rate pulse is supplied to the N-channel drive circuit 213. Next, the drive circuit 213 generates a drive signal based on the rate pulse supplied from the transmission delay circuit 212 and supplies this drive signal to the N ultrasonic transducers in the ultrasonic probe 3 to enter the subject. Transmits ultrasonic waves.

  A part of the transmitted ultrasonic wave is reflected on the organ boundary surface or tissue of the subject with different acoustic impedance, and is received by the same ultrasonic transducer as that used for transmission and converted into an N-channel electrical reception signal. Is done. Next, this received signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 222 of the receiving unit 22, and then the delay time for converging the received ultrasonic wave from a predetermined depth in the N-channel reception delay circuit 223. And a delay time for setting a strong reception directivity with respect to the reception ultrasonic wave from the scanning direction D (θ1, φ1), and the adder 224 performs phasing addition.

  Then, the envelope detector 411 and the logarithmic converter 412 of the reception signal processing unit 4 to which the reception signal after the phasing addition is supplied perform envelope detection and logarithmic conversion on the reception signal to obtain B-mode data. Generated and stored in the B-mode data storage area in the volume data generation unit 5a.

  When the generation and storage of B-mode data in the scanning direction D (θ1, φ1) is completed, φq = φ1 + (q−1) Δφ (q = 2 to 2) in which the ultrasonic wave transmission / reception direction is updated by Δφ in the φ direction. Ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received in the same procedure with respect to the scanning direction D (θ1, φ2 to φQ) set by Q). At this time, the system control unit 13 updates the delay times of the transmission delay circuit 212 and the reception delay circuit 222 in accordance with the ultrasonic transmission / reception direction by the control signal.

  If ultrasonic transmission / reception in the scanning direction D (θ1, φ1 to φQ) is completed by the above-described procedure, θp = θ1 + (p−1) Δθ (p = 2−P) in which the transmission / reception direction is updated by Δθ in the θ direction. ) And the above-described ultrasonic transmission / reception of φ1 to φQ is repeated for each of the scanning directions θ2 to θP, thereby performing three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning. The B-mode data obtained by ultrasonic transmission / reception in each scanning direction is stored in the B-mode data storage area of the volume data generating unit 5a corresponding to the scanning direction, and the B-mode volume data in the four-cavity area before drug administration. Is generated (step S2 in FIG. 7).

  On the other hand, the clipping unit 6 performs the B mode in the above-described scanning region (four-chamber region) stored in the B mode data storage region of the volume data generation unit 5a based on the information on the region of interest set in the initial setting in step S1. Volume data in the region of interest is extracted from the volume data (step S3 in FIG. 7).

  Then, the three-dimensional image data generation unit 7 renders the above-described B-mode volume data to generate three-dimensional B-mode image data (step S4 in FIG. 7), and the ECG signal supplied from the biological signal measurement unit 12 (Biological signal) is stored in the image data storage unit 8 as supplementary information (step S5 in FIG. 7).

  Next, the scanning region is updated (step S6 in FIG. 7), and generation and storage of 3D B-mode image data in each of the two-cavity region, the long-axis region, and the short-axis region after drug administration are performed in the same procedure as described above. Performed (steps S2 to S5 in FIG. 7). That is, the image data storage unit 8 stores the three-dimensional B-mode image data of a predetermined period in the region of interest corresponding to the four-chamber region, the two-chamber region, the long-axis region, and the short-axis region before drug administration together with the ECG signal. The

  When the generation and storage of the three-dimensional B-mode image data before drug administration are completed, the operator administers the drug to the subject (step S7 in FIG. 7), and the same procedure as described above after a predetermined time. To generate B-mode data for the four-cavity region after drug administration. At this time, the volume data generation unit 5a stores the obtained B mode data in correspondence with the scanning direction to generate B mode volume data (step S8 in FIG. 7).

  Next, the clipping unit 6 converts the B-mode volume data in the region of interest from the B-mode volume data generated by the volume data generation unit 5a based on the information on the region of interest in the four-cavity region after drug administration set in advance. Extracted (step S9 in FIG. 7), the three-dimensional image data generation unit 7 renders the B-mode volume data to generate three-dimensional B-mode image data in the four-cavity region after drug administration (FIG. 7). Step S10).

  On the other hand, the stress image data generation unit 9 calculates the heartbeat time phase of the 3D B-mode image data after drug administration supplied from the 3D image data generation unit 7 in parallel with the 3D B-mode image data. It is detected on the basis of the ECG signal supplied from the measurement unit 12, and further, the three-dimensional B-mode image data in the 4-term region before drug administration having the same heartbeat time phase as the detected heartbeat time phase is the accompanying information. Read based on ECG signal. Then, the post-drug 3D B-mode image data supplied from the 3D image data generation unit 7 and the pre-drug 3D B-mode image data read from the image data storage unit 8 are combined in a predetermined format. Time-series stress image data is generated (step S11 in FIG. 7).

  Next, the display unit 10 performs processing such as scan conversion corresponding to the display form on the time-series stress image data generated by the stress image data generation unit 9, and further performs D / A conversion and television format conversion. Is displayed as a moving image on the monitor (step S12 in FIG. 7).

  Next, the scanning region is updated (step S13 in FIG. 7), and generation and display of stress image data using the three-dimensional B-mode image data in each of the two-cavity region, the long-axis region, and the short-axis region after drug administration is performed. The same procedure as described above is performed (steps S8 to S12 in FIG. 7).

  According to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, since the generation of the three-dimensional B-mode image data used for the stress image data is limited to a preset region of interest, the time required for the rendering process or the like Is shortened. For this reason, it is possible to generate stress image data excellent in real-time characteristics, and it is possible to improve diagnosis accuracy when performing functional diagnosis of the heart or the like.

  Further, the generation of the three-dimensional image data is performed based on information on the region of interest set in advance for each scanning region before and after the drug administration, so that the diagnostic efficiency is improved.

  Furthermore, since the region of interest is set by selecting and correcting a basic shape of the region of interest set in advance, it can be set for a short time and the burden on the operator is greatly reduced.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, B-mode volume data and color Doppler volume data are generated by performing three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on a subject before and after drug administration, and four image sections (standard images) in these volume data are generated. Multi-plane B-mode image data and multi-plane color Doppler image data before and after drug administration generated based on two-dimensional data extracted from cross-section, rotation image cross-section, orthogonal image cross-section and tilt image cross-section) Although the case where the stress image data is generated by synthesizing based on the heartbeat time phase of the biological signal as information will be described, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, stress image data may be generated based on volume data collected for a subject before and after exercise load, and either one of multiplane B-mode image data or multiplane color Doppler image data is generated. It may be used to generate stress image data.

  In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment, first, volume data (B-mode volume data and color Doppler volume data) is generated by performing three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on a subject before drug administration. Then, multi-plane image data (multi-plane B-mode image data and multi-plane color Doppler image data) is generated using data extracted (clipped) from a plurality of image sections in the volume data, and heartbeat time phase information is added. And save.

  Next, the same three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning and processing are performed on the subject after drug administration to generate multiplane image data after drug administration. Then, stress image data is generated by synthesizing multi-plane image data after drug administration and multi-plane image data before drug administration in the same image section and in the same time phase.

(Device configuration)
The configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. However, in the block diagram showing the overall configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in the present embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the units having the same functions as those in FIG.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 9 includes an ultrasonic probe 3 that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from a subject before and after drug administration in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above, A transmission / reception unit that supplies a drive signal for transmitting an ultrasonic pulse to a predetermined scanning region to the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 3 and performs phasing addition of reception signals of a plurality of channels obtained from the ultrasonic transducer. 2, a data generation unit 4 that performs signal processing for obtaining B-mode data and color Doppler data from the reception signal obtained from the transmission / reception unit 2, and the scanning region obtained in units of the scanning direction in the data generation unit 4 Volume data generation unit 5 that sequentially stores B-mode data and color Doppler data to generate volume data (B-mode volume data and color Doppler volume data) It is equipped with a.

  In addition, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 200 extracts (clipping) two-dimensional data in a plurality of preset image sections from the volume data, and multi-plane image data (using the extracted data). A multiplane image data generation unit 15 that generates (multiplane B-mode image data and multiplane color Doppler image data), and an image that stores the multiplane image data generated by the multiplane image data generation unit 15 before drug administration. Stress data data obtained by combining the multi-plane image data after drug administration generated by the data storage unit 16 and the multi-plane image data generation unit 15 and the multi-plane image data before drug administration stored in the image data storage unit 16 Image data generator for generating stress It is equipped with a 7.

  Further, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 200 includes a display unit 18 that displays stress image data generated by the stress image data generation unit 17, input of subject information (patient information), setting of a region of interest, input of various command signals, and the like. A reference signal generator 1 for generating a reference signal, a biological signal measurement unit 12 for measuring an ECG signal (electrocardiogram waveform) of a subject, and a system for comprehensively controlling each of the above units A control unit 20 is provided.

  Then, the clipping unit 14 extracts the two-dimensional data of the image slice from the volume data stored in each storage area of the volume data generation unit 5a based on the preset position information of the image slice. FIG. 10 shows the two-dimensional data extracted by the clipping unit 14 based on the image cross-section information supplied from the system control unit 20, and the quadrangular pyramid C0 indicated by the broken line in FIGS. 10 (a) to 10 (d). Is volume data in the scanning region set by sequentially changing the scanning direction D (θp, φq) shown in FIG. 3 to the θ direction and the φ direction.

  On the other hand, the plane C1 indicated by the solid line in FIG. 10A is two-dimensional data in the standard cross section of the scanning region, and the plane C2 indicated by the solid line in FIG. 10B has a predetermined rotation angle with respect to the standard cross section. The two-dimensional data in the cross section (rotated image cross section), the plane C3 indicated by the solid line in FIG. 10C is the two-dimensional data in the cross section (orthogonal image cross section) orthogonal to the standard cross section, and FIG. A plane C4 indicated by a solid line in () indicates two-dimensional data in a cross section (tilted image cross section) having a predetermined elevation angle with respect to the standard cross section.

  Next, the multi-plane image data generation unit 15 in FIG. 9 generates multi-plane image data by performing interpolation processing, smoothing processing, and the like on the two-dimensional data in the above-described image section extracted by the clipping unit 14. The image data storage unit 16 stores multiplane image data for a predetermined period (for example, one heartbeat period) generated by the multiplane image data generation unit 15 based on the volume data collected from the subject before drug administration. save. In this case, an ECG signal supplied from a biological signal measurement unit 12 described later is also stored in the image data storage unit 16 as supplementary information of the multiplane image data.

  The stress image data generating unit 17 includes a heartbeat time phase detecting unit and an image data synthesizing unit (not shown), and the heartbeat time phase detecting unit is supplied from the multi-plane image data generating unit 15 in a predetermined manner after drug administration. The heartbeat time phase of the multiplane image data in the image section is detected based on the ECG signal supplied from the biological signal measurement unit 12 in parallel with the multiplane image data, and then the same as the detected heartbeat time phase. Multi-plane image data before administration of a drug having a heartbeat time phase is read based on an ECG signal which is incidental information.

  Then, the image data synthesizing unit converts the multi-plane image data after the drug administration supplied from the multi-plane image data generation unit 15 and the multi-plane image data before the drug administration read from the image data storage unit 16 into a predetermined format. To generate stress image data.

  Next, the display unit 18 includes a display data generation circuit, a conversion circuit, and a monitor (not shown), and the display data generation circuit displays the time-series stress image data generated by the stress image data generation unit 17. The image data for display is generated by performing processing such as scan conversion corresponding to the above. Then, the conversion circuit performs D / A conversion and television format conversion on the display image data, and displays it as a moving image on the monitor.

  The input unit 19 is an interactive interface having input devices such as a display panel, a keyboard, a trackball, a mouse, and a selection button on the operation panel, and setting and selection of various conditions in generating and displaying multiplane image data. Furthermore, a command signal is input.

  Specifically, input of object information, selection of image data acquisition mode, setting of image section based on stress echo method protocol, selection of display mode of image data, setting of volume data acquisition period Δτ, input of various command signals Etc.

  Next, the system control unit 20 includes a CPU and a storage circuit (not shown), and various information input / selected / set by the input unit 19 is stored in the storage circuit. On the other hand, the CPU performs overall control of each unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 200 based on the above-described information input from the input unit 19 to generate and display multi-plane image data. For example, the CPU controls the delay time in the transmission delay circuit 212 of the transmission unit 21 and the reception delay circuit 222 of the reception unit 22 to perform two-dimensional ultrasonic scanning and three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning on the subject. Based on the above-described image slice information, the clipping unit 14, the multi-plane image data generation unit 15 and the stress image data generation unit 17 are controlled, and two-dimensional of a predetermined image slice is obtained from volume data obtained by three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning. Data is extracted to generate multi-plane image data before and after drug administration, and stress image data is generated using these multi-plane image data.

(Stress image data generation procedure)
Next, the stress image data generation procedure in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, the procedure for generating the stress image data based on the B-mode volume data will be described here, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  Prior to the generation of the stress image data, the operator inputs subject information at the input unit 19, and then the B mode image data acquisition mode is set as the image data acquisition mode, and the stress image data is set as the image data display mode. Each display mode is selected, and further, a B-mode volume data collection time Δτ is set. Next, on the image cross-section setting screen displayed on the display panel of the input unit 19 in accordance with the display request signal of the image cross-section setting screen input from the input unit 19, the operator can view the image cross-section before drug administration / after drug administration (for example, Standard image slice / rotated image slice / orthogonal image slice / tilted image slice) are set, and the position and angle are corrected as necessary. Then, the set image section information is stored in the storage circuit of the system control unit 20 together with the above-described input information and selection information (step S21 in FIG. 11).

  When the above initial setting is completed, the operator attaches the ECG electrode provided in the biological signal measurement unit 12 to a predetermined part of the subject, and then attaches the distal end portion of the ultrasonic probe 3 to the body surface of the subject. B-mode volume data is generated by performing fixed three-dimensional ultrasonic scanning (step S22 in FIG. 11). However, since the procedure for generating and storing the B-mode volume data is the same as that in the first embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The clipping unit 14 selects the first image slice (standard image slice) from the B-mode volume data stored in the B-mode data storage area of the volume data generation unit 5a based on the image slice information initially set in step S21. ) Is extracted (step S23 in FIG. 11).

  Then, the multi-plane image data generation unit 15 processes the above-described two-dimensional data to generate multi-plane B-mode image data (step S24 in FIG. 11), and the ECG signal (biological signal) supplied from the biological signal measurement unit 12 Signal) is stored in the image data storage unit 16 as supplementary information (step S25 in FIG. 11).

  Next, the image section is updated (step S26 in FIG. 11), and multi-plane image data is generated and stored for each of the rotated image section, the orthogonal image section, and the tilted image section after drug administration by the same procedure as described above. (Steps S22 to S25 in FIG. 11). That is, the image data storage unit 16 stores the multi-plane image data in the standard image section, the rotated image section, the orthogonal image section, and the inclined image section before drug administration together with the ECG signal.

  When the generation and storage of the multi-plane image data before drug administration are completed, the operator administers the drug to the subject (step S27 in FIG. 11), and after a predetermined time, B is performed by the same procedure as described above. Mode volume data is generated (step S28 in FIG. 11).

  Next, the clipping unit 14 extracts the two-dimensional data in the standard image section from the B-mode volume data generated by the volume data generation unit 5a based on the preset standard image section information after drug administration ( In step S29 in FIG. 11, the multi-plane image data 15 is processed with the two-dimensional data to generate multi-plane image data in the standard image section after drug administration (step S30 in FIG. 11).

  On the other hand, the stress image data generation unit 17 calculates the heartbeat time phase of the multiplane B-mode image data after drug administration supplied from the multiplane image data generation unit 15 in parallel with the multiplane B mode image data. Based on the ECG signal supplied from the measurement unit 12, the multi-plane image data in the standard image cross section before the drug administration having the same heartbeat time phase as the detected heartbeat time phase is further added to the ECG signal as the accompanying information. Read based on. Then, the three-dimensional B-mode image data after drug administration supplied from the multi-plane image data generation unit 15 and the three-dimensional B-mode image data before drug administration read from the image data storage unit 16 are combined in a predetermined format. Stress image data is generated (step S31 in FIG. 11).

  Next, the display unit 18 performs processing such as scan conversion corresponding to the display form on the stress image data generated by the stress image data generation unit 17, and further performs D / A conversion and television format conversion to the monitor. It is displayed as a moving image (step S32 in FIG. 11).

  Next, the image section is updated (step S33 in FIG. 11), and stress image data is generated and displayed in the same manner as described above for each of the rotated image section, the orthogonal image section, and the tilted image section after drug administration. This is performed (steps S28 to S32 in FIG. 11).

  In the stress image data generation procedure in the second embodiment described above, the stress image data for the standard image slice, the rotated image slice, the orthogonal image slice, and the tilted image slice are sequentially generated. The stress image data described above may be generated substantially simultaneously using the data.

  According to the second embodiment of the present invention described above, the generation of the multi-plane image data used for the stress image data is performed based on preset image cross-section information, so that the diagnostic efficiency is improved. Further, since the setting of the image section is performed by selecting and correcting the basic data of the image section stored in advance, it is possible to set for a short time, and the burden on the operator is greatly reduced.

  Furthermore, the diagnostic ability and diagnostic efficiency are improved by generating a plurality of stress image data in different image sections using the same volume data.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention has been described, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned Example, It can change and implement. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the stored three-dimensional image data before drug administration or multi-plane image data and the three-dimensional image data after drug administration or multi-plane image data generated in substantially real time are combined to generate a time series. In the above, the case where the stress image data is generated is described. However, the time-series stress image data may be generated by synthesizing the stored three-dimensional image data or multi-plane image data before and after the drug administration. Good.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where color Doppler data reflecting blood flow information is collected has been described. However, color Doppler data reflecting movement of the myocardium or the like may be collected. According to the stress echo method based on such color Doppler data, it is possible to more accurately perform myocardial function diagnosis.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the region of interest or the image cross section after the drug administration is the same is described, but it may be different.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of collecting volume data using a two-dimensional array probe has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a one-dimensional array probe in which ultrasonic transducers are one-dimensionally arranged. Further, volume data may be collected by mechanically rotating or moving.

1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the transmission / reception part and data generation part in the Example. The figure which shows the relationship between the center axis | shaft of the ultrasonic probe in the same Example, and a scanning direction. The figure which shows the volume data of the region of interest set in the Example. The figure which shows the specific example of the region of interest setting screen used for the setting of the region of interest of the Example. The figure which shows the type of the region of interest in the Example. The flowchart which shows the production | generation procedure of the stress image data in the Example. The figure which shows the confirmation screen of the region of interest set with respect to each scanning area | region of the Example. The block diagram which shows the whole structure of the ultrasonic diagnosing device in the 2nd Example of this invention. The figure which shows the two-dimensional data of the image cross section set in the Example. The flowchart which shows the production | generation procedure of the stress image data in the Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reference signal generation part 2 ... Transmission / reception part 3 ... Ultrasonic probe 4 ... Data generation part 5a ... Volume data generation part 5b ... Two-dimensional image data generation part 6, 14 ... Clipping part 7 ... Three-dimensional image data generation part 8, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 ... Image data storage part 9, 17 ... Stress image data generation part 10, 18 ... Display part 11, 19 ... Input part 12 ... Biosignal measurement unit 13, 20 ... System control part 15 ... Multi-plane image data generation part 21 ... Transmission unit 22 ... Reception unit 41 ... B-mode data generation unit 42 ... Doppler signal detection unit 43 ... Color Doppler data generation unit 100, 200 ... Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 211 ... Rate pulse generator 212 ... Transmission delay circuit 213 ... Pulser 221 ... Preamplifier 222 ... A / D converter 223 ... Reception delay circuit 224 ... Adder 411 ... Envelope detector 412 ... Logarithmic converter 421 ... π 2 phase shifter 422 ... mixer 423 ... LPF (low pass filter)
431 ... Doppler signal storage circuit 432 ... MTI filter 433 ... autocorrelation calculator

Claims (12)

Transmitting means for driving the ultrasonic transducer to transmit ultrasonic waves to the subject before and after exercise load or before and after drug load;
Receiving means for receiving a reflected signal from the subject obtained by transmitting the ultrasonic wave;
Scanning control means for controlling a transmission / reception direction of the ultrasonic wave to three-dimensionally scan one or a plurality of scanning regions in the subject;
Volume data generation means for generating volume data based on a reception signal obtained by transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave;
Clipping means for extracting volume data in the region of interest from the volume data based on information on a region of interest set in advance;
3D image data generation means for processing the extracted volume data to generate 3D image data;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising stress image data generating means for generating stress image data by combining the three-dimensional image data before and after exercise load or before and after drug load.   2. The ultrasound according to claim 1, further comprising a region of interest setting unit, wherein the region of interest setting unit presets the region of interest corresponding to each of one or a plurality of scanning regions in the subject. Diagnostic device.   A biological signal measurement unit that measures a biological signal of the subject in parallel with the generation of the three-dimensional image data, and the stress image data generation means is configured to perform before or after exercise load in the same heartbeat time phase based on the biological signal; The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stress image data is generated by synthesizing the three-dimensional image data before and after drug loading.   4. The stress image data generating unit generates the stress image data by synthesizing the three-dimensional image data before and after exercise load or drug load in the same region of interest and the same heartbeat time phase. Ultrasound diagnostic equipment.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional image data generation unit generates the three-dimensional image data by rendering the volume data extracted by the clipping unit. Transmitting means for driving the ultrasonic transducer to transmit ultrasonic waves to the subject before and after exercise load or before and after drug load;
Receiving means for receiving a reflected signal from the subject obtained by transmitting the ultrasonic wave;
Scanning control means for controlling the transmission / reception direction of the ultrasonic wave to three-dimensionally scan the scanning region of the subject;
Volume data generation means for generating volume data based on a reception signal obtained by transmission and reception of the ultrasonic wave;
Clipping means for extracting two-dimensional data in each of a plurality of image slices from the volume data based on preset image slice information;
Multi-plane image data generating means for generating multi-plane image data based on the extracted two-dimensional data;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising stress image data generation means for generating stress image data by combining the multi-plane image data before and after exercise load or before and after drug load.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising an image slice setting unit, wherein the image slice setting unit presets the plurality of image slices with respect to a scanning region of the subject.   A biological signal measurement unit that measures the biological signal of the subject in parallel with the generation of the multi-plane image data, and the stress image data generation means is configured to perform before and after exercise load in the same heartbeat time phase based on the biological signal or The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the stress image data is generated by synthesizing the multi-plane image data before and after drug loading.   9. The stress image data generating unit generates the stress image data by synthesizing the multi-plane image data before and after exercise load or before and after drug load in the same image section and the same heartbeat time phase. Ultrasound diagnostic equipment.   7. The scanning control unit according to claim 1, wherein the scanning control unit performs three-dimensional scanning of at least one of a four-chamber region, a two-chamber region, a long-axis region, and a short-axis region of the subject. The described ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Volume data generation means generates first volume data based on a received signal obtained by three-dimensional scanning a scanning region in a subject before exercise load or drug load;
Clipping means for extracting the region of interest of the first volume data based on information of the region of interest set in advance corresponding to the scanning region;
Three-dimensional image data generating means processing the extracted first volume data to generate first three-dimensional image data;
The volume data generating means generating second volume data based on a received signal obtained by three-dimensional scanning a scanning region in the subject after exercise load or drug load;
The clipping means extracting the region of interest of the second volume data based on the region of interest information;
The three-dimensional image data generating means processing the extracted second volume data to generate second three-dimensional image data;
A method of generating ultrasonic image data, comprising: a step of generating stress image data by combining the first three-dimensional image data and the second three-dimensional image data with stress image data generating means. Volume data generation means generates first volume data based on a received signal obtained by three-dimensional scanning a scanning region in a subject before exercise load or drug load;
Clipping means for extracting first two-dimensional data in each of the image slices of the first volume data based on information of a plurality of image slices preset for the scanning region;
Multi-plane image data generating means generating first multi-plane image data based on the extracted first two-dimensional data;
The volume data generating means generating second volume data based on a received signal obtained by three-dimensionally scanning the scanning region in the subject after exercise load or drug load;
The clipping means extracting second two-dimensional data in each of the image slices of the second volume data based on the information of the plurality of image slices;
The multi-plane image data generating means generates second multi-plane image data based on the extracted second two-dimensional data;
An ultrasonic image data generation method comprising: a step of generating stress image data by combining stress image data generation means with the first multi-plane image data and the second multi-plane image data.

Images