JP2007268148A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which can establish an interest domain for simply carrying out Doppler processing and observes after coloring a motion part such as a blood flow from ultrasonic data. <P>SOLUTION: An ultrasonic observation apparatus 5 comprises an ultrasonic transmitting and receiving circuit part 8, a polar coordinate memory 9 which stores polar coordinate data from the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving circuit part 8, a coordinate conversion section 10 which converts the polar coordinate data into rectangular coordinates, a B-mode image operating part 11 which forms B mode image data based on the output data of the coordinate conversion section 10, a DSC 12 which forms ultrasound image data based on blood flow information data calculated by a Doppler operating part 14 and the B mode image data calculated by the B-mode image operating part 11, an interest region setting section 13 which establishes the interest domain on the B mode image data to output to the DSC 12, the Doppler operating part 14 which colors blood flow information within the interest domain to output to the DSC 12, and a controlling section 15 which controls respective parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that displays a color of a moving part such as a blood flow from ultrasonic data.

  In recent years, ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses are widely used in the medical field and the industrial field. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is configured to noninvasively diagnose the inside of the inspection object by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from the inspection object.

  In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an image obtained by ultrasonic scanning becomes a two-dimensional image. For this reason, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus may be used in combination with an ultrasonic image processing apparatus that constructs a three-dimensional image from a two-dimensional image in order to provide a user with an image that is easier to diagnose.

  The gastrointestinal tract is a luminal structure, and the pancreas and other organs are arranged to surround the gastrointestinal tract, so these detailed diagnoses are difficult to approach with external ultrasound and other diagnostic imaging equipment. In general, an endoscope is used for direct diagnosis, and an ultrasonic endoscope having an ultrasonic transducer mounted on the tip of the endoscope is generally used for diagnosis of organs and lymph nodes inside and in the vicinity of the mucous membrane.

  As the ultrasonic transducer, a convex scanning type ultrasonic transducer in which a plurality of strip-shaped transducers are arranged in a convex shape (fan shape) at the tip end and the ultrasonic scans in the same direction as the scope insertion direction, There are electronic radial scanning ultrasonic transducers in which acoustic elements are arranged in a cylindrical shape, and ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received by continuously applying a voltage to the elements.

  The conventional ultrasonic image processing apparatus rotates (rotates) an ultrasonic image in a predetermined direction using a pointing device such as a mouse in order to place a region of interest at a desired position on a two-dimensional image.

  Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-324411 proposes an ultrasonic image processing apparatus in which a region of interest can be arranged at an optimal position with a simple operation.

  On the other hand, there is a power Doppler process as one method of displaying the presence or absence of blood flow with high sensitivity using ultrasonic waves. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-257631 is a related art of power Doppler processing of blood flow.

In this Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-257631, the received reflected echo signal is quadrature detected, and further, the power of blood flow is obtained by taking the sum of squares of the I signal and Q signal after passing through the MTI filter. The display as an image is disclosed.
JP 2003-324411 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-255761

  In general, since Doppler processing takes time, conventionally, a Doppler process is performed on a region of interest by limiting the region to a region of blood vessel to be Doppler-observed in a wide range of monochrome images by scanning ultrasound. .

  However, in a monochrome image over a wide range by ultrasonic scanning, the blood vessel region does not continuously occur due to pulsation, etc., so the surgeon manually detects the blood vessel region by visual inspection etc., and further sets the region of interest manually Therefore, the setting of the region of interest for performing the Doppler process is complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, can easily set a region of interest for performing Doppler processing, and can color and observe a moving part such as a blood flow from ultrasonic data. An object is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention is
An ultrasonic detection means having an ultrasonic transducer at the tip of the insertion portion to be inserted into the subject;
Ultrasonic transmission / reception means for performing ultrasonic transmission / reception with respect to the ultrasonic transducer to obtain a plurality of ultrasonic data;
First mode image calculation means for calculating first mode image data based on a plurality of ultrasonic data obtained by the ultrasonic transmission / reception means;
A region-of-interest setting means for setting a region of interest of the subject based on the first mode image data;
Second mode image calculation means for calculating second mode image data of the region of interest based on a plurality of ultrasonic data obtained by the ultrasonic transmission / reception means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily set a region of interest for performing Doppler processing, and it is possible to color and observe a moving part such as a blood flow from ultrasonic data.

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

  FIGS. 1 to 13 relate to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus, and FIG. 2 explains a B-mode image displayed on the observation monitor of FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a first view for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a diagram of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 6 is a third diagram illustrating the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 7 is a fourth diagram illustrating the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 8 is a fifth diagram illustrating the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 9 is a sixth diagram illustrating the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 10 is a diagram of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 11 illustrates the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1, FIG. 11 illustrates the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 12 illustrates the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. Ninth FIGS that, FIG. 13 is a diagram of a 10 to explain the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of Fig.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an ultrasonic endoscope apparatus 1 constituting the ultrasonic image processing apparatus of the present embodiment has an ultrasonic transducer (not shown) for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to a subject inserted therein. An ultrasonic endoscope 2 as an ultrasonic detection means built in the tip, an ultrasonic observation device 5 that drives an ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic endoscope 2 and generates an ultrasonic image from an echo signal, An operation unit 6 as a region-of-interest designating unit that instructs various operations to the sound wave observation device 5 is configured.

   In this embodiment, as an example, the ultrasonic transducer is composed of, for example, an electronic radial scanning ultrasonic transducer, but may be a mechanical radial scanning ultrasonic transducer.

   The ultrasonic observation apparatus 5 outputs an output signal as a drive signal to drive the ultrasonic transducer, and converts an echo signal from the ultrasonic transducer into polar coordinate data. Polar mode memory 9 for storing polar coordinate data from the sound wave transmitting / receiving circuit unit 8, a coordinate conversion unit 10 for converting polar coordinate data in the polar coordinate memory 9 into orthogonal coordinates, and B-mode image data based on output data of the coordinate conversion unit 10 Based on the B-mode image calculation unit 11 as the first mode image calculation means to be generated, the blood flow information data calculated by the Doppler calculation unit 14 described later, and the B-mode image data calculated by the B-mode image calculation unit 11 Coordinate conversion and interpolation processing into a shape that matches the scan shape of the ultrasonic transducer, generate ultrasonic image data that combines blood flow information data and B-mode image data, and monitor A region of interest (described later) on the B-mode image data, and a region-of-interest setting unit 13 for outputting to the DSC 12, and a second mode image for outputting the blood flow information in the region of interest to the DSC 12 The apparatus includes a Doppler calculation unit 14 as a calculation unit and a control unit 15 that controls each unit.

  In the first embodiment, the region-of-interest setting unit includes the operation unit 6, the control unit 15, and the region-of-interest setting unit 13.

  The region of interest setting in the region of interest setting unit 13 is a diagram on the observation monitor 7 obtained by the ultrasonic endoscope 2 performing 360-degree ultrasonic scanning around the multiple echo unit 30 around the insertion axis. The B-mode image 31 as shown in FIG. 2 is observed by the surgeon, and the position considered to be a blood vessel is designated using the operation unit 6.

  Since the blood vessel image does not always appear on the B-mode image 31 due to the influence of pulsation or the like, the operator needs to observe the observation monitor 7 for a predetermined time.

  The operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S1, the ultrasonic endoscope 2 performs 360-degree ultrasonic scanning around the multiple echo section 30 around the insertion axis a plurality of times, and displays the B-mode image 31 on the observation monitor 7.

  At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, when a plurality of blood vessel images 61 and 62 that are considered to be blood vessel portions are displayed on the B-mode image 31, the operator operates the operation portion 6 in step S2. The blood vessel part is designated by designating the blood vessel image to be Doppler-observed with the pointer 65 as the region of interest (hereinafter referred to as ROI).

  As shown in FIG. 4, for example, when the blood vessel 61 is designated by the pointer 65, the region-of-interest setting unit 13 selects a predetermined region including the blood vessel 61 as the ROI 50 in steps S3 and S4. The size of the ROI 50 at this time is not less than a preset size and is automatically set to a size including at least the blood vessel portion 61. The selected ROI 50 is output to the DSC 12 and the Doppler calculation unit 14. The DSC 12 displays the ROI 50 superimposed on the B-mode image 31 as shown in FIG.

  Then, in step S5, the Doppler calculation unit 14 starts Doppler scanning, calculates blood flow information data in the ROI 50 from the output data of the coordinate conversion unit 10, outputs the blood flow information data to the DSC 12, and in step S6. Until the inspection is completed, steps S1 to S6 are repeated.

  In this embodiment, the operator can easily move the ROI 50 on the B-mode image 31 by the pointer 65 by operating the operation unit 6 as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the operator can easily change the size of the ROI 50 on the B-mode image 31 with the pointer 65 by operating the operation unit 6. These movement and size change processes are executed by the region-of-interest setting unit 13.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the setting position on the B-mode image 31 of the conventional ROI 50 needs to avoid the first sound ray 80, but in this embodiment, the setting position on the B-mode image 31 of the ROI 50 11 can be set by the region-of-interest setting unit 13 without being affected by the first sound ray 80, as shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, a blood vessel image other than the selected ROI 50 is PinPed on the child screen 91 adjacent to the B-mode image 31 by the operation of the operation unit 6 by the operator. The position of the blood vessel image in the entire mode image 31 can be easily confirmed. Note that the position of the blood vessel image in the entire B-mode image 31 is not limited to the sub-screen 91 but can be confirmed by displaying the blood vessel image as an afterimage 92 in the B-mode image 31 as shown in FIG. .

  As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to easily set the ROI 50 for Doppler observation simply by selecting the blood vessel image on the B-mode image 31. Further, the ROI 50 can be moved and the size of the ROI 50 can be changed by a simple operation. Furthermore, the position of other blood vessel images can be easily confirmed for continuous Doppler observation. Therefore, it is possible to easily set a region of interest for performing Doppler processing, and it is possible to color and observe a moving part such as a blood flow from ultrasonic data.

  FIGS. 14 to 17 relate to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the ultrasonic endoscope apparatus, FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 17 is a first diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 14, and FIG. 17 is a second diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG.

  Since the second embodiment is almost the same as the first embodiment, only different points will be described, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, a region-of-interest extraction unit 20 that automatically extracts the ROI 50 based on the B-mode image data from the B-mode image calculation unit 11 is provided instead of the region-of-interest setting unit 13. . Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  In the second embodiment, the region-of-interest setting unit includes the operation unit 6, the control unit 15, and the region-of-interest extraction unit 20.

  The operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, in step S1, the ultrasonic endoscope 2 performs 360-degree ultrasonic scanning around the multiple echo section 30 around the insertion axis a plurality of times, and displays the B-mode image 31 on the observation monitor 7 Display above.

  At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, when a plurality of blood vessel images 61 and 62 that are considered to be blood vessels are displayed on the B-mode image 31, the region of interest extraction is performed in step S <b> 2 a as shown in FIG. 16. The unit 20 extracts blood vessel images 61 and 62 as candidates that can be designated as the ROI 50, and draws a plurality of ROIs 50 in the region including the blood vessel images 61 and 62 in step S3a.

  In step S4, for example, when the ROI 50 is designated by the pointer 65, the region of interest extraction unit 20 selects a predetermined region including the blood vessel portion 61 as the ROI 50.

  In the second embodiment, the region-of-interest extraction unit 20 extracts a plurality of blood vessel portions. However, the clearest blood vessel image is extracted by, for example, contour extraction processing and the ROI 50 is selected without designation by the pointer 65. It is also possible to do.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the region-of-interest extraction unit 20 automatically extracts the blood vessel image or the ROI, so that the region of interest for performing the Doppler process can be set more easily.

  In each of the above embodiments, the B-mode image data is generated from the full screen scan for setting the ROI 50, and the ROI 50 is designated or extracted from the B-mode image 31, but this is not restrictive.

  For example, a second Doppler calculation unit (not shown) is provided in place of the B-mode image calculation unit 11 and a full screen scan for setting the ROI 50 is performed as a blood flow observation mode, and a Doppler process is performed even during the full screen scan. To implement. Then, the blood flow observation mode image data of the full screen scan may be generated as the first mode image data, and the ROI 50 may be designated or extracted from the blood flow observation mode image data of the full screen scan.

  In this case, compared with the case where the full screen scan is set to the B mode, the process is heavy during the full screen scan, but the blood flow determination is the simplest and the determination process until the ROI 50 is set becomes easy.

  In each of the above embodiments, the ultrasonic endoscope 2 including the electronic radial scanning ultrasonic transducer has been described as an example. However, the convex scanning ultrasonic transducer 100 is provided at the tip as shown in FIG. The ultrasonic endoscope 101 can be connected to the ultrasonic observation apparatus 5 of each of the above embodiments.

  In the case of this ultrasonic endoscope 101, as shown in FIG. 19, a fan-shaped B-mode image 31 is generated, and an ROI 50 is generated on the B-mode image 31.

  These are the same as the ultrasonic endoscope 2 provided with the electronic radial scanning ultrasonic transducer. However, in the case of the convex scanning ultrasonic endoscope 101, the biopsy needle 103 protrudes from the tip portion, The biopsy needle 103 can be used for collection.

  The protruding angle of the biopsy needle differs depending on the type of convex scanning type ultrasonic endoscope. For example, in the case of the ultrasonic endoscope 100 of FIG. 18, the protruding angle is θ1 with respect to the insertion axis. In the case of the ultrasonic endoscope 100a of FIG. 20, the protrusion angle is different from θ1 and is θ2 with respect to the insertion axis.

  The convex scanning type ultrasonic endoscope includes an ID unit 102 (see FIGS. 18 and 20) in which identification information is stored, and the control unit 15 of the ultrasonic observation apparatus 5 of each of the above embodiments includes By reading the identification information of the ID unit 102 via the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit unit 8, the B-mode image calculation unit 11 guides (guides) the protruding direction of the biopsy needle 103 from the tip on the B-mode image data. Guide image data can be superimposed on B-mode image data.

  21 shows a B-mode image on which the needle-piercing guide image 150 superimposed on the ultrasonic endoscope 100 shown in FIG. 18 displayed on the observation monitor 7 is shown, and FIG. 22 shows the B-mode image shown on the observation monitor 7 shown in FIG. A B-mode image on which a needle guide image 150 in the case of the ultrasonic endoscope 100a is superimposed is shown.

  When the ROI 50 is designated to the B-mode image on which the needle-guide guide image 150 is superposed, the ROI 50 has been designated irrespective of the position of the needle-guide image 150 as shown in FIG. In the example ultrasonic observation apparatus 5, the ROI 50 is designated as the needle-piercing guide image 150. Thereby, before the biopsy needle 103 performs a biopsy, it is possible to observe the living tissue in detail with the ROI 50.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic endoscope apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The figure explaining the B mode image displayed on the observation monitor of FIG. Flowchart for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1st figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 2nd figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. The 3rd figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 4th figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 5th figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 6 is a sixth diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 7th figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 8th figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 9 is a ninth diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 10 is a tenth view for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. Configuration diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic endoscope apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Flowchart for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 14 is a first diagram illustrating the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. FIG. 14 is a second diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus of FIG. 1st figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus in a convex scanning type ultrasonic endoscope 2nd figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus in a convex-scanning type ultrasonic endoscope 3rd figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus in a convex-scanning type ultrasonic endoscope 4th figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus in a convex-scanning type ultrasonic endoscope 5th figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus in a convex scanning type ultrasonic endoscope FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the ultrasonic observation apparatus in the convex scanning type ultrasonic endoscope; 1st figure explaining the effect | action of the ultrasonic observation apparatus in a convex scanning type ultrasonic endoscope

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasound endoscope apparatus 2 ... Ultrasound endoscope 5 ... Ultrasound observation apparatus 6 ... Operation part 7 ... Observation monitor 8 ... Ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit part 9 ... Polar coordinate memory 10 ... Coordinate conversion part 11 ... B mode image Arithmetic unit 12 ... DSC
13 ... Region-of-interest setting unit 14 ... Doppler calculation unit 15 ... Control unit

Claims (8)

An ultrasonic detection means having an ultrasonic transducer at the tip of the insertion portion to be inserted into the subject;
Ultrasonic transmission / reception means for performing ultrasonic transmission / reception with respect to the ultrasonic transducer to obtain a plurality of ultrasonic data;
First mode image calculation means for calculating first mode image data based on a plurality of ultrasonic data obtained by the ultrasonic transmission / reception means;
A region-of-interest setting means for setting a region of interest of the subject based on the first mode image data;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: second mode image calculation means for calculating second mode image data of the region of interest based on a plurality of ultrasonic data obtained by the ultrasonic transmission / reception means. The first mode image data is B mode image data;
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second mode image data is blood flow observation mode image data. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first mode image data and the second mode image data are blood flow observation mode image data. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the region-of-interest setting unit extracts a biological tissue of the subject based on the first mode image data and sets the region of interest. . The region of interest setting means designates a living tissue of the subject on a first mode image based on the first mode image data, and sets the region of interest. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as described. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a region-of-interest setting state changing unit that changes a setting state of the region of interest. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the region of interest setting state is a region of interest moving setting state on a first mode image based on the first mode image data. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting state of the region of interest is a size setting state of the region of interest on the first mode image based on the first mode image data.

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