JP3961168B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing a state in a living tissue by projecting an ultrasonic beam into a subject (living body), receiving a reflected wave thereof, and imaging the reflected state.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a function of not only displaying the collected image information on the image monitor apparatus provided for the apparatus for observation, but also saving it as a file in an external memory such as a floppy disk or a magneto-optical disk. ing. At that time, the BMP or JPEG system, which is a de facto standard, is usually used as the format of the file system for image information.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, simply storing the ultrasound image information as in the prior art simply stores the image information as a file, and there are various practical inconveniences. In other words, there is no information about what mode the image was taken in, what size the image was taken when a file containing only this image information was played, so the length of 1 cm on the image There is a situation in which it is not known how long the subject is, whether it is a B-mode image or a BM-mode image.
[0004]
If the attribute information accompanying such image information is also to be saved, conventionally, these have to be saved separately as separate files, and it is necessary to create such a file or perform a separate save operation. It is very complicated.
[0005]
In view of the above, the present invention is an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is improved so that when ultrasound image information is saved as a file, attribute information is automatically saved as a separate file, and the operation is not complicated. The purpose is to provide.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, input means for inputting a subject's ID information and selecting an imaging mode and an image size, and ultrasonic waves based on the selected imaging mode. Means for transmitting and receiving, means for processing received ultrasonic signals to obtain image data, and image display for displaying an image based on the selected image data according to the selected image size and subject ID information A file name for automatically generating a file name including time data and subject ID information at that time according to image data specifying operation and storage operation by the input means; A specific format file of the specified image data is automatically generated with the generated file name according to the automatic generation means and the saving operation. The recording image file generation means and the attribute data file including at least the subject ID information, the imaging mode, and the image size related to the specified image data are expanded with the generated file name according to the storing operation. It is characterized in that it includes a recording attribute file generation means that automatically generates a different file only for the child, and a recording device that records the file according to the saving operation.
[0007]
When you specify the image data to be saved by operating the input means and enter the command to save it, the file name is automatically generated, and under the file name, the specified format of the specified image data A file and an attribute file including attribute data related to the image data having the same file name that differs only in extension are automatically generated and recorded in the recording device. The file name includes time data and subject ID information at that time, and is an optimum file name that can identify the subject and does not overlap. Therefore, it is possible to save the operator from having to think about the file name and to check whether the existing file is overwritten. The attribute data related to the designated image data includes at least the subject ID information, the imaging mode, and the image size, and the attribute data file is saved together with the designated image data file. This attribute data can be referred to at the time of reproduction, and display according to the shooting mode and image size of the image data can be performed.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention includes a probe 11 that emits and receives ultrasonic waves. The probe 11 has a large number of ultrasonic transducer elements arranged in an array. The beam former 12 controls the drive delay time of each of the ultrasonic transducer elements of the probe 11 under the control of the CPU 21, so that the ultrasonic wave generated from the multiple ultrasonic transducer elements can be simultaneously generated. The direction and focus of the combined received ultrasonic beam are determined by determining the direction and focus of the combined beam and controlling the delay time of the received signal of the ultrasonic wave received by each of the multiple ultrasonic transducer elements.
[0009]
The reception signal of the received synthesized ultrasonic beam obtained from the beam former 12 is sent to the signal processing unit 13 for processing. The beam former 12 is controlled by the CPU 21 so that a plane having a synthesized ultrasonic beam to be transmitted and received next is scanned. In this way, the probe 11 is applied to the surface of the subject (living body), a specific cross section inside the subject is scanned with the synthetic ultrasonic beam, and the distribution (ultrasonic wave) of the ultrasonic reflection coefficient at the cross section in the living tissue is detected. Image information). This image information is sent from the signal processing unit 13 to the image memory unit 15.
[0010]
The ultrasonic image information stored in the image memory unit 15 is sent to the display image generation unit 18 together with the character information from the character memory unit 16 and the graphic information from the graphic memory unit 17 to display one image to be displayed. Is generated as The image generated by the display image generation unit 18 is sent to the image monitor device 19 and displayed. As a result, the name of the subject (patient), characters such as dates, and graphics such as lines are displayed on the image monitor 19 together with the ultrasound image. The character memory unit 16 and the graphic memory unit 17 are controlled by the memory control unit 14 together with the image memory unit 15, and the memory control unit 14 is controlled by the CPU 21. The memory control unit 14 also controls the CPU memory unit 29.
[0011]
The CPU 21 is provided with a clock device 22 for outputting a time signal, and is connected to a keyboard 23 and a trackball 24 (or a mouse or the like). By operating these, information such as a patient's name and date can be obtained. Input a part to be scanned with an ultrasonic beam, or input a setting command indicating what mode (for example, B mode or BM mode) an ultrasonic image is to be captured. These data are sent to the CPU memory unit 29. Further, the CPU 21 is connected to a recording device 25 for recording / saving on a removable storage medium such as a floppy disk recording device or a magneto-optical recording device.
[0012]
In addition, the CPU 21 automatically generates a file 26 of image data for recording / saving, a device 27 for generating a file of attribute data relating to the image data for recording / saving, and automatically generates a file name. Connected to the device 28.
[0013]
By operating the keyboard 23 and the trackball 24, first, patient information such as the patient name and ID number is input, and then the imaging mode is set. Then, an ultrasonic image in the setting mode at a specific cross section inside the subject is taken, and the image information is stored in the image memory unit 15. This image information is sent to the display image generation unit 18. The display image generation unit 18 combines this image information with the character information from the character memory unit 16 and the graphic information from the graphic memory unit 17 to generate one image, which is displayed on the image monitor device 19. The
[0014]
When this ultrasonic image is output to the recording device 25 and is to be saved, an image to be saved is designated by operating the keyboard 23 or the trackball 24, and a save command is input. Then, the ultrasonic image information stored in the display image generation unit 18 or the image memory unit 15 is extracted by the CPU 21 and converted into a format such as BMP. At the same time, attribute data related to the image data, that is, attribute data such as patient name, patient ID number, imaging mode, and image size is extracted from the CPU memory unit 29.
[0015]
The file name generation device 28 automatically generates a file name according to a predetermined rule. For example, the file name is a combination of the patient ID number, the patient name, and the time, and bmp is added to the image file and atr is added to the attribute file as extensions. That is, if the patient ID is “0462” and the patient name is “TSUJII”, the time when the ultrasound image is saved as a file in the external memory is 1 July 1999, PM 2:15:31. The file name generation device 28 generates “0462TSUJII990701141531.bmp” as the image data file name and “0462TSUJII990701141531.atr” as the attribute data file name. Time data is obtained from the clock device 22. Since it takes at least one second to save the image data and attribute data files with the file names in this way, there is no possibility that the same file name will be generated, and a different name is automatically created. File names can be generated.
[0016]
In this way, a file name is generated by the file name generation device 28, and the recording image file generation device 26 generates a specified image file with the file name. At the same time, the recording attribute file generation device 27 generates an attribute data file with the name as described above. These two files are stored in the recording device 25.
[0017]
Therefore, before saving, there is no need to check whether the file has been previously saved with the same file name and is not overwritten. Further, since the file name includes the patient ID and the patient name, it is possible to specify the patient from the file name, and the file name is optimal. In this way, the time required for overwriting chuck can be saved, and the time required for selecting an optimum file name is not required. Therefore, the time required for saving an image can be shortened, which is very convenient.
[0018]
When the image data file is saved in this manner, attribute data files having the same file name that differ only in extension are saved at the same time, which is very convenient for image reproduction. When a BMP format file to be played back is selected by operating the keyboard 23 or the trackball 24, the CPU 21 first reads a file having the same file name with an extension of atr. When the file is found, the file is read and the above-mentioned designated BMP image file is read. Then, a program for reproducing / displaying image data is automatically started, and an image size, a mode, etc. are set based on the read attribute data and displayed on the image monitor device 19. If there is no file with the same file name extension “atr”, an image of the selected file is reproduced and displayed as an image whose size is unknown, or an ultrasonic image saved by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus The program is set so that an image selected as not data is not reproduced. Such a function at the time of reproduction can be realized by software or by hardware although not shown.
[0019]
The above description relates to the embodiment of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the specific configuration and the like can be variously changed. For example, although the recording image file generation device 26, the recording attribute file generation device 27, and the file name generation device 28 are configured as hardware here, they can all be configured as software. As the clock device 22, a clock device provided in the CPU 21 can be used.
[0020]
As described above, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, it is very convenient to store and reproduce ultrasonic image data. In other words, if you specify an image to be saved and perform an operation to save it, the image data file is saved with an automatically generated file name that does not overlap with the existing file name. At the same time, a file of attribute data such as patient ID information, imaging mode and image size is also saved. Therefore, it is possible to save the operator from having to think about the file name and to check whether the existing file will be overwritten, and to save it easily in a short time. In addition, since the attribute data file is saved together with the specified image data file, the attribute data can be referred to when the image data is reproduced, and the display according to the shooting mode and the image size of the image data is displayed. It can be carried out.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Probe 12 Beam former 13 Signal processing part 14 Memory control part 15 Image memory part 16 Character memory part 17 Graphic memory part 18 Display image generation part 19 Image monitor apparatus 21 CPU
22 clock device 23 keyboard 24 trackball 25 recording device 26 recording image file generating device 27 recording attribute file generating device 28 file name generating device 29 CPU memory unit

Claims (1)

Input means for inputting ID information of a subject and selecting an imaging mode and an image size; means for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves based on the selected imaging mode; means for processing received ultrasonic signals and obtaining image data An image display means for displaying an image based on the image data according to the selected image size and displaying the subject ID information, a clock means for generating momentary time data, and an input means. A file name automatic generation means for automatically generating a file name including time data and subject ID information at that time in accordance with an image data specifying operation and a storage operation, and in accordance with the storage operation, A recording image file generation unit that automatically generates a file in a specific format with the generated file name, and a specified image according to the save operation Recording attribute file generation means for automatically generating a file of attribute data including at least subject ID information, imaging mode, and image size as a file that differs only in extension with the generated file name, and the storage An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a recording device that records the file according to an operation.

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