JP4322370B2 - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus applied to, for example, examination or diagnosis (hereinafter referred to as “examination”) of multiple pregnant women in obstetrics and gynecology, and in particular, an ultrasonic diagnosis suitable for fetal growth measurement performed at the time of medical examination. Relates to the device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in twin fetal growth measurement using conventional ultrasonic diagnostic equipment, ultrasonic diagnostic images are collected by applying an ultrasonic probe to the mother, and each fetus is displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic images. Is used to measure one or more items that serve as indicators of growth.
[0003]
The fetus is given an identifier (eg, “Fetus A”, [Fetus B]) to distinguish it from other fetuses in the same maternal body. Measurement is performed after the fetus is identified. That is, the measurement is performed after determining in advance which fetus A or B is to be measured.
[0004]
Growth measurement is performed almost regularly multiple times, and the measurement results obtained each time are taken into the report area of fetus A and fetus B of the corresponding patient (maternal) in the obstetric patient database, and past measurement results Along with a report. The report is used for the growth curve display function, etc. of the ultrasound diagnostic device, and includes a comparison display of the average growth curve and the growth curve of the fetus, and a mark display showing the current value on the growth curve of the fetus. Has been done.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, when carrying out the growth measurement, the doctor performs measurement after specifying the fetus in advance. Needless to say, both fetuses must be accurately discriminated at each measurement in order to create a proper report that shows how the fetus is growing. However, fetal discrimination is a very time consuming operation. In addition, if measurement is performed while erroneously discriminating the fetus, the conventional apparatus must perform measurement again from the beginning.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the doctor can reduce the work time required for discrimination of each fetus, thereby shortening the examination time and improving the throughput, compared with a normal pregnant woman. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of reducing the burden on a multiple pregnant woman who has a large number of medical examinations and suffers from a supine posture.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention is configured as follows.
[0008]
(1) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention transmits ultrasonic waves to a mother body, receives reflected waves thereof, and collects ultrasonic diagnostic images of the mother body and a fetus based on the received signals. In the diagnostic device, for a plurality of fetuses depicted in the ultrasonic diagnostic image, a measurement unit that measures a predetermined item of each of the plurality of fetuses without particularly defining the fetus, and displays past measurement results of the plurality of fetuses Based on past measurement result display means, present measurement result display means for displaying results of current measurement performed on the plurality of fetuses by the measurement means, and comparison display between the current measurement result and the past measurement result Means for assigning and inputting which fetus of the plurality of fetuses the current measurement result is.
[0009]
(2) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention is the apparatus according to (1) above, and a predetermined rule is used to determine which of the plurality of fetuses the current measurement result belongs to. And a discriminating means for discriminating based on the past measurement result.
[0010]
(3) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is the apparatus according to (2) above, and the measurement result this time when the fetus is discriminated by the discriminating means is obtained for each of a plurality of fetuses in the same maternal body. It further comprises recording means for recording.
[0011]
(4) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is the apparatus according to any one of (2) and (3) above, and further includes a correction unit that corrects the fetal discrimination result by the discrimination unit. It is characterized by.
[0012]
(5) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention transmits ultrasonic waves to the mother and receives the reflected waves, and collects ultrasonic diagnostic images of the mother and the fetus based on the received signals. In the diagnostic apparatus, for a plurality of fetuses depicted in the ultrasonic diagnostic image, a measurement unit that measures a predetermined item of each of the plurality of fetuses without particularly defining a fetus, and a measurement result of the item by the measurement unit A discriminating unit that discriminates a fetus to be determined based on past measurement results; and a recording unit that records the measurement result of the item for which the fetus is discriminated by the discriminating unit.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus suitable for multifetal growth measurement in obstetric measurement according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe 1, a transmission / reception control unit (T / R) 3, a signal processing unit 5, a DSC 7, a monitor 9, a host system 11, an FDD 13, an HDD 15, and a panel subsystem. 17. A multifetal growth measurement function unit 19 is provided.
[0015]
The ultrasonic probe 1 controlled by the T / R unit 3 transmits ultrasonic waves to a mother body (not shown), receives the reflected waves, and outputs the received signals to the T / R unit 3.
[0016]
The signal processing unit 5 generates, for example, a B-mode ultrasonic diagnostic image representing the mother and the fetus based on the received signal obtained from the T / R unit 3. The B-mode ultrasound diagnostic image generated here is converted into a TV format video signal by the DSC 7 and then displayed on the monitor 9.
[0017]
The panel subsystem 17 connected to the host system 11 is a means for processing various instruction inputs from a user (in this case, a doctor performing a medical examination), and includes a touch command screen (TCS) 21 and a keyboard (KB) 23. A mouse 25 and a trackball 27 are connected.
[0018]
The multiple fetal growth measurement function unit 19 includes a fetal growth measurement unit 29, a past measurement result display unit 31, a current measurement result display unit 33, and an assignment input processing unit 35. The multiple fetal growth measurement function unit 19 is connected to an item measurement result storage unit 39 for storing the fetal growth measurement result. The multifetal growth measurement function unit 19 can access an obstetric patient database 43 provided in a hospital information system (HIS) or the like.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of multifetal measurement using the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present embodiment.
[0020]
When the start of multifetal measurement is instructed, patient ID is first input (step S1). Here, the patient ID is an ID for distinguishing the mother of the examination from other mothers, and is composed of a multi-digit alphanumeric character or the like. Information about the mother identified by the patient ID is stored in the obstetric patient database 43.
[0021]
Next, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 1 as described above in a state where the doctor places the ultrasonic probe 1 on the mother to be inspected, and an ultrasonic diagnostic image (here, a B-mode image) of the mother is transmitted. Is generated. This B-mode image is displayed on the monitor 9. At this time, the doctor moves the ultrasonic probe 1 to display a plurality of fetuses in the mother body (step S2).
[0022]
Next, the doctor instructs execution of fetal growth measurement for any one of the currently displayed fetuses (step S3). In response to this instruction, a predetermined item measurement processing operation is executed by the fetal growth measurement unit 29 in the multiple fetal growth measurement function unit 19 (step S4). In the conventional multi-fetal measurement, it takes time to identify (discriminate) the fetus, and it takes time until the execution of the measurement is started. However, in the multi-fetal measurement of the present embodiment, the execution of the measurement is quickly started. The fetal measurement processing result obtained by the fetal growth measurement unit 29 in step S4 is stored as the current measurement result 39 in the item result storage unit 37 after a temporary identifier is added (step S5).
[0023]
Then, in step S6, it is determined whether or not all fetuses have been measured. This termination determination may be based on an instruction input from a doctor, or may be configured such that the value of the total number of fetuses of the mother is stored in advance and the apparatus of this embodiment automatically determines. Here, when the measured number of fetuses is less than the total number of fetuses of the mother body, steps S2 to S5 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if all fetuses have been measured, the process proceeds to step S7.
[0024]
In step S7, the past measurement result display unit 31 first sets the past measurement data on all the fetuses of the mother body (here, “fetus A”, “fetus B”, and “fetus C”) as item measurement results. The data is read from the past measurement result 41 of the storage unit 37 and displayed on the monitor 9. A display example in this case is shown in FIG.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 3, in the window W1, for each fetus, for example, n measurement items, that is, item name 1: BPD (biparietal diameter), item name 2: FL (femur length: thigh) (Bone length) and item name n: SAC (gestational sac size: gestational sac size) measurement values from the first time to the previous time are displayed. At this time, in the window W1, the columns D1 to D3 of the current measurement value of each fetus are blank. This is because the measurement data for the total number of fetuses obtained in steps S2 to S6 is unspecified.
[0026]
Next, the current measurement result display unit 33 reads the current measurement data for the total number of fetuses obtained by the fetal growth measurement unit 29 and stored in the item result storage unit 37 after the provisional identifier is added. At the same time, a list is displayed on the monitor 9. A display example in this case is shown in FIG.
[0027]
As shown in FIG. 4A, in the window W2, the measurement result values R1 to R3 for all the fetuses are displayed for each of the three fetuses.
[0028]
Here, the assignment input processing unit 35 displays an assignment input window W3 shown in FIG. 4B on the monitor 9, whereby the assignment input process by the doctor is performed. That is, based on the comparison display between the past measurement results displayed in the window W1 and the current measurement results displayed in the window W2, the doctor determines that the current measurement results R1 to R3 of the three persons are fetuses, respectively. The fetus of A to C is assigned and input (step S8). The figure shows a state where the first measurement result R1 is about to be assigned to fetus B, the second measurement result R2 is assigned to fetus C, and the third measurement result R3 is about to be assigned to fetus A.
[0029]
At the time of fetal assignment input in step S8, a trend graph display of “week-item value” as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B may be displayed for reference of assignment input by a doctor.
[0030]
When assignment by the doctor is performed, the third measurement result R3 displayed in the window W2 is displayed in the column D1 (fetus A) of the window W1, and the first measurement result R1 is displayed in the column D2 (fetus) of the window W1. B), and the measurement result R2 of the second person is displayed in the column D3 (fetus C) of the window W1.
[0031]
As a result of this processing, the assigned current measurement result is saved as past measurement result 41 together with previous measurement data, and fetal growth measurement is terminated. After the measurement is completed, the trend graph display shown in FIG. 5 again displays the comparison between the average growth curve and the growth curve of the fetus, the mark display indicating the current value on the growth curve of the fetus, and the like. .
[0032]
As described above, in the multiple fetus measurement by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present embodiment, time is not required for fetal discrimination before the measurement is executed, and the measurement can be executed promptly. In addition, when measurement is performed with erroneous fetal discrimination, it is possible to avoid a situation in which measurement must be performed again from the beginning.
[0033]
Accordingly, the screening time for multiple pregnant women can be shortened, and the screening throughput can be improved. Moreover, the burden on the multiple pregnant woman who is said to be in a supine posture can be reduced. Pregnant women have more fetal growth measurements by ultrasonography than non-pregnant women, and multiple pregnant women are more likely to suffer from preeclampsia or imminent miscarriage. Adjustments are often made. For this reason, the implementation value of multifetal growth measurement is great, and this embodiment is extremely effective in that the above advantages can be obtained.
[0034]
In the above-described embodiment, the case of measuring three multiple fetuses has been described as an example, but it goes without saying that the number of fetuses is arbitrary.
[0035]
(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment described above, a configuration has been described in which execution of measurement is started without specifying a fetus, and a doctor assigns the obtained measurement result to each fetus. As in the first embodiment, the second embodiment relates to a configuration in which execution of measurement is started without specifying a fetus and a corresponding fetus is automatically determined from each obtained measurement result.
[0036]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Similar to the first embodiment, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this embodiment includes an ultrasonic probe 1, a transmission / reception control unit (T / R) 3, a signal processing unit 5, a DSC 7, a monitor 9, a host system 11, an FDD 13, and an HDD 15. The panel sub-system 17 is provided, and the multiple fetus measurement function unit 60 is different in configuration from that of the first embodiment.
[0037]
The multiple fetus measurement function unit 60 of this embodiment includes a fetal growth measurement unit 29, a measurement result display unit 51, a fetus discrimination unit 53, and a result processing unit 55.
[0038]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of multifetal measurement using the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of this embodiment. It is assumed that basic conditions such as the mother body, its fetuses, and the content of multifetal measurement are the same as those in the first embodiment.
[0039]
When the start of multifetal measurement is instructed, patient ID is first input (step S1). Here, the patient ID is an ID for distinguishing the mother of the examination from other mothers, and is composed of a multi-digit alphanumeric character or the like. Information about the mother identified by the patient ID is stored in the obstetric patient database 43.
[0040]
Next, an ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 1 in a state where the doctor places the ultrasonic probe 1 on the mother to be inspected, and an ultrasonic diagnostic image (here, B-mode image) of the mother is obtained. Generated. This B-mode image is displayed on the monitor 9. At this time, the doctor moves the ultrasonic probe 1 to display a plurality of fetuses in the mother body (step S2).
[0041]
Next, the doctor instructs execution of fetal growth measurement for any one of the currently displayed fetuses (step S3). In response to this instruction, a predetermined item measurement processing operation is executed by the fetal growth measurement unit 29 in the multiple fetal growth measurement function unit 60 (step S4). The fetal measurement processing result obtained by the fetal growth measurement unit 29 in step S4 is stored as the current measurement result 39 in the item result storage unit 37 after a temporary identifier is added (step S5).
[0042]
Then, in step S6, it is determined whether or not all fetuses have been measured. This termination determination may be based on an instruction input from a doctor, or may be configured such that the value of the total number of fetuses of the mother is stored in advance and the apparatus of this embodiment automatically determines. Here, when the measured number of fetuses is less than the total number of fetuses of the mother body, steps S2 to S5 are repeatedly executed. On the other hand, if all fetuses have been measured, the process proceeds to step S7. The flow up to here is the same as in the first embodiment.
[0043]
Next, in step S7, the fetus determination unit 53 determines which of the fetuses A to C each of the current measurement results R1 to R3 of the three fetuses is based on a predetermined rule. Discriminate from the measurement result. As the past measurement results, those stored as the past measurement results 41 for the mother fetus in the item result storage unit 37 are used.
[0044]
The measurement result display unit 51 reads past measurement data for all the fetuses of the mother from the past measurement result 41 of the item measurement result storage unit 37 and displays the list on the monitor 9. A display example in this case is shown in FIG.
[0045]
In the window Q1 shown in FIG. 8A, for each fetus, each of n measurement items, that is, item name 1: BPD, item name 2: FL, and item name n: SAC, is started from the first time. Measurement values up to are displayed.
[0046]
In the above steps S2 to S6, the current measurement and measurement results R1 to R3 for the total number of fetuses were obtained without specifying the fetus, and these were determined in the window Q1 after the fetus was identified by the fetal discrimination unit 53. It is displayed in the column of the measurement value of the fetus this time. That is, the measurement result R3 obtained from the third fetus in this measurement is that of the fetus A, the measurement result R1 obtained from the first fetus is that of the fetus B, and was obtained from the second fetus. The measurement result R2 is determined to be that of the fetus C.
[0047]
The fetal discrimination unit 53 discriminates from the past measurement results based on a predetermined rule which of the fetuses A to C the current measurement results R1 to R3 of each of the three fetuses belong to. However, this determination is performed according to the method described below, for example.
[0048]
Under a certain rule, the fetal discrimination unit 53 compares the past measurement result stored as the past measurement result 41 for the mother fetus in the item result storage unit 37 with respect to a plurality of unspecified fetuses measured this time. Each measurement item is collated, and rankings regarding the validity of the assignment to each fetus are performed, and the item having the largest number of first measurement items is assigned to that fetus. That is, regarding a certain measurement item “SAC”, it is most appropriate (first place) to be assigned to fetus B, but if there are a large number of measurement items that are most appropriate to be assigned to fetus A, it is determined as fetus A. Do (majority vote).
[0049]
In this case, specific items may be weighted.
[0050]
For example, BPD (biparietal diameter), FL (femur length: femoral length), FTA (fetal trunk cross-sectional area), ALD (abdominal longitudinal diameter), and For ATD (abdominal transversal diameter), the first weighting according to importance is performed, and AA (abdominal area: abdominal cross-sectional area), AC (abdominal circumference: trunk circumference), HC (head circumference) : Peripheral head length) and OFD (occipital frontal diameter) are given a second weight, and CRL (crown-rump length) and SAC (gestational sac size: fetal sac) A third weight is applied to the (diameter). Then, fetal discrimination appropriate for the importance of the basis can be performed. Note that automatic fetal discrimination based on item values according to a predetermined rule is not limited to the above-described ones, and various methods may be applied.
[0051]
Next, in step S8, the result processing unit 55 displays a result processing window Q2 shown in FIG. 8B on the monitor 9, and confirms with the doctor whether or not the fetal discrimination result by the fetal discrimination unit 53 is appropriate. Let
[0052]
Here, in the result processing window Q2, when the doctor gives an instruction that the determination result is not appropriate, the doctor himself can correct it. The correction function in this case is realized by means equivalent to the assignment input described with reference to FIG. 4B of the first embodiment (step S9).
[0053]
On the other hand, if the result of fetal discrimination by the fetal discrimination unit 53 is appropriate, the fetal growth measurement is terminated.
[0054]
According to the second embodiment described above, as in the first embodiment, no time is required for fetal discrimination before execution of measurement, and measurement can be performed quickly. In addition, when measurement is performed with erroneous fetal discrimination, it is possible to avoid a situation in which measurement must be performed again from the beginning. Accordingly, the screening time for multiple pregnant women can be shortened, and the screening throughput can be improved. Moreover, the burden on the multiple pregnant woman who is said to be in a supine posture can be reduced.
[0055]
And especially in 2nd Embodiment, the fetus discrimination | determination part 53 is comprised so that it may discriminate | determine from the past measurement result based on a rule which fetus this time measurement result belongs to. Therefore, it is not necessary to input the assignment by the doctor, and the examination time is further shortened.
[0056]
In addition, this invention is not limited only to embodiment mentioned above, A various deformation | transformation can be implemented.
[0057]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, doctors can reduce the work time required to discriminate each fetus, thereby shortening the screening time and improving the throughput, and the number of screenings is higher than that of normal pregnant women. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can reduce the burden on a multiple pregnant woman who is said to be in a supine posture.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus suitable for multifetal growth measurement in obstetric measurement according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment. Flow chart showing the flow of the multiple fetal measurement used. [Fig. 3] Fig. 4 shows a list display example of past measurement results. [Fig. 4] (a) shows a list display example of current measurement results. FIG. 5 is a graph showing an example of a trend graph display. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Flowchart showing the flow of multifetal measurement using the ultrasonic diagnostic equipment of Fig. 8 [Fig. 8] Diagram showing an example of a list display of past measurement results and current measurement results after fetal discrimination [Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasonic probe 3 ... Transmission / reception control part (T / R)
5 ... Signal processing unit 7 ... DSC (digital scan converter)
9 ... Monitor 11 ... Host system 13 ... FDD
15 ... HDD
17 ... Panel subsystem 21 ... TCS (Touch Command Screen)
23 ... KB (keyboard)
25 ... Mouse 27 ... Trackball 19 ... Multifetal growth measurement function unit 37 ... Item measurement result storage unit 43 ... Obstetric patient database

Claims (5)

In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for transmitting an ultrasonic wave to a mother and receiving a reflected wave thereof, and collecting ultrasonic diagnostic images of the mother and a fetus based on the received signal,
For a plurality of fetuses depicted in the ultrasonic diagnostic image, measuring means for measuring a predetermined item of each of the plurality of fetuses without particularly defining the fetus,
Past measurement result display means for displaying past measurement results of the plurality of fetuses;
Current measurement result display means for displaying a result of current measurement performed on the plurality of fetuses by the measurement means;
Means for assigning and inputting which fetus of the plurality of fetuses the current measurement result is based on a comparison display of the current measurement result and the past measurement result; A characteristic ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a discriminating unit that discriminates from the past measurement results based on a predetermined rule which fetus among the plurality of fetuses is the current measurement result. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as described. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a recording unit that records the measurement result of this time when the fetus is discriminated by the discriminating unit for each of a plurality of fetuses in the same mother body. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a correction unit that corrects a result of discrimination of the fetus by the discrimination unit. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for transmitting an ultrasonic wave to a mother and receiving a reflected wave thereof, and collecting ultrasonic diagnostic images of the mother and a fetus based on the received signal,
With respect to a plurality of fetuses depicted in the ultrasonic diagnostic image, measuring means for measuring predetermined items of each of the plurality of fetuses without particularly defining the fetus,
A discriminating unit for discriminating a fetus corresponding to the measurement result of the item by the measuring unit based on a past measurement result;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a recording unit that records a measurement result of the item for which the fetus has been determined by the determination unit.

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