JP2001054521A - Biological tissue form measuring method and medical image device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To precisely measure the size of a biological tissue while reducing a burden on an operator. SOLUTION: The image of a biological tissue is formed and displayed on a monitor 21, and a circular marker generated by a marker generating part 18 is overlap-displayed at the desired position of this displayed image. The size of this marker is adjusted to define the size of a desired tissue and based on information on the marker generated by the part 18, it is calculated by a measuring processing part 19 to measure a biological tissue form. Thus, the part of the maximum diameter of the biological tissue is visually easily recognized, thereby operation is easy. Thus, a burden on an operator is reduced, measuring precision is also improved and a proper diagnostic result is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for measuring the size, area, perimeter, volume, histogram, etc. of a desired in-vivo tissue from an image of the in-vivo tissue obtained by a medical imaging apparatus such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The present invention relates to a method for measuring a morphology of a tissue in a living body for measuring the morphology of a tissue in a living body, and a medical imaging apparatus for performing the measurement method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an X-ray diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray CT apparatus, an MRI apparatus, and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus are well known as medical image apparatuses for non-invasively displaying an image of a tissue in a living body. Above all, ultrasonic diagnostic equipment is capable of observing images of in-vivo tissue in real time, is highly safe without X-ray exposure, is small and easy to operate, and is relatively inexpensive. It is widely used in medical practice.

This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus emits an ultrasonic pulse from an ultrasonic probe to a subject, and detects a reflected wave from the inside of the subject tissue based on the ultrasonic pulse, thereby obtaining a tomographic image of a section of the subject. Information on the in-vivo tissue of the subject, such as the state of the image and blood flow, is obtained and drawn on a monitor. And the diagnostic area by the ultrasonic diagnostic device is wide,
For example, intracranial blood flow, thyroid gland, carotid artery, mammary gland, heart, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, stomach, uterus, ovary, kidney, etc. are expanding year by year. In addition to observing images, distance measurement, area measurement, perimeter measurement, flow velocity measurement,
In addition, there are remarkable enhancements in measurement functions for supporting diagnosis, such as cardiac function measurement.

[0004] By the way, with the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus,
As a method for measuring the thickness of a blood vessel, for example,
There has been one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 216129. In this method, the cursor is superimposed and displayed so as to be orthogonal to the direction of flow of the blood vessel displayed as an ultrasonic image, so that the linear distance (ie, diameter) of the width of the blood vessel is directly read directly. there were.

[0005]

However, the blood vessels are not always displayed linearly, but are bent or have irregularities, so that the linear distance of the width of the blood vessels is directly visually read. Although it seems that the straight line seems to be orthogonal to the direction of the flow, it is also expected that it will be slightly inclined, in such a case, it will immediately affect the accuracy of the measurement result . In addition, it has been extremely difficult to accurately and linearly read the size of the in-vivo tissue other than the blood vessel, and to find the maximum diameter portion from the in-vivo tissue having irregularities.

The accuracy of measuring the diameter of a blood vessel is as follows.
Not only directly affects the accuracy of the blood flow calculation results, but also the measurement results of other in vivo tissue morphologies have a large effect on diagnosis. And an operator (hereinafter, referred to as an operator). The present invention has been made to solve such a problem.

[0007]

According to an aspect of the present invention, an image of a tissue in a living body is formed and displayed on a monitor, and a desired image of the image displayed on the monitor is formed. By drawing a circular marker so as to overlap the position, the form of the tissue in the living body is measured based on the size of the drawn marker.

Thus, by drawing a circular marker, it is possible to visually and extremely easily recognize the portion of the tissue having the largest diameter. Therefore, the operation is easier than searching for the portion having the maximum diameter in a straight line, and the measurement accuracy can be improved.

The invention described in claim 2 is the first invention.
In the method for measuring a morphology of an in-vivo tissue, the displayed image is an image in which a contour of the in-vivo tissue is emphasized.

[0010] Thus, the outline of the tissue to be measured becomes clear, so that the measurement becomes extremely easy and the measurement accuracy can be improved. Further, the invention described in claim 3 is based on claim 1.
In the method for measuring a morphology of an in-vivo tissue, the displayed image is a tomographic image of the in-vivo tissue.

[0011] This facilitates measurement of the morphology of hollow tissues such as the heart, amniotic cavity, and bladder. Claim 4
The invention described in (1) is characterized in that, in the method for measuring the morphology of a tissue in a living body according to the first aspect, the displayed image is a blood flow image of the tissue in the living body.

This facilitates measurement of tissue morphology such as heart and blood vessels. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method for measuring a morphology of an in-vivo tissue according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the circular marker is used for measuring the in-vivo tissue in the displayed image. It is characterized by being drawn so as to be inscribed in the wall.

[0013] With this, the circular marker is drawn so as to be inscribed in the wall of the in-vivo tissue in the image, so that the portion of the tissue having the largest diameter can be visually recognized very easily. Becomes easier,
Measurement accuracy can be improved.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming means for forming an image of a tissue in a living body, a display means for displaying an image formed by the image forming means, and an image displayed on the display means. Marker setting means for superimposing and drawing a circular marker on a desired position of the image, adjusting means for adjusting the size of the marker drawn by the marker setting means, and size of the drawn circular marker Computing means for measuring the morphology of the in-vivo tissue based on the above.

Thus, a circular marker is displayed at a desired position in the formed image of the in-vivo tissue, and by adjusting the size of the marker, it is possible to visually recognize the portion having the largest diameter very easily. it can. Therefore, the operation is easier than searching for the portion having the maximum diameter in a straight line, so that the burden on the operator can be reduced, and the measurement accuracy is improved, which can contribute to appropriate diagnosis.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method for measuring a morphology of a tissue in a living body and a medical image apparatus according to the present invention will be described with respect to a case where the present invention is applied to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as a typical example of a medical image apparatus. , Will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus embodying the present invention. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic probe 11 transmits an ultrasonic wave into the body of the subject P, and receives a reflected wave from a tissue in the subject to convert it into an electric signal. The transmission / reception unit 12 that drives the ultrasonic probe 11 and processes the received reflected signal to detect tomographic image data, Doppler shift signal, and the like in the subject required to form an ultrasonic image. It is connected. In addition, the transmitting and receiving unit 1
Reference numeral 2 denotes a transmission unit, which is a rate pulse generator for determining a transmission rate of ultrasonic waves (the number of ultrasonic pulses transmitted per second), and an appropriate pulse generator for determining the directivity of ultrasonic waves for transmission pulses. A transmission delay circuit or the like for providing a delay is provided. As a receiving unit, a preamplifier for amplifying a weak electric signal from the ultrasonic probe 11, and a reception signal for determining a reception directivity, for example, a delay opposite to that at the time of transmission. , And an adder for adding the received signal. Further, the transmission / reception unit 12 includes a B-mode unit that performs logarithmic amplification on the received signal after performing envelope detection on the received signal and obtains data on a tissue tomographic image (B-mode image), and quadrature phase detection of the received signal to detect a shift frequency component. A color Doppler unit that extracts a Doppler signal and obtains a signal related to a blood flow image (that is, a color flow mapping (hereinafter abbreviated as CFM) image) by performing frequency analysis to determine a shift frequency due to blood cells. Is provided.

The signals relating to the tomographic image data and the blood flow image detected by the transmitting / receiving unit 12 are stored in the image recording unit 13.
Is supplied to a digital scan converter (hereinafter abbreviated as DSC) circuit 14, where an image synchronized with ultrasonic scanning such as a tomographic image (B-mode image) or a blood flow image (CFM image) is scanned by a television. The image is converted into an image synchronized with the image, and processing such as zooming and freeze is performed based on the set observation condition. The image recording unit 13 has a DSC
An image acquisition circuit 15 for acquiring an ultrasonic image from the circuit 14,
And an image memory 16 for recording the collected ultrasonic images.

Now, regarding an image recorded in the image memory 16 of the image recording unit 13, a wall of a desired tissue such as a blood vessel is extracted from, for example, a state of a change in brightness, and the tissue is recorded in the image memory 16 again. A wall extraction unit 17 is provided. In addition, a marker generation unit 18 is provided, which generates a circular marker, and the marker can be appropriately adjusted for enlargement / reduction. Further, a measurement processing unit 19 is provided for executing calculations such as a diameter and an area based on the size of the marker generated by the marker generation unit 18.

On the other hand, an ultrasonic image such as a B-mode image or a CFM image from the image recording unit 13, an image of a tissue wall extracted by the tissue wall extracting unit 17, or a marker generated by the marker generating unit 18 is displayed as an image. The image is switched or overlapped by the display processing unit 20, and the image processed by the image display processing unit 20 is displayed on the monitor 21. Note that the marker generation unit 1
Reference numeral 8 generates and records graphics pattern data such as a marker and a region of interest (ROI).

Then, various instructions and information from the operator are given to the above-described units, and transmission, reception, display of images, display of images, various calculations, etc. of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus are performed according to predetermined procedures set in advance. Control unit 2 having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and various memories
2, a keyboard 23a for inputting operator's operation information to the control unit 22, and a trackball 2 for moving or enlarging a marker.
3b, a console 23 having function keys 23c for designating and setting various functions is connected.

Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as described above and a method of measuring the tissue morphology in a living body will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
First, the ultrasonic probe 11 is operated to display an ultrasonic image of a desired diagnostic site in the subject P on the monitor 21 (step 1). In this case, the ultrasonic probe 11 can be arbitrarily selected and used from among sector probes, linear probes, convex probes, and the like having different scanning methods.
What is necessary is just to set suitably according to a diagnostic part, such as an FM image. When a desired ultrasonic image is obtained, the image is temporarily recorded in the image memory 16.

Next, the process proceeds to step 2, where the tissue wall to be measured is extracted by the tissue wall extracting unit 17 for the same ultrasonic image recorded in the image memory 16. This wall is, for example, a contour of an organ, a wall of a blood vessel or the like, or a wall forming an amniotic fluid pocket. Extraction. Then, the extracted image of the wall is recorded again in the image memory 16, and the extracted wall is superimposed on the original image via the image display processing unit 20 and displayed on the monitor 21. That is, an ultrasonic image in which the wall portion is emphasized is displayed on the monitor 21. This is based on instructions given by the operator operating the console 23, and
Is controlled by

Next, in step 3, one of the function keys 23c of the control unit 22 is operated to draw the circular marker generated by the marker generation unit 18 on the image displayed on the monitor 21. , Trackball 23b
To position the marker between the walls of the tissue to be measured extracted in step 2. Then, as a step 4, the circular marker is enlarged or reduced so that the marker is inscribed just on the wall of the tissue. Subsequently, the process proceeds to step 5, where it is determined whether or not the adjustment of the marker has been completed. If NO, the process returns to step 4 to adjust again so that the circular marker is inscribed in the tissue wall, and if YES, the process proceeds to step 6. move on. In step 6, an operation is instructed from among the function keys 23c, and information on the marker size at that time, that is, information on the marker size at that time is supplied from the marker generation unit 18 to the measurement processing unit 19. , Its diameter, radius, or area. The calculation result is displayed on the monitor 21 together with the image.

FIG. 3 shows an amniotic cavity in order to explain how to measure the maximum diameter of the amniotic fluid pocket in the amniotic cavity according to the method of the present invention. That is, in FIG. 3A, the fetus F located in the amniotic cavity 31 and
An amniotic fluid pocket 32 in which amniotic fluid is stored and a circular marker 33 positioned in the amniotic fluid pocket 32 are shown, and the outline of the wall of the amniotic cavity and the fetus F are clearly displayed. This marker 33 is displayed in the size of the initial state. Therefore, the position of the marker 33 is moved while expanding the marker 33 so as to be inscribed in the amniotic fluid pocket 32, and the largest marker 33 inscribed in the amniotic fluid pocket 32 is formed and stopped at that position. FIG. 3B shows a state where the largest marker 32a inscribed in the amniotic fluid pocket 32 is stopped. Therefore, in this state, the maximum diameter and the like are calculated from the size of the marker 33a. As described above, since the portion having the largest diameter is searched for by the circle, it is extremely easy to visually recognize the portion, and the measurement accuracy is improved as compared with searching for the portion having the largest diameter linearly. And its operation is also easy.

FIG. 3C illustrates a case where the maximum diameter is readjusted during the measurement. That is, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), there is an abnormal part 34 as shown by hatching on the wall portion of the amniotic cavity, this is recognized as the wall of the amniotic cavity, and the marker 33b shown by the dotted line is the amniotic fluid. Even if the marker is the largest one inscribed in the pocket 32, it is easily recognized that the marker 33b is not the largest one by moving the marker 33b. Marker 3 where it really is the largest
3c can be positioned. This operation can be performed not only manually by the operator but also by automatically searching the wall to find the maximum dimension.

It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented with various modifications. For example, in addition to calculating the diameter, radius, and area from the marker 33, measurement of the long axis and short axis, measurement of the perimeter, calculation of the volume, creation of a tissue histogram, etc.
It is possible to automatically calculate the form and shape of the tissue. In addition, the marker is not limited to the one in which the tissue is extracted, and the marker may be set simultaneously with the extraction of the tissue in the image in which the tissue is not extracted. Further, the image may be a B-mode image or a CFM image, or any image as long as the image can recognize the form and shape of the tissue. Further, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has been described as an example of a medical image apparatus that implements the present invention, but other medical image apparatuses, that is, an X-ray diagnostic apparatus, an X-ray CT apparatus, and an MR apparatus
Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to an I device and the like.

[0028]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, a circular marker is drawn so as to be inscribed in the wall of a tissue, so that the largest diameter portion is searched for the tissue. It can be visually recognized very easily, and the operation is easier than searching for the portion having the maximum diameter in a straight line, so that the burden on the operator can be reduced. In addition, since the measurement accuracy is improved, a great effect can be obtained, such as a contribution to an appropriate diagnosis.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart shown to explain a method of measuring a tissue morphology in a living body according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an amniotic cavity portion for explaining how to measure the maximum diameter of the amniotic fluid pocket in the amniotic cavity based on the method of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Ultrasonic probe 12 Transmission / reception part 13 Image recording part 14 Digital scan converter (DSC) circuit 15 Image collection circuit 16 Image memory 17 Tissue wall extraction part 18 Marker generation part 19 Measurement processing part 20 Image display processing part 21 Monitor 22 Control part 23 Console

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Noriaki Otsuka 2-16-4 Akabane, Kita-ku, Tokyo Toshiba Medical System Engineering Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2F068 AA39 CC07 FF03 FF12 FF16 GG01 KK12 RR04 RR13 2F069 AA38 AA61 BB40 GG09 GG52 HH30 4C301 AA02 BB01 BB02 BB23 CC02 DD01 DD02 EE13 GB04 GB05 GB06 HH38 HH52 HH54 JB11 JB29 JC08 KK01 KK02 KK08 KK22 KK24 KK27 KK30 KK40 LL02 LL04 5L096 FA07 A07BAA FA03A07BAA

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image of a tissue in a living body is formed and displayed on a monitor, and a circular marker is drawn so as to overlap a desired position of the image displayed on the monitor. A method for measuring the form of a tissue in a living body, comprising measuring the form of the tissue in a living body based on the measurement. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the displayed image is an image in which a contour of the tissue in the living body is emphasized. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the displayed image is a tomographic image of a tissue in a living body. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the displayed image is a blood flow image of a tissue in a living body. 5. The in-vivo body according to claim 1, wherein the circular marker is drawn so as to be inscribed in a displayed image in a wall of the in-vivo tissue. How to measure organizational morphology. 6. An image forming means for forming an image of a tissue in a living body, a display means for displaying an image formed by the image forming means, and a circle at a desired position of the image displayed on the display means. Marker setting means for superimposing and drawing the marker, adjusting means for adjusting the size of the marker drawn by the marker setting means, and the size of the drawn circular marker based on the size of the drawn circular marker. A medical image apparatus comprising: a calculating unit for measuring a form.