JP2001104306A - Ultrasonograph - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically determine and set the optimum display range regardless of a sample or states of the sample in an ultrasonograph provided with electrocardiogram functions for detecting and displaying an electric change of heart muscles. SOLUTION: An electric chage of muscles of a sample is detected by an electrode part 6, a process of amplification or the like is conducted by an insulation amplifier part 7, and it is converted into digital data by an AD part 8. The maximum amplitude of the digital data is determined by a maximum amplitude determining part 13, the optimum gain value is determined based on the maximum amplitude by a gain determining part 14, and electrocardiogram data are generated by an electrocardiogram data operating part 9 by referring to the determined gain value.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of displaying an ultrasonic image in combination with an electrocardiogram waveform.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When diagnosing a heart in ultrasonic diagnosis,
In order to know in which phase the ultrasound image of the heart that repeats contraction and dilation movements is an image in the heart movement, it is displayed on a display by combining the electrocardiogram waveform and the ultrasound tomographic image,
Advances in diagnosis are frequent. At the time of this diagnosis, the amplitude of the electrical signal obtained from the subject varies depending on the subject and the state of the subject, and thus the amplitude of the electrocardiogram waveform displayed on the display device is various, such as too large or too small.
Therefore, in order to display an electrocardiogram waveform suitable for diagnosis, it is necessary to perform adjustment for each diagnosis.

Hereinafter, the basic principle of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, an ultrasonic probe 21 transmits an ultrasonic pulse from an ultrasonic transducer to a subject, receives reflected ultrasonic waves from the subject, and converts the reflected ultrasonic waves into an electric signal. The transmission scanning circuit 22 supplies a driving pulse to the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 21. The reception processing circuit 23 performs amplification of a signal received from the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 21 and the like. DSC (Digital ScanCo
An nverter) unit 24 converts a signal from the reception processing circuit 23 into ultrasonic image data. Also, it converts electrocardiogram data to be described later into an electrocardiogram waveform. The display unit 25 displays an ultrasonic image and an electrocardiogram waveform obtained from the DSC unit 24. The electrode unit 26 detects an electrical change in the heart muscle as an electrical signal from the body surface.
The insulation amplifier 27 amplifies the output from the electrode 26 and the like. AD
(Analog / digital conversion) section 28 converts an analog signal obtained from insulation amplifying section 27 into a digital signal. The operation console section 31 is used by the user to select a gain in the electrocardiogram data calculation section 29 and the like. The electrocardiogram data calculation unit 29 generates electrocardiogram data with reference to the gain input from the console unit 31. The memory unit 30 stores electrocardiogram data.
The stored electrocardiogram data is read from the memory unit 30, subjected to synthesis processing with the ultrasonic image data from the reception processing circuit 23 by the DSC unit 24, and supplied to the display unit 25.

[0005] The operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as described above will be described.

[0006] The drive pulse generated by the transmission scanning circuit 22 is applied to the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 21, converted into an ultrasonic wave, and transmitted to the subject. Ultrasonic waves reflected from the subject are converted into electric signals by the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 21 and sent to the reception processing circuit 23. The reception signal undergoes detection processing, analog / digital conversion processing, and the like in the reception processing circuit 23, and is then converted into digital data. On the other hand, the electrical signal of the myocardium of the subject obtained from the electrode unit 26 is amplified by the insulation amplifying unit 27 and converted into digital data by the AD unit 28, and then has a gain value set from the console 31. Then, the electrocardiogram data calculation unit 29 generates electrocardiogram data. The generated electrocardiogram data is temporarily stored in the memory unit 30. Then, the ultrasound digital data output from the reception processing circuit 23 and the electrocardiogram waveform data read from the memory unit 35 are subjected to synthesis processing by the DSC unit 24 and scan conversion is performed at the same time, and the display unit 25 Is displayed.

[0007]

At this time, the amplitude of the electrocardiogram waveform displayed on the display unit 25 differs depending on the subject, and the amplitude of the same subject varies depending on the condition or state at that time. . Since the gain in FIG. 3A is low, the amplitude of the electrocardiogram waveform displayed on the display unit 25 is small.
On the other hand, in FIG. 3B, since the gain is large, the amplitude of the electrocardiogram waveform displayed on the display unit 25 is too large. For this reason, when making a diagnosis, the user looks at the electrocardiogram waveform displayed on the display unit 25, and from the operation console unit 31, gain adjustment called "gain adjustment" is performed so that an electrocardiogram waveform display with an appropriate amplitude as shown in FIG. It was necessary to make optimization settings.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and can eliminate the trouble of gain setting for each diagnosis conventionally performed, and can display an electrocardiogram waveform which is easy to diagnose regardless of the state of the subject. An object is to provide an excellent ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0009]

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention comprises an ultrasonic probe for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a living body, and a reception processing circuit for processing a signal received from the ultrasonic probe. An electrode unit for detecting an electrical change in the myocardium as an electrical signal, an amplifier for amplifying the electrical signal, an analog / digital converter for converting an analog signal output from the amplifier into a digital signal, A maximum amplitude calculator for calculating a maximum amplitude from a digital signal, a gain calculator for calculating an optimal gain from the maximum amplitude, an electrocardiogram data calculator for setting electrocardiogram data by referring to the gain, and the reception processing circuit A digital scan converter unit for converting a signal from the ECG into ultrasound image data and converting the electrocardiogram data into an electrocardiogram waveform; and the digital scan converter. Having the configuration and a display unit for displaying the output of the data portion. With this configuration, the maximum amplitude calculator automatically calculates the maximum amplitude of the electrocardiogram waveform, and the optimum gain value is automatically calculated by the gain calculator.
Optimization of gain by the user who performed each diagnosis
The labor of setting work can be saved, and operability can be improved.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 1, an ultrasonic probe 1 transmits ultrasonic pulses from an ultrasonic transducer to a subject, receives reflected ultrasonic waves from the subject, and converts them into electric signals. The transmission scanning circuit 2 supplies a driving pulse to the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 1. The reception processing circuit 3 performs amplification of a reception signal from the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 1 and the like. The DSC unit 4 converts a signal from the reception processing circuit 23 into ultrasonic image data. Also, it converts electrocardiogram data to be described later into an electrocardiogram waveform. The display unit 5 displays an ultrasonic image and an electrocardiogram waveform obtained from the DSC unit 4. The electrode unit 6 detects an electrical change of the myocardium of the subject as an electrical signal from the body surface. The insulation amplification section 7 performs amplification of the output from the electrode section 6 and the like. The AD unit 8 converts a signal obtained from the insulation amplifier 7 into a digital signal. The maximum amplitude calculation unit 13 calculates the maximum amplitude of the digital signal output from the AD unit 8, for example, for each heartbeat. Gain calculator
14 is based on the maximum amplitude calculated by the maximum amplitude calculation unit 13,
Calculate the optimal gain of the ECG waveform. The switch unit 12 turns ON / OFF the functions of the maximum amplitude calculation unit 13 and the gain calculation unit 14. The console unit 11 is used by the user to select a gain in the electrocardiogram data calculation unit 9, set ON / OFF of the switch unit 12, and the like. The electrocardiogram data calculation unit 9 sets electrocardiogram data with reference to the gain value input from the console unit 11 or the gain value calculated by the gain calculation unit 14. The memory unit 10 stores the set electrocardiogram data. The stored electrocardiogram data is read from the memory unit 10 and is stored in the DSC unit 4
Thus, the image data is combined with the ultrasonic image data from the reception processing circuit 3 and supplied to the display unit 5.

The operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as described above will be described.

The drive pulse generated by the transmission scanning circuit 2 is applied to the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 1, converted into an ultrasonic wave, and transmitted to the subject. Ultrasonic waves reflected from the subject are converted into electric signals by the ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic probe 1 and sent to the reception processing circuit 3. This reception signal undergoes detection processing, analog / digital conversion processing, and the like in the reception processing circuit 3, and then is converted into ultrasonic digital data. On the other hand, the electrical signal of the myocardium of the subject obtained from the electrode unit 6 is amplified by the insulation amplification unit 7 and converted into digital data by the AD unit 8.

The subsequent processing differs depending on the state of the switch unit 12. When the switch unit 12 is in the OFF state, the electrocardiogram data calculation unit 9 is performed based on the gain value arbitrarily set by the operator according to the request from the operation console unit 11 as in the related art.
Generates the electrocardiogram data. Hand switch
When 12 is in the ON state, the maximum amplitude value is automatically calculated by the maximum amplitude calculation unit 13 from the digital data obtained from the AD unit 8. Then, an optimum gain value is calculated by the gain calculation unit 14, and the electrocardiogram data calculation unit 9 generates electrocardiogram data with reference to the gain value obtained from the gain calculation unit 14. However, even when the switch unit 12 is in the ON state, if a gain change operation is performed from the console unit 11, the electrocardiogram data calculation unit 9 changes the gain value. The electrocardiogram data obtained from the electrocardiogram data calculation section 9 is stored in the memory section 10. Then, the ultrasound digital data output from the reception processing circuit 3 and the memory unit
The electrocardiogram waveform data read from 10 is subjected to scan conversion at the same time as undergoing the synthesizing process by the DSC unit 4 and is displayed by the display unit 5. At this time, the electrocardiogram waveform displayed on the display unit 5 is automatically set to an appropriate level as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, in order to make the electrocardiogram displayed on the display unit 5 an appropriate amplitude, conventionally, the electrocardiogram is performed according to the subject or the state of the subject. No adjustment of the display range is required. For this reason, the trouble of the setting operation at the time of diagnosis can be saved. When the user wants to change the set gain value, the user can make the setting from the console unit 11. Further, when this setting function is unnecessary, the gain can be set according to the user's preference as in the related art by turning off using the switch unit 12.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The optimal gain value is calculated from the maximum amplitude of the electrocardiogram data obtained from the subject regardless of the subject or the diagnosis site, etc., and the display range is automatically adjusted, thereby saving the trouble of gain setting for each diagnosis. In addition, it is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having an excellent effect that an electrocardiogram waveform that can be easily diagnosed can be displayed regardless of the state of the subject and operability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus;

3A is a diagram showing an electrocardiogram waveform when the gain is small in the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, FIG. 3B is a diagram showing an electrocardiographic waveform when the gain is large in the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an electrocardiogram waveform in which the gain is automatically set to an appropriate level in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 ultrasonic probe 2 transmission scanning circuit 3 reception signal circuit 4 DSC section 5 display section 6 electrode section 7 insulation amplification section 8 AD section 9 electrocardiogram data calculation section 10 memory section 11 operation console section 12 switch section 13 maximum amplitude calculation section 14 Gain calculator

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Keijiro Asayama 4-3-1 Tsunashimahigashi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa F-term in Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd. 4C027 AA02 BB05 EE03 EE06 FF01 GG07 HH11 KK05 4C301 EE13 EE20 JB03 JB11 JC15 KK13 KK34 LL04

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic probe for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a living body, a reception processing circuit for processing a received signal from the ultrasonic probe, and detecting an electrical change of a myocardium as an electric signal. An electrode unit, and an amplification unit that amplifies the electric signal,
An analog / digital converter for converting an analog signal output from the amplifier to a digital signal, a maximum amplitude calculator for calculating a maximum amplitude from the digital signal,
A gain calculation unit that calculates an optimal gain from the maximum amplitude, an electrocardiogram data calculation unit that sets electrocardiogram data with reference to the gain, and converts a signal from the reception processing circuit into ultrasound image data, and An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a digital scan converter unit for converting electrocardiogram data into an electrocardiogram waveform; and a display unit for displaying an output of the digital scan converter unit. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a switch unit for switching between an enable / disable state of the maximum amplitude calculation unit and the gain calculation unit.