JP2001112753A - Ultrasonograph - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dynamically manage the display layers of objects displayed on a display screen, thereby making it easier to view them. SOLUTION: The state management part 22 of a system management part 21 dynamically replaces, adds, and deletes items on a precedence list 23 according to the state of a system, and controls a display controller 19 according to the precedence list 23 changed, thereby determining the display layer of each display object.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an improvement in display of a user interface thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus irradiates an ultrasonic wave into a subject (patient's body) and receives reflected waves to obtain various image information such as a B-mode image and an M-mode image. This is displayed on a display device and is used for diagnosing the condition of the affected part. In this ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, FIG.
As shown in, on the display screen 31 of the display device,
In addition to the B-mode image 32, for example, an MD line 33 for specifying the position of the M-mode image or the sample position of the D-mode image on the B-mode image 32
A measurement cursor 34 for measuring a distance on a B-mode image, an annotation 35 for displaying information of a diagnostic site as a comment, and a body mark 36 for visually displaying a diagnostic site and a probe position with respect to a body as a subject. Are displayed to facilitate the diagnosis of the observer (doctor).

Since the display area of the screen of the display device is naturally limited, these display objects may be narrowly arranged and some or all of them may overlap with other objects. Therefore, conventionally, a display layer is determined in terms of hardware for each display object, and the overlapping order is controlled.

[0004]

However, in the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the display layer for each display object is determined in terms of hardware and cannot be replaced. There is an inconvenience that the display object of interest comes to the foreground and is hidden, and this is inconvenient for the diagnosis of the observer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention automatically improves the priority of a display object from a user's operation, and dynamically changes the order of the display layers to improve the convenience for the observer. It is another object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention provides an input means for selecting a scan mode and a display object, and transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave based on the input scan mode. Means to
Means for processing received ultrasonic signals to obtain image data, display means for displaying an image based on the image data and displaying a display object such as an MD line, and a display priority list of display objects; Control means for automatically judging the display priority list and exchanging / deleting the display priority list, and exchanging / deleting the display layer of each display object in accordance with the list to control and display the display means. It is characterized by being able to.

[0007] The user operates the input means, and functions such as the format (B-mode image, D-mode image, etc.) and scanning state (scan, freeze, etc.), execution, display, stop, etc. of the image data displayed on the display means. Is changed, the type of display object and the display priority are automatically determined from such a system state. Based on this determination, the display priority list is replaced / deleted, and the display layers of the display objects are replaced / deleted according to the list, and the respective display objects are displayed. For example, if M-mode measurement is added while scanning for B-mode measurement,
Since the D line automatically becomes the topmost layer and is displayed in the topmost layer, the display object with the high interest of the user is always automatically displayed on the front, and the other display objects with the low interest are always displayed. It will not be hidden by this, making it very convenient for observation and diagnosis.

[0008]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, an ultrasonic wave is emitted from the array type probe 11 to the inside of the subject (not shown), and the reflected wave is received by the array type probe 11. The array-type probe 11 has a number of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array. The transmission / reception circuit 12 includes a large number of individual transmission / reception circuits connected to the individual vibrators. The transmission beamformer 13 supplies a drive signal to each transmission / reception circuit in the transmission / reception circuit 12 to operate a number of ultrasonic transducers of the array type probe 11 at the same time to synthesize ultrasonic waves generated from these. The receiving beamformer 14 gives a delay time to each of the received ultrasonic signals obtained from each ultrasonic transducer of the array type probe 11 and synthesizes these signals.

The scan controller 15 controls the focus and the direction of the synthesized transmission ultrasonic wave by controlling the timing and the delay time of the driving signal, and also controls the focus and the direction of the synthesized reception ultrasonic wave obtained by the signal synthesis. The direction is set to be the same as the above-mentioned transmission ultrasonic wave. At the time of the B-mode measurement, scanning control according to each scanning mode is performed, such as controlling the drive timing and the delay time for determining the direction so that the combined transmitted / received ultrasonic waves to be transmitted / received one after another scan a plane. .

An ultrasonic reception signal from the reception beam former 14 is sent to a signal processing system 16 to obtain a B-mode image and the like. This image information is sent to the display controller 19. The display controller 19 includes character data representing a display object such as an annotation from the character generator 17 and M data from the graphic generator 18.
Graphic data representing a display object such as a D line or a body mark is sent. Display controller 1
9 includes a display memory and a scan converter, and displays image information of each screen developed on the display memory on the display device 2.
It is output to the display device 20 as a video signal corresponding to the display scan of 0.

The entire system is managed by a system management unit 21. The system management unit 21 instructs the scan controller 15, for example, in response to an instruction input by operating an input device 24 such as a keyboard or a trackball. A command is issued to perform a B-mode scan, or a command is issued to the signal processing system 16 to obtain a B-mode image. Further, it controls a character generator 17 and a graphic generator 18. The system management unit 21 includes a state management unit 22, and controls the display controller 19 by the state management unit 22.

That is, the system management unit 21 controls the measurement scan and changes the scanning state such as scanning or freeze by the user's operation, and furthermore, the format of the image data displayed on the display device 20, that is, the B mode image or the like. A D-mode image and the like are determined. The operation state of each function such as execution, display, and stop of the system is automatically determined by the state management unit 22, and the type and display priority of the display object to be displayed on the display device 20 are automatically determined.

Display priority list 2 of display objects
Numeral 3 is formed in a recording device such as an internal memory or a hard disk. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a measurement cursor, an MD line, an annotation,
They are stored in an order such as a body mark. The state management unit 22 appropriately replaces, adds, or deletes this priority list according to the determined state, and determines the order of the display layers of the display objects according to the list 23.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, an MD line 3 is displayed on a display screen 31 together with a B-mode image 32.
3, the measurement cursor 34, the annotation 35, and the body mark 36 are displayed. The order of the display layers of these display objects is determined by the state management unit 22 according to the display priority list 23. For example, when the user operates the trackball, the body mark 3
When 6 is selected, the input is taken into the system management unit 21 and exchanged in the priority list 23 shown in FIG. 2 is performed, and the body mark is set to the highest position above the measurement cursor. The display layer of the body mark 36 on the display screen 31 is the foreground. MD
When the line is selected by the user, it is replaced at the top of the priority list 23, and the display is made accordingly.

As described above, not only when a display object already displayed is operated by the user but also when a new display object is added, the object is added to the top of the priority list 23, and Will be displayed accordingly. For example, when the body mark activation / display key is pressed when the body mark 36 is not displayed, the input is taken into the system management unit 21, and the body mark is positioned at the highest position and is entered into the priority list 23. In addition, in accordance with the priority list 23, the display layer of the body mark 36 is displayed on the display screen 31 with the display layer being the foreground, and the body mark 36 is displayed.

Also, the state of the system is changed by the user performing another operation instead of directly selecting the display object, and the state management unit 2 is accordingly changed.
2 may automatically determine the display priority. For example, when the user operates the dedicated key in the M mode to add the measurement in the M mode during the scanning in the B mode, this is added to the state management unit 2.
2 determines and places the MD line at the highest position by adding or exchanging the MD line.
The line 33 is displayed on the foreground.

The display priority list 23 is not limited to one. Because there are various types of display objects, all display objects have the same priority list 2.
Instead of the management by 3, the display objects can be grouped by type, a priority list can be provided for each, and the priority can be determined within the group. In addition, the management method of the priority list 23 can be variously arranged.

In addition, it goes without saying that the specific configuration and the like can be variously changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0019]

As described above, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, the display layer of the display object is automatically controlled according to the automatic determination of the system state, and the degree of interest of the observer is controlled. This is very convenient for observation and diagnosis because a high display object is always displayed on the foreground and is not hidden by other objects of low interest.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the contents of a display priority list.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a display screen of a display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Array type probe 12 Transmission / reception circuit 13 Transmission beam former 14 Reception beam former 15 Scan controller 16 Signal processing system 17 Character generator 18 Graphic generator 19 Display controller 20 Display device 21 System management part 22 State management part 23 Priority list 24 input device 31 display screen 32 B-mode image 33 MD line 34 measurement cursor 35 annotation 36 body mark

Claims (1)

[Claims] An input unit for selecting a scanning mode and a display object; a unit for transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic wave based on the input scanning mode; a unit for processing a received ultrasonic signal to obtain image data; Display means for displaying an image based on the image and displaying a display object such as an MD line, and a display priority list of the display object. The system state is automatically determined, and the display priority list is replaced / deleted. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, comprising: control means for controlling the display means so that display layers are replaced / deleted according to a list and displayed.