JP2001128982A - Ultrasonic image diagnosing apparatus and image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic image diagnosing apparatus and an image processor increased in display speed by making a three-dimensional stereoscopic display as a wire frame display. SOLUTION: According to a receive signal obtained by an ultrasonic probe 1, arithmetic operation for stereoscopic display is conducted by a synthetic processing part 5. By this processing, a stereoscpic image display screen 10 is displayed on a display monitor 7. That is displayed by a wire frame display 12 and a space to be displayed in three dimensions is specified by a select position marker 22. Doppler information of a bloodstream is displayed in three dimensions by a blood vessel scan display 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus provided with an image processing apparatus, which is preferably applied to imaging of a stereoscopic display ultrasonic image used in medical examination, diagnosis and treatment of a subject. And an image processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatuses for non-invasively imaging a lesion site of a subject to obtain an ultrasonic image have been developed and applied. Among such ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatuses, an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus is generally widely used because of its non-invasiveness and ease of imaging. According to this ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus, a high-resolution ultrasonic tomographic image can be obtained in real time.

[0003] Based on the ultrasonic tomographic image obtained by the ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus, an image diagnostic method utilizing its characteristics has been established, and research presentations in various specialized fields have been actively made. I have. In such an image diagnostic method based on an ultrasonic tomographic image of today, especially with the development of image processing technology in recent years, a diagnosis by imaging a three-dimensional three-dimensional display ultrasonic image in addition to the conventional two-dimensional display has been performed. Is being done. This three-dimensional display ultrasound image not only depicts the subject's tissue, but also provides three-dimensional display of three-dimensional display of blood flow information by the conventional ultrasonic Doppler method. It is being done.

[0004] In order to enable such three-dimensional display, in the prior art, both three-dimensional support of an ultrasonic probe, which is an acoustic transducer, and three-dimensional support of a signal processing system provided in an ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus are used. Technology development was done.

In order to obtain three-dimensional information for three-dimensional display using an ultrasonic probe, it can be obtained by scanning the object to be imaged in geometric x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis directions. Need to receive reflected echo. As one method for this purpose, for example, an ultrasonic probe in a body cavity is formed by a radial scan method. With this radial scan, reflected echo information of 360 degrees around the scan center axis is obtained. The plane (plane) obtained by this one radial scan is fetched as two-dimensional information including x-axis and y-axis information. Next, the scan center axis of the radial scan is set as the z-axis, fixed by moving forward or backward by a predetermined amount in the z-axis direction, and performing the radial scan again.

By performing a plurality of radial scans while repeating movement in the z-axis direction in this manner, z-axis information at predetermined intervals in the z-axis direction can be obtained. The plurality of pieces of reflected echo information obtained in this manner are sent to an information processing apparatus provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus, where calculations for three-dimensional display are performed. In this calculation, in a three-dimensional spatial coordinate system, a plurality of two-dimensional information obtained by radial scanning is arranged at a predetermined z-axis interval, and a space existing in the z-axis direction of each two-dimensional information is subjected to data processing by smoothing processing. It complements.

As another ultrasonic probe system, there is a type in which a large number of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a so-called grid pattern in the x-axis and y-axis directions on the same plane. In this method, three-dimensional information can be freely obtained by electrically controlling the ultrasonic transmission / reception timing of the ultrasonic transducer.

The vertical and horizontal rows of the ultrasonic transducers arranged in a grid pattern are defined as an x-axis and a z-axis, respectively. As for the y-axis direction, the direction in which the ultrasonic transducer transmits or receives the ultrasonic wave is set as the y-axis. Transmission and reception are controlled by providing a delay time for each of the ultrasonic transducers arranged in the x-axis direction, and an electronic focus state is set. This electronic focusing makes it possible to obtain two-dimensional information based on a reflected echo in the y-axis direction. Next, by sequentially driving the rows of the ultrasonic transducers forming the x-axis arranged in the direction defined as the z-axis, it is possible to obtain a large number of two-dimensional information arranged in the z-axis direction. By reconstructing the two-dimensional information obtained in this way by the image processing means provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus, three-dimensional stereoscopic display is enabled.

[0009] Compared with the past two-dimensional display ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus, the ultrasonic image provided by the three-dimensional display ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus has an extremely large amount of information and high resolution. ing. ROI, which is a particularly interesting area
(Region of Interest) Progress has been remarkable in delineating a lesion site such as a tumor or displaying blood flow information by an ultrasonic Doppler method. Regarding the interpretation of parenchyma, such as a tumor, it is important to determine whether the boundary between the tumor and surrounding normal tissue is finely defined. The judgment of benign and malignant is given. By providing an ultrasonic image by three-dimensional display, it is possible to accurately represent the boundary tissue such as a tumor, the shape, or the travel of a vegetative blood vessel, thereby providing more accurate diagnostic information.

[0010] The ultrasonic image picked up by the ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus is incorporated in the ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus,
Alternatively, image processing is performed by an image processing apparatus provided externally and connected. This image processing device processes the captured ultrasonic image as image information,
A three-dimensional display can be performed together with storage and classification of an ultrasonic image, marking on an ROI, and the like.

FIG. 7 shows a three-dimensional stereoscopic image display displayed in a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus. The tissue of the subject to be imaged is displayed on the stereoscopic image display screen 30, and the stereoscopic display 14 of the imaging target shows, for example, the surface shape of the liver. A coordinate axis 31 is displayed as an aid for ascertaining the display direction of the stereoscopic display 14 and the position in space. By performing such a display, the operator can grasp the three-dimensional surface shape of the liver, and can rotate the three-dimensional display 14 using operation instruction means (not shown). Further, internal observation can be performed at an arbitrary cross section, and effective diagnostic information is provided.

In order to form such a stereoscopic display 14, the following means is used.

An ultrasonic image picked up by the ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus is input to the image processing apparatus as image information.
The input image information is temporarily received by the data buffer. By providing this data buffer, for example, when a large amount of image information is generated at a time by performing imaging on the image diagnostic apparatus side, a large amount of image information is temporarily stored regardless of the operation state of the image processing apparatus side. Can be stored. As a result, there is no effect on the imaging on the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus side and no influence on the operation on the image processing apparatus side.

The image information from the data buffer is thus sent to the CPU for arithmetic processing. The CPU performs predetermined arithmetic processing on the input image information. In order to perform the predetermined arithmetic processing, general configurations such as an external input device, a trackball, a ROM, a temporary storage device, and an external storage device are provided. The external input device is provided, for example, in the main body of the image processing apparatus, and receives an instruction regarding image processing by the operator. A trackball is also provided as a means for inputting an operator's instruction to the CPU.

An algorithm for a predetermined operation, a predetermined coefficient, an initial set value, self-diagnosis information at the time of initial startup, an emergency operating condition at the time of a device error, and the like, which have been input in advance in the ROM for the purpose of design. Are stored as operating condition data. The storage device includes a storage element, such as a RAM, which can freely write and read information. The storage device is used to temporarily store intermediate progress information that the user wants to temporarily store during the arithmetic processing of the CPU, an operator's instruction from an external storage device, or image information output from the data buffer. Can be

The external storage device is composed of, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD). It stores image information for three-dimensional display obtained by arithmetic processing in the CPU or image information of a large amount of information output from the data buffer. If a large amount of image information is output from the data buffer while the CPU is processing one piece of image information, the CPU temporarily stores the image information in an external storage device and performs the calculation process again later. be able to.

In the image processing apparatus having such a configuration, when image information is input, an image is displayed on a TV monitor. The operator operates the external input device or the trackball while looking at the displayed image to instruct the CPU to perform image processing.

When the ROI for performing three-dimensional display in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus is, for example, the heart, x is determined based on the echo reflected from the heart captured by the ultrasonic probe.
Calculation is performed for each of the axis, y-axis, and z-axis directions. Based on the calculation result, the spatial coordinates of each pixel are determined for the minimum unit pixel for display. In accordance with the spatial coordinates, pixels to which unique data such as luminance, color, and gradation are added are arranged on the spatial coordinates to perform three-dimensional display.

It is also possible to three-dimensionally display blood vessel running information and blood flow information by the ultrasonic Doppler method. Also in this display, the spatial position coordinates of each pixel are obtained by calculation, and the coordinates of each pixel are determined and arranged in space. In this case, the pixels to be displayed are based on the Doppler information from the blood flow obtained by the ultrasonic Doppler method, are color-coded according to the direction of the blood flow, or are easily identified by the variance value or the flow velocity value. Is made.

According to these three-dimensional displays, it is possible to easily grasp the ROI shape in a three-dimensional space as compared with conventional two-dimensional ultrasonic tomographic images and Doppler displays. In addition, in the display based on the Doppler information, it is possible to easily understand the running direction of a complicated blood vessel in a three-dimensional space.

[0021]

However, in order to display an ultrasonic image by the conventional three-dimensional display, much time is required for a calculation process for constructing 3D image information for the display. In image processing for performing calculations for three-dimensional display, attempts have been made to shorten the processing time by simplification of algorithms and improvement of the calculation speed of the CPU, but the amount of information to be handled is naturally limited. Was.

Further, R is calculated from the three-dimensionally displayed ultrasonic image.
In order to accurately grasp and determine the three-dimensional shape of the OI, an operation of rotating the displayed ROI in the display image is also performed. In addition, a rotation operation is similarly performed in order to grasp not only the ROI but also a complicated blood vessel running, and the operator can grasp a three-dimensional shape by this rotation operation.

However, in order to perform this rotation operation, a complicated calculation of spatial position coordinates is indispensable, and much time is required for displaying an image by the rotation operation.

The RO image is displayed on the three-dimensionally displayed ultrasonic image.
When the graphic image indicating I is superimposed and displayed, RO
There has been a problem that the graphic image indicating I is buried in the ultrasonic image, making it difficult to grasp the position of the ROI.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and requires only a short calculation time for displaying an ultrasonic image of three-dimensional display, and can improve the time efficiency of image processing operations. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and an image processing apparatus.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic image capable of stereoscopically displaying the tissue and blood flow information of a subject based on image information obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. In the diagnostic device, based on a plurality of the boundary coordinates obtained by boundary point coordinate setting means for setting a plurality of boundary point coordinates for representing a boundary surface of the tissue based on the spatial position information for the stereoscopic display. An ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus including an image processing apparatus having a wire frame display unit for displaying a boundary surface of the tissue is provided as a solution unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the image processing apparatus comprises: an external instruction input unit capable of designating an arbitrary area of a wire frame image by the wire frame display unit; and the external instruction input unit. And a designated partial stereoscopic display unit capable of stereoscopically displaying a subject's tissue for a designated area portion designated by (1).
The ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus described above is a solution.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the designated partial stereoscopic display means includes a blood flow information display means capable of stereoscopically displaying blood flow information of the subject. The ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus described in 1 or 2 is a solution.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the image processing apparatus is operable independently and is capable of processing image information arbitrarily input from outside. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is a solution.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the tissue and blood flow information of the subject are output from the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus capable of stereoscopic display based on image information obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. A plurality of the boundaries obtained by the boundary point coordinate setting means, which is applied to the image information to be set, and sets a plurality of boundary point coordinates for representing the boundary surface of the tissue based on the spatial position information for the stereoscopic display. An image processing apparatus including a wire frame display unit that displays a boundary surface of the tissue based on the coordinates is a solution unit.

According to the present invention, an external instruction input means capable of designating an arbitrary area of the wire frame image by the wire frame display means, and a designated area portion designated by the external instruction input means And a designated partial three-dimensional display means capable of three-dimensionally displaying the tissue of the subject.

According to the present invention, the designated partial stereoscopic display means includes a blood flow information display means capable of stereoscopically displaying blood flow information of the subject. The image processing device described in 5 or 6 is a solution.

By means of the above solution, volume rendering, MIP (maximum or minimum value projection), full value projection, surface rendering, M
Since the processing of the PR is configured to be performed only in the ROI, the processing time can be reduced.

Also, since the wire frame image and the volume rendering, MIP (maximum or minimum value projection), full value projection, and surface rendering image in the ROI are combined and displayed, the information in the ROI can be observed well. Further, the position of the ROI can be easily grasped.

The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and the image processing apparatus according to the present invention enable a wire frame display based on image information for stereoscopic display of a subject's tissue, and perform stereoscopic display and / or an arbitrary designated region. It is an object to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and an image processing apparatus capable of displaying blood flow information.

[0036]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an image processing configuration provided in the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus of the present invention.

The ultrasonic probe 1 irradiates an ultrasonic signal to a subject, receives a reflected signal, converts the signal into an electric signal, and outputs the signal. The ultrasonic probe 1 can obtain three-dimensional spatial information from a part of the subject to be subjected to ultrasonic scanning, and the corresponding reflected signals in all directions of the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis. Can be obtained.
As the ultrasonic probe 1 corresponding to such a three-dimensional stereoscopic image display, for example, a radial scan method or an electronic scan probe using a two-dimensional array of transducers is applied by a conventional technique.

The transmission / reception unit 2 supplies an electric pulse signal to the ultrasonic probe 1 to drive and control the transmission of ultrasonic waves. In addition, it receives an electrical reception signal obtained by converting reception ultrasonic waves reflected from a target portion of the subject. The transmission / reception unit 2 controls the timing of ultrasonic transmission and reception by the ultrasonic probe 1.

The transmission / reception unit 2 supplies an electric pulse signal to the ultrasonic transducer array in the ultrasonic probe 1 to transmit ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer array in a predetermined scanning line direction. At this time, the ultrasonic transducer array of the ultrasonic probe 1 generates an electric reception signal based on a reflected echo from inside the subject. The transmission / reception unit 2 delays the received signal from each ultrasonic transducer of the ultrasonic transducer array, adds each signal, and sets the R
An F (radio frequency) signal is obtained.
The B / W unit 3 performs envelope detection on the RF signal from the transmission / reception unit 2, obtains a morphological image (B-mode image) of a predetermined cross section based on the amplitude intensity of the detected signal, and outputs it as a morphological image signal. .

The color unit 4 obtains a velocity information image (color flow mapping image) of a predetermined section from the amount of Doppler shift of the RF signal from the transmission / reception unit 2. The speed information image includes blood flow speed information indicating a blood flow speed, tissue Doppler information such as a moving speed of a tissue, and the like. The color unit 4 performs quadrature detection on the RF signal from the transmission / reception unit 2, removes clutter components from the detection signal obtained by the MTI filter, and removes clutter components from the detected signal by autocorrelation processing. An average speed and the like are obtained, and a speed information image is obtained from these values.

The morphological image signal and the dynamic image signal thus generated are sent to the synthesizing section 5. The synthesizing processing unit 5 selects one of the input morphological image signal and dynamic image signal, or switches so as to synthesize the two, and converts it into a code signal and outputs it to the hue / luminance conversion processing unit 6. I do. By configuring and providing this switching means, control is performed such that the image displayed on the display monitor 7 is a morphological image, a dynamic image, and a dynamic image is superimposed on the morphological image.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the internal configuration of the synthesis processing unit 5.

The 2D processing section 501 converts the morphological information image signal sent from the B / W unit 3 and the color unit 4
A two-dimensional ultrasonic image is generated based on the speed information image signal sent from the computer. The 2D processing unit 501 determines an ultrasonic image to be generated based on the information input to the operation panel, and generates an ultrasonic image such as a morphological image, a superimposition of the morphological image and speed information, and the like. The volume data processing unit 502 generates three-dimensional volume data of speed information from the speed information screens of a plurality of frames having different scanning plane positions sent from the color unit 4 and stores the generated three-dimensional volume data in an internal volume data memory. The volume data processing unit 503 generates three-dimensional volume data of morphological information from morphological images of a plurality of frames having different scanning plane positions sent from the B / W unit 3 and stores the generated three-dimensional volume data in an internal volume data memory.

The ROI setting section 504 is an input means for setting the ROI.

The rendering processing unit 505 includes a volume data processing unit 502 and a volume data processing unit 503.
Blood vessel extraction processing, volume rendering processing, MIP (maximum / minimum in)
Image processing such as a strength projection process is performed. Which of these image processes is to be performed can be appropriately switched by an operator operating an operation panel (not shown) to select or input the content of the process. The rendering processing unit 505 can perform three-dimensional rotation, enlargement, and the like of an image obtained by each processing in accordance with an input from an operation panel (not shown).
Note that the rendering processing unit 505 includes the ROI setting unit 5.
The selected image processing is performed on the data in the ROI area set in step S04.

The wire frame operation unit 506 includes a volume data processing unit 502 and a volume data processing unit 50.
Based on the speed information and the morphological information sent from 3, wireframe data representing the contour of the organ tissue is obtained. The wire frame memory 507 includes the wire frame operation unit 5
06, the wire frame data generated is stored. The wireframe image generation unit 508 is configured to store the wireframe data and the ROI stored in the wireframe memory 507.
Based on the position information of the ROI area set by the setting means, a two-dimensional display image in which a wire frame image and a graphic image indicating the ROI area are superimposed is generated. The wireframe image generation unit 508 can perform three-dimensional rotation, enlargement, and the like of the wireframe image according to an input to the operation panel.

The synthesis processing unit 509 generates a synthesized image in which the image from the rendering processing unit 505 and the wire frame image from the wire frame image creation unit 508 are superimposed.
This is sent to the display switching processing unit 501.

The display switching processing unit 510 may simultaneously display an image from the 2D processing unit 501 or an image from the combination processing unit 509 on one screen according to the display format input selected by the operation panel.

The hue / luminance conversion processing section 6 includes a synthesis processing section 5
A main part of a configuration for providing a three-dimensional stereoscopic display image in the same manner as that described above, in order to convert the code signals of the morphological image and the dynamic image output from the combining output unit 5 into a color image. , A lookup table (not shown). For example, black and white of the morphological image signal and colorization of the dynamic image are executed.

When a morphological image and a dynamic image are combined and displayed so that they can be simultaneously observed, one of them is emphasized to make it easier to observe, and a portion having the maximum value of velocity data of the dynamic image can be identified. Adjusting the hue / luminance is also performed by the hue / luminance conversion processing unit 6. The signal converted into an image and converted into an image by the hue / intensity conversion processing unit 6 in this manner is displayed on the display monitor 7.

FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional image display screen 10 displayed by the above-described image processing configuration based on the ultrasonic reception signal obtained from the subject. On the stereoscopic image display screen 10, a display based on the same image data as the stereoscopic display 14 shown in FIG. A wire frame display 12 is provided by the wire frame 13, and the coordinate axes 11 are also displayed at the same time. By displaying the coordinate axes 11 at the same time, it is possible to know the display direction of the wire frame display 12 and the position of the space.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which a sectional position marker 17 is set on the wire frame display 12 so that a cut surface at the sectional position marker 17 can be displayed. In FIG. 4A, the operator operates an external instruction input device (not shown) on the wire frame display 12 displayed on the stereoscopic image display screen 10 to display the cross-sectional position marker 17.
Arbitrarily set the position of. An arrow in the display viewpoint direction 16 is displayed for the set sectional position marker 17. The direction of the arrow indicates the direction of the cross-section observation, and is therefore perpendicular to the plane of the cross-section position marker 17.

FIG. 4B shows a two-dimensional display of the section set by the section position marker 17. In this display, a normal B-mode image is displayed on the target region of the subject on the wire frame display 12. For example, the high-intensity part 20 and the blood vessel 19 are simultaneously displayed on the two-dimensional section 18, and it is possible to display ultrasonic Doppler information on the blood vessel 19.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a display method different from the display of FIG. Although the wireframe display 12 is displayed on the stereoscopic image display screen 10, the selection position marker 22 can be set at an arbitrary position of the operator by an external instruction input device (not shown). The selection position marker 22 can be selected in the smallest area unit surrounded by the wire frame 13 of the wire frame display 12.

A three-dimensional stereoscopic image is displayed at the position selected by the selected position marker 22. This stereoscopic image display is displayed in detail with the same information density as the stereoscopic display shown in FIG. 7 described above. In the arbitrary position stereoscopic display 21, cross sections are displayed for the six surfaces to be displayed, and a blood vessel, a high-brightness part, and the like existing inside the six surfaces can be displayed through the display operation. The blood flow information obtained by the ultrasonic Doppler method can be simultaneously displayed on the arbitrary position stereoscopic display 21, and the information for the display is calculated by the color unit 4.

FIG. 6 is an example in which blood flow information by the ultrasonic Doppler method is simultaneously displayed on the wire frame display 12 displayed on the stereoscopic image display screen 10. A blood vessel strike display 23 is displayed on the wire frame display 12, and the display of the blood vessel strike display 23 is displayed in color. For example, the forward blood flow 25 and the backward blood flow 24 may be displayed in different colors, and may be displayed with gradations depending on the blood flow rate.

According to the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus of the present invention described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, the conventional three-dimensional stereoscopic display in which the surface processing is performed with the waiting time by the arithmetic processing is not performed. By performing a three-dimensional display of only a region necessary and sufficient for grasping the shape of the ROI, which is a region of interest, by performing a three-dimensional three-dimensional display, effective image observation can be performed in a short time.

As described above, by displaying the ultrasonic three-dimensional image in a wire frame, it is possible to obtain information necessary for grasping the entire shape including the target portion in a short time. Based on this, it is possible to easily know the relationship with the overall shape of the observation site by setting ROl for displaying a tomographic image.

According to the above embodiment, volume rendering, MIP (maximum or minimum value projection), full value projection, surface rendering,
The processing time of the MPR can be reduced because the processing is performed only in the ROI.

Also, volume rendering, MIP
(Maximum or minimum value projection), full value projection, surface rendering, MPR
The information inside I is crushed by the information outside the ROI, resulting in an image that is difficult to see. In the present invention, volume rendering in wireframe images and ROI, MIP (maximum or minimum projection),
Since the total value projection and the surface rendering image are combined and displayed, the information in the ROI can be observed well,
The position of the OI can be easily grasped.

The embodiments described above are described for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and are not described for limiting the present invention. Therefore, each element disclosed in the above embodiment is intended to include all design changes and equivalents belonging to the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, the above-described embodiments are not limited to the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus itself, but use external devices to collect and process information from the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus to perform three-dimensional stereoscopic display. Needless to say, it can be implemented even in this case.

In recent years, DICOM (Digital Im
It is anticipated that by using a common medical image standard called aging and Communications in Medicine), it is possible to improve diagnostic accuracy by simultaneously obtaining diagnostic information from a plurality of images. According to this common standard, diagnostic images obtained from other types of image diagnostic apparatuses such as a CT image diagnostic apparatus, an MRI image diagnostic apparatus, and an X-ray imaging apparatus can be handled as the same data format.

For example, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the image signal input portion is configured to be compatible with DICOM, so that the ultrasonic tomographic image by the ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus can be used. At the same time, a diagnostic image obtained from another image diagnostic apparatus can be displayed on the same monitor and compared.

Further, not only image information but also other useful data for treatment can be simultaneously displayed on the monitor of the ultrasonic treatment apparatus according to the present invention from the computer network.

[0066]

According to the ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and the image processing apparatus of the present invention thus configured, a three-dimensional ultrasonic three-dimensional display image is displayed in a wire frame.
Information required for shape grasp can be obtained in a short time, and it is possible to easily know the relationship with the entire shape of the observed part by using this display and setting ROl for displaying tomographic images. It is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus and an image processing apparatus provided with a simple image processing apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram for explaining an outline of a synthesis processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a stereoscopic image display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a display example according to the embodiment of the present invention;
(A) shows one example of a stereoscopic image display screen, and (b) shows one example of two-dimensional cross-section display at an arbitrary cross-section.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an arbitrary position stereoscopic display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a blood vessel strike display according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a stereoscopic image display screen according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasonic probe, 2 ... Transmission / reception unit, 3 ... B / W
Unit, 4 ... Color unit, 5 ... Synthesis processing unit, 6 ...
Hue / luminance conversion processing unit, 7: display monitor, 10: stereoscopic image display screen, 11: coordinate axis, 12: wire frame display, 13: wire frame

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) G06T 15/00 G06F 15/72 450K F term (reference) 4C301 AA02 BB03 BB13 BB23 CC02 DD01 DD02 DD06 EE10 EE20 GB09 HH38 HH52 HH54 JB28 JB29 JB36 JB50 JC08 JC11 JC14 KK02 KK03 KK12 KK17 KK22 KK27 KK30 LL03 5B050 AA02 BA09 EA27 FA06 5B057 AA07 BA05 CA08 CA12 CA16 CB08 CB13 CB16 CC01 CD14 CH07 5080

Claims (7)

[Claims] An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus capable of stereoscopically displaying tissue and blood flow information of a subject based on image information obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. An image having wire frame display means for displaying a boundary surface of the tissue based on the plurality of boundary coordinates obtained by the boundary point coordinate setting means for setting a plurality of boundary point coordinates for representing the boundary surface of the tissue. An ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus comprising a processing device. 2. An image processing apparatus comprising: an external instruction input unit capable of designating an arbitrary area of a wire frame image by the wire frame display unit; and a designated area portion designated by the external instruction input unit. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a designated partial stereoscopic display unit capable of stereoscopically displaying a tissue. 3. The ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the designated partial stereoscopic display means includes a blood flow information display means capable of stereoscopically displaying blood flow information of the subject. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is independently operable, and is capable of performing image processing on image information arbitrarily input from outside.
4. The ultrasonic diagnostic imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 3. 5. The stereoscopic display, wherein the stereoscopic display is applied to image information output from an ultrasonic image diagnostic apparatus capable of stereoscopically displaying tissue and blood flow information of a subject based on image information obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. A boundary surface of the tissue is displayed based on the plurality of boundary coordinates obtained by the boundary point coordinate setting means for setting a plurality of boundary point coordinates for representing the boundary surface of the tissue based on spatial position information for An image processing apparatus, comprising: 6. An external instruction input means capable of designating an arbitrary area of a wire frame image by the wire frame display means, and capable of displaying a subject's tissue three-dimensionally in a designated area portion designated by the external instruction input means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: a designated partial stereoscopic display unit. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the designated partial three-dimensional display means includes a blood flow information display means capable of stereoscopically displaying blood flow information of the subject.