JP2001276062A - Ultrasonic diagnostic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly measure an area protruding from a screen in two sheets of ultrasonic images by bisecting one screen without estimation by an operator. SOLUTION: When a cursor moves to another of two sheets of the ultrasonic images bisected and displayed on the monitor screen after a beginning point is assigned by the cursor in one of two sheets of the ultrasonic images, the display is changed over to the display of the entire screen and only one of two sheets of the ultrasonic images is displayed.

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 which divides one screen into two and displays two ultrasonic images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a B mode (Brightness Mode) in which one ultrasonic image is displayed on one screen of a monitor, and one screen is divided into two parts, right and left or up and down. There is a mode (2B mode) for displaying two ultrasonic images. In the 2B mode, each of the divided screens is configured to display a two-divided image at the same magnification as the B mode, and in both the B mode and the 2B mode, the distance between two points of the target organ designated by the cursor and the distance between the two points. It is configured to calculate the area of the predetermined region. As another two-split display mode, each split screen has a B mode and an M mode, respectively.
(Motion) mode images and B mode and Doppler mode images are known.

[0003]

However, in the case of displaying a two-divided image, for example, in the 2B mode, the display range is narrower than in the case of the B mode, and the display is performed at the same magnification as in the B mode. When measuring the distance and area of a part that can not be displayed, to estimate the part that protrudes from the screen, guess the position and specify it with the cursor, or change the display scale and capture the ultrasonic image again , There is only one way. For this reason, using the former method will result in inaccurate measurements,
The latter method has the problem that it takes time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention measures a portion of the monitor screen that protrudes from the screen in a mode in which the monitor screen is divided into two and displays two ultrasonic images, without the operator guessing and in a short time. It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can perform the operation.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which divides a monitor screen into two and displays two ultrasonic images. After the start point is designated by the cursor in one of the two ultrasonic images,
When moving to the other of the two ultrasonic images, there is provided a means for switching to full screen display and displaying only one of the two ultrasonic images. According to this configuration, the portion protruding from the screen can be measured in a short time without guessing by the operator.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a B mode display state and a 2B mode display state, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a display state according to the present invention. is there.

In FIG. 1, a probe 1 irradiates an object with an ultrasonic beam according to an ultrasonic signal from an ultrasonic transmitting / receiving section 2 to scan the object, and outputs an echo signal reflected from the object to the transmitting / receiving section 2. , The transmitting and receiving unit 2 converts this echo signal into D
Output to SC (Digital Scan Converter) 3. D
The SC 3 converts the ultrasonic reception signal into a digital signal, converts it into a screen format, and outputs this to the frame memory 4. The frame memory 4 has a capacity capable of storing two or more frames of tomographic images from the DSC 3, and
The image read from the frame memory 4 is stored in the image synthesizing unit 6.
Is applied to the monitor 7 and displayed.

A graphic memory 5 is a memory for displaying a caliper cursor indicating a measurement site, and an image synthesizing unit 6 synthesizes a tomographic image from the frame memory 4 and a caliper cursor from the graphic memory 5 to monitor 7. Output to The operation unit 9 includes a keyboard, a joystick, a panel switch, and the like for the operator to operate. The control unit 8 performs necessary control for the transmission / reception unit 2, DSC 3, frame memory 4, graphic memory 5, image synthesis unit 6, and operation unit 9.

FIG. 2A shows a B-mode display screen 10 for displaying one tomographic image on one screen in full screen, and FIG. 2B shows one B-mode display screen.
A 2B mode display screen 11 that divides the screen into left and right and displays two tomographic images in two parts is shown. When displaying the B-mode display screen 10, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the echo signal obtained via the probe 1 and the transmission / reception unit 2 is a direct format which is displayed on the monitor 7 by the DSC 3. It is converted into image information of a coordinate system. The image information for one frame converted by the DSC 3 is stored in the frame memory 4, and then the read image is stored in the graphic memory 5 with various text information such as probe names and frequencies and the image synthesizing unit. 6
Thus, the B-mode display screen 10 is displayed on the monitor 7 in full screen. When a moving image is displayed, an echo signal obtained via the probe 1 and the transmission / reception unit 2 is sent to the frame memory 4 via the DSC 3 as needed, and the image information stored in the frame memory 4 is also displayed. It will be updated accordingly.

In measurement, when a button for stopping the image is pressed by the operation unit 9 (freeze operation), the transmission / reception unit 2 stops transmitting the ultrasonic signal and the echo signal is not updated. Therefore, information immediately before the image is stopped remains in the frame memory 4 and is displayed on the monitor 7 as a still image. When the measurement is further performed, a button for starting the measurement is pressed by the operation unit 9, a start point and an end point of the measurement are instructed, and a measurement cursor of the graphic memory 5 is written based on the instruction.
The measurement site can be indicated on the still image.

On the other hand, when the mode is shifted from the B mode display to the 2B mode display in accordance with an instruction of the operation unit 9, the image information converted by the DSC 3 is stored in the frame memory 4 in the frame memory 4 in the same manner as in the B mode. Although it is stored as image information, when it is synthesized with graphic information in the image synthesizing unit 6, the left and right sides are cut off by ２ as in the 2B mode display screen 11 shown in FIG. Are read out from the frame memory 4 and displayed on the monitor 7.

Here, in the state where the mode is first shifted to the 2B mode, only one of the two images (for example, the left half) is displayed. Further, from this state, the 2B mode 2
When an operation for displaying the first sheet is performed, the image information obtained after the operation is stored in an area different from that of the previous image information in the frame memory 4 while the image information immediately before the operation is performed remains in the frame memory 4. Is read out by the image synthesizing unit 6 so as to be displayed in the right half, and is displayed as two frames on the monitor 7 as one frame. When two images are displayed in the 2B mode, the first left half image is a still image, and the second right half image is a moving image. Also,
When the freeze operation is performed in this state, two pieces of image information remain in the frame memory 4 and a still image state of the 2B mode is set. The measurement function in the 2B mode is performed in the same manner as in the B mode.

When measuring in the 2B mode, FIG.
(B) As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the display screen is in a state where both ends are cut off compared to the case of the display in the B mode. Some may not be displayed on the monitor 7. When the operator performs measurement in such a state, for example, when performing measurement in the left half image of the 2B mode, the start point is indicated on the left image, but the end point cursor extends beyond the left image display area. Comes out.

Therefore, in the present invention, in this case, that is, when it is detected that the cursor position at the end point protrudes from the left half of the image area, the screen is switched to the B-mode display screen 10 as shown in FIG. In this processing, the information for monitor display is reconstructed in the image synthesizing unit 6 using only the left image information stored in the frame memory 4. On the 2B mode display screen 11, the display image has a left and right cut shape, but the same one frame of image information as that on the B mode display screen 10 is stored in the frame memory 4. By changing the reading from the frame memory 4 when performing image synthesis, it is possible to shift to the B-mode display screen 10 in a still state.

Simultaneously, at the same time, the cursor position on the graphic memory 5 is moved by calculation in accordance with the movement of the image position of the measurement cursor.
Also on the B mode display screen 10, it is possible to display a cursor at the same place as instructed in the 2B mode. For this reason, when the image display is switched to the B mode, a portion that is hidden and not visible in the 2B mode display is displayed, and accurate measurement can be performed. After the measurement is completed, it is possible to automatically return to the 2B mode by the reverse operation principle.

[0016] In addition, by the same operation principle, in the two-screen display of the B mode and the M mode, and also in the two-screen display of the B mode and the Doppler mode, the part which cannot be hidden and displayed in the two-screen display is shifted to the one-screen display. By displaying the data, accurate measurement can be performed.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, after the start point is designated by the cursor in one of the two ultrasonic images displayed in two on the monitor screen, the cursor is moved to the two ultrasonic images. In the case of moving to the other side, the display is switched to the full screen display and only one of the two ultrasonic images is displayed on the full screen, so that the portion protruding from the screen can be measured in a short time without guessing by the operator. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram showing a B mode display state. (B) It is explanatory drawing which shows the 2B mode display state.

FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram showing a display state in a 2B mode according to the present invention. (B) It is explanatory drawing which shows the display state at the time of B mode by this invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Probe 2 Transmission / reception part 3 DSC 4 Frame memory 5 Graphic memory 6 Image synthesis part 7 Monitor 8 Control part 9 Operation part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which divides a monitor screen into two and displays two ultrasonic images, wherein a starting point is designated by a cursor in one of the two ultrasonic images displayed on the monitor screen in two parts. And when the cursor is moved to the other of the two ultrasonic images after the image is displayed, means for switching to full screen display and displaying only one of the two ultrasonic images is provided. Diagnostic device. 2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two ultrasonic images are 2B mode display screens. 3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the two ultrasonic images is a B-mode display screen and the other is an M-mode display screen. 4. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the two ultrasonic images is a B-mode display screen and the other is a Doppler mode display screen.