JP2003052692A - Ultrasonograph - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set display starting timings to match the time phases of organs such as the heart when sweep images such as M mode images and spectrum Doppler images are displayed. SOLUTION: R waves of electrocardiac signals as biomedical signals are detected to generate synchronous signals therefrom. The display start timings of the sweep images are set synchronizing the synchronous signals. Even when the biomedical signals are displayed as waveforms, the display start timings are set to match the synchronous signals. Thus, before and after the refreshing of the sweep images, the display contents are not altered significantly thereby making the diagnosis of diseases more convenient.

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 displaying a swept image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various ultrasonic images are known as ultrasonic diagnostic images, and M-mode images and D-mode images (spectral Doppler images), for example, are known as sweep images therein. The former is an image in which the vertical axis represents the size of each echo data on a specific beam azimuth as a luminance value and the horizontal axis represents the time axis. The latter is an image in which the vertical axis represents the magnitude of each velocity component in the velocity distribution of blood flow in a specific region (within the sample volume), and the horizontal axis represents the time axis. In addition, when displaying such a sweep image, generally, a waveform such as an electrocardiographic signal is displayed as a biomedical signal together with the ultrasonic image.

As a method of displaying the sweep image and the biomedical signal as described above, the latest information is sequentially displayed from the left end to the right end of the display area, and automatically displayed when the display position reaches the right end. A moving method that erases and starts displaying from the right edge again, and a scroll method that always sets the display position of the latest information to the right edge of the display area and scrolls a series of past information continuously from there to the left side. ,It has been known.

Here, paying attention to the above-mentioned moving system, in such a display system, it is necessary to intermittently refresh the display, but in the conventional device, the timing is completely unrelated to the periodic movement of the organ. , The screen was refreshed when the display position reached the right end, and at the same time, the next display was started.

[0005]

Therefore, in the prior art, data of different time phases are displayed before and after the display contents are switched, and, for example, when the M-mode image is repeatedly displayed, the movement of the heart. However, there is a problem that the display contents are shifted left and right between the images even if the image is stable. This can be similarly pointed out when displaying the waveform of the electrocardiographic signal.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to arrange the display start time phases when displaying a sweep image.

[0007]

(1) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a periodically moving organ and outputting a reception signal.
A sweep image forming means for forming a sweep image whose image content is periodically updated based on the received signal, a detecting means for detecting a periodic movement of the organ, and a synchronization with the periodic movement of the organ. The display control means sets the display start timing of the sweep image, and the display means displays the sweep image.

With the above arrangement, the display start timing of each repeatedly displayed sweep image can be synchronized with the tissue movement cycle, that is, the sweep image can be always displayed from a predetermined time phase in tissue movement. it can. Therefore, it is possible to prevent discomfort due to different display time phases before and after the refresh of the sweep image, and it is possible to facilitate the diagnosis of diseases. On the display screen,
If the motion of the tissue is stationary, it will be like a swept display of a still image, and if the motion dynamically changes, the changed part becomes noticeable in image observation.

Preferably, the detection means generates a synchronization signal based on a biological signal representing a periodic movement of the organ, and the display control means sets the display start timing according to the synchronization signal. The biological signal represents a motion cycle of the heart or the circulatory organ such as an electrocardiographic signal or a pulse wave signal, and may be a respiratory signal other than that.

Desirably, it includes means for variably setting the number of movement cycles of the organ from the display start timing to the display update timing. When the time axis scale is large, it is desirable to display a plurality of heartbeats, and when the time axis scale is about several seconds, refreshing may be performed for each cycle.

(2) In order to achieve the above object,
The present invention forms a sweep image in which the image content is periodically updated based on a transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives an ultrasonic wave to / from a periodically moving organ and outputs a reception signal. A sweep image forming means, a detecting means for detecting a periodic movement of the organ, and a superimposed image forming means for forming a superimposed image by superimposing a plurality of sweep images in synchronization with the periodic movement of the organ. And display means for displaying the superimposed image.

According to the above construction, since a plurality of sweep images having different periods are simultaneously displayed as a superimposed image, the image tendency in the time axis direction can be more easily grasped,
Also, sudden changes can be made noticeable.

[0013] Preferably, it comprises means for variably setting the number of overlaps of the sweep image in the overlapped image. Desirably, the display mode of each sweep image in the overlapping image is different. With this configuration, it is possible to easily grasp the time sequence of each sweep image.

(3) In order to achieve the above object,
The present invention is to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves to and from an organ that moves periodically and output a reception signal, and based on the reception signal, periodically transmit and receive a plurality of measurement positions on the organ. Image forming means for forming a plurality of sweep images whose image contents are updated, detecting means for detecting periodic movement of the organ, and corresponding to the plurality of measurement positions in synchronization with the periodic movement of the organ. And a display unit for displaying the composite image, the composite image forming unit forming a composite image by composing a plurality of sweep images with the time axes parallel to each other.

With the above arrangement, it is possible to accurately compare a plurality of sweep images at a plurality of measurement positions. The plurality of sweep images may be displayed side by side on the display screen.

(4) In order to achieve the above object,
The present invention is to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves to and from an organ that moves periodically and output a reception signal, and based on the reception signal, periodically transmit and receive a plurality of measurement positions on the organ. Image forming means for forming a plurality of sweep images whose image contents are updated, detecting means for detecting periodic movement of the organ, and corresponding to the plurality of measurement positions in synchronization with the periodic movement of the organ. And a display unit for displaying the superimposed image, the superimposed image forming unit forming a superimposed image by superimposing a plurality of sweep images on the same time axis.

According to the above arrangement, a plurality of sweep images at a plurality of measurement positions can be displayed in a superimposed manner on the same time axis, and the two images can be compared more accurately. For example, time measurement becomes easy. Desirably, the display modes of the plurality of sweep images corresponding to the plurality of measurement positions are different from each other.

(5) In order to achieve the above object,
The present invention forms a sweep image in which the image content is periodically updated based on a transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives an ultrasonic wave to / from a periodically moving organ and outputs a reception signal. Sweep image forming means, means for obtaining a biological signal, based on the waveform of the biological signal, detection means for detecting the periodic movement of the organ, in synchronization with the periodic movement of the organ, It is characterized by including display control means for setting each display start timing of the sweep image and the waveform of the biological signal, and display means for displaying the sweep image and the waveform of the biological signal.

According to the above arrangement, the sweep image can be displayed in synchronization with the movement of the tissue, and the biological signal can be displayed in synchronization with the movement of the tissue.

(6) Further, in order to achieve the above object,
The present invention forms a sweep image in which the image content is periodically updated based on a transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives an ultrasonic wave to / from a periodically moving organ and outputs a reception signal. A sweep image forming means, a means for acquiring a first biological signal and a second biological signal, a detecting means for detecting a periodic movement of the organ based on the waveform of the first biological signal, and The sweep image, the waveform of the first biological signal, and the second image are synchronized with the periodic motion.
Display control means for setting each display start timing of the waveform of the biological signal, and display means for displaying the sweep image, the waveform of the first biological signal and the waveform of the second biological signal,
It is characterized by including.

According to the above construction, the sweep image can be displayed in synchronization with the movement of the tissue, and the first biomedical signal and the second biosignal can be displayed in synchronization with the movement of the tissue. Therefore, even if the second biological signal has a waveform in which it is difficult to read the exercise phase, the display can be performed at the display start timing (and the display refresh timing) synchronized with the synchronized exercise.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall structure thereof.

In FIG. 1, a probe 10 is a transducer which is used by being in contact with the surface of a living body or by being inserted into a body cavity. An array transducer including a plurality of vibrating elements is provided inside the probe 10, and the ultrasonic beam 14 is formed by the array transducer.
The so-called scanning surface 12 is formed by electronically scanning the ultrasonic beam 14. Incidentally, examples of the electronic scanning method include electronic linear scanning and electronic sector scanning.

The transmitting section 16 is a circuit for supplying a transmission signal to a plurality of vibrating elements forming an array transducer, and functions as a transmission beam former. The receiving unit 18 is a circuit that performs phasing addition processing on reception signals from a plurality of vibrating elements forming an array transducer and outputs the reception signal after phasing addition, and functions as a reception beam former. .

The control unit 20 controls each component in the apparatus, and the control unit 20 is composed of, for example, a CPU and a predetermined program. Control unit 20
An operation panel 22 including a keyboard and a trackball is connected to the. Using the operation panel 22, the user can make various settings and designations as will be described later.

The image processing unit 24 has a plurality of image processing units 26, 28 and 30 in this embodiment.
More specifically, the B-mode image processing unit 26 executes signal processing for forming a B-mode image based on the received signal output from the receiving unit 18. The B-mode image data configured by this is output to the display processing unit 32. The M-mode image processing unit 28 is a circuit that executes signal processing for forming an M-mode image, and the M-mode image data formed by this processing is output to the display processing unit 32.

The Doppler image processing unit 30 is a circuit for executing the calculation of the Doppler information for forming the spectrum Doppler image in this embodiment, and the Doppler image data formed by the calculation is output to the display processing unit 32. There is.

Of course, each image processing unit 26, 28, 30
Operates selectively or simultaneously according to the operation mode set by the user.

The display processing unit 32 is a circuit including, for example, a digital scan converter (DSC) and the like, and in the present embodiment, includes a frame memory 34 and further has a display processing function to be described later. Particularly, in the present embodiment, the refresh timing and the display start timing for the sweep image such as the M-mode image and the spectrum Doppler image are set according to the synchronization signal output from the synchronization signal generation unit 38. Here, one or more biological signals are input to the display processing unit 32, and the waveform of the biological signal can be displayed on the screen together with the sweep image. One or a plurality of biological signals are input to the synchronization signal generation unit 38, and the synchronization signal generation unit 38 detects the cycle of the motion of the target organ from the characteristics of the waveform of the specific biological signal, and thereby the motion is performed. The synchronization signal is output at the time when it becomes the reference timing of the cycle. Specifically, the synchronization signal generation unit 38 detects, for example, the R wave in the electrocardiographic signal, and outputs the synchronization signal at the detection timing of the R wave. Of course, other biomedical signals may be used, or other waveform characteristic portions in the electrocardiographic signal may be used.

The display processing unit 32 stores a sweep image in the frame memory 34 as needed when forming a superimposed image or a composite image, which will be described later, and replaces the sweep image read from the frame memory 34 with another image. Processing to combine or superimpose with the sweep image of.

The display 36 is composed of, for example, a color display, and the waveform of the biological signal is displayed on the display screen together with the sweep image.

Next, the display modes of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 shows a display example in the so-called B / M mode. B on the left side of the display screen
When the mode image 100 is displayed and the user specifies a specific azimuth θ, echo data on the specific azimuth θ is displayed as an M mode image 102 on the right side of the display screen. As is well known, M-mode image 10
The vertical axis in 2 is the depth axis or the axis along the ultrasonic beam, and the horizontal axis of the M-mode image 102 is the time axis.
When ultrasonic waves are repeatedly transmitted and received with respect to a predetermined azimuth θ, an echo data string is acquired for each wave, and each echo data string is displayed in order from the left end to the right end of the display area. It

At the bottom of the M-mode image 102, the waveform 104 of the electrocardiographic signal, which is a biological signal, is displayed on the same scale as the time axis of the M-mode image 102. Here, as described above, the display start timing and the refresh timing of the M-mode image 102 are set in synchronization with the R wave of the electrocardiographic signal. In the present embodiment, particularly with respect to the heart, every two heartbeats are set. The display is controlled to refresh. Therefore, when the R wave is detected twice, the M mode image 102 and the waveform 104 of the electrocardiographic signal are refreshed, and at the same time, a new image and waveform are displayed.

Therefore, according to the display example as shown in FIG. 2, in the M-mode image 102, the time phases at the start of display can be always matched, so that the time phase shift before and after the refresh is eliminated, and the refresh is performed. You can prevent discomfort caused by changing the display content before and after,
There is also an advantage that the accuracy of disease diagnosis can be improved. This also applies to the waveform of the electrocardiographic signal 104, and the waveform of the electrocardiographic signal can always be displayed from the R wave or a predetermined time phase. By the way, in this embodiment,
It is possible to set an arbitrary number with the heart rate from display start to refresh being m. Specifically, the operation panel 2
The above value m can be set by the user using 2. Alternatively, when the time range from the left end to the right end of the M-mode image is defined, an appropriate value m may be automatically set within that range.

Next, the display example shown in FIG. 3 will be described. On the left side of the display screen, B mode image 100
Is displayed, and on the B-mode image 100, the user designates two directions θ1 and θ2,
Further, in each direction, sample volumes S1 and S
2 is set. For example, one sample volume is set on the mitral valve and the other sample volume is set on the aortic valve. That is, in order to observe both the inflow blood flow to the left ventricle and the outflow blood flow from the left ventricle as a spectrum Doppler image, the user setting as described above is made.

On the right side of the display screen, two spectrum Doppler images are shown in upper and lower tiers, and each spectrum Doppler image has two sample volumes S1 and S.
It corresponds to 2. Here, the spectrum Doppler image 108A may be displayed in a first color, and the spectrum Doppler image 108B may be displayed in a second color. That is, by making the display colors different, it becomes possible to make the user aware of the difference in the measurement position. Of course, various display methods can be used in addition to the different display colors.

Also in the display example shown in FIG. 3, the two spectrum Doppler images 108A, 1A displayed in two rows above and below.
The waveform 104 of the electrocardiographic signal is displayed in the lower part of 08B (that is, the composite image 108), and here, each spectrum Doppler image 108 is synchronized with the R wave of the waveform.
A and 108B are displayed. By the way, since the ultrasonic wave transmission / reception repetition cycle is extremely short compared to the heart motion cycle, the sample volume S1 is set in the first transmission / reception cycle.
Regarding the sample volume S2 in the second wave transmission / reception does not matter. By the way, the wave transmission / reception for each sample volume is performed alternately, or the wave transmission / reception for each sample volume is performed intermittently while forming a B-mode image.

In the display example shown in FIG. 4, a superimposed image 110 in which two spectral Doppler images are superimposed on the same time axis is displayed on the right side of the display screen. Specifically, the first spectrum Doppler image 110
A and the second spectrum Doppler 110B are overlapped and displayed on the same time axis, and according to this, the state of the left ventricular inflow blood flow and the left ventricular outflow blood flow can be evaluated as if they had the same waveform. There are advantages. In this case, the waveform 104 of the electrocardiographic signal is displayed below the superimposed image 110, and in addition to that, the waveform 120 such as a pulse wave that is another biological signal is also displayed. The respective images and waveforms have their time axes parallel to each other, and the time phases of their time axes coincide with each other.

Incidentally, one or a plurality of markers may be displayed on the display screen shown in FIG. 3 or 4 to measure the time.

FIG. 5 shows another display example of the spectrum Doppler image. In this display example, a plurality of spectral Doppler images acquired at different time phases for the same sample volume are superimposed on each other and displayed as a superimposed image 112 on the screen. Where (1)
Shows the latest spectrum Doppler image, (2)
Shows a spectrum Doppler image one heartbeat before,
(3) shows a spectrum Doppler image before two heartbeats. The brightness of each spectrum Doppler image is made different from each other as shown on the right side of the figure, whereby a display form is adopted in which the brightness gradually decreases from the latest to the past. Of course, the color may be changed and displayed from the latest to the past. By the way, the number n of images to be superimposed can be set by the user, and 3 is designated as the value of n in the display example shown in FIG. Further, in the present embodiment, k can be designated as the refreshed heart rate, and for example, 10 can be designated as the value of k. That is, for 10 heartbeats, FIG.
The screen display is reset when the superimposed image 112 as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed, and the display as shown in FIG. 5 is repeated every 10 heartbeats. As explained above,
According to the present embodiment, the display start timing (and display refresh time) of the sweep image can be set in accordance with the motion time phase of the organ such as the heart with the biological signal as a reference, so that each display start of the sweep image is started. It is possible to arrange the time phases of the above to facilitate the convenience of disease diagnosis.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the time phase of the display start timing can be fixedly set when the sweep image is displayed, there is an advantage that the image diagnosis can be facilitated and the disease diagnosis accuracy can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of a B-mode image and an M-mode image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of simultaneous display of a B-mode image and a composite image.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of simultaneous display of a B-mode image and a superimposed image.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a display method of a superimposed image.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 probe, 12 scanning plane, 14 ultrasonic beam,
16 transmitter, 18 receiver, 20 controller, 26 B mode image processor, 28 M mode image processor, 30 Doppler image processor, 32 display processor, 38 sync signal generator.

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A transmission / reception unit for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from an organ that periodically moves and outputting a reception signal, and a sweep image whose image content is periodically updated based on the reception signal. A sweep image forming means for forming, a detecting means for detecting a periodic movement of the organ, a display control means for setting a display start timing of the sweep image in synchronization with the periodic movement of the organ, An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a display unit that displays a sweep image. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit generates a synchronization signal based on a biological signal that represents a periodic movement of the organ, and the display control unit follows the display start timing according to the synchronization signal. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is characterized by setting. 3. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for variably setting the number of movement cycles of the organ from the display start timing to the display update timing. 4. A transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a periodically moving organ and outputting a reception signal, and a sweep image whose image content is periodically updated based on the reception signal. Sweep image forming means for forming, detection means for detecting periodic movement of the organ, and superposition image forming means for superposing a plurality of sweep images in synchronization with the periodic movement of the organ to form a superposition image And a display unit for displaying the overlapped image, and the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. 5. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising means for variably setting the number of overlaps of the sweep images in the overlap image. 6. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein each sweep image in the overlapped image has a different display mode. 7. A transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from an organ that moves periodically and outputting a reception signal, and a periodical unit for each of a plurality of measurement positions on the organ based on the reception signal. An image forming unit that forms a plurality of sweep images whose image contents are updated, a detecting unit that detects a periodic movement of the organ, and a plurality of measurement positions that are synchronized with the periodic movement of the organ. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a composite image forming unit that forms a composite image by composing a plurality of corresponding sweep images with their time axes parallel to each other; and a display unit that displays the composite image. 8. A transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from an organ that moves periodically and outputting a reception signal, and a periodical unit for each of a plurality of measurement positions on the organ based on the reception signal. An image forming unit that forms a plurality of sweep images whose image contents are updated, a detecting unit that detects a periodic movement of the organ, and a plurality of measurement positions that are synchronized with the periodic movement of the organ. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a superimposed image forming unit that superimposes a plurality of corresponding sweep images on the same time axis to form a superimposed image; and a display unit that displays the superimposed image. 9. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein display modes of the plurality of sweep images corresponding to the plurality of measurement positions are different from each other. 10. A transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a periodically moving organ and outputting a reception signal, and a sweep image whose image content is periodically updated based on the reception signal. A sweep image forming means for forming, a means for obtaining a biological signal, a detecting means for detecting a periodic movement of the organ based on the waveform of the biological signal, and a synchronizing movement for the periodic movement of the organ. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a display control unit that sets each display start timing of the sweep image and the waveform of the biological signal; and a display unit that displays the sweep image and the waveform of the biological signal. . 11. A transmitting / receiving unit for transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a periodically moving organ and outputting a reception signal, and a sweep image whose image content is periodically updated based on the reception signal. A sweep image forming means for forming, a means for obtaining a first biological signal and a second biological signal, a detecting means for detecting a periodic motion of the organ based on a waveform of the first biological signal, and the organ Display control means for setting the display start timing of each of the sweep image, the waveform of the first biological signal, and the waveform of the second biological signal in synchronization with the periodic movement of the swept image, the first biological body. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a display unit that displays a waveform of a signal and a waveform of the second biological signal.