JP2006000400A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus where information on a site to be photographed and an angle can be fetched without performing inputting work using a body mark. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus is provided with: an ultrasonic probe 11 making contact with a subject; a transmission and reception part 12 which sends an ultrasonic driving signal to the ultrasonic probe and to which a received signal from this is inputted; a signal processing part 13 which processes the received signal to generate an ultrasonic image signal; video cameras 21 and 22 for photographing an image containing the subject and the ultrasonic probe; an interface part 24 connected to the video cameras; an image composing part 14 to which the ultrasonic image signal and video signals from the video cameras 21 and 22 are inputted and which synthesizes the image of them; a display circuit 15 and a display device 16 for displaying the synthesized image; and a recorder for recording the synthesized image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus used for medical diagnosis.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus makes an ultrasonic beam incident on a subject (patient's body) via a probe (ultrasound transducer), receives the reflected wave by the probe, and processes the received signal. Is used to obtain a tomographic image inside the body, or to draw an image representing the velocity of blood flow using the Doppler phenomenon, and is widely used in medical diagnostic applications. An operator brings an ultrasonic probe into contact with a specific part of the patient's body to pick up an ultrasonic tomographic image, and displays or records it on the screen of the display device. At that time, it is necessary to record information on the position / direction (tomographic position / direction) of the imaged image. This is because if this is not recorded, it will not be useful for diagnosis because it will be unclear later which cross-sectional image is at which angle and position.

  Therefore, a conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is usually provided with a function of displaying and recording an imaging position / angle on an icon called a body mark. The input / setting of the body mark is generally configured to be manually performed by an operator after shooting (or before shooting).

  However, the setting operation of the imaging position and angle using the body mark is not so easy, and is a burden on the operator. In particular, when the imaging region or angle is changed, the position / angle setting on the body mark has to be redone every time, which is troublesome. There is also a problem that it is difficult to know which part of the image is actually taken from which direction only with the body mark. Furthermore, in practice, in many cases, images are often taken sequentially while moving the region to be imaged, and such a case cannot be dealt with.

It is also known that the body mark is displayed in a three-dimensional manner as in Patent Document 1 below, but the position / angle setting on the body mark is set although the difficulty of separation is eliminated to a certain extent. The difficulty remains, and it is far from solving the problem.
JP 2000-201926 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of capturing information on an imaging region and an angle without an input operation using a body mark.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, an ultrasonic probe that is brought into contact with a subject and transmits ultrasonic waves into the subject and receives reflected waves in the subject. And an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit that sends an ultrasonic drive signal to the ultrasonic probe and receives a reception signal from the probe, and processes the reception signal that has passed through the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit to generate an ultrasonic image signal. A video processing unit that captures an image including a signal processing unit, the subject and the ultrasonic probe, an interface unit connected to the video camera, and an image from the video camera through the ultrasonic image signal and the interface unit; An image composition unit that receives signals and combines these images, an image display unit that displays the combined images, and a recording unit that records the combined images are provided. There has been a feature.

  A plurality of the above video cameras can be used, and any one of them can be connected to the interface unit by a switch.

  Further, the above video camera can be supported by a movable support portion.

  When the ultrasonic probe is brought into contact with the subject and an ultrasonic image in the subject is photographed, a state in which the probe is applied to the subject is photographed by the video camera. These images are combined and displayed and recorded. For this reason, images taken with a video camera, such as when played back later, can be observed simultaneously with the ultrasound image, so the ultrasound image was obtained by bringing the probe into contact with the subject at which position and in what direction. Is easy to understand. In addition, there is no need to perform setting work on the body mark, and the work load is reduced.

  By using multiple video cameras and connecting one of them to the interface unit, select a video camera that can capture the contact state (position and angle) of the ultrasonic probe with the subject. , It is possible to obtain an appropriate image in which the state is easily understood.

  If the video camera is supported by a movable support unit, the position and direction of the video camera can be set freely, so that one video camera can obtain appropriate images in the same way, and multiple video cameras can be used. There is no need to use a switch.

  Next, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention sends an ultrasonic drive signal to the ultrasonic probe 11 composed of an ultrasonic transducer array and the ultrasonic probe 11. A transmission / reception unit 12 that receives the ultrasonic reception signal and a signal processing unit 13 that processes the reception signal that has passed through the transmission / reception unit 12 to generate an ultrasonic image signal. The ultrasonic image signal is sent to the display circuit 15 via the image synthesis unit 14, displayed on the display device 16, and recorded on a recording device 17 such as a hard disk recording device or a magneto-optical disk recording device.

  In this embodiment, two video cameras 21 and 22 are used, and these are connected to the image composition unit 14 through a switch 23 and an interface unit 24.

  FIG. 2 shows an outline of how this ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is actually used. As shown in FIG. 2, the hardware of each component circuit shown in FIG. 1 is housed in the console 10, and the display device 16 is placed thereon. A subject (patient) 31 is laid on an examination table (examination bed) 32, and the ultrasonic probe 11 is in close contact with the body surface. In this figure, the video camera 21 is attached to the handrail of the examination table 32, and the other video camera 22 is supported by a movable support stand 25. These video cameras 21 and 22 are directed in the direction of the ultrasonic probe 11 applied to the subject 31, and obtain a video image showing a state in which the ultrasonic probe 32 is applied to the subject 31. . The switcher 23 selects a video image on the side that appropriately represents at which position and at which angle the ultrasonic probe 32 is applied to the subject 31.

  This video image is synthesized with the ultrasonic image in the image synthesis unit 14, displayed in real time on the display device 16 through the display circuit 15, and recorded in the recording device 17. An image displayed on the screen of the display device 16 is, for example, as shown in FIG. An ultrasonic image (in this case, a sector-shaped ultrasonic tomographic image by sector scanning) 41 is displayed in the main window, and a video image 42 and character data 45 are displayed in the sub-window. The character data 45 is, for example, data about a patient, and in this example, character data 46 indicating ultrasonic scanning conditions and the like is displayed in the same window as the ultrasonic image 41. Then, this display image is recorded by the recording device 17.

  Therefore, when reproducing from the recording device 17 during or after ultrasonic imaging, according to such a display screen, together with the ultrasonic image 41, the body image 43 and the probe image 44 when the ultrasonic image 41 is captured. Therefore, it is possible to accurately and easily understand how the ultrasonic image 41 is imaged by setting the probe 11 with respect to the subject (patient body) 31. . Moreover, since the video image 42 including the body image 43 and the probe image 44 is taken by the video cameras 21 and 22, the operator is freed from the work of setting the position and direction of the probe on the body mark. Usually, the operator holds the ultrasonic probe 11 by hand and moves it variously on the subject (patient body) 31 so as to obtain an ultrasonic image 41 that is optimal for diagnosis. The release means that it is possible to concentrate on the operation of the ultrasonic probe 11, and the practical usability is greatly improved, and an appropriate ultrasonic image 41 can be efficiently obtained for the purpose of diagnosis.

  Here, the two video cameras 21 and 22 placed at different positions are switched and used, so that a more appropriate video image can be selected. Further, since the video camera 22 is attached to a movable support stand 25 and the setting of the shooting position and direction thereof is free, it is easy to obtain an appropriate video image 42 with only this one video camera 22. It is. In this case, only one video camera is required, and the switch 23 is not necessary.

  According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the present invention, information on what angle and position of the ultrasonic probe is set with respect to the subject and an ultrasonic image is captured automatically in real time. It becomes possible to acquire the information, and the trouble of inputting the information on the body mark can be saved. In addition, in order to take a video of the subject image and the ultrasound probe image when the ultrasound image is obtained, the ultrasound probe is obtained at any position on the patient body and at any angle. Can be understood more accurately and more easily.

1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram which shows a mode that the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of the Example is used. The figure which shows the display screen in the Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus console 11 Ultrasonic probe 12 Transmission / reception part 13 Signal processing part 14 Image synthetic | combination part 15 Display circuit 16 Display apparatus 17 Recording device 21, 22 Video camera 23 Switch 24 Interface part 25 Support stand 31 Subject (patient body )
32 Examination table 41 Ultrasound image 42 Video image 43 Body image 44 Probe image 45, 46 Character data

Claims (1)

  An ultrasonic probe that is brought into contact with the subject and transmits an ultrasonic wave into the subject and receives a reflected wave in the subject; an ultrasonic drive signal is sent to the ultrasonic probe; An ultrasonic transmission / reception unit to which a reception signal is input, a signal processing unit that processes the reception signal that has passed through the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit to generate an ultrasonic image signal, and an image that includes the subject and the ultrasonic probe A video camera, an interface unit connected to the video camera, an image synthesis unit for synthesizing these images by inputting the ultrasonic image signal and the video signal from the video camera via the interface unit, An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an image display unit that displays a captured image; and a recording unit that records a synthesized image.

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