JP2006068039A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide au ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which effectively collects data by performing the spatial and temporal thinning processing to respective data collected with the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A data selecting circuit 5 selects data to be thinned of RF (radio frequency) data outputted from a transmitting and receiving circuit 2, data after signal processing outputted from a signal processing circuit 3, and ultrasonic image data outputted from a DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) circuit 4. A thinning circuit 6 collects data acquired in a predetermined time and included in an area of interest of the data of the selected data and outputs it to a storing unit 11 or a display unit 7. For example, a time zone when the data has to be collected is determined based on the electrocardiographic waveform data collected by an electrocardiograph 9, and the data included in the time zone are collected. The uncollected data are not stored and displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus characterized by thinning processing for signals obtained by transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is a medical diagnostic apparatus that can observe a tomographic image of a biological tissue of a subject, a blood flow velocity, and the like by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. When an ultrasonic beam is irradiated from the ultrasonic probe into the subject, the ultrasonic beam propagates through the living body, and at the boundary of a living tissue such as a blood vessel wall or an organ during propagation, that is, at a discontinuous surface of acoustic impedance. Reflections occur one after another and return to the ultrasound probe as an echo signal. The amplitude of the echo signal depends on the difference in acoustic impedance at the discontinuous surface.

  Further, when the ultrasonic beam is reflected from the surface of a moving body such as a blood cell or a heart wall, the echo signal is subjected to frequency shift depending on the velocity component in the beam direction of the moving body due to the Doppler effect.

  Conventionally, if necessary, an area of high interest is designated from ultrasonic image data displayed on a display device, and image data included in the area is stored and displayed. In addition, thinning processing is performed by designating time for any of RF data, data after signal processing obtained by performing signal processing on the RF data, or ultrasonic image data (for example, Patent Document 1). In other words, data obtained at a specified time is extracted, processed thereafter, and stored.

  Here, each data and the thinning process will be described. The RF data is data generated by amplifying the echo signal obtained by the ultrasonic probe for each channel and adding the delay time necessary for determining the reception directivity. This directivity is generally called a scanning line.

  In addition, data after signal processing includes B-mode processing system (envelope detection, logarithmic compression, luminance modulation, etc.), Doppler mode processing system (quadrature detection, extraction of Doppler shift frequency components, filter processing, FFT processing, etc. Or a color mode processing system (performing quadrature detection, filter processing, autocorrelation calculation processing, flow velocity / dispersion calculation processing, etc.).

  Ultrasonic image data is data generated by performing a scan conversion process on the signal-processed data, and the scanning line signal sequence of the signal-processed data is converted into orthogonal coordinate system data based on spatial information. It has been converted.

  The thinning process is, for example, a process of extracting and storing data every predetermined number of frames. When a plurality of tomographic images are collected and thinning processing is performed on the plurality of tomographic images, one frame out of two frames is extracted and stored. That is, data is extracted and stored every other frame. In addition, the number of scanning lines may be thinned out. The reason for thinning out data in this way is that a large-capacity storage device is required to save all data obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves.

  In the field of ultrasound diagnosis, when performing examinations of the heart, abdominal organs, etc., a contrast echo that injects an ultrasound contrast agent (hereinafter referred to as a contrast agent) into a subject and evaluates the state of blood flow Inspection is drawing attention. As the ultrasound contrast agent, a material mainly composed of microbubbles is used. Microbubbles have very low acoustic impedance, and the difference in acoustic impedance with organs, tissues, or blood components in the subject is extremely large, so the intensity of the echo signal from the microbubbles is higher than the intensity of the echo signal from the tissue boundary. It is remarkably strong and suitable as a contrast agent. The contrast effect increases as the injection amount or concentration of the contrast agent increases. In addition, the scattering of ultrasonic waves by the ultrasonic contrast agent has a strong nonlinearity, and frequency components other than the frequency used for transmission are generated at the time of scattering.

  In the method of imaging using an ultrasound contrast agent as described above, a method called a “luminance change curve” is generally known when quantifying the state of contrast agent perfusion after administration of a contrast agent. Yes. FIG. 11 shows this luminance change curve. The brightness change curve plots the time-series change in the degree of intensity (luminance), with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis representing the degree of intensity (luminance) at a specific location.

  In contrast-enhanced echo examination, it takes time to obtain sufficient contrast agent contrast, so images cannot be stored in the internal memory of the ultrasound diagnostic apparatus, and video images can be stored in an external storage device such as a VCR. It is often recorded as. However, since the video can be visually confirmed by playback using the VCR, but quantitative evaluation and diagnosis cannot be performed, the data after signal processing is stored while thinning out the data in the limited memory of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus together with the recording of the VCR. In addition, after the inspection, quantitative evaluation is performed using the data after the signal processing.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-9603

  Conventionally, a region of interest is set for ultrasonic image data for display after scan conversion processing, and ultrasonic image data is stored, stored, and displayed. On the other hand, the region of interest was not set and data was not stored.

  In addition, regarding the timing of the thinning process, since the timing of the thinning is determined by the time arbitrarily designated by the operator, unnecessary data may be stored depending on the affected area to be examined, and the data collection is efficient. It was not right. For example, even when collecting electrocardiographic waveform data of the subject's heart using an electrocardiograph, the thinning process was performed at a time arbitrarily designated by the operator, so the necessary data could not be obtained, Unnecessary data increased and data could not be collected efficiently.

  On the other hand, in contrast echo examination, if it is attempted to store data after signal processing for the same time as video recording, there is a problem that a large-capacity memory is required and the apparatus becomes expensive. In order to solve this, when data is simply thinned out and stored every predetermined frame as in the prior art, there is a possibility that data necessary for quantitative evaluation performed later is insufficient and effective quantitative evaluation cannot be performed. . For example, when data is simply extracted every other frame and stored, if the data that is not stored includes data necessary for quantitative evaluation, there is a possibility that sufficient evaluation cannot be performed.

  In addition, for the purpose of reducing the volume of data, even if a necessary region of interest is set and the data after signal processing in that region is stored, the data included in the set region of interest is quantified. May be insufficient for evaluation.

  When data is stored without worrying about the capacity of the data and without specifying the range, it is possible to perform effective quantitative evaluation by specifying the range necessary for quantitative evaluation after data collection. When the data included in the range is stored, only the data included in the range exists, and therefore a necessary range cannot be specified again after data collection. As a result, there is a possibility that effective quantitative evaluation cannot be performed because there is no necessary data, and it is necessary to collect data again in order to perform effective quantitative evaluation. There is also a risk that the burden of the increase.

  As described above, in the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the data collection method is not efficient, and the diagnosis time may be unnecessarily prolonged. In addition, even though there is unnecessary data depending on the contents of the examination, the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus performs the thinning process regardless of the examination contents, so the data that was originally necessary is also thinned out. Data collection was not efficient.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problem, and it is possible to collect data efficiently by extracting and storing the data obtained in the region of interest and at a predetermined time from the data collected by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. It is an object to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. A further object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of efficiently collecting data reflecting the motion of the heart by storing the data based on the electrocardiographic waveform data by applying the present invention. To do.

  Also, when performing contrast echo examination, data can be thinned out according to the degree of staining by thinning out the data based on the degree of staining (luminance value), and data reflecting the staining can be efficiently obtained. An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can collect data.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes an ultrasonic probe that transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject and receives a reflected wave from the subject as an echo signal, and a process that includes a delay time for the echo signal. The first data is generated by applying the processing including the detection processing and the logarithmic conversion processing to the first data, the data representing the morphological information of the tissue of the subject, the first data Data representing a blood flow state generated by performing processing including extraction processing of Doppler deviation frequency components and FFT processing from the data of the above, or processing including autocorrelation processing and flow velocity calculation processing on the first data The second data composed of any one of the data representing the blood flow state generated by applying the data is generated, and the second data is subjected to coordinate conversion processing for display. An image generating means for generating third data, and any one of the first data, the second data, and the third data is obtained at a predetermined time, and is of interest An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising data thinning means for extracting and storing and / or displaying data included in a region.

  In the present invention, the first data corresponds to “RF data”, the second data corresponds to “data after signal processing”, and the third data corresponds to “ultrasound image data”. Of these data, any data is subjected to a thinning process. Specifically, data included in a region of interest is extracted spatially, and data obtained at a predetermined time is extracted temporally. Then, the extracted data is stored in a storage device or displayed on a display device.

  For example, when the thinning process is performed on the RF data which is the first data, the extracted data may be stored as it is, but the B mode is applied to the extracted first data (RF data). Processing is performed in any one of a processing system, a Doppler mode processing system, and a color mode processing system to generate data after signal processing. The signal-processed data is stored in the storage device, and further coordinate conversion processing is performed to generate ultrasonic image data for display and display it on the display device. When the second data is extracted, the extracted data is stored in the storage device, and coordinate conversion is performed to generate ultrasonic image data for display. As described above, by performing the thinning process on the first or second data, the amount of data to be processed thereafter is reduced, so that the entire processing time can be shortened.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an electrocardiogram waveform collecting means for collecting electrocardiogram waveform data of the subject, wherein the data thinning means comprises: For any one of the first data, the second data, and the third data, data is extracted based on the electrocardiographic waveform data, and the region of interest of the extracted data The data contained therein is extracted and stored and / or displayed.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an interval between two R waves in the electrocardiographic waveform data is one cycle, and differs depending on a time zone in the one cycle. It is characterized by extracting and storing and / or displaying numerical data.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the one cycle is divided into a systole and a diastole of the heart, and the number of different in the systole and the diastole. Data is extracted and stored and / or displayed.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the data thinning means extracts and stores and / or displays all data collected during the systole, and performs the expansion. The data collected in the period is extracted and stored and / or displayed every predetermined time.

  The invention according to claim 6 transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject to which an ultrasonic contrast agent mainly composed of microbubbles is administered, and receives an echo signal including a reflected wave from the ultrasonic contrast agent. An ultrasonic probe that performs processing including a delay time on the echo signal to generate first data, and performs processing including detection processing and logarithmic conversion processing on the first data Data representing morphological information of the tissue of the subject generated by the above, data representing blood flow information generated by performing processing including extraction processing and FFT processing of Doppler shift frequency components from the first data, Alternatively, second data composed of any one of data representing blood flow information generated by performing processing including autocorrelation processing and flow velocity calculation processing on the first data is generated. An image generating means for generating a third data for display by performing a coordinate conversion process on the second data, and the first data, the second data, or the third data Ultrasound diagnosis, comprising: second data thinning means for extracting and storing data based on luminance representing the degree of staining of the third data for display with respect to any data Device.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the second data thinning-out means is a frame of the third data for display generated by the image generating means. A luminance value calculating means for calculating an average luminance value or a total luminance value for each frame and calculating a difference in average luminance value or a total luminance value from the previous frame; and a difference in the average luminance value or the total luminance Brightness value comparison means for comparing the difference between the values and a predetermined value set in advance to determine the magnitude relationship, the first data, the second data, or the third data The data is extracted and stored when the difference in the average luminance value or the difference in the total luminance value is equal to or greater than the predetermined value. .

  The invention according to claim 8 is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the luminance value calculation means is included in a region of interest set for the third data for display. An average luminance value or a total luminance value for each frame of data is calculated, and a difference in average luminance value or a total luminance value from the previous frame is calculated.

  The invention according to claim 9 is the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7 or claim 8, wherein the second data thinning-out means is the first data, the second data, Alternatively, when any of the third data is stored, an identifiable frame number is added and stored.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, any one of the first data (RF data), the second data (data after signal processing), or the third data (ultrasound image data) is processed. By setting the time and region of interest and performing the thinning process, only the data in the range necessary for diagnosis can be extracted and saved, enabling efficient data collection and reducing the data capacity. Become. In particular, by performing the thinning process on the first data or the second data, the amount of data to be processed thereafter is reduced, so that the processing time can be shortened, and at the same time, the circuit scale. Can be reduced.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, any one of the first to third data is necessary for diagnosis by extracting and storing and / or displaying the data based on the electrocardiographic waveform data. Efficient data can be collected efficiently. Furthermore, according to the invention described in claim 3, by extracting data based on the movements of the systole and diastole of the heart, it is possible to sufficiently store data in a necessary time zone, which is necessary for diagnosis. Efficient data can be collected efficiently. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, by changing the number of data to be extracted depending on the time zone, it is possible to collect data more reflecting the motion of the heart, and the data collection becomes more efficient.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to collect data reflecting the degree of staining by extracting data based on the degree of staining (luminance value) of the ultrasonic image in contrast echo examination, and quantitative evaluation is possible. It is possible to efficiently collect the data used for. Furthermore, according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by extracting data based on the difference between the average luminance value or the synthesized luminance value between frames and the threshold value, data in a time zone in which there is a large change in shadow (detailed observation) Data can be collected efficiently.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, calculating the luminance value of the data included in the region of interest reduces the amount of data compared to calculating the luminance value of the entire data, so the calculation time can be shortened. It becomes.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is easy to discriminate the data subjected to the sampling process by attaching the frame number reflecting the data collection time to the data and storing it.

  Hereinafter, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12.

[First Embodiment]
(Constitution)
First, the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment includes an ultrasonic probe 1, a transmission / reception circuit 2, a signal processing circuit 3, a DSC circuit 4 (digital scan converter circuit), and data selection. The circuit 5, a thinning circuit 6, a display device 7, a control unit 8, an electrocardiograph (ECG) 9, an operation unit 10, and a storage device 11 are configured.

  The ultrasonic probe 1 has a plurality of transducers (piezoelectric ceramics) arranged in the scanning direction, transmits ultrasonic waves to the subject, and receives reflected waves from the subject as echo signals.

  The transmission / reception circuit 2 includes a transmission unit that drives the ultrasonic probe 1 and a reception unit that receives a signal from the ultrasonic probe 1.

  The transmission unit includes a clock generation circuit, a transmission delay circuit, and a pulsar circuit (not shown). The clock generation circuit is a circuit that generates a clock signal that determines the transmission timing and transmission frequency of the ultrasonic signal. The transmission delay circuit is a circuit that performs transmission focus with a delay when transmitting ultrasonic waves. The pulsar circuit incorporates pulsars corresponding to the number of individual paths (channels) corresponding to each transducer, generates a drive pulse at a delayed transmission timing, and supplies it to each transducer of the ultrasonic probe 1. It has become.

  The receiving unit includes a preamplifier circuit, an A / D conversion circuit, and a reception delay / adder circuit (not shown). The preamplifier circuit amplifies the echo signal output from each transducer of the ultrasonic probe 1 for each reception channel. The A / D converter circuit A / D converts the amplified echo signal. The reception delay / adder circuit gives a delay time necessary for determining the reception directivity to the echo signal after A / D conversion, and adds the delay time. By the addition, the reflection component from the direction according to the reception directivity is emphasized. The signal added by the transmission / reception circuit 2 is referred to as “RF data (or raw data)”. The RF data corresponds to “first data” of the present invention.

  The signal processing circuit 3 includes a B mode processing circuit 3a, a Doppler processing circuit 3b, and a color mode processing circuit 3c. The RF data output from the transmission / reception circuit 2 is subjected to predetermined processing in any processing circuit. The data processed by the signal processing circuit 3 corresponds to “second data” of the present invention.

  The B-mode processing circuit 3a performs band-pass filter processing on the RF data, then detects the envelope of the output signal, and performs compression processing by logarithmic conversion on the detected data. In addition, processing such as edge enhancement may be performed.

  The Doppler processing circuit 3b includes a phase detection circuit, an FFT operation circuit, and the like. The Doppler processing circuit 3b extracts Doppler shift frequency components from the RF data, and performs FFT processing and the like to generate data having blood flow information.

  The color mode processing circuit 3c includes a phase detection circuit, an MTI filter, an autocorrelator, and a flow velocity / dispersion calculator. The color mode processing circuit 3c performs high-pass filter processing (MTI filter processing) for separating tissue signals and blood flow signals, and blood flow information such as blood flow velocity, dispersion, and power by autocorrelation processing. For multiple points. In addition, non-linear processing for reducing and reducing tissue signals may be performed.

  The DSC circuit 4 (digital scan converter) converts the data after signal processing represented by the scanning line signal sequence output from the signal processing circuit 3 described above into coordinate system data based on spatial information (scan conversion processing). ). That is, the scanning method is converted by reading out in synchronization with the standard television scanning so that the signal sequence synchronized with the ultrasonic scanning can be displayed on the display device 7 of the television scanning method. The data after being converted into the orthogonal coordinate system is referred to as ultrasonic image data.

  When scan conversion processing is performed on the data output from the B-mode processing circuit 3a, tomographic image data representing the tissue shape of the subject is obtained. In addition, when scan conversion processing is performed on data output from the Doppler processing circuit 3b or the color mode processing circuit 3c, blood flow velocity information or the like is obtained as Doppler data or color flow data. The ultrasonic image data corresponds to “third data” of the present invention, and more specifically, tomographic image data, Doppler data, and color flow data correspond to “third data” of the present invention. .

  The color flow data is synthesized with the tomographic image data by a synthesis circuit (not shown), and a blood flow information image with the tomographic image as a background is obtained as a CFM (color flow mapping) image and output to the display device 7. The CFM images obtained by the B mode processing circuit 3a and the color mode processing circuit 3c are displayed on the display device 7 in which the tomographic image portion is displayed in black and white, and the blood flow information image portion is displayed in color. The image portion can be selectively displayed.

  The data selection circuit 5 receives the RF data output from the transmission / reception circuit 2, the signal-processed data output from the signal processing circuit 3, and the ultrasound image data output from the DSC circuit 4. The data selection circuit 5 selects data to be thinned by the thinning circuit 6 in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 10.

  The thinning circuit 6 receives the RF data, the signal-processed data, or the ultrasonic image data output from the data selection circuit 5 and performs a thinning process. This thinning-out process is a process of extracting data according to a predetermined condition and storing or displaying it. The operation of the thinning circuit 6 will be described in detail later.

  The display device 7 is a monitor that displays the ultrasonic image output from the DSC circuit 4. A CFM image in which the tomographic image of the subject and the blood flow information image described above are combined is displayed.

  The control unit 8 controls the operation of each circuit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The operation unit 10 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a TCS (Touch Command Screen), or the like. The operation unit 10 is connected to the control unit 8 and inputs various instructions, commands, and information from the operator to the apparatus main body. It is also used when setting a region of interest (ROI).

  An electrocardiograph (ECG) 9 measures a graph that records temporal changes in electrical phenomena of the subject's heart, that is, an electrocardiogram. The electrocardiographic waveform signal detected by the electrocardiograph 9 is output to the thinning circuit 6 and used as a reference for the timing of the thinning process. The electrocardiographic waveform signal is also output to the display device 7 and displayed as an electrocardiographic waveform on the display device 7 if necessary. The electrocardiograph 9 corresponds to the “electrocardiogram waveform collecting means” of the present invention.

  In addition, a storage device 11 including a memory and a hard disk is installed in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and data after signal processing output from the signal processing circuit 3 and ultrasonic image data output from the DSC circuit 4 are stored in the storage device. Memorized and saved.

  Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operations of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment in order. 3 to 5 are diagrams for explaining the data thinning rate. In the present embodiment, an example in which electrocardiographic waveform data of a subject is acquired using the electrocardiograph 9 and data thinning processing is performed on the basis of the electrocardiographic waveform data will be described. The present invention is not limited to the one using an electrocardiograph.

  First, the electrocardiogram waveform data of the subject is collected by the electrocardiograph 9, and the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 1 to the subject, and the reflected wave from the subject is received as an echo signal (step S01). ). That is, echo signals are collected in synchronization with the electrocardiogram waveform. The electrocardiographic waveform data collected by the electrocardiograph 9 is outputted to the thinning circuit 6, and the echo signal collected by the ultrasonic probe 1 is outputted to the transmission / reception circuit 2.

  The echo signal input to the transmission / reception circuit 2 is amplified for each reception channel by the reception unit of the transmission / reception circuit 2, and then given a delay time necessary to determine reception directivity, and further added to the RF data. Is generated (step S02). This RF data is output to the signal processing circuit 3 and also to the data selection circuit 5.

  The RF data input to the signal processing circuit 3 is processed by any one of the B-mode processing circuit 3a, the Doppler processing circuit 3b, and the color mode processing circuit 3c to generate data after signal processing ( Step S03). In the B-mode processing circuit 3a, envelope detection and logarithmic conversion processing are performed to generate data representing a tomographic image. In the Doppler processing circuit 3b, the Doppler shift frequency component is extracted, and further subjected to FFT processing to generate data representing blood flow information. In the color mode processing circuit 3c, blood flow information is obtained by performing autocorrelation processing or the like. The signal-processed data generated by the signal processing circuit 3 is output to the DSC circuit 4 and also to the data selection circuit 5.

  The signal-processed data input to the DSC circuit 4 is converted into orthogonal coordinate system data based on the spatial information to be displayed on the display device 7, and ultrasonic image data is generated (step S04). The ultrasonic image data is output to the data selection circuit 5.

  Next, in order to perform the thinning process in the thinning circuit 6, the operator inputs conditions regarding the thinning process from the operation unit 10 (step S05). Specifically, the thinning rate, the number of thinnings, etc. with respect to the time spanning the space are set from the operation unit 10. This condition will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3 shows the spatial thinning rate of each data. 3A and 3B are for RF data and data after signal processing, and FIGS. 3C and 3D are for ultrasonic image data. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an area from which data is extracted.

  First, referring to FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), description will be given of setting conditions for thinning processing when RF data and data after signal processing are thinned. FIG. 3A is a graph showing the thinning rate in the depth direction, and FIG. 3B is a graph showing the thinning rate in the scanning line direction.

  Here, the depth direction and the scanning line direction will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows data after signal processing (referred to herein as ultrasonic raster data). A point O indicates the position of the ultrasonic probe 1. The depth is represented by the distance from the point O in the direction in which the ultrasonic wave is transmitted. The scanning line direction is represented by the direction between ultrasonic beams (scanning lines).

As shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4, first, a range in the depth direction and the scanning line direction is designated in order to set a region from which data is extracted. Specifically, the depth direction is to specify a range of depths D _{a ~} depth D _b, the scanning line direction, the R _a-th to R _b-th range of the ultrasonic beam (the scanning line) specify.

  Next, the thinning rate is specified. For example, when the thinning rate of a certain area is “100”, this thinning rate means thinning without extracting data included in the range. On the other hand, when the thinning rate of a certain area is “1”, it means that data included in the area is extracted and collected, and the thinning process is not performed.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the thinning rate is set to “1” in the range of the depth D _a to the depth D _b , and the thinning rate is set to “100” otherwise. That is, in the depth D _a to the depth D _b , data is extracted and collected, thinning is not performed, and data included in other ranges is thinned and data is not extracted.

Similarly, in the scanning line direction shown in FIG. 3B, since the thinning rate is set to “1” for the scanning lines from the _Ra-th line to the _Rb-th line, data is extracted and collected. Since no thinning is performed and the thinning rate is set to “100” in other areas, data thinning is performed and data is not extracted.

  Next, setting of thinning process conditions when thinning ultrasonic image data will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3C is a graph showing the thinning rate in the line direction (lateral direction) of the ultrasonic image data, and FIG. 3D is a graph showing the thinning rate in the pixel direction (depth direction) of the ultrasonic image data. It is. Note that the line direction (horizontal direction) and the pixel direction (depth direction) are orthogonal to each other. When expressed in a general two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system, the line direction (horizontal direction) is expressed in the X direction, and the pixel direction ( (Depth direction) is represented by the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction.

As shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, first, a range in the line direction (lateral direction) and the pixel direction (depth direction) is designated in order to set an area from which data is extracted. Specifically, the range of L _{a to} L _b is designated for the line direction (lateral direction), and the range of P _{a to} P _b is designated for the pixel direction (depth direction).

Next, the thinning rate is specified. As shown in FIG. 3C, the thinning rate is set to “1” in the range of L _{a to} L _b , and the thinning rate is set to “100” in other cases. That is, in L _{a to} L _b , data is extracted and collected, thinning is not performed, and data included in other ranges is thinned and data is not extracted.

Similarly, in the pixel direction (depth direction) shown in FIG. 3D, since the thinning rate is set to “1” for P _{a to} P _b , data is extracted and collected, and thinning is performed. Since no thinning rate is set to “100” in other areas, data thinning is performed and data is not extracted.

  Furthermore, the time for performing the thinning process is also set. In the present embodiment, data thinning processing is performed based on electrocardiographic waveform data. When data thinning processing is performed based on electrocardiographic waveform data, an R wave that is detected as a waveform having the maximum intensity in electrocardiographic synchronization is used as a reference waveform. The thinning rate in the time direction will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5A, the horizontal axis indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates the level of the electrocardiographic synchronization signal (R wave).

  A period from when an R wave is detected until the next R wave is detected is defined as one cycle. During this cycle, there is a cardiac systole and diastole. The systolic and diastolic phases vary depending on the individual patient. By detecting the start / end time of deflation and the start / end time of expansion in advance, which time zone of one cycle is the systolic phase and which time zone It is possible to determine whether is in diastole. As shown in FIG. 5A, the contraction starts after a predetermined time from the detection of the R wave, and the contraction ends and the expansion starts after the predetermined time. This cycle is examined in advance, a thinning rate is determined according to the systole and diastole, and a thinning process is performed.

  An example of the thinning rate is shown in FIG. For example, during the systole, since the heart motion is relatively fast, data is extracted and collected without performing thinning, and during the diastole, the heart motion is relatively slow and data is not extracted and thinning processing is performed. In this example, the thinning rate of the systole is set to “1” so that no thinning is performed, and the thinning rate of the diastole is set to “50”.

  FIG. 5C shows an example showing the correspondence between the thinning rate and the actual number of thinned data. Since thinning is not performed when the thinning rate is “1”, all data obtained during this time period is collected. On the other hand, in a time zone where the thinning rate is “50”, for example, one frame of data is thinned out of two frames. That is, out of two frames, one frame of data is extracted and collected. This setting is also performed from the operation unit 10. In this example, data of one frame is extracted and collected out of two frames, but this number may be changed. For example, it may be set so that data of one frame is extracted and collected out of three frames. The “frame” here means a series of data strings for obtaining one tomographic image.

  In this embodiment, the thinning process is performed in units of frames. However, when thinning processes are performed on RF data or data after signal processing, the thinning processes may be performed in units of scanning lines. . The setting of the number of scanning lines is also performed by the operation unit 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, in the time zone where the thinning rate is “50”, data on one scanning line is thinned out of two scanning lines. That is, the data on the scanning line is extracted and stored at the rate of one of the two scanning lines (data on the scanning line is stored every other scanning line). Further, instead of storing all the data on the scanning line, the data may be extracted and stored at a predetermined interval in the depth direction.

  When various conditions of the thinning process are set by the operation unit 10, data to be thinned out is selected (step S06). This selection is performed by the operator using the operation unit 10. The operator selects data to be thinned out of RF data, data after signal processing, or ultrasonic image data.

When the data to be thinned is selected, the data is thinned according to the conditions set above (step S07). For example, it is assumed that ultrasonic image data is selected as a thinning target, and thinning conditions according to FIGS. 3C, 3D, and 5 are set. In this case, the thinning process is performed within the spatial range shown in FIGS. That is, the data in the specified range is left, and the data in the other area is not displayed on the display device 7 and is not stored in the storage device 11. Specifically, in L _{a to} L _b , data is extracted and collected, thinning is not performed, and data included in other ranges is thinned and data is not extracted. In addition, since the thinning rate is set to “1” for P _{a to} P _b , data is extracted and collected and thinning is not performed, and the thinning rate is set to “100” in the other areas. Therefore, the data is thinned out and the data is not extracted.

  Further, the thinning process is performed in the time range shown in FIG. That is, the thinning process is not performed on the ultrasonic image data collected in the systole, and is displayed on the display device 7 and further stored in the storage device 11.

  On the other hand, for the ultrasonic image data collected in the diastole, one frame is thinned out. That is, ultrasonic image data is extracted and collected every other frame, and the ultrasonic image data is displayed and stored.

  In this way, by performing data thinning processing based on the heart motion, it is possible to save the data reflecting the heart motion, so the data in the required time zone can be saved sufficiently and is unnecessary. By performing a thinning process for data in various time zones, the efficiency of data collection can be improved.

  The ultrasonic image data subjected to the thinning process is output to the display device 7 and the storage device 11, displayed on the monitor of the display device 7, and stored / saved in the storage device 11 (step S08). On the other hand, RF data that has not been subjected to thinning and data after signal processing are stored in the storage device 11 as they are.

  If RF data is selected as a thinning target instead of ultrasound image data in step S06, the thinned RF data is output to the signal processing circuit 3 to generate signal-processed data, and further DSC. It is converted into ultrasonic image data by the circuit 4 and displayed on the monitor of the display device 7 (step S08). When the data after signal processing is selected as a thinning target, the data after signal processing after thinning is output to the DSC circuit 4, converted into ultrasonic image data, and displayed on the monitor of the display device 7 (step). S08).

  By using RF data or ultrasonic raster data as a thinning target in this way, it is possible to shorten the time in subsequent processing. That is, the RF data is subjected to predetermined processing by the signal processing circuit 3 and the DSC circuit 4 until it is displayed on the display device 7, but the number of data of the RF data after the thinning processing is reduced. The number of data to be processed by the signal processing circuit 3 and the DSC circuit 4 is reduced, and accordingly, the processing time in the signal processing circuit 3 and the DSC circuit 4 can be reduced. The same applies to data after signal processing. In this case, since the number of data processed by the DSC circuit 4 decreases, the processing time in the DSC circuit 4 can be shortened.

  Next, an example in which the setting of the temporal thinning rate is different will be described with reference to FIG. This example is a setting example of a thinning rate corresponding to the systole and diastole of the heart. In the example described above, the decimation rate is set constant within the systole and within the diastole, but in this example, the decimation rate is changed even within the same systole and diastole. Yes. By changing the thinning rate, it is possible to store data that more reflects the movement of the heart.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, the thinning rate is set high in the initial stage of the systole, and the thinning rate is gradually lowered to set the thinning rate to “1” around the middle stage of the systole. . Furthermore, the decimation rate is gradually set higher from the intermediate period toward the end of the systole (the initial diastole). Specifically, the thinning rate is set to “20” to “30” at the initial stage of the systole, and the thinning rate is set to “20” to “30” at the end of the systole (the initial stage of the diastole). ing.

  On the other hand, the thinning rate is set low in the initial stage of the expansion period, and the thinning ratio is gradually increased to set the thinning ratio to “100” in the middle period of the expansion period. Furthermore, the thinning rate is gradually set lower from the intermediate period to the end stage of the diastole (initial stage of the systole). Specifically, the thinning rate is set to “20” to “30” at the beginning of the diastole (end of systole), and the thinning rate is set to “50” to “60” at the end of the diastole. ing.

  FIG. 6C shows the correspondence between the thinning rate and the number of data actually thinned. In this example, as in the example described above, the thinning unit is the number of frames. When the thinning rate is “1”, no thinning is performed. In the initial stage and the end stage of the systole, data of 2 frames are thinned out among 3 frames (indicated by “2/3” in the figure). In addition, after the initial stage of the diastole, 3 frames of data are thinned out (displayed as “3/4”). In the vicinity of the middle period of the diastole, 7 frames of data are thinned out of 8 frames (displayed as “7/8”). Then, in the vicinity of the end of the diastole, 3 frames of data are thinned out (displayed as “3/4”).

  In this way, by setting the thinning rate finely based on the motion of the heart, it becomes possible to store data more reflecting the motion of the heart, and the data collection becomes more efficient.

  When the temporal thinning rate is set, the processing of steps S06 to S08 is performed as described above, and the data thinning processing is performed.

  The thinning rate in the present invention is not limited to the examples shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and various thinning rates can be set. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, in the end stage of the systole (the initial stage of the diastole), the thinning rate is set to near “100”, and the middle stage of the diastole from the initial stage of the diastole (the end stage of the systole) The thinning rate may be gradually lowered toward the period, the thinning rate may be set to “1” in the intermediate period of the diastole, and the thinning rate may be gradually set higher toward the end stage of the diastole.

  As described above, it is possible to reduce the data capacity by designating the region of interest, thinning out the data outside the range, collecting and displaying only the data within the necessary range, and displaying and storing it. Furthermore, by changing the thinning rate based on the electrocardiographic waveform data, it is possible to extract and store data in accordance with the heart motion, so that data can be efficiently collected.

  In the present embodiment, the thinning process is performed based on the electrocardiographic waveform data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the operator can arbitrarily specify the time for performing the thinning process. In this case, the thinning time is designated from the operation unit 10 as if the spatial thinning rate was set. Such designation can be performed on all of the RF data, the data after signal processing, and the ultrasonic image data.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, components having substantially the same functions and configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be provided only when necessary.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment is an apparatus that injects a contrast agent into a subject and observes the appearance of the shadow. As shown in FIG. 8, in addition to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the first embodiment, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment includes a VCR 12, a timing control circuit 13, a luminance value calculation circuit 14, and a luminance. A value comparison circuit 15 is provided. Although not shown, the operation of each circuit is controlled by a control circuit. In the present embodiment, the data selection circuit 5, the thinning circuit 6, and the electrocardiograph 9 are not provided.

  The VCR 12 records an ultrasonic image obtained by performing the scan conversion process in the DSC circuit 4. Specifically, the state of staining with the contrast agent is recorded. The timing control circuit 13 is a circuit that instructs processing timing in the transmission / reception circuit 2, the signal processing circuit 3, and the DSC circuit 4.

  The luminance value calculation circuit 14 calculates the degree of staining (luminance value) of the ultrasonic image data generated by the DSC circuit 4. For example, an average luminance value or a total luminance value is calculated. Here, the total luminance value is a value obtained by summing the luminance values (shading degrees) at each point of the ultrasonic image data, and the average luminance value is a value obtained by dividing the total luminance value by the number of points. is there. The luminance value calculation circuit 14 further calculates the difference between the frames of the average luminance value or the total luminance value. For example, the difference between the luminance value of the ultrasonic image data currently collected and displayed on the display device 7 and the luminance value of the ultrasonic image data one frame before is calculated. The luminance value calculation circuit 14 corresponds to “luminance value calculation means” of the present invention.

  The luminance value comparison circuit 15 compares the difference between the average luminance value or the composite luminance value calculated by the luminance value calculation circuit 14 with a preset value (threshold value), and determines which value is greater. . This preset value (threshold value) serves as a reference in the thinning process, and when the difference of the average luminance value or the difference of the total luminance value calculated by the luminance value calculation circuit 14 is smaller than the threshold value. Do not store / save data. On the other hand, if the difference between the average luminance values or the difference between the total luminance values is greater than or equal to the threshold value, the data is extracted and stored / saved. The luminance value comparison circuit 15 corresponds to “luminance value comparison means” of the present invention.

  This preset value (threshold value) is obtained empirically, and is obtained, for example, from a curve of the degree of staining (luminance) with respect to time. Specifically, it is determined from the slope of the luminance change curve shown in FIG. When the slope of this curve is large, the change in shadow per unit time is large, and when the slope is small, the change in shadow is small. Therefore, since there is little need for data in a time zone with a small change, data is thinned out, and data in a time zone with a big change is often necessary, so data is extracted and stored and saved, and data is not thinned out I will decide. That is, in a time zone in which the change is large, it is necessary to observe the detailed state of the dyeing, and a lot of data is necessary for quantitative evaluation. Therefore, the data is extracted and stored and stored without performing thinning. A preset value (threshold value) is input by the operation unit 10 and is output to the luminance value comparison circuit 15 via a control circuit (not shown).

  A signal indicating the determination result is output from the luminance value comparison circuit 15 to the timing control circuit 13, and the timing control circuit 13 stores or thins out data after signal processing in the signal processing circuit 3 based on the determination result. The instruction is output as follows.

  Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operations of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the second embodiment in order. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a state of staining with a contrast agent. FIG. 11 is a graph showing the change in the degree of staining over time. FIG. 12 is a graph showing a temporal change in the degree of staining created based on the data after the thinning process.

  First, an ultrasonic contrast agent mainly composed of microbubbles is administered to a subject. For example, an ultrasound contrast agent is injected from the vein of the subject. Then, an ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 1 to the subject, and a reflected wave from the subject is received as an echo signal. This reflected wave includes a reflected wave from the ultrasonic contrast agent. The transmission / reception circuit 2 generates RF data based on the echo signal as described above, and outputs the RF data to the signal processing circuit 3. In the signal processing circuit 3, processing corresponding to each mode is performed, and data after signal processing is generated and output to the DSC circuit 4. Then, ultrasonic image data is generated by the DSC circuit 4 and output to the luminance value detection circuit 14 (step S21).

  Further, the signal-processed data is output to the DSC circuit 4 and is also output to a buffer 16a installed between the storage device 11 and the signal processing circuit 3 and temporarily stored. In this way, the data after signal processing is temporarily stored in the buffer 16a because the frame of ultrasonic image data to be subjected to luminance calculation to be performed later and the frame of data after signal processing to be stored are stored. This is because they match. Further, the ultrasonic image data is output to the luminance value calculation circuit 14, is also output to the display device 7 and the VCR 12, and is displayed on the monitor of the display device 7.

The luminance value calculation circuit 14 calculates an average luminance value or a combined luminance value of the ultrasonic image data (Step S22). Subsequently, the difference between each frame of the average luminance value or the total luminance value is calculated. Specifically, the difference between the luminance value of the ultrasonic image data currently displayed on the display device 7 and the luminance value of the ultrasonic image data one frame before is calculated. This difference is expressed by the following formulas (1) and (2).
Expression (1) When using average luminance value Difference of average luminance value = Average luminance value F _N −Average luminance value F _N−1
Here, the average luminance value F _N is the average luminance value of the ultrasonic image data currently displayed on the display device 7, and the average luminance value F _N-1 is the average luminance value of the ultrasonic image data one frame before. is there.
Formula (2) When using the total luminance value Difference of total luminance value = total luminance value F _N −total luminance value F _N−1
Here, the total luminance value F _N is the total luminance value of the ultrasonic image data currently displayed on the display device 7, and the total luminance value F _N-1 is the total luminance value of the ultrasonic image data of the previous frame. is there.
Since each frame corresponds to each time of ultrasonic image data collection, the difference between the frames corresponds to the slope of the luminance change curve described above. In other words, the difference between frames represents a change in luminance value over time.

Next, the luminance value comparison circuit 15 compares the difference between the average luminance values or the difference between the total luminance values with a preset value (threshold value), and determines the magnitude (step S23). Expressions (3) and (4) show the relationship between the magnitude relationship and the thinning process.
Thinned out in the case of the threshold value t _h of the difference <the average luminance value of the average luminance value is not performed thinning if threshold t _h of the difference ≧ average luminance value when the average luminance values using equation (3) the average luminance value here, the threshold value t _h of the average brightness value is a preset value.
Thinned out in the case of the threshold value t _h of the difference <the total luminance value of the total luminance value is not performed thinning if threshold t _h of the difference ≧ total luminance value when the total luminance value using Equation (4) Total luminance value here, the threshold value t _h total luminance value is a preset value.

A case where the average luminance value is used will be described. When the luminance value comparison circuit 15 determines that “average luminance value difference ≧ average luminance value threshold value t _h ” (step S24, Yes), the luminance value comparison circuit 15 determines to extract and store the data after signal processing. Then, the determination result is output to the timing control circuit 13. The difference between frames represents the time variation of the luminance values, because it corresponds to the slope of the luminance variation curve, by comparing the difference between the threshold t _h a frame is determined from the slope, the change in luminance The reflected data can be extracted and stored.

  In response to the determination result, the timing control circuit 13 outputs an instruction to the signal processing circuit 3 to store the data after the signal processing. In response to the instruction, the signal processing circuit 3 outputs the signal-processed data temporarily stored in the buffer 16a to the storage device 11, and the storage device 11 stores the signal-processed data (step). S25). As described above, by storing the signal-processed data corresponding to the ultrasound image data to be subjected to luminance calculation in the buffer 16a, the signal-processed data based on the ultrasound image data is stored. It can be stored in the device 11.

On the other hand, when the luminance value comparison circuit 15 determines that “difference in average luminance value <threshold value t _h of average luminance value” (No in step S24), the luminance value comparison circuit 15 thins out without extracting data after signal processing. The determination result is output to the timing control circuit 13.

  In response to the determination result, the timing control circuit 13 outputs an instruction to the signal processing circuit 3 so as to thin out the data after the signal processing. In response to the instruction, the signal processing circuit 3 performs data thinning by deleting the signal-processed data temporarily stored in the buffer 16a (step S26).

  As described above, by determining the thinning based on the degree of staining (luminance value), it is possible to efficiently store data necessary for quantitative evaluation using the degree of staining. In other words, the data after signal processing is stored in order to observe the detailed state of the shadow in a time zone where the change in the degree of staining is large, and a lot of data is unnecessary in the time zone where the change is small. By performing the thinning process, it is possible to collect data reflecting the degree of shadowing, and it is possible to efficiently store and save data necessary for quantitative evaluation.

  In addition, in order to facilitate the confirmation of the difference in the degree of staining (luminance value) and reduce the amount of calculation in the luminance value calculation circuit 14, a region of interest (ROI) is set on the ultrasonic image, and the region of interest (ROI) Only the luminance values in () may be calculated by the luminance value calculation circuit 14.

  When setting a region of interest (ROI), a region of interest setting circuit (not shown) connected to the operation unit 10 and the display device 7 is provided. The region of interest setting circuit displays a region of interest (ROI) having a predetermined area on the monitor of the display device 7 when the operator operates the mouse, the trackball, or the like of the operation unit 10.

  FIG. 10 shows a display example when a region of interest is set. As shown in FIG. 10, a region to be shaded is designated as a region of interest (ROI). FIG. 10 (a) shows the staining immediately after the contrast agent is injected, and FIG. 10 (b) shows the state in which the degree of staining has further advanced. The luminance value calculation means 14 calculates the average luminance value or the total luminance value in the region of interest (ROI) shown in FIG. Since the amount of data to be calculated is small, the amount of calculation is reduced, and the time for calculating the average luminance value or the like is shortened.

  In addition, when generating the ultrasonic image data based on the signal-processed data stored in the storage device 11, the frame number is counted and extracted so that it can be determined which frame has been thinned out. The frame number is stored simultaneously with the data after signal processing.

  For example, a counter (not shown) for counting frame numbers is connected to the timing control circuit 13, and the number is counted for each frame. Specifically, data collection is started by transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves, the number of the first frame is counted as “1”, and the frame number is attached to the data after signal processing via the timing control circuit 13. It is given as information.

  Then, the luminance value calculation circuit 14 and the luminance value comparison circuit 15 determine whether or not thinning is performed, and store or delete the data after the signal processing as described above. When storing data after signal processing, the frame number corresponding to the data after signal processing is stored in association with the data after signal processing.

  When ultrasonic image data is generated based on the signal-processed data stored in the storage device 11 to evaluate the staining degree, a luminance curve of the staining degree is drawn according to the frame number. The luminance curve is shown in FIG. Since the frame number corresponds to the time of data collection, based on the frame number assigned to each data after signal processing, the data after that signal processing is collected after how long it has started. It can be judged whether it was.

  In FIG. 12, the horizontal axis indicates the time obtained from the frame number. Thus, by assigning a frame number when storing data after signal processing, it becomes possible to determine the data after signal processing that has been subjected to the thinning process, and the data is stored even if the thinning process is performed. It is possible to create a luminance change curve based on the data after the signal processing.

  In this embodiment, the signal-processed data is stored / saved, but thinning processing is performed on the RF data output from the transmission / reception circuit 2 or the ultrasonic image data output from the DSC circuit 4. It may be stored and saved.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the ultrasonic diagnosing device which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention in order. It is a figure for demonstrating the range and thinning-out rate of thinning-out data. It is a figure for demonstrating the range which thins out data. It is a figure for demonstrating the thinning-out time and thinning-out rate of data. It is a figure for demonstrating the thinning-out time and thinning-out rate of data. It is a figure for demonstrating the thinning-out time and thinning-out rate of data. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the ultrasonic diagnosing device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the ultrasonic diagnosing device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention in order. It is a figure for demonstrating the mode of the shadow by a contrast agent. It is a graph (luminance change curve) showing the temporal change of the degree of staining (luminance). It is a graph (luminance change curve) showing the temporal change of the degree of staining (luminance) created based on the data after the thinning process.

Explanation of symbols

1 Ultrasonic probe 2 Transmission / reception circuit 3 Signal processing circuit 4 DSC circuit (digital scan converter circuit)
5 Data selection circuit 6 Thinning-out circuit 7 Display device 8 Control circuit 9 Electrocardiograph (ECG)
10 Operation unit 11 Storage device 12 VCR
13 Timing control circuit 14 Luminance value calculation circuit 15 Luminance value comparison circuit

Claims (9)

An ultrasonic probe that transmits ultrasonic waves to the subject and receives reflected waves as echo signals from the subject; and
The echo signal is generated by subjecting the echo signal to processing including provision of a delay time to generate first data, and subjecting the first data to processing including detection processing and logarithmic transformation processing. Data representing the morphology information of the tissue of the specimen, data representing a blood flow state generated by performing processing including extraction processing and FFT processing of Doppler deviation frequency components from the first data, or the first data Among the data representing the blood flow state generated by performing processing including autocorrelation processing and flow velocity calculation processing on the second data consisting of any one of the data, Image generating means for performing coordinate conversion processing to generate third data for display;
With respect to any one of the first data, the second data, and the third data, data obtained at a predetermined time and included in the region of interest is extracted and stored, and / or Or data thinning means for displaying;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: An electrocardiogram waveform collecting means for collecting electrocardiogram waveform data of the subject;
The data thinning means extracts data based on the electrocardiographic waveform data from any one of the first data, the second data, and the third data, and the extracted data The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein data included in a region of interest of the extracted data is extracted and stored and / or displayed.   The interval between two R waves in the electrocardiographic waveform data is defined as one cycle, and a different number of data is extracted and stored and / or displayed according to a time zone in the one cycle. Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.   The ultrasound according to claim 3, wherein the one cycle is divided into a systole and a diastole of the heart, and a different number of data is extracted and stored and / or displayed in the systole and the diastole. Diagnostic device.   The data thinning means extracts and stores and / or displays all the data collected during the systole, and extracts and stores the data collected during the diastole every predetermined time and / or The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is displayed. An ultrasonic probe for transmitting an ultrasonic wave to a subject to which an ultrasonic contrast agent mainly composed of microbubbles is administered and receiving an echo signal including a reflected wave from the ultrasonic contrast agent;
The echo signal is generated by subjecting the echo signal to processing including provision of a delay time to generate first data, and subjecting the first data to processing including detection processing and logarithmic transformation processing. Data representing the morphology information of the tissue of the specimen, data representing blood flow information generated by performing processing including extraction processing of Doppler shift frequency components and FFT processing from the first data, or the first data Among the data representing blood flow information generated by performing processing including autocorrelation processing and flow velocity calculation processing on the second data consisting of any one of the data, Image generating means for performing coordinate conversion processing to generate third data for display;
For any one of the first data, the second data, and the third data, the data is extracted based on the luminance representing the degree of staining of the third data for display. Second data thinning means for storing;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: The second data thinning unit calculates an average luminance value or a total luminance value for each frame of the third data for display generated by the image generating unit, and calculates an average luminance value with respect to the previous frame. A luminance value calculating means for calculating a difference between the two or a total luminance value;
A luminance value comparing means for comparing the difference of the average luminance value or the difference of the total luminance value with a predetermined value to determine a magnitude relationship;
With respect to any one of the first data, the second data, and the third data, the difference between the average luminance values or the difference between the total luminance values is the predetermined value set in advance. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein data is extracted and stored in the above case.   The luminance value calculating means calculates an average luminance value or a total luminance value for each frame of data included in the region of interest set for the third data for display, and calculates the luminance value for the previous frame. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein a difference in average luminance values or a difference in total luminance values is calculated. The second data thinning-out means stores the first data, the second data, or the third data with an identifiable frame number when storing the data. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 7, wherein:

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