JP2006087640A - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a picture becomes rough due to the deterioration of a picture quality in the case of carrying out digital preservation or network distribution of animation such as an M mode picture using a moving picture compression system. <P>SOLUTION: In the case of obtaining such moving picture data of the M mode, or the like, displayed by a scroll system, compressing it through a moving picture compression/depression part 21 and thereafter outputting it to a recording device 22 or a network adaptor 23 to store a digital picture or to distribute the digital picture to a network 26, a detection part 24 detects output of compressed moving picture data like the above, and a control part 17 discriminates the detection according to the detection output, controls a DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) part 14 to switch from the scroll system to a sweep system to obtain the moving picture data made into the sweep system and carries out compressed recording/and distribution of it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that obtains various ultrasonic images useful for medical diagnosis by injecting an ultrasonic beam into the body of a subject, and in particular, the ultrasonic image is scrolled and swept (moving bar). The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can be displayed by a sweep method.

In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, an ultrasonic beam is incident on the body of a subject and a reflected wave is captured, thereby living bodies such as a B-mode image (ultrasonic tomographic image), an M-mode image, a Doppler mode image, or an electrocardiographic waveform. A signal waveform can be obtained. Since the B-mode image is a two-dimensional image and is sequentially obtained in time series, the entire screen is displayed as a moving image while being updated. On the other hand, for biological signal waveforms such as M-mode images, Doppler mode images, and electrocardiographic waveforms, the data itself is obtained in a time series as one-dimensional image data. Are arranged side by side) to form and display a two-dimensional image. As an image update display method that is updated each time new data is obtained, a scroll format or a sweep method can be selected as shown in Patent Document 1 below. ing.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-161685

  In this scroll display, a new one-dimensional image is added to the right end of the screen, and the entire previous image is moved to the left side so that the oldest data located at the left end disappears. Are displayed so as to flow from left to right. Sweep display means that the moving bar moves from left to right like the radar image, the right side is the old image, the left side is the new image, and the latest data is overwritten as the moving bar moves. The display of the image is updated while doing so. When displayed in the scroll format, it is always displayed continuously. Therefore, in the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, it is generally preferred to display the M mode image or the like in the scroll format.

  By the way, the demand for digital storage of moving images obtained by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is rapidly increasing, and at that time, in order to reduce the storage capacity, it is also stored using a moving image compression method such as MPEG2. Yes. Also, when moving images obtained by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus are transferred via a network, a moving image compression method such as MPEG2 is also used in consideration of transmission capacity.

  However, such a moving image compression method such as MPEG2 compresses a limited amount of information by efficiently allocating a limited amount of information to a spatial change and a temporal change of the image. A large amount of information is allocated to the change, and the amount of information on the spatial change of the image is reduced accordingly. That is, when a moving image with motion is compressed by a moving image compression method such as MPEG2, the image itself tends to be displayed coarsely although the image motion is expressed.

  Therefore, when an image displayed in the scroll format is compressed by the moving image compression method, the entire screen is constantly updated in the scroll method, so that there is a disadvantage that the image quality deteriorates and the image becomes rough.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that is improved so as not to cause image quality degradation when digitally storing a moving image such as an M-mode image or network distribution using a moving image compression method. To do.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic data collection unit that obtains data by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves via an ultrasonic probe, and data obtained in time series An image processing unit that obtains image data configured to be sequentially updated and displayed by either the scroll method or the sweep method, and compresses the image data from the image processing unit by a moving image compression method And a compression unit that detects that the image is compressed and output by the compression unit and controls the image compression unit to switch the update display method from the scroll method to the sweep method. Is a feature.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above configuration, the compression / decompression unit that decompresses the compressed data of the moving image and the update display method of the decompressed image data are converted from the sweep method to the scroll method. A conversion processing unit for processing is provided.

  According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 1, image data that displays a moving image such as an M-mode image by a scroll method is obtained from the image processing unit, and the image data is compressed by a moving image compression method. When the image is output to a recording device or network, the image processing unit is controlled so that the scroll method is switched to the sweep method, so that the moving image to be compressed is displayed in the sweep method. Will be. Since the moving image displayed by the sweep method is updated only in the vicinity of the moving bar, the moving part of the image is limited to this part, and the amount of information regarding the time change is small. Therefore, even if the moving image displayed by the sweep method is compressed by the moving image compression method, there is no shortage of information regarding the spatial and spatial changes of the image, and the inconvenience that the image becomes coarse is solved.

  According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus of claim 2, when the compressed data of the moving image formed to be updated and displayed by the sweep method is reproduced from the recording apparatus or sent from others via the network, This compressed data can be decompressed, and the update display method of the decompressed image data can be converted from the sweep method to the scroll method, so that it can be played or transferred as a moving image displayed in the generally preferred scroll method. The displayed M-mode image or the like can be displayed.

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

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe 11, a transmission / reception control unit 12, a signal processing unit 13, a DSC (digital scan converter) unit 14, an image memory 15, and an image display device. 16, a control unit 17, and a keyboard 18. The keyboard 18 is an input device for inputting a photographing mode such as a B mode, an M mode, or a Doppler mode to the control unit 17 configured by a PC or the like. The ultrasonic probe 11 is formed by arranging a large number of ultrasonic transducer elements that generate and receive ultrasonic waves, and is applied to the body surface of a subject (not shown).

  The transmission / reception control unit 12 determines the power and timing of the drive pulse applied to each transducer element of the ultrasonic probe 11 according to the imaging mode under the control of the control unit 12, and delays the reception signal from each transducer element. Perform processing. As a result, a transmission ultrasonic beam formed with a predetermined focal length and directivity from the ultrasonic probe 11 is incident on the subject body, and a reflected wave from the subject body is applied to the predetermined focal length and direction. Received as a received ultrasound beam. By such control, a reception signal of a B mode image and a reception signal such as an M mode / Doppler mode are obtained. The reception signal is A / D converted by the signal processing unit 13 and then subjected to predetermined signal processing. Sent to the unit 14.

  The DSC unit 14 is an image processing unit controlled by the control unit 17. For example, the DSC unit 14 converts data obtained by sector scan into image data having a rectangular display area, M-mode image data, Doppler mode image data, and the like. The one-dimensional image data obtained sequentially in time series is arranged in the time series direction to form one image, and moving image data is configured such that the update display method is a scroll method or a sweep method. The moving image data is stored in the image memory 15 and read out and sent to the image display device 16. In this manner, a B-mode image in which the ultrasonic tomographic image changes with time, a scroll-type or sweep-type M-mode image / Doppler mode image, and the like are displayed as moving images.

  Further, such moving image data is compressed (encoded) by a moving image compression / decompression (encoder / decoder) unit using a moving image compression method such as MPEG2, and a recording device 22 such as a DVD recording device or a network 26. Is output to the network adapter 23 connected to. In this way, the compressed moving image data is recorded or transferred to the network 26.

  The output of the compressed moving image data is detected by the detection unit 24, and the detection output is sent to the control unit 17. Accordingly, the control unit 17 constantly monitors the output of the compressed moving image data, and determines that the compressed moving image data is output or is output. If the update display method in the DSC unit 14 is the scroll method, The DSC unit 14 is controlled to switch to the sweep method. That is, the control unit 14 controls the DSC unit 14 to configure the moving image data by the update display method input from the keyboard 18, and the input update display method is a scroll method. When compressed data of the scroll-type moving image is output, this is changed so that the sweep method is used.

  In the case of the scroll method, since all the images are sequentially moved to the left, the amount of information regarding the temporal change of the image increases, and therefore, when this moving image is compressed, the amount of information representing the spatial change of the image The image becomes rough with less. On the other hand, in the case of the sweep method, since the moving bar moves with time and only the vicinity of the moving bar is updated and displayed, there is little information indicating the temporal change of the image. Therefore, when a moving image is compressed in such a sweep method, a large amount of information can be allocated regarding the spatial change of the image, so that high image quality can be maintained and the image does not appear to be rough.

  It is assumed that the moving image data having the sweep method in this way is compressed and recorded on the recording device 22 and later reproduced. Further, it is assumed that the moving image data having the sweep method as described above is compressed and distributed via the network 26 from another ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus or the like. In this case, the compressed data is first decompressed (decoded) by the moving image compression / decompression unit 21. As a result, the moving image data in the sweep method is reproduced. It is possible to send the moving image data as it is to the image display device 16 and display a sweep type moving image, but here, an update display method conversion processing unit 25 is provided, and under the control of the control unit 17. It is possible to convert from the sweep method to the scroll method.

  In the sweep-type moving image, the elongated part behind the moving bar is displayed to be updated every frame, so only the elongated part behind the moving bar is taken out to form an image. In both cases, when an image is formed so that a portion updated for each frame is added to the right end of the image and the oldest portion at the left end is deleted, a scroll-type image is obtained. Therefore, when such conversion processing is selected by inputting from the keyboard 18 or the like, the control unit 17 controls the update display method conversion processing unit 25 to perform such processing, thereby obtaining a scroll method image. Since this is sent to the image display device 16 and displayed, the moving image displayed by the scroll method can be observed.

  The above is a description of one embodiment, and the specific configuration and the like can be variously changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the DSC unit 14, the moving image compression / decompression unit 21, the detection unit 24, the update display format conversion processing unit 25, and the like can be configured by hardware, but can also be configured by software that operates on one PC. Is possible.

  According to the present invention, when ultrasonic moving image data is compressed by using a moving image compression method such as MPEG2 and recorded or distributed over a network, the image quality is changed so as not to be lost as much as possible. Can be maintained. In addition, when the moving image data in the sweep format is compressed and recorded or distributed over the network, the playback side or the network receiving side can convert the moving image data in the sweep format into the scroll method. Observation is also possible.

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

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Ultrasonic probe 12 ... Transmission / reception control part 13 ... Signal processing part 14 ... DSC part 15 ... Image memory 16 ... Image display device 17 ... Control part 18 ... Keyboard 21 ... Decompression unit 22 ... Recording device 23 ... Network adapter 24 ... Detection unit 25 ... Update display method conversion processing unit 26 ... Network

Claims (2)

  An ultrasonic data collection unit that obtains data by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves via an ultrasonic probe, and data obtained in a time series are arranged and sequentially in either the scroll method or the sweep method An image processing unit that obtains image data configured to be updated and displayed, a compression unit that compresses and outputs image data from the image processing unit using a moving image compression method, and is compressed and output by the compression unit And a control unit that controls the image compression unit to switch the update display method from the scroll method to the sweep method.   2. The compression / decompression unit for decompressing compressed data of a moving image, and a conversion processing unit for converting the update display method of the decompressed image data from a sweep method to a scroll method. Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment.

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