JP2006095289A - Ultrasonic probe diagnosing apparatus and ultrasonic diagnosis apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a maintenance operator easily recognize the location where a fault occurs in an ultrasonic probe. <P>SOLUTION: In an ultrasonic probe diagnosing apparatus to diagnose the ultrasonic probe 200 which has the plural number of channels including ultrasonic vibrators 202a, signal lines 203a to transfer the signals for the ultrasonic vibrators 202a and contacts 201a, and forms a connector 201 by arranging the two or more contacts 201a, a control section 910 examines the two or more channels respectively and makes the result of the examination correspond to the arrangement of the two or more contacts 201a in the connector 201 to exhibit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing an ultrasonic probe used in an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having a function of diagnosing an ultrasonic probe.

  A technique for diagnosing an ultrasonic probe based on a signal received by the ultrasonic probe is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

According to the technique of Patent Document 1, it is possible to diagnose the presence or absence of abnormality for each of a plurality of channels. Further, according to the technique of Patent Document 1, all contents including a signal path number, probe identification, transducer element number, and test time are displayed, and based on this information, a service person (maintenance worker) has a problem. Can be identified.
JP-A-8-238243

  However, the maintenance worker must determine whether the signal path number or transducer element number corresponds to the signal path or transducer provided in the actual ultrasonic probe. There is also a risk of misjudgment.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to allow a maintenance worker to easily recognize the location of a failure in an ultrasonic probe.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of channels including an ultrasonic transducer and signal lines and contacts for transmitting signals related to the ultrasonic transducer, and a plurality of the contacts. In the ultrasonic probe diagnostic apparatus for diagnosing the ultrasonic probes constituting the connector by arranging, the means for inspecting each of the plurality of channels, and the result of the inspection into the arrangement of the plurality of contacts in the connector And presenting means for presenting in association with each other.

  In order to achieve the above object, the second aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of channels including an ultrasonic transducer and a signal line and a contact for transmitting a signal related to the ultrasonic transducer, and a plurality of the contacts. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising an ultrasonic probe arranged to constitute a connector, and obtaining information for diagnosing the subject based on reflected ultrasonic waves from the subject received by the ultrasonic probe, Means for inspecting each of the plurality of channels, and presentation means for presenting the result of the inspection in association with the arrangement of the plurality of contacts in the connector.

  According to these aspects of the present invention, it is possible to make the maintenance worker easily recognize the location of the failure in the ultrasonic probe.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having an ultrasonic probe diagnostic function according to this embodiment.

  This ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a main unit 900 and an ultrasonic probe 200.

  The main unit 900 includes connectors 901, 902, 903, a transmission unit 904, a reception unit 905, a measurement unit 906, a storage medium 907, an interface unit 908, a display processing unit 909, a control unit 910, and a medical diagnosis unit 911.

  A connector 201 is attached to the connector 901. The connector 901 has the same number of contacts 901 a as the contacts 201 a provided on the connector 201. The contacts 901a are arranged so as to contact each of the contacts 201a when the connector 201 is attached to the connector 901. An external device (not shown) is connected to the connector 902 via a communication cable (not shown) such as a USB cable. The external device is a printer, a network, a personal computer, a keyboard, a pointing device, or the like. A monitor device (not shown) is connected to the connector 903 via a monitor cable (not shown).

  The transmission unit 904 transmits an excitation signal for exciting the ultrasonic transducer 202a. The transmission unit 904 can transmit the excitation signals of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 202a in parallel. The receiving unit 905 receives a signal output from the ultrasonic transducer 202a. The receiving unit 905 can receive in parallel the signals output from each of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 202a. The receiving unit 905 outputs the received signal.

  The measurement unit 906 performs a predetermined measurement process based on the reception signal output from the reception unit 905. The measurement unit 906 outputs measurement information obtained by the above measurement process to the storage medium 907, the interface unit 908, the display processing unit 909, and the control unit 910 under the control of the control unit 910. The storage medium 907 is, for example, a semiconductor memory. The storage medium 907 stores various information such as the above measurement information. The interface unit 908 performs communication processing based on, for example, the USB standard, and realizes communication with an external device connected to the connector 902. The display processing unit 909 generates an image signal for displaying an image on the monitor device connected to the connector 903 based on the measurement information and the information given from the control unit 910.

  For example, the control unit 910 includes a microprocessor. The control unit 910 comprehensively controls each unit of the main unit 900 to realize an operation for diagnosis of the ultrasonic probe 200. The control unit 910 has a function of diagnosing the state of each channel based on the voltage of each channel detected by the receiving unit 905 and the measurement result by the measuring unit 906. Further, the control unit 910 performs display processing so as to create display data for graphically displaying the arrangement position in the connector 201 and the above-described inspection result for the channel including the contact 201a for each contact 201a. A function of controlling the unit 909;

  The medical diagnosis unit 911 further includes an imaging control unit 911a, an image generation unit 911b, a memory unit 911c, and a display unit 911d. The imaging control unit 911a controls the transmission unit 904, the reception unit 905, and the image generation unit 911b so that an appropriate imaging process according to the diagnostic content is performed. The image generation unit 911b generates display data representing an image for medical diagnosis based on the signal output from the reception unit 905. The image represented by the display data is a reconstructed image such as a tomographic image or a three-dimensional image related to the organ and blood flow of the subject, or a text image or graph representing a measured value such as blood flow velocity or a change thereof. The memory unit 911c stores the display data. The display unit 911d performs display based on the display data.

  FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of the appearance of the connector 201 in FIG. The connector 201 shown in FIG. 2 has a large number of contacts 201a arranged in a matrix. The connector 201 shown in FIG. 2 has two groups of 15 × 12 matrix contact groups arranged, and has a total of 360 contacts 201a. A signal line 203a is connected to a part of these 360 contacts 201a. For example, if the ultrasonic probe 200 has a 128-channel configuration, 128 signal lines 203a are connected to the 128 contacts 201a, respectively. The other contact 201a is connected to the identification information output unit 204, or connected to a power supply line and a ground line (both not shown in FIG. 1). There are a plurality of types of ultrasonic probes 200 such as those having different numbers of channels. The connector 201 shown in FIG. 2 can be used in common by these multiple models. Accordingly, which of the 360 contacts is connected to the signal line 203a differs depending on the model.

  Next, the operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus configured as described above will be described.

  When performing medical diagnosis on an object using the ultrasonic probe 200, the medical diagnosis unit 911 is enabled to present information useful for medical diagnosis in the same manner as a known ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Can do.

  On the other hand, when it is necessary to diagnose the state of each channel with respect to the ultrasonic probe 200, the control unit 910 determines which of the many contacts 201a of the connector 201 the contact 201a belonging to the channel whose state is to be diagnosed. To do. Specifically, the control unit 910 first reads identification information output from the identification information output unit 204. Then, the control unit 910 determines the model of the ultrasonic probe 200 connected to the connector 901 based on the identification information. The identification information is information for specifying each of the ultrasonic probes 200 and generally does not include information indicating the model. The control unit 910 determines the model of the ultrasonic probe 200 by referring to a database in which model information is described in association with various identification information. The database may be acquired from an external device connected to the connector 902, or may be stored in the storage medium 907. Further, information indicating the model may be included in the identification information, and the model of the ultrasonic probe 200 may be determined directly from this information. Subsequently, the control unit 910 determines each function of the contact 201a in the determined model by referring to the database or another database. If only the ultrasonic probe 200 of the model having the same function of each contact 201a is to be diagnosed, such processing can be omitted.

  The control unit 910 diagnoses the state of each channel to be diagnosed determined as described above. The method of diagnosing the channel condition may be arbitrary. For example, the state of the channel can be diagnosed based on the state of the reflected ultrasonic signal that can be received using each channel. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a test object is placed in a medium such as water in a container such as a water tank, and the ultrasonic transducer 202a is excited. The reflected ultrasonic signal from the test object at this time is received by the receiving unit 905 via the ultrasonic transducer 202a, the signal line 203a, the contact 201a and the contact 901a, and various data relating to the reflected ultrasonic signal are measured. Collect at 906. Then, the control unit 910 determines the state of each channel based on the data collected by the measurement unit 906. Alternatively, based on the transient response characteristics of the voltage of the signal line 203a when a DC voltage is applied to the signal line 203a and the bias voltage output from an electronic circuit (not shown) provided in the ultrasonic probe 200, Can diagnose the condition.

  When the diagnosis for all the channels whose states are to be diagnosed is completed, the control unit 910 causes the display processing unit 909 to create display data indicating the result of the diagnosis. Display data created by the display processing unit 909 is sent to the monitor device via the connector 903. The monitor device displays an image showing the result of diagnosis based on the display data.

  The main unit 900 can display the result of diagnosis by the first to third display methods. Which of these three display methods is applied is preferably determined according to the designation by the user, since it is possible to perform display according to user needs.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed by the first display method.

  The image shown in FIG. 3 is based on computer graphics showing the arrangement pattern of the contacts 201a in the connector 201. Then, computer graphics, which indicates the result of diagnosis related to the channel to which the contact 201a arranged at each position in the base graphics belongs, is synthesized on the base graphics. In FIG. 3, the difference in color is shown by changing the type of hatching. In the image shown in FIG. 3, a number indicating the channel number is combined with the position of the contact 201a belonging to the channel where the abnormality is found.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed by the second display method.

  The image shown in FIG. 4 shows the connector location information indicating the position of the contact 201a belonging to the channel in the connector 201 and the diagnosis result in characters in association with the number of each channel.

  The connector location information is configured by a combination of a row number assigned to each row of the matrix of the contacts 201a in the connector 201 and a column number assigned to each column. For example, in the connector 201 shown in FIG. 2, since the contacts 201a form a matrix of 30 rows × 12 columns, A to Z and a to g are assigned as row numbers to each of the 30 rows, and 1 to 12 are assigned to each of the 12 columns. Is attached as a column number. In the example of FIG. 4, the connector location information of the channel whose channel number is “1” is indicated as “A-12”. This indicates that the contact 201a belonging to the channel having the channel number “1” is located in the 12th column of the A row.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed by the third display method.

  The image shown in FIG. 5 is based on a real image I11 of the appearance of the connector 201 photographed so that the arrangement of the contacts 201a in the connector 201 appears. Initially, only the actual image I11 and the pointer P are shown as shown in FIG.

  In this state, the control unit 910 inputs a user's pointer operation using a pointing device connected to the connector 902, for example. Then, the pointer P is moved according to this pointer operation.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, if the pointer P is moved to a position for designating any one of the contacts on the real image I11, the control unit 910 is designated as described above as shown in FIG. 5B. The image is updated so that the image I12 indicating the diagnosis result regarding the channel to which the contact belongs belongs to be displayed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the diagnosis result regarding each channel is displayed in association with the position of the contact 201a belonging to each channel on the connector 201. Therefore, when a failure occurs in any of the channels, the maintenance worker can easily know which of the contacts 201a belonging to that channel is by visual observation. It is easy to identify the signal line 203a connected to a specific contact 201a. Further, it is easy to identify the ultrasonic transducer 202a belonging to the same channel as the specific contact 201a by following the signal line 203a thus identified. As described above, the maintenance worker can easily identify any of the contact 201a, the ultrasonic transducer 202a, and the signal line 203a that constitute the channel in which an abnormality has occurred. Can be recognized. As a result, the time required for recognizing the location where the failure has occurred can be shortened, so that the time required for repairing the ultrasonic probe 200 can be shortened.

  The present embodiment can be variously modified as follows.

  Although the diagnosis result can be displayed by each of the first to third display methods, only one or two display methods may be displayed.

  The base image in the first display method may be replaced with the actual image used in the third display method.

  The base image in the third display method may be replaced with the base computer graphic used in the first display method.

  Information for presenting the result of diagnosis may be created by a presentation method other than display. For example, print data for causing the printer to print an image as described above may be created. In this case, if print data showing an image obtained by combining the above-described images on a predetermined form for a report is created, a report showing the diagnosis result in an easy-to-understand manner as described above can be easily and automatically created. Can be created automatically.

  By providing a matrix switch having a multiplexer configuration, the transmission unit 904 and the reception unit 905 may have a one-channel configuration. In this way, the circuit scale of the transmission unit 904 and the reception unit 905 can be reduced.

  Display based on the signal generated by the display processing unit 909 may be performed by the display unit 911d. For example, the display processing unit 909 and the image generation unit 911b are connected. Then, the image generation unit 911b generates display data corresponding to the signal generated by the display processing unit 909, and writes this into the memory unit 911c.

  The medical diagnostic unit 911 may be omitted and realized as an ultrasonic probe diagnostic apparatus.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment.

The figure which shows the structure of the ultrasonic diagnosing device provided with the ultrasonic probe diagnostic function which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the connector 201 in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the image displayed by the 1st display method. The figure which shows an example of the image displayed by the 2nd display method. The figure which shows an example of the image displayed by the 3rd display method.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 200 ... Ultrasonic probe, 201 ... Connector, 201a ... Contact, 202a ... Ultrasonic transducer, 203a ... Signal line, 900 ... Main unit, 901, 902, 903 ... Connector, 904 ... Transmitter, 905 ... Receiver, 906 Measured unit 907 Storage medium 908 Interface unit 909 Display processing unit 910 Control unit 911 Medical diagnostic unit

Claims (10)

Diagnose an ultrasonic probe having a plurality of channels including an ultrasonic transducer and a signal line and a contact for transmitting a signal related to the ultrasonic transducer and arranging the plurality of contacts to constitute a connector. In ultrasonic probe diagnostic equipment,
Means for inspecting each of the plurality of channels;
An ultrasonic probe diagnostic apparatus comprising: a presenting unit that presents a result of the inspection in association with an array of the plurality of contacts in the connector.   The ultrasonic probe diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the presenting unit presents an image suitable for the connector of the ultrasonic probe by identifying a type of the connector or the ultrasonic probe.   The ultrasonic probe diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the presenting unit presents a computer graphic indicating an actual image of the connector or an arrangement of the contacts in the connector.   The presenting means includes, when the connector has a contact different from the plurality of contacts, a color or a character indicating the function of each contact included in the actual image or the computer graphics. The ultrasonic probe diagnostic apparatus according to claim 3.   The ultrasonic probe diagnosis apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the presenting unit indicates the result of the examination by color or text on the actual image or the computer graphics.   The ultrasonic probe diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the presenting unit presents information determined according to an arrangement order in the connector to each of the plurality of contacts. Means for inputting a designation of any one contact included in the presented array of contacts;
The ultrasonic probe diagnosis apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the presenting unit presents a result of the examination for the channel including the designated contact point. An ultrasonic probe having a plurality of channels including an ultrasonic transducer and a signal line and a contact for transmitting a signal related to the ultrasonic transducer, and forming a connector by arranging a plurality of the contacts; In an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus for obtaining information for diagnosing the subject based on reflected ultrasound from the subject received by the ultrasound probe,
Means for inspecting each of the plurality of channels;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: a presenting unit that presents a result of the inspection in association with an array of the plurality of contacts in the connector.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the presenting unit presents an image suitable for the connector of the ultrasonic probe by identifying a type of the connector or the ultrasonic probe. Means for inputting a designation of any one contact included in the presented array of contacts;
The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the presenting unit presents a result of the examination for the channel including the designated contact point.

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