JP2006212166A - Ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide ultrasonic diagnostic equipment capable of simultaneously displaying tomographic images and elastographic images of a plurality of cross sections. <P>SOLUTION: This ultrasonic diagnostic equipment 1 is characterized in having a probe 2 scanning a plurality of cross sections, a tomographic image construction part 4 constructing the tomographic images for every cross section based on data obtained by the scanning by the probe 2, an elastographic image construction part 5 constructing the elastographic images for every cross section based on the data obtained by the scanning by the probe 2, and an image display device 7 displaying the tomographic images and elastographic images of the respective cross sections. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that obtains and displays an ultrasonic image of a diagnostic site in a subject using ultrasonic waves, and particularly shows a tomographic image of biological tissue and the hardness or softness of the biological tissue. The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of displaying an elastic image.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus repeatedly transmits ultrasonic waves to a subject at time intervals, receives a time-series reflected echo signal corresponding to the transmission of the ultrasonic waves, and receives the probe with the probe A phasing and adding unit that generates RF signal frame data in time series based on the reflected echo signal, a tomographic image forming unit that forms a grayscale tomographic image using the RF signal frame data, and the grayscale tomographic image, for example, black and white And a display unit for displaying a B-mode image.

In such an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, in recent years, a technique has been proposed in which the elastic modulus and strain amount of a living tissue at a diagnostic site are measured and displayed as an elastic image (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of displaying an elasticity image in this manner, for example, compression and release of the subject are repeated, and the elastic modulus and strain amount are calculated from the displacement amount of the living tissue caused thereby, and the elasticity In accordance with the rate and the amount of distortion, hue information such as red, blue and the like is given and displayed as an elastic image. According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that displays such an elastic image, it is possible to grasp a hard part of a living tissue and easily diagnose the spread and size of a tumor.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-317313 JP2000-60853A

  By the way, in the ultrasonic examination using the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, it may be better to display a plurality of tomographic planes and the compression directions at the same time depending on the diagnosis part. For example, in the examination of a prostate having a chestnut-like shape, a three-dimensional image can be easily constructed by simultaneously displaying a longitudinal section and a transverse section and respective compression directions, which is very useful for diagnosis.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of simultaneously displaying tomographic images and elastic images of a plurality of tomographic planes.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 1 is configured to construct a tomographic image for each tomographic plane based on a probe that scans a plurality of tomographic planes and data obtained by scanning with the probe. A tomographic image forming unit, an elastic image forming unit that forms an elastic image for each tomographic plane based on data obtained by scanning with the probe, and a display that displays the tomographic image and elastic image of each tomographic plane And a portion.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, tomographic images and elasticity images of a plurality of tomographic planes scanned by the probe can be displayed on the display unit.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image selection unit for selecting an image to be displayed on the display unit according to the first aspect.

  In the invention according to the second aspect, an image selected by the image selection unit can be displayed on the display unit for each tomographic plane.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display frame forming unit that forms a display frame of an image displayed on the display unit according to the first or second aspect with an arbitrary size.

  In the invention according to the third aspect, a tomographic image and an elastic image can be displayed on the display unit with an arbitrary size for each tomographic plane.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the pressing direction of the probe corresponding to the tomographic plane according to the first, second, or third aspect is displayed on the display unit or the probe. .

  In the invention according to the fourth aspect, the diagnostician can press the probe against the subject according to the displayed pressing direction.

  According to the present invention, tomographic images, elastic images, and compression directions of a plurality of tomographic planes can be displayed simultaneously on the display unit. In addition, since the tomographic images, elastic images, and compression directions of a plurality of tomographic planes can be displayed at the same time, a stereoscopic image can be easily constructed, which is very useful for diagnosis.

Embodiments of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 includes a probe 2 having a pressure sensor or the like that is used in contact with a subject, and an ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3. The ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3 phasing-adds the received reflected echo and a transmission / reception circuit (not shown) that repeatedly transmits / receives ultrasonic waves to the subject via the probe 2 at time intervals. And a phasing addition circuit (not shown) for generating RF signal data in time series.

  Further, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 includes a tomographic image constructing unit 4 that forms a tomographic image of a subject, for example, a black and white tomographic image based on the RF signal data obtained by the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving unit 3, and pressurization on a living tissue. And an elastic image constructing unit 5 for constructing a color elastic image by measuring the displacement of the living tissue of the subject due to decompression from the RF signal data to obtain elastic data. Then, the black and white tomographic image and the color elastic image are synthesized by the synthesizing unit 6, and the synthesized image is displayed on the image display 7 (display unit in the claims). Furthermore, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 includes a graphic unit 8 and further includes a control unit 9 that controls the entire system.

  The probe 2 is formed by arranging a plurality of transducers (not shown), and has a function of electronically performing beam scanning and transmitting / receiving ultrasonic waves to / from a subject via the transducers. is doing. The probe 2 can scan two cross sections, a vertical cross section and a horizontal cross section. As shown in FIG. 2, a probe head 2a that scans the vertical cross section and a cross section are scanned on the head portion. And a probe head 2b. The probe heads 2 a and 2 b are alternately applied with a transmission signal from the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3.

  The transmission / reception circuit of the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3 generates a transmission pulse for driving the probe 2 to generate an ultrasonic wave, and sets a convergence point of the transmitted ultrasonic wave to a certain depth. It has a function to do. Further, at the time of reception, the transmission / reception circuit amplifies the reflected echo signal received by the probe 2 with a predetermined gain to generate an RF signal, that is, a reception signal. The phasing addition circuit of the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3 inputs the RF signal amplified by the transmission / reception circuit and performs phase control to form an ultrasonic beam converged at a plurality of convergence points to generate RF signal data. It is generated in time series.

  The tomographic image constructing unit 4 constructs a tomographic image for each of a longitudinal section and a transverse section, and includes a monochrome signal processing unit 10 and a monochrome scan converter unit 11. The monochrome signal processing unit 10 receives the RF signal data from the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3 and performs signal processing such as gain correction, log compression, detection, contour enhancement, filter processing, etc., and obtains tomographic image data. is there. Although not shown, the black and white scan converter 11 includes an A / D converter that converts the tomographic image data from the black and white signal processing unit 10 into a digital signal, and a plurality of converted tomographic image data in time series. A frame memory for storing and a control controller are included. The monochrome scan converter unit 11 acquires tomographic image frame data in the subject stored in the frame memory by the control controller as one image, and reads the acquired tomographic image frame data in synchronization with the television.

  The elastic image constructing unit 5 constructs an elastic image for each of a longitudinal section and a transverse section. The elastic image forming unit 5 includes a displacement amount calculating unit 12, an elastic modulus / strain amount calculating unit 13, an elastic modulus / strain amount analyzing unit 14, and a color scan converter unit 15, and the ultrasonic transmitting / receiving unit. 3 is branched to the subsequent stage. Further, the elastic image construction unit 5 includes a pressure measurement unit (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the displacement amount calculation unit 12 includes an RF signal frame data selection unit 16 and a calculation unit 17, and the RF signal frame data selection unit 16 sets a set of RF signal frame data. And the amount of displacement of the living tissue for each tomographic plane is calculated by the calculation unit 17 from this set of RF signal frame data.

  More specifically, although not shown, the RF signal frame data selection unit 16 includes a frame memory and a selection unit, and a plurality of RF signal frame data from the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3 is stored in the frame memory. One set, that is, two RF signal frame data is selected by the selection unit from the stored RF signal frame data group.

  For example, the RF signal frame data selection unit 16 sequentially secures the RF signal data generated based on the time series, that is, the image frame rate, from the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3 in the frame memory, and receives a command from the control unit 9. In response to the currently selected RF signal frame data (N) as the first data, the selection unit selects the RF signal frame data group (N-1, N-2, N−3,... NM), one RF signal frame data (X) is selected. Here, N, M, and X are index numbers attached to the RF signal frame data, and are natural numbers.

  Here, since the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of this example displays two tomographic planes, that is, a longitudinal section and a transverse section, the RF signal frame data selection unit 16 has 1 for each of the longitudinal section and the transverse section. The RF signal frame data with the frame data thinned out is selected. For example, for the longitudinal section, the RF signal frame data selection unit 16 selects the (n + 2) th RF signal frame data as the RF signal frame data (N) and the nth RF signal as the RF signal frame data (X) in FIG. Select signal frame data. For the cross section, the RF signal frame data selection unit 16 selects, for example, the (n + 3) th RF signal frame data as the RF signal frame data (N) and the (n + 1) th RF signal frame as the RF signal frame data (X). Select data.

  The calculation unit 17 calculates the displacement of the living tissue from the set of RF signal frame data selected by the RF signal frame data selection unit 16. Specifically, for the longitudinal section, the calculation unit 17 selects the RF signal frame data (N) selected by the RF signal frame data selection unit 16 (n + 2nd RF signal frame data in FIG. 4) and the RF signal frame. When the data (X) (the nth RF signal frame data in FIG. 4) is transferred, the transferred n + 2nd RF signal frame data is set to the vertical_B image n + 1 frame, and the nth RF signal frame data is set to the vertical_B image n frame. And Also, for the cross section, the RF signal frame data (N) (n + 3rd RF signal frame data in FIG. 4) and the RF signal frame data (X) (n + 1th RF signal frame data in FIG. 4) are transferred. Then, the transferred n + 3rd RF signal frame data is set to the horizontal_B image n + 1 frame, and the n + 1th RF signal frame data is set to the horizontal_B image n frame.

  Then, one-dimensional or two-dimensional correlation processing is performed from the two frames of the vertical_B image n + 1 frame and the vertical_B image n frame, and the displacement in the living tissue corresponding to each point of the tomographic image, that is, the displacement direction, A one-dimensional or two-dimensional displacement distribution related to the size is obtained, and displacement amount frame data for the longitudinal section is generated (vertical_distortion n frame in FIG. 4). Similarly, displacement amount frame data for the horizontal cross section is generated from the horizontal_B image n + 1 frame and the horizontal_B image n frame (horizontal_distortion n frame in FIG. 4).

  Here, a block matching method is used to detect the movement vector. The block matching method divides an image into blocks of N × N pixels, for example, pays attention to the block in the region of interest, searches the previous frame for the block that is closest to the block of interest, and refers to this Then, predictive encoding, that is, processing for determining the sample value by the difference is performed.

  The pressure measuring unit measures and estimates the pressure at the diagnosis site of the subject. For example, a pressure sensor (not shown) is attached to the probe 2 that is used while being in contact with the body surface of the subject, and the diagnostic region of the subject is measured by pressurizing and depressurizing the head of the probe 2. Stress distribution. At this time, in an arbitrary time phase, the pressure sensor measures and holds the pressure applied to the body surface by the probe head.

  The elastic modulus / strain amount calculation unit 13 is based on the displacement amount (for example, a movement vector) calculated by the displacement amount calculation unit 12 and the pressure value measured by the pressure measurement unit, and the strain and elastic modulus of the living tissue. And an elastic image signal, that is, elastic frame data is generated based on the strain and elastic modulus. Here, the elastic image displayed on the image display is either a strain image or an elastic modulus image.

  At this time, the strain data is calculated by spatially differentiating the movement amount of the living tissue, for example, the displacement. The elastic modulus data is calculated by dividing the change in pressure by the change in moving amount. For example, if the displacement calculated by the displacement amount calculation unit 12 is ΔL and the pressure measured by the pressure measurement unit is ΔP, the strain (S) can be calculated by spatially differentiating ΔL. It is calculated | required using the type | formula S = (DELTA) L / (DELTA) X. Further, the Young's modulus Ym of the elastic modulus data is calculated by the equation Ym = (ΔP) / (ΔL / L). Since the elastic modulus of the living tissue corresponding to each point of the tomographic image is obtained from this Young's modulus Ym, two-dimensional elastic image data can be obtained continuously. The Young's modulus is a ratio of a simple tensile stress applied to the object and a strain generated in parallel with the tension.

  Although not shown, the elastic modulus / strain amount analyzing unit 14 includes a frame memory and an image processing unit, and the elastic frame data output from the elastic modulus / strain amount calculating unit 13 in time series. The frame memory is secured, and the secured frame data is subjected to image processing by the image processing unit in response to a command from the control unit 9.

  The color scan converter unit 15 converts the color information into hue information based on the elastic frame data from the elastic modulus / strain amount analyzing unit 14. That is, the light is converted into the three primary colors of light, that is, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) based on the elastic frame data. For example, elastic data having a large strain is converted into a red code, and simultaneously elastic data having a small strain is converted into a blue code. The elastic frame data subjected to color tone conversion in this way is stored in a frame memory (not shown) of the color scan converter unit 15. Note that the gradation of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) is 256, and 255 is displayed with high luminance, and conversely 0 means that no display is performed.

  The color scan converter unit 15 acquires the elastic frame data subjected to the color tone conversion as one image, and reads the acquired elastic frame data in synchronization with the television.

  Here, when the compression operation by the probe 2 is performed on the subject, the compression direction is different between the vertical cross section and the horizontal cross section. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Compression direction displays 18a and 18b corresponding to the cross section are displayed. The graphic unit 8 generates compression direction displays 18 a and 18 b of the probe 2 displayed on the image display 7. Each of the compression direction displays 18a and 18b includes a probe display 19, an arrow 20 indicating the compression direction, and a subject display 21 indicating the subject. The compression direction display 18a displays the compression direction of the probe head 2a that scans the longitudinal section with respect to the subject, and the compression direction display 18b displays the subject of the probe head 2b that scans the lateral section. The direction of compression on the specimen is displayed.

  Although not shown, the synthesis unit 6 includes a switching addition unit frame memory, an image processing unit, an image selection unit, and a display frame forming unit. The switching and adding unit frame memory stores data from the black and white scan converter unit 11, the color scan converter unit 15, and the graphic unit 8. Further, the image processing unit adds tomographic image data and elastic image data (elastic frame data) secured in the switching and adding unit frame memory at a set ratio in accordance with a command from the control unit 9 and synthesizes them. It is. The luminance information and hue information of each pixel of the composite image is obtained by adding each information of the black and white tomographic image and the color elastic image at a set ratio. Here, the composite image is an image including a tomographic image and an elastic image.

  Further, the image selection unit is configured to select an image to be displayed on the image display unit 7 from the tomographic image data and elasticity image data of the frame memory and the synthesized image data synthesized by the image processing unit. Depending on the selection.

  The display frame forming unit displays an elastic image based on tomographic image data secured in the switching addition unit frame memory, an elastic image based on elastic image data, and a composite image based on composite image data on the image display unit 7. A display frame for displaying in a desired size is formed.

The operation of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 received send repeated ultrasound by the ultrasonic transmitting and receiving unit 3 at time intervals to a subject through the probe 2 is brought into contact with the subject. Transmission / reception of ultrasonic waves is performed for each tomographic image and elastic image for each tomographic plane. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, after performing longitudinal section elastic image transmission / reception, longitudinal section tomographic image transmission / reception is performed, and after performing transverse section elastic image transmission / reception, transverse sectional tomogram Transmit and receive waves. The longitudinal elastic image transmission / reception and the transverse elastic image transmission / reception are performed twice, and after the two vertical cross section elastic image transmission / reception waves or transverse cross section elastic image transmission / reception, one longitudinal cross section tomographic image transmission / reception or crossing is performed. Transmit and receive planar tomographic images. Here, with respect to the longitudinal section and the transverse section, if transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves are performed at the same time, interference occurs between the images, so that each transmission and reception is shifted. Then, after two longitudinal section elastic image transmission / reception waves and one longitudinal section tomographic image transmission / reception wave, an elastic image and a tomogram for the longitudinal section are acquired (timing T1 in FIG. 6). In addition, after two cross-sectional elastic image transmission / reception waves and one cross-sectional tomographic image transmission / reception wave, an elastic image and a tomographic image for the cross-section are acquired (timing T2 in FIG. 6).

  Next, how to construct an elastic image and a tomographic image will be described. The signals received by the ultrasonic transmission / reception unit 3 are phased and added to generate RF signal data. Based on the RF signal data, appropriate signal processing is performed by the black and white signal processing unit 10 of the tomographic image forming unit 4 to obtain tomographic image data for each tomographic plane, and the tomographic image data is digitally converted by the black and white scan converter unit 11. After conversion to a signal, it is stored in a frame memory and read out in synchronism with a television, thereby obtaining a tomographic image for each tomographic plane, for example, a monochrome B-mode image. On the other hand, an elastic color image for each tomographic plane (longitudinal section and transverse section) is obtained by the elastic image construction section 5 based on the RF signal data from the ultrasonic transmission / reception section 3. Then, for each tomographic plane, the obtained monochrome tomographic image and elastic color image are added by the synthesizing unit 6 to create a synthesized image, which is displayed on the image display 7.

  On the image display 7, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the composite image for each of the longitudinal section and the transverse section is displayed simultaneously. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 22 denotes a screen of the image display 7, and reference numerals 23 and 24 denote a vertical cross-sectional composite image and a horizontal cross-sectional composite image, respectively.

  However, the image selecting unit of the synthesizing unit 6 selects either tomographic image data or elastic image data for any one of the tomographic planes of the longitudinal section and the transverse section, and the synthesized image data for the other tomographic planes. The selected tomographic image or elasticity image may be displayed on the image display 7 for one tomographic plane, and a composite image may be displayed for the other tomographic planes. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 8, for example, on the screen 20 of the image display device 7, the tomographic image 25 may be displayed for the longitudinal section and the composite image 26 may be displayed for the lateral section.

  Further, the image selection unit selects either tomographic image data or elastic image data for both longitudinal and transverse tomographic planes, and selects composite image data. An image and a composite image may be displayed. FIGS. 9 and 10 are diagrams showing a case where the tomographic image data is selected by the image selection unit and the composite image data is selected and the tomographic image and the composite image are displayed on the screen 22 for each tomographic plane. Of these, FIG. 9 shows a case where only the tomographic image is displayed in a reduced scale. That is, the display frame forming unit forms a display frame so that the composite images 27 and 28 are displayed on the screen 22 in a large size, and the tomographic images 29 and 30 are displayed smaller than the composite images 27 and 28. An example is shown in which a display frame is formed by the display frame forming unit, and composite images 27 and 28 and tomographic images 29 and 30 are displayed for the longitudinal section and the transverse section, respectively. FIG. 10 shows a case where the tomographic image and the composite image are displayed with substantially the same size. That is, a display frame is formed by the display frame forming unit so that the tomographic images 31 and 32 and the synthesized images 33 and 34 have substantially the same size on the screen 22, and the tomographic image 31, 32 and the composite images 33 and 34 are displayed so that the screen 22 is divided into four.

  Further, the image selection unit selects tomographic image data and elastic image data for both tomographic planes of the longitudinal section and the transverse section, and combines the tomographic image and the elastic image without combining the monochrome tomographic image and the elastic color image. The image may be displayed separately on the image display 7 (not shown).

  At least when the probe 2 is pressed against the subject, compression direction displays 18a and 18b corresponding to the cross section to be scanned are displayed on the screen 22 of the image display 7. That is, in FIG. 11, the case where the composite images 23 and 24 are displayed on the screen 22 for each of the vertical cross section and the horizontal cross section will be described as an example. A compression direction display 18a indicating the compression direction when the longitudinal cross section is scanned by the probe head 2a is displayed. Further, a compression direction display 18b indicating a compression direction when the cross section is scanned by the probe head 2b is displayed below the composite image 24 of the cross section. In accordance with the compression direction indications 18a and 18b, the diagnostician presses the probe 2 against the subject in the direction of the arrow 20.

  You may memorize | store the screen which displayed compression direction display 18a, 18b in the memory | storage part which is not shown in figure. Thereby, when the tomographic image and the elasticity image are viewed later, it is possible to easily grasp which tomographic plane the image is on. Note that the display indicating the compression direction may be displayed on the probe 2.

  According to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1 of the present example as described above, a tomographic image and an elastic image for each of the longitudinal section and the transverse section can be displayed simultaneously. In addition, since the tomographic image and the elasticity image of the longitudinal section and the transverse section can be displayed at the same time as described above, it is easy to construct a stereoscopic image, which is very useful for diagnosis.

  In addition, by displaying the compression direction displays 18a and 18b, when the probe 2 is pressed against the subject, the correct direction can be easily grasped, and diagnosis can be performed smoothly.

  As described above, according to the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 1, a tomographic image and an elastic image for each of a longitudinal section and a transverse section can be displayed simultaneously. Sometimes you want to make a diagnosis by displaying only one of them. In this case, for example, when only the longitudinal section is displayed, the screen 22 displays a compression direction display 18a indicating the compression direction when the longitudinal section is scanned, and the probe 2 according to the direction of the arrow 20. Only the longitudinal section is scanned by performing compression by (2), and a tomographic image and an elastic image are displayed (not shown). As a result, the frame rate in the desired direction can be improved.

  As described above, even when only one of the longitudinal section and the transverse section is displayed, a screen displaying the compression direction display 18a or the compression direction display 18b may be stored in a storage unit (not shown).

  Further, the vertical cross section and the horizontal cross section may be repeatedly displayed. More specifically, when the probe 2 is pressed according to the arrow 20 of the compression direction display 18a and a tomographic image and an elastic image are displayed for one stroke (one reciprocation), the direction of the arrow 20 Is changed to the compression direction in the case of scanning the cross section, thereby switching the compression direction display 18a to the compression direction display 18b. Then, compression is performed by the probe 2 in accordance with the arrow 20 of the compression direction display 18b, and a tomographic image and an elasticity image are displayed for one cross section (one reciprocation). Further, the arrow 20 of the compression direction display 18b is switched again to the arrow 20 of the compression direction display 18a, and the longitudinal section is scanned. In this way, it is easy to grasp the affected area by repeatedly viewing the longitudinal section and the transverse section, and the diagnosis can be easily performed.

  Here, the direction of the arrow 20 is changed between the compression direction display 18a and the compression direction display 18b in accordance with the vertical cross section and the horizontal cross section, but this operation can be arbitrarily performed by a console (not shown). .

1 is a block diagram showing an example of an embodiment of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. It is a front view which shows the probe of the ultrasonic diagnosing device shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a displacement amount calculation unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure for demonstrating calculation of the displacement amount by a displacement amount calculation part. It is a figure which shows the compression direction display displayed on the image display of the ultrasonic diagnosing device shown in FIG. 1, (A) is a figure which shows the compression direction display in the case of scanning about a longitudinal section, (B) is about a cross section. It is a figure which shows the compression direction display in the case of scanning. It is explanatory drawing about the transmission / reception wave of an ultrasonic wave. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the image in the image display of the ultrasonic diagnosing device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the image in the image display of the ultrasonic diagnosing device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the image in the image display of the ultrasonic diagnosing device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the image in the image display of the ultrasonic diagnosing device shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the screen of the image display which displayed the compression direction display.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 2 Probe 4 Tomographic image structure part 5 Elastic image structure part 7 Image display

Claims (4)

A probe that scans a plurality of tomographic planes, a tomographic image forming unit that forms a tomographic image for each tomographic plane based on data obtained by scanning with the probes, and a scan obtained by scanning with the probe An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: an elastic image forming unit that forms an elastic image for each tomographic plane based on the acquired data; and a display unit that displays a tomographic image and an elastic image of each tomographic plane.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image selection unit that selects an image to be displayed on the display unit.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display frame forming unit that forms a display frame of an image displayed on the display unit with an arbitrary size.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pressing direction of the probe corresponding to the tomographic plane is displayed on the display unit or the probe.

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