JP2006314520A - Ultrasonic diagnostic unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic unit by which high-precision three-dimensional image information can be obtained and correct images based on it can be obtained. <P>SOLUTION: The ultrasonic diagnostic unit comprises an image memory which sequentially takes ultrasonic tomogram information of two-dimensional images from an ultrasound probe according to its position, a storage means which detects position information of the ultrasound probe for each piece of the ultrasonic tomogram information and stores the position information, a correction means which calculates the position information for responding to each piece of ultrasonic tomogram information in connection with the detected position information and a three-dimensional image establishing means which establishes a three-dimensional image by associating the position information acquired by the correction means with each piece of the ultrasonic tomogram information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus suitable for creating three-dimensional image information from a plurality of obtained two-dimensional image information and displaying the three-dimensional image information on a display device.

  In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, three-dimensional image information is created from ultrasonic image information made up of a plurality of two-dimensional images, and is displayed on a monitor as a perspective view as seen from a certain direction or as a tomographic image with a part cut out. Like to do. This is because, for example, there is an effect that the size of a tumor or the like formed in the subject can be grasped very easily. In this case, the three-dimensional image information includes one ultrasonic tomographic image (two-dimensional image information) and another ultrasonic tomographic image (two-dimensional image information) that is adjacent to the one ultrasonic tomographic image. In the calculation at this time, in the calculation at this time, the position data and orientation data of the one ultrasonic tomographic image (hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, these are collectively referred to as position information). And other ultrasonic tomographic position information is required.

  The acquisition of the position information includes, for example, a magnetic field generating coil (transmitter) that generates a three-axis orthogonal magnetic field that is fixed at an arbitrary position on a table on which the subject is placed. It is made by obtaining output information from a detection coil (receiver) that is provided and detects a magnetic field of the three-axis orthogonal system.

As described above, for example, Patent Document 1 below discloses the prior art relating to creation of three-dimensional image information.
JP 2001-202498 A

  However, in the above-described creation of the three-dimensional image information, the position information with respect to one ultrasonic tomographic image and the position information with respect to another ultrasonic tomographic image correspond to each other with high accuracy in time. 3D image information with high accuracy can be obtained, however, in practice, position information for one ultrasonic tomographic image is timely, and position information for another ultrasonic tomographic image is difficult to obtain in a timely manner. Had sex. The medium for obtaining the ultrasonic tomographic image is a sound wave, whereas the medium for obtaining the position information is a magnetism, and the magnetism is based on the fact that the response is slower than the sound wave. And since the said patent document 1 does not reflect such a situation, the solution of the said countermeasure was requested | required.

  The present invention has been made based on such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of obtaining accurate three-dimensional image information and obtaining an accurate image based thereon. It is in.

  Of the inventions disclosed in this application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.

(1) An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention includes, for example, an image memory for sequentially acquiring ultrasonic tomographic image information of a two-dimensional image from an ultrasonic probe in accordance with the position of the ultrasonic probe;
Storage means for detecting the position information of the ultrasound probe for each ultrasound tomogram information and storing the position information;
Correction means for calculating position information corresponding to each ultrasonic tomographic image information in relation to each of the detected position information that exists between the position information;
3D image construction means for constructing a 3D image by associating each ultrasonic tomographic image information with the position information obtained by the correction means.

(2) An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention includes, for example, an image memory that sequentially captures ultrasonic tomographic image information of a two-dimensional image from an ultrasonic probe in accordance with the position of the ultrasonic probe;
Storage means for detecting position information of the ultrasonic probe for each ultrasonic tomographic image information and storing the position information;
The time code of certain ultrasonic tomographic image information is Td, each position information existing between the Td is Pa and Pb, the time code of the position information Pa is Tpa, and the time code of the position information Pb is Tpb. A correction means for calculating position information P ′ satisfying the following expression (1):
P ′ = (Tpb−Td) / (Tpb−Tpa) * Pa
+ (Td−Tpa) / (Tpb−Tpa) * Pb (1)
3D image construction means for constructing a 3D image by associating each ultrasonic tomographic image information with the position information P ′ obtained by the correction means.

(3) The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is premised on, for example, the configuration of (2), and the time code includes a pulse count value from a time code generating means.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the above structure, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the technical idea of this invention.

  Embodiments of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, there is an ultrasonic probe 6 that is used in contact with or inserted into a subject. The ultrasonic probe 6 emits ultrasonic waves by an ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 7, and an echo signal thereof is The signal is input to the image processing circuit 8 via the ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit 7. In the case where first ultrasonic tomographic image information is obtained by the ultrasonic probe 6, the echo signal obtained from the ultrasonic probe 6 defined at a fixed position is subjected to image processing by the image processing circuit 8. Ultrasonic tomographic image information is obtained, and this information is stored in the image memory 3. In this case, for example, the detection circuit 6 a attached to the ultrasonic probe 6 serves as the probe position information detection circuit 9 to obtain the position of the ultrasonic probe 6, that is, position information for the one ultrasonic tomographic information. Come to detect. Although not shown, for example, a magnetic field generating coil for generating a three-axis orthogonal system magnetic field is provided at an arbitrary position of the table on which the subject is placed, and the detection circuit 6a is configured to have the three-axis orthogonal system magnetic field. The position information is obtained by detecting.

  The operation described above is similarly performed when a plurality of pieces of other ultrasonic tomographic image information are subsequently acquired after the acquisition of one ultrasonic tomographic image information. That is, position information of the ultrasonic tomographic image information can be obtained in correspondence with the obtained ultrasonic tomographic image information.

  The ultrasonic tomographic image information is sequentially input from the image memory 3 to the three-dimensional image construction circuit 5, and corresponding position information is sequentially input from the probe position information detection circuit 9 accordingly. Thus, 3D image information is created in the 3D image construction circuit 5. Here, the ultrasonic tomographic image information input from the image memory 3 and the positional information corresponding to the ultrasonic tomographic image information input from the probe position information detection circuit 9 are based on the difference in response of those media, As described above, a time lag occurs when these inputs are made.

  FIG. 3 (a) shows a timing diagram showing this state. The upper diagram shows the temporal timing at which the position information is obtained, and the lower diagram shows the ultrasonic reception signal (ultrasonic tomography). This shows the time timing at which image information (equivalent to image information) is obtained. That is, each piece of position information is input to the three-dimensional image construction circuit 5 as position information P0, position information P1, position information P2,... Over time, and each ultrasonic tomographic image information is stored in the ultrasonic reception signal Fn, The ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 1, the ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 2, the ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 3,... Are input to the three-dimensional image construction circuit 5.

  Since the input of the position information is delayed with respect to the input of the ultrasonic reception signal, the position information cannot be obtained corresponding to each ultrasonic reception signal, and as shown in FIG. Sound wave reception signal Fn, position information P0), (ultrasonic wave reception signal Fn + 1, position information P1), (ultrasonic wave reception signal Fn + 2, position information P1), (ultrasonic wave reception signal Fn + 3, position information P2), and so on. Thus, a three-dimensional image is constructed with a good pair relationship.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the input of the position information and the input of the ultrasonic reception signal ideally have no delay in the other input with respect to one input (the ultrasonic reception signal Fn, the position information P0). ), (Ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 1, position information P1), (ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 2, position information P2), (ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 3, position information P3),... Is to be made.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a correction means (circuit) described later is provided in, for example, the three-dimensional image construction circuit 5, and this correction means corresponds to one ultrasonic reception signal (ultrasonic tomographic image information). Accordingly, the position information is calculated in relation to each detected position information that exists between the position information. That is, as shown in FIG. 3B, for example, the position information P0 (which is a value calculated by calculation so as to correspond to the ultrasonic reception signal Fn is referred to as P0 ′ hereinafter). The position information shown in (a) is calculated in relation to the position information P0 and P1 existing between the position information P0 ′. FIG. 3C is a diagram showing this pattern, and it is possible to calculate position information actually detected, for example, position information corrected between the position information P0 and the position information P1. The position information P0 ′ is calculated from the inside. This position information P0 'corresponds to the position information P0 shown in FIG. The same calculation is performed between the position information P1 and the position information P2 and between the position information P2 and the position information P3.

  More specifically, first, the three-dimensional image construction circuit 5 sets the time code of the position information when inputting the position information and the time code of the ultrasonic reception signal when inputting the ultrasonic reception signal. It comes to input. Here, the time code corresponds to a reference time that is not associated with other elements, the time code of the position information corresponds to the count value when the position information is detected, and the time code of the ultrasonic reception signal is This corresponds to the count value when an ultrasonic tomographic image is created.

  Then, the time code of a certain ultrasonic reception signal (ultrasonic tomographic image information) is Td, each position information existing between the Td is Pa and Pb, the time code of the position information Pa is Tpa, and the position information. When the time code of Pb is Tpb, the following equation (1) is calculated.

P ′ = (Tpb−Td) / (Tpb−Tpa) * Pa
+ (Td−Tpa) / (Tpb−Tpa) * Pb (1)
The value of P ′ calculated by the equation (1) is a value corresponding to P0, P1, P2, P3,... In FIG.

  Therefore, since the calculated P ′ value is position information without delay to correspond to each ultrasonic reception signal (ultrasound tomographic image information), the three-dimensional data created using these position information. Images can be obtained with extremely high accuracy.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a three-dimensional image construction circuit 5 provided with the correcting means. A circuit corresponding to a conventional three-dimensional image construction circuit is indicated by reference numeral 5 'in the figure. Therefore, it is needless to say that the present invention can be grasped even if the correction means (circuit) is interposed at a position corresponding to the input stage of the conventional three-dimensional image construction circuit. In FIG. 1, first, position information is stored in the probe position information storage means 2. In this case, a time code is input to the probe position information storage means 2 from the time code generation means 1, and the count value when the position information is stored in the probe position information storage means 2 is counted. It is like that. It is a value corresponding to Tpa and Tpb in the formula (1). The time code generating means 1 is formed of a pulse generator having a time width of each adjacent pulse of 1 μs, for example.

  The position information and the count value stored in the probe position information storage unit 2 are input to the probe position information correction unit 4.

  On the other hand, the ultrasonic reception signal is stored in the image memory 3. In this case, the time code is input from the time code generating means 1 to the image memory 3, and the count value when the ultrasonic tomographic image is created in the image memory 3 is counted. This is a value corresponding to Td in the formula (1). The ultrasonic reception signal and the count value stored in the image memory 3 are input to the probe position information correcting means 4.

  The probe position information correcting means 4 sequentially calculates the value of P ′ as P0, P1, P2, P3,... By performing the calculation shown in the above equation (1).

  The values of P0, P1, P2, P3,... Are input to the three-dimensional image construction circuit 5 ′, and the three-dimensional image construction circuit 5 ′ receives the values P0, P1, P2 from the image memory 3. , P3,... Are also inputted. Then, in this three-dimensional image construction circuit 5 ′, as shown in FIG. 3B, that is, (ultrasonic reception signal Fn, position information P0), (ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 1, position information P1), ( A three-dimensional image is constructed in a pair relationship of ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 2, position information P2), (ultrasonic reception signal Fn + 3, position information P3),. Therefore, the three-dimensional image created in this way is obtained with extremely high accuracy.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the above-described ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus with the main part extracted. Hereinafter, each step will be described.

  Step ST1: An arbitrary ultrasonic tomographic image is read from the image memory. This is because position information corresponding to the ultrasonic tomographic image is to be obtained by calculation.

  Step ST2: Obtain a time code Td of the ultrasonic tomographic image.

  Step ST3: N pieces of data are acquired from the probe position information storage means (buffer memory). The number in N may be arbitrary.

  Step ST4: A time code Tu in each data of the probe position information is acquired.

  Step ST5: The time code Td is compared with each of the N time codes Tu, the probe position information before and after the time code Td is set to Pa and Pb on the time axis, and the time codes Tpa and Tpb are set. To do.

  Step ST6: The calculation shown in the equation (1) is performed, and P ′ is used as position information of the ultrasonic tomographic image.

  Step ST7: The operations from step ST1 to step ST6 are performed until acquisition of the latest ultrasonic reception signal. By continuing this operation, position information corresponding to each ultrasonic tomographic image is acquired. After that, 3D image construction work is performed.

  Each of the embodiments described above may be used alone or in combination. This is because the effects of the respective embodiments can be achieved independently or synergistically.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, and is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a three-dimensional image construction circuit provided therein. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows one Example of the ultrasonic diagnosing device by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows notionally the method of calculating | requiring the positional information on a probe by calculation in the ultrasonic diagnosing device by this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the principal part of operation | movement of the ultrasonic diagnosing device by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Time code generation means, 2 ... Probe position information storage means, 3 ... Image memory, 4 ... Probe position information correction means, 5 5 '... 3D image construction circuit, 6 ... DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Probe, 7 ... Ultrasonic transmission / reception circuit, 8 ... Image processing circuit, 9 ... Probe position information detection circuit, 10 ... Display apparatus.

Claims (3)

An image memory for sequentially acquiring ultrasonic tomographic image information of a two-dimensional image from the ultrasonic probe according to the position of the ultrasonic probe;
Storage means for detecting the position information of the ultrasound probe for each ultrasound tomogram information and storing the position information;
Correction means for calculating position information to correspond to each ultrasonic tomographic image information in relation to each detected position information;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: 3D image construction means for constructing a 3D image by associating position information obtained by the correction means with each ultrasonic tomographic image information. An image memory for sequentially acquiring ultrasonic tomographic image information of a two-dimensional image from the ultrasonic probe according to the position of the ultrasonic probe;
Storage means for detecting position information of the ultrasonic probe for each ultrasonic tomographic image information and storing the position information;
The time code of certain ultrasonic tomographic image information is Td, each position information existing between the Td is Pa and Pb, the time code of the position information Pa is Tpa, and the time code of the position information Pb is Tpb. A correction means for calculating position information P ′ satisfying the following expression (1):
P ′ = (Tpb−Td) / (Tpb−Tpa) * Pa
+ (Td−Tpa) / (Tpb−Tpa) * Pb (1)
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising: 3D image constructing means for constructing a 3D image by associating position information P ′ obtained by the correcting means with each ultrasonic tomographic image information.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the time code includes a pulse count value from a time code generation unit.

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