JP2007296402A - Ultrasonic imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic imaging apparatus for properly ultrasonically imaging by using a micro-balloon contrast medium. <P>SOLUTION: This ultrasonic imaging apparatus performs contrast imaging on the basis of an echo, by sending an ultrasonic wave to a subject 4 into which the micro-balloon contrast medium 40 is injected, and has a frequency adjusting means 22 interactively adjusting a frequency when receiving the echo. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus, and more particularly to an ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus for performing contrast imaging using a microballoon contrast agent.

  In ultrasonic imaging using a contrast agent, a microballoon contrast agent in which a large number of microballoons having a diameter of 1 to several μm are mixed in a liquid is used. A microballoon is formed by sealing a gas that is harmless to a living body in a shell that is harmless to the living body and is capable of degrading with time. Such a microballoon generates a second harmonic echo of the transmitted ultrasonic wave due to a non-linear echo source derived from resonance with the frequency of the transmitted ultrasonic wave. Therefore, an image is generated based on the second harmonic echo, and the distribution state of the microballoon in the body is imaged.

  In the ultrasonic wave returned from the microballoon, there is acoustically stimulated acoustic emission (asAE) in addition to the second harmonic echo. This is an ultrasonic signal having a frequency that has no correlation with the frequency of the transmitted ultrasonic wave.

  Further, when the microballoon is destroyed by the transmitted ultrasonic wave, a subharmonics echo is generated accordingly. This has half the fundamental frequency of the transmitted ultrasound. Subharmonic echoes are particularly prominent when microballoons with relatively hard shells break down.

  The above evoked sound and subharmonic echo are also signals inherent to microballoons, both of which can be used for imaging of microballoons, that is, for contrast imaging, depending on the brand of contrast agent, ultrasonic wave transmission conditions, etc. Although there is a possibility that better imaging can be performed than using the second harmonic echo, conventionally, imaging using the second harmonic echo is performed exclusively, and appropriate contrast imaging is always performed. There was a problem that it was not always.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to realize an ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus capable of appropriately performing ultrasonic imaging using a microballoon contrast agent.

(1) In a first invention for solving the above-described problem, in performing contrast imaging based on an echo by transmitting an ultrasonic wave to a subject into which a microballoon contrast agent has been injected, a frequency at which the echo is received is set. It is an ultrasonic imaging method characterized by adjusting.

(2) A second invention that solves the above-described problem is an ultrasonic imaging apparatus that transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject into which a microballoon contrast agent has been injected and performs contrast imaging based on the echo. An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising frequency adjusting means for adjusting a frequency at the time of reception.

  In the first invention or the second invention, it is preferable that the frequency adjustment is performed interactively from the viewpoint of good contrast imaging. In the first invention or the second invention, it is preferable that the frequency adjustment includes the width of the frequency band from the viewpoint of performing better contrast imaging.

  In the first invention or the second invention, it is preferable that the frequency adjustment is performed on the region of interest in terms of performing good contrast imaging on the region of interest. In the first invention or the second invention, it is preferable to perform imaging based on the second harmonic echo from the viewpoint of appropriately adjusting the frequency.

(Operation) In the present invention, an optimum reception signal for imaging a contrast agent is obtained by adjusting the frequency of echo reception.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the ultrasonic imaging method and apparatus which can perform the ultrasonic imaging using a micro balloon contrast agent appropriately can be implement | achieved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment.

  FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus. This apparatus is an example of an embodiment of an ultrasonic imaging apparatus of the present invention. An example of an embodiment relating to the apparatus of the present invention is shown by the configuration of the apparatus. An example of an embodiment related to the method of the present invention is shown by the operation of the apparatus.

The configuration of this apparatus will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus has an ultrasonic probe 2. The ultrasonic probe 2 is, for example, an array of ultrasonic transducers (not shown) formed along an arc extending forward.
Have That is, the ultrasonic probe 2 is a convex probe. The ultrasonic probe 2 is used in contact with the subject 4 by the operator. A microballoon contrast agent 40 is injected into the subject 4.

  The ultrasonic probe 2 is connected to the transmission / reception unit 6. The transmission / reception unit 6 gives a drive signal to the ultrasonic probe 2 to transmit ultrasonic waves into the subject 4. The transmitter / receiver 6 also receives an echo from the subject 4 received by the ultrasonic probe 2.

  A block diagram of the transceiver 6 is shown in FIG. In the figure, a transmission timing (timing) generation circuit 602 periodically generates a transmission timing signal and inputs it to a transmission beam former (beam former) 604.

  The transmit beamformer 604 generates a transmit beamforming signal based on the transmit timing signal, that is, a plurality of drive signals for driving the plurality of ultrasonic transducers in the array of ultrasonic transducers with a time difference. The transmission / reception switching circuit 606 is input. The frequency of the drive signal can be changed. As a result, an ultrasonic wave having a frequency adapted to the resonance frequency of the microballoon is transmitted.

  The transmission / reception switching circuit 606 inputs a plurality of drive signals to a selector 608. The selector 608 selects a plurality of ultrasonic transducers that form a transmission aperture from the array of ultrasonic transducers, and provides a plurality of drive signals to them.

  The plurality of ultrasonic transducers respectively generate a plurality of ultrasonic waves having a phase difference corresponding to the time difference between the plurality of drive signals. An ultrasonic beam is formed by wavefront synthesis of these ultrasonic waves. The transmission direction of the ultrasonic beam is determined by the transmission aperture selected by the selector 608.

  Transmission of the ultrasonic beam is repeatedly performed at predetermined time intervals by a transmission timing signal generated by the transmission timing generation circuit 602. The transmission direction of the ultrasonic beam is sequentially changed by switching the transmission aperture with the selector 608. As a result, the inside of the subject 4 is scanned by sound rays formed by the ultrasonic beam. That is, the inside of the subject 4 is scanned in a sound ray sequence.

  The selector 608 also selects a plurality of ultrasonic transducers that form reception apertures from the array of ultrasonic transducers, and inputs a plurality of echo signals received by the ultrasonic transducers to the transmission / reception switching circuit 606. It has become.

  The transmission / reception switching circuit 606 is configured to input a plurality of echo signals to the reception beam former 610. The received beam former 610 adjusts the phase by giving a time difference to a plurality of echo signals, and then adds them to form a received beam forming, that is, an echo received signal on the received sound ray. . The selector 608 scans the received sound ray in accordance with the transmission.

  The transmission timing generation circuit 602 through the reception beamformer 610 described above are controlled by the control unit 18 described later. For example, scanning as shown in FIG. 3 is performed by the ultrasonic probe 2 and the transmission / reception unit 6. That is, as shown in the figure, the sound ray 202 emitted from the radiation point 200 moves on the arc 204, whereby the fan-shaped two-dimensional region 206 is scanned in the θ direction, and so-called convex scan is performed. Is called. When the sound ray 202 is extended in a direction opposite to the ultrasonic wave transmission direction (z direction), all the sound rays intersect at one point 208. A point 208 is a divergence point of all sound rays.

  The transmission / reception unit 6 is connected to a B-mode processing unit 10 and inputs an echo reception signal for each sound ray to the B-mode processing unit 10. The B-mode processing unit 10 forms B-mode image data (data). As shown in FIG. 4, the B-mode processing unit 10 includes two systems of filters 100 and 102 and signal conditioners 110 and 112 respectively connected to the filters. The output signal of the receiving beam former 610 is input to the filters 100 and 102 in common.

  The filter 100 has a frequency pass band B0 shown in FIG. The band B0 is matched with the fundamental frequency f0 of the transmitted ultrasonic wave. The filter 102 has a frequency pass band B2 shown in FIG. The band B2 is movable, and is continuously variable from a half frequency of the fundamental frequency f0 of the transmitted ultrasonic wave, that is, the subharmonic f0 / 2, to a frequency range exceeding the second harmonic 2f0 of the transmitted ultrasonic wave. It has become. The filters 100 and 102 are controlled by the control unit 18 described later.

  A subharmonic echo is present at the position of the subharmonic f0 / 2. In the frequency range between the fundamental frequency f0 and the second harmonic 2f0 and beyond the second harmonic 2f0, the frequency of the induced sound generated from the microballoon exists. Therefore, by moving the band B2 of the filter 102 from f0 / 2 to a frequency range exceeding 2f0, it is possible to receive any of the subharmonics echo, the induced sound, and the second harmonic echo. Although it is possible to receive a fundamental wave echo, since it cannot be distinguished from an echo from a body tissue, the band 2 is not matched with the fundamental wave echo.

  The signal conditioners 110 and 112 perform processing such as logarithmic amplification, envelope detection, level adjustment, and delay time adjustment on the signals that have passed through the filters 100 and 102, respectively. The signal conditioners 110 and 112 are controlled by the control unit 18 described later.

  Each of the signal conditioners 110 and 112 obtains a signal representing the intensity of an echo at each reflection point on the sound ray by logarithmic amplification and envelope detection, that is, an A scope signal. B-mode image data is formed with each instantaneous amplitude as a luminance value. As a result, two systems of B-mode image data are obtained.

  The level of the A scope signal can be adjusted by the level adjustment function of the signal conditioners 110 and 112. The delay amount can be adjusted by the delay time adjustment function.

  The B mode processing unit 10 is connected to the image processing unit 14. The image processing unit 14 generates a B-mode image based on two systems of B-mode image data input from the B-mode processing unit 10.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the image processing unit 14 includes a sound ray data memory 142, a digital scan converter 144, an image memory 146, and an image processing processor connected by a bus 140. (prosessor) 148 is provided.

  Two systems of B-mode image data input for each sound ray from the B-mode processing unit 10 are stored in the sound ray data memory 142, respectively. Each sound ray data space is formed in the sound ray data memory 142.

  The digital scan converter 144 converts sound ray data space data into physical space data by scan conversion. The image data converted by the digital scan converter 144 is stored in the image memory 146. That is, the image memory 146 stores physical space image data. The image processor 148 performs appropriate data processing on the data in the sound ray data memory 142 and the image memory 146, respectively.

  A display unit 16 is connected to the image processing unit 14. The display unit 16 receives an image signal from the image processing unit 14 and displays an image based on the image signal. The display unit 16 can display a color image.

  The transmission / reception unit 6, the B-mode processing unit 10, the image processing unit 14, and the display unit 16 are connected to the control unit 18. The control unit 18 gives control signals to these units to control their operations. In addition, various notification signals are input to the control unit 18 from each part to be controlled. Under the control of the control unit 18, ultrasonic imaging is performed.

An operation unit 20 is connected to the control unit 18. The operation unit 20 is operated by an operator, and inputs desired commands and information to the control unit 18. The operation unit 20 is, for example, an operation panel (panel) provided with a keyboard and other operation tools.
Consists of.

  For example, an operation tool as shown in FIG. 7 is provided as one of the operation tools. In this operation tool, the center frequency of the band B2 of the filter 102 in the B-mode processing unit 10 becomes a frequency corresponding to the scale by moving the operation knob 22 along the groove 26 of the operation panel 24 to a desired scale position. It is something to adjust. The scale is scaled by a multiple of the fundamental frequency f0 of transmission.

  The position of the operation knob 22 is detected by appropriate position detection means such as a potentiometer (not shown) provided on the back side of the operation panel 24 and transmitted to the control unit 18 as a command. The control unit 18 controls the frequency pass band B2 of the filter 102 in the B mode processing unit in accordance with this command. The operation knob 22, the control unit 18, and the filter 102 are an example of an embodiment of the frequency adjusting means in the present invention.

  The operation of this apparatus will be described. The operator injects the microballoon contrast agent 40 into the subject 4 in advance, and starts imaging after a waiting time until the microballoon contrast agent 40 reaches the imaging target site. The operator contacts the ultrasonic probe 2 with a desired location of the subject 4 and operates the operation unit 20 to perform imaging. Imaging is performed under the control of the control unit 18.

  The transmitter / receiver 6 scans the inside of the subject 4 in the order of sound rays through the ultrasonic probe 2 and receives the echoes one by one. When the sound ray scans the injection site of the microballoon contrast medium 40, the echo includes the second harmonic echo and the induced sound from the microballoon contrast medium 40 in addition to the fundamental wave echo from the body tissue. In addition, sub-harmonic echoes are included when microballoons are destroyed. These mixed signals such as echoes are input from the transmission / reception unit 6 to the B-mode processing unit 10. The B-mode processing unit 10 extracts a fundamental wave echo with the filter 100 and extracts a reception signal having a frequency belonging to the band B2 with the filter 102. These received signals are either sub-harmonic echoes, induced sounds, or second harmonic echoes depending on the position of the band B2 on the frequency axis. These are hereinafter referred to as non-fundamental echoes.

  At this time, due to the echo generation mechanism of the microballoon, the non-fundamental wave echo is generated later than the fundamental wave echo by a half cycle of ultrasonic vibration or more. Since such a delay appears as a positional deviation between the images when the images are formed, the delay time adjustment function of the signal conditioners 110 and 112 adjusts the delay times of the respective signals to each other. Eliminate delays. Based on such a signal, two types of B-mode image data corresponding to each echo are formed.

  The image processing unit 14 generates two types of B-mode images based on the two types of B-mode image data input from the B-mode processing unit 10. The B-mode image by the fundamental wave echo shows a tomographic image of the body tissue on the scanning plane. The B-mode image by the non-fundamental wave echo shows the spread of the microballoon contrast agent 40 on the scanning plane.

  The operator operates the operation unit 20 to display the two types of B-mode images as described above on the display unit 16. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a composite image of a tissue tomographic image 160 and a contrast agent image 162 is displayed. Thereby, a contrast agent image with a clear positional relationship to the tissue can be obtained.

  Since the delay time is adjusted by the signal conditioners 110 and 112, the images can be combined without any positional deviation. Note that the adjustment of the positional deviation may be performed by the image processing processor 148 without necessarily adjusting the delay time in the signal conditioners 110 and 112. The tomographic image 160 and the contrast agent image 162 of the tissue are preferably different in display color and the like from the viewpoint of easy discrimination.

The operator moves the operation knob 22 of the operation unit 20 while observing such a display image, and adjusts the frequency band B2 for receiving the non-fundamental wave echo. At this time, the state of the contrast agent image 162 changes due to a change in luminance corresponding to the intensity of the signal belonging to the band B2, so that it is interactive while watching it.
The contrast agent image 162 can be obtained in the best condition by moving the operation knob 22 to the right.

  When the adjustment is completed, the reception signal with the best signal state among the sub-harmonic echo, the induced sound, and the second harmonic echo is received, so the brand of the microballoon contrast agent and the ultrasonic wave transmission condition The best imaging can be performed in a given situation.

  When adjusting the band B2, it is preferable to adjust the ratio of the bandwidth to the center frequency with an appropriate operation tool (not shown) from the viewpoint of obtaining a more appropriate received signal.

  In addition, the adjustment of the band B2 for receiving the non-fundamental echo is effective in the desired region of interest (ROI) set on the display screen, so that the contrast agent image in the ROI is optimized. This is preferable.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the B-mode processing unit 10 may be provided with another filter 104 and a signal conditioner 114. Here, the frequency pass band B3 of the filter 104 is adjusted to the second harmonic 2f0 as shown in FIG. By using such a B-mode processing unit 10, in addition to the above-described two types of B-mode images, a second harmonic echo image can also be captured.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, a combined image of the tissue tomographic image 160 and the contrast agent image 162 and a combined image of the tissue tomographic image 160 and the second harmonic echo image 164 are simultaneously displayed on the display unit 16. Then you can compare and contrast both screens.

  When the band B2 is adjusted in such a two-screen display state, the state of the contrast agent image 162 changes, but the second harmonic echo image 164 does not change. For this reason, the improvement degree of the contrast agent image 162 can be determined on the basis of the second harmonic echo image 164, and the best contrast agent image 162 can be easily obtained.

  FIG. 12 shows another example of the configuration of the transmission / reception unit 6 and the B-mode processing unit 10. In this figure, the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In this configuration example, a level comparison circuit 612 and a frequency control circuit 614 are added to the configurations of the transmission / reception unit 6 and the B-mode processing unit 10 shown in FIGS.

  The output signals of the filters 100 and 102 are input to the signal conditioners 110 and 112, respectively, and also input to the level comparison circuit 612 as described above. The level comparison circuit 612 compares the levels of the fundamental wave echo, which is the output signal of the filter 100, and the non-fundamental wave echo, which is the output signal of the filter 102, and obtains the ratio thereof. The output signal of the level comparison circuit 612 is input to the frequency control circuit 614.

  The frequency control circuit 614 controls the frequency of the drive signal generated by the transmission beam former 604 according to the input signal. By changing the frequency of the drive signal, the frequency of the transmitted ultrasonic wave changes, the synchrony with respect to the resonance frequency of the microballoon changes, and the levels of the second harmonic echo and other non-fundamental echoes change.

  Therefore, the frequency control circuit 614 controls the frequency of the transmitted ultrasonic wave so that the level ratio of the non-fundamental echo to the fundamental echo is maximized. Thereby, high-sensitivity contrast imaging can be performed by ultrasonic waves having a frequency that best synchronizes with the resonance frequency of the microballoon existing in the body at that time. That is, transmission frequency auto-tuning can be realized.

  In auto-tuning, first, contrast imaging is performed with transmitted ultrasonic waves of standard frequency, and a region of interest (ROI) is set according to the location of the contrast medium confirmed on the image. From the viewpoint of operational stability, it is preferable to operate auto tuning for echoes belonging to ROI.

It is a block diagram of an example of an apparatus of an embodiment of the invention. It is a block diagram of the transmission / reception part in the apparatus of an example of embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram of the sound ray scanning by the apparatus of an example of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the B mode processing part in the apparatus of an example of an embodiment of the invention. It is a graph which shows the frequency pass band of the filter in the apparatus of an example of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the image processing part in the apparatus of an example of an embodiment of the invention. It is a schematic diagram of an example of the operation tool in the apparatus of an example of embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram of a display image in an apparatus according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the B mode processing part in the apparatus of an example of an embodiment of the invention. It is a graph which shows the frequency pass band of the filter in the apparatus of an example of embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram of a display image in an apparatus according to an example of an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the transmission / reception part and B mode process part in the apparatus of an example of embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 Ultrasonic probe 4 Subject 40 Micro balloon contrast agent 6 Transmission / reception unit 10 B mode processing unit 14 Image processing unit 16 Display unit 18 Control unit 20 Operation unit 602 Transmission timing generation circuit 604 Transmission beamformer 606 Transmission / reception switching circuit 608 Selector 610 Receiving beamformer 100 to 104 Filter 110 to 114 Signal conditioner 140 Bus 142 Sound ray data memory 144 Digital scan converter 146 Image memory 148 Image processor 612 Level comparison circuit 614 Frequency control circuit

Claims (5)

An ultrasonic imaging apparatus that transmits an ultrasonic wave to a subject injected with a microballoon contrast agent and performs contrast imaging based on an echo,
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus comprising frequency adjusting means for interactively adjusting a frequency when the echo is received. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1,
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus characterized by interactively adjusting the frequency by operating an operation knob. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus, wherein the echo signal is received and B-mode processed to generate and display a composite image obtained by combining a B-mode image of a tissue and a B-mode image of a contrast medium in the subject. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 3,
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus characterized by generating and displaying a second harmonic echo image in addition to the synthesized image. The ultrasonic imaging apparatus according to claim 4,
An ultrasonic imaging apparatus, wherein the synthesized image and an image obtained by synthesizing the B-mode image of the tissue in the subject and the second harmonic echo image are displayed side by side.

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