JP2010104807A - Biological tissue motion trace method and image diagnosis device using the trace method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a biological tissue motion trace method which uses a tomographic image to quantitatively measure tissue motion. <P>SOLUTION: One frame image of a moving image formed by producing tomographic images of an object to be examined is displayed (S2), a mark is superposed on a designated portion of a biological tissue the movement of which is tracked in the displayed one frame image (S3), a cutout image of a size including the designated portion is set in the one frame image (S4), frame images are searched in other frame images of the moving image and a frame image of the identical size which is most coincided with the cutout image is extracted (S5, 6), and coordinates of the designated portion after movement is calculated based on the difference between the most coincided frame image coordinates and the cutout image coordinates (S7), and thereby the movement of the tissue is quantitatively measured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to a technique for tracking a movement of a biological tissue applied to an ultrasonic diagnostic image, a magnetic resonance image, or an X-ray CT image, and a technique of an image diagnostic apparatus using the tracking method.

  Image diagnostic apparatuses such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, and an X-ray CT apparatus are all provided for diagnosis by displaying a tomographic image related to the examination site of the subject on a monitor. For example, in the case of a circulatory system such as the heart and blood vessels and other organs with movement, the movement of living tissues (hereinafter referred to as tissues) constituting them is observed by a tomographic image, and the functions of these organs and the like are observed. Diagnosis is going on.

  In particular, if the function of the heart or the like can be quantitatively evaluated, the accuracy of diagnosis is expected to be further improved. For example, conventionally, the contour of the heart wall is extracted from the image obtained by the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and based on the contour of the heart wall, the heart function (heart pump function) is determined from the area, volume, rate of change thereof, etc. Attempts have been made to evaluate or evaluate local wall motion (Patent Document 1). In addition, the displacement of the tissue is measured based on a measurement signal such as a Doppler signal, and for example, the distribution of local contraction or relaxation is imaged. Based on this, the location where the motion of the ventricle is activated can be accurately determined. Alternatively, a method for quantitative measurement such as measuring the thickness of the heart wall during systole has been proposed (Patent Document 2). Furthermore, a technique has been proposed in which the contours of the atria and ventricles that change from moment to moment are extracted, the contours are superimposed on the image, and the volume of the ventricles and the like is calculated based on the contours (Patent Document 3).

JP 9-13145 A Special table 2001-518342 US Patent No. 5322067

  However, all of the above-described conventional techniques are only methods for evaluating the overall function of the heart, and no consideration is given to measuring tissue dynamics, which is the movement of each tissue such as the myocardium. In particular, the conventional technique for extracting the contour of the heart wall by image processing and measuring the thickness of the heart wall based on the contour does not necessarily achieve sufficient accuracy.

  In general, for example, it is said that there is a causal relationship such as a decrease in the movement of the myocardium when blood cannot pass through the myocardium due to, for example, a thrombus. Therefore, if the dynamics of each tissue of the heart such as the movement of the myocardium constituting the ventricle and the change in thickness can be measured quantitatively, it is possible to provide effective diagnostic information for determining a treatment method and the like. For example, if the degree of ischemia is known, it is effective as an index for selecting a treatment method for the heart such as coronary artery regeneration and specifying a treatment site. In addition, if the dynamics of the valve annulus can be measured quantitatively, research has been conducted to help evaluate the overall cardiac function in heart diseases such as hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy.

  The target for quantitatively measuring such tissue dynamics is not limited to the heart, but is also demanded for blood vessels. That is, if the pulse wave of a large blood vessel wall such as a carotid artery can be measured quantitatively, it is said that it is effective for diagnosis of arteriosclerosis.

  Thus, the first object of the present invention is to quantitatively measure tissue movement using a tomographic image.

  In addition, a second object of the present invention is to quantitatively measure various information related to tissue movement.

  The third object of the present invention is to display a trajectory of tissue movement on an image.

The diagnostic imaging apparatus of the present invention includes a storage unit that stores a moving image or an RF signal obtained by capturing a tomographic image of a region including a living tissue of a subject, and a display unit that can display the moving image or the RF signal. An operation unit for inputting a command; an automatic tracking unit for tracking a movement of a part of the living tissue region of the moving image or RF signal displayed on the display unit; the storage unit; the display unit; A signal transmission path formed by connecting the operation unit and the automatic tracking unit;
The operation unit includes a command for causing the display unit to display one frame image of the moving image or RF signal stored in the storage unit, and the living tissue in the one frame image displayed according to the command. An input means for inputting a command for displaying a mark superimposed on a part of the area of the subject and setting a plurality of designated points in a part of the area of the living tissue;
The automatic tracking unit includes: an image setting unit configured to set the one frame image having a size including the designated point corresponding to the position of the mark of the one frame image displayed on the display unit; Image tracking means for reading the moving image or another frame image of the RF signal and extracting the other frame image having the highest degree of matching between the one frame image and the image, and the other frame image having the highest matching degree A moving amount calculating means for obtaining a coordinate difference between the frame image and the one frame image is provided, and a time change of the moving amount of the designated point is displayed on the display unit. In this case, it is good also as a structure which provides an imaging means separately. The automatic tracking unit may include display control means for tracking the movement of the image portion designated by the mark and moving the display position of the mark.

  Further, the biological tissue motion tracking method of the present invention images a biological tissue of a subject as a moving image or an RF signal, stores the moving image or the RF signal, and stores one frame image of the stored moving image or RF signal. And at least one designation for a part of the biological tissue region by inputting a command to display a mark superimposed on a part of the biological tissue region in the displayed one frame image. A second step of setting a point, and searching for another frame image of the moving image or RF signal to extract the other frame image having the highest degree of matching between the one frame image including the designated point and the image A third step, a fourth step for obtaining a destination coordinate of the designated point based on a coordinate difference between the extracted other frame image and the one frame image, and the designation based on the destination coordinate of the designated point. Point movement And a fifth step of displaying an image of the temporal change in the amount of movement of the designated point.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quantitatively measure tissue movement using a tomographic image. Moreover, according to another invention, various information regarding the movement of the tissue can be quantitatively measured. According to still another invention, the trajectory of tissue movement can be displayed on an image.

The figure which shows the process sequence of one Embodiment of the movement tracking method of the biological tissue of this invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a diagnostic imaging apparatus to which the biological tissue motion tracking method of FIG. 1 is applied. The figure for demonstrating the motion tracking of the biological tissue of this invention by applying to the tomogram of a heart The figure explaining one Embodiment of the block matching method concerning this invention, (a) is an example of a cut-out image, (b) is a figure which shows an example of a search area | region Example of display image of measurement information related to movement of living tissue measured by tracking method of the present invention Example of measuring and displaying the distance between two specified points set across the heart wall and the change in the distance Example of displaying various movement information obtained by setting multiple designated points on the heart wall and tracking their movements as images Example of displaying various information measured based on the movement of specified points by setting multiple specified points throughout the myocardium Example of a display image of movement information by setting multiple designated points along the myocardial inner wall FIG. 1 is a diagram of the tracking processing procedure according to the second embodiment of the present invention, which is a modification of the processing procedure of FIG. The figure explaining the image tracking processing by the image correlation method using a specific example 1 is a block diagram of an image diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. The figure which shows the processing procedure of the RF signal correction method which improves the image correlation method of FIG. Diagram explaining the RF signal correction method

(Embodiment 1)
An image diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment to which the biological tissue motion tracking method of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 shows the procedure of the biological tissue motion tracking method of this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image diagnostic apparatus to which the biological tissue motion tracking method of FIG. 1 is applied. As shown in FIG. 2, the diagnostic imaging apparatus includes an image storage unit 1 that stores a moving image obtained by capturing a tomographic image of a subject, a display unit 2 that can display a moving image, and an operation for inputting a command. A table 3, an automatic tracking unit 4 that tracks the movement of a living tissue of a moving image displayed on the display unit 2, and a dynamic information calculation unit 5 that calculates various measurement information based on the tracking result of the automatic tracking unit 4. The signal transmission path 6 is formed by connecting them. In the image storage unit 1, a moving image obtained by capturing a tomographic image of a subject from the diagnostic image capturing device 7 indicated by a broken line is stored online or offline. As the diagnostic image imaging apparatus 7, diagnostic apparatuses such as an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, and an X-ray CT apparatus are applicable.

  The console 3 is formed so that a command for displaying one frame image of a moving image stored in the image storage unit 1 on the display unit 2 can be input. In addition, a command for superimposing and displaying a mark on a designated part of a living tissue whose movement is to be tracked in one frame image displayed according to the command can be input.

  The automatic tracking unit 4 includes a control unit 8 that controls the entire diagnostic imaging apparatus, and a cut image that sets a cut image having a size that includes a designated portion corresponding to the position of the mark of one frame image displayed on the display unit 2. The setting means 9 and the extracted image tracking means 10 that reads out other frame images of the moving image from the image storage unit 1 and extracts the local image of the same size having the highest matching degree between the cutting image and the image, and the matching degree is the highest. A movement amount calculating means 11 for obtaining a coordinate difference between a high local image and a cut-out image, and a movement tracking means 12 for obtaining a movement destination coordinate of a designated part based on the coordinate difference are provided. In addition, the dynamic information calculation unit 5 quantifies measurement information, which is a physical quantity related to movement such as the movement amount, movement speed, and movement direction of the designated part, based on the movement destination coordinates of the designated part obtained by the automatic tracking unit 4. And has a function of displaying changes in the measurement information on the display unit 2 as a diagram.

  Next, the detailed functional configuration of the diagnostic imaging apparatus of the present embodiment will be described along with the operation according to the processing procedure shown in FIG. First, the movement tracking operation of the living tissue starts when a command for selecting the movement tracking mode of the tissue is input from the console 3 (S1). The control means 8 of the automatic tracking unit 4 reads the first frame image ft (t = 0) of the moving image from the image storage unit 1 and displays it on the display unit 2 (S2). For example, it is assumed that a tomographic image of the heart ventricle 21 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed as the first frame image f0. In FIG. 3, when the operator wants to select a specific part of the myocardium 22 as the designated part of the biological tissue whose movement is to be tracked, the operator operates the mouse or the like of the operation unit 3 to overlay the frame image f0 with a mark. A specified point 23 is displayed. Then, the designated point 23 is moved and displayed on the desired designated portion so as to be input and set. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 24 denotes a mitral valve.

  When the designated point 23 is input and set, the control means 8 takes in the coordinates of the designated point 23 on the frame image f0 and sends it to the cut-out image setting means 9 (S3). As shown in FIG. 4 (a), the cut-out image setting means 9 has a rectangular area having a size of 2 (A + 1) pixels in length and width (A is a natural number) as the cut-out image 25, centered on the image of the designated point 23. Set (S4). Here, the size of the cut-out image 25 is preferably set to a region having a size including a living tissue different from the living tissue at the designated point 23. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the area is set to a size exceeding the boundary of the myocardium 22. If the size of the cutout image 25 is too small, many matching local images will appear, and the true movement destination may not be specified. Conversely, if the cutout image 25 is too large, it may not be possible to measure by protruding from the image area of the frame image f0. This is because.

  The clipped image tracking means 10 reads the next frame image f1 of the moving image from the image storage unit 1, and extracts a local image of the same size having the highest degree of matching between the clipped image 25 and the image (S5). This extraction process applies an image correlation method called a so-called block matching method. If this extraction process is performed for the entire region of the frame image f1, it takes too much processing time. Therefore, in order to shorten the extraction processing time, in the present embodiment, the search is performed on the search area 26 shown in FIG. 4B, which is sufficiently smaller than the frame image f1. That is, the search area 26 is a rectangular area in which the number of pixels B having a certain swing width is added to the cutout image 25 in the vertical and horizontal directions. The number of pixels B is larger than the amount of movement of the tissue related to the designated site, and is set to 3 to 10 pixels, for example. This is because the range of movement of the circulatory system such as the heart is limited to a narrow region in a normal visual field. In this way, local images 27 of the same size in the search area 26 are sequentially shifted to obtain the degree of coincidence with the cut image 25.

  Next, a local image 27max having the highest image matching degree is extracted from the searched plurality of local images 27, and the local image 27max is set as a movement destination of the cut-out image 25 to obtain coordinates of the local image 27max (S6). The coordinates of these images are represented by the coordinates of the center pixel or the coordinates of any corner of the rectangular area. Then, a coordinate difference between the local image 27max and the cut-out image 25 is obtained, and based on this, the coordinate of the movement destination of the designated point 23 is obtained and stored, and is displayed superimposed on the frame image f1 of the display unit 2 (S7). Note that the relative position of the designated point 23 in the local image 27max and the cut-out image 25 is treated as not changing.

  The dynamic information calculation unit 5 calculates various measurement information relating to the movement of the designated point 23, that is, the movement of the tissue of the designated site, based on the movement destination coordinates of the designated point 23 obtained in S7 (S8).

  That is, based on the coordinates of the designated part before and after the movement, the movement direction and the movement amount can be quantitatively measured. In addition, measurement information, which is a physical quantity related to movement such as the movement amount, movement speed, and movement direction of the designated part, can be obtained quantitatively.

  Based on the measurement information thus obtained, the dynamic information calculation unit 5 further displays various measurement information regarding the movement of the designated point 23 and changes thereof on the display unit in a graph (S9). Thereby, the viewer can easily observe the movement of the designated part.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S10, where it is determined whether or not the tracking of the designated point 23 has been completed for all the frame images of the moving image. If there is an unprocessed frame image, the process returns to step S5 and the processes of S5 to S10 are performed. repeat. When the tracking of the designated point 23 is finished for all the frame images, the tracking processing operation is finished.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, by applying the image correlation method, the coordinates of the movement destination of the designated point 23 can be obtained sequentially, so that the movement of the designated portion can be easily quantitatively and accurately performed. Therefore, it is possible to accurately provide diagnosis information.

  Here, a specific example obtained by measuring the movement of the designated part of the living tissue using the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is an example of an image in which measurement information related to the movement of the designated point 23 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display unit 2. FIG. 5A shows the movement locus of the designated point 23 superimposed on the moving image with a broken line. This is an example. In FIGS. 7B and 7C, the change over time and the moving speed of the moving amount of the designated point 23 are displayed. Figures (d) and (e) show another example in which the movement locus of the designated point 23 is superimposed on the moving image, and Fig. (D) shows the locus for the previous several frame images. In FIG. (E), the movement trajectory is indicated by a solid line.

  On the other hand, FIG. 6 sets two designated points 23 across the heart wall of the myocardium 22, measures the distance between the two designated points 23, and changes in the distance, and graphs them on the display unit 2. It is a displayed example. Thereby, the thickness and thickness change of the myocardium can be grasped quantitatively. It is also possible to calculate and display the rate of change of myocardial thickness. This rate of change can represent the amount of change in the thickness of the myocardium before and after the change with respect to the thickness of the myocardium before the change as a percentage. In these cases, the accuracy of diagnosis can be further improved by displaying a graph of measurement values related to the heart and information such as an ECG waveform and a heart waveform on the display unit 2 in association with the time axis. In other words, since the tracking of myocardial dynamics and the change in myocardial thickness can be tracked quantitatively, it becomes possible to identify an ischemic site in ischemic heart disease. In addition, since the myocardial dynamics can be quantified, the degree of ischemia can be known, and can be used as an index for selecting a treatment method such as coronary artery regenerative surgery and specifying a treatment site. Furthermore, if a designated point 23 is set in the annulus 24 and its movement is tracked, it can be expected to be useful for evaluating the entire cardiac function in heart diseases such as hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy.

  FIG. 7 shows that a plurality of (9 in the illustrated example) designated points 23a to 23i are set on the wall of the myocardium 22, their movements are tracked, and the movement information is used to show the movements (a) to (f) of FIG. ) Is displayed. Fig. 11 (a) shows the direction of movement of each designated point 23a to 23i, uses the reference point of the direction of movement of the heart wall as the center of gravity, and changes the color of the direction toward the center of gravity and the opposite direction. This is an example of image display. According to this, the movement of the myocardium can be easily grasped by image display. In this case, luminance modulation can be applied according to the moving speed. FIG. 5B shows an example in which the thickness of the line connecting these designated points 23a to 23i is changed according to the movement amount of each designated point 23a to 23i. FIG. 4C shows an example in which the movement trajectory of each designated point 23a to 23i from a few frames before is displayed. FIG. 4D shows an example in which the designated points 23a to 23i are connected with lines and the movement amounts of these points are highlighted. Fig. (E) shows an example of the change in the area of each quadrilateral surrounded by the designated points 23a-23i as shown in Fig. (C). It is the example which displayed the time change of the area as a graph.

  FIG. 8 is an example in which a plurality of designated points 23 are set throughout the myocardium 22, and FIG. 8 (a) is a graph showing the total displacement of the myocardium 22 in the thickness direction. FIG. 5B is a graph showing the total displacement in the length direction of the myocardium. FIG. 5C is an example in which the total displacement is graphed and displayed with the positive direction being contracted in the length direction of the myocardium 22 and the positive direction being expanded in the thickness direction. FIG. 4D is an example in which the total area change of a region surrounded by a plurality of designated points 23 is graphed.

  FIG. 9 sets a plurality of designated points 23 along the inner wall of the myocardium 22, and FIG. 9A shows a direction in which each designated point 23 is directed toward the center of gravity of an area (intraventricular chamber) surrounded by each designated point. Is displayed in, for example, “red”, the away direction is displayed in, for example, “blue”, and the brightness is modulated according to the moving speed. FIG. 5B is a graph showing the time change of the area of the region surrounded by the designated point 23. FIG. According to this, dynamic information (movement information) such as a change in the volume of the ventricle can be quantitatively and accurately measured.

(Embodiment 2)
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, every time tracking of a designated point for one frame image is completed (S7), various information regarding the movement of the tissue is calculated based on the movement of the designated point (S8), and those The example in which information is displayed on the display unit (S9) has been described. The present invention is not limited to this, as shown in FIG. 10, step S10 in FIG. 1 is arranged after step S7, and after the tracking of designated points for all frame images is completed, the processing of steps S8 and S9 is performed. You may make it perform.

  Here, a specific example of the image tracking process by the image correlation method will be described with reference to FIG. In the illustrated example, for simplification of description, the size of the cut-out image 25 is described as a rectangular 9-pixel area, and the search area 26 is also described as a rectangular 25-pixel area. That is, the cutout image 25 shown in FIG. 10A is an example in which A = 1 pixel is set around the pixel of the designated point 23, and the search area 26 shown in FIG. This is an example. According to this, as shown in FIG. 5B, the correlation values are obtained for the nine local regions 27, and the position having the largest correlation corresponds to the movement destination coordinates.

(Embodiment 3)
The present embodiment can be applied to tracking processing of a living tissue by a moving image obtained by imaging by an ultrasonic imaging method. In particular, the RF signal corresponding to the moving image is stored, and the movement of the living tissue is tracked by using the RF signal to correct the position of the local image with the highest degree of image matching obtained by the image correlation method. It is to make the change of the measured value obtained in this way smooth.

  As shown in FIG. 12, a moving image from the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus 17 and an RF signal used for reconstruction of the moving image (a signal obtained by receiving an ultrasonic echo signal) are respectively online or via a recording medium. The information is stored in the storage unit 1 and the RF signal storage unit 18. The RF signal storage unit 18 is connected to the automatic tracking unit 4 via the signal transmission path 6. In addition, a movement amount correction unit 13 is provided in the automatic tracking unit 4.

  FIG. 13 shows the processing procedure of the main part of this embodiment. The basis of the tracking process of the present embodiment is to capture the movement destination coordinates of the clipped image obtained in step S6 of FIG. 10, and calculate the movement destination coordinates of the designated point 23 (S21). Next, an RF signal relating to an image around the coordinates of the designated point 23 of the cutout image 25 and the coordinates of the designated point 23 of the local image 27max having the highest degree of coincidence is extracted from the RF signal storage unit 18 (S22). That is, the RF signal of the peripheral image of the designated point 23 before and after the movement is extracted. Then, the cross-correlation between the RF signals before and after the movement is taken and the correlation value is obtained (S23). In this case, first, the time axis is shifted by an amount corresponding to the amount of movement (number of pixels) obtained by the image correlation method for any of the RF signals before and after the movement, while taking the cross-correlation (for example, product-sum operation) between them. Shift any RF signal before and after movement. Then, the deviation amount τ at which the obtained cross-correlation value becomes the maximum value is obtained as a correction value for the movement amount by the RF signal (S24). Then, the movement amount of the designated point obtained using the RF signal is added to the movement amount of the designated point previously obtained by the image correlation method to correct the movement amount of the designated point (S25).

  Here, the reason that the maximum value of the cross-correlation value of the RF signal before and after the movement correlates with the movement amount of the designated point, and thereby the movement amount of the designated point is corrected, thereby improving the position measurement accuracy. This will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 14 (a), the time axes of the RF signal 41 around the designated point before the movement and the RF signal 42 around the designated point after the movement are shifted based on the movement amount obtained by the image correlation method. Shown in state. For example, when the cross-correlation with the RF signal 42 is calculated while shifting the time axis of the RF signal 41 in either positive or negative direction, the cross-correlation value 43 indicating the maximum value shown in FIG. If the phase difference shifted between the RF signal 41 and the RF signal 42 is τ, this movement amount τ corresponds to the movement amount to be corrected in addition to the movement amount of the image correlation method. Thereby, the measurement accuracy of the movement amount of the image correlation method can be improved.

  As described above, according to each embodiment of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  First, since the movement of each part of the heart can be measured quantitatively, for example, by tracking myocardial dynamics or changing myocardial thickness quantitatively, for example, an ischemic site can be identified in ischemic heart disease. it can. In addition, since the myocardial dynamics can be quantified, the degree of ischemia can be known and can be used as an index for selecting a treatment method such as coronary artery regeneration and specifying a treatment site.

  In addition, quantitatively tracking the movement of the annulus may help to assess overall cardiac function in heart diseases such as hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to measuring the movement of each part of the heart, but is obviously applicable to any part of the biological tissue as long as the movement of the biological tissue is desired to be observed. For example, it can be applied to pulse wave measurement of a large blood vessel wall such as a carotid artery. In this case, the degree of arteriosclerosis can be determined by setting a plurality of designated sites in the longitudinal direction of the blood vessel wall and quantitatively measuring and comparing the movement amounts of these designated sites.

  Moreover, although the above-mentioned embodiment demonstrated the example performed offline, if the speed concerning the process of a block matching method is improved, it can apply also to an online or real-time moving image.

  Moreover, although the above-described embodiment has been described by taking a two-dimensional tomographic image as an example, it is needless to say that the embodiment can also be applied to a three-dimensional tomographic image.

  As the image correlation method, a known technique can be used as long as it is a method for calculating the degree of coincidence between corresponding images of the cut-out image and the local image. For example, the two-dimensional cross-correlation method that calculates the product of pixel values for each corresponding pixel of the cut-out image and local image that are generally known, and uses the sum of the absolute values as the correlation value, each pixel value of the cut-out image and the local image The two-dimensional normalized cross-correlation method that subtracts the average value of each pixel from the pixel value for each pixel, finds the product, and uses the sum of the absolute values as the correlation value, finds the absolute value of the pixel value difference for each pixel, and calculates the absolute value The SAD method using the sum of the values as the correlation value, the SSD method using the sum of the square values as the correlation value after obtaining the square value of the pixel value difference for each pixel, and the like can be applied. At this time, in order to select the local image having the maximum correlation, the local image having the maximum correlation value in the two-dimensional cross-correlation method and the two-dimensional normalized cross-correlation method, and the minimum correlation value in the SAD method and the SSD method are selected. What is necessary is just to make it a local image with the highest degree of coincidence of images. A feature of the image correlation method is that a local image having the maximum correlation (maximum or minimum correlation value) is selected.

  1 Image storage unit, 2 display unit, 3 console, 4 automatic tracking unit, 5 dynamic information calculation unit, 6 signal transmission path, 7 diagnostic imaging device, 8 control unit, 9 cropped image setting unit, 10 cropped image tracking unit , 11 Movement amount calculation means, 12 Movement tracking means

Claims (23)

  A first step of capturing a moving tissue of a subject as a moving image, storing the moving image, and displaying one frame image of the stored moving image; and in the displayed one frame image, A second step of inputting a command to superimpose and display a mark on a part of the moving biological tissue region and setting at least one designated point on the part of the moving biological tissue region; A third step of searching for another frame image and extracting the other frame image having the highest degree of coincidence between the one frame image including the designated point and the image; and the extracted other frame image and the first frame image A fourth step of obtaining a destination coordinate of the designated point based on the coordinate difference of the frame image; and obtaining a movement amount of the designated point based on the destination coordinate of the designated point, and a time change of the movement amount of the designated point. The picture Motion tracking method of a biological tissue comprising a fifth step of displaying. In the second step, a plurality of the designated points are set in a local region where it is desired to track the movement of a part of the moving tissue region.
In the fifth step, the movement direction of each designated point is obtained, and the movement direction of each designated point is determined by using the center of gravity of the local area in which a plurality of designated points are set as the movement direction of each designated point. The method for tracking movement of a living tissue according to claim 1, wherein the change is displayed as an image by changing the color in the direction toward the center of gravity and in the opposite direction. In the second step, a plurality of the designated points are set over the entire region of the living tissue with movement,
In the fifth step, a movement amount of each designated point is obtained for at least one of a thickness direction and a length direction of a part of the moving biological tissue region, and a time change of the obtained movement amount of each designated point is obtained. The method of tracking movement of a living tissue according to claim 1, wherein an image is displayed. In the second step, a plurality of the designated points are set along a boundary of a region of the living tissue that moves.
In the fifth step, the movement direction of each designated point is obtained based on the destination coordinates of each designated point, and the movement of each designated point is performed using the center of gravity of the area surrounded by the plurality of designated points as a reference point in the movement direction. 2. The method for tracking movement of a living tissue according to claim 1, wherein the temporal change in direction is displayed by changing the color in the direction toward the center of gravity and in the opposite direction.   Based on the other frame image extracted in the third step, the third step and the fourth step are repeatedly performed on another frame image of the moving image, and the destination coordinate of the designated point is determined. 5. The biological tissue motion tracking method according to claim 1, wherein the biological tissue motion tracking method is obtained sequentially.   5. The size of another frame image extracted in the third step is a region having a size including a biological tissue different from the biological tissue at the designated point. Motion tracking method for living tissue.   The search range for extracting another frame image having the highest degree of coincidence of the images in the third step is set in a region having a set number of pixels larger than that of the one frame image. 5. The movement tracking method for living tissue according to any one of 4 above.   In the fourth step, a plurality of the RF signals around the destination coordinate of the designated point are extracted, the cross-correlation between the extracted RF signals and the RF signal of the designated point before the movement is obtained, The biological tissue motion tracking method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: correcting the movement destination coordinates at the position of the RF signal having the maximum correlation.   The biological tissue motion tracking method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the mark is displayed over the moving image at a destination of the designated point.   The movement tracking method of the living tissue according to claim 9, wherein a movement destination coordinate of the designated point is stored, and a movement locus of the mark is displayed over the moving image.   5. The sixth step according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sixth step stores destination coordinates of the designated point and obtains at least one of a movement amount and a movement speed of the designated point. A method for tracking the movement of biological tissue.   The biological tissue motion tracking method according to claim 11, wherein in the fifth step, at least one change of the movement amount, movement speed, and movement direction of the designated point is displayed in a diagram.   The biological tissue motion tracking method according to claim 12, wherein in the fifth step, luminance modulation is applied in accordance with a moving speed of the designated point. In the second step, two designated points are set in a living tissue with movement,
5. The fifth step according to claim 1, wherein at least one of a thickness, a thickness change, a thickness change speed, and a thickness change rate of the moving biological tissue is calculated. A method for tracking the movement of biological tissue.   5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: a sixth step of obtaining a volume of living tissue that moves and a change in the volume based on a straight line connecting the plurality of designated points or an approximate curve of the straight line. The biological tissue motion tracking method according to Item. In the second step, an instruction to superimpose and display a mark on the displayed one frame image is input, and at least a pair of designated points are set across a boundary of a moving biological tissue,
The fifth step includes a step of displaying an image of a time change graph of the distance between the pair of designated points and displaying an image of measurement information of the moving living tissue in relation to the time axis of the graph. The biological tissue motion tracking method according to claim 1, comprising: A storage unit that stores a moving image obtained by capturing a tomographic image of a part including a living tissue in which the subject moves, a display unit that can display the moving image, an operation unit that inputs a command, and the display An automatic tracking unit that tracks the movement of a part of the moving biological tissue region of the moving image displayed on the unit, the storage unit, the display unit, the operation unit, and the automatic tracking unit. And a signal transmission line
The operation unit includes a command for causing the display unit to display one frame image of the moving image stored in the storage unit, and a living tissue that moves in the one frame image displayed according to the command. Input means for setting a plurality of designated points in a part of the region of the living tissue by inputting a command to display a mark superimposed on a part of the region of
The automatic tracking unit includes: an image setting unit configured to set the one frame image having a size including the designated point corresponding to the position of the mark of the one frame image displayed on the display unit; Image tracking means for reading out another frame image of the moving image and extracting the other frame image having the highest matching degree between the one frame image and the image, and the other frame image having the highest matching degree; A moving amount calculating means for obtaining a coordinate difference of the one frame image, and an image diagnostic apparatus for displaying a temporal change in the moving amount of the designated point on the display unit.   An area surrounded by a plurality of designated points, further comprising movement tracking means for obtaining a destination coordinate of the designated point based on the coordinate difference, obtaining a movement direction of each designated point based on the destination coordinate of each designated point The diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 17, wherein a time change in the moving direction of each designated point is displayed on the display unit while changing the color in the direction toward the center of gravity and in the opposite direction, using the center of gravity as a reference point in the moving direction.   The image diagnosis apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the automatic tracking unit stores a movement destination coordinate of the designated point, and displays a movement locus of the mark superimposed on the moving image.   The automatic tracking unit stores the coordinates of the destination of the designated point, obtains at least one of the movement amount and movement speed of the designated point, and displays the change on the display unit in a diagram. The diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 17, characterized in that:   The automatic tracking unit is configured such that the thickness and thickness of a part of a moving biological tissue region based on the two specified points input and set by sandwiching a part of the moving biological tissue region from the operation unit. 18. The diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 17, wherein at least one of change, thickness change rate, and thickness change rate is calculated and a diagram thereof is displayed on the display unit.   The automatic tracking unit obtains movement destinations of a plurality of the designated points along a boundary of a region of a moving biological tissue input and set from the operation unit, and a straight line connecting the plurality of designated points or an approximation of the straight line 18. The diagnostic imaging apparatus according to claim 17, wherein a volume of a living tissue that moves and a change in the volume are obtained based on a curve and displayed on the display unit.   The image diagnosis apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the automatic tracking unit displays an image on the display unit by performing luminance modulation according to a moving speed of each designated point.

Images