JP2011036282A - Ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an image processor, capable of improving the efficiency in image diagnosis utilizing the wall motion analysis. <P>SOLUTION: An image generating part 25 generates ultrasonic image data on the shape of the heart within the body of a subject based on echo signals from an ultrasonic probe 11. The image generating part 25 also generates motion information analysis image data on wall motion parameters of the heart based on the echo signals from the ultrasonic probe 11. A display part 29 displays the colored motion information analysis image superposed on the ultrasonic image. An input part 31 inputs the correction operation to the cardiac muscle contour on the color-displayed motion information analysis image according to a command from a user. A display control part 27 deletes the color display of a cardiac muscular region when the correction operation is input, or changes the transmittance of the color display from a first transmittance to a second transmittance higher than the first transmittance. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an image processing apparatus that execute motion analysis of a living tissue in a subject.

  In the clinical field, in order to evaluate the motion information of the living tissue in the subject, the motion analysis of the living tissue is performed by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. For example, as a method for evaluating heart motion information, wall motion analysis that calculates wall motion information (hereinafter referred to as wall motion parameters) such as displacement and strain related to a local region in an image has been clinically applied. In wall motion analysis, a wall motion analysis image (parametric image) relating to a two-dimensional or three-dimensional distribution of wall motion parameters is generated and displayed, and used for diagnosis. The wall motion analysis image includes a myocardial region and a contour of the myocardial region. The wall motion analysis image is typically displayed in a color corresponding to the wall motion parameter by being superimposed on the ultrasonic image.

  The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus provides a manual correction function of a myocardial contour on a wall motion analysis image by a user. When correcting the myocardial contour on the wall motion analysis image, the user refers to the myocardial contour on the ultrasound image. However, since the wall motion analysis image overlaps the front surface of the ultrasonic image as described above, the visibility of the ultrasonic image is poor. Therefore, the burden on the user regarding the correction of the myocardial contour is large, and the diagnostic efficiency of the image diagnosis using the wall motion analysis is poor.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an image processing apparatus that can improve the diagnostic efficiency of image diagnosis using wall motion analysis.

  An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an ultrasonic probe that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves, a scan unit that repeatedly scans a subject with ultrasonic waves through the ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic probe. A first generation unit that generates ultrasonic image data related to the form of the tissue in the subject based on the output of the motion information, and motion information image data related to the motion information of the tissue based on the output from the ultrasonic probe. A second generation unit for generating, a display unit for displaying the generated motion information image in color on the generated ultrasonic image, and a contour of a tissue region on the motion information image displayed in color An input unit for inputting a correction operation for the tissue according to an instruction from a user, and when the correction operation is input, the color display of the tissue region is erased or the color display is transparent A control unit for switching the high second permeability than the first permeability of the first transparency, comprising.

  An image processing apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit that stores ultrasonic image data related to a tissue in a subject and exercise information image data related to the movement information of the tissue, and the ultrasonic image is stored on the ultrasonic image. A display unit that superimposes and displays the motion information image in color, an input unit that inputs a correction operation for a contour of a tissue region on the exercise information image displayed in color according to an instruction from a user, and the correction operation And a controller that erases the color display of the tissue region when it is input, or switches the transparency of the color display from the first transparency to a second transparency higher than the first transparency.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to provide the ultrasonic diagnosing device and image processing apparatus which implement | achieve the improvement of the diagnostic efficiency of the image diagnosis using wall motion analysis.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of a superimposition display of the ultrasonic image (B mode image) and wall motion analysis image which are displayed by the display part of FIG. The figure which shows the ultrasonic image and wall motion analysis image before the start of correction operation displayed by the display part of FIG. The figure which shows the ultrasonic image at the time of correction operation and wall motion analysis image which are displayed by the display part of FIG. The figure which shows the ultrasonic image and wall motion analysis image at the time of completion | finish of correction operation displayed by the display part of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an image processing apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes an ultrasonic probe 11, a scan control unit 13, a transmission unit 15, a reception unit 17, a B mode processing unit 19, a B mode volume data generation unit 21, and wall motion volume data generation. Unit 23, image generation unit 25, display control unit 27, display unit 29, input unit 31, storage unit 33, and system control unit 35.

  The ultrasonic probe 11 receives the drive pulse from the transmission unit 15 and transmits a beam-shaped ultrasonic wave toward the subject. The ultrasonic waves transmitted toward the subject are successively reflected by the discontinuous surface of the acoustic impedance of the body tissue. The reflected spherical wave ultrasonic waves are received by the ultrasonic probe 11. The received ultrasonic wave is converted into an echo signal (electric signal) by the ultrasonic probe 11. The amplitude of the echo signal depends on the difference in acoustic impedance between adjacent body tissues across the discontinuous surface where the ultrasonic waves are reflected.

  The scan control unit 13 controls the transmission unit 15 and the reception unit 17 to repeatedly three-dimensionally scan the tissue of the subject to be scanned with the ultrasonic beam. The three-dimensional scan is repeatedly performed within a certain period of at least one heartbeat. Thus, the scan control unit 13, the transmission unit 15, and the reception unit 17 constitute a scanning unit. Note that the tissue of the subject according to the present embodiment is a heart that periodically moves within the subject.

  The transmission unit 15 repeatedly applies a drive pulse to the ultrasonic probe 11 according to control by the scan control unit 13 to repeatedly transmit an ultrasonic beam. More specifically, the transmission unit 15 includes a rate pulse generation circuit, a transmission delay circuit, a drive pulse generation circuit, and the like (not shown). The rate pulse generation circuit repeatedly generates a rate pulse for each channel at a predetermined rate frequency frHz (cycle; 1 / fr second). The delay circuit focuses the ultrasonic wave into a beam for each channel and gives each rate pulse a delay time necessary to determine the transmission directivity. The drive pulse generation circuit generates a drive pulse at a timing based on each delayed rate pulse and applies it to the ultrasonic probe 11. The ultrasonic probe 11 that has received the application of the drive pulse transmits an ultrasonic beam in a transmission direction corresponding to the drive pulse.

  The receiving unit 17 repeatedly receives the echo signal from the ultrasonic probe 11 according to the control by the scan control unit 13 and generates an echo signal for each ultrasonic beam. More specifically, the reception unit 17 includes an amplifier circuit, an A / D converter, a reception delay circuit, an adder, and the like (not shown). The amplifier circuit receives the echo signal from the ultrasonic probe 11 and amplifies the received echo signal for each channel. The A / D converter converts the amplified echo signal from an analog signal to a digital signal for each channel. The reception delay circuit focuses the echo signal converted into the digital signal into a beam shape for each channel and gives a delay time necessary for determining the reception directivity. The adder adds the echo signals given delay times. By this addition processing, an echo signal corresponding to a predetermined ultrasonic beam is generated. The generated echo signal is supplied to the B-mode processing unit 19.

  The B-mode processing unit 19 envelope-detects the echo signal from the receiving unit 17, and logarithmically compresses the echo signal that has been envelope-detected, thereby generating B-mode signal data that expresses the intensity of the echo signal in luminance. To do. The generated B-mode signal data is supplied to the B-mode volume data generation unit 21.

  The B mode volume data generation unit 21 generates volume data related to the heart morphology (hereinafter referred to as B mode volume data) based on the B mode signal from the B mode processing unit 19. Specifically, the B-mode volume data generation unit 21 three-dimensionally arranges the B-mode signal on the memory according to the spatial position information, and interpolates the data of the B-mode signal at the data missing portion. By this arrangement processing and interpolation processing, B-mode volume data composed of a plurality of voxels is generated. Each voxel has a voxel value corresponding to the strength of the derived B-mode signal. By repeating the three-dimensional scan by the scan control unit 13, the B-mode volume data generation unit 21 generates volume data for each cardiac phase within a certain period. The generated time-series B-mode volume data is stored in the storage unit 33.

  The wall motion volume data generation unit 23 performs wall motion analysis (so-called wall motion tracking) on the B-mode volume data, and volume data (hereinafter referred to as wall motion) regarding heart wall motion information (hereinafter referred to as wall motion parameters). (Referred to as volume data). Specifically, a three-dimensional region of interest is set in the tissue region of the wall motion analysis target on the B-mode volume data of one cardiac phase. Typically, the region of interest is set to the myocardial region. The region of interest is automatically set by the user via the input unit 31 or by image processing. Next, using the speckle pattern in the set region of interest as a template, the B-mode volume data of the other cardiac time phase is subjected to 3D speckle tracking processing, and the speckle having the highest similarity to the speckle pattern in the region of interest A corresponding area having a pattern is detected. Then, a movement amount and a movement direction between the region of interest and the corresponding region are calculated. This amount of movement is one of the wall motion parameters. Other wall motion parameters include speed, acceleration, distortion, and the like, and are calculated based on the movement amount and the movement direction by a known technique. By repeatedly performing wall motion analysis while moving the region of interest in this manner, arbitrary wall motion parameters are calculated for a plurality of voxels constituting the myocardial region. The wall motion volume data generation unit 23 generates the wall motion volume data by three-dimensionally arranging the calculated wall motion parameter data on the memory according to the position information of the voxel. The generated time-series wall motion volume data is supplied to the storage unit 33.

  The image generation unit 25 generates ultrasonic image data related to the heart form based on the echo signal from the ultrasonic probe 11. Specifically, the image generation unit 25 generates ultrasonic image data by performing three-dimensional image processing or two-dimensional image processing on the B-mode volume data. Further, the image generation unit 25 generates data of an image relating to a wall motion parameter (hereinafter referred to as a wall motion analysis image) based on an echo signal from the ultrasonic probe 11. Specifically, the image generation unit 25 performs three-dimensional image processing or two-dimensional image processing on the wall motion volume data, and generates wall motion analysis image data regarding the same cross section or viewpoint position as the ultrasonic image. These ultrasonic images and wall motion analysis images are generated for each time phase within a certain period. As the two-dimensional image processing, MPR (Multi Planar Reconstruction) processing, as the three-dimensional image processing, pixel value projection processing, volume rendering, etc. are adopted. The generated time-series ultrasonic image data and time-series wall motion analysis image data are supplied to the storage unit 33.

  The display control unit 27 aligns the wall motion analysis image on the ultrasonic image and displays the image on the display unit 29 in a superimposed manner. Typically, the display control unit 27 displays a time-series ultrasonic image and a time-series wall motion analysis image as moving images with the same time phase. At this time, the display control unit 27 displays the wall motion analysis image in a color corresponding to the wall motion parameter assigned to each pixel in order to easily grasp the value of the wall motion parameter and the time change visually. Further, not only the wall motion parameter but also the color may be displayed according to the segment (segment) of the myocardial region. In addition, the display control unit 27 has a function of correcting the outline of the myocardial region included in the wall motion analysis image by a manual operation via the input unit 31. During the execution of the correction function, the display control unit 27 has a function of switching the display mode of the wall motion analysis image for facilitating the user's contour correction. The display mode switching function is a function unique to the present embodiment, and will be described in detail later.

  The display unit 29 is a display device such as a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or a plasma display. The display unit 29 displays an ultrasonic image and a wall motion analysis image under the control of the display control unit 27.

  The input unit 31 receives various commands and information input from the user. The input unit 31 includes an input device such as a mouse, detects the coordinates of the cursor displayed on the display screen, and outputs the detected coordinates to the system control unit 35. Specifically, the input unit 31 receives a mouse operation by the user and inputs an operation for correcting the outline of the myocardial region on the wall motion analysis image.

  The storage unit 33 is generated by the time series B mode volume data generated by the B mode volume data generation unit 21, the time series wall motion volume data generated by the wall motion volume data generation unit 23, and the image generation unit 25. The time-series ultrasonic image and the data of the time-series wall motion analysis image generated by the image generation unit 25 are stored.

  The system control unit 35 functions as the center of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and controls the operation of each unit of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. For example, the system control unit 35 develops on the memory an application program for switching the display mode of the wall motion analysis image at the time of contour correction, and executes processing according to the developed program.

  Hereinafter, switching of the display mode by the display control unit 27 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a superimposed display example of the ultrasonic image (B-mode image) I1 and the wall motion analysis image I2. In order to specifically describe the following, it is assumed that the ultrasonic image I1 and the wall motion analysis image I2 are two-dimensional images of the same cross section generated by the MPR process. The ultrasonic image in this case is called a B-mode image. The cross-sectional position and direction are arbitrarily set by the user via the input unit 31.

  The wall motion analysis is performed under the control of the system control unit 31 when the execution button of the wall motion analysis is pressed by the user. When wall motion analysis is performed, data of a wall motion analysis image is generated. The generated wall motion analysis image I2 is displayed superimposed on the B-mode image I1, as shown in FIG. The wall motion analysis image I2 includes a myocardial region I21 and a contour I22 of the myocardial region I21. The myocardial region I21 and the myocardial contour I22 are displayed in a color corresponding to the wall motion parameter assigned to the pixel at that position. For example, the display control unit 27 displays the wall motion analysis image I2 in color using a color table in which wall motion parameters and colors (hues) are associated with each other. The initial color transparency (transparency in a standard display mode to be described later) is set in advance to be low (the color is darker) in order to make the color easily visible. Further, in order to facilitate the grasping of the position of the myocardial region I21, the myocardial contour I22 is displayed with a bold line, and is displayed with emphasis by increasing the color tone and transparency as compared with that of the tissue region I21. .

  The B-mode image I1 and the wall motion analysis image I2 are initially aligned by image processing so that the myocardial contour I22 overlaps the myocardial contour on the B-mode image I1. However, since the myocardial contour is not accurately detected at the time of wall motion analysis, the contour I22 on the wall motion analysis image I2 and the myocardial contour on the B-mode image I1 do not completely match. For this reason, it is necessary to manually correct the myocardial contour I22 on the wall motion analysis image I2.

  As described above, the wall motion analysis image I2 is displayed in the foreground in the superimposed display. Therefore, conventionally, in order to refer to the myocardial contour on the ultrasound image I1 displayed on the back of the wall motion analysis image I2, the myocardial contour I22 is largely shifted by a drag operation of the mouse (input unit 31), or color It was necessary to manually set the display transparency higher.

  The display control unit 27 according to the present embodiment has a display mode switching function in order to facilitate the visibility of the B-mode image at the time of contour correction. The display control unit 27 executes the switching function with the user's starting of the correction operation via the input unit 31 as a trigger. That is, the display control unit 27 switches from the display mode at the standard time to the display mode at the time of contour correction using the start of the correction operation as a trigger. In the standard display mode, as described above, the wall motion analysis image is displayed in color in a color corresponding to the wall motion parameter or the like. Further, as described above, the transparency that allows easy color observation is set as the transparency in the standard display mode. Typically, the transparency in the standard display mode is set to be relatively low (low transparency). On the other hand, in the display mode at the time of contour correction, the color display is deleted.

  The correction operation that triggers execution of the display mode switching function can be arbitrarily set by the user via the input unit 31. Typically, the correction operation is performed by a mouse that is one mode of the input unit 31. A typical example of the correction operation that serves as a trigger in this case is a drag operation of a contour on the wall motion analysis image performed via a mouse. Hereinafter, taking this case as an example, the display mode switching function will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the B-mode image I1 and the wall motion analysis image I2 before the start of the correction operation. FIG. 3 (the same applies to FIGS. 4 and 5) shows a B-mode image I1 and a wall motion analysis image I2 for one segment. As shown in FIG. 3, the wall motion analysis image I2 is displayed in the standard display mode before the start of the correction operation. That is, the myocardial region I21 is displayed in color with the transparency in the standard display mode.

  As shown in FIG. 3, before the correction operation, the myocardial contour I22 on the wall motion analysis image I2 and the myocardial contour I12 on the B-mode image I1 are not completely aligned. Therefore, the user operates the mouse to move the mouse cursor MC to the correction location of the myocardial contour I22. When the mouse cursor MC is moved to the correction location, the user clicks, for example, the left button of the mouse to specify the correction location. Then, the user starts a mouse drag operation in order to move the myocardial contour I22 to a desired position.

  The display control unit 27 automatically switches from the display mode at the standard time to the display mode at the time of contour correction, triggered by the drag operation by the user. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the B-mode image I1 and the wall motion analysis image I2 during the correction operation. As shown in FIG. 4, when a drag operation is performed, the display control unit 27 erases the color display of the myocardial region I21. As a result, the partial region on the B-mode image I1 that is hidden behind the myocardial region I21 is visually displayed in the foreground. The display mode of the myocardial contour I22 on the wall motion analysis image I2 is not changed before and after the drag, and is displayed in the foreground in preference to the B-mode image I1. Therefore, the user can correct the position of the myocardial contour I12 without shifting the myocardial contour I22 on the wall motion analysis image I2 just for confirming the myocardial contour I12 on the B-mode image I1 as in the prior art. And the shape can be confirmed. Therefore, the correction part of the myocardial contour I22 can be directly moved to a desired position. This improves the operability and ease of the contour correction operation.

  The display control unit 27 automatically switches from the display mode at the time of contour correction to the display mode at the standard time, triggered by the completion of the contour correction operation by the user. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the B-mode image I1 and the wall motion analysis image I2 at the end of the correction operation. As shown in FIG. 5, the display control unit 27 resumes the color display of the myocardial region I21 on the wall motion analysis image I2 with the end of the drag operation as a trigger. Thus, the user can re-evaluate the myocardial wall motion by reflecting the corrected myocardial contour position.

  In the above description, the color display is erased in the display mode at the time of contour correction. However, the present embodiment need not be limited to this. For example, in the display mode at the time of contour correction, the transparency of color display may be increased (high transparency) compared to the transparency of color display in the standard display mode.

  Note that this embodiment may be applied to an image processing apparatus such as a workstation. In this case, the image processing apparatus 40 includes an image generation unit 25, a display control unit 27, a display unit 29, an input unit 31, a storage unit 33, and a system control unit 35, as shown in FIG.

  Thus, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment improve the diagnostic efficiency of image diagnosis using wall motion analysis.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage.

(Modification)
In the above embodiment, the ultrasonic image data is generated after the B-mode volume data is generated, and the wall motion analysis image data is generated after the wall motion volume data is generated. This is an embodiment using three-dimensional speckle tracking. However, the present embodiment need not be limited to this. For example, ultrasonic image data may be directly generated based on the B-mode signal from the B-mode processing unit 19, and wall motion analysis image data may be generated based on the generated ultrasonic image data. . This is an embodiment using so-called two-dimensional speckle tracking.

  In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus and an image processing apparatus that can improve the diagnostic efficiency of image diagnosis using wall motion analysis.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Ultrasonic probe, 13 ... Scan control part, 15 ... Transmission part, 17 ... Reception part, 19 ... B mode processing part, 21 ... B mode volume data generation part, 23 ... Wall motion volume data generation part, 25 ... Image Generation unit, 27 ... display control unit, 29 ... display unit, 31 ... input unit, 33 ... storage unit, 35 ... system control unit

Claims (4)

An ultrasonic probe for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves;
A scanning unit that repeatedly scans the subject with ultrasound through the ultrasound probe; and
A first generation unit that generates ultrasonic image data relating to a form of tissue in the subject based on an output from the ultrasonic probe;
A second generation unit that generates data of a motion information image related to the motion information of the tissue based on an output from the ultrasonic probe;
A display unit for displaying the color of the generated motion information image on the generated ultrasonic image in a superimposed manner;
An input unit for inputting a correction operation on the outline of the tissue region of the exercise information image displayed in color according to an instruction from a user;
When the correction operation is input, a controller that erases the color display of the tissue region, or switches the transparency of the color display from the first transparency to a second transparency higher than the first transparency;
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus comprising:   2. The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the correction operation is finished, the control unit displays the tissue region in color again, or switches from the second transparency to the first transparency.   The ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction operation is a selection of the contour or a drag operation of the contour performed by the input unit in response to a mouse operation of the user. A storage unit for storing ultrasonic image data relating to the tissue in the subject and exercise information image data relating to the exercise information of the tissue;
A display unit that displays the motion information image in color on the ultrasonic image and displays the color,
An input unit for inputting a correction operation for the outline of the tissue region on the exercise information image displayed in color according to an instruction from the user;
When the correction operation is input, a controller that erases the color display of the tissue region, or switches the transparency of the color display from the first transparency to a second transparency higher than the first transparency;
An image processing apparatus comprising:

Images