JP3061633B2 - Enlarged display processing method for ultrasonic diagnostic equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an enlarged display processing method of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, and more particularly to an enlarged display processing method using two enlarged display methods in combination.

[Related Art] An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from a subject and displays a tomographic image of the subject is known, and is widely used in hospitals and research laboratories.

Some of these ultrasonic diagnostic apparatuses have a so-called zoom function for enlarging and displaying a partial region of a displayed tomographic image. Using the zoom function, for example, a tumor or a tumor in a subject can be used. 2. Description of the Related Art A portion such as a calculus is enlarged and displayed, and its position, size, and the like are accurately obtained.

There are roughly two types of methods for performing the enlarged display. That is, so-called read zoom and write zoom.

The read zoom reads data corresponding to a specified enlarged area from a frame memory that temporarily stores tomographic image information in the subject and enlarges and displays the data, and has an advantage that relatively high-speed processing can be performed. On the other hand, if the enlargement ratio is too large, there is a disadvantage that the image quality is significantly reduced.

On the other hand, the writing zoom captures tomographic image information in a predetermined enlarged area in the subject at a high resolution, stores it in the frame memory, and displays the stored tomographic image information as it is, resulting in an enlarged display. This has the disadvantage that the processing time is relatively long, but the quality of the displayed image is clear.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes only one of the two zoom systems described above, that is, the read zoom system and the write zoom system.
Devices using read zoom have the disadvantage that the image quality is coarse, while devices using write zoom take very long zoom processing time, and it is difficult to search for a desired part, such as a tumor, at high speed. It was difficult.

Therefore, conventionally, the above two methods have been appropriately selected and adopted according to the use of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. Therefore, there is a demand for an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that can perform smooth zooming by combining the two advantages. It had been.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and has as its object to perform processing with readout zoom when high speed is required, for example, when defining an area to be enlarged, and to perform high-performance processing when performing diagnosis. It is an object of the present invention to provide an enlarged display processing method of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus capable of performing writing zoom when image quality is required.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention temporarily stores ultrasonic image information obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in a frame memory, and stores the ultrasonic image information from the frame memory. In the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that reads out the displayed ultrasound image information and displays the image, an enlargement area setting step of determining an enlargement area to be enlarged from a displayed image and an enlargement area setting step of determining the enlargement area from the frame memory. Read out the ultrasound image information corresponding to the enlarged area, read-out enlarged display step to enlarge and display, and the ultrasonic image information in the subject corresponding to the enlarged area determined in the enlarged area setting step, A write enlargement display step of reading and displaying after enlarging and writing in the frame memory according to the memory capacity, the read enlargement display step, and the write enlargement display And a switching step for switching between the steps.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, a zoom process requiring high speed is performed in the read-out enlargement display step, while a clear image can be formed in the write-in enlargement display step when high image quality is required. .

Therefore, for example, by performing the read enlarged display step and the written enlarged display step simultaneously,
The displayed image is converted into a clear image almost instantaneously when switching from the read-out enlarged display step to the written enlarged display step.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, preferred examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows the concept of each processing method of the read zoom (A) and the write zoom (B) described above.

First, the read zoom (A) and the write zoom (B) will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2 (A), in the read-out zoom, first, a predetermined range of tomographic image data is fetched from the inside of the subject, written as it is in the frame memory, and further, tomographic image information corresponding to the designated enlarged area is stored in the frame memory. , And is enlarged and displayed. Therefore, in this readout zoom, enlargement is performed exclusively by specifying an address in the frame memory, and the processing time is relatively fast, but limited information is enlarged and enlarged and displayed as shown in (III). Therefore, the image quality deteriorates and becomes coarse.

On the other hand, in FIG. 2B, in the writing zoom, first, an enlarged area defined within a desired range in the subject is written into the frame memory with improved resolution, and the written tomographic image information is displayed as it is. As a result, enlarged display is performed. Therefore, in the data acquisition step (I), unlike the normal data acquisition,
Taking into account the address of the frame memory and its capacity, as well as the magnification, etc., the number of scanning lines of the ultrasonic beam and the A / D
Since it is necessary to change the sipling rate of the image processing, the processing is delayed, but a high quality image can be obtained.

In the present invention, the advantages of the two zoom methods, the read zoom (A) and the write zoom (B), are utilized.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the display is smoothly shifted from the enlarged display image of the read zoom (A) to the enlarged display image of the write zoom (B).

Hereinafter, the configuration of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

A reception signal from the transducer 10 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves is subjected to amplification, detection, A / D conversion, and the like in the transmission / reception circuit 12.
The received signal transmitted from the transmitting / receiving circuit 12 is transmitted to the switch
Through the frame memory 14.

The frame memory 14 stores tomographic image information of a desired range in the subject, and in the present embodiment, corresponds to one image (one frame) to be displayed.

Then, the tomographic image information read from the frame memory 14 is displayed on the display 16 via the switch SW2.

A write zoom circuit 18 is provided at a preceding stage of the frame memory 14, and a read zoom circuit 20 is provided at a subsequent stage of the frame memory 14 via a switch SW2.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), the writing zoom circuit 18 enlarges and writes the fetched data into the frame memory 14, and stores the fetched data in each address of the frame memory 14. Corresponding control of storage in the memory is performed.

The read-out zoom circuit 20 reads out the data of the designated enlarged area from the frame memory 14 and performs enlarged display, as shown in FIG. 2 (A). Specifically, in the information stored in the frame memory 14, the address of the first address and the address of the last address corresponding to the designated enlarged area are calculated, and the data at the addresses in between is calculated and read out sequentially. Is displayed.

In FIG. 1, an input key 22 is used to input and set a range of an enlarged area to be enlarged. In this embodiment, an enlarged area is set by causing a short-shaped cursor to appear in a display image and changing the size of the cursor with the input keys 22 on the operation panel. The enlargement area is designated by the x and y addresses of the upper left point and the lower right point of the cursor.

(X1, y1), (x
The information of (2, y2) is sent to the zoom adjuster 24. Then, the zoom adjuster 24 converts the enlargement area designated by the input key 22 into information of the enlargement ratio X and the enlargement area W,
It is sent to the write zoom circuit 18 and the read zoom circuit 20.

Further, the zoom switch 26 in the figure, when the zoom method is designated by the input key 22, judges the change and switches the above-mentioned switches SW1 and SW2. The zoom switch 26 first switches the switch SW2 from c to d in order to operate the read zoom circuit 20, and switches the switch SW1 to a when the read zoom is completed.
And b, and switch SW2 is switched from d to c.

Next, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and the enlarged display processing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 3, when a zoom operation is started by a predetermined input of the input key 22, first, in step 101, the enlargement area designated by the input key 22 is determined by the zoom adjuster 24, and the enlargement ratio X and the enlargement area are determined. W is sent to the read zoom circuit 20. At the same time, the same information is sent to the writing zoom circuit 18 in order to make the transition from the reading zoom to the writing zoom smooth. In other words, when the read zoom is performed, the write zoom is advanced at the same time, and when a predetermined enlarged area is determined by the read zoom, the switches SW1 and SW2 are switched so that no delay occurs smoothly. It is possible to shift to the writing zoom.

In step 102, the read zoom circuit 20 calculates the address corresponding to the enlarged area in the frame memory 14.

In step 103, the tomographic image information stored in the frame memory 14 is read from the designated address calculated in step 102. Then, the read information is enlarged and displayed on the display 16 in step 104.

Therefore, in the steps so far, since the readout zoom is performed, for example, when an area to be enlarged is determined,
Alternatively, it is effective at the time of a high-speed search, such as a case where the enlarged area is sequentially moved and checked, and processing can be performed at high speed by following a display image.

In step 105, switching of the zoom is determined. In this embodiment, when the cursor is not moved for a predetermined time, for example, 3 seconds, the input key 22 determines that the area to be zoomed is determined, and the zoom is automatically switched. Of course, zoom switching may be performed by operating a specific key.

In step 106, based on the enlargement ratio X and the enlargement area W set in step 101, the writing zoom circuit 18
Calculates the number of scanning lines of the ultrasonic beam and the sampling rate of A / D conversion. That is, this step 106
In the above, a calculation is performed to capture the information of the tomographic image in the subject from the tomographic image information in the area to be enlarged at a resolution corresponding to the magnification X.

Here, as described above, even while the steps 101 to 105 are repeated, the calculation in this step 106 is performed in parallel, and the processing that requires a relatively long processing time in the writing zoom is performed simultaneously. It is done in.

Then, in step 107, tomographic image information corresponding to the calculation in step 106 is fetched and written into the frame memory 14.

At step 108, data from the address 0 to the last address of the frame memory 14 is read out.
The display 16 displays the tomographic image information read in step 108. Of course, this display is
This is based on the enlarged area set in 1 and is an enlarged display.

Therefore, in each of the above-described processing steps, the transition from the read zoom to the write zoom is performed in parallel by the write zoom circuit 18, so that the display of (III) in FIG. From (B) to (III), that is, from a coarse image to a clear image,
The operability and convenience of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus can be improved.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the enlarged display processing method of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention, the advantages of both the read enlarged display step and the written enlarged display step are adjusted according to the purpose of zooming. For example, when searching for a portion to be enlarged, a read-out enlarged display step is used.
When performing a diagnosis, it is possible to perform a display suitable for the intended use, such as using a writing enlarged display step.

In addition, since it is possible to smoothly shift from the readout enlarged display to the written enlarged display, the operability of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus to which the method according to the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing read zoom and write zoom, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged display processing method according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows a process. 14 Frame memory 16 Display 18 Write zoom circuit 20 Read zoom circuit 22 Input key 24 Zoom adjuster 26 Zoom switch

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61B 8/00-8/15

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Ultrasound diagnosis for temporarily storing ultrasonic image information obtained by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in a frame memory, reading the stored ultrasonic image information from the frame memory, and displaying an image. In the apparatus, an enlargement area setting step of determining an enlargement area to be enlarged from a displayed image, and reading out ultrasound image information corresponding to the enlargement area determined in the enlargement area setting step from the frame memory, and expanding the image. A read-out enlargement display step to display, and read and display the ultrasonic image information in the subject corresponding to the enlargement area determined in the enlargement area setting step, after enlarging and writing in the frame memory according to the memory capacity. And a switching step of switching between the read enlarged display step and the written enlarged display step. In parallel with the large display step, enlargement display processing method of an ultrasound diagnostic apparatus characterized by calculation for expansion writing ultrasonic image information in the write display step is executed.